The wind whipped through her bedraggled hair in a very clichéd manner, leaving specks of white clinging to the strands and blasting her small, pale face with a stinging cold, but Meriol was past caring about the damage the blizzard would undoubtedly do to her complexion, not to mention how long it would take to fix her hair. It wasn't going to matter, anyway. She was so high now, the wind screaming and the ground so far below, a fall none could surely survive. Meriol had used to be terrified of the wind, of the cold and of heights, but after everything she had been through, everything she had done and had done to her, the heights and blistering cold of Mt Gagazet were almost welcoming. This was part of the reason she was here, it was entirely unlike her. She wanted to end it completely different to how it had begun, how it had become. This was her story, after all, and she was sick and tired of feeling like someone else was writing it, of feeling like she had some sort of writers block because she couldn't guide her life her way, the way she wanted it to go. She was tired of having no control, and this seemed to be the only point of control she had left in her life. Hah, control. Her way. Her story. Such pitiful words they were. Pitiful words at the end, and pitiful words at the beginning, also. Along on the peak of Mt Gagazet, Meriol remembered…
"Mommy, where are you! Mommy, mommy?" A little girl stood in the quiet, empty street, calling for her mother, who wasn't actually far away, though the abandoned dwellings could be deceptive to their inhabitants. To a child, of course, out of earshot is out of existence, out of sight is near enough out of mind.
"Sorry, dear?" A small woman with a gentle face leaned out of the window. "I'm right here, sweetie. Don't worry, I would never leave you. I'm quite busy packing, though, so why don't you go and play with the other children?"
"Mommy, I'm scared", Said the little girl, taking a step forward and being careful to avoid tripping over the crumbling cement path. "Where have all the families gone?"
"At the leaving site, waiting for us", Replied her mother. "Staying was a big mistake for all of us. We should have left six years ago, with everyone else."
"Leaving? Where are we going? Who is… everyone else?" The little girl wrinkled her forehead in confusion, now at the window, holding her arms up, pleading.
Her mother laughed. "Silly child, you are too young to understand such things, and yet you ask questions about everything. I shall tell you what I can, though. Our tribe, all the families here, is not everyone. There are millions upon millions of people. So many that they couldn't all live here. More than you can imagine."
The little girl shut her eyes for a moment, and tried to imagine so many people, but her mother continued.
"Most of them left here, about half a year before you were born. We should have left too, it isn't safe to live here anymore. We have ruined this place, it isn't stable anymore. It seems safe now, but it won't last. That is why we are travelling to where they went. All of us, finishing the journey, to a place called Spira."
"So… I get to see miwions and miwions of people?"
"I don't know dear. We lost a lot of technology after they left. The last ship we have, when we travel in it, it will take many years of their time, but none of ours. Things might have changed there, but there is one thing for sure, Spira will be safe, for you, for me, for us…"
Us… now there was a novel idea. How long did us last? Meriol tried to remember. Years of trying to forget had made the memories fuzzy. Upon arrival in Spira, finding themselves on the shore of Bikanel Island, a place that appeared empty and uninhabitable, the people had taken to the water, in boats of many colours, and had decided to sail and search for a place to settle. There was no land in sight when Sin attacked.
The fighting was horrible, the people had few weapons, had never encountered Sin before, had expected peace. Meriol was screaming. All she could hear was screaming, grief, pain, anger. The Sinspawn shrieked in a violent frenzy. Everyone was dying, falling overboard. The decks were cluttered with bodies, and the in the water, corpses bobbed and floated, limbs drifting about in mock-life. Strange creatures, they were everywhere. In the sky and on the decks, with scales, spikes and teeth. Voices that had never been heard by the people before, striking terror in their hears. Wailing, screaming, the creatures massacred the people.
"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy! Aiii, Mommy, where have you gone? Help me Mommy!" Meriol called to her mother, not knowing that she was already one of the fallen, her unseeing eyes gazing at the sky, only a few steps behind Meriol. Two of the creature, two Sinspawn, were attracted by Meriol's cries. Making high pitched clicking noises and unearthly chirps, they hopped and shuffled closer. Meriol backed away, consumed by the need to put distance between them. They hopped forward again and Meriol jumped back, tripping over. A Sinspawn bared it's teeth and leapt.
"No!" A man, Meriol's father, darted between them, taking the blow as his own, to protect his daughter. Meriol stood up hurriedly and saw her father , brandishing and iron bar against her attackers. She stood, eyes fixed, for what seemed like hours, before she looked down, too scared to see anymore.
The Sinspawn grew disinterested in its strange, sickly pale prey which seemed to be fighting back, and backed away from Meriol's father. He turned, picked up his daughter, and jumped into the water with her, fleeing as best he could, thinking only of the life of his daughter.
The last thing Meriol remembered seeing was her Mothers stiff, lifeless body, the barely recognisable corpse that she had tripped over before her father had stepped in to save her.
They washed up like driftwood later on the banks of the Moonflow, only a few kilometres from Guadosalam, though kilometres weren't a measure of distance ever used before in Spira. Meriol awoke to hundreds of pyreflies, swarming and making a spectacular display of light and colour.
She sat up, alarmed. Pyreflies were native to Spira, none of the people had ever seen them before, least of all her. A noise beside Meriol startled her, however without looking, she knew it was only her father, and that he was alive, and he had saved her. Though frightened by the foreign surroundings, her father's presence now calmed her. It was impossible for Meriol to comprehend, but Meriol's father had shown great strength, honour and love in rescuing her from Sin. He must have swam so far before washing up, exhausted on this shore. The poor man must have collapsed in exhaustion after making sure his daughter was safe. Neither of them knew it, but in Spira, an act like this formed the bond of the guardian, enhancing both the guardian's and the protected one's magic, and connecting both in the magic of Spira, forever. Young children are commonly impatient and constantly seeking entertainment, but Meriol found herself calm, and sat by her father, watching and waiting for him to wake. Hours passed, and though the bond of the guardian had enabled patience in her, small children tire easily, and Meriol was beginning to drift off. She heard voices, and Meriol thought that she must be dreaming, or somewhere near to it, so she lay down and closed her eyes. The voices continued, but Meriol then did fall asleep.
"Master Seymour, come, we must get back to Guadosalam. You father doubtless will be waiting."
"Aww Trommel, why?" Came a younger voice. We haven't seen any fiends yet. I wanna find a fiend."
The older one sighed, and gave in. At least the boy had stopped moping around after his mother. Six months of endless crying, visiting the farplane, just in case. In recent weeks, however, the boy had shown a new resolve. Attentive in his studies and eager to explore the world around him, her must have moved on but… oh, a boy his age, he was such a handful. Now where had he got to?
Trommells charge had wandered away towards the banks of the Moonflow, and so he hurried to follow.
"My boy, you shouldn't wander away like that. There are strong fiends in these parts."
"Trommell, I can handle them. I learnt a new spell, yesterday, did I tell you? … Fira."
The child was a prodigy, no doubt about that, but even prodigies can get killed by a rogue chimera, no doubt about that, either. Oh, and now he was off again, running through the undergrowth, coming to a clearing on the bank of the Moonflow. There were no fiends there, but the boy had stopped dead in his tracks. Two bodies lay on the beach, people unlike anyone either of them had ever seen.
"Hey, hey, are you ok?" Meriol was shaken awake by an odd-looking blue haired boy, dressed in strange clothes, something she didn't expect. "Hey, wake up!"
Trommell stood in the background, surveying the scene. Two strangers, foreigners, by their clothing, and definitely not Guado. They were pale, whiter than pyreflies, with hair of unusual hues. How odd, even of the four peoples of Spira known to Trommell, this pair did not fit. This was not good, but the young Master did not seem to notice their differences. Indeed, he looked more like them than like Guado, in some respects. This could most definitely be problematic with the upbringing of the child.
Do not think poorly of the Guado because of Trommell. He was a traditionalist to the point of revolutionary, looking back upon the old days with warm feelings, and looking forward with resentment. Though he disagreed fervently with his Lords advancements, he was a servant, and knew his place, as well as the importance of having a secure place like his in society, so Trommell merely waited, biding his time until he would be able to somehow stop the changes that were happening to his people. He was certainly not, however, typical of the gentle, compassionate and generous Guado people that would take Meriol and her father in, as two of their own.
The boy leant over Meriol and shook her. The first thing she say upon opening her eyes was his piercing smokey blue eyes, holding her wavering gaze. With sleep riddled eyes, she took him in, blue hair, strange, flowing clothes that looked terribly impractical to Meriol, and a face that looked like it had seen pain, such a lot of pain, yet he had the innocence of youth. Meriol blinked, he didn't look scary, her and her Daddy would be safe.
"Hey, do you talk?" Asked the boy, tugging at a strand of her hair, a colour he had never seen before in any place but the farplane. "What's your name? Where are you from? Are you Guado? How did you end up on the Moonflow? Did you get attacked by fiends?"
Meriol was confused by the torrent of questions, most of which she did not understand, but tried to answer anyway. "Um… my name is Meriol Rijttafel."
Silence followed as Meriol tried to remember the next question.
"Where are you from?" The boy asked again.
"I… I don't know." Said Meriol. "Ask my Daddy. Oh… please, my Daddy, he needs help." Meriol had forgotten her father in the confusion, but he was lying beside her, drained, and likely unable to wake.
"Okay, I can heal him." Said the boy, turning away. "By the way, my name is Seymour. Seymour Guado."
"Mommy, where are you! Mommy, mommy?" A little girl stood in the quiet, empty street, calling for her mother, who wasn't actually far away, though the abandoned dwellings could be deceptive to their inhabitants. To a child, of course, out of earshot is out of existence, out of sight is near enough out of mind.
"Sorry, dear?" A small woman with a gentle face leaned out of the window. "I'm right here, sweetie. Don't worry, I would never leave you. I'm quite busy packing, though, so why don't you go and play with the other children?"
"Mommy, I'm scared", Said the little girl, taking a step forward and being careful to avoid tripping over the crumbling cement path. "Where have all the families gone?"
"At the leaving site, waiting for us", Replied her mother. "Staying was a big mistake for all of us. We should have left six years ago, with everyone else."
"Leaving? Where are we going? Who is… everyone else?" The little girl wrinkled her forehead in confusion, now at the window, holding her arms up, pleading.
Her mother laughed. "Silly child, you are too young to understand such things, and yet you ask questions about everything. I shall tell you what I can, though. Our tribe, all the families here, is not everyone. There are millions upon millions of people. So many that they couldn't all live here. More than you can imagine."
The little girl shut her eyes for a moment, and tried to imagine so many people, but her mother continued.
"Most of them left here, about half a year before you were born. We should have left too, it isn't safe to live here anymore. We have ruined this place, it isn't stable anymore. It seems safe now, but it won't last. That is why we are travelling to where they went. All of us, finishing the journey, to a place called Spira."
"So… I get to see miwions and miwions of people?"
"I don't know dear. We lost a lot of technology after they left. The last ship we have, when we travel in it, it will take many years of their time, but none of ours. Things might have changed there, but there is one thing for sure, Spira will be safe, for you, for me, for us…"
Us… now there was a novel idea. How long did us last? Meriol tried to remember. Years of trying to forget had made the memories fuzzy. Upon arrival in Spira, finding themselves on the shore of Bikanel Island, a place that appeared empty and uninhabitable, the people had taken to the water, in boats of many colours, and had decided to sail and search for a place to settle. There was no land in sight when Sin attacked.
The fighting was horrible, the people had few weapons, had never encountered Sin before, had expected peace. Meriol was screaming. All she could hear was screaming, grief, pain, anger. The Sinspawn shrieked in a violent frenzy. Everyone was dying, falling overboard. The decks were cluttered with bodies, and the in the water, corpses bobbed and floated, limbs drifting about in mock-life. Strange creatures, they were everywhere. In the sky and on the decks, with scales, spikes and teeth. Voices that had never been heard by the people before, striking terror in their hears. Wailing, screaming, the creatures massacred the people.
"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy! Aiii, Mommy, where have you gone? Help me Mommy!" Meriol called to her mother, not knowing that she was already one of the fallen, her unseeing eyes gazing at the sky, only a few steps behind Meriol. Two of the creature, two Sinspawn, were attracted by Meriol's cries. Making high pitched clicking noises and unearthly chirps, they hopped and shuffled closer. Meriol backed away, consumed by the need to put distance between them. They hopped forward again and Meriol jumped back, tripping over. A Sinspawn bared it's teeth and leapt.
"No!" A man, Meriol's father, darted between them, taking the blow as his own, to protect his daughter. Meriol stood up hurriedly and saw her father , brandishing and iron bar against her attackers. She stood, eyes fixed, for what seemed like hours, before she looked down, too scared to see anymore.
The Sinspawn grew disinterested in its strange, sickly pale prey which seemed to be fighting back, and backed away from Meriol's father. He turned, picked up his daughter, and jumped into the water with her, fleeing as best he could, thinking only of the life of his daughter.
The last thing Meriol remembered seeing was her Mothers stiff, lifeless body, the barely recognisable corpse that she had tripped over before her father had stepped in to save her.
They washed up like driftwood later on the banks of the Moonflow, only a few kilometres from Guadosalam, though kilometres weren't a measure of distance ever used before in Spira. Meriol awoke to hundreds of pyreflies, swarming and making a spectacular display of light and colour.
She sat up, alarmed. Pyreflies were native to Spira, none of the people had ever seen them before, least of all her. A noise beside Meriol startled her, however without looking, she knew it was only her father, and that he was alive, and he had saved her. Though frightened by the foreign surroundings, her father's presence now calmed her. It was impossible for Meriol to comprehend, but Meriol's father had shown great strength, honour and love in rescuing her from Sin. He must have swam so far before washing up, exhausted on this shore. The poor man must have collapsed in exhaustion after making sure his daughter was safe. Neither of them knew it, but in Spira, an act like this formed the bond of the guardian, enhancing both the guardian's and the protected one's magic, and connecting both in the magic of Spira, forever. Young children are commonly impatient and constantly seeking entertainment, but Meriol found herself calm, and sat by her father, watching and waiting for him to wake. Hours passed, and though the bond of the guardian had enabled patience in her, small children tire easily, and Meriol was beginning to drift off. She heard voices, and Meriol thought that she must be dreaming, or somewhere near to it, so she lay down and closed her eyes. The voices continued, but Meriol then did fall asleep.
"Master Seymour, come, we must get back to Guadosalam. You father doubtless will be waiting."
"Aww Trommel, why?" Came a younger voice. We haven't seen any fiends yet. I wanna find a fiend."
The older one sighed, and gave in. At least the boy had stopped moping around after his mother. Six months of endless crying, visiting the farplane, just in case. In recent weeks, however, the boy had shown a new resolve. Attentive in his studies and eager to explore the world around him, her must have moved on but… oh, a boy his age, he was such a handful. Now where had he got to?
Trommells charge had wandered away towards the banks of the Moonflow, and so he hurried to follow.
"My boy, you shouldn't wander away like that. There are strong fiends in these parts."
"Trommell, I can handle them. I learnt a new spell, yesterday, did I tell you? … Fira."
The child was a prodigy, no doubt about that, but even prodigies can get killed by a rogue chimera, no doubt about that, either. Oh, and now he was off again, running through the undergrowth, coming to a clearing on the bank of the Moonflow. There were no fiends there, but the boy had stopped dead in his tracks. Two bodies lay on the beach, people unlike anyone either of them had ever seen.
"Hey, hey, are you ok?" Meriol was shaken awake by an odd-looking blue haired boy, dressed in strange clothes, something she didn't expect. "Hey, wake up!"
Trommell stood in the background, surveying the scene. Two strangers, foreigners, by their clothing, and definitely not Guado. They were pale, whiter than pyreflies, with hair of unusual hues. How odd, even of the four peoples of Spira known to Trommell, this pair did not fit. This was not good, but the young Master did not seem to notice their differences. Indeed, he looked more like them than like Guado, in some respects. This could most definitely be problematic with the upbringing of the child.
Do not think poorly of the Guado because of Trommell. He was a traditionalist to the point of revolutionary, looking back upon the old days with warm feelings, and looking forward with resentment. Though he disagreed fervently with his Lords advancements, he was a servant, and knew his place, as well as the importance of having a secure place like his in society, so Trommell merely waited, biding his time until he would be able to somehow stop the changes that were happening to his people. He was certainly not, however, typical of the gentle, compassionate and generous Guado people that would take Meriol and her father in, as two of their own.
The boy leant over Meriol and shook her. The first thing she say upon opening her eyes was his piercing smokey blue eyes, holding her wavering gaze. With sleep riddled eyes, she took him in, blue hair, strange, flowing clothes that looked terribly impractical to Meriol, and a face that looked like it had seen pain, such a lot of pain, yet he had the innocence of youth. Meriol blinked, he didn't look scary, her and her Daddy would be safe.
"Hey, do you talk?" Asked the boy, tugging at a strand of her hair, a colour he had never seen before in any place but the farplane. "What's your name? Where are you from? Are you Guado? How did you end up on the Moonflow? Did you get attacked by fiends?"
Meriol was confused by the torrent of questions, most of which she did not understand, but tried to answer anyway. "Um… my name is Meriol Rijttafel."
Silence followed as Meriol tried to remember the next question.
"Where are you from?" The boy asked again.
"I… I don't know." Said Meriol. "Ask my Daddy. Oh… please, my Daddy, he needs help." Meriol had forgotten her father in the confusion, but he was lying beside her, drained, and likely unable to wake.
"Okay, I can heal him." Said the boy, turning away. "By the way, my name is Seymour. Seymour Guado."