Chapter 10: Finding Answers
Josh is standing at the Northern Gate with his helmet on. It is about dawn and his wife and children are there to see him off. Lydea hugs Josh, with the girls as Liana and Coryn approach.
"Take care when flying, Josh. Knowing of what the Pure Ones are capable of, none of us want to end up like my dad or even the goddess herself." Liana says
"I will take care, Liana. You know what I am capable of when it comes to fighting Pure Ones. I kicked their asses more times than ever imagined before I graduated the GTA." He replies
"Just be careful. Liana is right." Lydea says while fixing his helmet
"I will." He replies
He then takes off and they all watch as he leaves the Great Tree. Coryn has been left in charge, as Lydea is attending a conference in Tyto. Sina and Barran have been left with lots of guards and with (temporary king) Coryn and Liana.
Meanwhile, Josh is flying to the Northern Mountains, near the Palace, to find the Mirror of the Snow Goddess, containing the goddess herself, Nya Schana-Strata. He flies past the palace and makes his way to the cave and lands in front of the mirror. He approaches it and smoke inside the mirror settles to see Nya staring back at him.
"Oh, Josh. It is so good to see you." She happily says
"Nya, I have reason to believe that my youngest may have powers of some sort. How can you tell exactly? I mean, her grandmother was the Goddess of the Moon and Lydea is a Schana. How can you tell exactly?" he asks
She laughs and replies "There is a way to tell, but it is a sign from the gods. I saw what happened to the moon. That was the sign. However, she is a Schana and the bloodline is within her and her sister."
"What do you mean?" he asks
"It is simple, Josh. Your daughter, Barran Schana, takes after your mother, as she has goddess powers and purity of heart. I know you are seeking the Queen Barran, your mum and she will see you when the moon is full once again tomorrow night. Little Barran has a lot to learn about controlling her powers. Also, she mustn't die from evil causes. She has to stay alive and keep the forces in check. It is lucky the amulet of power had been destroyed by now." She explains
"I see." He replies
"Now, there is one last thing I have to tell you. I am afraid that darkness will incarnate and terrible things will happen. There will be a mess in the forces of good and evil. Also, darkness will incarnate and if it does… I wouldn't want to see that happen before my eyes." She adds
"Well, I have to get home to my girls. Lydea is on a trip." He says
"Farewell, King of Ga'Hoole." She replies
This has given me something to think about. Could my baby girl really be the Goddess of the Moon? If so, she will be the one thing that will have to be protected. Just if we don't have to worry about what Elanore will do to turn Zayin evil. Everything is becoming more and more out of balance. I think that it will sometime soon result in a battle… and I would lead it with the parents of the owlet.
I make my way back and I see Lydea as she is heading to the North for a council meeting. I tell her all that happened and what was said. I tell her that I am worried that Elanore will kill her for her powers and she says that we will be alert no matter what. Then we go our separate ways, until she returns to Ga'Hoole later on.
I come home to the tree and my girls pile on me. Coryn tells me all that was going on and I think him for taking charge. We have become friends from enemies, Coryn and I. I hated him for usurping the throne, as that is what I thought and now look at us. We are friends and our children get along better than what we did during the Aristocratic War.
I go to bed later, after doing some paperwork. Then my dreams are disturbed by a voice. The soft voice, which is so familiar to me and yet I can't work it out, says "Follow me, Josh." I follow the voice and it brings me to parliament hollow. Then when I am looking around, I see my mother sitting where she used to sit when she was in parliament.
"Mum?" I ask
"You have come. I wanted to see you." She replies
"It is about my daughter. I am scared mum; she could die just for having the powers." I confess
"I think it sweet that you have named your daughter after me, Josh. She is a beautiful girl and she is pure like I. She was chosen to be the Goddess of the Moon, as she is a pure and true heart. She denied joining the evil side and she is kind and honest. Like I, she would never do something that would cause danger to anyone. Someday, she would do good things for everyone." She explains
"…But mum. I wouldn't know what to do about protecting her. I mean, I put every fibre of my being into protecting my girls, but… I don't know what to do." I tell her
"Josh, she may have a power, but if she can kill a Pure One with my dagger and escape St. Aegolius, you won't have trouble protecting her. My parents sadly didn't have the chance to teach me that stuff, seeing as they died when I was an owlet of at least a year old." She replies
"I see. You have been watching over us. Nya forewarned for dark and light, evil and good to clash and I don't know what she means by that. I knew what she meant during the War of the Ember, when she told us of the pending dangers ahead, but now... I don't know what she means anymore. That is bad, especially as I am King of Hoole and don't understand a goddess." I say while staring out the window
"…And yet, you are a great king anyway." Someone says
I turn around and dad is beside mum. Shockingly scary much? Why is it that I have to always be visited by scrooms in a time like this? I have it worse than Lydea and her snow-sight.
"Dad?" I exclaim
"Who else am I, Josh?" He remarks
"Uncool, dad. Totally uncool…" I bluntly say
"Ah, Nya Schana-Strata. She is a very peculiar goddess indeed. Trapped in a mirror for centuries and couldn't be happier? Strange much." Dad says
"Getting off topic." Mum reminds him
"Oh right… I was just getting there. Now then, Josh, you are able to listen to what the goddess says and yet with your gift of intellect, you are blinded by your mind from finding the answer. You were able to work it out, seeing as you were more listening to what she says and not using the mind to know what it means. Simple logic. Just don't use that mind of yours and, seeing as your gizzard is the goddam thing that always gets in the way of decisions that are important…" He explains
"Boron!" Mum exclaims
"It is the truth, Barran. He left the Great Tree just to marry a girl and stayed there and didn't know we were dead for three years!" He replies
Mum hits him with her wing and replies "You left the North to marry me, you idiot!" Then dad replies "I know that!" I just interrupt her and separate them apart. Then, we get back to the topic at hand.
"Just don't think too much. Even though using your head is how you get into the master classes." Mum says
"Right." I reply
"Before we go back to the Spirit World, I have one thing to say. I am proud of you, son. Being king is a pain sometimes, but you will always hold on no matter what. You are capable of great things, Josh. I had never told you that when you were a kid. I am sorry for being an ass." Dad announces
"You were ruling the tree. I understand why we had tensions between us, dad." I reply
Mum starts crying over the loveliness of the moment and then they disappear. I just take in what has been said and go to bed.
I think dad and I have finally patched things up. When I was growing up, he was in and out of my life, so was my mum also, but they were always there. I had Strix caring for me sometimes, as she is my godmother and she was like an aunt to me.
Dad cared, sometimes when he wasn't tried from work and did teach me to fly. We had tensions after I had turned 14. We just went our separate ways. I was just a kid and I had so many expectations and he was the one setting the standard I had to live up to.
Mum always cared. She always wanted to be beside me and she loved me, no matter what I did when I was a kid. I know about what happened when she was a kid herself. When I was an owlet, she would never want to do that to me. She loved and cared for me, reading my Ga'Hoolian legends and stories and supporting me when life was a bitch.
That is why she was important to me. That is why my daughter is named after you. I just want the world to be right and for everything to be as good as it was when I was a kid. When I was growing up, the Pure Ones were a myth and there was no war, no hatred. Now, in the age of Pure Ones V Guardians, it isn't like that.
Elanore is the biggest threat and she has Zayin in her clutches. She is basically Nyra the second. As evil and ambitious as her best friend. Whoever possible, Coryn, Liana, Lydea, Bryony… All of us on the Good Side will vanquish Elanore and the Pure Ones. I will never let Ga'Hoole fall. Neither would my wife, Lydea, let the Northern Kingdom fall again. Our counterparts (Queen Liana and Lord Coryn of Middle Kingdom, Prime Minister Bryony of the Kingdom of Tyto and Queen Sabyna of the Kingdom of Ambala) would never let the Pure Ones reign over.
Someday, the battlelines will be drawn, the enemy will be on approach as the battle calls fly across the blowing winds and blood and fathers will be shed under the moonlight and the early dawn. When that happens, we will not fail in vanquishing them.
But first, we will have to deal with Elanore and we will have to save Zayin somehow. What does she want with him anyway?