Chapter 51: Hidden village Nubes
"Are you sure that we can see something from here?" Zuzi asked when she landed with her Rheaird on the peak of the Fooji Mountains.
"No, I'm not. But Tiga claimed that the village is in the south of Meltokio … And he said we should take Rheairds with us, so it is pretty likely that you can see something from here, isn't it?" Bayne replied.
"I see far and wide nothing peculiar," Zuzi sighed. But that didn't really surprise her. Who knew if this village even really existed? Maybe Tiga had only been bonkers. The guy was weird anyway. He had always been strange, but lately it had been extreme. He seemed to be really crazy. Just recently she had heard him murmuring: "Seems like I can't get around the conversation with Thanatos; the Allies of Light have to be complete …"
Zuzi knew that Thanatos was the God of Death who took the living in when he was of the opinion that their time to die had come; moreover, he was reigning over the underworld. But who were the Allies of Light? Well, it was probably not important anyway, only a stupid thing Tiga had murmured.
Bayne eventually startled her out of her thoughts.
"According to Tiga we have to look behind things … But what did he mean with that?"
Zuzi just shrugged. "I don't know." She stretched herself. "Well, at least today is nice weather … A cloudless sky … Well, apart from this one cloud there …"
"Yeah …" Bayne replied. After he had looked at the cloud for some seconds he suddenly frowned. "This cloud … Don't you think as well that it looks a little bit odd?"
Zuzi raised an eyebrow. "It looks like a ball. So what? Clouds have the habit to look strange sometimes."
Bayne still looked pensive. After five minutes he said: "It doesn't stir one bit … But it seems to turn on its own axis …"
"You just imagine that," Zuzi remarked.
"No, I don't think so. Let's take a closer look at this cloud, Zuzi. Maybe Nubes is hidden behind it. Yes, most probably it is! We have to see behind it, that's what Tiga said! Behind the cloud is Nubes!" Bayne was totally convinced of this and flew with his Rheaird in the direction of the cloud.
Zuzi followed him, now of the opinion that Bayne was maybe right. The closer they got to the cloud, the more obvious it got that it wasn't normal. Like Bayne had already noticed the cloud was turning on its axis.
"Should we fly into it?" Bayne asked hesitatingly. "You can't see anything …"
"What other choice do we have? But let's be careful," Zuzi replied.
When they were flying through the first ragged cloud Zuzi's locket suddenly began to glow.
"My locket!" Zuzi exclaimed in surprise. She held it in front of her body and gazed at it amazedly. The glowing got constantly brighter and suddenly a path in the cloud opened in front of them. Far in the distance they saw a flying mass of land, similar to Exire.
"Wow … Incredible! That has to be Nubes …" Bayne said, fascinated.
Zuzi couldn't speak a word. Silently she flew ahead, her boyfriend following her. She landed on the mass of land, and then Zuzi felt it. The feeling of security. Even if she thought to have never seen this place before she still knew that she had arrived at home.
An old woman, dressed in a long robe that girdled her like the wind when she walked, came towards them. Her grey hair was long and decorated with pearls and feathers; her eyes were brown and warmly looking at Zuzi and Bayne. She was smaller than the two, but still they had great respect for this woman.
"Welcome in Nubes, Zuzi and Bayne," the old woman greeted them while spreading her arms as if she wanted to embrace them.
"How …" Zuzi wanted to ask, but the woman interrupted her.
"How do I know your names? Well, your arrival had already been foretold us a long time ago. And how couldn't I know your name, Zuzi? After all, you're one of us."
Bayne was a little bit taken aback whereas Zuzi didn't seem to be that surprised because she had already had this assumption earlier.
"Then … this is really my home?" she asked while clinging to this hope like a drowning person to a piece of wood.
"Come with me. I have to show you something." The woman walked ahead; Zuzi and Bayne followed her while looking around in the village. It was surprisingly quiet; nobody could be seen.
Zuzi looked around with amazement. Everything seemed so foreign but still familiar. The houses impressed her most. Some of them were on the ground whereas others were hanging in midair and seemed to be carried by an invisible power. Furthermore, there were no ladders, and Zuzi wondered how they could be entered. She also noticed that the houses seemed to be made of an unusual material. When she touched the wall of a house it felt hard and soft at the same time.
"Of which material are these houses made?" Zuzi asked the old woman.
"Of clouds and wind."
Zuzi nodded and pestered her immediately with the next questions. "How come that some houses are hanging in midair? Why don't they fall down? How can they be entered?"
The woman laughed. "That are many questions. You'll learn the answers soon, but for now you should follow me." She entered now one of the earth houses and Zuzi and Bayne followed her.
The inside of the house didn't look very different from other houses. The room was round and seemed to serve as living-room and kitchen at the same time. Moreover, stairs led upwards.
Zuzi stepped further into the room. Somehow everything seemed so familiar …
"Do you remember?" the woman asked.
"I … have the feeling I've been here before … But that's not possible, is it?" Zuzi asked confusedly.
"You lived here the first three years of your life. This is the house of your family."
"Why has Zuzi been abandoned near Mizuho then?" Bayne wanted to know.
The woman sighed. "That's what the prophecy demanded."
Zuzi looked at her in surprise. "The prophecy? But I don't have anything to do with that …"
"Though you are no Servant of the Prophecy this divination determines your life as well as the life of Bayne," the woman explained.
"What, mine as well?" Bayne gazed at her, puzzled.
"That's why you're here. But you'll get to know more about this later. Now we should head to the temple."
"To the temple?" Zuzi asked.
"A festival in honor of the gods Nubigena and Aither takes place there. You're family is at that place as well."
"Alright, but … before we go I still have one question …" Zuzi remarked. "What's your name?"
"I'm Taqui. The eldest of this village and …" Her eyes got a little bit warmer. "… your grandmother, Zuzi."
Zuzi's eyes widened; tears started forming in them, and the next moment she hugged her grandmother who patted her back and whispered quietly: "Shh … It's alright."
As soon as Zuzi had calmed down a little bit again Taqui said: "Let's go, otherwise the festival is over before we have reached the temple."
So Taqui led them to a hill on which the temple was.
So, Zuzi is originally from Nubes, a village that's flying in the sky, hidden by a cloud ...
And apparently she and Bayne have something to do with the prophecy as well though they're not Servants of the Prophecy. But this will be explained later. =)
Ah, by the way, because I'm working now I don't have time anymore to update this story on Tuesdays. So there will be only the update on Saturdays from now on.
To be continued ...
