Apologies for the year-long delay, byt things came up that needed my attention. Anyway, I'm restarting the story!

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"Mom...."

I put down the diary. After all these years I never thought my mother would have a journal like this. Heck, I never thought she was this kind of a person in the first place. I always thought she was the bookish and passive type of person, but it's like she's been to far more places than I ever have. Heh, it's strange to think about it. My Mom, the Adventurer!

This curse she talked about.... I wonder what she meant by it. With the way she wrote in her journal, it's probably something really important. I'm not to sure what it is, since the rest of the journal seems to have been destroyed. But whatever it is, I now want to figure out. When I do, I can finish what my mom started when I can finally help Rue. When that is, I don't know, but I promise to fulfill me mom's wishes.

I put my mom's journal in my backpack. I decided not to tell Rue about it. I didn't want to worry him. He's already got a lot of things on his mind, even is he doesn't show it. I just don't want to trouble him more. I'll keep it as my secret for the time being.

"You know... sitting around here isn't gonna get us anywhere."

"Huh What? No, we're bound to find something...."

Rue raised his head. I could see drool dripping down his lip onto the edge of the book he was reading. It was pretty obvious he fell asleep while looking at the books. I couldn't find anything important in the books I went through, and I'm sure he didn't either.

"Why don't we visit the Iriov History Museum? I'm sure we can learn something there. My old man has an old friend who might be able to help us?"

"Uh... why don't we just finish up the things here. You know..."

He didn't look very well. He looked troubled. Puzzled. Bewildered. Like something heavy was dropped on his shoulders. He didn't look very enthusiastic all of a sudden. What the hell is wrong with him?

I grabbed him by the wrist and tried to pull him out of the room. As usual he didn't resist. He just slogged right behind me like a little boy.

"Okay okay! Let go then! Geez...."

He suddenly pulled his arm away, like he was angry. I was shocked as he suddenly pulled off, and I could see the irritation on his face as he reacted to me. It was a sight that scared me. I almost, for some reason, wanted to cry. That face he made.... It's a face.... I've seen before. I clearly remembered that expression. It was barely months ago when he made that face that could pierce my heart. It was a face that.... I admit.... still tormented me today. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Yes, to this day my guilt continues to hang by me like a dark cloud. It's something I never wanted to remember again. Ever again.

"Rue... I... I'm sorry"

"Mint.... Look, sorry for yelling at you like that. It's just.... forget it. It was nothing. I'm sorry. Really sorry. I just had something on my mind. I'm really, really sorry...."

Something on his mind? So that's it. I understand. It's not his fault. It's.... mine.

He wrapped his arm around mine as we walked down the street. All the people were looking at us. I guess we looked like... like a couple! We were barely an inch apart, and his arm was around mine. His head tilted a little to my mine. I was blushing like crazy, and I tried to hide it with my hat, which I was using to shield myself from the sun. We came out into the street, which was full of people doing the regular everyday things. It was a common site everywhere you go. We were in the capital city after all. It was busy, busy, busy. Once we got into the crowd, we were incospicuous. Few people were looking at us now. The blood in my face went to my other parts now, so I was able to walk straight again. It was.... a strange feeling.

"So.... where are we going, my lady?"

Rue asked with a strange, almost teasing smile.

"Well... uhh... umm..."

Okay, I admit, my face was still mostly red. I had a hard time talking. We walked for a few, with me leading now, and I composed myself properly.

"Well... before we left, I asked gramps where we could get some info about the local area in Iriov. He told me that my old man's friend, Professor Adenine, was the head curator of the museum we're going to. He's one of the world's most famous archeologists. If anyone can help us track down a [relic] here, he can."

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The museum. What a grand place! The front of the museum was made almost completely of Carrara marble pillars laced with what looked like ancient artifacts from long ago. There were banners everywhere, announcing the new exhibit in the museum: "Ancient Aeons". Just what we were looking for. There were hundreds of people outside, some trying to get into the small entrance, and others gaping at awe at the majesty that was the museum's architecture. We had quite a hard time getting into the place, having to fight through the crowd and so, but the inside of the museum was something different all together.

Mint and I were greeted with a huge dome once we got inside. Looking up we could see that the dome was clearly more than a hundred feet high, lined with old relics and gold, with the light gleaming on all of them. It was like one giant crystal. The museum was almost one entire wide open area, lined with thousands of exhibits, and an equal number of people looking at them. The museum walls were covered in various artifact of every shape and size, describing the rich history of this land. Most of the people were piling up on the bigger exhibits, like and old ships and buildings of sorts, but there were still more than enough people to effectively clog the place. I was wondering how we could even find this Professor in all these people.

"Gee... such a big place! I wish we could look around and stuff, but we need to find that Prof. Hmm... maybe I can look around some other time."

Mint was giddying like a schoolgirl who saw his crush. It was weird. I never thought Mint would be excited in a place like this. She didn't seem like the type to get all riled up at a bunch of old antiques being displayed. Heh, there's really more to this girl than I know of.

We headed off to the west wing of the museum, where the Aeon exhibit was housed. Inside there were hundreds of children, rowdy children at that, being guided by their teachers in the exhibit. They didn't sound very interested at all at the lectures. They were all just screaming at each other while running around the place. They were bound to break something, as some museum attendants came in to settle the chaos. Within a few minutes order was restored, and thankfully nothing was broken.

"Heh. Kids these days...."

Mint and I were looking at some old machines that lined in the center of the exhibit complex. What caught our attention was an old machine lying in one little corner of the place, as well as the book beside it. It was fairly recent find, based on the date written on a plaque in the corner.

"This looks... strange...."

"Yes it is. It was just put on display yesterday."

Mint looked kind of startled, and looked behing her. There stood a fairly old man, maybe around 60 to 70 years old. He was wearing a bright read vest and a pair of slacks, and held a lit pipe on his right hand with some papers on his left. He looked like a wizened old man, but I could see in his eyes he was very learned.

"Professor Adrian Adenine. Pleased to make your aquaintance. You are Princess Mint, I presume?"

"Y-yes... um... how did you know?"

"Your father sent me a letter, which I received just a few hours ago, pertaining to you arrival. You are looking for information about a [relic], am I correct?"

"I see. News does travel fast."

"Yes it does these days. And about your relic... well... you're looking at an old one now...."

Mint quickly gaped at the old machine we were looking at. She began to observe it closely, like a scientist, trying to see how it works.

"Sadly, that one's broken..."

The old man chuckled. Mint, on the other hand, sighed out loud.

"However, I might have a lead to where you can find one. That is, if you don't mind a short historical lecture...."

He opened the door to his office, which was just a few paces away from where we stood. He led us inside, and we sat down on a rather old sofa. The inside of the office was lined up with lots of old stuff. Very dusty old stuff. On his desk was a big pile of papers and pens. Just above him were countless cobwebs. The room seemed as ancient as the artifacts it had.

"Did you see the book that was by that old [relic]? It's actually an old journal written by an Aeon, a lady at that."

A lady Aeon inventor. I've read some literature about them, but I've never heard of a girl inventor.

"From what the records say, the lady inventor was a lady named Andrena. We were quite surprised to find something created by her. According to history, some thousands of years ago this land was ruled by powerful Aeons. The Aeons were considered as the upper class of society, and they were the ones who controlled most of the country. However the newly elected president of that year, Anchor Veinfeld, was a none-Aeon, and he supported reforms to limit the powers of the Aeons. Naturally the Aeons refused the new reforms, and with their great powers they would be a threat. Even the infant Aeons had more powers than humans. The President then was able to rally the entire human populace against the rebelling Aeons. Even with their powers, many of the Aeons were quite peaceful and passive. Those who did fight back, however, were led by a young man named Valen...."

Valen? Valen.... that name.... it rings a bell. It was strange. It's like I know that person, but I'm sure I don't know a person like that. Obviously, he was from a time thousands of years ago. It was impossible.

Mint looked sort of weird. She seemed really nervous. Her feet was tapping on the floor. She was biting one of her nails. She looked at me and smiled. A weak, nervous smile.

"Even with their powers, the Aeons were defeated, and not without the deaths of almost millions of Aeons and humans combined. It lasted for a year, and finally the Aeons were subjugated. The remaining Aeons, a few thousand, were confined to a small impoverished area near here. It was known that the Aeons rebelled again, and that they were completely obliterated."

He relit his pipe.

"There weren't many details about that part of history, but Lady Andrena's journal seemed to be able to fill that gap, if it is to be believed."

He reached to his desk and took a notebook lying on it.

"According to the journal, Valen, who became the famous Aeon we all know, created his famous "DewPrism" here. He was supposed to use it against the humans of that time.... however.... his sister, whose name we couldn't find, was against his plans and subsequently informed the government. The night later government troops raided Valens home. Because of this, Valen had no choice but to flee in the ensuing chaos. Not having apprehended Valen, the President used the raid as a precedent to completely cleanse the land of Aeons. According to Lady Andrena, just before they parted ways, Valen decided to head north to the land that would be the future homeland of the East Heaven Kingdom. There, she wrote, Valen would finish his "DewPrism" and, when the time is right, use it to regain the world under Aeon control. Andrena, on the other hand, decided to escape to the forests east of the kingdom, behind a large mountain range. There she planned to create a [relic] to revive Valen just in case something wrong would happen. Until that day, she put herself into cryogenic sleep."

He puffed some on his pipe.

"Princess, your exploits against Valen are pretty well known in most circles. With that said, this might be even the "time" when Andrena will awaken to revive Valen."

Ah yes, Mint's victory over Valen. Mint told me once about how she defeated Valen and all, and I think it was pretty amazing considering how powerful Aeons are said to be.

"Anyway, my dear princess, this is a map of the way to what we've uncovered of her Atelier. Currently we've suspended digging at the site until we can do more research, but you have a free pass to investigate as much as you need."

The Professor pulled out a map from his notebook and handed it to Mint.

"Wow! Thanks Professor! You don't know how much help you've been!"

Mint looked at the map all ecstatic and the like. She was giggling too. She was really really happy. Strange, much more than me. I have no idea why I didn't really feel as happy as I should. I mean, we have a good chance of finding a [relic] to save Claire! It's just that.... I don't know.... the name Valen seems to trouble me a lot....

The Professor led us out of his office and out of the museum. Mint kept on thanking him on the way down. It was already evening, and the streets were mostly deserted. Man I'm beat.

"Hey Rue, this calls for a celebration! How bout a drink?"

A drink? What the heck is she talking about. Well.... I guess it woudln't hurt to have a few beers. We WERE very close to a [relic] already. Still..... I couldn't get Valen out of my head....

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Soryy about the year-long break between updates. You may redirect your anger at me not updating on your review, on which you may also proceed to praise/bash my work. R&R!! ^_^