When Elysha returned to the cottage, she was told by Elder Merakia to take a moment to rest until it was time for the nightly preparations for the upcoming festival. She went upstairs to her room to change when she noticed a certain fluffy Zhivopian on the open windowsill.
“So! How was the magical performance?” he asked immediately with bright eyes.
Elysha jumped, putting a hand to her chest to calm her racing heart. “You… you scared me! W-What are you doing here?”
He tilted his head and said, “Micah didn’t mean to scare you. Micah just missed you after the show. You disappeared so fast! I couldn’t find you, so I thought you were back in your room.”
“Elder Mera told me to take a rest here until a new activity starts.”
“Oh, another one?”
“Arts and crafts, I remember her telling me, since the Illumija Festival is less than a week away.”
“That sounds fun, I guess you and she will help to contribute to the festival, since it is part of our forest tradition to contribute something to our foundation, after all.”
Elysha remembered Anjel’s words and asked, “I see, do you know what the Illumija Festival is about?”
Then Micah jumped down from the windowsill, his fluffy tail swishing as he padded across the room. “The Festival of Illumija is one of the most special times of the year in Irostos. It’s an event about the cultural memory of the village, along with the celebration of the forest’s founding and history,” he replied. “The festival has everything: the lights, the music, the food—oh, and especially the food. What are the reasons for not wanting to go to this event?”
“You seemed very excited,” she remarked.
He turned his face to show his drool. “Oh Asnoiji, I could almost taste the food.”
Elysha frowned at the sight of drool on the wood tiles and yelled, “Hey! I don’t want that watery stuff from your mouth getting on the floor! Get out of my room!”
He wiped his mouth with his paw and jumped onto her desk and back onto the windowsill. “Oops, my bad. Micah didn’t mean to make a mess like that.”
When he still saw that her frown was not going anywhere, he sighed dramatically, his tail swishing behind him like a feather duster. “Well, Micah will go check and see if my friends are still around. Maybe they haven’t gone home yet.”
With that, he bounced off the window and disappeared into the darkness of the night, leaving Elysha alone in her room. She sighed, “What a weird Mister Fluffyhead.”
She changed into her comfortable nightclothes and lay down on her bed. The little girl thought about the day’s events, from her adventure in the forest with Micah, to cleaning the house with Elder Merakia, to watching the magical performance with Anjel. Her body felt worn and tired, for today had been a long day for her, and yet she felt content at the same time.
Elysha pulled the blanket over her and closed her eyes, drifting off into a restful nap.
~ ❈❇❈ ~
*chatter*
Her ears twitched at the sound outside her door, and her consciousness floated back to the present. She opened her eyes and turned to the corner of her vision where light from the hallway seeped into her room.
‘What’s going on?’ she wondered, adjusting her vision. ‘I hear people.’
Elysha took a yawn and a brief moment to shake off the fatigue, then slipped out of her blanket, touched the cold floor with her bare feet, put on her slippers, and slowly opened the door. She walked down the stairs to the living room and heard voices on the way.
“It looks... creative,”
“You’re just being nice.”
“Chaos is a part of art, you know!”
Elysha blinked when she saw arts and crafts on the floor of the main hallway. When she peeked around the corner, her eyes widened at what she saw.
The living room was abuzz with activity: colorful fabrics, ribbons, small glass balls and jars, baskets, small decorative toys, and paper cutouts and tools covered the floor and table in a lively and messy scene. A group of people and creatures—some of whom Elysha recognized as participants from the earlier performance—sat in clusters, chatting and laughing while working on various individual projects.
And right in the middle of it all was Micah, his paws tangled in a long, flowing ribbon.
“Micah, you look like an ornament for the Wisphorian tree,” someone commented.
“An ornament? Micah was trying to look like royalty, like Candelarian royalty, per se.”
“More like a discarded present,” another one giggled.
Elysha stifled a giggle at the sight before her, then spotted Elder Merakia, sitting in a rocking chair near the bookshelf, knitting. Her eyes then caught the little girl and she spoke, her voice cutting through the noise, “Ah, Elysha, you are awake.”
All eyes turned to her, and Elysha froze for a moment, clutching her nightgown nervously. Micah’s ears perked up, still in the pile of ribbons. “Elysha! You’re awake now! Come join us!”
“I have brought a variety of materials that can be transformed into creations for the festival,” her guardian said. “Feel free to choose a station and create anything you wish.”
Elysha surveyed the various crafts spread out before her and saw small dolls and animals that some were making. She walked over to that station and sat cross-legged on the floor. Her eyes scanned the scattered pieces of fabric, thread, and stuffing at the doll-making station. Around her, people were sewing and assembling small dolls—some looking like animals, others like little people with clothes and expressions.
‘How do they do that?’ she wondered, picking up a limp bundle of cloth and frowning. ‘How do they even make this look like anything?’
She turned it over in her hands, her face scrunched in confusion as a calm voice came from her right, “Need help?”
Elysha looked up to see Huilji, the same fox and moth half-hybrid from this morning, except she appeared human-like, the same as she had seen outside around noon.
“Um…” she shifted nervously. “I… I don’t know how to make a doll.”
Huilji smiled softly, her ears twitching. “That’s okay. Everyone has to start somewhere, and that includes me. Here, let me show you.”
The house buzzed with conversation and the sound of crafting. Everyone was immersed in the rhythm of their work, including Huilji, who was guiding Elysha through the steps of making a doll.
Later, Elysha noticed Micah nestled in a pile of fabric, dozing with his tail sticking out. She called out to him, “Micah, what are you doing?”
His tail flicked and the fabrics moved as his head emerged. He looked at her as she continued, “You are just sleeping on that pile. You should help us work too, you know? Instead of being lazy like you were on that fountain thingy.”
“What? Micah has already done some of my work!” he retorted. “I am taking a break for now.”
“Oh, okay.”
A few minutes later, someone came over to pick up some fabric when they saw the gray-furred Zhivopian within the pile and cried out in shock, “Ah! Micah!?”
The sound jolted him out of his comfortable position and he fell to the ground. He got up and shook his fur. “Geez, that scared the fur out of me!”
Seeing him out of the pile of fabric, an idea popped into Elysha’s head and she took the initiative to ask, “Hey, Micah? Can you come help me? I don’t know how to do this…”
“Do you really want Micah’s help? I thought Huilji was helping you.”
“She went away to do other things. Look, even everyone else was helping each other.”
“Brrriiii!” someone nearby reacted.
Micah groaned, “Grr… fine.”
With a sigh, he sat down on his stomach next to her and asked, “So what do you want me to do?”
Elysha stared at him. “Well, you can… um…”
“Um…?
“You can stay like that while I touch your fur and make my doll,” she finally said.
At her suggestion, a sound of laughter can be heard. “Hey! What’s so funny about what I just said?” she asked embarrassed.
“What? Is that what you want me to do?” Micah reacted in surprise. Then a grin formed on his mouth and he said, “Ah, I get it now. You can’t resist Micah’s charm, huh?”
“No,” she denied quickly, shaking her head at his words, “that’s not what I meant.”
“Admit it, Micah is irresistible,” he teased, swishing his tail.
Elysha groaned in annoyance. “You’d be better and more likeable to me if you were a stuffed animal.”
“What does that mean? Do you not want me to talk and act around you anymore? That would be boring, to be honest.”
It was then that his eyes noticed the doll in her hands that she was working on. It was an unfinished humanoid figure with half-done silver hair and a blue cloth wrapped around its body, decorated all over with strings.
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He commented, “Is that... you?”
Elysha blushed pink and quickly hid the doll out of his sight.
“Hey, why are you hiding it?” he asked. “I was just curious to see it.”
“No! The doll isn’t for me!” she shouted. “It’s for the festival like Elder Mera said! And I have so many dolls to make! Why would I want to make one that looks like me?”
“What? That doll clearly reminds me of you from earlier this morning.” He raised his eyebrows. “You know, if you wanted to make a doll of yourself, you could have just said so! Micah wouldn’t judge.”
“It’s not for me—it’s for the festival!”
Clearly seeing the sweat and lies on her face, he leaned closer, his tail brushing against her side, and said, “Sure, sure. But if it were for you, Micah bets it’d be the cutest doll in the whole festival—albeit messy-looking.”
Elysha’s cheeks turned a deeper pink, and she glared at him, “Stop teasing me, Micah! You’re not helping! Then, I’m going to make a plushie of you, too!”
“A plushie of me?” his eyes sparkled in delight. “Sure do!”
As they engaged in their playful banter, Elder Merakia watched from her rocking chair as she continued her knitting. “This place felt so bright and alive tonight. How lovely it is at this hour,” she whispered to herself.
~ ❈❇❈ ~
After an hour, the group decided that they had done enough work for the night. Everyone began to clean up and organize the materials and project work, except for Elysha, who remained focused on making enough progress on her doll.
People began to leave as soon as they were done, and one by one they left to return to their homes. By the time the lively atmosphere was gone, only Elysha and Elder Merakia remained in the living room. The little girl was sewing the last strings into her doll when her ears perked upon seeing a book in her guardian’s hand.
“The book!” Elysha exclaimed, noticing that her guardian had settled into her rocking chair. “Is it the same book you read to me last night? Are you going to read me more stories today?”
“It is not the same book as what we have read before,” Elder Merakia replied, turning the pages. “However, I would like to read you something of particular interest.”
After stopping at a certain page, she continued, “The book that I read to you last night was a treasury of stories about the world itself, the folklore of our people that has shaped our lives, memories to be passed on to future generations. The treasury book was written and published by a renowned librarian and scholar in Totheniui by the name of Professor Demetrius Chthostric, who has dedicated his life to the preservation of knowledge and history.”
“Oh, interesting,” Elysha replied, holding the doll in her hands. “Um, Elder Mera, what are you going to read to me today?”
“This book I am holding is a textbook that records the history and cultures of our world. Tonight, before you go to bed, I will read you the very beginning of the Soliremisce Archipelago.”
She nodded, clutching her doll as she sat on the rug while her guardian cleared her throat and began to read from the book she was holding:
“In the beginning of Soliremisce, the world was a white, desolate and empty space—a place of nothing; without colors, beings, emotions and harmony. In this formless void stood a figure known as the Asnoiji, looking out at the world.
The Asnoiji wished to change nothingness, to fill space with visions of happiness, and so He did. The Asnoiji wished to bring fulfillment to this world, to apply His ideal of ultimate harmony and peace to everything, and so He did. Thus Soliremisce was founded, with two sides of nature created to balance the fault that causes distortion and instability in the world.
The study of the world’s equilibrium has been a source of interest for people all over the world throughout history, including the leading scholars of the Totheniui Institute. Researchers have conducted expeditions and recorded data and statistics to better understand the Asnoiji’s world and its phenomena to this day.
The Soliremisce Archipelago consists of the isles of Elbija and Zhivopis, where we, His children, reside, representing the first half of these natures. Elbijans exist as the fulfillment of Asnoiji’s ‘wishes’, living in the world of His creation. They embody His happiness, His everything, and it is their duty to preserve His happiness by living.”
Elder Merakia paused, allowing the child to absorb her words. Then, turning her attention away from the book, she asked, “What do you think of this story, Elysha?”
She pondered the question for a moment before answering, “Hmm... I don’t really know. Um, I’m an Elbijan, right? Does it mean that I exist under the wishes of the Asnoiji?”
“Yes, child. By your very existence, you are a fulfillment of the Asnoiji’s wishes. Every Elbijan carries within them a fragment of His happiness, a piece of His ideal.
Elysha hugged her doll closer, her eyes thoughtful. “Hm, so... does that mean that everything I do is part of His happiness? Even if I make mistakes or feel sad?
Elder Merakia leaned back in her rocking chair. “Even in sadness, there is a place for happiness to grow,” she said. “The Asnoiji’s wish was not for us to be perfect. It was for us to live, to feel, and to find harmony in the world He created. Mistakes are part of that balance.”
Elysha looked down at her doll, her fingers tracing the tiny stitches she had sewn. “Then… I hope this doll makes Him happy.”
Then she closed her eyes, thought about it some more, and asked, “Um, if the Asnoiji wants us to live in a world of peace and happiness, then we should keep trying to live that way to make Him happy too, right?”
“Yes, that is certainly true. We must take the honor and the act of fulfillment for our Creator and Lord. As for you, Elysha, you are indeed a bright and smart child.”
Her face flushed and covered her face with her doll. “Ah—um, thank you.”
“And even understanding the reason for existence is not something that everyone can fully comprehend,” Elder Merakia continued reading. “There are concepts that remain beyond our comprehension, knowledge that can only be truly understood by those who are able to experience it. The Asnoiji created this world so that we could find happiness and experience peace and harmony. While we may not fully understand His intentions, we can strive to understand His reasons and find meaning in our own lives.”
Elysha listened, her eyes fixed as her guardian turned the page. The words flowed from her lips as she continued to read, “The Zhivopians are one of the creations of the Asnoiji, along with the Elbijans and the other biological existences of Soliremisce. Sharing half of the two natures that constitute with the Asnoiji’s wishes, the Zhivopians exist as the Asnoiji’s ‘dreams,’ embodying His aspirations and living in the realm of His imagination. They are His hopes, and through their existence, they preserve and harmonize with the natural environment.”
‘The Asnoiji’s dreams…’ Elysha thought, thinking of the connections between the two races.
“The relationship between Elbijans and Zhivopians is symbiotic, coexisting as the embodiment of the wishes and dreams of the Asnoiji,” Elder Merakia explained. “Their harmony is essential to the existence of Soliremisce. Should either nature overwhelm the other’s concentration of theonum, or should an abnormal change occur in the environment and population, it can cause an imbalance in the atmosphere, resulting in unnatural phenomena, including familiar examples such as the ‘distortion’ and ‘erosion’ that threatens to overtake our world.”
Elysha blinked her eyes and asked, “Huh, I didn’t get that. What is does that mean? It sounds a little… um…”
“Complex? It’s quite a large information to take in, dear child. Let me explain it more simply. Imagine a scale with two sides: one represents the wishes of the Asnoiji, which is us, the Elbijans; the other side represents His dreams, the Zhivopians. For the scale to remain balanced, both sides must exist together in harmony. If one side becomes too heavy, the scale tips, and the balance is lost. That imbalance can lead to chaos—things that shouldn’t happen, like the distortion or erosion I mentioned.”
“What are ‘distortion’ and ‘erosion,’ Elder Mera?”
Her eyes caught a change in her guardian’s expression, especially her eyebrows, which drew together as if in hesitation. “Elysha, your question will be a topic for another time,” she replied. “For now, let us focus on the continuation of this book.”
“Oh, okay,” she nodded her head, then thought, ‘I wonder if something like this has happened in the past.’
Elder Merakia turned the page and continued reading, “Where the wishes and dreams of the Asnoiji exist as one of the two natures, ‘emotions’—the third and the latter half, represented as the emotionality that thrives in the unseen space. They exist as the depth of the Asnoiji’s emotional sphere, hidden from the surface, holding the world in place through sustainability, which is then further stabilized by the former half of the natural balance. This allows the world to evolve and bring energetic abundance to the atmosphere.”
“The Asnoiji’s emotions, hm…”
Elysha’s interest lingered, but the amount of information overwhelmed her. She sighed, her head spinning. “I don’t understand anything, my head hurts.”
“I understand, dear child. Learning can be confusing and takes time. Sometimes the answers to our questions elude even the most knowledgeable scholars,” Elder Merakia said. “Perhaps taking steps into the world and witnessing existence will help bring some clarity.”
Elysha nodded, thinking of questions, “So the Elbijans represent the Asnoiji’s wishes, and the Zhivopians represent the Asnoiji’s dreams. That is correct, is it not?”
“Yes, Elysha. You have it right.”
“Then what are the emotions of the Asnoiji? And what is the ‘unseen space?’”
“There are many theories and speculations about what exactly the ‘emotions’ of the Asnoiji represent—for if our world—if Elbijans and Zhivopians exist in the seen space, one can only guess what kind of ‘phenomenon’ dwells hidden from the surface.”
She then turned her gaze back to Elysha and said,
“The theonum of Elbijans and Zhivopians is cultivated together to exist in the seen space on the surface, which is made of positive energy, so to speak. On the other side, the ‘emotions’ that dwell in the unseen space are made of negative energy. The two natures of the Asnoiji mutually balance each other, creating harmony.”
“So, ‘wishes’ and ‘dreams’ are made of positive energy and exist in the seen space, and ‘emotions’ are made of negative energy and exist in the unseen space,” Elysha said, understanding spreading across her face. “Okay, I get it now. That means Kitty is from the unseen space.”
“Kitty?”
Elysha nodded, “Yes, I told you earlier that Kitty was the black cat I’ve met this morning.”
“Hm, how intriguing. I should investigate this phenomenal occurrence one day. The mysteries of the Asnoiji’s world continue to unfold in fascinating ways.”
Realizing the lateness of the hour, Elder Merakia closed the book and said, “Now it is time to go to bed, Elysha. Let us return to your room and rest.”
The little girl nodded and rose from the rug, holding her doll as she followed her out of the living room and into her own room. She slipped under the covers of her bed and tucked the doll beside her.
“Goodnight, Elysha,” Elder Merakia softly said at the doorway.
“Goodnight, Elder Mera.”
She watched as her guardian closed the door, leaving her alone with her room. With a yawn, Elysha thought about the events of the day, her mind drifting to what lay ahead.
‘I wonder what will happen tomorrow. When will the festival be? I want to visit where the purple-haired girl lives. Anjel was her name, right?’
Elysha lowered her eyelids as she hugged her pillow. ‘I want to try and learn how to use theonum magic, but I’m scared that it will hurt again. Maybe I should ask Elder Mera tomorrow and see what she tells me.’
With her doll by her side, Elysha pulled out the necklace her guardian had given her. The keyhole-shaped stone faintly reflected the light from the window. She remembered the words Elder Merakia had said, ‘Fill it with your wishes and your dreams, as well as the emotions you will bear over the course of your time in this world.’
Elysha held the necklace to her heart and felt a wave of comfort and hope wash over her. “Someday I will work hard and get better at my theonum magic,” she whispered to herself, her eyes reflecting her determined will.
Outside her window, the wind blew in the night sky. Elysha tucked herself and her doll under the covers and drifted off to a peaceful sleep.
*thud*
Behind the window, on the branch of a tree, the moonlight bathed the little gray Zhivopian in a soft glow. He lifted his head, opened the window and climbed in. Quietly, he jumped onto the side of the bed where Elysha slept. His gray fur shimmered in the moonlight. He let his tail curl around his small form as he gazed at her sleeping expression.
He couldn’t help but smile as he whispered, “The moon is so enchanting tonight, shining bright and cloudless. The stars are sparkling in the sky, too. You know, Elysha? Micah thinks it is nice that we’ve become friends.”
He turned his gaze to the moonlit view behind him. “I don’t think you would know that there is something about you that interests me, Elysha. You are like the moon—silver, steady, and full of quiet light. Even when the world feels dark, you shine, determined to make it through in the end. Micah finds that to be an admirable quality in you.”
He took a lengthy yawn and stretched his small limbs before settling into a comfortable position. He murmured, his voice barely audible, “Goodnight, Elysha. Let’s hope tomorrow will be another sunny day, and so on and so forth in our happy world…”