Chapter 2: A Lead From the Past

Seven years ago, after the town of Bervenia was destroyed, We had just joined up with Nebula. Nebula consisted of Martes, Martal, Wolven, and Kirllia, due to the fact we had a common goal at the time. During that time Kirllia, supposedly aligned with Nebula, gave me an Oricountus.

Every night since that Oricountus I had a dream about what happened to Kirllia. I decided to take a rest before the dinner and a show, so I knew I would experience a dream-a piece of her history. A history of former world. The world, which was called the Dark World by some, is where the conflict began. And every few years the history would repeat…

Today would be the third time it will repeat. Right from the start. Showing important memories of Kirllia during that era. But why? However, this is proved to be the most vital of clues to the mystery surrounding the war.

Jagd Fabul… that is where the war began…

The sky was cloudy. It looked like it was about to rain, yet no rain, sleet, or snow. In the center of town were people-lots of them. There was a fountain in the center that was rusting a little, but nothing too bad.

The people began to open up as three people in shiny white armor and a red cape entered. They were heading towards a podium in front of the fountain. There stood a man. He was bearded, had white hair, and an arm resting in a strap that hanged from his shoulder. The armored people reached the podium. One of them took off his helmet revealing his overly spiky blue hair. Then he took off a green crystal around his neck, changing his shiny white armor into purple armor. He then took out this sword and faced the crowd of people. The people backed up flinching at the sword.

"You. You are nothing to the Empire of Marus. You are just pathetic people who we are kind enough to leave you alone so you can be fed. You are average people. You can buy bread. You can buy water. Maybe a toy once or twice a year. However, I am not mere vermin like you. I am the Grand Emissary of Marus. I am Wolven. Now, I want all of you to accept what Marus is doing and don't rebel."

The people clenched their fists, raised their arms, and bent their legs. Wolven ignored what they were doing and continued his speech.

"Due to recent complications, the Cera-Rebena-Southern Isles trade route has been severed. If there are any objections, I am sorry to say that you will not be able to address them."

Out in the distance a young boy, probably in his mid twenties, and had wavy brown hair just like mine, shouted, "Over my dead body."

The person with the resting arm shouted, "No, cede! Cede! Cede boy! Do not fight!"

The hostile boy was wearing mere rags. He went up and unsheathed his dagger and thrust it into a guard. Wolven took out his sword and tried to attack the hostile, but he blocked Wolven's attack with his dagger. Then Wolven withdrew his sword for a moment and the hostile moved his dagger so the blade was facing behind him, and then stabbed the other guard.

The man with the injured arm kept shouted, "Cede! Cede!"

Wolven then grabbed the necklace he was wearing and pushed it against the boy's body. The crystal was absorbed into his body. Wolven shouted, "Then you are—"

Wolven turned around but tripped. The boy took up his dagger and tried to attack Wolven, but a girl behind him grabbed him by the dagger-less arm. The girl looked beautiful. She had longer hair and a slender body, but one could not ignore her most distinct feature-the fact her entire body was cyan. The boy turned around and tried to plunge the dagger into her, but she took out her own dagger and knocked the hostile's dagger out of his hand. Then she grabbed the other arm and then pushed him against the ground. Wolven got up and then grabbed him the arms.

A girl who was in the audience came out shouted, "Brother! Brother!" The girl was wearing a raggy black shirt and shorts and had curly blonde hair.

The hostile brother then had his hands tied up with rope, and rope around his waist too to keep him locked up. The girl and Wolven took the boy away. The girl kept shouting, "Brother, brother!"

The brother responded, "Sis, stay strong. Sorry if I acted out. Stay strong. Don't worry, I have been to Marus, I will escape. Stay strong sister Kirllia."

The girl grabbed the boy from his hair. She shouted, "If I were you, I would not suggest your escape plans here. Respect me, my name is Martal. Your mother would not be pleased with you."

The boy tried to kick Martal shouted, "It is because of you my parents are dead. Haven't you done enough to this town? Or did you forget what happened one year ago. I know. Oh I know. Martes isn't the one pulling the strings here. There is someone else. She was the one who poisoned me-made me Oricountic. That is why when Wolven tried to put the crystal into me, it was absorbed into my skin. Do you think I love this life? One you create for me?"

The boy kept on ranting as he was dragged off in the distance. Another girl came running up. She too was in rags, very brown rags, and had pink dirt-filled hair. She shouted, "They carried off our brother. Sister Kirllia, they carried off our brother."

Kirllia went over to her. She muttered, "Rose, stay strong. Don't let your will wither away. Stay strong. Our brother is gone. But we still have our sister Enkidu. We still have the memories of our brother, and our parents. Yes our brother is gone for now. And our parents disappeared when that Marian shipped crashed here. But listen, you still have me, and Enkidu, and you have Gilgamesh back here too. We will stay strong."

Gilgamesh then shouted, "People, we have a plan. Economically we will be ruined. However, we will send a messenger," Gilgamesh glanced down at Kirllia, Kirllia nodded, "The messenger will contact Grand Senator Martum Martin, who will plead to our case. She will also talk to Grand Ambassador Martor Martin, the Ambassador of the Southern Islands. They will both plead to our case."

I knew what was going to happen though. Martum and Martor were not going to plead to the case, well not finish the plead. No, they were going to do something much worse, something that inevitably caused the fall of the Dark World and ultimately broke the weak yet existent barrier between the belligerents' 'diplomatic' politics and war. For, even if they succeeded in their operation that night, they would have failed at their ultimate goal. For they would have just seized a throne. A throne gives you a right to give orders. A throne does not give others your absolute obedience. For a throne nor its Emperor does not define a country-its people do.

However, when a king can get absolute obedience he can abuse his power at will. And that is what Marian Emperor Martes planned to do-and would succeed at doing. People will not bow down to an Emperor because he too is a man. They will bow down to higher authority, such as someone who is a deity or man who they feel is God.

But then what defines the country? The Emperor? No the people still do. They demonstrate that they are weak enough to submit to what they are told and not strong enough to question what they are told. Avaranese history, Marian History, Rebenan history, and Ceran History have told two things: only the strong survive, and only those who questioned were strong.

That boy questioned authority. Even when his mentor to instructed him to cede, he did not listen. When he was told not to object, he did no listen. He rebelled, no he stood against what he thought what was wrong. He later became known as the legendary assassin Anoah Fabula: The person who I was cloned after.

Using violence is not moral though. However change is always needed. And as unfortunate as the truth can be, violence is one of few mediums to gain control. Diplomacy can work. There exist Avaranese like Martin Luther King Jr. who used nothing but diplomacy to gain what they wanted. However, humans are humans. They will not change their opinions so easily. And even with diplomacy there is a slight flaw-time. Looking back, there is one thing very odd about the time diplomacy takes. The time has nothing to do with people currently alive believing something new, but a new generation who has an upbringing opposite of tradition. And sadly, there was no time to wait for a whole new generation to start.

Ever since his death Nebula of Marus, Zebula of Cera, and Fabul wasted no time reviving Anoah Fabula. They spent every year after his death trying to revive him. His will power, his skills, his lust for justice is what they wanted. Cera was weak in army, nearly a ten to one ratio. However, Anoah Fabula made that ratio for the most part ignorable because he could attack the key figures and made him a bigger threat than a huge army. Cera just had to fortify defenses; Anoah killed the generals and the politicians behind or at enemy lines.

However there was something inhuman about him. No one in history could have been that good. There was a reason though…

One year prior to Wolven's appearance the Fabula's parents died…

I didn't understand exactly what happened, so I asked Kirllia the next time I met her. I was applying to join this organization, and I remembered seeing Kirllia's name and her information. I got in contact with her and asked what happened when her parents died.

And I was correct. The ship that landed that night, that Marian ship, may not belong to the empire. For Marus was a divided land. Divided between religion and politics. And there was an event two years after her parents died that confirmed my theory.

About ten weeks or so ago I contacted Kirllia on my phone. That is when she told me the story…

"Kirllia, I have been doing some research?"

"Oh! Research. I love that stuff. What's in on, bunnies?" I checked to make sure I had the right number.

"No, you silly."

"GOING INTO MY PRIVATE LIFE ARE YOU?" But then I was reassured I had the right number, and I didn't even have to check.

"Listen, that night your parents were killed, a ship came right?"

"Who gave you the right to go into my private life? And how did you know about that Marian ship?"

"Kirllia, you gave my that Oricountus that allowed me to see your memories. Anyways, that ship, you were sure it was Marian, correct?"

"Positive. I am absolutely positive that Marus used that ship to come and burn our house and our house only."

"Just your house?" Okay, I think I am starting to put everything together here. That ship, it could have not belonged to the Marian Empire. Okay, think who was there? Wait, there was a girl named Luna. Ya, there was a girl that Kirllia recognized when she was sent to Marus. A girl named Luna. Poor thing, she was murdered the next day. But she was there… Luna had blue hair. Just like Martal, and the High Marian Priestess Martyr.

"Yes, just my house. Martes's troops came to my house just to burn it?"

"Did you see any?"

"Y-yes, I did."

"You're lying. They were Marian, weren't they?"

"Umm… ya, I mean if they are Marian they had to belong to the Empire."

"Kirllia, you served Martes once. You know what truly happened. The fire, it was started with Oricounti."

"How did you—"

"Aha! I am sorry Kirllia, but I figured it all out. That ship, was Marian. Not the empires, but one of Martyr's ships. As in belonged to the Holy Ground of Marus. Two years after your parents death Martyr was caught with Oricounti. Fabul proved to be a struggle when transporting Oricounti for various nations. Somehow was in the trade route and people crash into it or something. Three Oricounti-bearing ships crashed into Fabul, Martyr's being the first. During that night though, Martyr and her crew stayed on the ship. Someone-a citizen burned Fabul."

"How, how are figuring this out?"

"Kirllia, it is too obvious. There existed only one Oricountic person in Fabul at the time. Anoah Fabula. He was also injured in the fire, along with Enkidu and the parents. He started the fire. Then upon the fire starting, Martyr dispatched a lowly priest, Luna, to heal them Am I correct?"

"Mostly. Except there is one thing… after that night Luna and Enkidu were both—"

"Then Martyr was there too. Everything fits together. In order to save Enkidu they had to—"

"You, you have good deduction skills. Maybe should think of becoming a lawyer. Who knows, you may meet a coffee-hunger prosecutor coming back from the past to take revenge by winning a case over you."

"Kirllia, don't lie to me again. But Kirllia, do you not understand the importance of what you just said?"

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"We agreed that Luna, Enkidu, and Martyr became Mana beings that night. However Martyr wrote that she foresaw what Marus would do. How could she have known that unless—" Mana was a strange thing… There exist three forces in Oritechnology. Oricounti, Noricounti, and Mana. Oricounti are like electricity. There are three charges: Positive, negative, and neutral. Noricounti is positive, Oricounti is negative, and Mana is neutral, but still charged. Except Mana is more unique-upon becoming a Mana being a person exchanges his or her ability to manipulate space and energy and get the ability to foresee time. There are two limits: The foreseen time is based upon known actions and intentions, and time cannot be foreseen when another Mana being is involved. Becoming a Mana being requires three people. One Noricountic being, one Oricountic being, and one charge-less being…

"The Grim Reaper could have been an accomplice to Martyr!" The Grim Reaper, a strange name for a mere human to adopt. She was a Mana being who Martes obeyed, and that is all we know of her.

"My thoughts exactly. But then whose side was Martyr on? This is confusing though. Either Martes was a traitor during those events seven years ago, and we do know that he wasn't completely loyal to his master The Grim Reaper. Or The Grim Reaper was playing a double agent, both as Martyr's mentor and Martes's mentor. Or Martyr was a traitor, pretending to like Anoah."

Kirllia was silent. She then mentioned, "Wait, and there existed another person who ruled out entirely, Anoah."

"What, who?"

"Anoah."

"Ya, I am here."

"NO! I mean your original. Here, let me explain my theory. Enkidu and Anoah are siblings, so they have the same initial charge. Luna comes from a Marian ship bearing Oricounti. Luna's parents may have been Oricountic, thus she would have Noricountic since if two Oricountic parents have a baby its Noricountic. I AM SO SMART." Thank you for sharing information I already know. "Then Enkidu is charge-less, and Anoah became Oricountic that night. Since if Enkidu was Noricountic, so would Anoah since he couldn't be Oricountic. Now in order for Luna to save the others she gave up her Tri-Life. You know how in Oritechnolgy there are three fundamental elements, soul, body, and mind? Anyways, think about it. Afterwards Anoah had a different memory. His personality was like Enkidu's. Enkidu has a new personality, and had Anoah's memory."

In order for someone to become a Mana being they need three people, one who is Oricountic, one who is Noricountic, and one who is charge-less. There are three elements, body, mind, and soul. If these three elements are exchanged among a person so they each have one element from different people. The Oricountic and Noricountic charge neutralize, and the charge-less charge has no effect. Generally people keep their bodies in this process to help remain discrete, as they did here. Some forfeit their bodies as they are the least valuable of the tri-life usually, their personality or memories matters more. By becoming a Mana-being, the body is able to cleanse in injuries for some curious reason.

So that night her parents died, a Marian ship from the Holy Land, not the empire, crashed into Fabul. A boy who would later be called Anoah crept onto the ship and became Oricountic. Afterwards he went to his house and set the place on fire, for a reason I do not know yet. Kirllia and Rose were out. The parents, Enkidu, and Anoah were inside.

The parents died from the fire, Enkidu and Anoah were injured. A lowly priest named Luna healed both Anoah and Enkidu by making all three of them Mana beings. Afterwards Kirllia, Enkidu, Rose, and Anoah were left alone.

One year later Marus returns. Wolven is seen having a shape-shifting Oricountus and then Anoah's body absorbs that Oricountus after Anoah killed two guards. Martal and Wolven of Marus arrest Anoah. He claims that they killed his parents, but he should have done it. Wolven at the same time severs an important trade route, which Fabul survived on for life.

Three problems remain: Why did Anoah burn his own house, why did Anoah try to put the blame on the Marian Empire considering he lost his memory after the house was burned, and finally who is Luna?

Luna is a girl I know little about. I saw her once in Kirllia's memory, when Kirllia turned traitor and 'joined' Martes (or remained loyal to the initial group, and joined Martes to later turn traitor on him, I swear nothing makes sense with this girl). Luna, she was a lowly Mana priest, and once assisted Martes. She served the High Marian Priest Martyr. That is all I know. I will need more information.

I will see after the dinner party if Luna could be our next assignment. She may be vital. The only other person who would know about Luna would be her mentor Martyr-who is now dead too. Could Luna be a key in the war? A key we overlooked?