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Chapter 65: Stories are Lessons
Lanuola was huddled in the center room of the library, having locked it from the inside and realizing it’d be hidden from the invaders from the celebration. Ae had been a part of the party, wanting to support Queen Penina, Princen Keola, and aer brother, but once the Guardian and his followers began attacking in order to get to the Queen and Princen, ae had hid behind one of the large tapestries.
Ae wasn’t a warrior and couldn’t fight, so hiding was the best option and the chaos was to aer advantage. Yet, as Lanuola watched on in horror at how a giant beast broke through the wall of the palace and started tearing down everything in its path, ae felt paralyzed and could only move once the beast exited the palace.
So Lauola swam away to the only place ae felt safe – the library – unsure what to do next.
I was utterly useless…if Pika saw me now, she would have totally scolded me from hiding and asked why I wasn’t by the Queen’s side… I hope the Queen and Princen are okay… If Pika was here, she would totally know what to do…But she isn’t here…
Feeling downcast, ae looked at the books around aer. If there was a solution to this problem, perhaps ae was in the best place to be – hidden inside the enemy’s ranks with the largest collection of knowledge Nan’nalu created. Having aer mind set, Lanuola began aer campaign to take down these invaders.
There were also a couple of observers hidden outside the palace grounds, amidst a rocky terrain that had a wide view of palace and its surroundings - just a pair of reapers tracing the source of the energy shift that affected limbo. Ludovica had ordered Atropos to simply observe and not take action. Their presence was a matter gathering intel so they could strike from the shadows and ultimately restore balance.
As the screams could be heard from the castle, with hundreds of dragons and merfolk escaping, Atropos felt compelled to intervene. Surely, with their powers, they could save some of the innocent there, right?
“You cannot stop them from taking lives. Their stories are unfolding as it was already written. If it we intervened, we’d be only causing more of an imbalance,” Ludovica spoke, seeming to read Atropos’ mind. Atropos squirmed as the screams continued, “How can you just sit back and not doing anything? Doesn’t it bother you to just watch like this?”
Ludovica had a distant look in zir eyes and didn’t speak…at least right away, “Because I tried to change fate, and when I did, I lost everything I loved.” Atropos focused on their mentor, remaining quiet and trying to ignore the distant chaos. Thankfully Atropos’ patience paid off, as Ludovica continued after noticing Atropos’ keen attention, “I loved somebody once, many years ago, and while we were ready to spend our lives together, his was cut short. It was an accident that no one could’ve predicted, and it left me completely heartbroken. I thought, ‘this isn’t fair. He had a whole life left to live!’ And that’s when I discovered by gifts of being a reaper as I searched for his soul.”
At this point, Atropos was able to block out the sounds in the distance and felt transported to a different time as Ludovica’s story unfolded. “I did find him eventually, but…it wasn’t him, not how I remembered him. He was distant and didn’t even notice my presence. ‘He would be back to himself once I brought him back to the living.’ That’s what I told myself and what fueled me to figure out how. Other reapers warned me that carrying out this could cause irreparable harm…I just didn’t listen. How could I when I felt doing so was the right thing to do?”
“And once I figured out how, I finally stole his soul from the afterlife and tried to return him to the living. But there was a problem – to truly bring a soul back from the afterlife, you needed an immense amount of power to ensure that a soul remained intact. I didn’t have that amount of power…I still don’t…” the Guardian was fighting back tears, “I…lost him…forever. Tearing his soul from the afterlife ended up destroying his very existence. I lost him, never to even reunite with him even when I pass…I even lost my powers for a period of time. Helpless…lost…I was at my lowest. Over time, I learned to cope with my grief and vowed to never repeat my same mistake again. And I hope you don’t make the same mistakes I did.”
Ludovica looked hard into Atropos’ eyes, hoping zir story hit a chord. Zi would never had told this story to anyone, but somehow zi knew that if zi didn’t tell them, then they would probably repeat the same tragic story again. Atropos reflected on Ludovica’s words and remained quiet.
Suddenly, a booming sound echoed across the ocean, surprising the pair and drawing their focus towards the palace, but it was the surge of energy that really caught Ludovica’s attention. “That’s the source of the imbalance, I’m sure of it!” zi exclaimed. Sure enough, the cloud of dust cleared, revealing the back half of a giant Undertide that looked like portions of its body were dead and withered.
Atropos recoiled at the sight, “That’s a monster! Is it even alive?” Ludovica nodded, “Somehow, but it’s all wrong. We’ll keep an eye on it from here to understand what we can do.” Then the blood-curdling screams began.
“It’s…murdering seafolk there,” Atropos said quietly, and Ludovica frowned, “Yes, and it’s not their time.” “So do we try to stop it?” they asked their mentor. Ludovica shook zir head, “Stopping a creature like that without knowing its weakness or source of power is a death wish, and we won’t be helping the cause by blinding rushing in. It pains me to wait here, but now is our time to observe. Once we have the tactics we need, we will strike and prevent this unnecessary bloodshed.” So they watched the murderous rampage unfurl, tormented by cruelty of it all.
It would forever haunt Atropos’ dreams.
Since the time that Maevarau and Mele bumped into Ajal, Pleeha, and Clover, they had the chance to spend some time exchanging stories and personal experiences. Even though two of them came from the ocean, two from the skies, and one even from space, somehow there was always a common thread that they could relate to. They became a very odd bunch, but a close-knit one all the same.
During one morning, they were venturing out in some unknown waters, with Ajal and Pleeha scouting ahead from the air, Maevarau bringing the rear in the ocean, and Clover carrying Mele in between. Mele absolutely adored the feeling of flying, squeaking with delight and wiggling as though it was swimming underwater.
“Careful, Mele! I don’t want to drop you,” Clover said, struggling to keep a hold on the excited Undertide, “Well, I guess I could, and you’d turn out fine, but don’t ask me to grab you again!” Mele took Clover’s words in and tried to be less wiggly, but gave a big squeal seeing Ajal and Pleeha flying towards them.
“Back already? We only just set out,” Clover said as they hovered close. One of Pleeha’s heads spoke, “We came across something amazing!” and then the other head spoke, “We’re not sure if it’s something dangerous or not though.” Ajal nodded, “A large ship is heading your way. We saw it and circled a few times before heading back. There seems to be a bunch of active dragons on board, but we couldn’t make out what they were saying with all of the wind.”
Maevarau swam up to the group in the middle of their talk and spoke up, “So why did we stop?” Being filled in by Pleeha, whose heads were excitedly talking over each other, Maevarau voiced an idea, “Wind doesn’t stop me from being able to get close and listen from the hull. Maybe I can make out whether they are friendly or not.”
Mele gave a few clicks, to which Clover translated, “Sounds good to Mele, but it wants to join you. Best to go with a friend rather than alone in case they are not friendly.” Xe looked reluctant, “Are you going to follow my lead? We have to stay hidden. If they’re unfriendly, and they catch you...well, we may not be able to save you if we’re outnumbered.”
Maevarau’s words simply made Mele grumbled and growl, “That’s the whole point. You’re not the boss of me. I can handle myself,” Clover translated and then spoke to the tiny Undertide, “You know, Mele, xe is only looking out for you.”
The Skydancer smiled inwardly,
I guess this is retribution to all of the trouble I caused Pika. Was I always this rebellious? “Okay, then let’s head out. If we take too long, come find us in case we run into any trouble,” Maevarau said, and Mele hopped out of Clover’s hands and into the ocean with a graceful splash.
“And you both keep each other safe. Please don’t do anything reckless,” Ajal said, looking worried, “Remember the pirate ship last week? We were dodging cannon fire while they were chasing us for miles. You both were making a sport of who’d dodge at the last second.” Maevarau looked sheepish, “They were a lousy shot, but you’re right. We’ll take it more serious.”
Mele blew a raspberry at Maevarau and grinned. “You better take it more serious, Mele,” Clover scolded, understanding what the Undertide said but not sharing it. With one final chirp, Mele dove and set out towards the direction of the ship with Maevarau swimming alongside. After a time, they saw a wooden hull pierce the water and noticed an odd opening at its center.
Both curious, they made for the opening and peeked their heads just barely above the surface to peer at what was there. The space was dimly lit, which made them have to wait for their eyes to adjust, but they could still hear the voices of those there.
“...So false alarm? No sea beast to worry about?” said the Mirror who was adorned with steampunk apparel. “Seems so,” said the burly Gaoler, whose fur had bolts of lightning hopping across itself from time to time, “Cap’n didn’t want ye to risk goin’ out if there was a sign o’ danger.”
A parrot on the shoulder of a Spiral, also adorned in steampunk apparel squawked, “Anchors away, matey?” It made everyone in the room laugh. “Aye, matey. Who will ship out today?” asked Ahohako.
Without a word, the Spiral hopped towards the area where Mele and Maevarau hid, alarming them. Thankfully, the Spiral’s destination was the metal egg hanging above, so zi didn’t noticed the submerged pair. “Polly, you stay here. Birds like you can’t swim, ‘member?” zi spoke to its feathered companion. The parrot ruffled its feathers apprehensively, but after a few strokes along its back by the Spiral, it seemed to be appeased and flew off towards the others.
“I guess Zeki will be headin’ out then,” Luca commented, “Just make sure Anuenue gets the next go. We all get a turn in the EGGS.” Zeki gave a thumbs up and then closed the hatch after zi was settled inside. Luca pulled the lever nearby, which caused the ropes to turn and lower the vessel into the water.
Mele and Maevarau dove before the vessel made a splash, and swam a short distance away, opposite of the direction that the vessel was facing. EGGS filled its ballast tanks with water to help it begin its dive while its propeller began to spin. Maevarau and Mele were amazed by it, never seeing anything like it before. However, Maevarau knew xe needed more information, “Mele, I’m going to back to hear what they are doing here. If it seems that they’re friendly, we can go back to the others and let them know.”
Mele nodded, but never let its eyes stray from the vessel. Maevarau sighed and swam back towards the ship, again keeping xer head just barely above the water and peering around the room. The Gaoler and Mirror were still there, but a noble-looking Guardian was with them.
“...Has there been any sign o’ the city or its palace?” asked the Guardian. The Mirror shook his head, “Nothing yet, Cap’n, but we may be close! A few days ago, we saw a particular ruin with stone statues and neglected structures. Definitely seemed ancient, but there was no folk in sight. Perhaps as we continue further, we will stumble across some of the outer parts of that kingdom you keep talking about. What was it called again?”
The Guardian closed its eyes in concentration, “Na...Nan’nalu! I’m sure of it. Penina told me ‘bout ‘er home an’ how she was expected to rule it. I ‘ope she’s still okay. It’s been so long…” and the Guardian’s voice trailed off, sadness and longing emitting from her face.
Maevarau was quite surprised.
A surface dragon that knows of Nan’nalu? And Queen Penina too? This is major! I guess she should be good if we approached her and talked. I don’t think she would expect that Nan’nalu would find her before she found us. I better get back to Mele and then let the others know. And xe dove beneath the surface.
A short distance away, Maevarau was greeted by a comical sight. Mele was sitting on top of the vessel, out of sight of its rider and tapping a corner of the glass. The vessel tried turning in the direction of the tap to find nothing there, which cause Mele to giggle. Maevarau grinned in amusement, but tried to swim around the vessel’s sight to reach Mele.
“Okay, enough of your fun. We have to get back to the others and give them the news. Seems their captain knows of Queen Penina and Nan’nalu!” Maevarau explained. Mele’s eyes grew wide, and it followed Maevarau without hesitation.
Zeki only saw a path of bubbles by the time zi turned to the right direction, “I know I wasn’t losing my mind! Something is out there, and I better let Luca and the Captain know. I hope it isn’t the sea beast that they keep talking about…” and EGGS headed back to the ship.
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Phew, a lot to write here, but I wanted to show how much can happen in a short amount of time. The pieces are falling into place, but how will they all handle how Dakila has Kailani? And isn't there a few others that haven't made an appearance yet? (don't worry, they will...)
