> █████, █████, █████.
> ███ of █████, ███;
> █:██ ████ Time.
Standing before the party is a slender and androgynous person, their flaxen hair shining in an ethereal brilliance, and sterling eyes looking upon them with a harshly pretentious mien. Yet, presenting in white, loose robes and sporting a youthful appearance seems to discredit that look— in fact they seem not much older than Aethel.
Be that as it may, it is undeniable that they carry themself to some higher standard, enough to evoke an air of someone older and more grand; if not most certainly fair. At the very least, this presence is more than enough to keep the party standing in a stupor, half made up of awe and half made up of dumbness.
In the middle of a grand staircase, the mysterious one sneers faintly, they tilt their head to look at them from left to right, and finally, they click their tongue. This gathers the scattering attention towards themself.
The youth with flaxen hair gestures as they speak, “And silence, I hear not a breath, why? Doth fear take thee?”
The party then looks at one another, looks back to the youth, then again at each other. Their gazes all meet then diverge, then meet again. Aethel shakes his head with a sigh, turns back and extends his hands to the four others, before turning back to the youth and slowly approaching them.
“Uh, so three q-uh-questions… who are you, wuh-where are we, wha-what’s happened to us…?” Aethel shakily voices out, his body movements in a visible restraint.
The youth nods, their sneer morphing into a smirk of amusement, “Straight to the point, I must commend thee.”
Hopping into the air, their robes and hair begin to trail behind them graciously, they land crouching on both feet, legs crossed in an elegant fashion. As they rise they trail their hands upwards and into a flourish while straightening up. With every movement they take, everything follows beautifully. There even seems to be a light glow around them.
“The pleasure is all mine, Aethel Gren, Karter Aerwen, Joséphine Alistair, Arianos Lancaster, and Minerva Atres… oh, didst I touch upon a nerve? It appears to be so.” after speaking the youth giggles, somehow sounding utterly blasé.
Shaking off the shock, four of the five enter begin guarding themselves, energy gathering around their vicinity. To this, the eccentric youth with flaxen hair begins to yawn, quite audibly while exaggerating the gesture too. They turn to the party, eyes colored in boredom… and something else.
Waving them off, the youth takes a seat on the stairs, saying, “That presents pitiful; far too weak to hurt me or thine enemies in the hour of their arrival. Yet pray, waste not thy power and energy. Instead, calm awhile and I shall answer the previous three queries, and if time allows, any extra.”
Shaking his head, Karter defies, “Too bad we have no trust for you, whoever you are! Not to mention, we can hear you fine like this, plus if you tell us something good— who knows? We might just join you sitting.”
“So it shall be. Greetings and again, all pleasure is verily mine, my name as I recall is Lain Illyrian, or better, such who hath beckoned thy souls to meet in this place. Enchanté~” swaying jovially from side to side, they introduce themself.
Lain watches as the group of five tense further, their smirk returns, and they cap it all off with an easier laugh than before. The party does not seem to falter, maintaining their channeling, and keeping a close eye on the youth.
Tilting their head, Lain continues answering, “Suppose what is next in line is… the where. Oh, trouble not! Welcome to this once grand Alchemical Lab, none of thee art particularly present; speaking physically. But thy souls, oh certes.”
“O-our souls, what do you mean by zis?” with an uneasy voice, Fi tries to clarify.
Lain nods, delivering a new answer, “It is as it might appear, and I am very glad to host. I hadst brought thy souls to this place; tis a matter of import— was, really, I find myself having a lark playing for fools now that all thou art here. Truly, it has been too long since—”
“If you have something to tell us, cut to the chase, because unfortunately for you— no time for games.” Karter sounds off, interrupting Lain, the telltale signs of frustration dripping off his words.
Frowning in facetious fashion, Lain stands and approaches the party, declaring, “No jubilance lives there at all, thy miserable soul, I mean? Yet, again this is of great import, so I shall treat it such.”
As they approach they extend a hand from which a colorless sand is formed and falls to the ground. This sand begins to form a mural depicting a struggle between human-like figures and a creeping amalgam. This image shifts and churns, soon the monochrome dust springs to action with lifelike color.
Smiling wide now, Lain starts, “A tale is inevitably forgotten, thus we shalt begin anew; from the very beginning. Witness me, Lain, The Beloved Telltale, as I recount this world’s primeval history! Of course, in verse and rhyme~ do remember this, friends, it is the key.”
Lain begins to recite their tale, the mural of sand begins to shift, following the vibrations and content of their words.
In era bygone whence stars were in youth
And men aged through a plenty of epochs
The Hesons of old by dark and light truth
From thence on were the stuff from the epics
The Arklands were gold and so were they all
But besides them the Dremors and Aelid
The three of the land divide and built wall
Thus the three kingdoms of Ark were amid
Time went off fast so soon the world flourished
In the age which was dubbed as the Sunrised
Accords to the Wills left all land nourished
And by Aspect the world was thence baptized
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
This Aspect of Will the prince of all font
That within this world drew its true vigour
So magic and study all found and vaunt
Our Ark in those days quite full of allure
But evil born bastards wouldst not leave be
So the darkness of Xercroix did rebel
And he was armed with the willful decree
That from good Arcis was this stolen spell
He plunged the world into despair so dark
And many of my fellows fled to death
But I and three of other peoples hark
We saw the world we knew breathe its last breath
Now from that inky chaos did emerge
A new amalgam not of dark or light
A people who were not bound to our dirge
The writhing birth of new life more finite
Four of us resolved to chart the pathway
My promise was to tell the lengthy tale
Yaveh took the Humans to a new day
Gaea the Scorics and Celes the Ael
But Xecroix was not sated by his works
So we four enlist a band of fighters
One band for one land each by knights to mercs
Secure the world and become its writers
In time the party reaped all of the grim
And after being vanguards since the start
My comrades three left to me this here hymn
That should the evil rise I do my part
As Lain finishes, they bow deeply, throwing a flower out of their sleeves. Then, in straightening up, they look towards the party, their smile still pristine. It seems amidst the recital, all five have let down their guards, something that Lain wastes no time to act upon. They raise a hand and cast in an unknown tongue, the sand flying up to now as bindings.
Wrapping around the team, they are all forced to sit down, Lain remains standing as he speaks, “Now I might go more comfortably knowing that no threats, puny as they might be, face up to me. Again, I am Lain Illyrian, otherwise known as the Beloved Telltale by those far gone— yet tis better to remind people now, I fancy to, at least.”
The team is completely silenced by their binds, not feeling like any kind of sand anymore; they instead have the make of unbreakable chains, which wrap all the way from their legs to their mouths.
“I am here to guide thee, for there is an insidious will festering and rather infesting the path ahead. Now thou wilt wonder, I know so, who am I apart from my name? Well I venture to say an obliging party; thou art after all, locked in this old banal legend by chance.” Lain says, pacing back and forth, voice sounding neurotic.
No matter how hard they struggle, the binding chains around them seem only to want to cut deeper, restricting more and more of their movement. The party must listen for a while longer.
“I am held back to speak on everything now, holding souls seems to be more taxing on the engine than I thought— I should have hurried— but know I am not thine enemy, not at all. I estimate thee shalt all be lost to me in a matter of seconds now… so last things, the powers you have are indeed known Aspect, the principal energy of this world—”
Then the surroundings begin to black out little by little, whether it be a wall on the far side, or a lamp. Lain begins to speak in a noticeably hasty fashion.
“-It doth creates all other energy, or in certain conditions, enhances it… this second coming property is especially true in living beings. How it is embedded in thy system, I have not a single clue— what matters is that thou survived, all five of thee— all I might say now is to explore these powers, we shalt talk again, and remember the key—!”
Lain’s voice fades as the surroundings do, soon back in the darkness, all their consciousness leaves… then returns, though feeling much more as if in a daze. Aethel shoots up from the bed, his surroundings immediately familiar, cabin five, car ten. Sharing the room with him is Karter who is only coming to just now.
“What… the actual… guh…” says Karter as he makes his body move in aimless directions, tightening and loosening the grasp on both his hands, really, kicking as many motor functions as possible into gear.
Aethel sighs as he calls out, “You and me both, I don’t know whether to consider that a dream or take it seriously.”
“Fuck, really, take it seriously? That weirdo was talking about some ancient past— none of which lines up with the history books, and principal energy that makes and enhances other energy— none of which is noted anywhere else.” Karter argues, his tone of voice squarely in the irritation and disbelief camp.
Aethel nods easily, replying, “Yeah, you’re probably right, but what a weird dream to be with all of you guys in, huh?”
“Yeah— wait, rain stopped and the moon is up, we were out for a while.” realizes Karter, leaning towards the window.
> █████, Long Travel Train SrTc-22, First Class Dining Car.
> 2nd of New Conception, 1316;
> 8:24 Aurum Time.
After a long day, the group enjoys a meal inside the first class dining car, otherwise car eleven. Aethel is occupying himself by cleaning as much food off his plate as he can; Fi and Ari are taking things slowly or rather elegantly and savoring each bite; while Karter and Nerva seem to be simply eating the food.
Aethel cries out, tears literally forming in his eyes, “Gah…! I was so hungry when I woke up, this is so good, ahhh…!”
“I zink we all were, we ‘ad a long day of things ‘appening unexpectedly after all, we earned zis meal.” Fi giggles and assures as she cuts through a delectable steak.
Ari interjects, giving his assurances as well, “We did absolutely brilliant, darlings— save for the weird shared dream, but… oh, it is what it is.”
“What was all that about anyway, an account of ancient history, a legend, etcetera and more…?” asks Nerva, putting a piece of turkey in her mouth as she finishes speaking.
Karter shakes his head, replying to Nerva, “Nothing we should concern ourselves with right now, all that matters as of the moment is making it to the Border Station… and of course, when we get to Kane, escorting this idiot to Prima.” that last part he says while gesturing to Aethel.
“What do you really want to get rid of me that badly, Karter?” Aethel teases with a big grin on his face.
Karter chuckles but nevertheless, responds bluntly, “Yes, yes I do, thanks for noticing.”
“Zis is going to be an interesting few days I reckon, do try not to bite eachozer’s ‘eads off before we get to ze Border Station at least. We will need boz of you should a repeat of zis occur.” smiling at both men, Fi jokingly warns.
Nerva lightly slams the table as she reprimands, “Oh please, don’t jinx us, Fi! I don’t want to deal with supernature on a train ever again in my life. At least if I can help it…”
“...Oh how I love being on this team~” Ari dryly muses as he eats, his words eliciting a few laughs from the party.