“Has anyone ever Promised you?”

The strange lights had finally stopped spinning behind Suzume’s eyes. It was something that came and went. Just like the weakness and long periods of sleeping. The girl gave a soft yawn and stretched her arms above her head, curling her wings about her in the comfort of her bed.

Maybe today I’ll feel better. Maybe things will start to improve.

No one could figure out the cause of the girl’s sudden illness. And Suzume would never breathe a word of the dream-state visit that Zeni had granted her… when, despite the Arweinydd’s warning, she had reached a little too close to Lucci. Something had happened during that encounter. Something that had left her body weak and ill. And now the only hope she had was that Lucci would return to her.

I know he didn’t mean to hurt me. And maybe, if I could see him again, he could help me.

She knew that Lucci had left the Inner Realms, though Lady AsaHi had never said why. Suzume always wanted to believe that maybe he was coming to find her. That he would come to take her away from the Dragon Realms. That she could see her friend again and they could be together, just like it used to be. So, the message that had told her that Lucci was travelling had left her torn between fear for Lucci’s safety and hope that one day, she might see him coming through her doorway.

Not that she could get too far on her own anymore. Not after the sickness had taken her strength away. Suzume had rarely left her room, and only then with support of an adult or a Dragon that was kindly enough to take her outside for a little while.

I hate being stuck here. I hate being sick. I want to know what is happening. I want to know that Lucci is okay!

All she could rely upon were the sporadic letters that came, written in Lady AsaHi’s gentle handwriting. The words were cushioned with hope and support and always a kindly voice. Suzume appreciated that someone took the time out to remember her and to give her what news there was… but the letters never fully answered her burning questions. And often left her with more flights of fancy than she had before.

It had been a long time since she had heard from Zeni, as well. But that was how the Arweinydd tended to be. Sometimes she would be there for a long period of time. And sometimes she would vanish for a while. Suzume always knew that Zeni was very busy, travelling back and forth between Wyndor and Ceiswyr. Still, she looked forward to the visits.

“Good morning, Suzume?”

A voice greeted her through her sleepy haze. But it wasn’t the voice of Zeni. Or of Lucci. Instead, the winged girl looked up into the cheerful, welcomed face of Aunt SaRa.

“Good morning, Aunt Sara!” she replied quickly. It was always nice to see the motherly woman. Something about her always reminded Suzume of home. On the Islands. When she had been strong and healthy and happier.

“I brought you some broth. Do you think you can get some in you?” the winged woman smiled gently, holding up a small tray for her to see.

Suzume nodded up and down. Some days she wasn’t hungry at all. But some days she was. And this happened to be one of them. Quickly, she took the tray and bowl into her lap and with some help from Aunt SaRa, managed to spoon it into her mouth.

As the girl was eating, the winged woman began to tidy the room, only pausing when she reached the side table. Laying there were a number of letters that Suzume had received over the course of the time at Wyndor. The girl never liked to leave them far away. Reading and re-reading them kept her hopes up.

“You have a lot of letters, I see?” Aunt SaRa commented with arched eyebrows.

“They’re from Lucci. Or Lady AsaHi,” the girl replied, pausing in mid-soupslurp.

“That’s nice. Has Lucci been writing to you then?”

“Yes… he did. Before he got sick. And before he left the Islands,” Suzume answered, lowering the spoon. Her face must have looked troubled because the winged woman reached over and gave her shoulder a quiet squeeze.

“You and Lucci are really good friends, aren’t you?”

Suzume nodded, repeating something she had heard grownups say before, “We’ve Promised!”

“Promised?” Aunt SaRa laughed lightly. “Are friendships so serious in young ones now days that they are Promised so soon?”

The winged girl blinked up with a puzzled expression at Aunt Sara’s reaction. Of course, she had heard the term “Promised” before, used between the grownups… but she didn’t completely understand what it meant. She only knew it was something special between a girl and a boy who were usually best friends – like Lady AsaHi and Master SoYa.

Then something occurred to her. “Aunt SaRa?”

“Hmmm?” the winged woman was back to straightening up the room. Not that it needed a lot of straightening.

“Has anyone ever Promised you?”

Aunt SaRa paused, in a funny way that made Suzume all the more curious. Sunlight shifted through the windows, falling around the woman’s winged form and tracing the motion of the curtains as they moved. After a long moment, she shook her head very slowly. “No. I’ve never been Promised.”

“Oh…” the girl furrowed her brow. Then she asked, “Did you want to be ever?”

The response to that was a soft laugh. But it was a forced sort of laugh. The kind that grownups had when thinking of something sad and not wanting to let it show, “Child… child… Suzume-child. Promising is for those who are in love. Deep love. For a very long time. It’s a Promise that says that one day, two people will be Bonded together in that love, until the end of days.”

Suzume’s mouth grew round with awe, pondering the vastness of the idea.

Together until the end of days? That would mean that Lucci would never go away again?

Aunt SaRa shook out the sheets, seeming content in the answer that she had given the girl. Or just reluctant to offer anything more.

But that would mean I’d have to fall in love with Lucci..? And he would have to fall in love with me. I wonder how I could make him do that.

The thought prompted her next question, “Did you ever fall in love?”

If Aunt Sara fell in love… maybe she will tell me how to do it?

“Well, now, aren’t you a bag of twenty questions today?” the winged woman pushed a stray lock of hair out of her face. Avoiding the answer.

The girl knew that when grownups avoided answering things, it usually meant they were trying to hide something. Or they were afraid of facing the truth of the answer for themselves. So Suzume tried a different approach, “But, Aunt SaRa… you’re so pretty. Some boy must have liked you?”

I wish I had pretty hair and wings just like Aunt SaRa. Not like the ugly black I have now. Maybe Lucci won’t fall in love with me because I’m not pretty enough…

The woman paused, letting out a half sigh. She folded a stray shirt and put it up on the shelf before speaking again. “Things aren’t always as easy as falling in love and having a nice boy like you back.”

“They’re not?” Suzume’s wings drooped.

“Things sometimes… get in the way,” Aunt SaRa spoke slowly. She looked like she was picking her words carefully, like she didn’t want to say too much. But it was obvious that she had a lot of deep experience with this sort of situation. And no matter how hard she tried to keep the warning tone out of her voice, it lingered there… a gentle concern for the dark haired girl and the choices she had ahead of herself.

But all of these things Suzume overlooked completely in her curiosity. “But if you love a boy and he loves you… why is there a problem? Why would you let other things get in the way?”

It doesn’t make a lot of sense why grownups have to make things so overly complicated.

“Because his first duty is to serving his people and his Patron,” the winged woman answered, turning to peer out of the window. “Ever since I’ve known him, it’s one thing in this world that has given him some sense of purpose. I’m just not sure that, even if he does care for me, I can compete with his nature. He is a warrior… that’s simply who he is.”

He’s a warrior? A warrior… a warrior… who could he be?

Suzume’s mouth opened a bit at the wealth of information – far more than she had ever thought she could get. Her mind spun, trying to piece together everything to learn the identity of Aunt SaRa’s secret crush. But nothing came to her.

I need more information. I wonder who she likes!

After a moment, Suzume tilted her head and asked, “Have you ever told him that you liked him?”

“Well…”

There was a long pause. All the while, the girl watched expectantly. Silently. She had learned that if she sat and looked at someone long enough, usually they would find an answer. Finally, Aunt SaRa seemed to decide on her words and spoke again.

“No, I never have,” she said, smoothing out the front of her dress.

“Why…?”

“Because I didn’t feel it was fair to him to make him choose between me and his duty,” the winged woman replied, slowly turning around. Then she reached down and took the half-empty, forgotten bowl of broth from the girl’s hands and placed it on the tray on the table.

Suzume frowned and itched her nose. Then she said, “What if he’s too shy to tell you how he feels and he’s waiting for you to say it to him first?”

“Shy? Kudak–” Aunt SaRa’s face suddenly paled, realizing she had given herself away.

Kudako?? Was that what she was going to say?

Suzume started to open her mouth, but the winged woman looked in a bit of a fluster. She waved both of her hands at the girl in a kindly but embarrassed way, “Now see here. You shouldn’t be prying where you don’t belong Suzume-child. I have laundry to fold and supper to tend to. You had best behave yourself!”

“Yes, Aunt SaRa,” the girl replied, covering her mouth to hide the smile that crossed her face.

Is Aunt SaRa in love with Master Kudako?

Images of the blue-haired Dragon warrior and the small, demure winged woman danced through her child-mind. Strangely enough, it wasn’t all that hard to make the imaginary Kudako and the imaginary Aunt SaRa reach out and hold hands, much in the way that she and Lucci used to.

With a hitch of her skirts and no further word, the winged woman bustled out of the room. She was so flustered that she forgot to take the tray with her. Once Aunt SaRa was gone, Suzume couldn’t hold in her laughter. Peals of quiet giggles escaped her. And only one thing ran through her head…

Aunt SaRaYa luvs Master KudakoRe!

here stood a man and a woman who, much to Lucci’s surprise, both bore the white hair and green eyes of the people of the Inner Realm.

As the darkness began to sift away, things didn’t feel at all like Lucci would have expected them to. Afterall, the last thing he could remember was the clash of steel and magic as Master TsuYa and KoGuRai met in the center of the Cynosure. The shouts of battle and the pressure of darkness closing in on them from the outside. And the rush of fear as Lucci gave into the voices in his head – all of which had told him to run. To get away.

And that’s what he had done. One of the scripted tiles of the chamber had lit up in a tall pillar of white. Seeing the opening, he had leapt through. There had been no thought of what he would find on the other side. No thought to whether the light was something safe to jump through. Simply a wild lunge into the unknown. Followed by silence. Darkness. And now waking.

A strange, lulling sound rose and fell in his ears. It was a distant woosh and swish of something vast and immeasurable. At first, Lucci wondered if it was a strange sort of wind or a rising storm. But as his senses became clearer, he realized it was the sound of moving water. A lot of water.

Lucci pushed himself up on his palms, a warm clear light streaming down through the windows into his opening eyes. A soft breeze trickled through the parted curtains, sending them waving in a white welcome. Moist fingers of air stroked past his face and through his hair, carrying the strange smell of brine.

Where am I?

The youth’s silver eyes flitted back and forth to observe his surroundings, completely unknown to him. He was in a small room with smooth, curved walls of pinkish-white. Rainbows of light seemed to dance over the stone surface as he moved his head. And though it wasn’t completely the same as his room in the Compound back on Ceiswyr, it was close enough to send a pang of homesickness through him.

For a moment, he simply sat there, hands gathering up the soft light blue bedcovers between his fingers. Sat there in a silence that he was unaccustomed to. That’s when he realized…

Where are They?

Once more, his head turned, looking for that which could not be seen, but only felt. The spirit voices. The eyes from the Mists. Even the comforting presence of Kaz. There was nothing.

For once in a very long time, Lucci was alone. And he had no idea why – whether this was good or bad. But it felt really strange to him… strange and somewhat scary. It was the first time he had been so far away from home, in a strange place, without the guidance of his friend.

“Kaz?” Lucci’s voice was creaky in his ears. “Kaz..? Can you hear me? Where are you?”

The answer he got was not one he expected.

He heard the sound of shuffling from the other side of the curtain-door followed by low voices. For the first time, the youth realized that wherever he was, however he got there, he probably wasn’t alone. A tightness gripped his throat at the sound of footsteps drawing nearer causing Lucci to clutch the blankets in a childlike motion. His wide, silver eyes focused on the motion of the curtain as it drew back. He held his breath as not one, but two faces materialized from the other side.

There stood a man and a woman who, much to Lucci’s surprise, both bore the white hair and green eyes of the people of the Inner Realm. An arch of feathered wings rose from their shoulders, marking them as Lord Zemi’s people. And just for a moment, the youth wondered if he had somehow been transported back to the Islands after all.

“Well, now… look who is finally awake. Hello world!” the man said with a wide, welcoming smile.

He sidestepped to allow the woman to peer through the doorway beside him… where they both blinked, watching him with great interest and expectation. There was a kindly sound to the man’s voice and an honest, friendly expression on his face… despite the fact that he was wearing the strangest face-decoration that Lucci had ever seen.

When the youth glanced over at the woman, he realized that she, too, wore a similar face decoration. Round and flat, it was as if two circles of clear glass sat within wire frames, balanced on her small nose. It gave her the look of strong intelligence, even as she pushed the straying waves of blue-white hair out of her eyes to smile at him.

“You must have had a long trip?” her tone was also welcoming. And her voice resonated in his mind with a strange, tingling feeling – something that Lucci had only felt in few other people before.

The youth nodded, fighting to reclaim his voice from the depths of uncertainty.

“Would you like something to eat? Or to drink?” the man followed up. “Don’t be shy? Whatever you need, just let us know.”

“Wat…er?” Lucci finally managed to croak.

“There you go. That wasn’t so hard, was it?” the woman smiled. She turned her words towards the man as she walked back out through the curtain to the other room. “I’ll fix him something. Just check him over.”

“Of course… of course…” the man waved her away with a droll sigh. Then he turned his attention back to the youth, adjusting his face decoration’s position on his nose. Before Lucci knew what was happening, he had pulled out a strange, slender object and was sticking it in his ear. “Do you feel any signs of dizziness?”

Lucci puzzled for a moment, knowing better than to shake his head with something poking in his ear. “No..?”

“Nausea?”

The youth didn’t know what that meant. But now the strange object was being held up to his eye. He realized that the man was using it to inspect him… but he wasn’t exactly sure why.

“Upset stomach?” the man clarified.

“No…”

“Headache?” The object now was looking up his nose.

“No, sir… I’m okay. I just need water. Really?”

“Open your mouth and say ‘ahhh’ for me,” the man intoned.

“Ahhhhhhh–?” Lucci did as he was instructed. Sure enough, the object was poked into there, too.

“Just like that. Good,” he nodded to himself, seeming to be pleased with what he saw. Then he pulled out another object, which was round, flat and made of some sort of silvery metal. This he placed against Lucci’s neck. “You can close your mouth now, son.”

Lucci did as he was told. Just before the device went down the front of his shirt, pressed against his chest. The youth squirmed and almost laughed – the metal was cool and surprisingly ticklish.

The man laughed along with a cheerful quip and told him, “Hold still, now. I’m listening to your heartbeat.”

“My heartbeat? Why?” Lucci found his interest peaked.

“Well, to make sure that you’re not hurt or sick,” the man answered with a smile.

“Oh..?” Lucci paused, mulling over the thought. It was the first time that a stranger – especially one of the winged people – had seemed so concerned with his health.

Maybe he doesn’t know yet… that I’m the Bane. Maybe that’s a good thing.

“Everything looks good here,” the man finally said, putting away his strange devices. “Did you get plenty of sleep?”

Lucci nodded. He found himself nodding a lot in response to the man’s somewhat eccentric, but friendly manner.

“Excellent. Now just relax. Maru will have that water for you shortly… and probably some good perth-broth, too,” the man winked over the rim of his face decoration. “That sounds good, doesn’t it?”

Lucci nodded again. Even though he wasn’t quite sure what the man was talking about. There was just something in the way he spoke that put the youth at ease… an easiness that was very much genuine. After not having seen a friendly face for so long, Lucci found himself drawn to the room full of smiles, welcomes and good will.

“Your name is Lucci, right?” the man asked, obviously knowing the answer already. Before the youth could respond, the man continued on, talking to himself in a genial manner. “Lord Zemi told me that you’d be a boy… but you certainly don’t look like a boy to me. Unless they grow kids taller in Ceiswyr now days? You can never tell anymore, I suppose, with all of the hodgepodge going on up there.”

Though the last statement was spoken with a chuckling-quip, Lucci couldn’t help but cringe.

He knows who I am? He knows Lord Zemi… and he knows about Ceiswyr? Then for sure… he knows I’m the Bane.

The woman came back through the curtain with a tray balanced between her hands. She offered a coaxing smile. And before Lucci knew it, all thoughts of worry had flown straight out of his head.

“He’s a scatter-brained lout, Lucci. Don’t let him fret you,” she said, as if knowing exactly what the youth had been thinking. “He’s not even socially apt enough to introduce himself before presuming other people’s names.”

“Huh? Oh?” the man gave a startled look. Then a wide grin.

The woman placed the tray on the little night stand next to the bed. “Either that, or he just has this delusion of grandeur that everyone already knows his name.”

“Don’t they?” came the quip.

“Maybe in your own little world,” she teased and kissed him light on the cheek.

Lucci found himself flushing. But smiling, too, in a peculiar sort of way.

“You ARE in the presence of greatness, Lucci!” the man chortled and gave a low bow, spreading his arms as he did. “I am known as NaDoTu – Scientist… Inventor… Seeker of Higher Truths! And you have arrived at Shellab 1.0… the utmost important locale of the Vision Stone project!”

Scientist..?

The youth’s face boggled. Though, again, he didn’t understand much of what was being said to him, it all sounded very big and important.

“And this is my beautiful wife,” the man reached over, hooked one arm around the woman’s waist and pulled her next to him, “KiMaRuTu.”

“Just Maru is fine,” she added quickly. “You’re going to overwhelm the boy, NaDo.”

He gave another laugh as she playfully pushed away, her palms braced on his chest. Maru then turned back to Lucci, putting a spoon and napkin on the tray and motioning for him to eat.

Despite being in strange company, when the smell of the broth reached his senses, Lucci realized he was very hungry. Any manners that had been impressed upon him in his youth had been erased during the long weeks of traveling out on his own. Added to the ravenous appetite, he had soon finished off the small loaf of bread and the whole bowl of soup, face hopeful for more.

“Nothing wrong with his appetite, that’s for sure,” NaDo laughed.

“Not for his size… I wasn’t thinking about that. I suppose I miscalculated?” Maru rubbed her head, then gave Lucci a wink. “Just hold on and I’ll get you some more?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the youth replied, this time remember his manners.

As Maru shuffled back out of the room, NaDo was already filling in the void with cheerful chatter — most of which Lucci didn’t really understand. But the feeling of friendly company and real conversation overrode his confusion. It was nice to be with people again, away from the pressing eyes of the spirits and the twisty world of the Mists.

I’ll have to remember to ask him why… this place seems to block Them. Nowhere else, not even Lord Zemi’s Islands, have ever had that effect.

Just then, Lucci noticed another shape appear on the other side of the curtain. A much smaller shape, followed by a pair of curious, large green eyes. The shape didn’t make a sound… nor did it attempt to come through the curtain. But Lucci could sense it there… and the strange tingling feeling that it caused in the back of his head – somewhat like the feeling that Maru gave him.

The feeling… it’s a lot like… Master SoYa?

“Oh!” NaDo broke off in mid-word, seeming to notice the shape as well. With a flutter of wings, the man walked over to the doorway and pushed aside the curtain, peering down. “Someone’s gotten out again, hasn’t he?”

Lucci couldn’t see past the folds of the curtain, but he could hear the soft protests of a child’s voice as NaDo reached down and scooped up the smaller shape.

“You’re supposed to be down for a nap, little mister!” the man scolded gently, before poking his head back through the curtain to Lucci. “Excuse me a moment. I have to put my wandering child back to bed.”

And just like that, the Seeker of Higher Truths was gone, nothing more than a retreating shadow on the other side of the curtain.

Lucci’s mouth was open with a reply he never got to speak. Instead, he blinked around the now-quiet room, his mind sorting out the strange and interesting turn of events. Already there was a calm, warm feeling moving through his body as good food, warm blankets and a safe place had already begun to work wonders. For the first time in a long time, he felt like he didn’t have to run. That he had arrived somewhere… even if it was a strange place with unusual people.

I think I like it here…

“Come on. Just admit it. You’ve lost LuShi’s trail?” TsuYa crossed his arms with an annoyed scowl.

An ocean stretched out before them, as far as TsuYa’s eyes could see.

I’m pretty sure that’s what it is… though I’ve never seen the ocean before.

Afterall, the Inner Realms was a completely land locked area. It had no access to bodies of water larger than Lake Tawelu, and even that was a solid two day’s travel from Nefol during the good season.

It’s hard to believe something this large actually exists.

Water without end, shifting in white-flecked wavetops. The scent of moist salt was strange and exhilarating to his acute senses. The sight took his breath away. It made him feel very small.  More than ever, it told him that in having stepped through the rift, they were now truly far, far from home.

Zazo shook out her fur, nose pointed down into the sand. She gave a snort as she roamed in circles, leaving not so much as a ripple in the grey waters where she passed. Finally, after a short bit of time, she returned to the group, her expression unreadable.

“So?” TsuYa prompted.

-I don’t know.- Came the answer. It wasn’t the answer he had been looking for.

“What do you mean you don’t know? We did take the right Rift, didn’t we?” TsuYa groaned, leaning back against a tall hole-pitted stone with a look of disgruntled frustration.

-Yes. Unless you’re suggesting that Zemi sent us in the wrong direction?- Zazo flipped her tail back and forth in similar agitation. Looking just as unhappy about trotting through the dark wet sand, she lifted her paws and shook them out, one at a time.

“Well, who knows? He did just change the game plan in the middle of the chase,” the warrior jabbed his finger towards the giant wolf’s muzzle. “I thought you told me that you could never lose a scent?”

-Never…  IS a pretty strong word?-

“Come on. Just admit it. You’ve lost LuShi’s trail?” TsuYa crossed his arms with an annoyed scowl.

Which means we’re stuck out here without any direction at all…

-Are you accusing me of getting us lost? Aren’t you the supposed leader of this expedition?- The She Wolf loomed over the warrior in return, fur bristling.

“Yeah, but you’re the one that’s supposed to be able to sense the Sygnus. Not me?” he stretched his hands out in protest.

“Ugh! We’re getting’ nowhere with ya two pitchin’ a ‘ollar all day long!” JouKa stomped between them, scattering sand wherever she went. “I should ‘ave known better than to follow a bonehead know-it-all!”

“Excuse me?” TsuYa sneered.

“Don’t talk to me!” the girl sneered back. “I ‘ave nothin’ to say to ya!”

“Because of what… KoGuRai? Still?”

“Yes, KoGuRai. Still!” JouKa grated, looking like she wanted nothing more than to plant a slap across his face.

“Are you stupid?” his voice lifted in irritation, “Can’t you see he’s our enemy? He’s one of them?”

“Yeah… well… then what are ya?” the girl retorted back at him with a steely look.

TsuYa opened his mouth, face growing a bit pale. After the last battle with KoGuRai… with the way he had held out and sometimes matched the Marked Champion’s power… he found himself hard pressed to answer the question. And somewhat afraid to know the answer.

JouKa gave him a cold and relentless look of expectation. Her hands were planted firmly on her hips. Any sympathy or friendship that he had won from her over the last year seemed to have been completely wiped away… all with that one swing of his scythe.

“Pardon me?” Aur’s quiet voice carried over the rise and fall of ocean waves in the distance. Somehow, he always managed to turn irate attention away from arguments and back to the situation at hand. “It seems as if the boy-Sygnus was carried away.”

The others peered over at where Aur crouched, hands spread outwards as he studied the marks in the sand. No longer needing the speed of his lion shape, he had returned to his normal form.

Not to be shown up by a mere Watcher, Zazo shoved her way over to him. -Yes. Of course he was. I knew that. But that doesn’t change the fact that we don’t know where he’s been taken to?-

“There is still a way we can follow him,” the golden-eyed man replied, straightening. One hand lifted in an expressionless motion, somewhere to the east.

“Wait…” TsuYa pushed past JouKa’s scowl, focusing on the direction Aur was pointing. It was hard to believe that the Watcher would indicate something so substantial without something real to back it up. The warrior gave a puzzled frown. “How do you know?”

“I have sensed this energy before,” came the quiet reply. “From flying ships that visited the researchers in the Spiral.”

“Flyin’ ship?” JouKa echoed, walking closer as well. “What do ya mean?”

“They are hard to describe,” Aur answered. His hands moved, as if trying to draw a shape in the air to help communicate the picture. “It’s a large machine… with wings. It’s made of a light metal and can fly. I have seen the researchers use it to transport materials and people.”

“Why would anyone want to use a machine to fly? What when we’ve all got wings or Dragons?” the girl asked with a frown.

“I was under the impression that these researchers came from a place that was quite distant from the Spiral. In that case, a person or Dragon may tire. A machine would not,” he spread his hands, as if it was the easiest thing in the world to grasp. “Besides, it was not just people they brought. As I said, they carried materials and items they were building.”

“Wow… I wonder why Dad never mentioned anything about this?” TsuYa rubbed a hand through his hair.

-Things like that don’t matter to him? ZenToYa is not the most academically minded man in the world,- Zazo snuffed.

“What are you trying to say?” the warrior gave her a put-out frown.

-That he’d probably be more interested in proving he could out-fly the machine than use his head to figure out what good use it could be put to.-

“That’s not true! My father is a brilliant man!”

“There is a reason why certain people are researchers… and other people are great warriors, TsuYa,” Aur offered with a straight face.

“Oh, now you’re siding with her?” he crossed his arms.

“No. I just know your father well enough,” something behind the golden eyes shimmered. Just slightly. The hint of mirth.

“I still don’t get ‘ow this is supposed to help us track down LuShi?” JouKa gave her best unimpressed sniff, lifting her chin in the other direction.

“Well, if you will listen, I will explain,” Aur answered, once again crouching down to look at the marks in the sand. He waved one hand over an area that seemed to have been pressed down by something of a great weight. “If it’s true that one of the flying ships took the boy-Sygnus away, then chances are, he may be in one of Zemi’s research stations. Possibly one located nearby.”

“Great. So you’re saying that Zemi sent us out here after the kid… but instructed him to be picked up by someone else without telling us?” TsuYa’s face grew sour.

“I don’t know,” the golden man shook his head. “But if that was the case, then there must have been a reason for it.”

“Figures,” the warrior grumbled. “So the reason we can’t track LuShi is because he doesn’t have a trail on the ground anymore?”

-No. There’s something else going on here. I wasn’t tracking him by scent, Tsu.- Zazo butted in with narrowed eyes. -I’m not sure how, but it’s as if his presence is being hidden.-

“Zemi?”

-I don’t know. Like you said, it would be awful strange for Zemi to send us out here to help LuShi… and then to hide him from us again?-

“Yeah, well, Zemi doesn’t make sense about 95 percent of the time,” TsuYa shook his head.

“Anyhow,” Aur spoke quietly, trying to coax the conversation back on track, “This doesn’t mean that we’ve lost track of the boy-Sygnus completely.”

-Go on..?-

“I’m not sure what they use to make the machines run… but it has a power source of magical energy,” the hooded eyes lifted, giving Zazo a meaningful look. “A source that has a very apparent energy signature… which makes it rather easy to track down. But only within a certain time period after it passes. Surely you sensed that trail, Lady Zazo?”

-What?- Zazo’s ears perked up, then flopped back again. -Yes! Of course I sensed it! Don’t be silly.-

“Aur!” JouKa pressed her hand together, “Ya’re simply brilliant! Do ya know that?”

The Watcher fell silent, looking at the girl. He seemed not to know how to respond to the compliment at all, therefore, simply did not respond at all.

The girl sighed and suggested, “Ya can say ‘thank ya’ if ya’d like?”

“Ah?” Aur pursed his lips for a moment, then imitated her words, right down to the accent. “Thank ya.”

“And to think…” JouKa muttered under her breath, putting a hand to her forehead, “I was considerin’ ya for the only other sane person in this group.”

“We’re wasting time,” TsuYa’s voice broke into the light exchange. The warrior slung his scythe over his shoulder with a cold, serious pressing of lips. “If that trail is only going to last for a little while, we better follow what we can of it. Fast.”

-True.-

Without another word, or so much as a warning, the huge She Wolf slid up under the warrior, and TsuYa found himself astride Zazo’s back. It had become second nature now – holding the crest of fur along her shoulders. Leaning down against her neck for speed. For a warrior who had very little training in mounted battle, he felt he was doing pretty well in his grasp of wolf-back riding.

Zazo flicked her tail and turned over one shoulder, directing her gaze at Aur. Her tone was teasing as she stressed the first word of her question to him, -ARE you coming?-

The Watcher took one look at her wolfish grin before drawing a deep breath. With one step forward and a feline-like stretch of his body, his form suddenly melted and flowed into the shape of the great golden lion.

TsuYa shuddered.

I’m never going to get used to seeing this sort of stuff.

Aur’s golden form was already plunging ahead, carrying JouKa off over the sand and spray. Zazo launched after them, not to be outdone, leaving nothing but a reflection of her sprint shimmering in the waters below.

As the first of the warriors drove down at him, the Champion rose up to full height, dropping away the robes to expose the wicked black-steel armor and Marked spikes that decorated his form.

“There it is!” came the shout of an accented voice, ringing from between the trees. “Warriors to the front! Quickly, now, boys! Don’t langor!”

Shadows of the night stretched and bowed around KoGuRai, heavy with the feeling of many people hidden among the forest trees. His senses were blurry. It was difficult to remain aware, everything hazy and drowned out by the dull ache that pained his chest and abdomen. The place where TsuYa’s fiery scythe had left its scathing blow.

Even a Marked Champion could bleed to death. This was something he was learning, very quickly. Especially now that he was far away from the Inner Realms… far away from Master Zeromus’ influence and sustenance. He was in the Outterlands and on his own in terms of survival.

I wish I had never gone through that rift. I didn’t have much of a choice… TsuYa’s coming into his own a lot faster than I was told he would.

The large-built, red-haired men of this strange land did not waste much time organizing their defenses. That was something else he was learning, very quickly.

Ingrates. And to think I even left their sniveling little friend alive.

It had been earlier that day when KoGuRai came upon the first sign of establishment in the heavy forest – a road. And eventually, travelling along the road had rewarded him with what he figured was a merchant cart. The situation being as it was, he wasn’t going to pass up any opportunity.

Still, the Champion had only attacked the red-haired traveler out of need to fill his ravenous hunger. At this point, he was hindered by his inability to hunt, due to the gaping wound he bore. Though he had robbed the traveler’s cart of anything edible, he had sent the man off with nothing more intentional than a few clawmarks over his backside.

It’s not my fault the fool nearly acid-burned himself to death trying to attack me.

Things weren’t always pleasant for others when they came in contact with the acidic Marked blood. But in KoGuRai’s experience, they had to learn from their mistakes. Rarely did they take his verbal warnings seriously. So he had given up offering them the heads up.

And now the lynch mob is here. No doubt, to flush out the “monster” in the forest.

As if on cue, a shout rang out. The men rushed down into the shadowy forest, bearing blades and torches of red flames held high. That the Marked had been spotted, he was sure of. How he was going to survive through this, he wasn’t so certain.

KoGuRai gathered up his strength, clasping his naginata between his blood-slicked hands. His senses, blurry as they were, could tell him that he was fairly outnumbered for the poor physical state he was in.

No matter how much he had tried to wrap the slice through his mid-section, nothing he had done could help mend up the wound. Everything – cloth, leaves, and any other sort of natural bandaging material — eventually eroded, ate away by the burning nature of his black blood. He hadn’t found much time to sit idle and keep pressure on the wound to help with its closing. His options were to keep moving or die of starvation.

If it wasn’t for the wound, this fight would be nothing.

All he had to fall back on was intimidation — the natural Marked Fear that he knew he could drive into the hearts of others. He could only hope that enough of the attackers would be turned to allow him to find a way to escape.

As the first of the warriors drove down at him, the Champion rose up to full height, dropping away the robes to expose the wicked black-steel armor and Marked spikes that decorated his form. Huge black wings unfurled from his shoulders, traced with crackling red energies. Dead, black eyes focused on the mob, highlighted only by the red flickers of the torches.

KoGuRai’s head reeled back, his body braced for the pain he knew that would come. He let loose a mind-shattering SCREECH. Instantly, the men closest to him buckled under the impact, floundering as if they had been struck by some great, invisible force. Some of the warriors dropped right there, dazed. Some scrambled back, struck by cold fear at the sight of the Marked Champion. A few broke the ranks and fled into the writhing tree shadows.

Seeing that his tactic to split the crowd had worked more than he could have hoped, KoGuRai sprang forward. Even with the hindrance of the bleeding gash, he knew that his enhanced strength and speed put him head and shoulders above any common village militia man.

You fools come out here to challenge me… to hunt me… to destroy me. You’ve made a fatal mistake thinking you can face me so easily.

The air parted as the scream of KoGuRai’s blade ripped through the chest of the man closest to him. The point burst from the man’s back, sending a sticky red spray in every direction, painting the forest floor red.

There was a mournful moan from the frightened onlookers and sharp barking commands from the one that thought he was in command of the situation. No one was following orders at this point. Terror had been unleashed upon the red-haired men of the Outterlands.

Nothing more than a blur of shadow and blood, KoGuRai spun into the group of men with a dance of deadly chaos. Blade and haft, metal and wood – both ends of his weapon were equally fatal in the hands of one with his strength. He tore through the ranks, leaving men devoid of weapons, limbs and life.

No mercy. No bias.

The pain of his own wound became so distant, so far away. The taste of blood was slick and salty on his lips. His animal hunger became so overpowering. Soon the battle became more than just survival for him –  it became an act of morbid pleasure. A sickly thrill, driven on by the Chaos that rushed through his form. Each swing of his blade seemed to give him new, invigorating power.

KoGuRai found himself caught up in the slaying. Unable to stop…even if he had wanted to.

No words were left in his mind. There was nothing but the sense of pleasure and pain. Nothing but the blurred faces, stricken with sweet horror as he bore down on them.

Then something large struck him from behind, sending him reeling in surprise — something that was certainly far stronger than the men of the Outterlands could be. The Champion whirled around only to be met with a second blow from a lithe, plume-tipped tail. KoGuRai found himself slammed back into the bristly trunk of a nearby tree, caught unaware. A sharp pain from his open wound shot through him, dragging him back to his senses as he crumpled to his knees.

Ugh! What… is that creature?!

More of the creatures came, filling his ears with a high-pitched keen that grated his teeth. KoGuRai couldn’t make out details of the peculiar, looming shapes as they bounded through the wavery firelight. He could only tell that they were large, covered in fur and seemed to be used as mounts for the red-haired men.

The sound of hissing surrounded him as the riders closed in. Sharp commands barked. And before KoGuRai could gather his wits to fight back, he found himself being restrained. His weapon was ripped from his hands. His wrists were lashed and bound in strange-runed cuffs. Instantly, he could feel his strength being sapped from his body.

There was the long piercing scream from one warrior as he got too near the flow of burning black blood that oozed from the Champion’s chest. The red-haired men were more cautious in handling him after that.

Exausted. Drained. Outnumbered. Overpowered. Bleeding freely.

KoGuRai couldn’t summon the strength to resist as the red-haired men dragged him through the shadows of the forests towards the red lights of what seemed to be a village below.

There sat a little boy, not much more than a handful of turns old. He gazed up with large green eyes from under a fluff of wild white hair.

Lucci woke from a deep, warm sleep with a heavy feeling pressing down on his chest. Gasping, the youth attempted to sit up, silvery eyes growing wide as he fought to make sense of where he was and what was happening to him. In a sudden flow of thought, realization came back to him.

That’s right. I’m in my room. Safe at Shellab 1.0. They told me it was best to just rest for another day.

He let out a long breath of relief before his glance fell downwards. The source of the pressure on his chest was now sitting sprawled in his lap, staring up at him in pure wonderment.

“Oh?” Lucci blinked back.

There sat a little boy, not much more than a handful of turns old. He gazed up with large green eyes from under a fluff of wild white hair. But this didn’t surprise Lucci as much as the pair of wings that were folded along the little boy’s back, seeming a bit too large in proportion to so young a child. The feathers bore a peculiar coloration – rather than being pure white, they were a slightly darker shade, with white tips in a diamond shaped pattern.

I didn’t know that children this young could Awaken…

“Hello world?” the child gave a big, innocent smile, as if in response to the thought. As the friendly tingling feeling in the back of Lucci’s mind grew stronger, another realization came to him.

Athrylith!? This boy… and Maru… they’re both Mind Mages?

As if on cue, Lucci could hear the sound of shuffling through the house outside his door curtain… and the call of Maru’s voice. Instantly, the winged boy stiffened, then made a beeline under Lucci’s covers in the bed next to him. All that was left poking out were the diamond-tipped wings.

Lucci blinked once at the giggling little lump under the covers, then once at the door.

Sure enough, Maru pushed aside the curtains with a sigh. She took one look at Lucci and mouthed silently, “Is he in here?”

With a shy smile, the youth motioned to the bedlump next to him. Then he proceeded to watch the rest unfold.

“KiNaTu. I know you’re under there. Come out, this instant!” One hand on her hip accented the command.

Giggling came from under the covers.

“Are you going to make me come over there?”

The fluffy white head poked out, followed by an innocent grin.

“KiNa. It’s your nap time.”

“I can sleep here?” the little boy replied.

“No, you’re going back to your bed and leaving poor Lucci alone. I bet you woke him up, didn’t you?” Maru crossed her arms.

“He has weird dreams,” KiNa intoned with a serious look.

“That doesn’t mean you should sneak into someone’s bed? How many times has Daddy told you to stop watching other people’s dreams?” she sighed and walked over with her arms outstretched.

“Aww… Mommy! I’m not tired!” the child protested and burrowed back under the cover quickly.

Just as quickly, Maru’s hand went straight under, fishing like an expert. “Nap time is nap time, KiNa!”

There was a bit of a struggle and a little wing flapping, but finally she managed to pull the boy out from his blanket fortress. His face was decidedly unhappy, and he proceeded to try every trick in the book, “Please!!! I don’t want to go back to bed!”

“I know that. But you still have half an hour.”

“But, I love you, Mommy?” big, innocent eyes. Already working with a suggestive charm.

“I love you too, KiNa. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s still nap time.” Mind Mage mother, unmoved.

“Awww! But, I want to fly!” his bottom lip curled.

Mind Mage pouting. It was so potent that even Lucci began to take pity on the child. “Ma’am… he wasn’t bothering me too much in here?”

“That’s very kind of you, Lucci,” Maru turned her smile towards him. “But he’s got to learn that when it’s nap time, he must stay put.”

“What’s going on in here?” NaDo poked his head in with a frown.

“Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!!” KiNa reached his hands out.

“He slipped out again,” Maru sighed, giving her husband a long look. “I thought you said you were going to put an end to it?”

“Yes well… I’m working on it?” he winced a bit, taking the child in his arms.

“Daddy, I wanna fly with you? Please?”

“Now, KiNa… you heard your mother. It’s nap time. If you can promise to stay in your bed for the rest of the time, we can go out flying afterwards,” NaDo intoned, carrying the boy back down the hall again.

“You promise?”

“Of course I do.”

“We didn’t fly yesterday?”

“We’ll fly today. Just get through nap time first?”

Lucci watched as their voices trailed off, becoming fainter. Then he glanced over at Maru. “He is your son?”

She sighed, “He’s been quite the handful ever since his wings grew in.”

“I… didn’t know that children that young could Awaken?” he asked.

“Neither did we, honestly,” Maru pushed up her face decoration with one finger and fixed her hair back in place. “Even Lord Zemi seemed a little surprise. But I suppose he’s one of the first children born from two people who were already Awakened?”

“Oh…? Was he born… with wings?” Lucci blinked.

“No… no…” she laughed softly. “Thankfully not. He’s had them for a few months now. It figures that where most mothers have to worry about children teething… I have to worry about mine winging.”

“Is it so bad?”

“It’s impossible to keep him on the ground. We’ve tried everything… even a leash!” Maru crossed her arms and leaned back. “The child is everywhere. He’s completely obsessed with flying. I’m really not sure what to do with him. I hope he will eventually grow out of it.”

“And he’s an Athrylith,” Lucci added. “Like you?”

This time she did pause, glancing at him with an upraised eyebrow. “So you can tell?”

“I’ve… uh…” he found himself at a loss to explain, “I’ve had experience with Mind Mages before. I kinda know what they feel like.”

“I see…” her voice held a hint of concern, though she worked to keep it level.

“Don’t worry,” Lucci lifted his hands. “I won’t tell anyone. I know that Athrylith don’t like to be known about.”

Maru took in a long breath, looking at Lucci from over the two glass discs of her face decoration. Then, finally, she nodded with pursed lips.

“Alright,” NaDo announced, walking in without further warning. “I think this time, we’ve got him in bed for good.”

“Are you sure?” Maru turned, as if not even alarmed by his sudden appearance.

“One can never be sure with this child,” he answered with a sly grin, “He takes after his mother?”

“Oh! Blame it on me?!” she gave him a teasing slap on the shoulder.

“You’re the one that loves to fly?”

“Yes. But you’re the one that gets these crazy fixations on things.”

“Perhaps… but that’s why you love me?” NaDo offered his best beaming grin.

Maru sighed and looped her arms around his shoulder, hanging from him for a moment. “You’re just being bad in front of poor Lucci. Look, he’s so confused?”

Lucci did have a puzzled look on his face, he realized. But it wasn’t for a bad reason.

Never had he really seen a family unit at work like this – his whole life was built around a very different family structure. One where people were always struggling… sometimes not accepted… always uncertain of where they stood with each other. To see the way these people lived and how close they were to each other was vastly different from the lives of the people on Ceiswyr.

He didn’t know how to voice these thoughts. So he simply shook his head, “I’m fine. Really?”

“You sure?” NaDo asked.

“Yessir,” Lucci replied quickly.

“Are you fine enough to join us for a real supper tonight?” he rubbed his hands together. “I’ve got this great shrimmpy dish that I think you’ll absolutely love, Lucci. Have you ever tried shrimp before?”

“Uh… no?”

“No. Of course not. You’re all missing out soooo much stuck in the Inner Realms! No idea what real fish tastes like!”

Maru rolled her eyes, “He’s so certain that if we imported this stuff back home that we’d make a fortune.”

“It would work, I tell you!” NaDo gave a quip. “People back home would love it!”

“We have a battle to win back there, first?” she reminded him.

He paused. “Of course. But then, after that?”

“Lucci,” Maru gave him a droll look, “Just accept his invitation before he hurts himself trying to persuade you.”

“That’s not fair, dear. The boy needs to make up his own mind?”

By this time, Lucci was grinning from ear to ear. “No… no… I’d love to try your shrimp, Master NaDo.”

“Hah! Hah!!” the man laughed warmly as he sauntered his way out of the room. “MASTER NaDo! I like the sound of that!”

Maru just shook her head and followed. “I better make sure he doesn’t light anything on fire. I’ll call you when supper is ready. Okay, Lucci?”

The youth just nodded as he watched her leave the room. Then he leaned back, feeling comfortable and warm in his bed… and wondered what exactly a shrimp was.

“That’s it,” the deep, golden voice told him. “Relax.”

TsuYa knelt down at the edge of the stream, dipped his fingers in the cooling water and splashed it over his face. The Outterlands were a lot more humid than the Inner Realms had ever been. Because it really didn’t suit his style to be sticky and sweaty all the time, it was nice when they had voted to take a pause to rest.

They had been travelling hard for most of the day, but just as they knew would happen, the trail left by the flying ship had eventually faded into the passage of time. With that final frustration hanging over their heads, they found a quiet place next to a stream where they could regroup and try to figure out what to do next.

Zazo seems to think there’s some way of getting in touch with Zemi, even way out here. I hope she does it soon… the longer this takes us, the further Lucci could be getting away.

He shook his head out, white hair dripping in his face.

I sure hope the kid is okay… wherever he ends up.

Itching at a spot on one shoulder, TsuYa gave a grumble. It was another bug bite. They had discovered quickly that the insects that infested the humid forest areas near the beach were far more aggressive… and far larger… than the ones back home. Already, he had numerous itchy spots along his legs… though he had no idea how they had managed to bite through the cloth of his pants.

At least Aur knows something to make the sting go away. He seems to be a lot more resourceful out here than I could have imagined… considering he was originally a giant lion.

TsuYa stripped down his coat, glad to be rid of the extra heat. He then worked down the buttons on his shirt, opening the collar with a sigh of relief. There was no getting around it anymore — the coat would just have to come off. It was just too hot there.

As he opened his shirt to inspect the bite on his shoulder, the warrior’s eyes flickered over his reflection in the water. What he saw there froze him to the core, a low, gasping breath choking its way from between his teeth. At first he wanted to write it off as a trick of light and shadow. But the longer he stared at the reflection, the more unwavering the image was.

No… I don’t believe it…!

One hand lifted, fingers shaking, to touch his chest, under his shirt. He had lived over the past year and a half with the small, irregular patch of grey skin, which had shown no sign of change for a very long time. Ever since Aur had given him the medallion that was to help contain and cure him. But now, as TsuYa stared down, he could see that the dark spot had grown to the size of his spread-open palm, stretching across one side of his upper torso.

“No… no…” his face reflected down, panic-stricken. With a quick snap of his wrist, TsuYa clamped his shirt front closed and fell back in a sprawl away from the water.

It wasn’t like this… just the other day! I know it wasn’t! How could it have spread so quickly!

With no thought for the pressing heat, he threw his coat back around his shoulders. As if covering it and covering it again could blot it out. Drive it away from mind and body.

Think! Think! There has to be a reason for this!

His mind had stopped functioning. There was nothing but the frightened drumming of his heartbeat in his chest. A frantic panting breath. His fists gripping the damp soil of the bank.

He didn’t know what to do. Where he should go. If he should tell someone. If he should keep it a secret. Afterall, everyone was pretty familiar with the Marked now… they knew the dangers that the creatures of Zeromus brought. If they were to find out what was happening to him — that somehow, the seal was coming undone…

If I’m becoming one of the Marked… then… they should… they have a right to…

TsuYa choked at the thought of the fate that he would suffer. But he knew without a doubt that he’d rather face death at the end of a companion’s blade than become something dark and terrible that would hunt down his own family and bring their destruction.

“TsuYa…” a quiet voice rumbled his name, like soft thunder somewhere from over his shoulder.

The warrior felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as his body stiffened. A flicker of gold reflected from the surface of the trickling stream. There was little doubt who stood there… but more curiously was the reason why.

“Aur…” TsuYa didn’t turn around. One fist clutched the front of his coat, knuckles turning white and knotted.

Does Aur know? And if he does… what will he do to me?

Much to the warrior’s surprise, the tall man strode over and stooped, crouching next to him in silence. His golden eyes were fixed on the motion of the water before them. Somewhere during their break from travel, the Watcher must have reverted to his normal form… for some reason, he seemed to prefer it to his animal shape.

When he finally spoke, his voice was low and solemn, “I was wondering how long it would be before you realized.”

As the words sank in, it felt like the world was pressing down around his skull. And from the inside a panicky fear bubbled up, threatening to find a way to release itself into the world. Aur knew. Aur knew before he had known, even.

And despite that, Aur has not done anything to me yet..?

That single ripple of thought across the sea of crashing fears was enough for TsuYa to hold on to. A hope that maybe, though things were starting to look bleak, there might still be something left to do. It was doubtful Aur would be wasting his time and energy sitting there if there was nothing left to say.

“That’s it,” the deep, golden voice told him. “Relax.”

Balling and unballing his fists, TsuYa realized that he had nothing but mud in his hands now. With a scowl, he shook them out, and in an effort to keep himself poised, washed them in the cool of the running stream. Anything to keep him from having to look the Watcher in the face.

“No one else knows yet. Your situation is safe with me.”

“Why..?” TsuYa finally found words to say.

“Because. I made a promise to your father,” came the solid, straightforward answer.

“Oh. Yeah. And here I thought you had an overwhelming fondness for me,” the warrior intoned with a heavy sarcasm, shaking his hands out to dry them.

There was silence for a moment. Then a reply, “I am concerned for you as well. Yes.”

TsuYa glanced over, chancing a look in the Watcher’s direction. That was a lot more than the warrior had given the creature credit for… and perhaps the first time that he had heard Aur admit to having feelings for much of anything.

He leaned back, bracing himself for the big question. “So… what’s happening to me?”

Aur’s breath shifted into what sounded almost like a sigh. It seemed as if he was trying to choose his words with caution. His speech came slow and measured, “The seal I have placed on you, through the medallion is weakening.”

“Huuuh?” the sound came out on a rush of air as prickles of fear once again raced over TsuYa’s body. “What do you mean weakening? Why? Is it because we’ve moved outside of the Inner Realm? Is it because I’ve been away from the Islands for so long? Should I think about going back… will that stop it from spreading more? Should I–”

“TsuYa,” the Watcher intoned in a gentle, patient voice.

That’s all it took to silence the young warrior’s verbal stream of conscious thought.

“My protection over you works similar to the way the powers of the Arweinydd work,” Aur told him. “I can only have power if you allow me to.  We have to both want the same thing. In an essence, you have to give me permission to keep the seal working on you. I cannot cast anything over you… if you are not of the same mind. The moment your will changes, my protection fades.”

“But…” TsuYa’s face was completely baffled. “Do you really think I WANT to end up like the Marked? How can you say that I would will something like that to happen? Of course I want your protection… of course I want it sealed away!”

“No, I know you don’t desire to become the Marked,” Aur nodded slowly. “But in times of pressure, it seems that you have desires that are stronger than your fear of falling to the shadows.”

The warrior fell silent, watching the shimmer of the water as it drifted past them. Finally, he shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

“It happens when you fight KoGuRai,” the Watcher stated simply.

“What about it?”

“When you fight KoGuRai… your desire to defeat him is stronger than your fear of the shadows,” Aur explained, lips pressed together with a serious look. “In order to hold your own against him, you have been tapping into the dormant Marked powers that lie within yourself. And every time you do that, my protection over you grows weaker. The medallion you wear takes physical damage… until the point that one day, it will break.”

TsuYa stared at the Watcher, the color draining out of his face.

“If you don’t believe me, look at it for yourself,” the golden-haired man motioned up with one hand.

Swallowing, TsuYa glanced down. With one hand, he carefully raised the medallion that hung around his neck. For the first time, he noticed it – small fissures of light, just tiny hair’s width, running along the surface of the pendant. Though it was hard to see, it was very obvious that the magic contained within was under great pressure. And that it wouldn’t take too much more to cause it to break completely.

Aur must have noticed his hands shaking, for his voice was calming when he spoke next, “It’s not too late, TsuYa. The seal is still in tact. I can recast the magics once we get back to the Inner Realms. And everything will be fine. But…”

TsuYa glanced up quickly. “But..?”

“You cannot allow your anger and thirst to defeat your rival to drive you into reckless battles. You are destroying yourself in doing this,” the Watcher’s frown was grim. “You have to get control over this before it takes control over you. Do you understand what I’m trying to say, TsuYa?”

“Yes…”

“Good,” Aur pushed himself to his feet, peering down with a silent gaze. “I know you have a will that is far more powerful than you could imagine… You can overcome this. Or… you can fall to it. The choice is within your hands. But one way or another, there are people here who are looking to you for guidance and leadership — now that we are far from the Inner Realms, more than ever.”

“I know…” he let out a long breath, feeling the weight of the words heavy on his shoulders.

“Oh, do you?” the Watcher crossed his arms. “Do you know that a leader cannot give away everything in the name of anger and vengeance… no matter what your enemy may have done in the past? These are the dark emotions that the shadows feast on. These are the things that you must avoid.”

TsuYa just sat there with his mouth parted, hanging slightly open, peering at the golden-haired man.

Seeing that his words were met with silence, Aur inquired, “Am I wrong in saying this?”

“No… it’s not that?”

“Then what is the strange expression for?”

“I was just thinking… you’ve been hanging around Dad a little too much. You’re even starting to scold like him,” TsuYa’s eyebrows arched upwards.

The Watcher digested that statement. Then a slight smile traced along his lips. As if for just a moment, he had discovered the tail end of humor and irony.

After sitting and mulling for a short while, the warrior got to his feet and looked up. “So you think I can beat this?”

“I believe that you can do whatever you put your mind to doing, TsuYa. Such is the power of the Earthian peoples… there is so much that can be accomplished if only you would believe it,” Aur responded.

Somehow, the words made TsuYa feel a little better. Just a little. “All I have to do is keep my cool… and get back to the Islands in one piece, then?”

“Basically.”

“Alright… I think I can do that,” the warrior nodded slowly.

“Good… I’m glad to hear that,” Aur turned and began walking back through the forest. “Now, I am going to return to the ladies… as they were exchanging the most frightening glares as I was leaving earlier. I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave them alone together for too long.”

“Yeah, I suppose not,” TsuYa frowned to himself. Then he tilted his head back at the sound of retreating footsteps, “Aur… wait?”

“Hrm?” golden eyes shifted to glance back at him.

“I just wanted to say… thanks… for… being concerned. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have this chance in the first place. I know that. And I didn’t get to thank you before now.”

“Oh?” Aur didn’t seem to know what to say to that. He simply nodded before turning and walking off, “You are always welcome.”

TsuYa sighed and glanced down at his reflection in the water one last time. Then he buttoned his shirt, closed the collar of his coat and fixed his hair before turning and heading back as well.

“I wrote you a poem,” KoGuRai told her, massaging the small of her back between both hands.

They were sitting on the crest of a hill, a place where the tall grass and flowers waved back and forth, shimmering in the dream-sway. The sun filtered down through clouds that would have been impossible for reality to make. Light glowed along the crest of her neck and danced over her long white hair, giving the illusion of a soft flowing waterfall.

They had met there, in their chosen place, as often as they could manage. She would slip away from the protective circle of her Gathering. And he would make excuses to why he needed to travel from the gates on Nefol, under the pretext of finding those who might be potential students of magic. Whether anyone had wizened up to what they were doing, he didn’t know. And if someone did, he wondered if he would care.

Nothing could stop KoGuRai from coming to see her. Not even his father’s disappointed frown… which he was sure that he would earn if this aberrant behavior was discovered. It didn’t matter — he was in love with JouKa.

“I wrote you a poem,” KoGuRai told her, massaging the small of her back between both hands.

“Again?” she gave him a chiding grin. JouKa always seemed to think it was funny that he aspired to be a writer rather than a warrior. But secretly, he could tell that she was flattered.

“Yes… but I seemed to have mis-placed it on the trip here,” he answered with a grave frown.

“Then why did ya tell me about it if yer not gonna to read it ta me?” she wrinkled her nose at him from over her shoulder. “Ya always tell me about these poems I never get ta hear.”

“I don’t know. Because I hoped that it was the thought that counts?” his best winning smile broke across his face.

“You’re such a tease, KoGu,” JouKa huffed and teasingly shrugged his hand off of her back.

“I could give you the gist of what it was about?” he grinned even more. “It proclaimed your beauty and intelligence to sun and the moons and the stars.”

“Is that all?” she pouted playfully, then wrapped her arms around his neck. Leaning back against his chest, she stroked her fingers through his hair.

“Of course not! It was an epyllion that sang your adoration and wonder! Never was there a poem that graced the face of this world, and never will there be one like it again!” KoGuRai spread his arms wide to demonstrate the vastness of it all.

JouKa simply smiled and poked his nose, “And you lost it?”

He sighed.

“So tell me… when are you actually going to write me a real poem?”

“I’m working on it,” he answered truthfully. “I’ve just hit a block lately.”

“Your father again?”

“Always. He just sucks the inspiration right out of the room,” he grumbled making a slurping motion with one hand. “I swear if I hear him rag me one more time for missing practice…”

“You’ll what?” she gave him a knowing smile.

“I don’t know. All I do know is that I just can’t be what he wants me to be. But he can’t let it go,” KoGuRai shook his head. “Anything I attempted to do as a warrior would just amount to me walking in the shadows of the great JinRai. And… that’s just not me.”

“Then what is you?” JouKa tilted her head.

He took the opportunity to plant a soft, searching kiss on her lips. “This is..?”

“You are so melodramatic.” She gave a throaty laugh, but didn’t pull away.

“That’s why you love me?” KoGuRai leaned down, taking the cue to kiss her again. Words at that point, escaped the writer in him… it became a blur of touching, kissing and softly breathed phrases. Emotions… dreams… that faded into the darkness of reality.

As KoGuRai found sensation in his limbs again, he was met with something cold. Hard. Metal. Against his face. The sound of voices floated from the darkness, somewhere above him. Strange voices with thick accents. It took a moment for him to be able to decipher what they were saying. And then he realized, they were talking about him.

“What kind of creature do you think it is?”

“I don’t know… I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“They say the black blood can burn a hole right through your flesh!”

“Aww… that’s not true,” a snort of disbelief.

“It is! I swear it is! I saw it with my own eyes,” another voice protested. “You shoulda seen what it did to Cyril when we were fighting to capture the beast! Tore straight through his hand!”

“Yeah, well, why didn’t they just slaughter the monster out in the forest? Why did they bring this cursed thing back here? It reeks to high heavens!”

“It was the Chief’s orders,” came the answer.

“Has the Chief gotten a good look at it yet?”

“I don’t know,” there was some hesitation.

“I think they’re all worried there might be more of these things out there somewhere. We don’t know where it came from, you know? So they probably figured out that if we could capture it, we could find out what is effective against it… case it has some buddies,” one gruff voice intoned.

“I still don’t think that it’s very smart. Killing it straight out would have given us just as much an answer if you ask me.”

“Well, ain’t no one asking you,” a jeer broke the conversation. “And the Chief wants to see all your ugly faces, right now. So you best break it up and get a move on.”

“Yeah… yeah… whatever.”

“Give a guy a blade and he thinks he can push the whole tribe around,” someone snuffed.

Despite the general sense of annoyance at the orders, senses told KoGuRai that the group of people was dissipating. The voices bantered and grew more distant, leaving a welcomed silence and the sound of a fire crackling somewhere nearby. He tried to lift his head, but the moment he moved, a searing pain rushed through his torso, leaving him immobilized.

“Ugh…” his voice cracked in his ears, hardly sounding like his voice at all. Pain burned through is chest in warning that he was breathing a little too hard.

Where am I…?

This time, he attempted to only move his chin, ever so slightly. Just his eyes, peering over the back of his arm. He didn’t know if it was night time or if his vision was just that blurry and impaired. It was hard to make anything out for the darkness. There were lines of cold shadow that rose up around him on every side. Something in his mind translated them into the metal bars of a cage.

The fools have captured me?

With that thought echoing in his mind, he attempted to push himself up on his palms. But, try as he might, KoGuRai found his body too weak to respond to his demands. He knew that the battle had taken a lot out of him… and that even before the attack, he had lost a lot of blood.

There’s something more to this though.

His fingers felt along the length of his arm, then down around his wrists. There he found that two heavy shackles were clamped tight against his skin. They seemed to be made of a silvery metal that reflected strangely, even in the surrounding darkness. Inspecting them, KoGuRai got the feeling of something drawing inwards… sapping his strength and power. Something that confined him far worse than the bars of a cage could.

They didn’t take any chances with me. Not that I blame them.

The muttering grumble sent another round of pain through his chest. Ignoring the aching, KoGuRai pushed himself into a slump up against the bars. It was hard to see in the darkness, to attempt to make out the damage that had been done to his already battered form.

I’ve just got to think. Think. Think. I’ve been in worse situations before. There’s got to be a way out of this.

For a long time, all he could do was lay there. Every time he attempted to focus on some means to escape, which seemed unlikely already, his mind wandered off in a feverish haze. It wasn’t until he had finally dozed back off that he heard the sound of stirring outside his cage again.

“Be careful,” a warning, female voice spoke. “I heard this was a dangerous one.”

“They’ve got it Locked, right?” a second voice asked.

“I think so. But it’s supposed to be worse than a neidr.”

“Is that possible?”

“It’s just what I heard,” came the reply. Then a low grunt. “Come on, help me with this?”

“Hold on… hold on. I’m coming,” the other voice sighed. “It figures the men go out and drag home these things… and leave them for us to look after!”

KoGuRai stirred at the sound of scuffling. His dark eyes squinted as a pale light filtered down on him, through the bars. He then realized that there had been a dark cloth draped over the outside of his cage, leaving everything in darkness. As the cloth was pulled away, two shadows were outlined against the white of the skyline.

Instantly there was a gaping gasp, “What in the eye of the flamin’ sun!?”

Then a long silence as the shadows stared down at him. He, in turn, attempted to make out their features, beyond simple blobs of darkness. A practiced admirer such as himself could easily identify the curves of a female figure, despite the blur of his vision.

“They weren’t kidding when they said they caught a monster,” one of the shadows whispered to the other after observing him for a moment.

“Yeah, it’s weird. It almost looks like it could have been a man?”

Hearing the first hints of concern to come his way in a long time, KoGuRai struggled to find his voice. Squinting against the light, he managed to hiss a single sound through his dry and swollen throat, “..bright..”

Unfortunately, it didn’t have the effect he had hoped for. One let off a yelping scream, dropping whatever she was carrying and sending things scattering all over. He groaned as the clattering sound rang sharply, paining his acute hearing.

“It talks!” she wailed.

His first instinct was to silence her shout. It probably wasn’t a good idea if the whole village knew that he possessed intelligence above that of the monster they expected him to be. But he couldn’t muster enough strength to do more than wince at the sound.

“Shhhh!!” the second figure hissed, quickly putting a hand over the first’s open mouth. “You’re going to scare it by screaming like that!”

“Scare it? You’ve got to be kidding? Look at that thing!”

KoGuRai tried to appear as unassuming as possible. He could tell by their frowns that he wasn’t being very successful. As his dark eyes began to adjust to the light, he could make out the wary faces of two young women that stared back at him.

Wow…

They were dressed in short-cropped clothing – far less covering than the girls back home would wear. One had braided, shoulder-length reddish-gold hair and the other had a shock of crimson that fell straight down her back in a tie. They both bore exotic blue-violet colored eyes and sun-freckled faces, well tanned by time spent on the warm balmy beaches.

At least if I have to be a prisoner here… the girls are pretty…?

“I think it’s watching us?” said the red-gold.

“I wonder if it can understand what we’re saying?” the other swallowed, not looking too comfortable at the thought.

KoGuRai attempted to respond, but it came out as nothing more than a long groan.

“I think he’s trying to say something?”

“Be careful,” warned the first. “Just because it can talk doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous?”

“He’s in a cage. I’ll be fine,” she replied, leaning closer to the bars. It was obvious that she was working very hard to hold her poise, coming so close to him. “Hello..?”

KoGuRai weakly raised two fingers.

“Did you see that?” the girl turned to her companion. “I really think he understands!”

“Well, ask him something?” the other didn’t look too certain.

“Okay… um…” she turned her blue-violet eyes back to the cage. “You look pretty sick. Is there something we can get for you? Do you need something?”

KoGuRai opened his mouth, a hissing sound spouting from between his lips. At first, this seemed to alarm his two onlookers, until they realized he was trying to respond. Finally, he managed to rasp, “…food… water…”

The two looked at each other, then back at KoGuRai.

“We’ve got food and water right here,” one of the girls spoke. “I’m going to put it through the bars of your cage… don’t you move, now. No coming after me when I put it down. Alright?”

He gave the slightest of nods.

She seemed to be content with his response because both of the girls crouched down to pick up the things that were dropped earlier. Apparently they were the ones that were charged to bring him his meal and water. Somewhat skittish, the girl left the bowls there, just on the other side of the bars. It took a bit of effort on his part to reach them, but when he did, the water felt so good along his swollen throat.

“What should we do?” one of the girls asked, watching KoGuRai gulp down the meal. “Do you think there’s been a mistake? Maybe he’s not a monster after all?”

“I don’t know. I think we should talk to my brother and see what he says…” the other replied.

“Yeah, maybe. I wouldn’t put it past those blasted men to lock something up before they knew what it really was,” she scowled darkly.

KoGuRai listened as they talked for a while longer, discussing the proper way of dealing with things. Though the food wasn’t the best he had ever eaten, it was far more than he had been able to get in a while. And it was possible, with time and rest, that he could heal up enough to be functional once more.

The Marked Champion hid the slight fanged smile as he watched the two girls walk away. His chances for escape had just increased exponentially.

“I’m making Shellab 2.0!”

Walking through the halls of the Tu Family home for the first time, Lucci soon discovered why NaDo called it the “Shellab”. Funny enough – that’s exactly what it was. The whole structure was actually built inside of the hollowed-out heart of a giant set of shells. The walls sloped and spiraled, shimmering along with the blush of pale coral that sent rainbows scattering as he turned his head. The doorways and windows had been carved out of the smooth white bone, often covered with shining curtains that swayed back and forth with the distant ocean breeze.

At least, I think that’s where the wind is coming from.

Maru had told him all about the great ocean that lay just on the other side of the forests. And how the shell that they lived in was once the house for some vast, ancient creature that walked the ocean floor. What it had looked like, Lucci didn’t know. But the whole idea of giant creatures living in giant sea-lakes left him excited and curious to know more.

NaDo said that he’d take me to see it soon. I can’t wait!

Lucci’s silver eyes shimmered as he came around the corner, following Maru’s calm and sure step. There before him was the dinning table, stretched out with all sorts of wonderful smelling food. The table and chairs were all made from the same sort of shell material, carved by a steady hand into its current form. Designs of shell-shapes and sea stars were drawn into the smooth white surface, obviously a labor of great art and love.

The meal was also an artistic wonder. Plates of colorful flat and curled meats lay upon large gold-green tropical leaves, sprinkled with strange colorful fruits and slim grey-shells. Lucci had never smelled anything quite like it.

“Hey Lucci! So you finally got up?” NaDo exclaimed from the other room, which looked to be the kitchen. He stuck his head out, dressed in a white apron, his face powdered with spots of cooking dough and grease. “Good thing. KiNa was about to eat it all!”

Lucci peered over at where the young winged child already sat, in some sort of raised-up chair made to help him reach the table. Obviously, the little boy had already been helping himself to the foods there, and was now building a little wall out of the plate of grey-shells that someone had left too close to his hands.

“You just take a seat,” Maru told him, leading him to the table. “I’ll get the drinks.”

Excited, Lucci sat down in one of the small white chairs as she strode towards the kitchen. Along the way, she brushed a hand through her son’s wild white hair and gently chided him to behave.

KiNa simply gave a big, winning smile and continued to pile more grey-shells on his plate.

After a short time, Lucci spoke to the little boy, curiously, “What are you making?”

The winged child paused in his construction, peering quizzically over the top at the silver-haired youth. Then he proclaimed, grandiosely, “I’m making Shellab 2.0!”

“Oh?” Lucci intoned with interest. It didn’t really look like the Shellab. But he thought it was probably polite not to inform the little boy of this fact.

“What a superb Shellab it is, too, KiNa,” NaDo grinned as he brought a big bowl of steaming soup and placed it on the table. “The boy is going to be a great maker one day! Just like his father!”

“Like his mother,” Maru corrected, putting the drinks down on the table with a glance over her face decoration.

A clattering sound rang out through the room as one misplaced grey-shell caused the child’s creation to topple and scatter across the table in pieces. KiNa stared at it with wide eyes, echoing a tone of voice that he must have heard many times in the past, “Oops?”

“You’re right. Like his father,” Maru retracted with a sweet smile, reaching over and picking up some of the wayward shells.

“Nah! Nah!” NaDo gave a quipping laugh and put his arm around her, “Just like US.”

She teased him, wiggling a shell in his face before shrugging out of his embrace and finally sitting at the table.

Then it was time to eat. Plates were passed, Maru dishing a little bit of everything on Lucci’s, telling him to test things and discover what he liked best. She added with a warm smile, “NaDo might be a little shaky at some things, but he is a fairly good cook.”

Eating supper with the Tu Family was both a joy and an adventure. Lucci took the plate with relish and began to dig into everything in sight. He found a lot of strange tastes and textures, was surprised when some things still came with legs or tails attached, and had his trials in actually cracking open the grey-shells to find the meat that was hidden within.

As they ate, NaDo excitedly ran over the headlines for the day – updates on his studies, the new and unusual sort of sea-creature he thought he had found… and what he would decide to name his discovery, the things that were swept up on shore after the storms of last week — the list of strange and interesting things he brought to the table was endless. All the while, KiNa made a mess of himself while his parents sat rapt, discussing things together.

Lucci smiled. There was a warmth there in the room. And it didn’t all come from the meal.

After a while, NaDo leaned back, pushing away a finished plate. He arched one eyebrow at where Lucci sat, observing with a hint of a smile, “Someone must have really liked my cooking?”

Embarrassed, the youth looked around him at finished bowls and trays of missing food. In listening to all the stories and interesting things, Lucci hadn’t realized how much he had really helped himself to… or how hungry he must have really been.

“It’s okay,” Maru smiled, too. “Food is made for eating. I’d rather see you enjoy it than let it go to waste.”

“It was very good..?” Lucci rubbed his head with a sheepish look.

“See! Now don’t you think I could make millions if I took this back to the Inner Realms! Tell me the truth, Lucci!” NaDo gave a toothy grin.

His wife threw a napkin in his face with a huff.

KiNa thought it was the most hilarious thing he had seen all day and broke into a round of giggling quips. That’s when his mother noticed the mess that he had made.

“Excuse me, but I’ve got to clean up your son,” Maru got up with a wrinkled nose.

“MY son? Why is he always my son when he’s messy?”

“Take a guess?” she grinned, going back to the kitchen with finished plates in hand.

“Ahhh… women…” the winged man sighed and shrugged over at silver-haired youth. Then he leaned forward with a teasing look. “Do you have a girl back home, Lucci?”

“Well…” Lucci paused. His mind drifted back to Suzume for a moment. And he realized it was the first time in too long that he had thought about her.

I wonder if she’s okay… If she’s worried because I ran away?

NaDo sat quietly, hands propping up his chin, just watching for the answer.

“I have a friend who is really special to me. But I haven’t seen her in a long time. Not since they Migrated the people off the Islands,” the youth glanced up.

“Yes… I had heard about that,” the scientist’s face grew uncharacteristically serious. “I know things are rough right now in the Inner Realms. We haven’t had a lot of contact back there in longer that I’d like. And I’ve been checking with the teams in the Spiral most every week.”

“Oh?” Lucci’s tone was surprised. It was the last thing he had thought to hear mentioned. “There are people like you in the Spiral?”

“That’s right,” Maru came back in with a damp cloth. She captured her son’s messy hands and began to clean them. “Once the Spiral was opened to us, we sent teams of researchers in to that area. Partly to try and find a way to reverse the neural chips that were embedded in the people. And partly because of the Creature that was discovered there on the first expedition in.”

Does she mean Aur…?

“We’ve been out here at the Shellab for a good while longer. So we transport materials and information — that sort of thing — to the teams in the Spiral. It’s where we get most of our news,” NaDo frowned. “But with the battles going on, news hasn’t come. What I’ve heard from Lord Zemi has been pretty scarce as well.”

“You can talk to Lord Zemi from out here?” Lucci asked.

“Sometimes. Though it seems difficult for him,” NaDo answered, leaning back in his chair. “He did tell us that you had been sent out this way… and to keep an eye out for you. That’s how I took a good guess at who you were, when I found you on the beach. And why I brought you back here.”

The youth felt himself stiffen, a rush of fear flash through his body. Before he knew what he was saying, sounds spilled out of his mouth, “Then you do know what I am?”

“What you are?” Maru echoed with an arch of her eyebrows.

“Uh… I…” Lucci found himself at a loss for what to say, backed into a corner by his own words. He stared at the family who stared back at him, his throat tightening.

They’ve been so nice to me… but if they knew that I was the Bane, would they hate me like all the other winged people?

“Lucci?” NaDo encouraged with a soft voice.

But they deserve the truth… after all they’ve given me. I shouldn’t lie to them. Not about something like this.

But before he could say anything more, Maru offered, “We know you’re a Sygnus, yes?”

The youth sat back in his chair, napkin falling from his hand. He peered at them from behind the curtain of silver hair, face frightened. “I’m the Sygnus… I’m the… Bane…”

“Ah..?” NaDo replied, as if being informed of something that didn’t quite convince him.

“You don’t believe me?” Lucci swallowed, sweaty palms gripping the arms of his chair tighter and tighter. The last thing he wanted to do was try to persuade these kind people that he was marked to be their future destroyer and bringer of all that was evil.

“We’ve heard this Bane talk,” NaDo answered, tilting his head. Then he waved one hand through the air in a wide gesture. “But there’s no proof that the Bane really exists, much less that you are the Bane. And until there’s empirical proof, all it can be is a hypothesis.”

Lucci didn’t know exactly what that meant. Though it was difficult for him to take his eyes from the plate in front of him, when he did glance up, he could tell that the way that they watched him hadn’t changed. Not one bit.

“You don’t think I’m the Bane?” the youth asked. The same question, but a different way.

“I can’t answer one way or another about that, Lucci,” the winged man answered. “All I know is what I’ve seen with you while you’re here. Until something proves different, I will believe what I have seen.”

Lucci sat there, head down in shame. Something curdled in the pit of his stomach, sending a sour taste up his throat into his mouth. It was all he could do to keep his hands from shaking where they remained gripping the arms of his chair. His secret was out, even if they knew it all before he told them. It was still very hard to face them now.

Much to his shock and surprise, Maru suddenly got up, walking over to him and wrapping her arms around his head. “Poor… poor boy. Who has filled your heart with so much worry? You carry the fear of the Bane with you all of the time… don’t you?”

The youth nodded, feeling tears rising in his eyes. Lucci had never cried about it before. He promised himself that he wouldn’t, no matter what people said to him. No matter how cruel people were. No matter how much they hated him. Because they had a reason to hate him — he was the Sygnus. He was fated to take everything from them… to destroy all that they loved. And all that he loved as well.

I deserve their bitterness.

But as Maru stroked her fingers through his hair, offering soft, reassuring words, the tingle of her mind magery worked to soothe his pain. Try as he wanted to, he couldn’t hold back the anguish any longer. It rushed out of him with a huge sob, his long, lanky arms clinging around the tiny winged woman.

He found himself telling everything… about how much he wanted the people of Ceiswyr to not hate him anymore. How afraid he was that Zeromus, the one that everyone said was his father, would overcome the Islands with his hatred and chaos. And most of all, how terrifying it was that he was predestined to become everything that he would hate to be.

“I wish I had never been born!” he finally sobbed, hiding his face in her shoulder.

“Lucci… Lucci?” NaDo’s voice was there. “Don’t say that.”

“It’s true!” the youth sniveled. “If all I’m going to do is hurt other people, I wish I wasn’t here.”

Maru glanced up at her husband with an appealing look. Then she took Lucci’s face between her hands. “Lucci, I want you to listen to me. Please?”

The direct tone of the mind mage silenced him, though he continued to fight back tears that threatened to come. Once released, it was hard to stop.

“You’re not hurting anyone right now, are you?” she asked him with a calm look.

He shook his head.

“That’s right. None of this has come to pass. And no matter what people tell you, nothing in life is ever set in stone until it actually happens,” Maru wiped his face with a napkin.

“We know that you’re here to find a way to stop Zeromus,” NaDo added with a nod.

Lucci’s eyes flicked up in surprise.

“We want to help you do that,” the winged man added.

“You… do…?” the youth croaked hoarsely.

“Yes. I don’t know how much good our information can do, but… if you’ll allow us, I think that we can offer you a little bit of direction,” NaDo’s slight smile had returned, seeing he had positive attention.

“Are… you sure… you want to… help a Sygnus?” Lucci swallowed, staring at them incredulously.

“Yes. NaDo and I have already talked about it. A lot,” Maru answered, wiping his face again. “We know what we’re getting into. But we want to help you.”

“Thank… you…” were the only words he could manage to squeak.

Far in the distance, he could make out a soft, blue pillar of light that spiraled from the ground up towards the sky.

“So what do you think?” NaDo’s wings and arms were extended wide, his short hair whipping around in the salty ocean breeze. His smile shown brightly with the great dome of sky as a backdrop. “What a view, eh?”

Lucci found himself struggling for words, caught between the embarrassment of his earlier dinner time outburst and a new discovery that waited ahead. The world stretched below them, vast and wonderful, full of color and life in every direction that he could see.

Beautiful…

To the east, he could make out the endless expanse of the ocean rising to greet the pale horizon line. The sparkle light of the setting sun danced over the caps of white waves that rushed forward and back from the pale strip of white sand. The clouds seem to reflect from the water below as they drifted off into the distance, their bellies touched with the faintest colors of the oncoming twilight.

Multicolored forests swayed in the breeze, sweeping up to hug the base of the Shellab. Trees swam off to the to the horizon line opposite of the ocean, alive with the song of twilight birds and insects. Grasses swayed in soft patches of green and gold between the bustle of the tree canopies. Tropic plants dipped and swung, heavy with bursts of flowers and strange fruits. Somewhere far to the west was the faintest hint of mighty mountains, purpling with the sinking sun.

“Master NaDo…” the youth breathed, slowly turning around and around. So much to take in. All glowing and magical. Seeing this melted away lingering thoughts of sorrow as the fresh ocean air filled him with a renewed hope.

The winged man quipped and stretched his wings one more time before folding them. “I thought you’d like it up here. It’s a great place to sit and just take it all in.”

“Is that the ocean?” Lucci pointed to the sparkling patch of water to the east.

“That’s right? We’ll go check that out if you want, maybe tomorrow?”

“Yes! Yes! I want to see it?”

NaDo returned the excitement with a quiet smile.

Over and over again, Lucci’s silver eyes swept the world around him. They were standing on the observation platform at the very peak of the Shellab. The youth had no idea that the structure was so large… not until they had climbed all the stairs to reach the very top. There had been a lot of stairs. And NaDo had joked all the way up about working off their supper.

Whatever that meant.

As his excitement began to quiet down, something strange caught the corner of Lucci’s eyes. He turned to peer off into the north. Far in the distance, he could make out a soft, blue pillar of light that spiraled from the ground up towards the sky. He realized it was the very same light that made the clouds seem to reflect and shimmer in the way that they did. Squinting, the youth frowned.

I can’t see what the light is coming from? It’s pretty far away.

NaDo just stood and watched him with a knowing look. As if that was the very thing that he was hoping that Lucci would notice.

Encouraged by the hint of expectation, the youth asked, “What is that light, shining up over there?”

“Light?” NaDo inquired, as if that wasn’t what he had expected to hear.

“Yes. There’s a tall stream of light that’s shining up into the sky,” Lucci pointed it out. “Don’t you see it?”

“No… I don’t.” At first, Lucci wondered if NaDo didn’t believe that he was telling the truth. But then the winged man continued, “I won’t doubt whatever you can see there, though. What you are seeing out there is the Vision Stone… and it has ways of touching individuals… differently.”

“Vision Stone?”

“Yes,” NaDo rocked on his heels, folding his hands behind his back. “The Vision Stone is what Maru and I are here to research. We’re hoping that it might be able to help you find what you’re looking for, Lucci.”

The youth opened his mouth, then closed it again, peering over. “What is it?”

“To describe it plainly… it’s a structure located out in the middle of the forest, built of a stone. What kind of stone, don’t know, exactly. Maru and I have never been able to match it with any other sort of rock. We speculate that it was a part of something larger that was built here during the Time Before,” the scientist pursed his lips. “Some people believe it served as a gateway between this land and somewhere else. Some people think that maybe it was just a power source. But whatever it was, it has a lot of effect on those who are mind sensitive.”

“You mean… Athrylith?” the youth looked over.

“Yes.”

“Like Maru and KiNa?” Lucci asked slowly.

“Yes again,” NaDo glanced over. “It’s the reason Maru and I chose this location to study. She can see so much here that I cannot.”

“Like what?”

“I’m not really sure,” he shook his head. “You’ll probably have to ask her. She says that it has a certain protective and mind clearing effect. But it’s far weaker than it was when it was first put here. We’ve found traces of its influence in a far wider radius than it reaches at this point. So it might have been something quite powerful at one time.”

Mind… clearing… effects? I wonder if that’s why They haven’t been here? Maybe the Vision Stone is doing something to keep Them away?

“I don’t think being near it has any sort of bad long-term effect. We’ve been here studying the Stone for decades,” Though Lucci was lost to his thoughts, NaDo seemed not to notice. He simply continued on, “In fact, we really didn’t think a lot about it… not until after KiNa was born. Being a mind mage… he was conceived and raised within the influence of the Vision Stone…”

Lucci turned to give a questioning look.

“Well, he was a sorta unexpected child. So we’re just doing our best to figure everything out as new parents,” he took a deep breath, eyes focusing out towards the north, “But then, he Awakened so early… and he bore strange, diamond markings on his wings.”

“Does it mean something?” the youth asked.

“We really don’t know,” NaDo spread his hands. “Maru says that there’s nothing that’s particularly harmful about it. But whenever you’re dealing with powers from the Time Before… there’s so little we know. So little information.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine?” Lucci offered.

The concerned father shook his head out, the usual, easy smile reappearing. “Yes. Of course he will. He’s my son. He’ll be better than fine! He’ll be great!”

NaDo laughed about it to himself for a little while, before finally falling still again. As much as he wanted to seem cheerful, it wasn’t hard to tell that he took this topic quite seriously. That it was his personal crusade to unlock the secret of the power that the Vision Stone harbored… if not for knowledge’s sake… then to understand what it meant to the future of his son.

When the winged man spoke again, his voice was level and quiet, “Whenever you’re ready, I will take you to the Vision Stone. I’m not sure what you’ll find there… if you’ll find anything at all. But, already, you’re seeing things about it that even Maru hasn’t told me.”

“She never saw the light?” Lucci questioned.

“No. She’s never described a pillar of light coming from it. We document everything.”

“Oh..?” the youth frowned a little. Then he gave a hopeful look. “Master NaDo? If I do see something in the Vision Stone that might help you understand it… I’ll let you document that, too. If you want?”

The light in the winged man’s eyes and true smile rising over his face was more than enough reward for the offer. “Would you really do that for me, Lucci?”

“Of course I would. After everything you’ve done for me… I want to help you, too?”

“Well, that’s very kind of you… but we don’t require any reward. We’re just doing what should be done,” he replied. But there was still a hint of eagerness that couldn’t be overlooked.

“I know that. And I want to do what should be done, too, Master NaDo,” Lucci gave a bright smile in return.

The scientist reached over and clapped his hand on the youth’s shoulder. “You’re a good boy, Lucci. I understand why Lord Zemi wanted to look after you so much.”

“Really..? He did?”

‘Yes. He was pretty worried about you,” NaDo gave the shoulder a slight squeeze. “I know you feel like a lot of people think bad things… but people like Lord Zemi really do care a lot about what happens to you.”

Lucci swallowed down the lump that was rising in his throat. He knew that what the winged man was telling him was true. As he thought about all the people back on the Islands, another hint of homesickness tugged at the back of his mind. And as his silver eyes focused out on the strange pillar of light that rose off in the north, he knew exactly what he had to do in order to protect them.