Daughter of the Anemos

"My name is Riza. Your mom was my sister."

Was. The word rang in Sheba's head like a thousand bells chiming in unison. Her mind darted from memories of her adopted family in Lalivero to her oldest dream: to find her biological parents. Fragments of possible realities fogged her mind's eye as her regular vision blurred out of focus. Is it true? If it is then why hasn't she approached me before? I've been here for years. And where are my parents?

Like a knife through butter, the kindly woman's voice rang in Sheba's head clearing away all other though, Listen. All will be explained Sheba. The woman's mouth wasn't moving. Instead her spirit and mind were connecting to Sheba's. The two were attached and instantly a series of visions, if they could be called that, filled up Sheba's newly cleared head. They were nothing like the vivid visions that Sheba had seen before. In fact nothing could be seen at all. Instead they were felt. As if she was remembering events that took place long ago. But these were not Sheba's own memories. They were her Riza's.

She recalled a moment between family. Riza sat in a long hall with people all around. All had golden hair and violet eyes very familiar to Sheba's. Eyes she had seen before. Her own eyes. On the table was a feast of pheasant and plum. Blue wine filled every glass. A light snow blurred every window. Sheba felt warm candle light against her skin.

A woman stood up. She had rosy cheeks and a kind smile. Everyone cheered. She said words but Sheba could not recall what they were. All of these memories, especially the words, filled her with profound joy. Everyone laughed at the jokes and smiled while the woman spoke. Suddenly and yet gently, clear speech from the woman cut through the wordless memories, We're getting married.

Then the memories accelerated. As if she were remembering in flashes all the lovely moments shared with a dear friend, rather than a specific meeting. She saw flashes of dresses, children, harps, and roads. A white sailed ship harbored and loved ones unloaded off of its great wooden deck. Three teenagers ran on a yellow spotted field by the edge of the city that overlooked endless skies or red and orange. A series of blue bows ornamented a hall laden with cleanly tiled white stones. A man and a woman entered with white dress and navy suit. An infant was gazed upon by her glossy eyed family.

Then the memories slowed. Sheba remembered the man and a woman in a small wooden cabin. With the memory came feelings of anxiety. The shock of it overriding the joy of the previous memories made Sheba feel dizzy and almost sick. Dark shades of maroon flashed in her mind. Voices reverberated through the memory but only a few words could be picked up. Specific phrases in a cloud of mumbling emotions. They'll take her. They want to use her. We have no other choice. She has to be sent to Weyard.

They were Sheba's parents. She could feel it through her aunt. Sheba saw herself in the memory, as an infant, being cradled by her mother. Before Sheba could ask Riza who was going to take her the memory melted and a new one took its place.

Her parents were wrapping an infant Sheba in a violet blanket, the same that Sheba was found in when she arrived at Lalivero. They spoke in hushed voices and Sheba couldn't pick out any words. Instead she felt the same anxiety but permeating through it was a deep sadness. There were tears in the eyes of both her parents. Sheba's mother cast some sort of hover psynergy and baby Sheba was released from Anemos. Sheba's parents wept as their daughter floated slowly towards Weyard.

Then another memory. She was in the Dome. The massive chamber where all the Capo's of the great Burgandy families met. Her parents were standing before a tribunal of Burgandies. An old Capo with a long white beard and bald head stood from his chair. The words were clear and the cadence was sinister. You have committed grave crimes, it said. Your daughter was chosen by the gods to protect us and you have sent her away. War is coming. The Moon Clan will surely attack. Your actions have jeopardized all of our futures. For that the penalty is death.

Weeping and screaming and fierce fear from the eyes of the memory, Riza, fogged it completely and Sheba snapped out of it suddenly feeling the chill air of the present day against her cheek again. But the emotions of the memory were felt by Sheba herself and she found that there were tears in her own eyes and her hands were shaking with terror.

Sheba closed her eyes tightly and bowed her head. She focused her mind using techniques she picked up from Hama so many years ago. She struggled to become grounded in the present day again. Her mind ran through the highlights and lowlights of her entire life from childhood in Lalivero to her quest, her old companions, and through to her time in Anemos. She remembered who she was. At length, she opened her eyes and dried her cheeks.

Still in front of her stood Riza, eyes reddened from crying. I'm so sorry, Sheba couldn't tell if she heard the words with her ears or her mind. Riza embraced her and Sheba allowed herself to be comforted. After a moment they parted and Sheba felt her aunt's warm fingers on her face.

"They're gone?" Sheba whispered. Her aunt nodded silently. Why didn't you see me before?

As if she was reading Sheba's mind Riza frowned. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry you're only finding out about your parents now. I'm sorry they're gone. They loved you very much Sheba."

Sheba felt glad to know it was true. "Why couldn't you tell me?"

"It was far too dangerous. I know you know this already, but the Burgandies control this city. Their power is far deeper than you know. Every aspect of our lives is seen and noted. They wouldn't let me tell you this. Even now we're in serious peril."

Sheba's eyebrows furrowed, "Why?"

"Can I begin at the beginning?" Riza asked. Sheba nodded. "You were born on a very special day Sheba. It was the day Galen's Arrow flew through the Hyperion Pair." Galen's Arrow, thought Sheba. Galen's Arrow was a comet that lit Weyard's skies once every ninety-nine years. The Hyperion Pair was a constellation of two bright close stars that appeared in the winter months. The comet flying through the pair must be extraordinarily rare.

Riza continued, "The last time this happened was before Alchemy was sealed. It happened the day Yegelos was born." Yegelos. The Anemos folk hero. The name created everything from the watchtower on the north side of the island named in his honour to the noodle dish that traced its origin back to the legendary figure. Sheba had heard stories of Yegelos' deeds even before she had arrived on Anemos. Their authenticity was questionable.

Riza seemed to see Sheba's surprise. "Yegelos was a real warrior, even if half the stories about him are fable. The story goes that he was the one to banish the Moon King and those loyal to him from the city after the great betrayal. He used the legendary shield, Darkguard, to protect himself against the Moon King's Umbra Blade. The Anemos of the time prophesied that one day the Moon King would be reborn, and that he would seek revenge against Anemos. When this day comes a new hero, born on the day Galen's Arrow passes through the Hyperion Pair, is to take Darkguard and destroy the Moon King to save Anemos. Just as Yegelos did. The Burgandy families fully believed this legend. That's why they wanted you when you were born. To protect the city. Your parents sent you away because they didn't want you with them."

"Why?" Sheba had no love for the elite ruling families but she did not understand why it was so crucial for her parents to keep her away from them.

Riza frowned. "There's no telling what the Burgandies would turn you into. Do you remember the man you saw in my memory? The bald man with the white beard?" Sheba nodded. "He was Callen's father, and the leader of the Burgandies. His name was Lowan. A very viscous man. Cold and calculating. The city never loved him, but they felt like they needed him. To them he meant security, if not warmth. He was a lot like Callen. Ever since your parents and I were children he began to arm Anemos. He built weapons of war and tightened his grip on the citizens. He was a man of frequent visions, and he prophesied that the Umbra Clan would attack in his lifetime. That the Moon King would return to destroy Anemos."

Callen's father had died before Sheba ever arrived on Anemos. "He was wrong then," Sheba said.

Riza nodded. "After his vision, he took many children and trained them as soldiers. They were raised without compassion. Only fear."

Sheba gasped. Her mind went to Rego immediately. She could see his cracked, sad face as if he were standing in front of her. "Rego?"

"He was among the Capo's child soldiers," Riza said. "Barely a man when the Capo Lowan finally died of old age. Shortly before you arrived here. The child soldiers roam the city today of course. But no one ever talks about their history. Or about Lowan. It's pushed under the rug like everything in this forsaken rock." Riza was shaking.

That's why I didn't know. The City of Secrets, Sheba thought.

"From truth comes freedom," Riza repeated the ancient words of Anemos sarcastically.

"So why tell me now? Why risk the Burgandies finding out after you wouldn't for all these years?" Sheba asked.

Riza paused and then spoke, "The Umbra Clan keep pressing closer to the city. Ever since the Golden Sun Event they've been able to return their ships to the skies. Now there are rumours of a High Empyror who rules them. I'm afraid Lowan's prophecies are coming true. I'm afraid he is the Moon King returned. Come to blast our city out of the sky."

"And you think I have to stop him? I have to find Yegelo's shield?"

Riza nodded and looked down. "I would never ask this of you Sheba."

"Do you believe it? The prophecy? Wasn't Lowan wrong? The Tuaparang never attacked in his lifetime."

"Lowan was a terrible seer and a worse person. He was certainly wrong. But the prophecy of Yegelo's heir, the one to wield Darkguard, is far older than Lowan. It is written in the holiest place of Anemos. The Jupiter Sanctum."

"The Jupiter Sanctum?" Sheba asked.

"It lies beneath the Dome. The most ancient carvings of the Anemos are there. I think that's where you'll find the shield Darkguard."

Riza looked inquisitively at Sheba. "I will go," Sheba said without thinking. She didn't need to think. It had to be done. I have to at least see the prophecy for myself. "I need to stand for Anemos. Even if the prophecy is wrong. I will protect this city." Sheba thought of the great towers and rolling yellow hills outside Anemos walls. She thought of the blue flowers and falcons. She thought of the men and women of the market that she had grown to love.

Riza smiled and began to weep, "And I will go with you my niece". Disorderly she embraced her niece. Sheba felt her heart well up and explode with the memories Riza shared with her. She only then fully realized the gift Riza had given her. She had seen, through her minds eyes, her parents faces. She saw their wedding. She saw her entire family greet her into the world. She saw her parent's home and she saw them wrapping her in the clothe of their house. Saving her from harm. She saw what they sacrificed. Sheba's mind touched Riza's and their emotions mingled into a soup of sadness, loss, and joy of reconnection.