Night had fallen over the coastal village, and the faint, enigmatic moonlight bathed Ryuu's small cabin in silver hues. Inside, the air was thick with a profound silence, broken only by the occasional crash of waves against the nearby rocks. Ryuu couldn't sleep. His aunt's words echoed louder in his mind than ever before.
"The wind is a reflection of you."
Never had those words felt so heavy. For years, his aunt had been his guide and support, teaching him all she could about healing and controlling his powers. But she had never spoken of their family's legacy, of his true heritage. Something about that letter, the invitation to the Tournament of Elements, had opened a door Ryuu hadn't known existed.
He rose from his bed, the medallion around his neck feeling heavier than usual. That small jewel, his mother's heirloom, had always been a mystery. His aunt had said little about it, only that it had belonged to his mother, a famous warrior in her time. As for her death and her story, all Ryuu had ever heard were whispers. But tonight, he needed answers.
He left the room quietly, determined to confront his aunt. She wasn't in her bed as he had expected. Instead, he found her in the small garden behind the cabin, gazing at the stars with a thoughtful expression. Something in her posture told Ryuu that she already knew he would come. As always, his aunt seemed one step ahead.
"Aunt..." Ryuu began softly, though the urgency in his voice betrayed him. "What do you know about my mother? Why have you never told me the truth?"
His aunt turned slowly, as if she had been waiting for those words. Her face, usually serene, now bore an expression of something deeper—pain, but also quiet determination.
"Because it wasn't the right time, Ryuu," she answered gently. "I didn't want you to bear the weight of the truth before you were ready. But now... it seems that time has come."
Ryuu stepped closer, his eyes locked on hers, desperate for answers.
"Your mother, Akira, was one of the most powerful warriors of her time. Not only because she mastered the wind, but because she understood the connection between the elements. The Lance of Aether..." His aunt hesitated before continuing. "She was involved in its search, and it was that lance that ultimately led to her tragic end."
The mention of the lance stirred the wind around them, as if the air itself responded to the legendary artifact's name.
"The Lance of Aether?" Ryuu murmured, not fully understanding. He had heard legends about it, stories whispered by the village elders, but he had never imagined his mother had been involved in its pursuit. Much less that the lance had anything to do with her death.
His aunt's gaze grew sharper, as if measuring how prepared he was for the revelation she was about to make.
"The Lance of Aether holds the power to control all four elements: fire, water, earth, and air. It was forged in ancient times by a being of absolute power, and whoever possesses it can shape the world's destiny. When Akira joined the search for the lance, she did so in hopes of preventing it from falling into the wrong hands. However..." She let out a deep sigh. "Something went wrong. It happened during a mission to retrieve it from a temple in the Terran mountains, where the lance was hidden. No one knows exactly what occurred there, but we do know this: the lance doesn't just grant power—it corrupts the will of those who seek it."
Ryuu felt as though the weight of his mother's history was settling on his shoulders. Not only did he have to contend with his own uncontrollable power, but now with the legacy of a mother who had risked everything to keep such a dangerous artifact out of the wrong hands.
"And my mother…?" he asked, his voice breaking.
"Your mother disappeared after that mission. The search for the lance changed her forever. In her final days with us, she grew distant. She withdrew to the mountains to meditate, but something happened there. No one knows what, only that it led to her death." His aunt paused. "When you were born, a strange storm struck the village—a phenomenon that could only have been caused by the lance, or rather, by the presence of someone connected to it."
Ryuu struggled to process what he was hearing. What did any of this have to do with him? And why had his mother kept all of this hidden from him?
"Am I... like her?" His question hung in the air, like a drop of water suspended before the inevitable splash.
His aunt's gaze bore into him with an intensity that made him feel as though she was seeing far beyond his exterior.
"You are, Ryuu. But only you can decide what to do with the power you carry inside."
The wind began to swirl around them, stronger than before, as if his aunt's words had awakened something deep within him. Ryuu clutched his mother's medallion against his chest, feeling his connection to the wind grow stronger, more alive.
"What happens next is up to you." His aunt's voice carried the final word as the wind calmed, leaving the air heavy with tension and the weight of decisions yet to be made.
Ryuu knew that his journey to the tournament would not only be a physical trek. Now, more than ever, it was a journey toward his own destiny and the truth that had been hidden for so long.