A/N: So this will be my first published fan fiction. I've written a few of these, but I wasn't sure what to do with it. I hope you guys enjoy.
Chapter 1: The Festival
"Elizabeth! Aversia! Come see! Quick!" squealed the petite girl prancing around at the entrance to the small market, arms flailing in unashamed excitement.
Elizabeth resisted the urge to slap one hand harshly against her forehead. After all, it wasn't fitting of royalty to do so. She had to retain at least a shred of dignity when all was said and done. She glanced to her left, where Aversia walked, as calm and level-headed as ever. Nothing ever fazed her. Letting out an exasperated sigh, The Lycini noble did her best to rein in the unruly girl.
"Liang, how many times have I told you that you need to be mindful of your actions?"
Liang'Qi would be hearing none of it. "Elizabeth! I just found the most beautiful necklace! I think it would look perfect on you! Oh, you've just got to see it!"
"Liang'Qi! You need to be more calm about-"
"It's got all sorts of pretty jewels and stuff! It shines brighter than Laethys's coffers!"
"Liang'Qi! I do not think this is the time to be thinking about-"
"Oh! And I also found this really pretty dress that I want! Can I get some coins out of the purse? Please?"
"Liang! You need to calm down-"
"Can I have some cotton candy too?! Oh, I LOVE cotton candy! So delicious!"
"LIANG'QI! WILL YOU PLEASE JUST STO-"
"Oh, look! Robots!"
Elizabeth merely stood in place as the energetic child ran off again, her mouth moving but no words coming out. All day it had been one transgression after the other. The girl she had been charged with simply didn't stay still. If she hadn't been wearing gloves, no doubt any passerby would've noticed how her knuckles turned white with the strength of her grip on her parasol. Anger and frustration bubbled up, threatening to break again for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day.
A hand on her shoulder caused her to snap her head to her left. Her sister's analytic gaze seemed to pierce through the haze of anger she felt across her mind.
"Sister. Calm yourself. It would not do to upset her."
The elder sister took a few deep breaths and reasserted herself. Snapping in the middle of town in front of so many would have been the cause for social ridicule. For lesser royalty to act in such a way, it was simply unheard of.
"I honestly do not see how you can remain calm in such an unpleasant situation."
Aversia looked after the young woman who was darting around from stall to stall, taking in all the different colors as if she could collect them all and keep them to herself.
"You must understand that she is a fragile soul, sister. She has not attended a festival, or any other large function, for that matter, in years." Her gaze hardened. "It does not help that her elder sibling is not the most social person. Although I would not blame her for the way her sister turned out."
Elizabeth followed her sister's gaze, eyes narrowed and heart twinging with faint sadness. She was well aware of the stories of Farah and Liang'Qi's mother. Cruel and uncaring, the Awakened Cultist experimented on her own children, testing everything from resilience to curses, to how long it took to heal from traumatic burns. Farah had grown strong under the constant pain, and had become a naturally adept Void Knight, capable of absorbing even the most destructive magics. Her little sister, however...
She could see the rune marks burned into the tiny girl's skin from where she stood, a good distance away from the commotion she was no doubt causing. The poor girl's mind was fractured permanently. And while Farah had done her best in taking care of the child, she had known that she could not care for the child alone. In all honestly, it was flattering to Elizabeth that the soldier had come to her for help not as a commoner asking for favors from a noble, but as family, asking for her to care for Liang'Qi. She was proud to take up the mantle as guardian, despite the protest of other nobles.
Still... the fact that the vile woman that had given birth to her half sisters had at one point been her own father's lover was enough to make her retch. How could anyone treat their child so carelessly?
Aversia snapped her out of her thoughts. "It seems she has finally fixated on a single point, sister. Perhaps now would be a good time to join her?"
Elizabeth didn't move for a little, simply watching her sibling go and join the dark-haired girl by the small stand of knick-knacks. Finally, with a sigh, she walked to join them. A slight smile pursed her lips when she saw the child-like glee in the child's violet eyes. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing to let her run for a little for now.
"Liang, might I ask what it is you have there?" Aversia spoke, with ever so slight interest. In truth, she already knew exactly what the item resting in the short girl's hands was, but she merely asked to spark a conversation. After all, social interaction was a good thing for someone so fragile.
She watched as Liang'Qi's face lit up with joy at having someone want to engage in conversation with her. The raven-haired teenager looked at the item, flipped it in her hand and then presented it to her half-sister.
"It's the control to an Empyrean stasis field!" she said, a proud smile on her face, then assumed the stance of a scholarly type one would see teaching at Tempest Bay's finest schools. "According to my books, the Ancient Brevanic and Lycini peoples used them for various things along the lines of preserving specimens of all sorts. They probably used them to house dangerous prisoners or something."
Gingerly, Aversia turned the item over in her hand. The stasis field remote itself was intact, and it still had some power left in it. Interesting. Perhaps she could use it in any number of her experiments to help preserve her findings.
But...
"Liang, where is the emitter for this? I do not see it anywhere here."
Liang'Qi's grin faded into a child-like pout. "It's not here," she said with obvious frustration. "I don't think this vendor has it, wherever he is. What vendor leaves their stall unattended anyways? I could walk off with all this stuff and no one would know! No one at all!"
"That's because no one will, Liang," Elizabeth narrowed her cherry-red eyes at her, "There is a modicum of trust amongst the people of Tempest Bay. Remember that. We respect each other. Honor is key to our lives here."
The pout on Liang'Qi's face didn't leave. "I still think it's stupid," she murmured under her breath.
"Ah! Ascended! Hello there! Sorry I kept you waiting. There was an issue with some unruly customers over by the game stall. Lots of rowdiness 'cause of the Festival. So what can I help you with? Any items you might need I have them here!"
Aversia looked on as Liang'Qi would point and inquire as to what the item she pointed to was, and would receive a long and dramatic explanation from the shop merchant.
The merchant herself was... interesting. She was obviously incredibly experienced, if her honeyed words were anything to go by. With a tilt of her head she analyzed her.
Redhead, obviously physically fit. Typical merchants clothing, dressed in reds and browns. She obviously must already have a substantial amount of wealth accumulated if the large sack she was sitting on was of any indication. A few coins were in her left hand, which she fidgeted with constantly. The other hand held a finger on her chin, as if she were calculating her next move. No doubt she was already. Combined with that devious look in her eyes and a disarming smile, it was no wonder she had such success. She was a natural merchant.
As the girl was enraptured with a kaleidoscope made with empyrean sourcestone, Aversia posed her question.
"Miss, may I inquire as to your name?"
Not missing a beat, the merchant turned to her, that same grin spread across her face. Aversia had to admit. It was quite effective.
"The name's Neala. Neala Sparks. Curious Oddities Vendor and acquirer of all sorts of items. You need anything, I'll get it for you. For the right price, of course."
Next to her, Elizabeth spoke what she didn't. "The Merchant's family."
"The very same!" the redhead said with quite a bit of pride, her ever-cheerful face somehow still glowing. "I come from a long line of Neala's. There was my mother, Neala Serge, her mother, Neala Faye, and her mother and so on. Not to mention all my sisters who are scattered all across Brevane and Dusken."
"The family of identical females." Aversia muttered to no one in particular. No one was sure how this successful merchant family managed to keep producing identical children, but as long as the wares continued to be good, no one questioned the oddity.
Still, there were more important things to take care of.
"I also wanted to inquire as to the whereabouts of the other piece that goes to this remote."
The merchant took the device, tapping her finger to her chin with thought, and then a revelation. Deftly, Neala flipped around and reached into the large burlap sack behind her, rummaging around before finally pulling out what looked like a small statue of an Empyrean servant bot. Gingerly, she placed it down on the center table, adjusting the items on it to make room.
"Item number 470-20B! An old Empyrean stasis field! Quite useful, if you ask me. Great for preserving specimens of any age for an indefinite amount of time. As long as there's power, the stasis field will stay on! Be very careful with it, though. If you get stuck inside, well you're going to need a bit of help getting out."
All three women watched Liang'Qi fawn over the device, gingerly touching the tiny robot. She was a strange one.
"Would you mind giving us a demonstration?"
"Of course," the merchant replied as she reached for the machine, "Just let me..." A frown passed over her face. "Oh, for the love of... you can't be serious right now. Gods damn it all. I'm gonna have a serious talk with Ponn Zee later. Never should've trusted that swindler."
Aversia stepped to the side to see what was the matter. Sure enough, the battery in the device was damaged. Unfortunate, really, but the rest of the device was salvageable.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something out of place.
One of the guards was fidgeting.
He kept looking up to the sky, as if he was expecting something to fall on him. He generally kept his actions decently hidden, but to an Ascended's enhanced senses, it was blatantly obvious.
Apparently, her sister noticed as well, watching the guard out of the corner of her own eye.
"Ah! There we go!"
With a proud grin, the merchant withdrew from her work, motioning towards the item on the table. "All it took was a little rewiring. No biggie." She turned to her potential customer. Why don't you try it out?"
"REALLY?!" the girl squealed, her face brighter than the sun shining down on them. She grabbed the controller from the table and stood back a little, looking to her companions as if asking permission.
Aversia and Elizabeth, however were too busy following the guard's darting gaze to the sky, where they noticed a discrepancy.
Dark clouds were amassing off in the distance. Normally this wouldn't have bothered Aversia but the nature of the clouds is what concerned her. They moved fast. Much faster than clouds should move without any sort of wind to propel them. There was no way it was natural.
Aversia gritted her teeth as a sharp pain lanced through her head, lodging itself directly behind her eyes. To the outside viewer, she was merely frowning at the sky, probably discontent with the world, but that small frown hid a world of pain. An image began to form her head, totally fogged up and nigh impossible to make heads or tails of. She heard... screaming? Gun fire? Gears turning... electricity arcing... a light... So bright that it hurt her to imagine it. The pain- Oh the pain... it hurt. Hurt too much- too much-
A large crack of electricity was heard throughout the market, and all heads turned. The nobles stopped looking at the sky long enough to see something that should have been, in any other situation, amusing.
Liang'Qi had gotten herself stuck in the stasis field.
"Umm, Eli? Avi? Can I get some help here?"
The shopkeeper gave them a sheepish grin. "Yeah, the thing is still quite fidgety. I've still gotta work out most of the kinks. Don't worry, hon, I'll get you out in a sec." The vendor proceeded to work delicately on the machine, not knowing if it would explode from the amount of energy coursing through it.
Elizabeth carefully placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "You're bleeding."
Aversia put a hand to her face and pulled it away, seeing drops of red blood on her fingertips. She glanced back at the guard, who was now (poorly) attempting to watch them out of the corner of his eye.
"The guard."
"Yes. I noticed."
"Did you see those clouds?"
"I did. What is going on?"
The short-haired noble paused for a moment, meeting the guard's gaze and narrowing her eyes. "I'm not sure." She turned back to Elizabeth. "I felt... something. Almost a warning. I think... something is going to happen. Something bad. And it's... I cannot... I can't..."
She shook her head vigorously, trying hard to remember what it was that hurt so much. Nothing would come to her.
"I can't feel it," she lamented, "The Oracle's soul isn't clear..."
Elizabeth gazed back up at the sky watching as the clouds rolled in. They were getting darker by the second, and the wind had started to pick up considerably. She was unsure whether to run for cover from the incoming rain, or to go and find out what exactly this was.
"I've never seen a storm like that."
Aversia stared at the sky in response. Elizabeth, on the other hand, took action.
"I'm going to help get Liang out of that ridiculous bubble. We need to get back home before we get soaked in rain."
Red eyes continued to gaze upwards. "What is it?" she whispered to no one in particular, "What are you trying to tell me?"
Something poked at the edge of her mind, its touch was cold and unpleasant. She clutched a hand to her head, not realizing that her nose had begun to lose blood at an alarming rate. Her eyes remained open, unblinking, and that something in her head grew stronger. It was intrusive, it created nothing but pain, but it was trying to say something. It was screaming at her. She could feel muffled words roll into her brain, a mess of muted sound and intense sensation. Sounds began to bleed through in a rainbow of colors, and in turn, she could hear those colors call to her like a siren's song.
Lightning flashed above her, and then she saw it. Something in the clouds. With every flash of lightning, the image became clearer, with every crack of thunder, the image became more frightening. Details filled in, and dread filled her heart. She saw bodies. Bodies everywhere, burnt beyond recognition and mangled beyond repair. She saw cold steel and harsh wind, silver blades and lifeless eyes, she saw everything. And at the center of all the death and destruction she saw-
Her.
The next few moments were a blur, but they were also the most important of her life. It was a split second reaction that caused her to break into a full sprint without hesitation. Time seemed to slow, hindered by the loud colors swirling in her vision, and the sharp sounds cutting at her skin. She felt her own suffering body collide with her sister's sending them hurtling towards the stasis bubble where their charge was stuck. She heard the muffled yelling of those around her, frightened of a terror she couldn't see.
Aversia could feel the curative fires envelop her as she called forth what little protection she could in her state and watched the orb of flame envelop them both, and for a second, she thought they might make it. She thought that they might be spared the death, and that she and her family would walk out of this alive and unharmed. She prayed to the Vigil that the shield would hold, and for a split second, she believed she could hold it.
For just a moment, she felt the scorching white light sear through her very being, tearing her apart from the inside, before her mind could take no more, and she succumbed to the darkness.