25 years ago
Dark Kingdom
As King Edmund laid sick in his bed, Quirin and his sister, Adira, talked quietly in their King's door.
"The Stone and it's destructive power must be kept a secret from the world." Quirin's deep voice whispered darkly to his sister. "It is the Brotherhood's duty to keep that secret and King Edmund's dying wish!"
"There IS another way. If we could go out and find the Sundrop, we-" Adira tried to argue, but Hector cut her off.
"ENOUGH." He said, "The 'Sundrop' is a myth, sister."
She growled, annoyed; "It's real, Hector, and it's power could neutralize the Moonstone!"
"Go, go, chase empty legends like a fool, but just know: if you come back, you ain't my fellow brethren. You're a traitor. Sundrop or not," his yellow orbs looked like they could cut right through his sister's skin, as he finished: "I'll end you."
Before Adira could even think of a reply, the sound of a door being opened from somewhere beside them got their attention.
"That's it," a familiar, female voice beamed from the end of the dark hallway, her silver armor sparkling through the nearly pitch black shadow where she stood. "there IS a way to keep the Moonstone trapped, powerless, without the need of such powerful force as the Sundrop."
"Nora..." Quirin started, as an armored woman, just as tall as Adira, walked towards them; her dark brown puffy hair tied in a ponytail as she carried a small, yet fancy mirror in her hand. Seeing the object in her hand made Quirin get startled, as he opened his mouth to argue, but being stopped by the woman.
"No, Husband," she said, "I know what you're going to say. But I know what I'm doing, and for the sake of the world - and our baby -, I must do it." She intervened.
"But Nora-!" Surprisingly, this time it was Hector who tried to talk some sense into the woman. He may be very focused on his duty as a member of the Brotherhood, and even though he'd kill anyone that tried to go against his cause - including his own brothers -, he'd always had a soft spot for Nora. Maybe because she was as reckless as him when younger? He couldn't tell. "You're pregnant. You'll end up getting you and your child killed!"
She glared at her friend for a moment, seeing the concern hidden behing a wall of anger. "No, Hector. I know what I'm doing, and I must do whatever it's needed to keep the Moonstone's threat from the world. Including you," she looked over at Quirin and Adira, "your brothers," then she touched her belly, "and my child."
The others looked stunned. Nora had already suggested her - insane, crazy, senseless - idea, but they had refused almost immediately. Yet, after everything that happened afterwards, after how strong and dangerous the Moonstone proved to be, they couldn't help but at least think about considering it. Nora has been raised by a Goddess, after all, and for that she belived she could wield the Moonstone's power long enough to trap it in an enchanted object; somewhere it couldn't hurt anyone anymore.
"Nora... Please reconsider, we cannot know if this'll work or not. Hector's right; you might get yourself killed!" Quirin begged, as he held his wife's hands tightly. Her expression softened with the sight of her begging husband.
"Oh, Quirin," she said, barely below as whisper, as she reached out to hug him, her arms wrapped around his neck and his tightened around her curved waist. "You know that the Moonstone must be stopped. And if there's anyone that can stop it, it's me."
Quirin looked over at her with tearful eyes, as Hector and Adira watched helplessly. They wanted to intervene, to do SOMETHING, but even Adira's belief in the Sundrop couldn't stop her from thinking that indeed, this might be their best shot. It only hurt them to know that they might lose a dear, selfless, brave friend in order to save everyone.
Nora caressed her husband's cheek, not realizing that she, too, let a tear slide down her face. She gave Quirin a long, passionate kiss as her way to say 'if anything happens to me, I want you to know that I love, loved, and will always love you.'
"It is time." She said. "If something happens to me, and if I somehow fail to trap the Moonstone, you must promise me, my friends and love, that you will do anything to keep this thing away from the world." Hector looked over at her with actually sad eyes. "And that is, search for the Sundrop."
Hector was about to shout about the Sundrop not being real, but Nora spoke first.
"Yes, Hector, the Sundrop is real. I've seen it with my own eyes. It possesses the power to heal whoever needs it's power. It's somewhere around the kingdom of Corona." She decided to specify it's location. "If something happens, anything, I need you ALL to promise me, that you WILL get the Sundrop, and that you WILL put an end to the Moonstone's power."
Adira seemed to look confident - she knew the Sundrop wasn't only a legend. Hector looked shocked at first, but his dear friend's begging stare upon him made him give in. He, as well as the rest of the Brotherhood, vowed to search for the Sundrop if something happened to her.
She smiled sadly. And sighed.
"It's time."
As they approached the Moonstone, Nora's grip on the mirror only tightened. Once she and the Stone were face to face, a blue blinding light shone beneath her feet, as the Stone's defenses lowered. She knew better than to touch it, though. Years and years of training with one of the Celestial Gods taught her many things, and one of her most precious and useful lessons were that everything that possesses magic has a spirit; no matter if they look like they're no more than a stone or a strange drop of sunlight, everything that has magic has a spirit, and therefore can be talked to.
Nora focused her mind as she connected herself with the Moonstone.
The Brotherhood was startled. Nora has been standing there, her eyes as dark as the spikes that surrounded the Stone, for days. They feared that their connection didn't work quite as planned, but they knew that they should never, ever, break a semi-goddess' connection to such a powerful spirit.
Quirin wouldn't leave her side, though. As she already taught them, a connection as strong as that kind could take quite some time to be finished, but she never said it would take that long. 5 days felt like an eternity. Luckily, she did teach them how to feed her while she was in that state, which would be equal to an unconcious, or in that case, comatose state, without breaking her focus and her connection.
The man would just sit there, all day, waiting for his wife to wake up, eventually getting up every once in a while to feed her.
Right now, it was late that night, and Quirin felt exhausted. His eyes felt heavier than they've ever felt before. A part of him wanted to let himself drift off to a dreamless sleep, but almost every fiber of his being told him to stay awake in case Nora woke up.
Just as his exhaustion was about to win over his mind, and his eyes started to close, he heard Nora let out a BIG gasp, as she fell to her knees. Quirin immediately stood up and ran towards her, silently praying his woman was okay.
"Nora- Nora! Are you alright, dear?" He asked as he helped her back up. She grabbed his big arm as she slowly opened her eyes to show her light grey orbs.
"It- I-it worked, Husband," she said, smiling. "The Moonstone agreed on letting me put it in the mirror."
Quirin grinned with excitement. He couldn't believe it! It actually worked! His wife, his love, she saved everyone!
"But I need to do it now, otherwise it might change its mind." She said, as he helped her reach the Stone. She grabbed the mirror, as she reached out to grab the Moonstone. The sharp spikes that clustered around them shone with the sudden touch, and they bended and folded until the cave was flat. And the Moonstone stayed unresponsive.
Nora sighed as she carefully used one of her powers (a gift from her Celestial mentor) to seal the Moonstone in the mirror. The gem, placed behind the object, shone brightly as the mirror changed its form. From gold, shining and fancy to something that looked like obsidian, with some blue, small shining lines that resembled the black spikes' design.
"It's done." Quirin whispered. "God, Nora, you did it!" He exclaimed with pure joy behind her.
But his grin quickly turned to a frown as he heard his wife's sobbing.
"Dear? What's wrong?" He asked, as he held her cheeks carefully, as hot tears welled up in her eyes and some crawled over towards his hands.
"It's not over yet, my love."
Hector was indignant. Adira was shocked. Quirin was speechless.
They stood beside her as she explained everything to them. Hector looked like he could yell at her for eons, for doing something so stupid. She herself said there was another way to end the Moonstone; why did she do something like that?! He didn't- he COULDN'T accept something like that, he- he-... What would he do once she was gone? Adira could sense her brother's confusion and rage (although he didn't even know if he was truly angry at his friend), and carefully placed a hand in his shoulder to comfort him silently.
It troubled the Brotherhood's hearts and minds to think that, although Nora was right there, talking to them, her spirit was in Quirin's hands, sealed along with the Moonstone's.
Nora had made a deal with the Stone. It seemed that It didn't know it was causing so much pain; the Moonstone's purpose is to give the mortals a chance of rebirth, not death and destruction. But It wasn't going to give away it's power so easily. It might not have been aware of the pain It was causing, but It was fully aware of how the humans could try to use It's power for evil purposes.
So, in order to allow itself to be sealed in a mirror, It exchanged a test; if Nora was truly willing to help and save humanity, she'd have so sacrifice herself and seal her spirit with the Moonstone in the mirror, so that she could block whoever wanted to use the Moonstone's power with bad intentions.
Nora agreed without a second thought, but begged for It to let her have her child. It would devastate Quirin if he were to lose both his wife and his child.
The Moonstone, seeing the woman's humble desire to let her child live, agreed, with the condition that part of the child's spirit would belong to It.
Nora agreed.
She looked with teary eyes at her heartbroken husband, as she placed a hand in Quirin's cheek. "Oh, my poor Husband..." she managed to speak, whispering only loud enough for him to hear. "I will never leave your side. As long as I'm still here, and as long as you have this," she placed the dark mirror in his free hand, "I'll always be with you." He looked down at her. "I promise."
He held inside a sob that crept inside his throat, as he whispered in the same tone as her, "I know. I just..." a pause. He grabbed the woman's hand and held it closer to his mouth, until he could kiss it, "I'm just... a little shaken, that's all."
She smiled sadly as she made their foreheads touch.
"I know, at least, that our child will grow up in a world that's safe." She said, loud enough that Hector and Adira could hear.
And Hector swore under his breath; that whoever damned soul even dreamed or thought about harming this child, would pay dearly, for he would keep that baby safe and happy just like their mother wants it to be. Nothing, and he repeats, nothing will ever harm that child as long as he's alive.
And that is a vow he will never break.