Knights of Cygnus: Lupus

Chapter 2 – The Goddess and the Divine Bird

The Goddess and The Divine Bird – Friday 8th Jan '10. Meet the Goddess and the Divine Bird. Talk to Nineheart. Explain the goings on with the evil-baddy-guys. Begin training up to the point of entering the Training Hall.

In front of them was a small bridge, intricately designed from marble and granite. It was surprisingly modest yet it held such a secret. The location of the Goddess was just ahead. Abbie's breath became rapid, sharp intakes; in, out, in, out.

"Lupus... I'm scared." She whimpered, not even daring to look at him. "What are we signing up for? It could be dangerous. We could die..."

She felt a sudden tight grip on her hand. She looked up to see Lupus smiling warmly down on her. A slight tinge of red clouded her cheeks.

"It'll be ok, Abbie. I promise." He stepped forward, one foot after the other, at a steady pace. Slowly, she let his hand drop and followed behind. "I promise..."

*

"Ah, here they come." The Goddess smiled slightly. She watched as Lupus and Abbie, trying to keep their eyes off the massive bird in front of them, approached. They stopped sharp and saluted. "Ha! Did Kiru tell you to salute?" The Goddess had long blonde hair which trailed to the ground. She was lying on a small bench, of a similar fashion to the bridge, with her head perched on the beak of a huge, white bird. Her clothes were fanciful, speckled with flowers and she wore an elegant headband which wrapped around her forehead to keep the hair out of her eyes.

"Kiru?" Abbie asked.

"It's the guard, idiot." Lupus muttered from the side of his mouth. Abbie pouted.

"Your attitude changed pretty quickly, Lupus." She replied coldly.

"Ah well... You are here, and I'm happy about that." The Goddess continued to speak. "Thank you so much for becoming a knight. I've been waiting for someone who has the courage to fight against the Black Wizard." She paused. "Oh, are you aware? The Maple World may appear peaceful now, but darkness is lurking in the deepest corners. The Black Wizard with his evil plans to take over the Maple World, and his followers willing to resurrect him..."

Abbie whimpered again. Sensing she was worried, Lupus swiftly moved in and squeezed her hand again. "It's fine..."

"The evil ones are getting stronger day by day, but all we can do is sit here and watch. Sometimes, the fear of the unknown becomes our greatest enemy and tortures us, night and day... But I won't worry. I have faith that you will overcome all obstacles and protect the Maple World for us... right? You, the ones who wish to become knights... Do you accept?"

Abbie shivered at this. Her hand went rigid. Lupus worried that she was too scared to speak and gave her a nudge. "Abbie, please..."

"Yes, of course!" She burst out, rather arrogantly, while Lupus' head screamed. How dare she speak to The Goddess like that... "Er... I mean... Yes ma'am!"

"Yeah, I knew you'd say that." She smiled. Of course you have to become stronger! Much stronger! My strategist, Nineheart, will help you with many things. I look forward to seeing you mature. I have faith in you..." She trailed off slowly.

Abbie saluted once more, Lupus nudged her again and they walked away.

*

"Hi, Lupus and Abbie. My name is Nineheart von Rubistein, and I'm the young Goddess' strategist. You will get to see me quite often from now on, so you may want to remember my name."

"A-ok!"

"Abbie..."

Abbie and Lupus had found their way to the control centre, without too much difficulty, to meet Nineheart to be briefed. Nineheart had teal hair, draped around his shoulders and tied up into a ponytail at the back. He was dressed quite royally in blue garments and white cape which covered his arms, both lined with gold fabric. He also had a monocle balanced on the bags under his left eyes. It was evident he was hiding his years.

"You only just became a member of the knighthood, so there will be many things that you are not familiar with. I'll explain everything to you, step by step. Where we are, who the young Goddess is and what are duty is, so don't worry..." He stopped talking, and began to pace, twiddling a pair of dividers between his fingers.

"As you know, the name of this island is Erev. It is a magical island, governed by Cygnus, the young Goddess. You may not have realised, but the island itself is floating in the sky right now. It has been temporarily anchored here for a purpose, but usually this island floats around the Maple World." He dropped the dividers on the desk, strewn with papers, and sat down.

"The Goddess actually governs the whole of the Maple World. Her duty is to travel around and watch over the Maple World... But things have changed. Signs of the resurrection of the Black Wizard are evident in various parts of the world. The fallen king who had driven the world into great fear is on the rise..."

"You expect us to deal with that-" Abbie shouted out. Nineheart raised a finger to silence her.

"Please, let me finish, impatient girl." He uttered. "It's been so long since the Black Wizard disappeared that nobody realizes the danger, but if this situation continues, the world will be in the hands of the Black Wizard once again." Nineheart paused, seemingly to think. "So the Goddess made the first move. To raise knights who will defeat the Black Wizard before he awakes."

"And that's where we come in, right?" Lupus smiled, with a slight hint of malevolence. Abbie looked up at him confused. Is he that determined?

"Well, yes, but we have to become stronger. All of us must become much, much stronger than we are now, if we are to defeat the Black Wizard. Preventing evil from destroying the world – that is our mission and goal. Do you understand?"

"Yep!" Abbie exclaimed.

"I guess..." Lupus replied, looking distantly off to the side.

"Good, but you do realize that you have an insignificant fraction of the skill required to defeat the Black Wizard? You may be a member of the knighthood, but I need to see your skills before I can confirm you as a knight." He got up. "Go to the training hall outside of town and talk to Kiku. He'll sort you out with something worthwhile."

Lupus turned and walked away without a word. Abbie turned around and ran to catch up.

"Good luck, knights..."

*

I'm sick of him treating me like a weakling... I'll show him how strong we are. I'll show him...