"I'm elated to see everyone here is still blessed with both a healthy body and a healthy mind." Faye stated with a pleased expression on her face.
"Same to you sister Faye." Alexander replied.
"It's been years since our last gathering and you're still the only man among us brother Alex." Treya stated.
"It's not my fault the women in this village have proven to be more competent than us men time and time again. Speaking of which, I believe this is a first for you sister Claire."
"Why yes, thank you all for guiding me these past few years." Claire happily replied.
"Alright sisters and brother, let's address our first topic at hand." Faye suggested.
.....
"Thanks again for making me breakfast." Kaden said as he sat at the table in Mai's dining room.
"You don't have to thank me for this." Mai replied. "Since Elder Aira isn't here, I just wanted someone to keep my company for a bit."
"Where did you say she was going?"
"The Elder's Gathering. All six of the current elders gather in the courtyard to discuss important matters that are currently taking place."
"Shouldn't something like this be a common thing?" Kaden questioned.
"Usually the elders would split up and deal with trivial matters around the village by themselves, or they'll pair up given the difficulty or importance of the task. When there are several major situations happening at once, then that's when you'll normally see an Elder's Gathering get called."
"So, how does one become an Elder?"
"A current seat holder would have to either pass away, or step down from their position. Following that, the remaining Elders would each provide a candidate to fill the empty seat. After that I actually don't know how they decide on who would get the seat."
"I'm guessing you need to be pretty strong to be nominated."
"Not necessarily." Mai stated. "Take Elder Faye for example. She prides herself on her sensory abilities. She infused her own essence into all of the great lakes, that includes this lake that sits above Aestus. This allows her to detect whenever someone or something comes into contact with any of those lakes. She can even identify who that person or thing is if she's met them before. However, the downside for maintaining this ability is that she has a very shallow amount of water essence inside her body. That means she isn't going to contribute much in a fight."
"That sounds tiring." Kaden replied. "Alright now I'm interested. What can the other elders do?"
Mai brought over two plates of food and presented one to Kaden before taking a seat herself.
"Alright. Let's start with elder Aira. She's the most skilled fighter amongst the current Elders. It's mostly thanks to the irregularly large volume of essence in her body. She told me once that she can control hundreds of gallons of water at the same time, but I've yet to see that for myself. Then there's Elder Treya who isn't much of a fighter but can handle herself much better than Elder Faye can. Elder Treya has a unique lie detecting ability which you've seen firsthand."
"I have?" Kaden muttered with food in his mouth.
"Yes, when you first arrived here. I don't fully understand how it works, but I know she directs her own essence inside the bloodstream of whomever she is questioning and then she's able to tell if that person is lying or not."
"That's kind of scary. Can she control blood?"
"Not that I know of. Next is Elder Mildred. Remember how I was trying to make liquid water from the air today?"
"Yup."
"She has a pretty cool application of that same technique. Instead of making liquid water, she saturates the air around her just enough to create a dense mist. Apparently she can cover quite a large area with this mist, and she can track the movements of anyone caught inside."
"Eh, that's kind of boring, next." Kaden replied.
"What do you mean?" Mai asked.
"It's not as impressive as the others to me but I guess it's alright. What about the old man?"
"Elder Alex? To tell you the truth, I don't really know what ability he possesses. He uses a technique that slows down the effects of aging. He's actually one-hundred and twenty years old."
"What?!"
"Yeah, whatever he does he's kept it a secret all this time and it's allowed him to be an Elder for over six decades."
"The old man is essentially ancient..." Kaden stated. "Wait, isn't there six elders?"
"There is. The last one is Elder Claire. She's currently the youngest Elder and she has only occupied her seat for about three years. I don't know much about her so I can't really say anything about her. But, other than that, those are the six current elders of Aestus."
"An intreshing grou to say the leash." Kaden muttered.
"Don't speak with food in your mouth please." Mai replied.
.....
"Moving on." Faye stated.
"I would like to discuss my plans for the lost soul, Kaden Adams." Treya announced. "During me and sister Faye's journey to the Lake of Lazarus, we stopped by the gate of pride. It's activation rune is still intact and it seems to be ready for use. I would like to have Kaden attempt this gate as early as tomorrow."
"That's a very short notice decision." Mildred replied.
"I believe because this gate is close to Aestus, it shouldn't be a problem for him to attempt this as soon as possible. It would also give him an idea of what the other gates will be like."
"You must have quite a bit of faith in the boy if you're already looking forward to the other gates."
"I can't say for sure whether I think he's prepared or not, but I do think there is no downside for him trying this early." Aira stated. "The gate is only an hour away from Lake Aestus, so if it takes him numerous attempts the journey won't be an inconvenience."
"Surely this is something that we shouldn't be encouraging "numerous attempts" for." Faye responded. "From what I know about the gates, I don't think it's a test you want to take multiple times."
"What does the kid want to do?" Claire asked in a calm tone with a smile on her face.
"He wants to begin his journey home." Treya exclaimed.
"Then the decision is made for us." Claire replied.
"Brother Alex, do you have anything to add to this conversation?" Asked Faye.
"Well, it appears to me to that Mr. Adams holds a dense amount of potential inside his person." Alex stated. "Sooner or later I would like to make use of that potential..."
The other five elders responded to Elder Alex's comment with silence. Faye and Mildred seemed intrigued by the statement, while Treya and Aira found it suspicious. Only Claire was confused about the comment and sat there with a neutral smile on her face.
"...It does seem like time is on our side right now, so I think we should follow his current desires." Alex suggested.
Having him undergo this test may also draw out some of that potential. Alex thought to himself.
"Well it seems that the majority of us endorse your decision sister Treya." Faye stated. "Is there anything else anyone would like to add to this current topic?"
"Yes, if I may?" Aira exclaimed. "I would like for Mai Aira to be one of Kaden Adams' escorts. This request is very much selfish, but I would like for her to be exposed to the outside world some more. Furthermore, I believe she is becoming a more reliable asset out in the field."
"I have no issue with that sister." Faye replied.
"I adore that suggestion." Alexander responded with a smile.
"Fine by me." Claire said.
"Since sister Treya will be leading that operation, I believe the decision should belong to her." Mildred stated.
"I would love to have Mai with us." Treya told Aira.
"Thank you sister." Aira replied.
"On to the next issue at hand." Faye stated. "Sources have informed me that Ignus is currently engulfed in a civil war."
The atmosphere within the courtyard became much more serious and tense than it was before.
"Klay Syton, the ruler of Ignus who endorsed the four-way peace agreement among the four great lands has been killed."
"Sister if you don't mind, could you hold out on this topic until the end?" Alexander suggested.
"...Very well." Faye replied. "Then I believe it's time to present what I've brought back to Aestus."
Faye pulled a small stream of water from the fountain and directed it down the stairway.
"As most of you would know by now, myself along with sister Treya left Aestus a few days ago to investigate a disturbance in the Lake of Lazarus. Upon searching the area we came across two individuals, one of which we believe was resurrected inside the lake."
"Oh my." Claire said.
"We detained both of them after a brief scuffle, and brought them back here. I would like to have their trial right now." Faye stated.
"Another interesting event." Alexander said with a grin.
.....
The stream of water swiftly traversed down the staircase where Damien, Ty and fellow guard Marcus were waiting along with Aaron and Via. The water formed an arrow which pointed back towards the Elder's Courtyard.
"Let's go." Damien said to Aaron and Via.
Aaron and Via made their way up the stairs with Damien directly behind them. The stream of water aimlessly flew around them as they ascended the stairs.
"Only speak when you're spoken to up here." Damien stated. "Disrespect will not be tolerated, so choose your words carefully."
"This place means nothing to us." Via said. "We don't have to respect your rules."
"Yes, but I would advise that you do." Damien replied.
The village of Aestus was generally a quiet place with very little disturbances disrupting the peace. However, the Elder's Courtyard was especially peaceful. This one area would be described as the manifestation of serenity.
The air feels different here. Aaron thought to himself.
Finally, they arrived at the summit where they found all six elders awaiting their arrival.
"Good morning esteemed elders." Damien said as he bowed his head.
"Thank you Damien." Faye said. "Would the two of you please step forward."
Aaron hesitantly moved toward the fountain at the center of the courtyard and Via followed behind him.
"What are your names?" Faye asked.
"..."
"We can't help you if you don't cooperate with us." Claire stated.
"Help us?" Via questioned. "You took us away from our home and imprisoned us. How is any of this helping us?!"
"Calm down Via." Aaron said to her.
"Our actions may seem harsh, but you must understand that we are only trying to maintain peace and balance in this land." Faye stated.
"...My name is Aaron Cooper."
Aaron then gestured at Via to give them her name.
"...I'm Via Heder."
Shit I made a mistake in giving them my real name. Aaron thought. I should've let Via introduced us both.
"So Aaron, why were the both of you living in the Redwoods?" Faye asked. "That place is relatively far from any other settlement on the water continent."
"...That is where we were raised." Aaron replied. "Our parents fled from the air continent and came here years ago. We don't know why they never came here, or to any other settlement, but we were fine on our own."
Faye briefly looked over to Treya who then shook her head slightly.
"Where are your parents now?" Mildred asked.
"...Our dad died during the journey here and mom died several years later because of a witch's curse."
"That's terrible." Claire stated in a slight shock.
"So you two were really on your own out there." Faye said.
Via stepped even closer to Aaron and was now seemingly hiding behind hid back.
"So tell me, do either of you know what the Lake of Lazarus is?"
Via gasped a bit while Aaron hesitated to answer.
"...No, what is it?" Aaron replied.
"It's one of the great lakes of this land that's been under the protection of Aestus' Elders for centuries now." Faye answered. "This one in particular has a very unique spiritual ability, essentially it can revive the deceased."
Faye lifted from her seat and walked over to where Aaron was standing.
"Tha- that's an interesting lake you guys just have laying around." Aaron said.
"The use of said lake is forbidden, and it has been for a long time. That's common knowledge here on the water continent."
Faye then began to pull water from the fountain that they were stood next to and circled it around Aaron. Via quickly stepped back out of fear as the water began to cover his body.
"What're you doing to him?!" Via exclaimed. "Stop it!"
Damien intervened by wrapping his left arm around her and calmly telling her to "calm down".
"What I'm doing now isn't harmful to him in anyway." Faye stated. "I'm just fact checking a theory."
The water that was covering Aaron began to bubble and release steam as everyone watched on in silence. Faye then pinched the bubbling water and pulled a small amount of it off of Aaron's body. The water formed a small ball in the palm of Faye's hand as the rest of it began to return to the fountain.
"This should tell me a decent amount if information that you may not be ready to tell me." Faye stated.
As the last of the water left Aaron's body, he stumbled backwards into Via's arms who quickly pulled away from Damien.
"According to what I have here, it seems that you have zero traces of life essence within your body." Faye said. "Which means this boy has already died before."
Via nervously looked around at all of the Elders as they quietly watched on. Each of their faces being almost impossible to read, it felt as if Via was being crushed with an overwhelming amount of pressure.
"We know that you were lying about being brother and sister. So I ask you this question darling, did you or did you not use the lake? If you fail to answer then I'll take that as a confession in itself."
The piercing eyes of the Elders stared holes through Via's body as she began to shake and grip Aaron even more tightly. Just as she was about to give in and release everything, she felt the warm touch of Aaron's hands against her own.
"You're hurting me a little." He softly said to her.
"S-Sorry." Via replied as she loosened her grip.
"I know I promised that I'd always be with you, but at the very least I guess I can ensure that you'll never be alone again."
"What do you mean?"
Aaron stood up straight and faced Elder Faye.
"It's true that I've already died once, and following my death I then awoke in that lake you've been mentioning."
"Aaron no." Via said as tears began to form in her eyes.
"I guess it's against nature to come back to life the way I did. So for that I offer myself to whatever the punishment may be for a case like this."
"The punishment is death, for the soul that was wrongly disrupted on its path to the afterlife." Mildred stated.
"No!" Via shouted as she grabbed his arm.
"...Very well then." Aaron said after being rattled by Via's outburst.
"The punishment for the one that brought the soul back will be decided after further discussion." Mildred continued.
"...I just have two request that I ask you at least hear out." Aaron stated.
"Yes?" Faye answered.
"Firstly, I ask that you please be lenient with your punishment for Via. She was driven to this decision after being swallowed by a horrible feeling of isolation and grief."
"We will take it into account in our discussion." Aira stated. "I guarantee that."
Faye briefly looked towards Aira before focusing back on Aaron.
"Alright, and what's the second request?" Faye asked.
"...If there is someone by the name of Kaden Adams in this village I would like to speak with him."