The teenager yawned and dullishly went through her books, stealing occasional glances behind the cover of her ashy hair at Lian; until a weird call coming from the other side of the bookshelf behind her woke her from her bored stupor.
-" Pssst! Maci, over here", loudly whispered Brigid from an empty spot between two books. "So… are you going to ask her? She fits parts of what you know about your sibling."
-" I…" Maci's cheeks brightened in a red explosion and she hid half of her face under her cap. "It's just like with Arim. Once I get to know them, it feels weird wanting to talk with them about it. Hi, we're secret siblings because our dad is a salaud". To overcome her frustrations, the teen started picking and putting back books at random, until she bumped face to face with the little coral assistant, Mincha, spooked by her reflection in the firbolg's large, glassy eyes.
Mincha -" Sorry, sorry, sorry!", groveled the firbolg. " Please forgive me, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I was…" but then a gentle pat from Brigid's knee reminded her that she wanted to say something to the teen. " Miss told me about your older sibling predicament, and well…I've got some experience with an older, twin, sister."
Brigid smiled at her, giving the coral a taloned thumbs up, after which she tried to soothe Maci's visibly confused thoughts: " Yeah, I thought you might need some insight so I asked her to speak with you".
Maci -" See, now that's the kind of supportive thing I want from an older sibling. Are you sure it can't be you? You fit the age bracket", said Maci with a bit of jest mixed in, while crossing her fingers behind her back. But a playful smirk and a refuting head nod cut her hopes down immediately. Maci was aware by now of some parts of Brigid's past; how she hatched in a village from another layer, moving to Caer after getting adopted; "Go now Mincha, give this lost little lamb some of your wisdom."
Mincha -" Right. So, about older siblings –because they are born first, everyone seems to put them on a pedestal", started the little coral to mouth about;
-" Wait what?", asked a shocked Brigid, but Mincha continued with her rant.
Mincha -" So if you want to do something, they'll butt in and try to tell you how to do it, in a proper way"
As if summoned by Mincha's energy, Lian forced her way into the conversation; something about the topic ticked her off more than normal. " Yeah, well, maybe because the older sisters are tasked with taking care of the little ones all the time." To her surprise, the shy firbolg who cowered behind cover for every interaction was quite combative when it came to this subject.
Mincha -" Nobody asked them, though! Maybe the older sisters shouldn't just assume that the smaller ones need constant supervision and protection from the bad things."
Lian -" Oh please, you complain that we are so bad and don't allow you to touch THE OBVIOUS poisonous plant or…wait, why the hell am I so triggered by this?" asked a bewildered Lian. "Do I have siblings? Is that what that spoon memory was about?"
Maci slowly pointed back and forth between her and Brigid, hoping that this would solve her mystery search without having to ask more questions, but Lian just stared at her confused.
Lian -" What?"
Maci -" I'm also looking for my lost sibling…", said the teen in a slow, dilating voice.
Lian -" Oh?... So what happened to them, did they get lost?"
Maci -" Ugh…no. Just found out about them around a month ago."
Lian -" Then it can't be me. From what I can remember, we lived in the same house since we were little. And from how I feel when someone talks about little siblings", she said with a frown directed at Mincha, " only they can piss me off like this." The girl then sighed to declare her hesitance to continue arguing on this matter for now. "Let's just continue looking for more information about the ritual; And Maci, we…I can help you look for your sibling afterward if you want the help." The girl then turned to her study corner with new material and new things to consider about her memories.
By the end of the day, Goidel's table became a miniature city with skyscrapers made from books and tomes. Most of them were carried there by Maci who tried to escape reading by pretending to be looking through them.
Lian clapped her hands to gather everyone around and summarize all they found out so far about the ritual. " So, Goidel will correct us if we've got anything wrong. From what Tommen found, humans first arrived in the layers around 4- to 5 thousand years ago. But all of them died suddenly–mostly because the layers were wilder back then; let's say jungles with survival of the luckiest and fittest rules;"
Tommen -" No entirely", intervened the painter stroking his beard, " more like intelligent deathtraps with some jungle elements. Totally different."
Lian -" Sure…So humans found a pattern to the disappearances, and it was discovered that while existing in different universes, the human and the layered world frequently intertwine between set dates: Once every 94 days", Lian wiggled her palm, indicating more or less. "The problem was location: in the human world it can happen in random spaces, while here there are set points from which you travel between; Moving forward, the surviving humans that got luckier starting points become a new problem- some turned out to be out-of-control time bombs."
-" Yeah, it was surprising to read about how many of them were able to lift firbolgs with their mind or disintegrate them with a yell", added Brigid a bit disturbed.
-"...I want that", whispered Maci.
Lian -" So, Brigid found a memoir about the first recorded case of the ritual? Or is it a tale ?" Lian then turned to Brigid to confirm it once again. The warrior only shrugged and started reading out loud.
Brigid -{ The child under my care couldn't speak, as his voice dug into the ground. His words spew only poison and his body emanated bright light; Still, he screamed out -I saw him, I saw him- pointing towards the clouds; and from the sky he came, riding a carriage driven by dogs of war and strife.
Their master approached us with his menacing red gaze and pointed a spear at us. I thought that was it, our end was to come at the hands of this warlord; Instead, though, he brought salvation. At least that's what he presented it as:
Story king -" This foolish creature has been given a chance to survive; but only if you share part of the pain. So, what do you choose, shortsighted caretaker, are you prepared to carry a parasite on your back and smile?"
I didn't know why his words contradicted his actions, but it was the last option I had to save the boy. So I took him up on his offer and}
Brigid -" Then they start explaining the ritual…yada yada…right, here is the next thing I highlighted." Brigid then clears her throat:
{The stranger looked uninterested, bored, even, but his crimson sliver gaze was on us and our moves all the time. At the end of it, the child's skin started to heal. He could breathe without wheezing and his body stopped shivering. I thanked the stranger and almost came close to kissing his gaunt feet, but he ignored me and crouched in front of the boy. He turned his cheek around without much care for his face. I could swear I even heard him making a disgruntled noise.
Story king -" Tsz, of course it worked," he said out loud. He then poked the boy with this spear, and weird markers started glowing out of him and I could see three colored lines glowing out of the little human. The stranger pondered for a second, then grabbed the red and yellow lines out of thin air and bottled them in a box. "I left him with the gift of two sights, the rest wasn't needed. He's now in your care- and I do mean it. If misfortune is brought on the human by your hands, prepare for the wrath of Dia to come down upon the."
The stranger then lifted his spear, swiped it behind him and everything was vanquished in a second. I then knew that he was the wrath he mentioned.}
Brigid -" End scene. Well, Lian, I'm guessing you learned something from this. Tommen did as well, but…"
Lian -" But there's no way to contact this messenger, right? Because he only appeared once, in that tale? But someone has to do that final thing right, when he removed those lights?"
Goidel nodded without saying a word, and Lian understood that she was on the right path. "So would he come now that we tried the ritual? I mean, what if Maci also has more than one light –ability– in her as well? But I still don't understand why you couldn't tell us about it."
Goidel - " Actually, Captain Krass will handle the split and storage of human powers. He was taught a while ago, but even if you ask him, he doesn't know more from his Tuatha teachings."
Lian -" Tuatha? Is that who that was in the story?
-" No. Hmm", Goidel pondered on how to explain the issue to them. " I'll tell you some small historical facts, ok?- The Tuatha are the second generation of beings that reside in a floating fortress. The one in the story is probably Lugh, their king. Now, next, a religious tidbit- The Sacred Beast and God are supposedly residing in a floating castle that's flying in the void between layers"
Maci -" Oh...oh! Ok…so that Lugh prick is linked to gods now? What does that mean? Do you have to speak to one of those Tuatha about all of this…what even is this Lian? Why are even you so interested in this stuff?
The girl gave a gentle smile and started playing with the flames from a lamp nearby. Her sight was, though, focused and intense " I'm…not sure yet. You see, this world makes no sense to me. In all kinds of matters, I mean. Why humans are so special here, why firbolgs exist as they do –and why they're so keen on accepting us and becoming our caretakers so easily…" She stretched her back leaning on her chair, with only the ceiling as the only visible witness for her thoughts. " It's fascinating, interesting and I wish to learn how it works…why it works like this. I want to find the linking points!"