“A conjurer,” Lucia repeated her words and there’s some kind of giddiness on her expression, as she skipped toward where Wenona and Yurika sat, “… and here I thought that the Pononga already perish. You have no idea how happy I was when I found you.”
“W-who--?” Wen stammering, her face went white and her hand clenched tightly on her blanket.
“Oh, don’t worry dear, you are safe here,” Lucia took Wen's clenched hand, gently caressed it and softly landed a kiss there, “I am Lucia, even though I look like this at the moment but I am no other than Lughna Dannan, the master of craftsman Zanj.”
Wen pulled her hand away from the girl quickly. Her brow knitted and her eyes were sharp like dagger scrutinising the so-called Zanj.
“A Zanj? You don’t look like one, I don’t see…”
“My wings? Or the aethereal aura?” Lucia sighed and sat on the corner of the bed. Her face looked so annoyed and sad at the same time.
"I am a cursed Zanj," she chided, "that's why you don't see all that on me."
“What?” Wenona looked at the little girl in confusion, “who dare to curse a Zanj?”
Lucia tossed her long black hair to the back and gazed at Wenona with miffed eyes, “Do you really need to ask that? Who else has the power to punish the Zanj? Anyway, let's just talk more about The Pononga and their talent. I will tell you about my cursed-self later. I am sure Yurika wants to know more about you and your tribe.”
Yurika who was quiet the whole time watching their interaction startled hearing her name mentioned, “eh what-- oh yea, please explain more?”
“So, a conjurer, hum where should I start,” Lucia tapped her chin before she continues, “okay do you know that our world has elements?”
“Yes, they are fire, air, water, and earth right?” Yurika answered.
“Yes, those four common known elements that mostly been manipulated by the magic classes. But actually, there is one more element that only the goddesses, Zanjs and Ponongas knew. It is called ‘Aether or Ether’,” the silver eyed girl started to explain.
Yurika eyes glowed with curiosity, “there’s a fifth element?”
“Yep, but no one can see or manipulated it but the Goddesses themselves. Aether element is basically the spirit itself, where all living and non-living being created from and once they used their life span they will return to this element,” Lucia continued, “and here where a Pononga come into the picture. Like Wenona said, they are a small tribe that was picked by the Goddesses themselves to be their servant, to take care of their temples, celebration, and ceremonies.”
Wenona looked a little bit restless, she knew what kind of explanation would come next; the talent.
“And as a gift for their loyalties and servitudes, the Goddess allowed the Pononga to have a little taste of the Goddesses power, “ Lucia paused and glanced at Yurika. The girl looked so engrossed.
“A Pononga has the ability to see the fifth element, and can actually manipulate it a little bit. Which is why she could see my aether spirit aura and the nonexistent wings. The same skill that she used to locate you. With just a small item embedded with your aether signature, there is no place on Isrant that you could ever hide from her,” Lucia's eyes glittered with excitement. Yurika gazed her best friend in awe.
“Not true! I am not tha—,“ Wen tried to protest.
“Yeah you need proper training to be that strong,” Lucia cut her with a chuckle, “but the fact you managed to find Yurika shows that you have it in you all along.”
“I can’t really get proper training. I have lost my parents at the age of ten and as long as I could remember my family always living in hiding and pretending of being normal. Trying to hide our legacy as Pononga, so my parent’s never really taught me anything,” her blue eyes looked glassy at the mention of her parents.
“A self-taught?! And you actually combine it with your subclass. Creating a new kind of skills in which very useful in combat. Now I am very sure that you have an amazing talent,” Lucia eyes sparked with genuine joy, “don’t worry my dear. I will help you get that proper real training. I may be not a Pononga but at least I know what kind of training a Pononga must take.”
“You do?!” Wen exclaimed happily, “that would be amazing!”
“Well, not for free of course,” the raven-haired girl giggled, “in this world, nothing came without a price.”
Wenona exuding joy quickly dissipated. Her face went gloom and her lips pouted, “nevermind then. I’ll be fine on my own.”
Lucia chuckled seeing her reaction, “be patient my dear. I am not looking for gold or silver. They are not what’s on my mind for the price. I am more interested in a barter.”
“A barter?”
“We can discuss that later. Anyway, let’s continue our explanation. The aether or ether in more common words is the source of the conjurer power to...,” Lucia paused dramatically. She put her arms on the side of the bed, glanced at Yurika teasingly. The look on Yurika's face made her giggled. It was obvious that the Zanj managed to make a suspenseful climax of her sentence. Finally, with a bright smile, she continued, “to create things out of thin air.”
“Amazing!!" Yurika clapped her hands together in excitement, "that’s where the mattress came from!”
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She turned her attention toward Wenona, “you can create everything? Like eeeeeverything?!”
“No! not everything!” Wenona quickly retorted, “We Pononga are sworn to live in poverty and minimalism, the rule forbids us to use the skill for our own benefits. We also can’t conjure living being.”
“Still it is an amazing power, don’t you think?” Lucia smiled, “it is truly a talent that envied by many, including us the Zanj.”
“No, this power-- this talent--. It’s complicated for me," Wen voice broken by her grieve; her dream about her parent felt more vivid than before. She clenched her hand hard till it shook and then she said bitterly, “it’s what made me an orphan. Those greedy people- - I—I’ll never forgive them!“
Lucia's face looked foreboding. She brushed her hair agitatedly, "... and there’s that, even though conjurer class was an amazing class, the Pononga themselves were not a tribe that equipped for battle and violence. So even with that awesome power, they didn’t really know how to actually use it to protect themselves. They only use it for their daily needs.”
Lucia clicked her tongue, “ tsk, the minimalism ideology. The ideology that in the end backfiring and caused their own suffering.”
“We weren’t suffering! At least before the Great War, we weren't. My dad said, back then the Pononga have Zanj as their protector,” Wenona gazed expectantly at Lucia, “when the great war ended, the Goddesses disappeared and so was the Zanj. People found out that we don't have any protection from the Zanj, they started to hunt us like animals. They captured a lot of my tribe to be their slave. To create valuable things for them so they can be rich and famous. Refusing their order means torture and death.”
Yurika face filled with sympathy hearing Wen’s story. Eireen had her fair share of slave life, so even though she never really experience it as Yurika, she knew well enough how bad it was.
“Zanj's protection huh?” Lucia's voice sounded sour and bitter, “we weren’t protecting your kind because we wanted to. You said that Pononga’s life was hard because you were hunted and treated as slaves, and what do you think us Zanj feel? We are supposedly a higher being than you human, but the Goddesses love your kind too much they actually bestowed you with the power to order us around. What is that make us?”
Wenona looked at the obvious annoyance on Lucia's face, she tilted her head; confused, “but, I thought it was a win-win contract that was made base on trust and respect?”
“Based on trust and respect? Pweh, sure,” Lucia scoffed, “it was decided by the Goddesses, and us the Zanj can’t really say no to that. It’s true the summoning required the Pononga to be acknowledged by the Zanj and I do know a few of my fellows who were more than willing to lend their power to protect your kind.”
“Wait the minute, summon?!” Yurika interrupted, looked more amazed than before, “You can summon the Zanj?!”
Wenona nodded, “every Pononga at age 12 year old will go to this ceremony of adulthood to gain their first contract with the Zanj. Based on what my dad told me. It was not an easy task, we need to show the Zanj if we are worthy to wield their strength or not.”
Wenona turned her attention back to Lucia, “the task was always different, depends on the Zanj. They also have the power to decide on the task or test and if the Pononga managed to pass it or not. How is that not a fair deal?”
Lucia shrugged but her face looked dark and grim, “I guess, it depends on how you see it. For me, I am not that happy to have been forced to do bidding for human. Anyway, this is where the story of the cursed Zanj began.”
She got up from the corner of the bed and strolled around the room, then stopped at her work table. She took a piece of round shape stone, rolled it around her hand absentmindedly, and without facing the girls she started her story, “Lughna Dannan was one of Goddess Aine loyal Zanj, beside his skill in battle he was also blessed with the talent of craftsmanship. His creations were used by the Goddesses, the other Zanj, even humans.”
She turned and threw the small stone at Yurika, “that is one of the examples of his creations, I am sure you are quite familiar with it.”
Yurika caught the stone and took a closer look at it, “oh, a source stone, of course, we are familiar with it. It’s is the stone that carries the essences of classes ability. One stone carries one type of class essences which help us to wield other class skill. Not strong enough and only one-time use but it’s helpful when we face an unknown type enemy or monster. There are other levels of stones that can be used permanently, but they are rare and expensive. ”
‘Jace has one for his fire mage class’ she noted it to herself.
“Anyway, one day 20 years ago before the Great War, Lughna was sent to the Pononga adulthood ceremony to be one of the Zanj on that year that will offer his contract to protect one of the Pononga,” Lucia gazed to an empty space on the wall, her face somewhat nostalgic, “his challenger was a late bloomer, a boy at the age of 18 years old. He was thin and sickly but more determined than anyone.”
Lucia paused and a sad smile rose on her lips, “Gentar Lustrous, that was his name.”
“So what happened? Did he manage to prove himself worthy of your power?” Wenona asked excitedly.
Lucia didn’t quickly answer her, her face looked gloomy.
“—did he f-failed?”
“Lughna killed him,” Lucia said in a flat tone.
“Wha-what!?” both Yurika and Wenona exclaimed in disbelief.
The girl with dark hair chuckled a bit seeing their reaction, “well, I guess that’s when Aine decided to take his wings, cursed him with this new appearance,” she pointed at herself, “and only allowed him to return to his normal body once a month.”
She then spinning around the room like a tween girl that just had too much sweets, “I don’t really hate this look you know, though I do miss my old look especially when I wanted to craft. This body can’t hold my craftsman hammer.”
She stopped spinning and giggle at the two girls that looked like they had seen a ghost, “anyway, that’s all for today’s history class.”
“Wait, did you really kill that boy? Gentar Lustrous I mean?? Why I never heard that story from my dad??!” queried Wenona. She just couldn’t believe that a Zanj killed someone on Pononga adulthood ceremony and her dad never told her the story.
Lucia gave her a mysterious smile and once more shrugged, “maybe it slipped his mind, who knows…”
“No! don’t give me that kind of answer! Answer me did you or did you not kill the boy?!” demanded Wen.
“Not today my dear, not today, you should get some more rest, after all, you have just woken up,” Lucia walked towards the door ignoring Wenona’s demands and protests, but right before she stepped out she turned her eyes to Yurika, “come, there’s something I need to discuss with you.”
“Oh, now?” Yurika surprised.
“Yeah, I want to talk it out with you first before we do our official meeting later with the Ursas,” Lucia winked.
‘… and I am sure you find this really important, Eireen Silver’ she added in her telepath to Yurika. Blood was drained from Yurika face at the mention of that name. She quickly stood up from the bed, walked toward the door in fast strode.
“Yes, okay, let’s go, now. I will see you later Wen. Please have some more rest,” Yurika said in an almost strangled voice.
“That’s good girl,” Lucia said with delight, “have a good rest, my dear Wenona. We can talk later when you are better.”
And without hesitation, she left the room with Yurika on her tail, despite Wenona protests.
As they left the room, a silhouette who was hiding behind the door with a lopsided grin mumbled, “A Pononga, who may have thought...”
The shadow then eerily chuckle as it vanished into the dark.