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I got my first look at Tsubasa, center island of the Spherical Line upon exiting the airport. It was around ten AM, so the city was in full swing. Tsubasa was a vacation place alright, it was a clear and warm day but not too hot. There were amusement parks and water parks all over the main island we were on, along with huge hotel resorts with was surprising to learn the dead center of this island was uninhabited, aside from an ancient shrine and a monetary full of months that protected the shrine and Infinity Tear. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end suddenly, and I turned around to see a teenage Mazarain boy standing a few feet away from me, eyes trained on mine.
“Zpsbrz Iztmzilp.”
I blinked, and he was gone.
What the hell…? Why did that brat look so familiar?
“What’s wrong?” Cloud asked, glancing back to where I was staring.
“Nothing.” I said looking away. “Let’s go.”
We were to stay in Tsubasa from two days, than head to Niveldon. The young Mazarain boy was haunting my thoughts to a small degree, but the thing that bothered me was that I knew he wasn’t speaking Mazarain or Niveldonin. I’d never heard the language, and searching for it wouldn’t do me shit because I had no idea what he’d said.
Pity I couldn’t ask that Twi-LIGHT computer…wait, I might be able to hack it from my laptop! I thought as I was opening up the blinds in my hotel room. I dug through my abyss-pack until I drew my laptop from the depths, and sat in the desk of the square hotel room as I booted it up. I found the shortcuts to Twi-LIGHT’s satellite system, and with a little work got to. Hacking Sparky was a real pain, since I had to enter the fifty-two digit number on the back of my Twi-LIGHT card into the mainframe over twenty times, which was extremely time consuming.
The Twi-LIGHT maps opened before me on my laptop screen and I asked, feeling a little weird talking to my computer,
“Sparky?”
Akhyia Ragnarok. Member number confirmed; what can I do for you?
“Perfect! Sparky, do you contain information on Mazarain princes?” I asked, taking a stab in the dark hoping I’d seen the Mazarain prince Kairi had known.
Affirmative. Please enter the name.
“Rizura Levanth.”
Processing…found. Opening document.
“Sparky, what’s Rizura Levanth’s current location?”
Missing. He disappeared from Mazarain documents four years ago.
That’s not public information… I thought to myself, unsurprised.
“If he were alive, how old would he be now?”
Fourteen.
“That’s about old that kid looked…” I muttered. “Sparky, the file on Kaianoreri Trenxi.”
Processing…found. Opening document.
“Hey, Sparky, what’s the model number of your artificial intelligence module?”
Mjkluio789.
“Ahhhh, that explains why you can handle responding to ‘Sparky’ instead of ‘computer’.”
Affirmative.
I scanned Kairi’s document, asking,
“Sparky, when did Kairi originally go missing?”
Three years ago, in Mazar. Six months after that she was sighted in Myildaypain with a Mazarain youth. The Mazarain’s name is unknown. Her legal guardian at this time is Robert Trenxi. She is six years old, four feet one inch, forty-three pounds, blond hair, and blue eyes.
“Do you have any images of the Mazarain boy?”
Affirmative. One unclear picture; identity could no be confirmed from it. Opening image…
The image was blurry too, I could only really see the forms of a Mazarain boy, around ten, and a younger girl hiding behind him. The boy had a gun, apparently about to shoot the person or camera taking the picture.
“Thanks, Sparky. More later.”
Affirmative. Signing off.
I closed my laptop, knowing I’d gotten as much information I could through the internet and Twi-LIGHT database. If I wanted to know more, I’d have to ask Kairi. I didn’t really want to ask though, for she’d never willingly told me anything about her past.
The remainder of the day was rather uneventful; and after dinner I was locked in combat with Cloud playing air hockey. The resort had a game room, and in it was an air hockey table. We didn’t surrender the game until an hour or more of playing, and the line of other people wanting to play had grown to a ridiculous amount.
“Chocolate still kicks vanilla’s ass.” I said as I handed over the cash for my chocolate milkshake at the restaurant near the courtyard of the hotel. We headed to the courtyard in the center of the complex where the music from the party going on at the pool didn’t reach.
There were tropical flowers a palm trees spread out around the sidewalks.
“Since when does a ground up plant with sweeteners, sugars, and preservatives has an ass? If you’ve invested the autonomy of anything vanilla and located one I’d be happy to learn where.”
I scowled at him sayings,
“Wiseass.”
“And you aren’t?”
“That’s Master Wiseass to the likes of you! Completely different rank.”
He shook his head and chuckled saying,
“Rank, huh? I’m afraid you’d give any etiquette-teacher a heart attack, Akhy.”
“And that’s how it should be. But, alas, that doesn’t change the fact chocolate kicks vanilla’s ass. Besides, cheap companies can really screw vanilla up. It’s only good if you get the expensive shit, while chocolate is pretty hard to screw up.”
“True, I will admit it is easily screwed up, but I also want you to verify that you admit you said it was good.”
“I said no such thing.” I retorted.
“Quote: ‘It’s only good if you get the expensive shit, while chocolate is pretty hard to screw up’, unquote.”
“I was only--dammit. Alright, I admit some vanilla is alright. Chocolate still kicks it’s ass though. May it be engraved upon our souls.” I said dryly.
“Engraved upon our souls?”
“Have a problem with the saying?”
“A bit dramatic for the situation, no?”
“Would you prefer ‘written in blood’?”
“The saying is ‘written in stone’ and ‘signed in blood’.” He corrected.
“Whatever, it gets the point across.”
“True.”
I tossed my empty cut on the trash, and sat down on a near-by bench. He sat down beside me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I sighed saying,
“What did I tell you bout public displays of affection?”
“That they’re prohibited, if I recall.”
“You recall properly. Now can that brain of yours register anything?”
“Don’t be so stiff, it’s not like anybody we know is around. Besides, your name may be infamous but I doubt many people on Tsubasa would recognize you for who you really are.”
I shook my head saying,
“You’re completely clueless when it comes to that. Seriously, how would you have any idea what it’s like being stalked by the media?”
“Not really any idea, but I’d imagine it’s unpleasant. Besides, Ragnarok is deadlocked, the media isn’t very alive right now. With Exodus occupying every city, none of the citizens are calm.”
“Who can blame them?” I asked sourly. “They’ve got no idea when their city will be attacked by Twi-LIGHT or even Mazar. Somehow, I’d imagine it’s more stressful knowing nothing than knowing exactly what is going on.”
“I suppose.”
“You can just say you disagree.” I said dryly.
I say him smile slightly as he said,
“Well, worrying about you would obliterate a normal person’s patience in half an hour.”
I elbowed him lightly saying,
“I never asked you to worry about me. And don’t think you’re too extraordinarily far past ‘ordinary’, either.”
“You also never take your own well-being into consideration before acting.”
“People leading revolutions can’t really have that sort of mentality. If everybody put themselves before others, nothing would ever change.”
“I know, but--do you value your life at all?”
I was silent a moment, because his question surprised me.
“I didn’t. Not when first woke up, but now…”
I must be going insane…did I just tell the truth without being antagonized or lying a few times? The heart is such a pain in the ass…
“Are they ever going to kiss?” I heard somebody behind whisper exasperatedly.
“Hey, did you hear that?” I asked randomly, looking over my shoulder.
“Hear what?” He asked, evidently not believing me and thinking I was trying to distract him.
I listened for a moment again before saying,
“There it is again! It sounded like ‘oh, crap’.”
I stood up and walked over to the bush of tropical flowers it sounded like it was coming from, and pulled away a strangely cocked flowery branch and when I say Rikku and Kairi both kneeled down below me, smiling innocently.
“Kairi! Rikku! Outta here! I’d expect this from Kairi, but you’re being even a worse influence on her than me, Rikku!”
“Heh…heh…” Rikku said standing up, trying to look her most innocent. “Umm, well there’s a reason we’re here!”
“Really?” I asked dismissively.
“Really! Ask Kairi, she’ll tell you.”
“Don’t drag me into this.” Kairi said coyly. “I only wanted to know of you and Anan were still fighting, Rikku’s the one that wanted to spy on you.”
“Thanks, kid…” Rikku said irritably. “That’s basically the story though. Guess that’s not good enough…huh?”
“Have you been taking lessons from Maaya when it comes to poking your nose where it doesn’t belong?”
“Ouch…low blow.” Rikku said, not meeting my eyes. “Well, Katsu was busy and I was board…and Kairi was board too! Right, Kairi?”
“You’re over using the word ‘and’, Rikku. Do you always do that when you’re nervous?”
“Awww, c’mon Kairi! Give me a little help here…”
“If you don’t have anything to do,” I said coldly, “Than why don’t you go index your equipment and make sure you’re ready for when we go to Niveldon?”
“That’s no fun! Besides, I wanna act like a tourist sometimes myself, you know! Why should I do something dull and clinical when you get to hang out with a cute guy all night?”
“Because I already indexed all my weapons and got ready to go to Niveldon!”
“Ha! But you admit to hanging out with a cute guy all night! Why do you get all the cute guys after you, anyway? Katsu as positively drooling over you’ve got Anan wrapped around your finger too! When do I get a cute guy for a change?”
“I’ve told Katsu to shove it up his ass numerous times, it’s not my fault he doesn’t listen!”
“And what about Anan?”
“Cloud’s only-”
“And you have a pet name for him! Only you call him that, Akhy!”
“I’m right here you know, is the third person necessary?” Cloud asked, sounding rather entertained by our argument.
“Shut up.” I snapped dismissively, “Rikku, get out of here!”
“For having a line of guys you’re certainly unromantic and inconsiderate. Like Anan’s said, you’d give a normal person gray hair in half an hour!”
“How long were you eavesdropping?”
“Long enough to know you two haven’t gotten anywhere in nearly four months! Have you even kissed yet?”
“Get the hell outta here, Rikku!” I cursed, and this time she zipped away, stopping to stick her tongue out at me before dashing away. Kairi shrugged and followed saying,
“See you later, Akhy!”
I stood there a moment, and sighed as I sat back down next to Cloud. He earned a scowl from me when he wrapped his arm around my shoulders again, but didn’t seem to care in the slightest.
“See why public displays of affection are a pain in the ass?”
“Statistically, childhood-friends are what screwed your dignity this time, not having an infamous name.” Cloud pointed out matter-of-factly.
“Shut up.” I said, elbowing him lightly.
“And being violent.”
“Didn’t I just say ‘shut up’? The original ‘shut up’ is still in affect, if you didn’t know.”
I yawned as I trudged up the stairs heading to my room. Cloud trailed behind me asking,
“Why do you always insist on taking the stairs? It’s terribly old-fashioned.”
“Shut up.”
“You’re very irritable when you’re sleepy. And if you say ‘shut up’ again you’ll only prove my point.”
I scowled at him as he said,
“Or you could prove my point by scowling at me.”
I shook my head as we reached the floor my room was on, and pulled the keycard out of my pocket.
“Tomorrow we’re heading to the center of this island, the get the Infinity Tear. We won’t have any trouble with the locals since Maaya arranged the transition with the president of Tsubasa, but if the Crimson Cringe has leaked that information to Twi-LIGHT, who in turn would give the information to Niveldon, we might be attacked.”
“Twi-LIGHT attacked Mazar, I doubt Niveldon will be in any hurry to accept Twi-LIGHT’s help.”
“Don’t be so sure about that, Niveldon’s king allies with any country that has military power. Niveldon is small, but all they want is power. Their military is elite, but it’s small. Now that Mazar has fallen, they’d be wise to ally with Silva, who also wants to crush Nohin. Right now, Silva is the strongest country in the world. Ragnarok and Mazar are both having civil wars and wouldn’t be able to counterattack very well. Twi-LIGHT has taken up refuge in Dalmara, but they don’t really have the military power right now to counterattack Exodus in Ragnarok. The Spherical Line never had a hot shit military, so if Silva decided to attack Ragnarok we’d have to call to Nohin for reinforcements.”
“Another words,” I continued, “We’re not exactly in the position to make our move for the Infinity Tear or Blood of Fayt because Ragnarok is highly vulnerable, but we can’t risk Trenxi harmonizing End of Time with Skyevi to obliterate everything. Although Ragnarok could become Silva’s or even Nohin’s if they wanted attack, risking control of Ragnarok has to be done. Trenxi basically has End of Time right now since he’s in Dalmara with Akiko, but it won’t do him shit without Skyevi. I don’t know how he plans on getting to Skyevi, but getting Niveldon to ally with him is the first step. And since Niveldon could ally with Silva easily… Ragnarok is a hated country because Mazar keeps attacking. This war all boils down to Skyevi, same with the rivalry between Ragnarok and Mazar.”
He was silent a moment before asking,
“There are monks guarding the Infinity Tear, right?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Supposedly, they’ve been here protecting it for thousands years, since Skyevi’s time.”
“What are you getting at?”
“You should ask them about Gaia, if anybody would know it’d be them.”
“I hadn’t…” I paused, “Thought of that.”
“You sound so surprised I came up with a good idea.” He said dryly. “You really think I’m an idiot, don’t you? Anyway, what time are we heading out tomorrow?”
“Four AM. And if you picked a bitch Lena seven or so years ago you obviously are an idiot.”
“Thanks.” He said sarcastically. “Although I must not of learned my lesson, you are a stubborn pain in the ass.”
I could tell he was hiding a smile, as he leaned down, mouth covering mine.
“We’re going to regret staying up late.” I said as we parted, “Night.”
“Goodnight.”
I was mumbling curses under my breath upon waking up at three thirty, and took a freezing cold shower to wake myself up properly. I only had an extreme reluctance to wake up I hadn’t gotten enough sleep, usually. I pulled on my clothes, ratty jeans, white button-up mid-sleeved shirt, and Twi-LIGHT boots and slid my katanas into the material pouch I put them in for combat-free travel.
“We’re taking a limo?” I asked as I saw down in the second row of seats, after having my abyss-pack put in the trunk. “What happened to motorcycles?”
“Well, we won’t be encountering combat so I figured we might as well travel in style.” Maaya said, buckling up and sliding the little hatch that in the ceiling so the TV in the roof turned on. “No offence to your driving skills and Rei’s mechanical skill, but I my butt gets stiff sitting on a motorcycle all day.”
I wonder of Rei sneezed back in Ragnarok…they do say you sneeze when somebody talks about you in Nohin. I think your ears are supposed to ring in Ragnarokain lore.
I shook my head at Maaya in the row of seats in front of me asking,
“Did you buy this thing? It has the new smell.”
“It’s the one I keep reserved for traveling in the Spherical Line, it doesn’t get much use since I’m usually in Ragnarok. Hence the new smell.”
“They sell perfume to spray around your car that’s suppose to imitate the ‘new smell’. I think it smells like SBDs though.” Rikku said, sitting between Maaya and Katsu. Kairi sat between Cloud and me.
Rikku glanced back at us, smiling evilly as she said,
“What a cute little family you three make.”
“Shut up.” I growled.
“I agree!” Maaya said brightly, “They do make a cute family.”
“Maaya!” I snapped, “Would you two give all that crap a rest already?”
“You shouldn’t curse in front of Kairi so much.” Rikku said, still smiling evilly. “She’ll pick up bad habits from you.”
“You’re one to talk.” I retorted.
“Women…” Katsu sighed.
“What was that?” I asked, addressing him.
“You don’t count in that, Akhy.” Katsu replied, “You’re cool.”
“Thanks.” I said sarcastically. Rikku and Maaya exchanged smiles, and let the topic die.
“You three are quite entertaining.” Niketa said from the back row of seats. “You all lived in Nioglow when you were young, right?”
“Yeah.” I replied, “Rikku had to go back to Mazar when we were thirteen or so, but the for of us were tight. I haven’t heard from Nanamay, she was also part of our destruction little group and she was from Silva.”
“There was a Silvan doctor on during the Mazarain raid I took part it, I think her name was Nanamay.” Cloud said.
“It’s a fairly common name in Silva. What did she look like?” I asked idly.
He shrugged saying,
“Like any other Silvan. Light hair, skin, and eyes. I think she had beach-blond hair and teal eyes, but I don’t really remember.”
I only noticed then that Niketa was dressed almost exactly as she was when we first met her, as herself not Lena, in a white dress, blue denim jacket, and the only difference was that she was wearing black knee boots now.
“Why did she go back to Silva?” Niketa asked.
“She was born here, but her parents went back to Silva and she was too young to have much say in it.”
Niketa nodded, apparently not planning on asking more questions.
“By the way,” Kairi chimed in, “Did you two ever kiss last night?”
Cloud and me both sighed, not replying.
We were on dirt roads for a few hours, and Maaya was complaining that her limo was going to get scratches woodsmobileing. I finally sighed and told her all it’d need is a new paint job, and that it’d only cost a few hundred dollars, but her mood didn’t improve. I also pointed out we could of taken motorcycles, which really made her shut up. We reached the monastery around two PM, and we eased to a stop in a huge clearing. I looked though the windows, shocked to see such an elaborate facility.
All the grounds were neatly paved in white stones, amazingly level for being build a few thousand years ago. The center facility was lake a castle, with elaborate gardens of tropical flowers. All the stone was white, as was the castle.
“It must of taken years to do this…” I said, incredulously. “This temple has been here for over a thousand years!”
Cloud has been snoozing, and I scowled and elbowed him to wake him up. After a brief argument about who the lazy one was, we were waiting at the doors of the elaborate shrine. Two monks in long white robes opened the doors, one male and one female they both appeared to be in their thirties. Maaya bowed in the Nohinog fashion to show respect and spoke to then in plain Ragnarokain.
“I’m Maaya Nikoji, this is Akhyia Ragnarok. Is the head monk here?”
“Yes.” The female said, “Please follow me.”
The entrance hall, walls, floors, and ceilings were also made out of white stone. It didn’t look painted, either. The young woman bowed and left us in a large spherical line saying,
“His majesty will be here soon. His advisor will confirm your identities shortly.”
She left the room, and shortly there after an extremely familiar young woman entered the room through the large white doors opposite us. She had Mazarain heritage like Rikku, I guessed from her skin tone.
“I am Maaya Nikoji.” Maaya said, evidently having to repeat the introduction. This is Akhyia Ragnarok, one of the two incarnations of Skyevi. Our companions are Anan Nimbostratus, Rikku Arzifal, and Kaianoreri Ragnarok.”
I wonder how long Maaya has been lying about Kairi’s name…
“So you’re the one,” The priestess said coldly, “That’s to bring the end of this world. Do you plan on invoking End of Time?”
“No.” I replied. “That’s the other incarnation’s job.”
“That’s foolish.” She snapped, “The other incarnation is your enemy. Leaving her to invoke End of Time would be suicide, she’s with Twi-LIGHT. Robert Trenxi would find some way for her body to sustain End of Time, same way he altered your body to hold all the power of Skyevi.”
All of it? That’s impossible!
“You’re the one that didn’t think Skyevi could send the souls aren’t you? Lidine?”
I caught a surprised look in her eyes, but she replaced it instantly with her cold and level gaze saying,
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Normal people aren’t reincarnated.”
“Is the head priest here?”
“He’ll be here shortly.” She down at Kairi, who was looking at Lidine from behind my legs, “Is she your daughter?”
I resisted the temptation to tell her ‘Hell no!’ and replied calmly,
“No.”
“But she’s part of the Ragnarokain line. How are you related?”
“She’s Akiko Ragnarok’s daughter.” I replied firmly. Lidine looked genuinely disgusted asking,
“The daughter of Robert Trenxi? She shouldn’t even be here on this sacred ground!”
“If heritage meant so much to everybody,” Cloud cut in, “I doubt there’d be any elected leaders for countries.”
She redirected her glare to Cloud asking,
“And exactly why are you here? You’re not part of the Ragnarokain bloodline, or any other imperial bloodline. Are you anything more than a soldier? And shouldn’t the incarnation of Skyevi be able to protect herself?”
“That is enough.” An elderly man said, as the large white doors opened again. He looked to be in his seventies, or older, attired in the uniform white robes of the shrine smiled at me saying,
“It is good to see you. I never thought I’d see the heroine of this world.” He bowed, to Lidine’s horror who instantly snapped,
“Master! These people are the ones that should be bowing! Don’t disgrace yourself!”
“Calm yourself, Lidine.” He said putting his hand on her shoulder. “You are yet too young and know too little of Lady Skyevi to know the significance of this day. Every relic that falls into the hands of Lady Akhyia is the same as if Skyevi herself were collecting them again.”
Lidine hurried out of the room to join the other apprentices, glaring at my back one last time as the doors behind me closed.
“Please forgive my apprentice’s rudeness.” The priest said, sounding remorseful. “I believe she was reincarnated with the hate for Skyevi the original Lidine had.”
“Reincarnated?” I asked, “But I thought normal people weren’t reincarnated or incarnated.”
“They are not.” He paused, looking at my comrades saying, “I am afraid I cannot continue with these two young women here.”
“Why not?” Rikku asked, jumping to conclusions. “And what about Anan and Kairi? You didn’t mention either of them.”
“The young one is of royal blood.” He replied.
“So what about Anan?” Rikku asked again, sounding exasperated. “Why would he get to stay?”
“Anybody who as associated with incarnations of Gaia should have the right to know of the origins in the blood of their family.”
“Maaya!” Rikku said, evidently hoping for backup. “Are you going to just take this.”
“Let’s go Rikku.” Maaya replied calmly. “If we aren’t supposed to know just yet, we’ll have to wait?”
“But, why does he-”
“Rikku.” Maaya and me chorused, disturbing familiar with the procedure.
“Go with Maaya.” I said firmly.
She sighed, still looking unsatisfied and left with Maaya.
The present nodded, and lead us into the large room he’d come from. It had a roof, help up with large stone pillars elevated more than thirty feet from the ground, and was surrounded by guardians and a fountains.
“Sir, why was Lidine reincarnated?” I asked as he slowly walked toward the alter at the far end of this long hall.
“Evi poisoning comes from those who send too much time around Skyevi or strong sources of her energy, correct?” He asked.
“Yes.” I replied, doing my best to be patient.
“Skyevi is designed to make humans strong, but some people reject her power, it shall kill them swiftly. Gaia is different from Skyevi in that way, for exposure to Gaia’s energy causes Lorcarsa. Gaia was created with the being now called ‘End of Time’. End of Time’s purpose was to create and develop this world, while Gaia’s was to act as a failsafe and destroy it. The third being was to suck all life from the planet and bring it to a new one. Gaia is the force at hand, though.”
“Your holiness,” I interrupted, “If Gaia is a failsafe to destroy the world, why is the name of the planet ‘Gaia’ then? ‘Gaia’ means earth, so shouldn’t that represent life rather than death?”
The priest smiled sadly saying,
“The people of Skyevi’s day misunderstood the meaning of Gaia in ancient text. It said that Gaia was at the core of this planet and would rise if called. They interpreted it to be the center of the planet, not what slept within. It is just like naming a country, don’t you agree?”
“Naming a planet after the end of life…” I muttered, “Ragnarok means doomsday, so did the person that named Ragnarok that know?”
He smiled saying,
“There are many secrets in the Ragnarokain line that weren’t handed down to you, young one. Yes, the first Ragnarok give the country that name as a clue to future generations. You probably would of learned much about all of that if your parents hadn’t met such an untimely fate.”
“Sir, I don’t meant to interrupt again but did Trenxi really gain is power from Skyevi? Surely she’d have some degree of control over him if-”
“I shall answer all your questions, please allow me to continue.” He said calmly. “Skyevi is widely known as the being that is the closest to having the title of a ‘god’, while End of Time is the last conscious fragment of Gaia’s sister entity. Skyevi gained the rank of a ‘god’ by sacrificing all of herself. But you already know of her tale, allow me to explain Gaia. Gaia created minions for herself, three of them. These minions were like living versions of the relics. The two females were named were Alunia, Mayoninla. Gaia, fitting your definition of female, only created one male minion, Reluzera.”
He waited a moment to continue, seeing the shock in my eyes.
“Alunia and Mayoninla both had children, who unlike them could die because of their human fathers. Alunia’s and Mayoninla’s weapons were also enchanted, much like Skyevi’s Sword that you have with you now. I believe you’ll be looking for the Soulslayer next. Reluzera’s intentions were different from those of Alunia and Mayoninla, for he wanted to learn of End of Time when she still had a form. Gaia and the other almighty beings with her agreed that there were too many wars breaking out because of their divine influence.”
“They decided to seal themselves away,” The present continued stopping in front of the pedestal the Infinity Tear rested, “But the heirs of their minions, the children of Alunia and Mayoninla for example, would also feel the effects of their divine mothers being sealed with the gods. Gaia was able to seal herself because of her three minions, who were sealed with her. End of Time was unable to seal herself because her power was too concentrated, so she decided to put her power into five relics and then seal her consciousness away. Those are the only two gods I shall tell you of now, though for they are the only ones who are posing a threat.
“While Gaia sealed herself to the center of the world as the power she had could become the hardest to control, her minions were sealed on the surface as far away from each other as they could be. As you have probably guessed, Reluzera was too close to one of End of Time’s relics. He had been forcefully sealed away by Alunia and Mayoninla when he had been learning more of End of Time. Skyevi found Reluzera deep under Neivila, and had the Infinity Tear with her when she found him. When she touched the ice he was imprisoned in, Infinity Tear in her other hand, he awoke. Reluzera as you can imagine was seeking revenge and they clashed at first, and Skyevi assumed her power was what awakened him and still believes that he absorbed her power, while her power simply resonated with his.
“Whether or not Reluzera ever really loved Skyevi is none of my business, and that is a matter that needs to be settled between them, but Skyevi killed him when his true colors started to show again. Reluzera’s intention from the beginning is to get revenge against Gaia. He intends to resurrect every god he can just to do so.”
“What about Alunia and Mayoninla? And if Reluzera is a minion of Gaia, can he be killed?” I asked, still a little confused by all this.
“Only by Alunia’s sword, the Soulslayer. While Mayoninla agreed to have a child with Reluzera to see if there could be another being like them created without Gaia’s help, Alunia refused him and they clashed many times. Alunia’s resentment of him lay in her sword, hence why you’ll need the Soulslayer.”
“Did Reluzera’s and Mayoninla’s attempt succeed?” I asked.
“I do not know.” The priest replied. “Akhyia, Reluzera had lied to you many times now. Akiko cannot invoke End of Time, only you can. Akiko is an inadequate vessel for a god, it would kill her in short order. But you could invoke End of Time without it having many effects on you and in turn harmonize with Skyevi. You could resurrect the first god, and kill her. Destroying these gods may be harder for you now that you know they have consciousnesses, but it is still something that must be done.”
“If I…” I paused, “Harmonize with Skyevi and End of Time then kill them, how would I survive to kill the other gods?”
“End of Time’s awakening will cause Gaia to stir, as will the death of Reluzera. Awakening Alunia and Mayoninla wouldn’t be far after his death, which shall also speed the awakening of Gaia.”
He lifted the Infinity Tear from its pedestal and handed it to be saying,
“Please be careful, Akhyia. I hope my story has not distracted you from your mission. After you go to Niveldon, but before you continue to Dalmara, please go and find the Soulslayer. It is with Alunia in eastern Silva. I wish you luck. Please stay the night here at this temple.”
I nodded saying,
“Thank you, sir.”
I motioned for Cloud and Kairi to follow me as I turned around to leave, but we stopped when the priest called out,
“Oh, yes and Anan. I forgot to tell you, the only people who are born with Lorcarsa are people who are direct descendants of Alunia or Mayoninla. I am not sure if your mother was a heir of Alunia or Mayoninla but when those two are free their heirs will be able to live normal lives.”
“But, then why don’t I have Lorcarsa?” Cloud asked turning around to face the priest.
“Because you got Evi poisoning when you were young.” I replied, even though I wasn’t addressed.
“Correct.” The priest said, “Skyevi’s power to strengthen the human body was able to combat Lorcarsa nicely, the fact that you’re still alive confirms that.”
“But--wait a second, does that mean I was given Evi poison on purpose?”
“C’mon, Cloud. You’re getting too worked up.”
He took a deep breath and exhaled before following me saying,
“You’d get worked up too if you learned you were an invalid for more than three years on purpose.”
Lidine greeted us with a scowl, and Maaya smiled when I held up the Infinity Tear. Evidently it had been planed we spent the night since a female apprentice offered to show us to our rooms shortly after my conversation with Maaya regarding the Infinity Tear.
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