As Sxeiva finished her story, the other three's head spun putting everything together. In providing so much insight, it only gave way to countless new concerns they hadn't even realized.
"So wait, if Lwyn is Yhse, and Jheiqs is Khaexyn, that would mean Khaexyn is her dad." "Lwyn, he is your father, join him on the dark side.." "Shut up Thanrie." The three of them started talking again in English, with Qheria putting matters together, Thanrie making pop culture quotes, and Mhyl having none of it. Qheria however turned to Sxeiva in Izhaethyx, putting something else together, something very similar. "You're her mother, aren't you?" "Yes, I am. It doesn't seem like Khaexyn had shared the same story with her yet, she still does not seem to know. I expect it's probably out of habit, considering everything else we've kept from her over her life." Qheria realized that the depth of Sxeiva's statement actually was similar to their own, having also been kept a distance from family secrets.
Thanrie was of a similar mindset. "It seems like family secrets are sorta a modern day thing. Everyone here has had their family secrets kept from them, it's not been a happy experience. However, like you, we've also been kept in overprotective families that shelter us away from the lives of everything around us. Good to know that some things haven't changed." Thanrie was piecing together that, according to the story, Sxeiva had actually been locked away from society over her life.. several times. Sxeiva was also a half elf too, then the same nature as Lwyn had been fearing her whole life. Although, maybe by now she was much less than half an elf, being mostly a.. cybernetic robot?
Qheria pondered just how much hasn't changed. "Actually, that answers something I never understood. Why have Qiciri and Wyxiri been all but at war my entire life? That part about Khaexyn's parents, I'm pretty sure you made it clear that people think mother killed his parents. Hmm, on that train of thought, doesn't that mean that Khaexyn's mother was a romantic crush of Thanrie's dad.. or was it her grandfather?" Qheria brought up an idea that Thanrie herself hadn't yet pondered. No wonder he seemed so withdrawn in family life. Thanrie wasn't exactly liking where that idea was taking her. Qheria was still lost trying to figure out the family tree in the whole matter, not realizing how much younger Thanrie was compared to her father.
Qheria instead pondered the information Rhyde had shared with them, about Khaexyn's history. It was fairly obvious how his reputation was building in some of his visits to this area, and how it all lined up. Rhyde had mentioned that Khaexyn had little support from the bandits here over his own beliefs and vision, but had made things happen regardless. It was some really impressive determination, a sense of stubbornness she herself was familiar with. However, it was also clear he was crazy, with a deep satiated seat in desperation.
"Sxeiva mother know my mother." Mhyl surprised both girls again, having forgotten they were still talking in Izhaethyx. Mhyl it seemed was still trying very hard to fit in with the routine, and was actually communicating. "Right! You said your mom was the best friend of the woman who became the High-Seer! The High-Seer is Mhyl's mother!" Thanrie was shocked just how much everyone was fitting into this scene together. They had thought they were all four random girls from four different lives that had came together, but things weren't feeling quite as.. random anymore. Their parents all formed a web of friends, mostly through Lwyn's parents.
Mhyl herself was pondering the chain of events. Knowing the way of elves, she had an idea why this parental situation panned out. Sxeiva's mother would have been a lot older than her own mother. By becoming friends, her mother had gained the knowledge for the responsibility, and thus she was a far better candidate for the position. This is why Mhyl herself had no chance in ever being High-Seer, because by the time her mother would give up the position, she herself wouldn't be the youngest possible candidate anymore.
However, what dawned on her was that Sxeiva's mother then had training in being a High-Seer. She didn't even know there was a training process involved. She pondered how to phrase her question, before giving up and surrendering to Elaethyx. "You said that your mom was trained in being a High-Seer. I never got to learn about any kind of training from my mother, I didn't even know there was training. What do you know about it?" Mhyl was worried about her question, though. Talking about a mother who died when their child was born.. might be hard.
"Father talked about it with her a lot before I was born. She even kept some records about it, which he had even promised he would neither read nor disclose. However, she had said as she laid dying that the notes she made would be given to me. When you're locked in a room with nothing to do for years, and all you have is some notes... I did a lot of my own research over the years. The whole process is just a type of gift, but one that is more about giving to the world rather than just taking from it. Working directly with the world, you can learn things about how it works." Sxeiva paused for a moment, troubled.
"Technically, that's how Khaexyn found the veil of the world. He caught wind of some of my own research and practice, dabbled into it, and it took him farther than it should have. The High-Seer is the only one who can converse with the flow of the world, the world's nature, having been chosen for the conversation, but anyone else who knows how can watch and listen to the same flow. This is how I learned about you, you and your friends. While Khaexyn was fixated on the world veil, I worked with the world flow, and discovered how the world was putting itself in balance." Sxeiva took a moment at this point to share this same news with Thanrie and Qheria, who were finding themselves left out of the conversation.
Mhyl pondered the details, while otherwise feeling sorry for her own language failure. Khaexyn wanted to change the world, to change the Celese they knew of, and replace it with something else. This made it sound like they were chosen champions, to try and defend the last vestiges of the world as they knew it. There were a lot of things that tied them together, but one obvious question denied this. Why them? All four of them were actually useless and ignorant to society, how would this make them the most idea to save everything? The more she thought of it, the more she realized, they weren't champions.. they were judges.
Their position was some of the most neutral in the world, with a taste of both sides. Khaexyn was biased, but had a point, there were a lot of problems in the world. Almost like an act of democracy, the four of them had been chosen to decide which fate was best for the world. So far, Lwyn.. or Yhse.. it seemed had already made her choice. However, it probably wasn't a matter that ended with decisions, but action. They either had to save the world, or remake it. If they had any splits, they would have to stand against those of the other mindset. If she felt she still wanted to save Celese, she would have to stand up against her friend. This was almost too cruel.
Thanrie was also gauging what was really the luck that had been shifting them around. The world flow was more a white water rapid, it was clashing from both sides. The story did mention that Khaexyn had tried to manipulate the flow, to bring Lwyn to him like she had. It was a giant cascade effect, the world trying to stabilize everything demanded of it. Khaexyn shouldn't have even been in a position to make demands, but maybe his was more like a threat. That's why Lwyn wasn't chosen alone, the world was shifting in a spiral of events, a chain reaction, rippling out.
However, the way things were setup, it almost felt like the three of them were chosen to stand against Yhse. They would learn of Lwyn, and then she would take her seat as Yhse, and they would find her as yet another enemy. She thought with no small irony how her name sounded too much like the English 'Ice', as she had truthfully grown cold on them suddenly. It was almost a symbol of the good and bad luck conflict they had going the whole time, like Lwyn really was their symbol of luck, both good and bad at the same time. Thanrie felt a bit overwhelmed, realizing that she would have to stand up against her friend in this.
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"So I guess we have a lot of balance work to take care of too. Still, I don't think throwing ourselves up to the idea of saving the world really fits the current situation. Khaexyn might be right here, but we don't have anything close to the amount of preparation needed to take care of him. Most likely, we also need to do a lot more work on the whole principle of the matter too, first. Saving the world is probably more complicated than just stopping one person, which itself just blows things into an even greater proportion. Instead, one thing at a time." Qheria wasn't even floating around the same idea, and somehow sounded a lot more relaxed.
"Qheria, maybe you missed it, but things just suddenly got a lot more complicated as a whole, even if you consider it in parts. We came here to save Lwyn, now.. we have to stand against her. I don't even know how.." Thanrie was surprised Qheria had missed the big picture here, she's usually better than this. "Stand against her? Of course not, she's our friend. The plan is to still save her, though now we also have her mother asking to be saved as well. Still haven't worked out all the details, especially since we don't have an escape route yet. Escape is probably our biggest worry overall." Qheria still seemed to miss it, even though she was the one who had personally talked to Yhse.
Mhyl had also been gradually figuring out the conversation, so shifted to English. "Qheria, Yhse doesn't want to be rescued, she even told you personally that Lwyn is gone, remember? We have to start accepting reality now, and give up in just wishing and dreaming that things were anything different." Mhyl didn't even realize she had quoted something Lwyn had considered a long time ago. "Yes, I know we were only together for a short time, and having been here at the fortress for this long in turn has left us looking like a bad counterweight. However, maybe you two are forgetting that reality isn't always as it seems, that dreams and wishes can even redefine the world." Qheria had been seeming naive at one point, but suddenly her insight started feeling very deep.
"Think back to what we've learned of Lwyn. Sure, she did run away from us, but in truth running away from her fears has been her plan for a long time now. She ran away from the Inn, and as she drifted away from us, thinking we were so different, she ran away from us too. Think where she is right now. She's the princess of a kingdom that is keeping her locked away, denied all information, and given very little to do. She is the hero of a legend around here, given no support for the role she is to assume, and remains ignorant of her own future. She's found herself buried in an endless supply of books, with only the local staff for company, as she wavers in the shadow of her parent. I don't know, I think I've heard this story before, I know where its going. There is no way she will want to be trapped to this fate, she will want an escape, and unlike us back then.. she's even had a taste of it." Qheria's references weren't lost, this life Yhse was facing now seemed all too familiar to them.
Qheria still had full confidence in Lwyn. Of all the things Lwyn might have hid from them, one thing most unquestionable is Lwyn's curiosity. Left with nothing but her own thoughts to spin, she was certain to come up to a wall of knowledge she would crave overcoming. The three of them knew, knowledge wasn't something that just came because you waited for it, instead you found it by hunting for it. This passive life of Yhse.. it was far too unlike Lwyn. And so, she would keep waiting, for when her friend needed an escape from her confines, and she would help her find the answers she craved. If by then they found themselves going in different directions, it would be by their own choices, with full understanding of the situation.
Mhyl and Thanrie weren't exactly as convinced, but they knew Qheria could be very stubborn sometimes. Technically, even if they had to go against Yhse, they really were too unprepared to do so now. No matter how they looked at it, finding an escape was still the one thing they certainly had a pressing need for.
Qheria turned back to Sxeiva in Izhaethyx. "Being able to .. read the flow of the world .. is there any way we can make use of that in this situation, so that we can get out of this mess?" "Oh, probably. It depends on how much you've improved with your own gifts. Being so favoured by the world would give your gifts quite a lot of potential, and considering the unique qualities you four would have, I would expect such a thing would be all but mandatory." Qheria didn't expect such an answer, everything turned back towards their gifts again. It was a subject she had forgotten for a time. Sxeiva somehow made it sound all too obvious.
"Wait, unique? We were told that we had a lot of potential, but nothing about being.. unique." Thanrie had a weird feeling about this, suddenly. "Oh, of course. You know where the gift is originated from, right? Not just your blood, but the thoughts and ideas you can consider. Information and imagination does a lot to form someone's potential with the gift. So think about it, if your memories are of two worlds, your gift will be shaped by both memories. Even Khaexyn doesn't have memories of Earth, he only has information he's gained from something he calls 'the Internet'. It seems that's a very complex information source from Earth.. though I guess you would probably know more about it than I would. He doesn't have any way to impact or change Earth physically, but does have a way to make use the information from that world. Either way, that means his own gift can at best only emulate ideas from Earth, while your own could actually do things none of us could ever dream of." After everything they had learned about the gift, Sxeiva gave them one thing they had never considered.
They turned to each other again in English, as Sxeiva went to sit down and relax again. "The Internet? Khaexyn is getting his information from the Internet? Holy shit..." "Thanrie, settle down. If it's a matter of information, that probably makes sense. Although, that probably leaves him with a lot of useless junk too... Anyway, more important is how this relates to us. Remember how Ehryinae said that our gift has it's own shape, like hers was.. was it all fire? If our own gift is being partly shaped by our Earth memories, memories we're probably not even associating to the gift.. maybe that's at least half of our problem? We keep saying it, our two memories are conflicts inside our heads, but really our self is made up of the result of both. Our gift is then just the same way, we paint a picture of two worlds, not just one." Thanrie was still mind-blown by the idea of using the internet to change Celese, but she knew Qheria had a point too.
Thanrie however thought further into this, and realized that.. even as what was their worst case of conflict.. the whole thing didn't seem as true anymore. Somewhere along the way, she had just came to peace with the fact of who she was. She had faced both facets of herself along the way, and came to terms with it. It wasn't even until then that she realized just how relaxed her mental state had became. Though everything they had done, she had found herself with a growing ability to keep a mental focus on things going on.
Mhyl realized too that she had started coming to terms with things very readily as well. Rather than getting stuck behind the principle of things, and being too critical, she had lost herself in her own successes. Things like dancing, singing, even playing sports, rather than painting a picture she had woven a melody between worlds. She had found her own way to let go, and just strive forwards. Looking back, it was actually kinda amazing how much progress she had made, in such little time.
Qheria too, somehow she had not only made peace with herself, but she had even found her own confidence in herself, and has since then started being a leader of their group through this entire rescue. The old her, she probably would have caved in, having such a monumental task as leading the others through a place as great as this Fortress. But.. she was actually doing fine. This was exactly the lesson she said herself to Ehryinae, exactly what she needed to achieve before the gift would be her's to control.
Somehow, all three of them had achieved that step of their lessons, and they didn't even realize it. Instead of wondering how they got there, however, more importantly would be progressing further, taking even more steps forward.
Qheria turned back to Sxeiva again. "You're the daughter of the Arch-Magus, which is a lot closer to the Arch-Magus than just a disciple. I don't suppose you could help us continue our lessons in learning the gift, from where we left off? It seems it might be time for another lesson?" Qheria found herself recipient of a gentle smile. "Of course, I would be glad to help you with the gift. I myself was personally taught by the Arch-Magus, after all. Just, please be aware, sometimes getting the gift to work initially can be.. fleeting." Sxeiva's concerns were something they were well aware of at this point. It was still their best possible advantage in this situation, they needed to learn more.
The day was quickly coming to a close, so their lessons would be delayed until tomorrow. For the rest of the day, they resumed their regular duties, and prepared for sleep.