Bright... Everything, so bright...
Hot... It's hot...
No... Burning...
It's burning... I'm Burning...
Fire... I'm burning by fire...
No, not Fire... Too bright for fire...
Light...
I'm dying, from Light...
He gasps awake.
Cold, I'm cold, he thinks as he puts his hand to the mossed stone floor, pushing himself up onto his feet, stumbling as he attempts to stand. He turns his head to examine the room he finds himself in. It's a musty place that smells of decay. All that illuminates the space is a singular opening in the wall allowing moonlight to glow into a large, decorated hole filled with water in the floor.
Where am I?
"Good question."
He tenses up, surprised he got an answer. Clenching his fists he frantically searches the room for whomever spoke those words.
"Relax. You're safe, no one can harm you here."
His head turns to the direction of the voice. A beautiful woman dressed in a thin silk silver robe that barely covers anything is sitting on a warped moldy crate in front of him.
She can read my mind. Knowing that nothing can get past her, he lowers his fists.
"Good, now that you have relaxed, it's time for introductions. I am Meliana, Goddess of the Moon, and you are my chosen guardian." She says with dignity and pride. Her gaze then changes to concern. "Do you remember your name?"
My name? He thinks. At that moment a wave of pain floods his head. Dropping to his knees he grasps his head trying not to let it overcome him as his vision suddenly blackens out from agony.
He awakens again. This is soft. He thinks as his eyes slowly open. Above him is Meliana, with relief in her eyes. Now that she is closer, he can see her clearly. She has long straight hair as silver as her robes that go past her supple breasts and golden eyes that reflect the faintest of light. Her skin looks smooth, and she has an aura around her reminiscent of a moonlit night. If he guessed her age, she would be around 26. "I must apologize," she speaks, "I had no idea that would happen to you. To make sure it doesn't happen again I had to seal away everything harmful in your mind until your body is ready to handle it again." she said reassuringly. "However, I am worried by how little there was in the first place. I wish to look into that further but right now it is time to get up. This lap of mine is not accessible to just anyone you know." She smirks.
With widened eyes and flushed cheeks, he sits up and turns to Meliana who has stood up and looking at her reflection in the water.
"First on our list is your name." She says leaning over the water brushing her hair. "Since you don't have any memories of who you were, nor could you look back if you tried without feeling that pain again or with the intervention of my abilities, I shall give you a new name."
She twirls around to face him. "I've got it! Your name shall now be Nul!" She says as he writes the name in the air. It makes sense when you think about it. I had to nullify the pain your head was giving you. It just makes sense because of that!" She beamed.
No, it doesn't, He sighs. But who am I to say no to someone who got so much joy just from that. Nul it is.
"I'm glad you think that way." she says
Crap. He turns away. I forgot she can read my thoughts.
As he turns back to Meliana, he becomes flustered and as she drops down her robe and slowly walks into the glistening water in front of her.
"Thats not all I can read." She giggles in response.
"So Nul," she says as she submerges herself in the moonlit water until it reaches her neck, "now that I have introduced myself and gave you your name, it is time for questions."
She turns to face him. Nul, still flustered, slowly turns his head to face her.
"Seems I'll have to start with your first question since you do not seem fit to ask anything quite yet." she knowingly smirks.
Damn it. This is embarrassing.
"Welcome to my church, my sanctuary." she says raising her head and arms up high, almost enough to show off her breasts. Oh my goddess. This is not funny.
She lowers her head in a pouting manner. "This place used to be so beautiful and filled with life. Now, it's an empty husk of what it once was. This room however," she looks back at Nul with a seductive glimmer in her eye, "is the bathhouse for the head priest or priestess. An awfully bold choice of room to see me in, even if it was subconsciously."
Nul's face starts to heat up. This... is a bathhouse... and I... chose this room!?
"That's what I said. You better accept this, and you better get used to it. This is the only place we can talk to each other after all." She speaks. "I have a question for you. Are you capable of speech or are you stuck talking in thought?"
Nul takes a deep breath. "I-I th-think-k I c-can speak" he stutteringly says.
"Wonderful! A bit weak but we can get that back to normal in no time!" she beams. "Try coughing. Can you cough?"
A weird question to ask but ok. He coarsely coughs.
"Better?" he says.
"Much better. Oh shoot! I asked two questions! Guess you get two this time." She exclaims while splashing the water around her.
Two questions. Better make them good ones. I do not know how many questions I will get after this. Let me think over what she said so far... She says she is the Goddess of the Moon, Meliana, whoever that is supposed to be, we are in a bathhouse supposedly in her church or sanctuary, and she says I am her guardian. What is a Guardian?
"A Guardian is a person chosen by one of the two gods of this world." She explains.
Shit, I keep on forgetting about the mind reading!
"Shall I continue?"
"Sorry." He pauses. "Wait, two Gods?"
"Yes, there are only two Gods of this world. The Goddess of the Moon, or Mother Moon as most people prefer to call me, and the God of the Sun, or simply Father. His worshippers couldn't pick a good sounding name for him, so they adopted the name from my followers after they started calling me Mother." she laughs mockingly. "You don't need his true name; you will never meet him."
"Now back to Guardians." she continues. "Again, Guardians are people chosen by one of the two gods of this world to protect it. Each god can only have one guardian at a time as the guardians are granted powers based around the god's that have chosen them."
"So, I have... Moon powers?" Nul wonders as he examines the palm of his hands "What even are Moon powers?"
"That's two more questions. Wait your turn. I'll explain them at the proper time." she assures. Her gaze resembles someone who is thinking heavily but it quickly fades as she shakes her head. "You have powers related to mine but not exactly mine. The abilities you have vary with how you lived your life before becoming the guardian and are related to your partnered guardian. With your memory loss we can assume you won't be able to use them until you get those memories back."
"Now it's my turn for two questions as I have clearly answered three of yours." She says as she folds her arms to mimic a frustrated child.
"Ask away"
"Care to join me in the bath?" She asks boldly.
"What!" Nul takes a step back from this suggestion. Bathe? With a Goddess?
"What's the problem? You are already halfway there... I think... Would you count that as clothes?" she gestures to his body.
Looking down, Nul once again feels an immense amount of shame. Wearing nothing but what seems to be a torn cloth barely hanging onto his waist leaving nothing to the imagination. "I-I uh..."
She laughs, enjoying his embarrassment. "Just get in. It would be more embarrassing if you stay out."
Given up, he starts walking towards the water, wobbling with each step.
"Looks like you forgot how to walk. How cute." She devilishly scoffs.
"What do you expect from someone who was practically just born." He retorts as he starts stepping in the water. This water is surprisingly warm. I thought it would be colder given the state of this place.
"Fair point. And as I said before; This is my sanctuary; Everything here is supposed to be fit for my enjoyment, but I can't deny that the state of this place is rough, even with so few followers left."
"What happened to them?"
"They were hunted by a man who craved for my death." Her eyes grow soft. "He was cunning, powerful, and bloodthirsty. They never had a chance." She curls up in a sorrowful state. "I can't directly affect this world, so I have another do it in my place, be it as my sword, my shield, or my voice." They sat there in silence as the room was filled with grief. "When the time comes," she muttered under her beath, "I wonder what path you will take." She turns her head to stare at the full moon glowing up its surroundings.
Nul, feeling the emotions set, looks towards his reflection. Hair seemingly devoid of light going down to his shoulders. His eyes are a deep royal purple that have a peculiar glow to them, but what he notes the most, they are devoid of any life. His skin is slightly tan, like he let himself soak in the sun. Everything else looks average to him, rounded ears, small nose, yet something fells wrong. I'll probably know when I get my memories he thinks. Hearing the water move Nul quickly looks towards Meliana.
"I have an idea to get your memories back." She speaks up. "I will need your consent and after seeing how badly you reacted the first time it may drive you insane."
"Let me guess. You want me to think back again?"
"No. I want you to walk back, with me of course."
"Walk back? What do you mean by that?" He questions.
"It's simpler to show instead of tell. Don't worry, getting there is the easy part." She says attempting to comfort and convince him. "It's what we may find that worries me, I have no clue what we may face in that head of yours."
It would be nice to know more of who I was. Besides, I can't be a guardian without these so-called powers I have locked away. "On one condition." he states.
"Name it."
"If it would be better for me not to have them, lock them away permanently."
"Alright." Without hesitation Meliana raises her arms toward Nul. "Come closer, it only works on those I embrace."
Nul listens and floats into her arms. She wraps her arms around his head comfortingly. "Close your eyes, it's time to rest. I will see you on the other side." she speaks as the moonlight slowly fades from Nul's sight.
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Far away, a different story begins before the morning dew.
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"Wake up! We'll be late for class!" a familiar voice calls out.
"Let me sleep," spoken drowsily. A sharp pain rings from the back of their head. "Ow! What was that for!"
"We will be late again, Ily!" yells that same familiar voice.
"Can you not call me that? It's Ilian." Wide away, Ilian sits up in bed to face his attacker, Kally, a girl he knew ever since she joined the war orphanage that they both call their home. She has short blonde hair that barely reaches her pointy ears. Her eyes glow sapphire blue which complements her fair skin. Everything about her resembles a perfect midday sky. She is younger than him by three months and eight days, a date he has to remember to not invoke her wrath.
"You let the others call you Ily! Why not me!" Kally whines.
"You haven't earned it yet," He frustratingly spoke.
"How am I supposed to earn it when you never tell me how!" Kally grabs her weapon ready to strike. Just as I thought, it's her pillow. Probably filled with stale bread again. Ilian braces with both arms. "Maybe stop hitting me every morning and waking up the whole house with your loud voice!"
"IM LOUD!" she screams. "I'LL SHOW YOU LOUD!"
I have made a grave error, he recognizes. While braced, Ilian's life starts flashing before his eyes as Kally begins her swing with the intent to kill. He lived a nice life in the orphanage, ten years in total. He has been here his entire life. From what he was told he was dropped off by his grandmother at the age of one without any reason why. He speculates that his mother was young and drank too much at a tavern one day and regretted it after she found out she was having me. During his sixth year Kally arrived. She lost her parents in a village raid and wouldn't open up to anyone for two years but always tried to be next to him. It annoyed him a lot, but he knew that without her those last two years would have been boring. She may be annoying to him, but he is still grateful.
Kally's strike was abruptly stopped by the owner of the orphanage, Lya, a woman in her thirties who so happens to also own the neighboring tavern. Her hair is always tied back and hidden under a coif, but it is obvious the color is a rusty orange. She has a round face, and her mood is always kind and motherly in the morning, but frustrated and edgy just after nightfall. "Both of you need to stop, get dressed, and get to class. I will not have any more letters telling me you skipped again. I paid for your education; please do not make me have you work the back." She scolds. Whenever she is in an angry mood in the morning you know you did something wrong. "And both of you apologize to each other. While I don't know what happened I can see from both of your faces it wasn't good."
"I'm sorry." Kally and Ilian said in unison while diverting their gaze from each other.
"Good." Lya sighs, calming down. "Ilian, get dressed, you have five minutes before sunrise. Kally, give me the pillow."
Kally's eyes widen in fear, knowing what comes next when whatever is inside the pillow is found. "O-of course Miss." She stutters as she hands Lya her weapon.
"No need to be so formal. We are a family after all." Lya smiles warmly. "Now let's give the man some privacy as he changes." Still holding onto Kally's wrist Lya starts dragging her still petrified body out the room and closes the door behind her.
While shuffling out of bed, Ilian rubs the back of head where he was hit. Looking around the already familiar room filled with twelve plain beds and white sheets, six on each side, each bed having a dresser on the left side. He still can't believe it's been ten years. So many kids came in and out the orphanage throughout that time. At most ten kids in total at one point and as little as two, him and Kally. For the ten years he has been here he has not been adopted and no one has shown a hint of wanting to adopt him. It's the same for Kally, but the reason for it is more obvious, her ears. Everywhere he goes with her he always hears others whispering rumors about her being part of a lost race of elf, but her ears are not as pointy as the ones seen in mythology books so that couldn't be true.
It's been four years. I wonder if she is willing to talk about her life in the village now. Ilian thinks as he gets undressed.
On his dresser are book about history of the kingdom, legends of the past, the beings that once ruled the world, and an ancient religion about two gods, a candle that has about four hours left on it, and a quill for writing. He opens the dresser to grab his clothes for the day as well as a blue box with a golden ribbon on top.
I hope she likes this. Tomorrow is her eleventh birthday. He sets the gift back into the dresser just as he hears the door creak shut. Quickly, he moves the gift inside the bag resting underneath his bed. He finishes getting dressed and opens the book about ancient beings and flips to the chapter about elves.
Elves were said to be more attuned to the land, their body were said to look more like trees with green hair and brown skin to be more evasive of the creatures living next to them. They were also wiped away from this world more than two eons ago, during the period of Magic and Mystical Beasts. Humanity, under the guidance of the ones called Guardians, was said to have killed almost everything, and what was not extinct sealed themselves as well as their magic far away from the realm of mortality into what is now called The Crystal Heart ending the period and leaving only a precious few humans left that can wield magic.
Yea. Definitely not Kally. He thinks as he closes the book and put it in the bag. Grabbing the book about mythology he opens it to the chapter about magic. There were four bases of magic: Light, Dark, Life, and Form. Back in the Era of magic it is said that it was abundant, and anything can use it. The everyday flora used a mixture of Life and Light or make its own food, Elves used Dark and Light to blend in with their surroundings, Dwarves used Form and Dark to see things that would normally be impossible to spot, and Dragons used Light and Form to blast intruders away from its nest are a few examples listed in the book. After humanity took over magic seemed to nearly vanish from this world. Currently there are only three people left who can use magic, two of them lead our enemy, The kingdom of Yttan, in this war as their crowned. And the last one has not been seen in eighty years.
Ilian closes the book and puts it into his bag along with the rest of his stuff and starts heading for the door.
"Hold it!" Kally yells while accidentally slamming the door right into Ilian's face. He falls onto his knees with a loud thud, hands covering his face.
"Oh, my gods! I'm so sorry!" she frantically and worriedly moves her arms around trying to find a way to help.
"This is not the worst you've done to me. I will be fine." Ilian attempts to reassure her. Feeling the pain slowly subside he moves his hands from his face.
"Still, I should have knocked." She starts pouting.
"Just remember that for next time. Why are you back here?" He asks.
"Your hair... I remembered how messy it was, so I brought my mirror and brush before we leave." she hesitantly and shyly explains.
Her innocence is concerning, Ilian thinks. "Hand me the mirror first, I should see for myself how bad it is."
"If you hesitate even a little bit before answering I will brush it." She says sincerely while still looking sorry.
"Fine." Ilian sighs.
"Yay!" Swiftly and cheerily, Kally goes behind him and drops to her knees with her brush in hand, waiting in anticipation.
Ilian has light brown hair that barely goes to his ears, his ears are rounded with a V shaped hole near the top, his birth marks. His eyes are chocolate brown that seem to yearn for knowledge and understanding, and his skin is tan for how long he works outside helping neighbors and the Tavern whenever they need him. Looking in the mirror he does notice how messy his hair has become. He starts to blush after thinking about how Kally's first reaction is to brush his hair instead of having him do it himself.
"Go ahead." He speaks trying to hide the shame.
"Just lean back and let me do the rest." She says back.
He does as she says, giving Kally an easier time with his ruffled hair. A warm silence fills the air as sunlight starts pouring through the windows across the room. "You know what day it is?" Kally pipes up while brushing.
"Can't say I do. Mind telling me?" Ilian asks.
"Today's the day we get our jobs!" Kally says excited, yanking the brush a little too hard. "Sorry"
"It's fine. You do know only the top third of our class gets to choose their jobs."
"What about it?" Kally asks.
"We are the bottom two. Our job is already picked." Ilian notes. The class system is special to the region: At the end of the year every child born that year is assigned to the same class. Each class has a harsh grading system based around knowledge retained, subjects taken, and amount of time spent in chosen subject. Subjects' points vary based around importance: Governing and Farming being the biggest two for their complexity and dedication needed. Maid work and Stableman being the lowest for their simplicity and being straightforward. The more someone spends time in their chosen subject the more points they get in that subject until they reach those listed points and at the end there is a trial to see how much you have learned and retained in order to get double the points for that subject. Only the top third each class gets to pick their preferred job; the next third get split up based on their skills shown in the subjects they took; and the rest get sent to the army regardless of any talent.
"And who's fault is that?" Kally teases.
"Yours! You are so enthralled by the sunrise," Ilian reminds. "We always end up in our tower for over an hour just so you can see the sun."
"Oh! Can we go back there today?" she asks as she finishes brushing Ilian's hair.
"After class." he says while shaking his head.
"Promise?" she pleads with a pouty face.
"Promise."
The two stand up and start walking into the hallway. The orphanage itself is an old, repurposed wooden home with 2 floors, the first floor has the dining room, the wash, a gathering hall where the orphans meet their potential parents, and an office where Lya and the parents fill out the paperwork for adoptions. The second floor is where the rooms are, there are two big rooms, one for the boys, and one for the girls each room was once two rooms, but they tore the walls down and one door covered so that more orphans can fit and interact with each other. Normally boys and girls were only allowed in their respective rooms, but since there are only two Ilian and Kally have free reign. Lya is hoping for approval of expanding the back wall of the orphanage to connect to the Tavern.
As the two walk down the steps Lya can be seen putting on her work apron in the office. She turns to look at the kids and smiles. "I hope you two have a wonderful day. Stay safe!"
"We will!" the two said in unison as they walk out the front door and onto the paved streets of the capital city, Luro.
The city is split up into four sections, three of them ring around the center pavilion, all connected by roads: the center most ring is mainly for travelers and people with money, it includes restaurants, inns, bars, taverns, and a few pricy shops. The second ring is for the residence, including the Orphanage, Lya's tavern, and the school. The third ring, the one touching the outer wall, is for the Infantry, it includes blacksmiths, training grounds for soldiers, and the stables. The last section is walled off to the north, it's where the nobility and their guards reside. Outside of the outer wall are where merchant and refugee camps are set up waiting for their turn to enter the capital hoping to escape this war. Orphans have a special exception. Due to them being so young, they are allowed through the gate and are placed in an orphanage under the care of its owner. A lot of people try to become orphanage owners due to the tax cuts the king has in place, but there is a special license everyone needs to have to prove you can take care of the children. These licenses restrict a lot the activities one can do around the city, a few of these rules include: No Liquor, can't leave the city gates, and monthly checkups to see the state of the building and the children. If anyone is found guilty of violating one of these rules their license will be revoked, a heavy fine will have to be paid, the property seized, and time spent in the dungeon.
As Kally and Ilian travel through the streets the sun starts warming up the back of their necks.
"I wish I was facing it instead." Kally folds her arms and grumbles.
"Would you accept watching the sun set instead today?" Ilian asks.
"Yes, but I still prefer sunrise." Kally childishly complains.
Ilian ignores the last comment and starts looking around. The town is starting to come to life, shops opening, younger children playing, horses galloping down the streets on patrol. An average morning for a typical day. Ilian thinks and smiles. Today is going to be alright.