Act V + Storytime V

Historia V

In the world of Adora, throughout all recorded history, and even in time before: parables, traditions, stories, and folklore have told tales of legendary beings. Some beasts, some monsters, some demons, and some humans.

In this world blessed with such rampant natural energy, individuals of all sorts have emerged victors of battle and war. From mystic and runic arts, down to masters of blade and iron: martial art prowess capable of infusing a human fist with the hardness of a shell, a claw, a horn. Warriors of all kinds have fought in the warring times through Adora. All of it was possible through Arcane.

Throughout history, fables have told tales of men and women who lived lives dedicated to battle—driven by their competitive souls, they gave everything to their craft, to the art of war. Those gifted individuals capable of wielding great Arcane power are almost always thrust into the heat of the chaos. The battles for freedom are led by the strongest, of course. Such is the destiny of the Scions, but ne’er them alone. Their names echo through the earth. Their legends written as limericks.

“When the world tree drops a seed, without a drop of water, heed, the head of a flower blooms from the mud. All the luck in the world, a white sequoia bead.” - Adora World Almanac I: x260 The Legend of Lu Pe Fiasco

Historia Est Finis

Act V

x293

Parte et Rai

The creaking sound of the rocking chair swaying back and forth echoed across the room. Professor Elrik rocked calmly and comfortably, his grey hairs falling to his neck. He took a second to stroke his short beard before opening his mouth.

“What makes a sigil complex? Or better yet, what is a sigil?” He proposed.

“A system of seals.” One young man blurted.

“Correct… what else?” Elrik pressed further.

“From what I understand, an effective sigil embodies a sequence or layers – of seals that activate each other, causing a domino effect.” Irma responded, shifting her glasses. Her orange-tinted hair, faintly brunette, fell in a single braid over her left shoulder. She modestly sat with her hands in her lap, clearly from a well-rounded home. A noble one, most likely.

“Yes, yes. That is exceptionally good.” Elrik rose from his seat, walked over to the formation of tables, and placed a book on a stool he’d positioned to the centre of the formation.

“I have a small test for you all. Gather here if you would.” At his request, nine students immediately gathered in front of the table formation. Elrik stood inside it, next to the book he’d placed there.

“If you don’t know what this is, it is a copy of Sages’ Sigils I.” Gasps could be heard amidst the group. The way Irma gazed at it stood out to me.

“What’s Sages’ Sigils?” Another girl asked.

“It’s a book there aren’t many copies of. A group of legendary sages – masters and teachers of runic, arcanic arts – who specialized in sealing wrote down much of their research on it, including how to create basic and advanced seals, layered seals and even how to create a powerful and effective sigil. It’s an incredibly famous series.” Irma explained.

“Typically, the first edition does not have any locks placed on it. However, consider it a chance to use what you’ve learned. I have placed a few moderate seals on this book. Any of you who’re capable of undoing the seals are permitted to study the contents that become available to you. You are welcome to work together. However, only one person may attempt it at a time.” He finished instructing. Building his little game.

I sat in a seat toward the back of the class, opting to watch the attempts at first. A line quickly formed. Lights shone and rang, dying and reviving as people tried to unseal the book. Around the fifth try, Irma stepped forward. She examined the book first, noticing each marking across the spine and faces, then she placed it back down.

“My dear girl, what thoughts are racing through that head of yours?” Elrik poked. Irma shifted her gaze.

“Well… I was thinking that, instead of trying to remove the seals or break the sigil, I could apply the essence you’ve suppressed. The two energies would cancel out and thus unseal the book.” She replied.

“An interesting take. Care to try?” Elrik pushed.

“Well, for example, if everything is always either at order or at chaos, as we theorized earlier—then I can conclude the book had its essence changed to closed. So perhaps I can apply the opposite essence.” She offered.

Some cheers and chatter sounded in the back, along with positive affirmations.

“Your thinking is correct, but you might find that quite difficult.” Elrik warned.

“What would you suggest then, professor?” She peered over, searching for loose information.

“I would suggest looking at the issue as a whole, instead of breaking it down step by step.” He answered in a sly tone. “Unfortunately for you, it is not a layered seal as you hoped. Only a single sigil has been placed upon this book.

The boys and girls grumbled about themselves for a few moments.

“Surely, you don’t expect me to simply give you the answer, dear students?” The class groaned some more. Fenris, my boy, care to try?” He lifted the book from its place and threw it at me. It didn’t open or flutter. Catching it with my right hand, it felt far too solid for anything made of paper. I noticed the β on the front of the book and ignored it. I gathered power in my hand and a rough light enveloped the book.

“Stop!” Elrik commanded. “You are an intelligent boy. Surely you wouldn’t dare to insult those of us here by overpowering the seal. Such an impractical approach is beneath students of mine!” He said with a huff. “Do come join your classmates in solving it, instead. The light faded from my hand. I sighed, then rose from my seat and walked around to the where the rest of the class stood.

“You were right about applying a new seal to cancel out the other. It would work, but only if you guessed the counter seal. Even then, by applying one step, you’d probably only open a section of the book. Like this.” I raised my finger, gathering a thick light at the tip, then using it to write a rune on the face of the book: “Using the nuadhiz, I can translate ‘need or unfulfilled’ into “open.” The light gathered and then scattered. I opened the front cover and the first few pages of the book, flipping through the now-fluid pages.

“Hmph. I expected more after you made us wait for you.” Irma stated.

“Actually, this was your idea. I just applied the opposite essence of ‘closed’ like you wanted. Here.” I handed it to her.

I gave her a moment to examine the pages. She peered with intent, unable to hide the surprise and confusion. Still, she focused her pupils, then handed it to her classmates.

“I’ve only unsealed a third of the sig1il.” I announced. Once the book returned to me, I reversed my earlier actions ‘closing’ the book again. In response, the β appeared on it once more. “One thing you all missed is this symbol.” I pointed at the β on the front cover, then walked over to the board and began to draw as I spoke. “If we already know it’s sealed through a single sigil, then it’s a matter of knowing what you need to break that sigil.”

“α-alpha, β-beta, and γ-gamma are the three preliminary levels of seals. You can only create a sigil by applying more than one seal. An α sigil is two seals: simplest, but also the most effective. A β seal is three. Since the β seal is on the book, we know that he used three specific seals to lock it. We know one: Irma guessed right when she applied a ‘close’. The other two? One is ‘fluid’—I learned that when he threw it to me. He used ‘Eihwaz’ or ‘stability’ and overwrote ‘Raidho,’ or movement. In other words, he sealed its ‘fluidity’ and applied a ‘solidity’. The last seal is the one we must figure out.

“How do we go about doing that?” Irma stepped near, her face pondering along.

“Ahahaha!” Elrik let out a bellow. “Look at you all. So focused and gathered. Yes, this why the sealing arts are so interesting. It requires that you even think differently!” He exclaimed.

“Don’t mind him.” I recalled everyone’s attention, leaving our teacher beaming on his own.

“Remember when he said we can read the contents? He was being sly. He knew we wouldn’t be able to read it even if we managed to open it.”

“Because the letters were jumbled already anyways.” The boy from earlier called.

“Exactly. This is why sigils are so advanced. We know there’s three seals, but they also have to fit together a certain way. It must be a third different aspect. That’s a lot of options, with no real way to choose.”

Irma crossed her arms in dissatisfied thought. “So… we could be stuck here guessing all day before we figure it out.”

“How do we find the last seal then?!” One boy yelled.

“Ohohohoh!” The old man bellowed. “You’ve gone so far, so quickly. I’ll have you know; I’ve only had one other student complete this test on the first try in 40 years! Have your best shot.” He smirked evilly.

I looked over at Elrik, who had a sloppy grin across his face, then walked over to the book, setting the chalk down back in the railing of the board. “I have an idea. It doesn’t always work. But sometimes with preliminary sigils, it’s just the right algorithm.”

“You inhibited the book’s nature to be ‘open’ and sealed it with the ‘close’. You apply a ‘solid’ state to the book so it wouldn’t be fluid enough to turn any pages. Whatever the last seal is, it won’t let us read the contents.” I turned to my classmates. Their faces were painted with disbelief and confusion, unsure of the correct answer.

“Most people aren’t aware until after they’ve read the first edition. However, in the list of runes we all try to memorize, there exist nameless ones. Once in forty years sounds believable. Think for a second guys: each of the runes are related to each other, and each have several meanings. If there’s a rune for everything you know, then the opposite is true too right?” I held the bait.

“Laguz!” Irma called aloud. “Laguz is ‘the unknown.” She revealed.

“That’s right. What’s more, Laguz has a counter part. Its name is defined as ‘unknown.’” I explained. “While we could simply reverse-engineer the sigil. This would be much more important to learn.” I drew the three symbols: ‘Raidho’, ‘Naudhiz’, and ‘Unknown’. The paperback gave a hallowing ring and a faint light. The β crumbled away. I sifted the pages to the end of the first chapter and brought the class face to face with their first new unnamed seal.

Class ended and shuffling of all kinds of speed filled the small space of the room as people gathered their things and left. I waited for the small group of people to vacate the area then calmly walked toward the door.

“Reverse-engineering a seal is what most would consider a rather advanced technique, young lord. To utilize such a method, one must have an astute understanding of runic combinations, meanings, and variations.” Elrik said as he stopped me.

“Perhaps so.” I responded.

“Why do you choose to remain silent, while harbouring such knowledge? You are quite frankly a genius. I have seen few with such an aptitude for seals at such a young age. Not since I studied with Queen Valterra ages ago.” He expressed.

I took a second and sighed before responding. “I’m not interested in bragging about anything, I have a hard-enough time with classmates already. I don’t care about being a leader or anything like that. And when I think about it – anyone can do what I can if they had the same start. I study the seals because they interest me and that’s all. It’s fun to do puzzles.” I finished.

“I see, it is a pleasure to see you’ve come to enjoy the time spent here at our Monastery. Despite your naïve unwillingness, young lord, it is in the fate of those with power to lead those without. It is the natural way of things. Even so, life is not without passion. if you are truly a student about these arts, I would gladly accept you as an apprentice and instruct you personally. It is a rare chance to see skill like yours from one so young.” Elrik offered with a warm smile, giving his beard a soft stroke.

“I’ll think about it.” I caught the smirk and sigh at the end of professor Elrik’s lips before walking out.

Having brought nothing to the class proved useful. I walked out into the hall and took a momentary pause to stretch and yawn softly.

“Oi, Fen.” A boy’s voice called.

“Marise.” I acknowledged. He appeared from my left.

“You finished all your lessons?” He asked.

I nodded in response, turning toward the ascending side of the staircase.

“Where are you going? Maralah is already at the field, isn’t she?”

“Yes. But Eurus is taking a nap on the roof of the 4th-floor balcony and asked me to come get him when I was done.”

“That jerk. Charging his energy, is he?” Marise growled.

“Not everyone is as energetic as you.” I taunted.

Up the steps, two flights, and to the immediate right, a hallway led towards a large, bright opening. On the balcony, the view was every bit as satisfying as being on Nariko. The top of the 4th floor sat at a height above the ground that made it simply perfect for spotting even the farthest edges of the inner city. It peered openly over the rest of the capital facing the bell.

“Where is he?” Marise peered around balcony.

I started to climb up to the roof. From the balcony’s edge, I jumped onto the nearby stretch-landing and walked around the edge of the northeastern tower. There, in a spot open to the sun, slept Eurus, his shirt over covering his face, exposing his stomach and his back to the stone of the castle.

“Oi, Eurus.” I called. He didn’t wake up. “If you don’t want me to wake you knock on the ground twice.” Groaning, his hand formed a fist and knocked twice on the ground. A few faint rumbles and Eurus soon flew a foot in the air; a piece of stone flinging up from where he slept and back into the ground.

“Owwwww.” He groaned. “You set me up.” He rubbed his lower back.

“Should’ve been sleepin’ on the tiles.” I turned away.

“A little late for the advice.” He continued to rub his back.

“Remind me not to ever keep Maralah waiting.” Marise scratched his head half-nervously.

The two of them soon followed behind me. Jumping back down to ground level, we walked into the church, through the halls, and eventually reached the south courtyard. Outside, Ralah waited by the usual tree at the back end of the south courtyard. Seeing us in the distance, she stood with a sour face, arms crossed. As we approached, we noticed that the weapons had already been piled next to a drawn-out arena. A group of other children clamoured around. They ran up toward us. I continued past them over to Ralah and planted my back against the tree. Ralah gave me a glance, then kicked a sword off the ground at me. Catching it, I gave her a look.

“What’s that for?” I inquired.

“No reason.” She returned, folding her hands into the wide sleeves of her robe. I rested my eyelids for a moment and exhaled deeply, stabbing the sword into the ground; it was long enough for the pommel to reach my waist. The sound of footsteps approaching alerted me to the reappearance of the two boys.

“So, who wants to go first today?” Marise rubbed his hands, grinning.

I stood up and pulled the longsword out of the ground in front of me.

“Oh Fenris. You’re just raring to go huh? I’ll gladly be your opponent.” Marise grinned again, evilly. Eurus placed a hand on Marise’ shoulder. Then came a tug and a twist.

Eurus gave an overarm throw that flung Marise high into the air. With a few sounds of surprise and a blank look at the sky, Marise floated in the air and then spun and landed dramatically on his two feet.

“Safe!” He proudly announced. Maralah applauded. “What was that for?” He looked over at this blonde friend.

“Just stretching a bit. This’ll be a good after-nap workout.” He grinned, acting a bit smug.

“You wake up in a bad mood?” I teased, waving the sword around.

He flicked his wrists and twirled his fingers, and a sharp gust of wind blew by lifting a pair of tonfas into the sky. “No more than usual.” He said, catching one in each arm. He gave each a twirl. Eurus assumed a poise that was seemingly out of character. Perspective meant nothing. He gave out an aura of clear focus, but the pressure he exuded did not alarm me.

“Finally showing a bit of your true self, eh?” I sneered.

The air pulsated silently, a heartbeat. I matched his glare. I couldn’t help but become excited with anticipation – the games begin! The air around me shook. Exuding my own pressure, I focused on Eurus’ every move. His joints and shoulders giving of a hopping rhythm, he leapt at me! The speed initially took me by surprise, but not all the way. Quickly, I responded with the point of my index finger:

“Trua.” A single, sharp bolt jolted forward—but he’d already vanished.

I gathered my breath and listened…

… there!

I blocked the incoming hit from behind me. Predictable. But he knew that and smiled just slightly. He vanished again, not just fast, but agile, reappearing and disappearing into my blind spot. I kept my patience as I weathered his attacks. I dodged a flurry of kicks and jumped back. Resuming my stance, I looked back to see Eurus gone again. In his wake: a flurry of wind attacks—high-pressure air bombs flew at me! As I dodged the assault, he reappeared again, this time between the twisters of air. He struck strategically and sharply every time. Then, he kicked my sword off my hand and jumped back. Swiftly, he waved his hands and pulled blankets of air together, surrounding me from each side. Encasing me in a ball. I began to choke, suffocating as the cage of wind closed in on me. I couldn’t hold back any longer at that point… and soon, my powers exploded, out of my control.

I broke from the cage, covered in blistering electricity, crackling, and flowing off my body. He gave another smirk and disappeared into the dust. I cleared the air around me and was reacquainted with the tip of Eurus’ tonfa. I knocked it from his hand into the air, and his other hand came hammering in a downward slash. I caught him by the opposite wrist.

“Not bad.” I admitted.

“Not done yet.” He growled. He clawed at the air and gathered a powerful wind in his free palm ready to strike me. I jumped back and, as he swung, the tonfa I’d knocked into the air from earlier fell into the centre of his hand, destroying his attack. I jumped forward quickly and elbowed his torso. He flew a few mets back, rolling, then slid back to his feet and knelt.

“Better, but still not good enough.” I said looking down at the crouched figure in front of me. The dust settled. The ground was left with marks and scars of all sorts. Divots and ditches left over from the bout. Eurus caught his breath slowly. It was a lot of fun. Amazing to see him looking so free when we played like this – I left without the right words to express it; how much I felt he’d grown. My chest bounced from hard breaths while I sweated down my neck. I walked over and offered my hand to help him up. He looked away and rose to his feet alone.

“It’s bad to offer a hand to a defeated opponent, isn’t it? Oh, great Battle Lord. It’s disrespectful. You should know that.” He scoffed in his ‘mocking servant’ tone

“You’re right. Still, I can’t help myself. It was a good fight.” I handed him the longsword. “There’s a style of swordsmanship I know that focuses on delivering powerful, decisive blows. If you could find a teacher, you’d be frightening.” I confessed. His expression softened somewhat.

“Hmph, I’ll take your sword for it.” He shook my hand with a sly smile. Marise ran up to us, Ralah behind him.

“What can I say? There’s nothing else to expect from the ‘tyrant prince of battle.’” He shrugged, throwing his hands to the air. He placed them behind his head, coming over toward to the tree.

“Watching you guys is so frustrating sometimes.” Marise admitted, shaking with excitement and envy.

“When you plant seeds in a garden, each one will sprout at its own pace. Knowing that, you need only stretch your roots as far as you can.” Ralah consoled.

“Big sister, your parables are as cute as ever, but consider his feelings. It must be hard to watch another boy his age hold back and still destroy everything around him.” Eurus snickered.

“I know, I have to be patient... but it’s not always easy.” Marise confessed, frowning.

“Fenris, be a dear and say something to him, please.” Eurus goaded from his tree branch.

I took a second to put myself in Marise’s shoes. Maybe Eurus was right. Maybe it was frustrating in a way I couldn’t understand. Maybe a few words of encouragement were all Marise needed. They were rare for me, but I didn’t need to make them rare for him. Not when he was at least passionate about it.

“I have known you for almost as long as I can remember, Marise.” I began. “And I’ve seen your work. Mark my words: before you know it, you’ll become quite powerful. Maybe not today. or tomorrow... But always being a challenger – that’s strength too.” I looked him in the eye.

“I will defeat you one day.” He declared.

My hairs went on end, sparking just slightly. “I anticipate it.” I grinned lightly.

Act V Fin

Storytime V

In the year x290, a winter blizzard blew outside the Halfryta Church dormitories. It was night befitting the season.

The snowy howls sung behind the windows, and while the vast majority of people still within the church slept, the sound of bandage tape rolling over a thin, young girls arm permeated the common room of the student dormitories. Physically frail as she’d always been, Maralah’s overflowing powers seemed to, at times, circumvent that. If you asked her, however,

“Everything is a trade-off.” She would think to herself.

She wouldn’t dare to open her lips; she didn’t want to choke on air. If she began to cough, the resulting stress would displace from her skin in Arcane energy. In the worst-case scenario – it could do so with enough force, sometimes, to destroy any two adjacent rooms in the church. What sort of special precautions had been taken, then, to prevent such a thing from happening? It was the very bandages that grip all her skin running up to her neck, bound around her near every inch, carrying a weight not a single other person could really imagine. The slightest shift in her emotional state could cause havoc, as it already had before. Meanwhile, Fenris sat at her side, pulling the paper, and spinning it in the same rhythm.

“Why are you doing this?” The little girl cracked.

“What do you mean?” He replied.

“Fenris… the more I think about it, the more surprised I am that I was allowed to stay here.” She admitted.

“There’ enough adults who know, and who can be here immediately if anything goes wrong.” He brushed. “We’re always being watched, one way or another.”

“Still, last month when they began to leak, I showed you the inscriptions. You said you copied them to make the new ones? What did you mean by that?” She asked.

“Yes. Edgar used to have me memorize the Runic Table a long time ago. He’d write out seal structures and let me copy them. The bandages are similar enough. The only difference is the amount of writing.” Fenris explained.

“But that’s not all, right?” She investigated further.

Fenris stopped at the wrist of her right arm and caught her soft, grey glare. “What do you mean?”

“I showed my mom.” She added quickly. “She was liked it a lot. She said that you beat her to the punch… but she didn’t explain what she meant.”

Fenris paused, then took Maralah’s left arm. “I figured she’d find out, but I expected a letter or a scolding or something. I just figured because your other bandages are basic. They make you burn up right?”

She flinched in surprise.

“The wrappings already can’t work it for long, but the reason it was always giving you a fever and other trouble was because there wasn’t anything written for ‘circulation’.”

“Circulation? What is that?”

“Ah. Think about blood in your body. It all goes around to every part, flowing like a river through your heart. Your body does the same with your Arcane. It’s different for you, though. Since there’s so much of it in your body, you can’t possibly control it all and make it flow smoothly at the same time. While being wrapped up, I imagine it feels like you’re about to blow up. Or maybe, like burning from the inside.” He paused to consider.

“The second one.” She said, her voice cracking.

“Basically, when I first I saw you were doing Peractio dances at the end of physical study, it gave me an idea.”

“Peractio?” Maralah gave a confused look.

“In martials arts all over Halfryta, Peractio training is called completing your Arcane. In textbooks, it’s the foundation of Lucidity. In its natural state, Arcane is thick and pretty turbulent. Or I guess…. windy.”

“Like really fast water rapids?” She hunched in a guess.

“Ah-huh.” Anyways, Peractio dances are a good exercise and a to focusing on calming and perfecting one’s flow of Arcane. I guess your mom had you start doing them without telling you what they were.”

“So, it’s martial arts...” She whispered, unsatisfied.

“It’s a technique, yes.” Fenris offered.

She shook her head still unswayed, pouting. “People still use it for fighting and hurting each other then.”

“It’s also not the point – but I get why your mom didn’t tell you.” Fenris scowled a bit. “Anyways, I got the idea to pen in a new rune at the places where the loose weight is placed by the Arcane flow: the top of the neck, shoulders, hips, base of the spine, hamstrings, ankles. A first, it was only a test, but if your mother is satisfied then I guess it’s working.”

“Which brings me back to first question,” Maralah said. “Why are you doing this?”
“Hm... You’re wondering, am I just using this as an excuse to get away from other stuff? Or maybe, I suddenly got a crush on you. Who could imagine a 10-year-old romance?!” a sly snicker, uncanny.

“I get you’re clever, Fenris… but I can tell when you’re just being annoying.”

“To put it simple: it’s interesting. Doing this has given me a very rare opportunity to try things I’ve read about… and I was able to help someone at the same time, Plus, if it was me, I’d want someone to help too.” Fenris gave a soft curve at the end of his lips.

She paused. “Is that how you feel now?”

“My mother already had the same plan. What makes you think I need your help?” She puffed her cheeks, not wanting to admit to it.

“Anyone who finds it hard to speak because they’re being choked by wrapping needs help.” He chuckled at her.

“Wrapping and life energy.” She allowed a quiet pause. “You’re still rude.”

“Maybe, but this wouldn’t be fun if I wasn’t a little.” He snickered.

She shook her head. “What does that mean?”

“I’m not sure, but Edgar said it.” He chuckled some more.

Maralah gave a quiet sigh. “Why can’t things stay peaceful always, just like this. I don’t mind learning techniques if we can stay like this. I don’t want to hurt anyone. For anyone to feel what it’s like – being like this.”

“Hm... Even being strong counts as a curse.” Fenris gave a solemn blow—so very unchildlike.

“So, then, what’s next, for us?” She asked.

He paused and stared at her, furling his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“I’m interested in destiny. Destiny has given me a bunch of things I don’t want and won’t allow me to enjoy anything I do have. You probably understand.” She said.

“I don’t think I’m the one that should lead since, the way things are going, I’ll end up the furthest outside. My dad wants me to separate the Thunder Peaks from the rest of the holy federation. And even if I don’t Edgar doesn’t think the lords would let me do as I please because of they already dislike him.”

“Is that what you really think that you’re stuck either way?”

He didn’t answer...

Maralah asked again. “What else does your friend Edgar think?”

“He thinks I should do whatever makes me happy. Even staying with the church.” Fenris answered.

“Since you’re a Scion, that should make sense, right?” She pondered.

“Except, nothing like that has ever been done by a Scion before. Not to mention, I can’t begin to imagine what mother and father would say… or do.” He finished her arm. “I’ll think about it, I guess. It is an option. What do you want to do?” He asked her.

“Sing.” She smiled sweetly.

“Hm. That’ll take some practice.” He smirked.

She punched him over the arm.

Story V’s End