Zaera sat on the bed in her new quarters, alone. Outside, the sun had set. She felt hopeless.
"What are we going to do? We're stuck in the past and can't do anything about it. We're definitely back during the legend of Waltirous and Eventia, but when?"
Then she noticed what seemed to be a large dent in the wall behind a wardrobe. She moved it to reveal a hole in the wall that was large enough for her to crawl into. She looked in
and saw that it seemed to keep going. She couldn't see very far into it, though. Curious, she went in. She noticed that it gradually went up as she went on, until it eventually leveled
out. She guessed that she was going over other people's rooms at this point.
Eventually, she heard something cracking beneath her. It was the rock she was lying on.
Uh oh, she thought. The rock beneath her gave way and she fell into the room of an Elstrian aristocrat. She looked up to see Eventia staring down at her, her eyes wide with
surprise. She had taken off the green dress and was holding in front of her. There were white sleeves on her arms. They were apparently part of her usual dress.
Zaera became very embarrassed. She quickly got up and said, "Sorry about this. I was just investigating a hole I found and, well… I go."
Before she could leave, Eventia said, "Wait. I must ask you a favor."
"Uh, sure, anything."
"I am engaged to the son of a friend of my father. His name is Argo."
"Your fiancée?"
"Yes. However, I don't love him at all. The most I might ever consider him as is a friend, not a husband. I want to choose who to marry."
"Like Waltirous?"
"Him? Oh no, I don't think he's the kind who'd want to make a commitment to somebody."
"Huh?"
"Waltirous has been faithful to me for longer than any other woman he's courted with, but that's almost entirely due to the fact that he considers me as the most beautiful woman
he's ever seen. He's also had many chances to be with me. He's nice, but he's more of a free-roam lover. I admit, I'm quite jealous, but I've come to accept it."
"So, he courts with anybody he wants?"
"Basically, but he knows if they are taking advantage of him and he dumps them right away. His mother doesn't know of his behavior, but I don't think I'll be the one to tell her."
"I see. You wanted to ask me a favor?"
"Yes, yes. I want you to find a way to get Argo to call off the marriage without harming his or my family honor."
"Yours?"
"Yes. He won't call it off just because I don't love him, and he'd be quite mad if he knew of my…condition."
"Condition?"
Eventia sighed and let the green dress drop to her side. Zaera couldn't keep her eyes from widening. Eventia was heavily pregnant.
Zaera said, "Oh. I see. It was Waltirous, wasn't it?"
"Yes. I haven't told anybody yet, but I won't be able to keep it a secret for much longer."
"How much longer?"
"I don't know. I haven't had any contractions yet, but…"
"I see."
"You must get Argo to call off the marriage."
"How?"
"I don't know how. Talk to his sister. She might know something useful."
"All right. I'll be leaving now."
"Okay, goodbye."
With that, Zaera went out the door and headed for WALL-E and EVE's quarters.
Insert story breaker here
"Then I came here so I could ask for your help."
Zaera had just finished explaining to Grela, Argo's sister why she, WALL-E, and EVE were in her room (she had already told EVE and WALL-E everything that had happened the night
before, and I do mean everything).
Grela said, "I see. Well, I'll do anything for Eventia. After all, we were friends since we were about three years old. Let's see, what's something that could help us? Oh! I know! Argo
is very superstitious. He goes to a fortune-teller in the commoners' quarters every day close to noon. Nobody else knows that he goes there. I don't know why, but so far, everything
she's predicted has come true. If you tell her to tell him that he should call off the marriage, she'll gladly do it. She is Eventia's aunt, after all."
Zaera said, "It's almost noon now. We better get going. Thanks Grela."
Grela yelled, "You're welcome!" as the three quickly left.
Insert story breaker here
Zaera, EVE, and WALL-E watched from behind a curtain as Argo entered the fortune-teller's tent. He sat down and said, "So, what's my fortune for today?"
The fortune-teller smiled and looked into a ball made of blue crystal.
She suddenly looked up and, in an otherworldly voice, said, "Today shall be a rather eventful day for you. You will face great change in the coming weeks. The first step, and the most
important, is this: you must call off your marriage to Eventia, or you shall be murdered by a horrid being!"
Argo's face went white. "What kind of being?"
"A being of pure evil, one that spells destruction for all of us! If you don't call off the wedding, you shall be murdered that very day!"
"Will I ever marry anybody?"
"If you call off the marriage, you shall marry Saeree in five weeks."
Argo broke out into a wide smile. "I'll get to marry…her?"
"Yes."
"Oh, thank you for telling me, Madam Forili! Thank you!"
In a normal voice, Forili said, "You're welcome."
Argo rushed out of the tent, ecstatic. Apparently, he was keener on marrying Saeree than Eventia. Zaera said, "You didn't have to tell him all that stuff about being murdered by
some evil being."
Forili said, "It was what I saw, and I prefer to be honest. By the way, I saw something earlier for your two robots."
EVE said, "You did?"
"Yes. It was only this: Lord Lus shall restore your true love."
"Lord Lus?"
"Yes."
"I've never heard of anybody named Lord Lus."
"I wish I could show you what Lord Lus looks like, but my ball won't give me an image. I did get the impression, however, that it looks similar to a very large slug."
"A slug."
"Yes."
"Why a slug?"
"I don't know, that's just the impression I got. If there is nothing else, you may leave now."
Zaera said, "Before we leave, may I ask you something?"
"Sure. What?"
"Why do you sound and look so nervous?"
Forili sighed and said, "Every day, I look at my own fortune to see what will happen during the day. When I looked at the one for today, it said that I would die today. It didn't say
how, and I didn't get an impression."
"Oh. I see why that would make you nervous."
"I know that it's accurate. The only times I've ever been 'wrong' are when I misinterpret an image or a vague sentence. And those times were when I first started this and I was
inexperienced!"
"What exactly did the fortune say?"
"It said, 'you will die today.' That's it."
"Hmm. Very specific, yet very vague."
"That's exactly what I thought."
Zaera looked at the lantern above the table before they left. It illuminated the whole tent.
When she, WALL-E, and EVE were outside the tent, Zaera looked around. There were other ten Elstrians nearby. Before Zaera could think about what to do next, she heard Forili
scream.
She immediately turned around and tried to go in…only to bounce off an invisible shield covering the entrance. From what Zaera could see, the room was completely dark. Something
inside the tent tried to cover Forili's screams by covering her mouth, but everyone could still hear it. The other Elstrians that were nearby tried to break the invisible shield, but they
were as unsuccessful as Zaera. They could only listen in helplessness as Forili screamed. Soon, her screaming was cut off. Zaera, who had been pressing against the shield with her
hands, suddenly fell forward as the shield disappeared. She landed face-flat on the ground. She looked up and saw the lantern burning as brightly as before. She looked down and
saw the Forili lying on the ground. Another Elstrian ran over to Forili and put his hand on her wrist. Then he put his hand on her neck. Then he cupped his hands around his ear and
put it over her heart.
After listening for a few moments, he looked up with horror in his eyes and said, "She's dead."
Insert story breaker here
Zaera, EVE, and WALL-E walked through an empty street. Zaera kept wondering what could have killed Forili and make the inside of the tent seem like it was dark when it really
wasn't. Suddenly, she stopped. WALL-E and EVE stopped as well. They all felt the presence of something behind them.
Do not turn around.
The thought rang through their heads. It seemed like it was their own mind, but something else had put it there.
Now, you want to know why I killed Forili.
Zaera said, "Yes."
It's very simple: I didn't want her to foresee what I have planned.
"What do you have planned?"
You already know, Zaera. You can't keep your little secret from me.
"How did you know we were from the future?"
I overheard your conversation. But that's not what I mean by "your little secret".
Zaera swallowed in nervousness. How could he know?
Your little friends will find out, Zaera. You know that as well as I do.
"Who are you?"
You will know my name in time.
"Why did you possess Babor?"
He is more powerful than any other Orona on this planet. He'd become even more powerful if there was a total solar eclipse.
"A total solar eclipse? What's that?"
A total solar eclipse is when the moon completely covers the sun for a short amount of time. Unfortunately, Alaria has no moon. As such, I must ensure that Babor gets to a planet and
location that is about to have one.
The presence then faded away. They all turned around and saw nothing.
"Hmm."
Insert story breaker here
When they got back to the aristocratic section, the entire place was in an uproar.
They heard somebody nearby say, "I can't believe this! First Argo calls off the wedding for reasons I can't understand, then I hear that something murdered a commoner named Forili
who was rumored to be a fortune-teller! What the heck is going on?"
Somebody else said, "Chaos is what's going on."
"Couldn't you be a little more specific than that?"
Somebody else said, "I heard that some kind of monster is running around."
"What kind of monster?"
"I don't know. But I also heard that it's behind Babor's violence."
"Oh, great."
Zaera saw Babor watching the crowd from behind a rock.
She said, "Are you Babor or the thing that possessed him?"
He looked her in the eyes.
"Yep, you're Babor."
"Why is that thing is interested in me?"
"We had a run-in with it on the way here. At least I think we did."
"You did? What-what did it look like?"
"We had our back turned to it and it told us not to turn around."
"Oh."
"It told us that you were more powerful than any other Orona on the planet."
Babor just stared at her.
"It also said that you'd become even more powerful during a certain event which is impossible on this planet."
"How much more powerful?"
"It didn't say."
"Do you think it'll possess me again soon?"
"It's very likely."
Babor looked back at the crowd and said, "Let the calamity begin."
Author's note: I would like to inform you all that I have changed the description of Gartino's dream to fit my current ideas. That's all.
