"Well, here we are! Let's go inside, I'm sure my parents will be stunned when they meet you."

The interior of the museum was just as grandiose as its entrance with a high ceiling decorated by numerous etchings. Renso recognized them as his own language, but it was clear that whoever decided to put them up there had no idea what they actually said. Hey, at least they managed to put together complete words sometimes. They tried.

As the two walked through the various exhibits displaying ancient relics that used to be commonplace items, Renso felt a new kind of annoying grief rise up. It was hard to believe just how displaced in time he was, but the walk through the museum was making it much more believable. Along with the grief, he found himself with a much more relieving sense of closure. This was his reality, and he just had to accept it.

"Ooh, we have a much more interesting display over here! I'm sure you'll like it, being a former soldier and all." Minna chirped with a grin. She grabbed his hand to lead him into another room. Inside the room was an exhibit of several weapons and armor, with a centerpiece that made Renso's eyes widen in surprise. Within a much more secure case was a large sword he recognized as his own.

The sword had a single-edged blade with a clear, crystalline spine on the side without an edge. Numerous runes were etched into the crystal. The hilt was made out of a strange, dark material and was long enough to be held by two hands. With the width of the blade, it seemed like it would be very heavy and almost impossible for a regular person to swing without the proper training.

"That one, where did you get it?" He pointed to the case.

Minna looked over at it. "Oh, that? Seller said that it was found in the ruins of a castle, but not exactly where the castle was. Really, I don't know why my father bought it. The seller was shady and he charged a ridiculous price for it. I think it's a fake."

Renso stepped closer to eye the hilt of the sword, then shook his head. "No, this is real. I used to have a sword just like this one. It was charged with the power of water and wind, and it could create bolts of lightning if I poured enough energy into it. The hilt had to be insulated so that it wouldn't shock me as well."

She looked from him to the sword, then snickered. "So you're saying this sword belongs to you and you want it back?"

"Exactly. If you took it out of its case and let me hold it, then I could prove that it's mine. I'm the only person in the world that it responds to." He crossed his arms.

Minna smirked mischievously. "How do I know you won't run off as soon as you have it? You could be the most clever museum robber in the world."

"Your jokes aren't that good. Hurry up and unlock it."

"Hmph. Fine, just let me get the key. Wait here." She stuck her lower lip out, then turned around to walk out of the room.

Now alone, Renso decided to wander the exhibit. Most of the weapons were very worn down with age, but others were in much better shape. He figured that it was because of differences in the skill of the craftsmen. Though all of a sudden, his idle browsing was cut short when another person entered the room. He turned to look at them, but didn't realize that his mere appearance would shock pretty much everyone he came across.

"Who- how- what are you?" The man stammered out. "By the Three, are those crystals attached to you?! How are you standing?" He had shoulder-length dark brown hair that was rather messy and eyes in a lovely golden hue. Several scars dotted his exposed arms.

"I'm a korine just like you, yes they are, and they're lighter than they look." Renso crossed his arms and shifted his wings to highlight the fact that he had control over them. "Any other questions?"

"Your name? I'm Sparra. I'm a relic hunter, and I've even made a few contributions to this museum myself." He beamed his pride for his accomplishments before he continued. "Are you a crystal person? You look similar to some of the art pieces I've seen."

Only a slight frown appeared on Renso's face to reflect the exasperation within. He had no intention to be on speaking terms with a heretic, but he couldn't forget his task. "My name is Renso, and I am. I'd rather not talk about how I'm alive right now, so don't ask me. You can ask Minna when she comes back if you decide to stick around."

"Oh, alright. If I may ask, what do you plan to do now? I'd love to speak with you more about the artifacts of your people, and I have some extra space in my home. You could stay with me." Sparra extended his arms in a welcoming gesture.

Renso narrowed his eyes. "Such kindness to extend to someone you don't know. Though a place to stay in exchange for answering questions is rather tempting." He brought his hand up to his chin in thought.

"It'd be more of a privilege for me to have the last ancient living with me. It's such an amazing opportunity." Sparra's eyes took on a pleading look.

"Fine, I do have a condition though. Stop worship of that silly "Trinity" of yours. It's a perversion of the true gods. And stop that pleading of yours, it's unseemly." Renso turned his gaze away from Sparra and to the archway leading out of the room. When would Minna get back?

Sparra stared at Renso, then spoke in an oddly even tone which was likely a mask. "You want me to stop worshiping the Trinity? The old gods are evil. They destroyed many civilizations before this one." He sucked in a breath, then looked over Renso's wings. "You're serious about this though, aren't you? Tell me about what your people knew the old gods as."

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Renso looked back at him. "Very well, if it'll help you decide. Take a seat, this may take a while to explain."

Sparra nodded and walked over to one of the benches in the exhibit to sit down. "It's fine if you only explain some of them, I'll probably be able to decide from that."

Renso gave a single flutter of his wings to hover off of the ground and then shifted into a leaning position mid-air. "Then let's begin. There were the gods who created the world itself, then the gods who created and maintained the korine. I'll explain the ones who created the world: Kione, Arutsune, Furoto, Maren, and Aruken. Kione is the goddess of the sun, light, fire, summer, and meteorites. She's known to power the world and has endless energy. Everything depends on her in some way or another."

"So there's a goddess of the sun? The church taught us that it was Rozon's forge fire, the one that she forged the world and the moon with. Endless energy, huh? She must be a lot to deal with." Sparra chuckled.

Renso nodded. "She is. She even put an impossible task on my shoulders." He sighed and shook his head. "Anyway, Arutsune is the god of the moon, darkness, ice, winter, and comets. He balances out Kione's energy and allows the world to rest at night. No living being can survive without resting periods. He also prevents Kione from acting too rashly."

"I thought a god of darkness would be evil, but Arutsune seems to have an important role in keeping us alive. Guess I have him to thank for those nice winter nights where I can bundle up under as many blankets as I can and sleep cozily."

"Every god is important in some way. If there were an unimportant god, they wouldn't exist. Now, Furoto is the god of the sky, weather, wind, and electricity. He stands as the veil between the heavens and our world. Most of the time, he's calm, but the summer months where he has to deal with Kione much more than usual annoy him. He unleashes terrible storms of lightning and thunder during those times. There were rumors of him descending to the mortal world in disguise, but I personally don't believe them."

"How come Furoto's name sounds different from the others? The other gods have names that end in -ne or -en."

"Kione and Arutsune are of the heavens, while Maren and Aruken are of our world. Furoto belongs to neither, so his name reflects that. Maren is the deity of the oceans and other bodies of water, water itself, aquatic creatures, and forbidden secrets. It dwells within the largest and deepest ravine of the eastern sea, listening to the secrets of the world. Its body is apparently thousands of miles long, but nobody has seen the entirety of it. Even when I was alive, it hadn't been seen in its physical form for hundreds of years."

"Oh. Maren sounds a bit scary. Guess I've been right to fear the ocean if something like that lives in there. And if it can hear all those secrets, it must have a crazy sense of hearing. Think it can hear us right now?"

Renso chuckled. "Most likely. There's a goddess who likes to listen in on us mortals as well, but I'll tell you about her later. The last deity I'll talk about for now is Aruken. It's the deity of the land, nature, animals, the cycle of life, spring, and autumn. It likes to stay distant from mortals, and it only cares about maintaining the land. Unlike most other gods, it doesn't bless or curse us. Instead, it only offers lessons. Everything that lives will die, and everything that dies will revitalize life."

"So Aruken wouldn't even curse someone if they burnt down an entire forest or something? That seems a bit counter-intuitive to maintaining the land."

"That person would eventually face consequences. They wouldn't have any food anymore because the plants were burned and anything they could hunt would have left the area. Then the seeds from the plants would eventually grow into an even more lush forest from the ashes. Aruken doesn't interfere unless the matter is very important, as interference could easily upset the balance."

Sparra looked down in thought. "If everything you told me is true, then the Church of the Trinity must be hiding evidence of it on purpose. I’m unsure if I can follow them anymore. I'd like to hear about the gods related to us korine when we get to my house. When are you leaving?"

Renso drifted back down to the ground. "Once Minna comes back with the key to that display." He gestured to the case with his sword. "The sword inside belongs to me, and I want it back. It's rather strange to see it being shown off as a relic."

Sparra followed his gesture to the case. "Oh. That one." His tone was full of bitterness. "My older brother, Farrok, found that one. He decided to become a relic hunter like me after I told pa that I didn't want to be a blacksmith. He's treating it like a competition! He became insufferable after mom died."

Renso crossed his arms. "My clan would have disowned me if I reacted to a death like that."

"Really? That seems pretty harsh. All pa did when I told him I wanted to be a relic hunter was stare at me with disappointment." Sparra laughed quietly.

As Renso thought of his reply, Minna and an older man who looked vaguely like her entered the room. "See? I actually did find an ancient! Do you believe me now?"

The man audibly gasped upon seeing Renso and shuffled over quickly. He adjusted his glasses and began to look over every feature. "Wings? How fascinating. And I've never seen hair in that color or facial features like that. These clothes seem exceptionally crafted." He finally stopped his examination and muttering to himself, instead settling on standing in front of Renso. "Forgive me, I never believed that one of your kind could still be alive today. It's an incredible privilege to have met you. My name is Dannus Spirit-Song, and I'm the owner of this museum."

Renso shifted uncomfortably under the inspection, and his wings shrunk slightly. When it finally ended, his wings expanded back to their normal size. "I'm Renso. Do you have the key to unlock that case? I'd like my sword back."

"Of course, of course. I'd love to see what it does in the hands of its owner." Dannus shuffled over to the case and took the keyring out of his pocket, then looked at each one until he found the one for the case. He unlocked it and pushed the glass cover up. "There you go." He backed away from the case to give room for Renso.

"Thank you." Renso walked over and picked up the sword with little effort, then held it with both hands. He closed his eyes and exhaled. The crystal spine began to glow with a soft white light, then veins of crackling electricity started to shoot from the blade at the surrounding air like striking snakes.

Dannus backed away farther and reached up to adjust his glasses. "By the Three. How marvelous."

Minna's eyes practically glowed with excitement at the sight of the activated blade. "It's so beautiful."

Even Sparra, who had shrunk when other people entered the room, stared in amazement. "I've never seen anything like that."

However, Renso grimaced when an all-too-familiar voice echoed in his head. "It's been forever since you held me. I almost allowed myself to be reincarnated!"