A loud scream echoed across the land. Birds flew out of their trees in fright. People lay on the ground, their hands clutched to their ears, trying to drain out the horrible sound. The sound waves rattled the pebbles on the ground, inside the pottery store pots shattered and fell from their shelves. Cless lay on the ground clutching his ears, his sword lay beside him. The straw stuffed dummies he was training on fell over. Suddenly, everything grew quiet. Nothing moved, not a living thing made a sound. Cless stood up, his ears were ringing, and his head ached. "What was that?" He asked himself. He picked up his sword and sheathed it, then ran to the archer's range to check on Chester.
Chester was still lying on the ground with his hands cupped to his ears. He slowly got up and brushed the dirt off his shirt. "What in the heck was that, Cless?" He picked up his bow and slung his quiver of arrows over his back.
"To tell you the truth, I really don't know what it was. But I know something bad is going on, or something bad is going to happen. Maybe my dad will know what it was." Cless gestured for Chester to follow him. They both exited the archer's range and made their way across the town square. Many people were recovering from the sound. Most of them were asking "What was that?" or "What happened?" No one seemed to know what just happened. They reached the eastern edge of Telius and entered Cless's house. Cless's father was waiting for them at the kitchen table. He stood up at the sight of Cless and Chester.
"Are you two alright?" He asked. He face was pale. He bent down a picked up a few shards of broken china that fell from the table during the scream.
"Yeah, we're alright," Cless said. He sat down at the table and motioned for Chester to do the same.
"What was that… that noise?" Chester asked after he sat down in the small, wooden chair. He pushed some hair out of his face.
"I'm afraid that you kids wouldn't understand if I told you…" Cless's father sat down in a chair across the table from Cless and Chester. "You see… that… that noise, it was the goddess Martel's scream.
"The goddess Martel?" Cless's eyes were open wide. "I thought that she was just a legend…"
"She is very real, and she lives in the forest just south of here. The very one you two hunted in when you were younger."
"Why did she scream?" Chester asked. His eyes were also opened wide. He was very interested in the subject of goddesses and gods.
"This is the part that you two will not understand. But I will tell you some of what I know." Cless's father sat up straight in his chair. "You see, there is a group of superior people called Crucis. There are only about six people in this group. These people are often described as 'angels' because they have wings. These… 'angels' created another world long, long ago called Tethe'alla. Both Tethe'alla and Sylverant, our world, are linked by the great tree, Yaggdrasil. Both worlds need manna to exist, but there is only a limited amount of manna. So, both worlds fight for more manna, by sending a chosen every time their manna supply runs low. The chosen then goes across the world to the Tower of Salvation, where he or she is sacrificed to Crucis. Crucis then awards manna to the world that the chosen is from."
"So… these Crucis people are basically the center of both worlds?" Cless asked. He didn't quite get it.
"Yes, they are." Answered Cless's father. "Only two chosen out of all other chosen have tried to stop Crucis and restore peace to both worlds, Colette, from Sylverant, and Zelos from Tethe'alla. Even though they did restore peace to both the worlds, Crucis still was able to devise a plan to make the two worlds compete for manna again."
"Is this they're plan? Harming the goddess Martel? How is this going to make the two worlds compete for manna again?" asked Chester. He understood more than Cless, but he still couldn't grasp it.
"Yaggdrasil, the great tree, will now leech manna from both worlds in order to heal Martel. Thus, both worlds will need manna, and their chosen's will take on the quest of world regeneration.
"Why would Crucis do such a thing?" Chester asked.
"That I do not know… But I am sure we will soon figure that out… Only time will tell boys, but I suggest you stay out of anything relating to this." With that said Cless's father walked upstairs to the bedroom.