Chapter 3: Light

"You promised that her power would never be used for personal gain." Ariel seethed, looking him in his eyes under his cloak that stood out like torches against his pale skin.

"I never made such a promise: if you recall, the contract which we both drew up states that his or her power would be used to better the world we live in when she came of age." Sloe said, flipping his hand down as a scroll unraveled to a paragraph revealing to Ariel exactly the phrase he so heinously remembered.

"Why… Why would you want to destroy it all? There is such beauty here." Ariel cried as the he reached up to cup her jaw, stopped by Ariel grabbing his wrist.

"This world has become too corrupt to save as it is. All must be wiped clean to start again." He said, tilting his head to the side almost as if he too were sad that it had to be done.

"But why her? Do you know what such an act will turn her into? Her heart will be lost to the Darkness if you do this." Ariel begged, looking away until he gently reached up to the hair on the side of her head gripping it so hard so quickly that it made her yelp as he turned her head to face him.

"It will create in her the power she was always meant to have: The End. Now let our daughter come with me to fulfill what she was always meant to be." Sloe hissed, obviously holding back a great deal as he spoke through clenched teeth.

"I will never hand her over to you!" Ariel swallowed, glaring at him from over her cheeks making him chuckle.


Dane and Meno came to dozens of people within town taking notes on the reactions of people they invited to a massive town-wide celebration. It was not in celebration of a completed project, no theory that had been proven, in fact, it wasn't even any citizen's birthday. It was just a celebration involving music, dancing, food and good company.

With each invitation given out, the Darkness appeared to become suspended from them for a moment separated from the person. It was a strange phenomenon that almost felt to Dane as if it were agitated. When the moment passed however, the Darkness felt as if it were trying to gain a better grip on the person whom was invited. Meno too noted the same feeling though not to the extent that Dane felt.

Those whom suffered a great loss, disappointment, or had even been depressed for some time were invited with a much gentler tone. The Darkness clinging to them felt as if it were eating away at their very soul. Dane and Meno many times would unknowingly accelerate their invitation just to get away from the spirit crushing presence hanging around those people. It was difficult at time since the people whom this Darkness gravitated to talked with such depressing tones, trying to infect them like a virus. Despite these people, the invitations were given out and on the day of it, scores of people came.

Everyone laughed, children played freely amidst the food and drinks readily available to everyone. Between their talking to people, grabbing up snacks and monitoring the atmosphere of the celebration, Dane and Meno would venture to the outskirts of the city. Stark changes in feel could be felt as they left the main square; the streets were dimmer and colder than they were at the celebration. The Darkness almost felt as if it were waiting for everyone to leave the celebration and infect them once again.

"It is a start, but this is still not enough." Dane sighed, writing down his thoughts as he would walk.

"I didn't expect that it would cure the world. I mean there are even those within the square that you can still feel a heavier presence around." Meno answered sharply. Dane nodded, looking back over his notes and confirming what Meno had said.

"I too noted this. Perhaps there is something else, something far deeper that we aren't seeing." Dane interjected. Meno chuckled and Dane felt a rise of Darkness near him.

"I know of something that you aren't seeing." Meno muttered under her breath. Dane looked over to her noting that the rise he felt was centered around her.

"What was it that you said Menodora?" Dane asked, tucking his pencil and notebook away. Throwing her arms forward with a frustrated huff, Meno almost shouted at Dane.

"Don't tell me you can't see it?!"

"I honestly do not have clue what you are talking about Menodora. What is it?" Meno threw up her arms and stamped her foot, turning back to Dane with a reddened face.

"You are so blind! You honestly can't see all of the women that you talked to back at the party were flirting with you soooo much! And you did nothing to sway them!" Dane sighed hard, thinking back over his interactions back at the party and noting that there were indeed quite a few women that would freely talk with him. But he gave no thought to them or how it would affect his relationship with Menodora.

"Why would this upset you? It should be well established that I have no intention of courting another woman." He answered. Meno clenched her fist tightly, eventually throwing her notebook at Dane.

"Why would it upset me?! You wouldn't make them go away! You just sit there and listen to their compliments and adoration with a smile on your face as if you were enjoying it! Isn't my adoration enough? Can't I be the only person you need?" Meno asked. Dane picked up the journal, walking over to her reaching out to put them around her. Meno backed away, her brimming eyes waiting for an answer.

"Menodora, you are the only person I have ever needed and the only person to ever at least try to understand how I think. I am not seeking attention from others. I have all I need in you." Dane replied, holding out his hand to her.

"I could finish this journey on my own, however I don't wish to." Dane noted that the dark feeling hanging around Meno dissipated, not entirely, but significantly.

"You never cease to amaze me Dane. How can you be so infuriating and so enticing at the same time?" She asked, sniffling slightly as her brimming eyes receded.

"That is my curse I suppose. My mind, my looks, a constant reminder that I am unique in so many ways. So much so that it has left me feeling isolated, that no one person could at least attempt to see the world as I do. And I have found that in you. There are times that you surprise me as well. Your compassion to so many, your deep thoughts in watching a sunset, your thirst for finding answers in places that no one would think to even peek." Meno sighed long, reaching out her hand and placing it in his, immediately feeling better than she had in the past few minutes. She knew deep down that Dane didn't entertain thoughts of other women, but it was still frustrating. It was well established the two of them were courting each other, yet still other women wouldn't hesitate to attempt to sway him. And he did nothing to stop it.

"I'm still mad at you." Meno huffed as Dane smirked and put his arms around her, this time pulling her in close.

"I am aware. In the future I will attempt to curb other's approaches. Though I can't say that I'll always remember." Meno breathed in a sigh: being with Dane was many things, but at least it would never be boring.

The day after the party, the entirety of the city seemed slightly brighter. The mood had lifted allowing those that had been stuck before to charge ahead without reservation. Meno and Dane wove through Margata talking with dozens of people. Those that had been depressed expressed how they were genuinely able to smile. Those who had lost loved ones expressed their thanks, and still others simply thanked them for the wonderful gatherer. Upon reaching the the Great Circle, Dane watched the scientists perform experiments on the body for Dr. Long. Despite some of them failing, no Darkness that appeared nor did any swell around those involved.

Dane and Meno compared notes in the evening ultimately concluding that whatever this 'Darkness' was, it was countered by 'Light'. Their study of this light led Meno to conclude that in order to understand what Light was, they would need to find to a city where such happiness existed. Cone all their needed supplies had been gathered, Dane and Meno left the city to find this place, planning to watch the sunset as it painted the deserts of Nihal as they left. But as they left the borders of the city, a weight dropped onto their chest forcing them to their knees. The world around them became darker nearly bringing them to tears.

"What was that?" Meno asked, struggling to compose herself and regain her footing.

"That must be the Darkness within the world. How could this Darkness still be so powerful this close to the city? And in such an exact location? It should at least have a gradual effect as we leave." Dane exclaimed, reaching into his sleeve to consult the Mage's Journal. Meno managed to regain herself and look over his shoulder as he flipped, putting her hand between the pages when she saw something that caught her eye.

"Wait go back." She asked. Dane returned a few pages reading over what Meno had found.

"Why is it that as I enter a city, the Darkness seems to subside with such a sharp transition? There is no reason for this. Perhaps I shall find my answers as I travel. Do you think he had the same experience we just did?" Meno asked. Dane read it over again, holding his chin in thought.

"Perhaps he did, but to a much lesser extent." Dane surmised, turning to later pages for something later that would explain it. Yet no clues came as he reached the end of the journal to explain this definitive line.

"What if the difference isn't so much a transition, but the fact that it is a difference?" Meno asked, taking out her notebook and reading over some of the statements that she had written down.

"How do you mean?" Dane asked. He had a theory of his own, but as he had seen so many times before, Meno could come up with answers that he hadn't considered.

"Take the difference in the light of a candle and shadow of a dark room for instance. The only reason there appears to be a transition between the two is because of Light's energy losing strength the farther away it gets from the source. But in all actuality, the difference is right at the source. What if the Darkness of the world works the same? It only appears that the world fades darker because we move further away from a source of joy?"

"But then why would the line be so definite? Could it be that the Darkness really is that powerful?" Dane countered.

"If joy, or in this case, Light, is indeed the counter to the world's Darkness, then there should be a visible and palpable transition when moving away from a source, not a definitive line" Dane added. Both of them thought for a while until the thought struck Dane.

"What if the reason there is a transition, it is only extremely small. And the only reason that this level of Darkness exists outside of Margata is due to the close proximity of so many people who can and do feel and express joy. The reason it won't spread to the world is because everyone in Margata has focused their joy inward to the city itself." Meno thought it over, looking over her notes and nodding as she added her thoughts.

"That could explain why we felt such a stark difference; we left the source of joy, the city of Margata. What we felt was our Light being extinguished once we crossed the threshold between Darkness and Light because we were no longer within the city's inward facing protection." Meno spoke faster and faster as she was finishing her thought, talking so fast at the end that her face began to brighten in a large smile. Her smile was infectious, and soon Dane could feel the corners of his own mouth turning up into a grin. Around them, they both noted that the air seemed brighter, less pressing than it had a few moments ago.

"What… what's happening?" Meno asked, looking around at the air around them.

"I believe that we are creating our own Light, a light that is turned outward to the world around us." Answered Dane. Immediately the two of them were furiously writing things in their journals. Meno had to sharpen her pencil twice as her excited penmanship blazed across the pages and snapped the lead. Deciding to stay within Margata they would watch the people closely, discovering shades of Darkness as well as pockets of Light appear and disappear.

The Darkness exuded by people was almost always directed outward; they were looking for someone to feel as they did, to know the pain they felt. By contrast, those that exuded Light often seemed to keep it directed inwards, unwilling to share it with those around them unless they too had a similar strength in Light. The inward facing trait of Light however also led to those people being affected by Darkness all the faster. Inward directed Light not only absorbed and fed off other's Light but would equally absorb and feed off another Darkness. If they lingered too long near a source of Darkness, then the light would eventually go out and create another source of outward facing Darkness.

There were however sources of outward facing light; this "hue" of light was brighter and stronger than others. This 'hue' of Light was always created by someone genuinely wanting someone else to feel joy, one who cared for the hurt other felt. It was strong enough to burn away one's Darkness and re-ignite the light within them, but it often came at the price. The person exuding the outward Light would become drained after some time: it was as if they were giving their own Light away. Meno witnessed one of these people give so much of their light away that they became another source of Darkness.

"This outward Light must be the path to 'The Ultimate Light', it has to be." Dane said one evening as he and Meno both sat down for dinner.

"I'm sure it is. Now put aside your research for just a moment and eat. We won't be able to find this path if we can't even walk." Meno chuckled, spooning out a large helping of potato salad onto her plate before reaching for the basket of bread. Dane smirked, staring at Meno as he thought back over the day as they observed people. She had taken a few moments to dance with the children or stop to watch as they fiddled with Alchemic Experiments. Her smile was infectiously radiant: Dane soon realized that she was a source of outward facing light.

"What? Is something stuck to my face?" she asked, instantly reaching for her napkin and wiping the sides of her mouth.

"I was just thinking about the path we've taken up to this point. I don't ever remember seeing you this happy before Menodora." Dane smiled, chewing a large forkful of food.

"To be honest, I'm a little surprised myself. It's been almost three years since we've been studying this together? And you've been studying it for even longer if I remember." Meno said, taking another bite of her food.

"Eight years in all; it's hard to believe. I almost shudder to think how dark this world be without your existence Menodora." Meno lifted and eyebrow and tilted her head slightly.

"What's this all about? Are getting all philosophical again?" she teased. Dane smiled and chuckled under his breath.

"No, not in the strictest sense." Dane replied, pausing for a long moment, simply staring at Meno across the table from him before reaching for her hand as realization came to him.

"So that's it. It's all so clear." Dane almost whispered.

"What is?" Meno asked, wiping her mouth and tightening her grip on his hand.

"I've figured out what the Ultimate Light is. We are the Ultimate Light. I don't know how or when it happened but you have sparked a new outward light within me. Together our light resonates and is made all the stronger. We, together, can be the cure for the world's Darkness." He answered, getting up from the table, not letting go of Meno's hand and kneeling before her. Meno took a moment to take in the sight; his posture, his position. It made her stop and think it through harder before her eyes became wide.

"Will you be the Ultimate Light with me Menodora?" Dane asked reaching to his pocket and pulling from it a ring of moonstone and gold. Meno nodded, unable to speak as the ring was slipped onto her finger before slimming down to the perfect size.

"We may still have a long road ahead of us, but at least we won't be alone. Right?" Dane asked. Meno's smile became all the brighter as she hugged Dane as tightly as she could. It was ecstasy.

"Wait, if we're this Ultimate Light then how are we going to counter act Darkness? There's only so much that we can do." Meno asked, pulling back to arm's length.

"I have a plan to travel the world. We can be the beacon for others to look to. We can be there to help others. The world itself may be warped and dark, but just by sharing our light with the world and doing what we can to brighten every corner of the world, even just by the smallest amount, we can combat this Darkness once and for all."

"What about turning Margata's Light outward? It may not be a lot but it would still provide something."

"That is something that will be much harder. For now, let us attempt our hypothesis outside Margata where it may be better received." Meno grinned wide before hugging him once again. It was all the dream, it had to be! It felt like her heart would burst with all of this joy she felt. The next weeks were a blur as preparations for the grand wedding where to take place,

Bakers, tailors, mechanics, alchemists and florists all buzzed through the city turning the once dreary, greasy square into a palace courtyard. People from all over the city pitched in with what they knew. Most of the people offered their help as thanks for the joy the couple brought to the dreary city. Dane made note that as preparations for the wedding progressed, the inward light of the city felt as if it were slowly ebbing outward, spilling into the world and pushing back the Darkness of the world. That that had been shrouded in Darkness for some time began to glow with their own light.

When the day finally arrived, the very air itself seemed to shimmer as gold. Anticipation and bliss reverberated in the air as the couple were joined together in a service that became talked about for years to come. None was so grand as the marriage between Dane and Menodora.

Soon after, the two of them set off to share their Light with the rest of the world. Their first place to visit was a small village south of Arentia. At their first arriving, Meno could almost see the Darkness hanging around everyone in the village. They started by inviting all that they came across to a celebration of sorts in the middle of the town that night only to discover that the Darkness didn't suspend itself as it had in Margata as people were invited. When the time for the celebration did come, it was anything but; everyone was lethargic, dull and uninterested. Dane and Meno began asking different people about their lives, trying to ascertain why such a lively event would seem so dead.

"I suppose there really isn't much to celebrate." One farmer said.

"Don't misunderstand me, I am thankful for this distraction. But when tomorrow comes it will all be nothing more than a distant memory."

"What do you mean?" Dane asked, noting that the Darkness hanging around this particular individual seemed as if it was forced on him yet a part of his life.

"The new queen of Arentia has made our lives difficult. All of us have been taxed heavily with really no explanation. Because of that, it is getting harder and harder to just get by." Dane and Meno both looked to each other, feeling defeated and a little embarrassed that they would try and force upon these people a happiness that would only fade once they were gone. This Darkness was much more rooted than what existed in Margata

"Perhaps we would be able to speak to this queen on your behalf." Meno suggested, handing the man that had spoken a glass of punch.

"It won't work. Many people have gone to try and speak with her, even traveling Bishops have tried and failed." Dane smirked and set his hand on the man's shoulder.

"Then she has not met us. We will speak to her on your behalf." Dane noted that the area began to feel lighter, but hesitant and that he himself felt slightly drained. Perhaps this hesitant feeling was another hue of Light: hope for a new and better future tainted with past experiences of failure. When the small celebration was over, Dane and Meno both left for Arentia, determined that they would find a way to help these people. As they trekked, the story would be repeated. More and more people were down trodden and despondent, searching for some way to make their lives better. It was becoming clear that there would need to be a different approach to fixing the world of this Darkness. Not one of distraction and celebration, but reassurance and hope. And it would start by speaking with the queen.


"What are we doing wrong?" Dr. Long asked while looking over the data of their last test. It had been almost a decade since the beginning of this project. Yet they were no closer to solving the problem. Every time they would try to activate the body or body part, something would go wrong and they would have to start again, sometimes from scratch.

"Even after we have differed our approach from fully mechanical to bio-mechanical, it still won't fully amalgamate." Maxus added, looking over the data in more detail. There was just some force at work preventing that last little bit they needed.

"What if Alchemy alone was not enough? What if there was something else that needs to be done?" a man said. Long and Maxus looked up to see a young man with long black hair draped over one of his eyes sitting at their table.

"You're Russel, Madae's apprentice are you not?" Maxus asked. The man looked up slightly, his hair falling away from his face and revealing a small mechanical brace on the side of his eye.

"Yes, I am he." Dr. Long sat down and grabbed his chin in interest.

"What do you mean 'alchemy alone is not enough'?"

"You yourself said there appears a force preventing you from completing any of these experiments of yours, correct?" Dr. Long nodded, suspicious and interested simultaneously.

"Then perhaps it is time to look beyond science. There is a man living in a city by the name of Kritas, an expert in breaking down and eliminating barriers that prevent anything." Maxus and Dr. Long looked to each other before Long answered.

"What you suggest sounds like it dabbles in Magic. We are men of Science. How can fairy tales and misdirection help us?" Russel smirked darkly.

"I have been to Kritas. And I have seen firsthand the results these 'fairy tales and misdirection' as you call them. It is real. His art is called by a few things, but it is known prominently as Dark Alchemy. I believe that by combining the two of these arts, you can have what you seek." Maxus sighed, calling Dr. Long to the side to talk in private.

"I don't think we should pursue this. I've seen where 'dark' leads by watching my son's research. If we do this, it could lead up to doing things that fall far outside of morality. We could become depraved lunatics, not men of science." Dr. Long took a long breath and looked back over his shoulder to Russel as he looked over the data left on the desk.

"But it is the nature of our research to investigate and pursue any leads that move science forward. I am the lead of this project and I hear your concerns. Therefore Maxus, I appoint you as our Moral compass. If you believe that we are beginning to cross a line, I want you to bring us back to center." Maxus nodded, still not liking the fact that even the thought of using this 'Dark Alchemy' was existent. But being made the moral compass of the project eased his mind slightly.

"This expert in Dark Alchemy, what is his or her name?" Russel smiled, proud that he had brought something of interest to Margata.

"His name, is Arkarium."