Asha's Story

Ayara and Asha were at the counter having just ordered drinks when the fight broke out. Apparently some of the local riffraff were overstaying their welcome, and it was the person who had been doing the dishes who decided to take matters into his own hands, of all people. The Nilarian was somewhat puzzled at why the patrons decided to cheer so loudly. It was expected of the employees to keep a reputable establishment back home. Was it truly such a rare thing out here?

"I thought the City of Bells was supposed to be one of the nicer places to visit," Ayara said to Asha. "Did we somehow end up in the rough part of town?"

"You'd think this is an annual thing." Asha remarked, nodding as she and Ayara got served their drinks.

"Possibly. It seems like such a strange custom nonetheless." At that moment, a small group entered the inn. One of them, a Rengeku by the look of it, went up to the counter right next to Ayara and asked for a room for herself and her comrades, before ordering one of the stronger alcoholic drinks for herself.

"Having something so strong would lead me to believe that you may have had a most trying day, friend," Ayara remarked. "If, ah, it is not too rude to mention, of course."

Snowe just smiled gently at the Nilarian girl. "Not at all," she replied, her eyes betraying a sort of aged tiredness, "today has, shall we say, been rather upsetting. I got some news that I would rather not have heard."

The blonde rengeku looked over at her left shoulder to see Noramir perched there, stretching her neck to sniff the shot of vodka in her mentor's hand. "Don't do it, Nora," warned Snowe, "you won't like it." But the young dragon had already stuck her tongue in the drink. Noramir's eyes went wide and she fell off Snowe's shoulder, shaking her head.

"Anyway..." Snowe said, smirking and shaking her head at her draconic companion, "what is a young Nilarian scholar like yourself doing here, if I may ask?"

Ayara nodded understandingly at the Rengeku's reply. Must have been some bad news indeed for her to have decided to get a stiff drink. For a brief moment the Nilarian noticed that look in her eyes, and wondered just how old she actually was. After all, a Rengeku could look like a human in their mid-twenties and turn out to be several centuries old. Very misleading indeed.

She watched as a small dragon perched on the Rengeku's shoulder leaned forward to have a taste of the vodka, against the latter's advice. Ayara suppressed a giggle as the little one fell off, clearly unable to handle their liquor. Still smiling a little, the scholar listened to the question set before her.

"I must say, it's something of a relief to meet someone who actually knows who I am! Honestly, you would have thought that a city this large would have interacted with its fair share of other races." Ayara paused to take a swig of her lemonade. She had first tasted lemonade when visiting a human settlement not long after departing from her home system, and had quickly taken a liking to it for its refreshing flavour, and of course the bubbles.

"My sister and I are simply travellers passing through," she continued, indicating Asha. "It is our wish to experience the wonders that this galaxy has to offer while we are still able to enjoy them. We booked a room for the night here and we will most likely be heading out in the morning."

"I regret to say that you and your sister have come at a rather bad time, as is probably apparent by the recent shenanigans," Snowe emitted, smiling grimly. She tilted her head inquisitively. "By the lack of resemblance, I assume your sworn siblings, and not blood relatives. Ahh, but that isn't really my business, now is it?"

The conversation was interrupted by a human boy, no older than seventeen years of age. He apologized for the earlier trouble, smiling cheerfully. Snowe wasn't quite sure why, but such cheerfulness grated on her nerves at the moment. "I'm not too bothered by it," she sighed, "unfortunately, I'm accustomed to far worse discord than that." She seemed to catch herself at something and shook her head. "It really isn't your fault, anyway, boy. These people are from Bekta, and have absolutely no regard for rules."

"Oh, and speaking of discord..." she started looking over at the lavender haired girl, "Delta, could I see the book I gave to you earlier? It's important, but not secret... at least, it shouldn't be."

"To read it, of course, my dear," replied Snowe matter of factly as she stroked the book's cover, "this here is a one-of-kind volume written by Lady Memory herself. Gather round, children, and I shall teach you of things long since erased in your histories."

Snowe opened the book, flipping slowly through the pages as she explained its contents aloud. The handwritten text was faded and torn in many places.

"        Father Time (Chronos): The first of the Ten and of the dragons, Chronos, is the Keeper of Time. Though he has the power to manipulate time, his duty is to keep it flowing at a steady pace and prevent paradoxes. He has very little direct role in the worlds.

·        Mother Space (Maria): Maria is the second-born of the Ten and is the Keeper of the Universe as well as the first vilgenus. Her duty is to create and destroy worlds throughout space and help control the Balance of the Scales.

·        Discord (Loki): First of the tricksters and Keeper of Chaos, Loki presides over the Negatives of the Universe. He is known for creating mischief and instigating trouble in the worlds. Despite this, he is not evil.

·        Solace (Onari): Onari presides over the Positives of the Universe and is the first of the sil. Rather than take matters into her own hands, she often inspires goodness and bravery throughout the worlds. She and Loki have been rivals from the beginning of time, but harbor no hatred for each other.

·        Brother Darkness (Ta'kal): Keeper of the Night, Ta'kal is the first of the makora. He aids Father Time by bringing night to the Worlds, and Mother Space by extinguishing dying stars.

·        Sister Light (Akari): She is the Keeper of the Day and the first of the elves. She assists father time by bringing day to the Worlds, and Mother Space by giving light to the stars.

·        Reaper (Orbis): The first of the Angels and the Keeper of the Veil. Though Life and Death are often viewed as separate entities, they are one in the same. He is often seen in the form of one-winged twin angels- one in black and the other in white.

·        Emotion (Raimei): Raimei is the first human and taught all races of happiness, sorrow, and anger. She tends to play a higher direct role in the Worlds than many of the other Ten.

·        Lady Fate (Helena): Helena is the Keeper of Red Strings and the first fayde. She weaves the threads of fate into a web that spans throughout the universe and is easily angered when they are tampered with. Because of this, she is often at odds with Emotion and Lady Memory.

...But the pages regarding Lady Memory are mysteriously absent. All that is left is a note scrawled on the back cover. It is written in Reith, the tongue of my people. It simply says... 'We never claimed to be gods...."

"W-Woah!" Adrian was gotten by surprise by the sudden appearance and disappearance of the maid-ish person, but it immediately changed to a look of awe, acting like a country bumpkin he is. Technology is still quite uncommon for him. "So cool! How did you do that little girl?! Is it that bracelet?! Is she inside there? Are there other things you have in there? Where did you got that? can I touch it?" Adrian asked her in succession as he points his finger on the bracelet and is urged to push a button. Already forgetting the fact that she doesn't like being called little or short, and she being of the same age as him. He was not quite as interested in the book as much as he is interested on the bracelet.

Snowe shrugged and handed the book back to Delta. "Aren't you curious about the implications of the note?" she asked, placing her knuckle on her lips, "I propose we travel to each of the temples. I believe there's something that every other Seeker missed... There is a passage within the tome that speaks of fragments of a 'key'. It suggests that each temple has one."

Snowe put her hands behind her head and leaned back a bit in her chair. "Of course, each of you may do what you will with this information. However, I cannot promise we won't end up on opposite ends of each other's blades, should we choose to part ways," Snowe paused and looked to Asha and Ayara, "Ah, forgive me, I am merely assuming you are Seekers. If not, you need not worry yourselves."

"Eeek! Sorry!" Adrian immediately pulled his hand back after her comment. Then he pondered for a moment. "Eh? Nano? Particle? Micro? Eh? What?" He thought, looking quite puzzled. Not having the slightest idea, he just shrugged it away with a content sigh. Relieved that he stopped thinking about it. After remembering the fact that he made the girl angry he started a silly attempt to explain himself. "O-oh yeah. You know, it's not all that bad being short. It is kinda cute and all, you know? And that's what make you unique! Your height suits you! Being tall isn't all that better actually, if you're as tall as your friend there, you might hit a door frame and all..." He explained, starting to have a bit of cold sweats, his face turned stiff.

There were too many dimwits around for Asha's comfort. The human hadn't spoken a whole lot, and as per usual it was her sister who made the attempt to start a conversation with one of the less... obnoxious patrons, to which Asha only nodded briefly when her name was mentioned before resuming her silent drinking.

The surgeon only looked up from her glass and took actual interest in the conversation when a peculiar looking tome was handed to the Rengeku. It looked old, very old. The kind of old that you wouldn't even find in the darkest corners of a library. Shifting a little to face the Rengeku, Asha pitched in to listen as some of the pages were read aloud.

Likewise, Ayara listened carefully to the passage being read from the tome. Much of it she and Asha had already been taught, but the missing pages regarding Lady Memory were quite... intriguing, to say the least. We never claimed to be gods? It sounded so ominous.

Sadly, many of the others present didn't have the sense to pay attention, and would rather disregard the importance of such an old tome. One of them was gooing over a shiny technological bauble, and another did not seem to fully comprehend what the note could mean.

"You would be better off not taking the gods so lightly." Ayara warned the lavender-haired girl. "Many's the mortal that has done just that, only for it to result in their undoing."

"What my sister means is that some of us are actually interested in this sort of thing." Asha growled. "So if you brats could bugger off and practice your idiocy elsewhere, that'd be great. Otherwise, shut your gums and listen. You might learn a thing or two." She shot the three young ones an angry glare, before turning back to the conversation at hand.

The Nilarian nodded in wholehearted agreement before directing her attention back to the Rengeku. "Seekers, you say? Well, we aren't, but you certainly have our interest. I assume it would make sense to begin our investigations at Lady Memory's temple, yes? We can begin travel at first light tomorrow morning."

“Since we’re on Verelden already, I think we should stop by the Temple of Emotions first. It would be more efficient that way.,” Snowe began, “But each temple deserves an equal amount of attention. We won’t be able to just waltz out with the key fragments, there will be some sort of test for each of them.”

Snowe looked around at the group, gazing into each pair of eyes as if searching them for something. “Now, I must warn each of you that this journey is not for the faint of heart. Some of the places we will have to go to are VERY dangerous. I urge you to think it over tonight.”

A black-haired human man interrupted before Snowe could say anything else, “Are you going to be going to all of these temples? If so I would like to accompany you if permitted. I have...something around that area which I would like to take care of.”

Snowe’s eyes went wide as the man approached and rose colored heat bloomed on her cheeks. She cleared her throat in a poor attempt to regain her composure. “Y-yes. We will be going to all of the temples,” she replied shakily.

The man nodded his head and then began “That’s just what I was hoping to hear, my name is Zyperious. I mainly work as an engineer of sorts, and I have some things around a few of the temples I would like to take care of. Seeing how you are already heading that way I figure no better way to get there than help others along the way.”

Snowe folded her arms, “Well, then, Zyperious... I’m sure that as long as you can make yourself useful while you are with us that the others would not mind having you around.” She looked to Delta and Apollo, then at the Nilarian and her sister, as if for approval.

The two sisters watched as the lavender-haired girl blathered on about how many books she'd read about the gods. Anyone could tell she was being little more than a childish windbag, and by the time she was going on about a knife being only half a millimeter thick, they knew something was up. Didn't she know anything about measurements? Any material that thin would either fold like paper or snap like a dry leaf, especially silver. Odds are she was merely trying to sound intelligent, and failing at it.

At this point Asha was fed up with these kids more than anyone. With nothing more than a discontented sigh, the woman seized the opportunity to snatch the book from incompetent hands lest they continue their ridiculous theorizations that, quite frankly, made her head throb. "Here." Asha handed the book to her sister, knowing that she wouldn't make these illogical assumptions.

Ayara quickly thanked Asha, although she couldn't help but wince at the book's rough treatment, especially given the condition it was in. Time hadn't been kind to the tome, that much was certain. Carefully leafing through the pages, the Nilarian eventually found where the pages regarding Lady Memory had been removed. She frowned. Something was not quite right here...

"And?" Asha asked, leaning in to take a look at the pages, or lack thereof, herself.

"I'm trying to concentrate." Ayara blocked out any distractions and focused her attention on the pages. They had not been torn out by hand, nor had they been cut out by a knife or any sort of implement. She could sense something that still lingered where the pages had been removed. It was very faint, but it was still there...

"Magic," she said, after a time. "These pages have been removed by magical means. How or why, I don't know, but whoever did it failed to completely cover their tracks."

"Ahh, but perhaps those tracks were not meant to covered completely," Snowe said musingly, "but I suppose that is a question for another day. We should all be getting to bed." It had been dark for a while and it was getting late. If the party was going to start their journey first thing in the morning, they would need their rest.

After bidding everyone good night, the group had parted ways and headed into their respective rooms. Snowe lay curled up in her bed, holding her dragon companion close to her side. As usual, sleep did not come easily for Snowe, but, tonight, Noramir seemed to find that it eluded her as well.

"Snowe?" Noramir spoke to her in telepathy.

"Yes?" She replied.

"What happened when the dark-haired man spoke to you.. was something wrong?"

"It's… Complicated… He's not even supposed to be here…"

"Snowe…."

She sighed softly. "Noramir, do you know what a soulmate is?"

"I am.. familiar with the concept."

"Well, he and I met a very… very long time ago."



The next morning, Snowe stood at the front of the inn, waiting for the others. She gazed into the still dimly lit sky and she could already tell that it was going to be a long, hard day. There was a heaviness to the air. She felt as if she had lost something. Something very important. "I think our trial has already begun," she whispered, "this is going to be a lot harder than I thought..."