The sky could not have been bluer. Nor the sun hotter. Even so, a strong sea breeze prevailed so that the temperature was not so unbearable. This is how it was everyday in the small port city of Verca.
“I’m glad I don’t live here.” Said a young man looking out across the village. He stood up on a high cliff overlooking Verca. Cheerfully he turned his back to the village and as he walked swung his small basket back and forth. After a few steps he stopped in front of a bush and stooped down to examine it.
“I knew there would be berries here.” He said happily and began to pick them. However he had not been picking for more than a moment when he heard a rather queer sound. Straitening his shoulders the young man looked up and shouted in surprise. Above him hung a lovely girl suspended in the air. She clutched a beautiful staff that shone as brightly as she did. Her hair floated around her and her strange cloths billowed out from her small form. It was so unearthly the boy could do nothing but stare with his mouth hanging open. Suddenly the girl’s eyes opened and she shouted, obviously as surprised as the boy was that she was hanging in the air. However as soon as she was aware of her condition gravity kicked in and the girl, with a shout, fell down to the ground. Well, she would have fallen down to the ground if the boy had not been under her and made a nice cushion.
After the initial shock, the girl realized she had fallen on some one. Scooting off quickly the girl tried to apologize.
“I-I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” she asked. The boy sat up and shook his head to clear away all the grass that had been lodged into his already messy hair. It was only now that he looked up at her.
“C-Can you understand me?” the girl asked slowly. The boy twitched and scooted away behind a tree, only peeking a small portion of his face out.
“W-Who are you? What are you?” he asked frightened.
“I-I’m a girl. I don’t know what you mean.”
“What do you want?” he asked still obviously scared. The girl thought.
“I’m not sure but… Do you know where I might find a person by the name of Fairien Bayard? I think he’s a warrior.” the young man seemed to think about this a moment, then deciding she posed no threat he came out from behind the tree and stared at her.
“Are you Fairien the warrior?” the girl asked. He laughed at this.
“Do I look like a warrior to you?” he asked. “No. If your looking for a warrior you’ll find them at the castle. At least that’s where I think they’ve all gone.”
“I see.” Said the girl not understanding at all.
“My name is Will Kapino.” He said. “I’m a sailor.” He said pointing behind them down to the boats lined along the coast.
“Ah. It’s nice to meet you.” She said taking the time to study him for the first time. Will had short brown hair that bunched up around his face and head and she thought she could see a ponytail trailing down his back. Will also had crystal like blue eyes, giving his the appearance of innocence and confusion. She supposed maybe the appearance wasn’t far off.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“M-My name?” the girl asked shocked. She blinked trying to recall it. “I-I…” Will looked at her strangely. “I don’t remember it…” she said.
“Well do you know where you’re from?” he asked.
“Well yes. Its completely different from this place though.” The girl said. “It’s another world.”
“How did you get here?” he asked.
“Ah…” she paused not sure if she should tell him everything. He seemed to take the hint and continued on to a different question.
“Well, what am I supposed to call you? ‘Weird Girl’ is kind of a bad label, even though that’s what you are.” He sad. She smiled at this.
“Alright. Call me the Wanderer. That’s what someone called me.”
“The wanderer… All right. Even if it is a little corny I guess we’ll go with that. This is a pretty corny situation anyway. I mean, a girl with partial amnesia falls on me out of no where, yeah I guess this will work…So you need to get to the castle huh? Why do you need to see this Fairien guy anyway? It may be a little hard to get in to see him unless you have a really good reason.” Will said. “Nobles and warriors tend to be that way.”
“Oh… I’m not really sure why I have to see him. I think I’m supposed to deliver a message of some sorts… But I don’t know what it is…” she said. Will shook his head.
“As someone new to this world you sure are unprepared. Hmm… I guess I can take you up to the castle. I don’t have to be back at port for a few days, so I’ve got some time to kill.” He said.
“Oh thank you. Thank you very much.” The wanderer said. Will nodded. He inwardly sighed, knowing he had no choice. This girl wouldn’t get two steps into this world with out a little help.
“Hey, do you know where we are?” she asked.
“…Well, your in the country of Betamy, your kind of in the middle west of the country on the coast. Umm… We’re near the city of Verca there, below us. The castle and capital city of Terrabia is only a few miles away. Anything else?”
“No that’s fine thanks.” She said.
“Alright.
Lets get going. We’ll be to the castle in a few hours. And we’ll see what
happens from there.” Will said.
They traveled through the woods and on small paths from time to time. Will told her that bandits and worst were around and that they needed to be careful and not use certain roads. The wanderer took all this in with a frightened nod. The world was in turmoil. She had known that.
“Everything has gotten a lot tighter around here lately.” Will was saying. “What with the war and all.”
“War?” the wanderer asked.
“Yeah. I don’t guess you know about it huh? Well, this country Betamy and another country Area are the main ones in it right now. Hailia, the country across the ocean, they were once in it allied with Betamy, but they’ve been kind of over run. There are only a few cities left over there and they’re occupied. In fact we sailors make all our money off selling imports to those cities and running Arean barricades. Rather exciting stuff you know.”
“I remember hearing about another country, weren’t there four?” the wanderer asked. Will nodded.
“You must mean Iyokia. It’s hardly a country any more. Its government collapsed about twenty years ago and all the people left. Now its just barren abandoned land that no one wants because of all the plagues and things that are supposed to be up there.”
“Oh.” The wanderer said.
“I’m Iyokian you know.” Will said. “One of the last pure bloods of my generation.”
“Oh. Is that special?”
“Yes.” Will said seeming to be offended. “Anyway, we-” he cut off suddenly and stopped walking, his body going ridged. The wanderer stopped also and looked at him curiously.
“What-?” she began but he raised his hand for silence. His eyes stared blankly ahead seeing nothing, as if he were listening or using some other mysterious sense.
“Get down… Slowly…” he whispered not moving his lips. The wanderer complied. They crouched down in the undergrowth alert to everything around them. The wanderer noted that the birds had stopped singing. Will toyed absently with a strange glove like thing attached to his hand and wound around his fingers.
“There is a small group of men up ahead. I think they may be Areans… You might want to hide your staff.” Will told her quietly. The wanderer who had forgotten about her staff clutched it to her chest.
“How?” she asked. “Its too big to hide…”
“Then it should not be hidden. Something as wonderful and beautiful as that should never be hidden.” Said a voice behind them. Will jerked around crying out in surprise. A tall man stood towering over them. He wore long purple robes and had long back hair tied up neatly under a distinguished looking hat. The authority that emanated from him was so powerful you could almost smell it.
“Now then what are you two doing out here this far from town? Did you get lost?” he asked smiling. Both Will and the wanderer found that they could not move even if they had wanted to. He held their complete attention, mesmerizing them, with a gentle casualness. This man was clearly in charge and knew it.
“My dear, your staff is lovely may I ask how you came by such a toy?” he asked. Unwillingly the wanderer opened her mouth and said,
“It was given to me.”
“Was it?” the man asked. He was completely ignoring Will and had turned his full attention to the wanderer. “Who gave it to you?” the wanderer trembled trying not to speak. The man looked closely at her and smiled gently. “Come now. Don’t be frightened. If you don’t want to tell me that’s fine. Can you tell me your name?”
“T-The wanderer…” she said unable to stay silent. He pauses, obviously puzzled by this answer. His friendliness dropped for a moment as he frowned darkly contemplating something deep within his mind.
“Let me see your staff miss.” He said reaching for it. The wanderer had no choice. She gave it to him. However as soon as the man’s hands touched the staff it dissolved out of his fingers. He jerked back startled by this but even more so he looked disappointed.
“Hmm… Why don’t you both come with me...” He said turning away. Silently Will and the wanderer rose, not by their own accord. They knew that it had not been merely a suggestion.
***************************
Tella de Alarica was not happy. She sat outside in the courtyard on one of the perfectly sculpted benches in the perfectly set landscaping and thought about her perfectly miserable life. Well she reflected, it wasn’t all miserable. Just the things happening in it at the moment.
“Madam?” Tella jumped at the voice off to her left. She knew who it was so she didn’t look up.
“Madam, I’ve brought you some tea and lunch.” The servant said. He waited for a response but got none. He gently set the tray down on the bench next to Tella and sat down next to her.
“Please eat.” He said softly. Tella scowled. The servant sighed and looked at the ground.
“Leave me alone Avery.” She said finally. He stiffened and stared at her.
“He isn’t going to change his mind.” Avery said coldly, “Even if you carry on such disgraceful behavior.” Tella’s eyes flashed angrily at him for this. Avery glared back and rose, his white robes swaying around his small form, and shook his head at her.
“I’m not going to scold you anymore, but I do want to say this. You have to think of this county, not just your own personal problems. We have a war gong on right now. You have to stay focused on that.” Tella grunted and stood up.
“I told you, just leave me alone for a bit. If you want someone to torture with your never ending schedules go talk to Terra, or Terlini. I’m sure they’ll oblige you.” She said and turned her back stalking away. Avery frowned at her.
“Terra and Terlini are not the acting royalty around her. That would be you, princess.” He said. Tella turned and glared at him, obviously abhorring the title he had used for her.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Leave me alone!” Tella shouted and ran into one of the nearby buildings. Avery stopped following her and sighed wearily, tucking a stray hair back behind his shoulder.
“Princess…” he said quietly.
Tella was angry. But not at Avery, not even at her responsibilities that normally plagued her. She was vaguely sorry she had shouted at Avery, but not so much as to even come close to considering an apology. She changed her clothes into something more befitting- pants for once. Oh how she loved them over the awful hot uncomfortable dresses that smothered her spirit. She grabbed her staff and stealth fully climbed out the window, down the vines, into the outer courtyard and into the woods and freedom.
Avery was wrong. She was thinking about the war. And she was handling it.
************************
Will was biding his time. The man was not really concerned with him, he could tell. In fact, Will figured that if he suddenly bolted away and ran as fast as he could he might be able to escape. But if he did that, he would leave the wanderer completely alone to him. Not to mention the few soldiers that the man had picked up along the way. They were Areans, out patrolling the woods, spies within Betamy. The Arean invasion was a slow and causal one. The Arean never traveled in large groups and this made them virtually impossible to track down, especially when they hid in remote parts of the woods. But everyone knew that eventually Betamy would be filled with Areans, and it would fall, just as Hailia was doing now. The Arean strategy had worked there and it would work here as well. Will sighed and tried not to think much gloomy thoughts.
Suddenly shots rang out above them. The man and the soldiers stopped abruptly and looked around widely for where the shots had come from.
“Get our trash!!” someone yelled. The man turned to the men and hurriedly told them something in Arean. Not knowing very much Arean, Will missed what they were saying, but the wanderer apparently had not.
“Someone’s here for us?” she cried out excitedly. “That’s what he said!”
“You know Arean?” Will asked. But the wanderer had no time to answer. The man strode over to her in two steps and grabbed a hold of her shoulders. His lips moved but no sound came out. Will cried out, realizing he was casting some kind of spell. The wanderer froze in fear her eyes wide and her body tense. Another shot rang out and the man was knocked back away from the wanderer. Will, overjoyed tried to grab her hand and drag her away, but the wanderer fell to the ground unconscious. Meanwhile the soldiers that had been fighting off this unknown foe had now seen their leader fallen. With out his authority their order broke down and within minutes they had dispersed, running off into the woods. A girl jumped down from a tree branch and landed in front of the wanderer. Before Will could speak she hissed something at him and fired off more shots in his direction. Will shouted is surprise and pain as one struck him in the arm.
“Get out of here Arean trash or I’ll kill you!” she spat. Will opened his mouth to protest but the girl raised her staff again and Will back off.
“A-Alright just let me-” he tried to say, but the girl lit her staff again preparing to fire shots off at him. With a squeak, Will jumped back and ran into the woods. He felt horrible about leaving the wanderer behind but there wasn’t anything he could do, he reasoned as he ran. Besides, the girl seemed like a nice enough person, even if she had tried to kill him. She had been against the Areans and Will considered that to be a very good quality. He stopped running and decided to start following the girl. Slowly he track his way back to the clearing, wary at first in case that guy had awaken. However, when Will came to the clearing he could see no one there. The leader of the Areans had disappeared, but there was a distinct trail left by the girl. Will smiled as he saw her foot prints heavily indented into the soil. That meant she was carrying something heavy. Something like the wanderer. He began following the trail.
***********************
Tella reached the castle walls fairly quickly, considering the load she had. The girl she had found had looked light, but after a mile or so, the weight seemed to double. Now Tella stood looking up at her window puzzling out how she could get the girl up there. Walking in the front gate was absolutely out of the question. These little secret missions were just that: secret. She shuddered at the thought of the officials finding out. No, Tella had to get this girl up into her room on her own somehow…
“Quite a large kill you’ve made. I didn’t know you brought Areans back to be stuffed and mounted as trophies.” Said someone behind her. Tella turned around startled at the voice. A young man about her age smiled back at her. “That’s a bit morbid if you ask me.” Tella closed her eyes and stuck her nose in the air.
“Well, I didn’t ask you Fairien.” She said, “Besides, this isn’t an Arean. Can’t you see that? She’s she’s…” Tella trailed off and shrugged. “Well, she’s not an Arean. I know that. I found her being taken off by some Areans- lead by that crazy guy, you know, the Arean general Mahito. Well, she got a bit of his magic in her and has been knocked out since.” Tella looked up at her window. “Do you know a way I can get her up there?”
“My my, what Mr. Avery and your sisters would say if they knew of this…” Fairien said smiling.
“Avery would have a heart attack.” Tella said smiling. “Come on, do you know a way to get her up or not?” Fairien smiled.
“Sure. We can use the way I get into to see you at night.” He said. Tella giggled.
“That sounds so dirty.” She said as they moved off toward the inner courtyard secret entrance. Fairien merely smiled.
Fairien had been born into a poor family that lived out in the desert. However, he had no let that stop his ambition and by fifteen he was already a soldier in the royal guard. By eighteen he had accomplished the feat that had made him famous. He had rescued the Betamian Princess who had been taken as a political prisoner to Area when she was very young. This of course was Tella.
Fairien was fairly handsome, with short hair, and a solid build. His also had deep spirited green eyes, which had made him the envy of his colleges. But Tella didn’t really care about all that. She liked his personality and the fact that he didn’t try to make her something she wasn’t. They got along famously and many in Betamy wondered if the lowly, but renowned, warrior wouldn’t end up becoming king someday.
They had laid the wanderer in a small bed pushed in the back of one of Tella’s closets. This was to keep anyone who causally walked in from seeing her. Tella sat down on her real bed and sighed looking up at Fairien.
“You know I’m very angry with you.” She said. He shrugged.
“Aren’t you always?” he asked. Tella growled and glared at him.
“I’m being serious! I heard what you said to the council today. I can’t believe you still want to go off on that crazy stupid suicide quest thingy.” She said. He glanced at her coldly.
“Look whose talking. I don’t object to you running off to cleans the woods at your own great personal risk.”
“That’s because can handle what’s out in the woods Fairien. What your talking about is completely different! Going into Area? Even I draw the line there!” she said. “I don’t understand what this is all about. What do you think you can do down there that we haven’t already tried? Do you want to die?”
“No! I-I just…” Fairien paused and plopped down on the bed beside her. “I guess I can tell you. Well, I better rephrase that. I guess I have to tell you.”
“Get to it, what are you talking about?” Tella demanded. With a sigh Fairien began his short little story.
“Every night, I have a strange dream. It’s very clear, very precise and always exactly the same. Its been going on for nearly a month. It tells me that I must go down to Area, that I have a great purpose there and I must take the chance and leave this place.”
“That’s it?” Tella asked. “You’re basing this thing on a stupid dream?” Fairien glared at her angrily.
“Its not just a stupid dream Tella! Have a little faith in me. This is something deep inside me. I can’t explain it to myself, much less you, but nonetheless it is there... I think maybe this is part of my destiny.”
“Destiny?” Tella said sarcastically. “I can’t believe you believe in something like that. Pre determined fate? That’s stupid Fairien! We run our own lives, we make our own decisions and we pay for our own mistakes.”
“I told you I couldn’t explain it. I can’t defend it either. You could never understand this Tella. I’m sorry.” He said. “… I think the Spirit of the Planet is sending these dreams to me.” Tella paused at this and stared at him.
“The Spirit of the Planet? So you think he determines your fate?” she said skeptically.
“I know you don’t believe in him but…” Fairien trailed off trying to find some way to defend himself.
“I didn’t believe you were serious about this when I first heard. But it was an official statement. And then, it’s you. Yeah… I can believe you would do this, if you get it stuck in your head that this is your fate.” Tella said then raised her voice, “But just what is it you think you can do down there? Are you arrogant enough to think that you alone can end this war somehow? By fighting the hordes, or going to Avrai to make peace, do you think we haven’t tried everything we can?”
“You don’t understand Tella!” Fairien cried angrily, “I pray that I’m not that arrogant… I know what you’ve been through to try and obtain peace, but you…” he stopped angrily and tried to think of the right words, “You can’t understand this. I have to go Tella. If I turn down this chance, even the slightest one that I might improve our country’s future, then how could I live with myself?”
“Don’t be foolish. If you want to improve this countries future, then stay here. You can’t do anything for us if you die.”
“I’m not planning on dying.” Fairien said reluctantly, “Though, I can’t say that isn’t a possibility. But… I’ll take the risk.” Tella closed her mouth and turned away. There would be no reasoning with him. There never was when Fairien got this way.
“You’re selfish.” She said finally. “Do you think you’re the only one taking the risk if you go? Don’t you know how much I…” she stopped and turned her head so he couldn’t see her face. Fairien said nothing a for a moment and they sat in silence.
“Don’t make this harder than it is.” He said quietly.
“Idiot!” Tella shouted at him and stood up. Fairien didn’t respond. Instead he stood up, looked into Tella’s angry eyes and then walked out.
***************************
Will had found his way to the castle and was now pondering what to do. Troubled, he frowned at the high walls around the castle and wondered how and why the girl had brought the wanderer here. The guards had been eyeing him with distaste and nervously shifting their spears glancing at him. One called out to him,
“You there, what business have you here?” he shouted. Will considered what he should say.
“Well, I’m looking for a girl. With blond hair and a braid down her back and she has really weird clothes and- and- um… she was really weird, not all there you know.” The guards looked at each other with lowered eyelids obviously thinking that he was the one not all there. Will grew red in the face, slightly embarrassed and angry.
“No one like that has been here. Now, if you’re wise you’ll leave and find someone else to annoy.” Will wrinkled his nose in anger and plopped down on the ground crossing his legs.
“No thanks I’ll stay here until she comes out.” Again the guards looked at each other.
“If you’re not out of here by sundown we’ll arrest you.”
“Why? You can’t do that. I’m not hurting anything. The area around the castle is public property so I’m not trespassing either.”
“If you don’t leave by sun down your crazy. Don’t you know there are Areans out in these woods. They’ll kill you. If we arrest you it will be for your own good you crazy-”
“Whatever. We’ll see.” Will said and propped his head up in his hands and laid back against the pristine lawn. “Goodnight guys. I’ll feel really safe with you all guarding me.” And with a devious smiled on his lips Will closed his eyes and took a nap.
Two days passed. The guards did not arrest him, telling will that if he was crazy enough to stay out after dark then he deserved what he got and they had no room in the dungeon for him. However, Will met with no trouble form Areans or likewise foes of the forest. This was mainly due to the fact that he climbed a tree every night and stay up keeping watch.
“Why am I here…?” he moaned to himself one night. “She may not even be here… Oh yes she is. I’ve never been wrong in my tracking before. She’s here all right, I’d bet money on it. But then… why hasn’t she come out? Ugg…” he sighed. “Why do these stupid thing always happen to me?”
However his days spent with the guards were not all together unpleasant. He spent many an hour gambling with them, usually winning, and in the process racking up a good sum of money, so his troubles were not completely useless. The guards didn’t mind. The money they lost was a very small amount of their pension and they could easily afford it for a little fun with the crazy guy (as they all referred to Will now). All in all things weren’t as bad as they could have been.
****************************
Meanwhile Fairien had been preparing for his journey to Area and was now ready to leave, despite Tella’s- and virtually everyone else’s- warnings and pleadings.
The girl Tella had found had still not awakened. Apparently she had gotten more of Mahito’s magic in her than they had thought at first. Tella didn’t quite know what to do and the girl might have died from dehydration alone if Avery hadn’t eventually found her. He scolded Tella and questioned her, but Tella would say nothing about where she had found the girl. Getting nothing from Tella, Avery began caring for the girl though not with out glaring at Tella a few times. Avery didn’t know how this girl had gotten here, but he was certain that it was by some mischievous, illegal, or disgraceful way.
Tella planned on meeting Fairien before he left. She really had. But when Avery informed her that he would be leaving soon, Tella said nothing and made to move to go and meet him. Nor did Fairien come to see her.
“You can be so stubborn…” Avery said as he left. “Both of you.” Tella was left alone in her room, watching the mysterious girl breathing softly. It seemed she would recover soon. That was the only good news of the day.
******************************
Will opened his eyes from a brief midmorning nap. The guards had finally grown tired of losing their money to him and had told him to get lost again. Now he sat out alone on the lawn.
A small group of noble looking warriors rode out of the gates on horseback. Will perked up and went to go see them. He didn’t have the slightest idea who these people might be, but he had nothing better to do than gawk at them.
Fairien glanced over to the roughly dressed man who stood staring at them.
“Who is that?” he asked the guard next to him.
“Don’t mind him sir. Just a crazy guy who hangs around. Says he’s waiting for a girl to come out.”
“Really?” Fairien asked suddenly thinking of the girl Tella had found. “Go on ahead a moment. I’d like to speak with him.” Fairien said to the guards around him. They shrugged.
“If you want to waste your time. He is good for a laugh.” And they rode up ahead. Will was quite surprised when one of the men actually stopped and looked at him and began coming toward him. He flinched thinking perhaps this noble would shout insults at him and kick him for his lowborn look. However as the man came closer and Will could see him better, his fears eased. This man didn’t look like the sort that would abuse someone because of their status. The man looked down at him and smiled.
“I heard you were waiting for a girl to show up.” He said. Will blinked in surprise.
“Yes. That’s right.” He said suddenly a little shy.
“Long blond hair and strange clothes?” Fairien asked.
“Yes! That’s her.” Will said.
“My friend is caring for her. She’s still unconscious.” He said. “But its kind of a secret so no one knows about it.”
“Can I go see her?” Will asked. Fairien shrugged.
“I don’t know if they’ll let you in. I’d take you, but I have to leave. I’ll send a guard back to let you in if you want though.”
“Oh! Thank you!” Will said.
“Just say that your there to give the Princess a message.”
“Alright. Who should I say the message is from?” Will asked.
“Fairien Bayard.” He said. “Tell her that I’m sorry... And that she should let you see your friend.”
“Alright.” Will nodded. “Hey, Fairien Bayard. That’s sounds familiar.” Fairien smiled and shrugged shyly tugging the reins of his horse. He didn’t really like being famous.
“Yes. Well, good bye.” He said.
“Good bye, and thank you!” Will called to him as he left. “That was so nice.” Will said to himself. “After all, I’m just a crazy idiot. No reason to help me.” Will stopped as he realized something. “Fairien Bayard… wasn’t that the guy that the wanderer wanted to see?” Will pondered. “Well, he had to go somewhere. I’ll talk to him again maybe when he gets back. I’ll get it all taken care of. Finally.” He smiled. Things were starting to work out.