The moon shone brightly upon the roof of the small Laliviero house. It seemed just as any normal night. The whole town was silent, everyone asleep and in bed. The wall and village gates were, as usual, unmanned. Monsters had long ago excluded Laliviero from their territories, and no longer came near it. The breeze caressed the trees and swam between the houses. All were asleep, except for one.
The young girl lay on the roof of her home staring at the sky, as she did whenever she couldn't sleep. Something was clearly troubling her, though she couldn't say what it was any more than someone watching her. She closed her eyes for a moment, her purple eyebrows stood in sharp contrast to her dark blond hair, for her hair wasn't really blond, but was dyed every other week.
The young girl was Sheba. She was a Jupiter Adept, though she knew it not. That was why her hair was purple, and why she could do strange things, things that other humans could not. She could see into the future, though she only caught glimpses, and flashes of what MIGHT be, not necessarily what WOULD be. She was also able to read people's minds, or at least what people were currently thinking, and she could communicate with animals, a skill that had gotten her shunned by other children when she was little. She could feel and manipulate the winds and had some sort of hazy sense from it. She could sense where people stood, or where people had been, by the way the wind moved, by the way the air stirred.
Sheba had come to Laliviero at a young age, she was called the daughter of Faren by most, but truly held no relation to the man. His blond hair and rather clueless manner did not show in the girl, nor did her mother's brown hair.
Sheba closed her eyes again, and this time sleep took her.
The weather had been stormy for weeks, the sea tossed and roiled. Lightning struck everywhere and most everyone in Laliviero was afraid of being struck themselves.
The young mayer of Laliviero stood just inside his door, looking out towards the sea. It seemed that his fears were going to be realized, and that the sea would reach up and drown the small town. He feared that he would be forced to evacuate everyone to the Ruins, which were to the north, and on higher ground. While they would not have to move far, that would certainly mean that Laliviero was going to be destroyed.
"Faren dear! You shouldn't stand there! What if you were to be hit by lightning!?" his wife called to him, rushing up to stand by him.
"My dear, I'm afraid we're going to have to leave Laliviero. The sea grows ever closer to us, and the storm is getting worse, not subsiding." Faren sighed, not leaving his spot by the door.
"Is it... is it really going to come to that?" she asked him.
"Yes... I'm afraid it will." Faren took a deep breath and stepped outside the door. He stood under the pillar in the center of town, which had been carved by his grandfather, and stood ready to proclaim to the people that they would have no choice but to leave.
The people gathered nervously about him, all of them holding on tight to hats or umbrellas which the wind sought to sweep away, just as it seemed to want to sweep away Laliviero.
"Dear people of Laliviero!" Faren began. "It is clear to me now, that the storm is raging too hard for us to remain here! The sea is rising rapidly, and if we do not leave soon we shall be swept away! Our only choice is to head for the Ruins! We cannot head south, because the river has swelled to such a degree all hope of taking that route has faded! We must leave, and we must leave NOW!"
"But... but we can't leave! This is our home! My family has lived in this house since before my great grandfather's time!" one man shouted up.
"Listen to me! Buildings can be rebuilt! Treasures can be remade! Clothes can be resown! But lives, once lost, are gone forever and cannot be brought back! Are you willing to risk loosing your own life, and the lives of those you care for, for a construction of wood and clay? For mere gold? If so then I am ashamed of you all! As for myself, I shall be taking my wife, and what few possessions we can carry, and leaving at once!" Faren told them all passionately.
Faren could instantly see that his words had struck a chord in all the villagers. They looked to eachother, as if for a reason to stay, but none came. Before anyone knew what was happening they were all rushing into their homes, getting the sick, young, and old and preparing for the journey, and to stay at the Ruins for as long as necessary.
Faren and his wife packed their possessions quickly, focusing on important things, such as food and clothing. Faren strapped his sword to his waist, as his wife took her staff, and took one last look at his home before heading out into the harsh wind and rain.
Faren took the lead, and led every last person out of the small town. With his wife beside him they forged ahead, driving off monsters that came too close, and warning the others of dangers. In the distance Faren could just make out the ruins, which according to legend were connected with the ancient and mysterious Venus Lighthouse.
"We're close!" Faren called back to his wife.
"LOOK OUT!!!" a scream sounded from behind them.
Faren and his wife looked up in shock as a boulder, weakened by the wind and rain, came crashing down at them. His wife grabbed his arm and clung tight, it was happening to fast to do anything but that. They both screamed as one as the boulder reached them...
It was the shouts and screams that woke Sheba. She sat bolt upright as she heard shouts from the floor below her. She grabbed her staff and practically flew down the steps into her house. What she saw stopped her flat.
Instead of monsters, which were a very rare but not unheard of thing, there were men coming into her house. Her younger brother was on the floor crying loudly and her parents were shouting at the men.
"Sheba! Soldiers from Tolbi! They want you! Run!" Faren yelled at her.
Sheba acted out of instant obedience to her father. She turned to rush up the stairs to the roof, where she could easily jump across to the wall and flee, but her mother's scream made her turn back. Her mother had tried to keep a soldier from following Sheba up the stairs but the man struck her and grabbed her arm.
"Let go of me!" Sheba's mother shouted, scratching uselessly at the man. She was no weakling, but she could do nothing to the heavily armored soldier.
"Mamma!" Sheba yelled. She darted forward and threw a bolt of lightning at the man. While he wasn't seriously hurt the shock did stun him, throwing him away from her mother, sending him crashing into a table.
From there everything spun out of control. Faren drew his sword to defend his family, the soldiers drew their weapons, ordered to capture the girl at all costs, and Sheba's mother grabbed a different sword off the wall.
Sheba stood as if paralyzed as her father was charged by three soldiers, and her mother charged three others. For a moment it almost looked like Faren would hold off the three, but they were highly trained and outnumbered him. Sheba's mother fought bravely as well but was struck on the head by one of the soldiers and dropped to the floor unconscious. Faren snarled at the men and swung his sword violently, driving them back, but one of the men threw out a Briar Seed, which erupted into many spiky plants, all of which wrapped around her father's legs. One of the soldiers darted forward, as if to stab him, but was thrown back by a roaring blast of wind.
All the soldiers were struck by sudden fear as all their torches were blasted out by the wind, but there was still light. Sheba stood by the stairs, crackling with lightning, the wind roaring around her. A blast of wind blew the soldiers back from her, throwing them all out the door. Sheba stalked forward, her eyes blazing with pure hate for these men that invaded her home and hurt her family. Even her brother, who was Faren's actual son, who'd been wailing constantly through the whole thing was silent, staring at her with wide eyes.
"GET OUT OF MY HOME!" she roared at the men, releasing a blast of Psynergetic lightning at them.
The men scrambled away as she stood outside her house. She shot lightning at most anything that moved, stunning a soldier and a stray cat and several trees. The wind tore around her, throwing men away from her.
The men withdrew for a moment but quickly returned. Sheba advanced on them, building up lightning in her fist. One of the men drew his sword, and stood as if to attack her. Sheba threw the bolt at him, smashing him into the wall. But the soldiers were ready this time for her, and one darted forward, throwing something at her feet. She caught sight of it briefly, a round pinkish orb with a lit fuse coming out of it. A sleep bomb! It exploded at her feet, swirling with a pinkish cloud spraying at her. She gasped with shock, which was a huge mistake, as the pink smoke entered her lungs. The world around her went fuzzy, and started to spin.
"Daddy... help..." she groaned and keeled over, crashing to the ground with a thud.
The soldiers rushed forward and grabbed her, carrying her to their horses, throwing her over the back like some sort of hunting trophy.
"SHEBA! NO! SHEBA!!!" Faren shouted, rushing towards them.
The captain of the soldiers turned, smacking him violently in the head with a hard staff. Faren collapsed to the ground, the world threatening to go black. He reached feebly to grasp the horse with his daughter but it was too far, and the soldiers tied her to the saddle and galloped off into the south.
"SHEBAAAA!!!!!!" Faren screamed one more time, then all went black and he fell to the dirt.
They screamed as one as the boulder reached them, then the air resonated with a tremendous roar and both were blinded by an incredible flash of light. Faren threw himself over his wife, ready to protect her from whatever would come, but nothing happened. Finally, when his eyes cleared he could see the people rushing to them, screaming and asking if they were alright. He looked around him and shook the fine dust out of his hair. For a moment neither him nor his wife could grasp what had happened and then it hit them. As the boulder fell it was struck by lightning! It had shattered into dust and small rocks. It seemed they had been saved by the storm.
"W-We're alive!" his wife gasped.
"The storm... the storm saved us!" Faren said with awe, standing strait and looking around them. Somehow, some way, they had been protected.
"Sir! We must hurry! The storm is worsening!" one of his guards called to him.
"Yes, yes we must be going. Come on dearest, we're very close now." Faren helped his wife up and together they headed for the ruins.
The storm grew even worse, the rain literally dumped down onto them, and the lightning and thunder roared. They struggled up the hill, ever nearer to the ruins, and to shelter.
Suddenly Faren's wife grasped his arm again, pointing to the sky. For a moment he feared another boulder, but what he saw amazed him. Roaring down through the sky was what looked to be a shooting star, it was heading right for the Ruins! They couldn't make out any details but they could tell it would hit within seconds!
Faren and the other people of Laliviero all covered their eyes and ears as it hit. The roar was amazing, even with Faren's fingers jabbed into his ears he could hear the huge crash, and even with his eyes closed he could see the blinding flash.
Faren and the others rushed forward to the Ruins, or what remained of them. The Ruins had almost been half the size of the huge Lighthouse before, but now, only a few floors remained. Of the rest, all that there was, was a huge crater. In the center was a little girl.
Faren and six other men advanced carefully, unsure whether this small purple-haired child was human, or some beast taking the form of a human. Faren looked down at the little girl. She looked up at him with wide blue-green eyes, silently. Faren reached forward with his sword, going to touch her gently on the cheek to see if she was truly real, but his hands were shaking and his sword slipped, cutting the girl on the cheek. While the girl recoiled and winced in pain, she didn't cry, despite the fact she was clearly no older than two. She just looked up at him with those big eyes and her expression seemed to say to Faren, "Help me."
Faren reached down and picked the little girl up, cradling her in his arms, the scratch was already healing, with a rate of speed he had hardly ever seen.
"Mayer Faren, are you sure that's safe?" one man asked him.
"Yes... it's... just a child." Faren said, rubbing the little girls other cheek with the back of his hand. She smiled up at him, her eyes looking far too wise.
"A-are you SURE? She fell from the sky! Where else could she have come from." another man asked him.
"They... are right, dear, the girl is what fell from above. How could any child have survived that?" his wife asked him.
"She's... a gift." Faren said.
"A... gift?" she asked him in shock.
"Yes! A gift from heaven! A Child of the Gods!" Faren exclaimed.
His wife looked over his shoulder at the girl, who gave her that calm, knowing look, "Sheba. That's a good name for our first child." she told her husband calmly.
"Our-our child!?" Faren spluttered.
"Yes. Poor thing, we can't leave her out here, she'll freeze to death." she said calmly, taking the newly named Sheba out of her husband's arms.
"Are you sure? I mean, we weren't going to have any children for quite some time, until we could be sure of being able to take care of them properly. We were going to discuss it with other parents, get advice, make plans! And with the sea rising, we won't even have a home for her!" Faren told her.
"We have no choice, look at the little thing. I know it will be a huge responsibility, but we can do it." she told him fiercely.
Faren frowned and for a moment looked like he would disagree but he looked down at Sheba again, looked into those innocent, but wise eyes. He smiled softly.
"Then so be it, from now on Sheba shall be our daughter-" Faren was cut off suddenly by a call of, "It's a miracle!"
Faren looked up to the sky as the clouds began to suddenly clear. The rain stopped, the wind calmed, and the sea stopped it rise. He looked back down, at Laliviero which still stood. There would be repairs, it wouldn't be easy, and there would be a lot to do, with a new baby in the house but Faren was ready. He was going home, and was going to take his new family with him, and continue life, but not as usual, things would never be the same again.
"Wake up sweetheart! Wake up!" a kind, elderly voice called to Sheba, awakening her from her dreams.
"What-what's going on?" Sheba sat up in bed, looking around her. For a moment she was startled as to where she was and then memory returned. She was in one of the highest towers of Babi's Manor, as she had been for several months. She was in Tolbi, home of Lord Babi, a strange man who, as people whispered, was at least one hundred years old. He seemed desperate to have a lighthouse built at the old Ruins near Laliviero, desperate to have the people of Laliviero build it for him. He was the one that had ordered Sheba to be captured and imprisoned in his manor, which was more of a castle than a manor. Though it was unknown to any but a few, Babi truly was as old as rumour had it and older, he'd been seeking the lost land of Lemuria for many years, in order to get more of his precious Drought of Life, which he'd stolen from the isle along with a boat after having been stranded there since a shipwreck had stranded him and his friend Lunpa there. He'd taken the boat and Drought and abandoned the isle, and his friend.
But now things had to change, Babi's Drought was getting less and less, in fact he was almost out. He'd been rationing it as much as possible, and had almost gotten himself killed by doing so. Now he wanted Babi Lighthouse built, so he would be able to gaze out to see, hopefully to see Lemuria. Ships could not reach Lemuria, for the strange tides and mist confused sailor's bearings. He hoped to build the lighthouse so that they would have some sort of reference, and would be able to reach Lemuria. And now it looked like it would all succeed for him. Faren had finally agreed to have the people of Laliviero do everything within their power to build the lighthouse, as long as Sheba was returned.
"And so, since your father agreed to build the lighthouse Babi has agreed to let you go home!" the kind elderly woman who had taken care of Sheba for as long as she'd been in Tolbi, told her happily. Had the woman not been so afraid of Babi she would have helped Sheba escape herself.
"Really!? Can it be true? Am I really going to be able to return to my family!?" Sheba asked, her eyes filled with tears of joy.
"Yes, Babi has instructed seven guards to take you back to Laliviero." the lady explained.
"So it was, what irony. Seven soldiers took me, and now seven shall return me." Sheba mused. "Thank you Arla, you have been very kind to me, I would not have made it this long without you." Sheba embraced the old woman quickly.
"I am so happy for you." Arla told her, tears running down her cheeks, "But I must admit, I am going to miss you dearly, young one. When I was younger, I had quite a crush on Babi, he was a brave young mayer, with a strange secretive nature. I thought he was the most mysterious, handsome man on Weyard., but now... now I despise him for what he's done. And now he's finally going to get that blasted tower of his built." Arla said harshly.
Sheba went dead still, she had only had a solid prophesy twelve times in her life, and now her voice echoed deeply as she spoke her third, "Babi shall not complete his foolish endeavor. Babi Lighthouse shall never be finished and shall be but dust on the wind. His foolish pride has made him believe himself to be invincible, but within two months he shall realize how vincible he is."
Arla caught Sheba as she collapsed into the old woman's arms, her strength drained as when she spoke her other prophesies.
"Do not speak of this, tell no one what you saw!" Arla commanded. "Babi would not be happy to know of his failure. Speak of this to no one, and neither shall I."
"Yes... It would be best not to tell him... But I pity him. When we first met, I peered into his heart. He is a very lonely person, and he feels as if the world is all against him. Perhaps in a way it is. He is getting old, and time has become his enemy. But I sense he is not truly a bad person. He is deceitful, cunning, greedy, and foolish but he is not a bad person in the end. He never wanted to hurt anyone when he had his soldiers take me from Laliviero, and while I've been here he's been kind and almost fatherly to me. I wish him no ill for what he's done."
Arla stared at her in awe, "You are truly an amazing person, to so easily forgive someone with all the wrongs he has done you."
"No... Babi deserves to be forgiven, and I wish he would succeed, though I know he shall not." Sheba told her.
"Come dear, it's time. You're going home." Arla told her, getting Sheba's traveling clothes and staff.
So Sheba and her guard left Tolbi. Though Sheba believed she would be going home, and that her life would return to normal, things would never be the same again...