Tale of Four

Stepping into his room, Tristan locked the door and window, took a seat on his bed, and took Annabell into his hands. With a deep breath, she formed into smoke and flew through his mouth and nose, a warmth spreading throughout his body as he gained access to Annabell’s every thought and emotion, herself having the same access to him.

Standing up, he walked over to his mirror and looked at himself, reaching and touching his reflection, looking at his white eyes. ’Annabell, I’m going to take back more control of my body.’ Thinking the thought, he heard her thoughts saying, okay.

The warmth throughout his body retracted as he forcefully pushed Annabell out, back into the cage she usually stayed in, which was close to his heart. As he did, the white in his eyes dimmed. Although his pupils were still gone, a thin outline was slowly forming the more of his body he took back from her. Stopping, he let Annabell’s power retake the parts he had forced her out.

’Annabell. Take control.’ There was a momentary pause as he told himself. ’Annabell?’ Even if their minds were connected, Tristan didn’t ever let himself have access to it other than when Annabell gave him the okay. It was why the silence unnerved him, wondering if soemthing had gone wrong during their training. ’Annabell. This isn’t funny. Talk to me.’

’Sorry, Tristan.’ Her soft, echoing voice was quiet, full of sorrow. If she were in front of him, he was sure he would see the bird holding her head down, shyly kicking the floor.

’What’s going on?’ Tristan asked, unsure why Annabell was acting strange. He was tempted to directly peek into her mind, but chose against it.

’Tristan. Are you sure about this? If you give too much of yourself to me, you can’t directly take back control like you can now.’ Annabell asked in worry, casting suspicions on herself that Tristan hadn’t even considered.

’Silly Annabell, do you think I’m scared you will steal my body? If you did, you would be begging for me to come back, hating the palace.’

’I’m not silly. You’re the stupid one, Tristan.’ Annabel said defiantly in his mind, before the two shared a laugh. ’But Tristan, even if you trust me, it’s dangerous. What if I take control without meaning to, and you can’t get it back? What if you go missing inside your body, what if...’

’Annabell.’ Tristan cut her off, hearing she was spiralling into a depressive, fearful state that didn’t suit her, imagining the worst before it came, ’Why are you thinking such stupid thoughts. Where is the great Dove who can conquer the world? Now you’re scared of making a mistake.’

’I’m not scared.’ Annabell said with a loud cry.

’Then prove it. Take more control. We need to see what happens.’ There was a momentary pause before Tristan felt the warmth that spread throughout his body, getting hotter. It wasn’t a painful heat like Elias’ own that wished to destroy him, but a warmth as if a loving embrace was becoming too much, making the body uncomfortable.

As the warmth grew, Tristan could feel soemthing in his body fighting against it that he had no control over. ’Allow it.’ Tristan told himself over and over, each time making the force that fought Annabell relent. His mind slowly became deeper with Annabells, before the summons mind took priority over his own. Even if he thought to himself, he couldn’t hear it anymore; his mind was no longer his but Annabell’s.

Despite it, he could still see and hear like always; in fact, it was becoming better, hearing the gossip of servants outside down the hall. The world changed as well. Things that were invisible to a normal human appeared, streaks of colour in the air appearing and vanishing, as if he was being given a chance to glimpse what made up the world. In the mirror, his white eyes, which had dimly glowed before, now looked like a pair of white suns, shining so brightly that they looked as if they couldn’t allow falsehood before them. From his back, a pair of wings slowly curled around his body before spreading out, each feather on it pure white, untainted by anything. Even when dust from the wind they kicked up landed on them, it couldn’t stain them.

His nails became sharper, almost unnoticeable if you didn’t look. Tristan stared at himself before the change quickly vanished, the wings shrinking into his back and eyes dimming. Slowly, his mind became the dominant one over his body again.

’Sorry, Tristan. I don’t like being in your body like that. It feels wrong. Unnatural.’ Annabell said with a soft, echoing voice. Tristan smiled to himself and shook his head.

’It’s fine, silly girl. That being said, what do you mean by unnatural?’ From Tristan’s body, white smoke shot out, taking Annabell’s form as the bird flew around, as if trying to remember she was a bird before landing on his head.

”A summon should never become human. The same way a human should never become a summon. I don’t know, but it feels so wrong to me. It... it... it...” Annabell repeated the words over and over, blankly staring ahead as if she were broken.

”Annabell?” Tristan grabbed her in panic and brought her face-to-face. The action snapped Annabell out of her trance.

”Sorry, Tristan. I nearly said soemthing that would have been dangerous for you. My body acted on its own there.” Annabell meekly lowered her head.

”It’s okay. I know there are things you can’t tell me. What can you tell me, however? About what was wrong with the merging.”

”I don’t know how to say it without saying what I can’t. It’s just that it felt like I was doing soemthing taboo. What that taboo is, however, I’m not sure.” Tristan stared into her eyes.

”Don’t know or can’t say?”

”I don’t lie, Tristan.” Her answer made Tristan nod, forgetting the bird had such a quirk. ”What we just did. You should ask others if they have ever had such a deep merging. Try and learn from them because I don’t want to do it unless we have to.”

Tristan nodded, ”But when we merged, what was different about your powers? Did they get stronger or change?”

”They were much stronger. I felt like I could cleanse any sickness or cure any curse with a wave of my hand. I could hear and smell better, but I could also see better, so much better. You felt a part of that, but for me, I felt so much.” Annbell tilted her head for a moment, ”Despite the wings, I don’t think I can fly when I’m in control. Your body is too heavy for them.”

Tristan chuckled, wondering if it was part of the reason she never wanted to take control again, knowing that out of everything, flying freely was the dove’s favourite thing in the world.