They Failed the Test, After All
Chapter 1: Holy Child of Lalivero
This document stored under the provisions of the Apojii Accord, Act 4, Section 2a.
I wish I didn't have to do this. There really is no point. No one is going to see this anyways…so why should I write? Sure, no one is allowed to destroy these pieces of parchment. But what's the point? I won't remember that I wrote this, nor would anyone else on Weyard care about what's on here.
Not after they killed them.
I suppose I will have to write, then. I'm no good as a storyteller, I'll warn you. Whoever you might be.
Well, to begin with, my name is Sheba. And this document, which by some miracle you are reading, is the story of my life. Not very well written, mind you; and by no means complete.
I don't know where I was born, nor do I know who my parents are. But I do know where I was raised: in the small desert town of Lalivero, to the north of the Venus Lighthouse which is a symbol of our town. The townspeople apparently saw me fall into the ruins to the north of us, leaving a great crater. Faran, the town's chief, found me there, unhurt in spite of the huge crater I made, and raised me as his own daughter.
It was apparent from early childhood that I was quite a special little girl. "Child of the Gods", they called me. And for good reason, too: I had Psynergy. I mean, Psynergy is actually fairly common, but the Laliverans, who didn't leave the village much, wouldn't know any better. And my powers, to them, were fairly amazing too. Reading minds was useful for catching criminals or extracting information. Of course I used my discretion; and besides, I couldn't do it very many times before I had to rest. And then I could use Whirlwind. Lalivero is a hot town. Whoever made me fall like a shooting star into the ruins were wise to leave me to the Laliverans. At least there I could be of some use; in towns like Imil or Prox, my powers would certainly have been a nuisance.
Everyone in the village knew me and cared for me. They really did. Once I fell into that little pond surrounding the obelisk, and before I knew it the whole village was all over me. I was fine, for goodness' sake! But they wouldn't believe it until they dragged me to the sanctum and had me checked over by the healer. And after that, they even brought clothes for me to change into, since my clothes were wet! It was embarrassing, to say the least. I mean, sure, I was the holy child of Lalivero, with special powers and all. But doesn't that mean I can take care of myself all the more? In the end Faran had to take me home in a barrel.
There were skeptics in the village, people who didn't believe I had powers. The townspeople ridiculed them behind my back. I felt ashamed of the practice; and as for their unbelief, why would I care? I knew the truth. I had visions also, in which I found that the ruins in which I landed led to Venus Lighthouse, among other things. As for that building of mysteries, I could never guess what it was for. Whenever I saw it in my visions it was always vague. I used to tell people about what I saw, but rarely did anyone believe me, in spite of my other powers. By the time I turned thirteen I would stop telling anybody about my visions, even Faran.
In all other ways, I was a normal girl. I had a little stepbrother, who was always looking up to me as a role model. This was what kept me from bragging and showing off and the like. He would do everything I do; I once saw him sitting on the bed concentrating intently on something. He said he was trying to make wind like I did! I giggled and told him "No, that's not how you do it". And whenever I cooked fish, he would always say, "Can I do it?" And I would let him flip the fish, and he would run off to his friends saying "I can help Sheba cook now! See?" He was a bright child, too. His teachers at school always bragged about him, and he won almost every competition he entered. I wonder how he's doing now. I really miss him.
I went to school, too. Would you believe it? The holy child goes to school! It was an absurd thought to some, including my stepmother. You know, unlike some towns schooling wasn't compulsory in Lalivero. But I insisted and Faran insisted, so to school I went. And I'm glad for it, too. Sure, algebra was boring sometimes…but it was amazing how easily you could solve math problems with it. Did you know that the Laliveran philosopher Mobarek was the one who invented it? And his writings are studied in the literacy class, too. Beautiful poems, they were. If only I had them now, to comfort me in my hour of need…
The next year completely changed my life. I was visiting the home of an elderly person who was telling me one of his wonderful stories. Then I heard a shout from the village gate: "Tolbi's soldiers! They've come to take Sheba!" Then the storyteller put me in a basket and hid me in a closet, where I had another vision. Venus Lighthouse! Not murky, like before, but as clear as day! I walked towards it, my feet splashing in what I assumed was puddles. But I looked down and regretted doing so; there was blood all over! Then I looked up again and entered the open doors. But why was the door open? No one from Suhalla to Lalivero could open it. Anyways, I entered and looked around me. I was amazed at the wonderful architecture as I walked through the halls and staircases. Eventually I hit a dead end, and had to go back. But then I saw the ruins, and the cave which leads to the southeast. Six people were with me, but I couldn't see their faces. Two of them had coloured skin and wild hair. There the vision – the clearest vision I ever had - ended.
The storyteller had fallen asleep leaning on the closet door, presumably to keep the soldiers from getting to me. I listened his snoring for a few minutes before another vision came to me. This new vision was short. I saw that I was in a cage, and people were looking at me in sorrow. As soon as it had come, that image was gone. It left me confused, but I didn't have time contemplate it. I was listening to the commotion in the room outside. "Where's Sheba? Where's this 'Child of the Gods'?" a voice barked. The storyteller simply told the soldier that he didn't know. "Then you won't object to my looking around."
I cursed softly as I heard the poor man's belongings searched. From the sound of it the soldier wasn't being gentle, either. But then the closet door opened, and the basket I was in turned upside down. "Ow!" I cried as I hit the floor head first. "What's a girl gotta do to get a little rest around here?" I cried as I crawled into the closet. "Can't you see that these guys work me to death around here? It's no fun carrying water for everyone!" I whined, shutting the closet door on myself. "No, I can't see," the soldier replied. "Come out and let me have a look!" But I stayed in the closet, faked a yawn and said, "Tomorrow. Too tired." I sighed, hoping that I fooled the soldier.
Tolbi's soldiers are not very kind. Maybe the old Babi's attitude towards others rubbed off on them. The guy simply dragged me out of the closet, compared me to a picture, then bound me. I was taken to a commander, who simply barked a few orders. The Laliverans saw that they would never be able to rescue me from these soldiers. They were Colosso victors, after all. They just watched me go. The sadness on their faces was something I never wanted to see again. Unfortunately, what you want isn't always what you get. Later I would see plenty of faces like theirs.
We marched past Venus Lighthouse after fifteen minutes. I looked in curiosity at the doors: they were closed, as usual. Then through the rugged landscape of the Suhalla Gate. By the time we entered Suhalla Desert it was lunch time. I was given bread and water, and after I finished eating we went through the desert. We found our way to Suhalla, where we rested for about an hour, then marched off to Tolbi. We reached there by dinner time. We went to Babi's palace. Eight of the soldiers had left, and the other two took me to a room above the throne-room.
It was a nice room, not unlike the room I am in now. A great, big bed, flowers, table and lots of windows. Here, where I am writing now, it's a bit bigger, but less windows. There was a nice old lady who kept watch over me, and an old man outside the door. Then I remembered my second vision. I was in captivity, with these two people keeping me company. They felt sorry for me, that much was certain. The lady in my room told me that Babi wanted to force Lalivero to build a lighthouse over the ruins, and holding me hostage would provide the…incentive to do so.
Usually I would just stand at the window, staring off into nowhere, wishing I was back home. During meals I would chat a little with the old lady, and the man outside the door if he chanced to come in. I was quite uncommunicative, but they talked anyways; about Tolbi, about their children, about Babi, about Colosso, about anything. I learned that Babi was older than them, even! What could make him live so long? I learned about the festival that made such a commotion outside each day: Colosso. I knew about it, of course, but surely people are not so excited about a bunch of people fighting that they go crazy about it, right? Yet that's what happens here. Apparently tour groups from Kalay come each year, too. Stupid Angaran barbarians.
Once in a while soldiers come to check on me. Each and every time, I would beg them with sad voice and puppy-dog eyes to "let me go back". Of course they wouldn't listen. Babi wanted that work done, and pretty much nothing on Weyard could stand against his will. He certainly doesn't deserve that power. Anyways, each time that old lady would look so sad, and I could almost hear the man outside sobbing. Apart from these visits there were few other visitors; Babi himself came once, just to look me over. And then there were four others. They visited twice, and each time, I felt that they were…reading my mind, just like I did. At the time I didn't know them, and for a long time afterwards I couldn't make the connection, though they stood right before my eyes.
Wow. Longest chapter I've ever written. I made sure to check the game so that nothing here contradicts it. If you do find anything, leave a review and I'll fix it.