Shift in Perceptions: Chapter One
Stinging- damp were my own pale cheeks as the liquid forming in my eyes grew too heavy to hide themselves behind my lashes and descended. The cause of my weeping was unknown, and my mind was dulled and numb. I only faced the surrounding darkness with my head held high, as if I was searching for the Divine to salvage me from whatever I was prepared to do. I let my head drop, and there before me was an arcane fountain, adust and coarse just as my mouth was. I grinned wickedly, dragging my fingers across the shallow bowl, elicited senses promising a new future and good will for all others.
My other hand raised beside my right wrist, a lustrous silver dagger, crested with the seal of royalty... Albion. Albion: the kingdom I fought so feverishly to protect, a mystified seer murmuring to me through the all-powerful blood of Heroes. I rescued all I could in the past, opening a new perception to friendship and passion, along with distasteful hatred and truth, ruining the bonds with my eldest brother. My grin gingerly became a scorn, thoughts ceasing as I thrust the dagger and tore it along the flesh clenched across my wrist. Tepid crimson gleamed by the purity of light flaring from the fountain, falling into the basin. I sighed subconsciously, eyes closing.
Abruptly, my eyelids parted to see another pair of wrists beside mine. The wrists and forearms were lightly tanned, the hands being much larger, belonging to a man. The nails were finely pedicured, a gold ring on the index finger with a molded insignia. The low emitting light from the fountain wasn't sufficient enough for me to see the symbol, but I felt as if I knew it by instinct. The dagger was retrieved, and he too bled from his wrist after an incision, our blood mixing. I stared at the stained bowl, releasing a few tears before I turned to look at the unknown man beside me...
''Evelynn... Evelynn! Madam... ah... one thousand pardons your majesty for awaking you from your slumber, but I have an urgent message to deliver,'' the familiar voice of Jasper spoke through the Guild Seal placed nearby upon a vanity.
Evelynn swung her legs to hang limply over the bedside, only to clutch her head in her hands as it pounded from the grotesque and frightening dream. The darkness and shadows in the room reminded her additionally as scenes of the blood within the bowl of the fountain flashed mercilessly to no avail. No sunlight poured through the windows, causing her to question the time and the duration of her sleep. ''Continue Jasper, I am quite awake now...''
''You don't look too well- fairly paler and ill seeming...,'' he mentioned, then cleared is throat gruffly before delivering the message he awoke her for,''... Yes, Miss Theresa awaits in the castle's courtyard, and wishes to speak with you once you are properly awake and alert. I do advise you should get dressed as it is quite chilly, and go straight away now.''
''Theresa you say? Hmmm- thank you Jasper and may we speak again soon,'' Evelynn declared, and he wished her farewell leaving her lost in her thoughts and the desolated room. She hadn't spoke to the blind seer since moments after the battle against the Corruptor, where she congratulated her for her victory and assessed the damage done. For Theresa to meet with her again, in-person and so discreetly, raised great suspicion within Evelynn. For it to happen after an unnerving dream, well, Evelynn planned to tread carefully alongside the woman even though their past was mutual. The woman will always be questionable- no need for suspicions to be aroused now as they have always been present. Tread lightly, Evelynn, remember who you are.
Covering her sheer, peach nightgown with a dense, ebony petticoat, she walked promptly down the stairwell past guards who were surprisingly not sleeping during their duty, but greeting her without question for her late night journey out of the bedroom. The cool pavement of tiles and then cobblestone caused her to curse to herself as she was reminded that she had forgotten to put something on her feet. Even so, there was no turning around now, as Theresa's moonlighted figure came into view, gazing over the stone railings at Bowerstone and all its sections.
''I see Jasper delivered my message hastily, and by your appearance, you were eager to hear what I have to speak,'' Theresa decided with a nod of her head as she faced Evelynn who was approaching. The noting of her bare feet, frizzy braid, and skimpy clothing made Evelynn feel flustered and embarrassed, but she did not smile nor laugh- she was determined to know why she had such an awful dream spontaneously.
''It has been quite some time since I last spoken to you... a month perhaps, Theresa? I thought you would fade til' another Hero would appear.''
''You should never depend upon farewells, nor believe your destiny to be fulfilled until death Hero. Did your slumber fair well with such a breaking vision?'' the seer warned before acknowledging her involvement within Evelynn's dreaming mind. Evelynn was not surprised who caused such a dream, or vision as Theresa defined it, but was overwhelmed as she knew what she experienced was soon to become threaded in the web of her life. ''Do not be frightened now by what you have witnessed my Queen, for there is much more struggle to come. The Corruptor was defeated by your hands alone, but Fate is not finished and- ''
''There is more for me to do? I... I have already risked so much in fulfilling what had needed to be done... I don't believe I can risk anything more in the future,'' the Hero whispered, anger adeptly hidden behind such words struggling to be spoken. I have done my deed as a Hero, saving the lives of the kingdom and bearing such a heavy weight upon my shoulders. I fear now, the world never seems to be done with me!
"Indeed. Have you heard the legend of the Solstice of Avo? No? Hmmm, no matter... it will be more beneficial if it is unknown to you. It is a greatsword forged by the light of Avo, and its power may only be fully attained once wielded by an immortal. To retrieve it from its holding is more complicated, however; two immortals must be present.''
''The Solstice of Avo... I am no immortal being, Theresa!''
''Yet, Hero. There is only one way known within this world to gain immortality, alas, it comes with a price as do all Divine powers. To forever have a life, one must unfortunately remove a life. Surely you have heard of the dreaded Shadow Court?''
''In my mother's journal, she had mentioned them once. She spoke of betrayal by the Hero of Skill, and faced them with another. Sparrow never spoke of immortality, only of youth,'' Evelynn confessed, anxious of where the conversation was going and what Theresa may have in mind for her future health.
''You must have gathered what you are to do: travel to Wraithmarsh with a body of guards for protection and use them as your sacrificial offering to the Shadow Court officials. Once you have been granted immortality, you must journey to find the Solstice of Avo,'' Theresa informed, quieting her voice though no one was nearby in the courtyard. Only the chirping of birds accompanied them and the Sun's rays were faint upon the horizon, though Evelynn hardly noticed. ''You may be inquisitive on how you are to travel and who will assist you. No, Ben Finn and Page must remain in Albion's borders, keeping order and mending the damage caused by the Corruptor. Your assistance will come from a man who knows highly of the legend, is skillful in being a ship's captain along with leading expeditions, and he himself is secretly immortal... Reaver.''
