The Kingdom of Layne
Grief was a strange thing. It often referred to the profound expression of emotions rooted in sorrow, betrayal, and loss. No matter who or what you are, everyone and everything experiences some form of grief.
Sometimes it was as small as losing a toy when you were a child, but sometimes the magnitude was far greater. That stood true for the Crossed Seas guild.
A few days ago, Xerxes Draedon, 'The Executioner,' had met his end in battle, which was nothing more than horrific.
Aya had been a rocket of joy, not letting anyone go without a smile on their face, ambitious enough to make adventurers raise an eyebrow and eager to see the next day forward.
That was the past, though; in the present, she had become a looming lump sum of depression and regret, which could not be shaken with words or actions.
Dorian displayed himself as strong in front of others, but people often acted their most honest behind closed doors. Where nobody was watching.
Dorian was similar to Aya; they were kids after all. They couldn't control emotions and actions that they felt weighed heavy on their shoulders, dragged them down.
Vanessa, the mother of the adventurers, had done as much as she could. She had tried to console the children, she had tried to bury the remains of her child without shedding tears, and she had visited his grave every day since.
Xerxes was gone though, and she couldn't bring him back. There was no strength or magic that could revive the dead, so she decided to set off for something more meaningful.
She set off for answers that could explain why the monsters had ventured so far that day.
As she was getting ready to step out the doors of the guild, Guild Master Tully approached her, "Nessa, how long will it be till we see you again?"
Vanessa inhaled sharply and looked in the direction of The Fallen Kingdom, where her son had died and breathed back in,
"I don't know, Master Tully, what I do know is that I need answers, I need to know why the monsters had travelled as far as they did. The last time this had happened, a war between man and beast had played out."
It was all but true. An irregularity like this could just be something marked off as anamolous, or it could be something that could spiral into an even greater threat not only for one family, but for an entire continent.
Master Tully shut his eyes, reminiscing on all the lives lost, the havoc and chaos that played hand in hand on the battlefield.
Deep down, he knew Vanessa's leaving was the best. What good would it be here? The Crossed Seas guild was serving as a reminder that she had made mistakes and that her son had died.
"Child, I know that you have an important venture, so I won't leave you from it. I'll take care of the kids, and you'd better find some answers, alright, Nessa?"
He opened his arms, with Vanessa pulling in as they had a long, heartfelt embrace before Vanessa decided it was time to go. Guild master Tully had seen her grow up all of her life, from adventurer to a carer, but for some reason, when he looked at her now, he could see the young adventurer she was.
Maybe time was playing its course on the old master, or maybe it was the start of a new adventure, usually beginning with a question or a request that gives some form of finality.
She took some steps away, and two familiar voices called out to her. Her other son, Dorian, had his sword held high in the sky, and he was holding Aya's wrist.
Her eyes were red and held dark circles from a lack of sleep; anyone would be after watching something as harrowing as she had.
Dorian questioned Vanessa, "You think you're going to go without us figuring out what happened too?"
Vanessa's face was swarmed with anger, ready to lecture both of them, but Dorian put out a hand.
"I know what you're going to say. It's going to be too dangerous, but mom, whether it's going on an adventure or sitting in the guild, shouldn't we do it as a family? We've all been spending so much time with each other, and I think..."
He paused, trying to find the right words, "I think that's pushing us all away from the family we should have been. Mom, even though Aya and I need you right now, you also need us, and I don't think that going off on some aimless adventurer is going to do you any justice!"
Vanessa's anger started to subside, tears beginning to fill her eyes. Aya finally decided to speak, her voice cracking with each word.
"Out of us all, I want to know, I want to know so badly that it is tearing at my chest like a blade tugging against my flesh. So let us stop doing what I did. Let us not be foolish and finally start doing things together again. Let us all find out the truth behind what and why Xerxes died."
Vanessa dropped to her knees, holding her face, as the kids started walking towards her. She knew she was acting like a child; it was her own kids who had brought her back to reality.
The reality is that even though one kid was gone, she shouldn't have to push away her others. It was the mistake she was making before, disregarding their needs for one, and she couldn't make that mistake. Vanessa really had become a mess, she thought.
The group all hugged, Tully cracking a warm smile - as they all got the embrace they deserved. Though pain was rooted in them, it could do two things. It could make them sit down and cry, denying reality, or it could make them learn from the pain and move forward. Accepting reality as it is, and changing that for themselves.
That day, they all had decided to change what they had come to know, and so a journey to the Kingdom of Indonyia had begun.
Indonyia was not only the closest but the most suitable place to go to.
Indonyia had all the top-rated instructors and researchers across the entire continent. Not only that, Aya had befriended the woman crazed with science, Umiya and a bland but inviting soon-to-be instructor, Blake.
With a goodbye, they had all left again. Vanessa knew she wanted to be as fast as she could; time was a valuable piece that she couldn't lose.
Deciding it would be better to conceal their appearances, they all wore cloaks that weren't too inconspicuous. This was because the local town had become a barrage of question askers wherever they had gone.
They had also prepared a reasonable amount of potions, food and any other necessity they believed was necessary. Once retrieving all of that, they started to walk towards the Wagon Services, provided by Mr Hilt.
Vanessa was on a limited budget, she didn't want to pay for anything premium, she just wanted efficiency, low cost and a decent enough pace to allow them to arrive as fast as they could to firstly the Eshvir forest.
They hired a rider and a wagon and all had sat in, waiting for their destination to arrive.
Along their journey to the Star Gate at Eshvir Forest, Aya asked Vanessa, "Mother, what is it that you are trying to find? Yes, I know we are searching for answers, but how do we start? Why are we going to Indonyia?"
Vanessa looked out of the window of a wagon that wasn't being controlled by Mr Hilt but by a random horse rider,
"Well, Aya - the last time that there was a great catastrophe, the first thing that adventurers had picked up on was unusual movement in the surroundings of the fallen kingdom."
Aya and Dorian nodded, showing that they understood and urged her to continue. Despite being out of her prime, she still held something that didn't diminish and that was experience and wit.
"Around a decade ago... Initially, there were sightings of beasts going further than they could manage, stretching their journeys a bit too far. Adventurers were issued to go on scouting missions, similar to what you did and eventually an adventurer died similarly to how Xerxes had. Last time this had happened, the person who had discovered it was a mage who had graduated from Indonyia and went on to be a great mage of our continent."
Smiling she spoke his name, "His name was Jeshur Idonis"
The two were instantly in awe at his name being called. Jeshur had become a swordsman revered across the continent, his blade knowing endless techniques, his strength flattening mountains, but even with that great strength, they knew what happened in the war of beast and man.
Many had died across the kingdoms that bordered The Fallen Kingdom, and there were few men left to cheer the success of winning.
Dorian quickly asked, "So are we going to find Jeshur at Indonyia?!"
Vanessa giggled slightly at his outlandish question, "I'm afraid not, Dorian. Jeshur has more important matters that directly correlate with the entire kingdom, not just a small portion of it.
However, I am sure his research was published in the school, Indonyia Magic Academy, and if there is one way to get a hand on it, it's by going to Indonyia and trying to gain as much knowledge as possible to eventually flag this matter, as an issue of higher concern."
Upon hearing the knowledge, Aya had time to reflect on her actions and the severity they held. Could there be another catastrophic event because of her actions, she didn't want that to happen, and she wasn't ready to be accountable for that level of damage.
She wasn't religious; in fact, she hated the idea of religion, but at that moment, if anyone was listening, she was hoping that it wouldn't have to come to that, it wouldn't have to come to a point where there would be more damage caused because of her.
"Oh god of light, Luminare, I call upon your blessing to shield my fate."
**
After a few hours of riding in the wagon, the group had finally arrived back at the Eshvir Forest. It wasn't somewhere they all wanted to be.
Them being there would unleash a tsunami of questions that felt like an interrogation and a sad reminder as to what happened to Xerxes, so they all walked with a low profile.
They all trod through the land, not trying to be noticed and with enough walking, they finally arrived at the Star Gate.
To Dorian and Vanessa, it was ordinary; they had done this many times, but for Aya, it was bittersweet.
Memories of her and Xerxes' promise of travelling through one reigned high as she bit her lip, anger swelling within her.
Vanessa caught the attention of one of the Star Gate guards, and coincidentally, it was Cid Eshvir, otherwise known as Shadowbound. Another Knight, Xerxes and Aya had become friends with.
The visor on his helmet showed determined eyes as he confidently asked the repeated and structured questions he had been ordered to ask.
"Where is it you wish to travel to, and how many people are travelling with you?"
Vanessa spoke in a hushed tone, "There are 3 of us, we are looking to head to Indonyia, how much would you like?"
Without any small talk, he quickly provided an answer, "That will be 15 gold collectively."
Vanessa handed a pouch, but she knew her money was running dry she didn't attempt to bargain a lower price and gave it outright. But it was a reminder that she needed to be as cautious as she could with the money she had remaining.
Cid took a moment when holding the pouch of gold; he weighed it mentally and looked within it to ensure there was the correct amount. He nodded, but in that moment of thought, he looked at Aya.
To Cid, there was something familiar about the cloaked lady; was it her mana signature or something else?
He didn't know, and he wasn't in the position to ask questions, so he swung his arm right and allowed them entry.
They all looked towards each other, taking deep breaths, as Vanessa stepped in, Dorian stepped in, and finally, Aya did.
The sensation wasn't like anything she had felt before, an entanglement of intertwined tendrils of mana began to sway left and right, with her vision being engulfed by a stream of azure and purple hues that only lasted for a moment, and a new feeling had arisen.
A feeling of short-lived emptiness ensued within her body as if she was nothing and as soon as that feeling subsided, she opened her eyes, rays of light drawing down on her face, as she took a step forward.
Vanessa, Dorian and Aya had made it, they looked over the kingdom that looked like it was sculpted by marble at every inch, colourful banners that had liveliness and music stretching as far as it could go swarmed the city.
Aya was taken aback; it wasn't every day she stepped through a Star gate, and it certainly wasn't every day that she saw something this beautiful. She was in the kingdom of magic, art and fashion. Indonyia Kingdom, and they all were ready to start their search for answers.