The two chiefs lead the girls outside where they find a bustling townscape. They exit the largest structure which was clearly the office space of the leaders. The roads have been masterfully turned into brick instead of a simple stone path. Children run about playing as adults chat or shop. It isn't that much different than Gatse or Tabanos's marketplace, if not a little smaller.
The two girls are led to an empty stone building. Within it are two beds, an oven, a bathroom, and a fireplace. Xaolin informs them that they'll be retrieved before the feast begins but for now simply relax and regather themselves. Tara, once she's certain they aren't being watched, sits on the bed opposite of Viyen.
"Do you think they can be trusted?"
Viyen shrugs and closes her eyes to think for a moment. "If they had wished to hurt us they would have done so by now."
An animus woman from the echidna clan comes for them soon after, claiming she's the head maid to the chiefs. Music is playing loudly from drums and flutes! Many citizens are dancing or eating, not questioning why there was such a celebration to be had.
The smells and sounds are so unique to both girls that they can't help but lower their guard a bit to the atmosphere. They are brought to a large tent with the chiefs and their sub-leaders. Tara and Viyen take their seats on mats to the left of Xiwen, a large spread of strange food before them.
Giant bugs, rodents, and other cavern creatures can be found grilled or spiked through a well-cooked plant stem. The food is unique to the two girls but very delicious, listening to stories of the sub-leaders of their most daring hunts.
The next morning Sioti and Xiwen came to greet them. The two are more formally dressed with black furred cloaks and more jewelry. Sioti wears a skull mask over her face while Xiwen has paint covering his body.
"You were curious about the jewelry I'm wearing?" Sioti asks them as they step out onto the street. Tara and Viyen nod and the chief continues. "You know of Graviej because humans worship Him as well as His companions."
They were led just outside the town before coming in front of a large stone staircase. Etched into each step was a scene from a story.
"There are many legends about how we came to be. The common belief in all of them is that we share a single ancestor. Most believe that said being to have been a powerful Aural Beast that took human form."
"You don't?" Tara asks confusedly while inspecting each step.
"We believe that instead they were a human blessed by a spirit who was treated unjustly. It was Graviej and His wife--the Devil of Light--Anaza, who answered their cries." Xiwen explains, interweaving arms with his wife.
"Dark and light came together bestowing them with impossible strength and ability but not without changing them forever. In their moment of weakness this ancestor found strength. In their wanting justice, a chance for retribution is given."
"In the shadow of death, the light of rebirth eclipsed. A balance was created and so we honor both Graviej and Anaza alike. For no God is truly righteous and no Devil is entirely wicked."
The steps recounted the tale of a young person beloved by a beast spirit. Seen as malevolent by others, this person was killed. The duo of Dark and Light revived this person, fusing them with the spirit they cherished so dearly. Thus they were given great power unlike those of humans. The final step brought them to the entranceway of a black and white temple. A gigantic stone tablet greeted them outside of the temple. Strange words were deeply etched into the stone giving off a powerful feeling.
Xiwen gestures to the tablet. "This tablet has long stood before the temple since the time our ancestors went to war. We've struggled to decipher--"
"To pass the trials of each chamber is to gain passage beyond this set of stone? What does that mean?" Tara translates confusedly.
Both chiefs stopped and shared a long look. "Y-you know the ancient language?" Xiwen replies with shock.
"My family found some ruins and inside we found a way to learn it," Tara says, eyes on the stone. Did these "chambers" have anything to do with the six elemental chambers of the academy and furthermore the sect?
"Would you be willing to share what you've learned? There are many etchings we've found that our scholars have had trouble understanding." Sioti asks her as they enter the temple.
"What's a Light-bearer?" Tara answers with her own question.
In the pause as they step through the archway, murals were carved into the pillars and onto the walls. Some depict humans and animus. Others showed shorter figures with pointed ears or giants many times bigger. Creatures with six pairs of butterfly-like wings descended upon warriors with several eyes. Drawings of ancient beasts only seen in legend or myth were everywhere.
"Like young Viyen has a closeness to Water, you have an affinity for Light. We, the Bright Bats, share a similar connection. Though being a follower of Anaza I am probably closest to your level. My husband is the same though Darkness runs in his family blood."
Viyen's enamored with the paintings as she speaks. "Forgive me, but if that's true then why are so many of them civilians or singulars?"
"We asked ourselves that question often. The two of us have reached lower levels of Eye Illumination and Navel Enshrouding, yet have found no restrictions placed on them." Xiwen explained. Both girls' eyes nearly fall from their sockets. They hadn't been able to read the two chiefs' powers but now they knew why. The news was shocking to them that two powerful people were hidden from the world.
Sioti saw Tara's mind clearly running through a variety of thoughts. "How we channel energy is different from what you've surely learned from that ancient ruin you mentioned. They can't form more than a physical or psychic thread of energy. Not that our singulars are weak as they can still imbue said energy with Light or Dark."
They came before a gigantic doorway that led to a stone dead end. The door frame had six flowers, gemstones the two girls realized, with four on either side with one at the top banister's center.
They are: a crimson amaranth, a cyan poppy, a umber orchid, an emerald freesia, a silver edelweiss, a golden hydrangea, and a white sunflower. The last flower shaped insertion next to the sunflower is empty. Tara narrows her eyes to notice each flower had words below them.
"Ignite," She reads one of them at the bottom left, underneath the amaranth. The two chiefs look at her with eager looks and stances. "Illuminate?" She mutters at the white sunflower's writing at the center. What's missing is the Darkness flower.
"Could they be related to the stages of Body Altering?" Viyen voices Tara's thoughts aloud. At that moment, she feels the ancient aural stir. Tara reaches out to touch it and upon contact two things happen.
First is another notification:
[3rd Realm Gate Found. Fate's Missing Flower Event Started!]
The second was images flooding Tara's mind. Four ornately built chambers appear in her memory, each location more impossible than the last. The heart of a volcano. The bottom of an ocean. The center of a maze-like canyon. The eye of a never ending and impenetrable hurricane.
Had the ancient energy, whoever they were, had gone to these places successfully after many trials? What they faced within the rooms in the memories was missing but what was clear that they had accomplished something great.
Before anymore could be revealed, the ancient aura goes dormant once more. Tara blinks as the memory of the places burns into heart, mind, and soul. The feeling was like when she wrote with runes but way more intense.
"Are you alright?" Viyen places a hand on Tara's back, her face with worry. Tara falls backwards after moving her hand away from the banner.
Tara smiles at her concern and nods. "I'm fine, I think I'm just hungry."
It was a weak excuse as Bone Crystallization low tier could go a whole day without eating if need be. However, it was enough though as the chiefs understood her urgency to leave.
Over breakfast, Tara gives the chiefs her vanishing paper notebooks. With everything engraved in aura, it was one less thing she had to worry about being stolen if she died.
Tara decides to wait with Viyen in the chamber they were found in. The two girls are blindfolded on return. That night, as Tara falls into a deep sleep and her mind seems adrift.
[Dream Connect In Effect]
Far and away, a silvery blonde girl her age stands within a grand spacious corridor, her hand placed out onto a door. A shiny white marble floor reflects the whispers of her golden dress. Six flowers adjourn the side of her own gate, but unlike Tara's, it's the golden hydrangea that has vanished from beside the emerald freesia.
Behind her stands a tall adult man with a ferocious appearance but the similarities are uncanny. A crown sits atop of this man's head, a claymore on his back, as he watches how enamored his daughter is with the door. "A--" He opens his mouth to speak her name but the vision shifts!
A hand is pulled back from another doorway. The structure stands at the center of a gorgeous and immaculate courtyard in the early morning. Behind this new person are other children wearing the same outfit, a mage's robe. Their eyes shine with curiosity as they gaze upon the ancient ruins in the forgotten language written beneath the flowers.
This time the silver edelweiss was missing. Calculations, questions, theories Tara doesn't understand race through their mind. A name is called out, sounding like static, and the sound of wheels hitting stone is heard. A well-crafted wheelchair is seen rolling out of view!
The vision shifts once again Tara finds herself in a familiar place but entirely different. She's standing at the center within the ancient ruins but the horizon is white space.
"You truly are full of surprises, child." A voice lit from behind her. Tara turns and finds a beautiful woman with snow white skin but hair as dark as the night. Her eyes are indigo blue and shine like starlight. The white dress she's wearing is dotted with constellations.
"W-who are you?" Tara wills her weapons to her but nothing happens. Shock and fear make her body tremble and only then Tara notices what's wrong. Her body is made of pure white energy outlined in black. The woman approaches quietly, an amused look on her face as she reaches out and--
Pats Tara on the head? Confusion fills Tara's mind but the action is not unwelcome. Where she's met this woman Tara can't recall.