Chapter 2: The Fateful Encounter That Day

In the Lemurian Library, the timeline is right before Piers sets sail from Lemuria and Riko's found books to read while there.

She started reading "The People of Lemuria" and came across hints about Aqua Rock, so she thought she'd find her mother that way. She's extremely lost and trying her hardest to find out where her mother could've gone, so she's grasping for almost anything possibly related to Lemuria.

Piers walks into the library after being assigned his task to map out Weyard to see if there were any changes to the land mass. He's glad to have gained freedom this way, although… he has conflicting feelings and isn't quite sure how to handle them, until he met her.

He's not sure he had seen her before, not until today. A girl with warm blue hair and blue eyes, somewhat atypical of Lemurian features. She had pale skin that looked like his, hair that framed her face with ringlet curls on each side. She also looked young, which caused Piers to question himself about who she was and where she came from. He went over to her while she was reading a book.

"I haven't seen you in Lemuria before. How did you get in?"

His voice shocked her because she wasn't expecting anyone to find her in the library. She doesn't move from her seat but she turns her head to see who was there. A tall man with a muscular figure with turquoise blue hair that framed the sides of his face. He wore a bandana across his forehead that draped around the back of his hair and flowed behind him like a cape. The sound of his calm yet stern voice caught her off-guard and caused her to stare at him a little longer than she'd like to admit to herself before giving him an answer. "I'm not here long, I uh… just arrived with a friend of Lunpa", she began.

"You and I both. Why will you be leaving?" He leans himself against the bookshelf with his arms crossed as he glances over to her and back to the ceiling to gather his thoughts.

"I'm looking for someone… and I don't really know where they could be at all", her voice beginning to sound shaky and nervous with his second question. She decided to stare at the book she held, as though scanning the pages she was on for answers.

"We don't really see many people your age in Lemuria, who are you?" He asked with some hope and yet somehow still sounded like an authority figure. She quickly responds while trying not to reveal herself to avoid any kind of trouble. Although, she still feels his aura is… somewhat heroic, judging from the warmth he radiates from the way he talks and acts.

"I'm just someone of no concern.. A Lemurian myself, looking for Lemurian family members I may still have," she trails off, hoping she hadn't revealed too much of herself.

"But it's quite strange that I've never seen you before, are you really Lemurian? If not then you really shouldn't be here", he said, sounding extremely accusatory of Riko lying about who she is. His doubts were only formed on the basis that he'd never seen her in Lemuria before; Lemuria is a small city now with less civilization than there had been in the past, so it was natural that everyone in the city knew each other as though they were a small town. She is sure that he doesn't believe her so she pokes at his "age".

She risks it but she throws an accusation back at him too, "perhaps you're not a Lemurian either? If you were then I don't suppose discussing your age with me would be an issue, hmm?"
She smiles with her eyes slightly squinted at him while awaiting a response. Piers stays silent from her snarky remark. He doesn't like discussing his age because it is a harsh reminder of how long he's lived in Lemuria in silence without taking action to leave.

"I could tell you mine but hey, you're the one accusing me of deception so", she's cut off by his surprising and abrupt response.

"Okay, hold on- I'm sorry. I think we got off on the wrong foot. I don't even know your name yet…"

She giggles after his apology. Piers looks surprised and somewhat insulted but lets out a little chuckle himself. He extends his hand out for a handshake and she looks at it with confusion but holds his hand in return without shaking it. She understood that it was a formal way of greeting someone, as she's read before somewhere.

"My name is Piers."

"And my name is Riko! The little girl who left Lemuria with her parents when she was younger."

"With how many years have gone by, I don't remember a little girl leaving Lemuria. There's been a few escapees and only so few people in Lemuria right now. But… I'll believe you", he turns away from her gaze but smiles to himself after acknowledging that he'd decided to trust a witty stranger he'd just met. Hearing that he did not know of her family running away causes her to look away frowning, it meant one step back in her investigation of finding her mother.

She feels compelled to tell the truth now that he's backed down from his arrogance. "The truth is… I'm just trying to find my mother. She left us and never came home. Everyday was scary and lonely for me when she left, but I'm grateful to my adopted father for giving me the strength I needed for so long to push forward everyday", she grins sadly, almost like tears would pour out of her eyes at any second as she shuts them.

Piers notices her expression change as she stands up to hide her face from him by walking out of the library towards the fountain in the castle. He followed her out and sat next to her on the fountain bench.

"If you don't mind, I've experienced something similar myself…" he paused for a minute before continuing. "What happened?" She asks while sending him a concerned look.

"I lost my father when I was younger and it left me scared and alone too. I did not know the day would come where my fears would come to life when he disappeared forever out at sea." He pulls one of his knees towards his chest and leans both arms on it as he looks forward after what he'd just said.

"That's quite tragic, Piers… I'm sorry for your loss." Her stare shifts from Piers to her book, thinking about asking him about it since he's right there. She doesn't know how to ask him so she holds the book towards him instead before saying a word.

"This book?" He asks and lets out a chuckle. "I see…" He's not quite sure what to make of it but he takes it from her hands and flicks through the first few pages to identify the type of book it is. Seems to be a mythical one that talks about legends and miracles of the Lemurian people and how one man will be the chosen one to conquer the power of water's might.

"Yeah, I thought I'd come here to find my mother and I realized that I don't know much about Lemurian people who actually live in Lemuria! Babi used to tell us all sorts of tales but… How much of them were true? They say with age comes more fabrications of history so I began questioning Babi more and more, until one day I thought I'd find my answers here. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me so far and I'm supposed to leave soon…" She trails off while trying to mentally figure out what she was going to do and where she would venture to after leaving Lemuria. She feels her heart beating faster with time and starts panicking, placing a hand on her chest where her heart is to calm down, but when his voice broke the silence, it also broke through her anxiety and spoke to her instead.

" Hey, I'm confident you'll find your answers, Riko. Anyone thinking of voyaging here is brave enough to conquer what most people won't dare to think of", his words caused her cheeks to tint pink slightly. Her eyes widened a fraction before she smiles and stares at her hands. He smiles warmly to reassure her and slowly stands up to leave. Riko stands up too, expecting him to leave without a goodbye so she waves at him with a smile.

"I've got an idea, let's trade djinn, do you have one?" He turns to her with his Mercury Djinn 'Coral' in both hands.

"Oh, mine? I have Aurora, we've been together forever and I can't sleep without her!" She frowns and hugs her Djinn to her chest, like she's hugging a warm doll that she couldn't let go off. He feels his heart jump a little at the snuggle she's giving Aurora before letting go, his cheeks began feeling slightly warm at the sight before he began speaking again. Did he think she was adorable already?

"Never fear, I'll give you Coral, she'll be by your side as Aurora was always," he reassuringly smiles with his eyes closed for a moment before Coral flies to Riko's shoulder and plants itself against her scarf like a kitten rubbing against one's leg for attention.

Riko looks at Aurora with sadness clouding her cobalt blue eyes but Aurora nods and hugs her to reassure that things will be alright, then she flies off to Piers' side, resting in his arms.

"Where's your ride out of here?" He asks curiously with an eyebrow raised.

She faces the exit of the castle and explains, "he's waiting at the dock as we speak, should we head out together?" He tilts his head as she says "he" before nodding and walking alongside her. They walked out of the castle together, walking closely, so as to not attract any unwanted attention to Riko since she was an outsider to Lemuria. They reached the docks where Piers explained to the people guarding the docks that he was instructed by the King himself to leave Lemuria on a mission to map out the rest of Weyard. They let them both through without questioning Riko.

Riko notices that Fern's ship wasn't among the other ships in the docks and panics. She turns pale while frantically jogging around trying to check each ship to be sure she had not missed him.

He was gone.

"I don't understand, why isn't he here? It's not like him to leave me here… What happened?! Fern…" she exclaims as she drops to her knees in defeat, staring at the docks in disbelief. Piers gives her a look of sorrow, knowing he can't take her with him on his journey, instead he offers to take her to the King to be able to live comfortably in Lemuria while he leaves. He kneels and places a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"What shall I do after that though?..." she asked after calming down a little and looking at Piers as though his eyes had the answer she was looking for.

"Hey, it's okay. I'll take care of things, after I return I'll help you leave and find your way back out of here, but right now… that's all I can offer. I've got little to offer with the time I have. I'm really quite sorry for what's happened here," he states, hoping his words and promises were enough to soothe her worries for now.

Her eyes are nearly filled with tears, but his response comforts and calms her down after the shocking realization. They walk to the castle together and Piers discusses Riko's accommodations in Lemuria with King Hydros, he eventually accepts because he knows who she is. She's now finally free to roam around Lemuria of her own accord without being suspected of anything. The King himself is not opposed to visitors in Lemuria, unlike the stubborn Senators- like Conservato- are.

Piers goes back to Riko and shows her around Lemuria's residency for a while until they reach the house where his remaining family members are. He knocks on the door gently before pushing the door open with his fingers bent against the door.

"Where did you take me?"

"To my home. This is where the King and I agreed you would live while I was gone," he explains with a smile. Riko is invited inside while Piers explains the situation. His mother, sick and unwell, warmly welcomes her and offers to take care of her despite her plummeting health.

"I think I'll be alright for now, thank you for everything, Piers," she places her fingers on the psynergy crystal heart-shaped necklace and rubs it while she looks at Piers with a smile. Piers smiles back and promises everyone that he will return soon. As he takes his leave from the front door, Riko decides she would walk with him to his ship and they have a nice stroll until he has to go.
Riko is sort of nervous because this is the first time she has had someone act so generously towards her in her time of need, especially on her very first voyage across the seas of Weyard. She wanted to show her gratitude towards him so she quickly gave him a hug before he headed off. He turned to look at her when they reached the docks to bid her farewell, but she'd placed her arms around his neck and embraced him for a few seconds before letting go. His eyes widened a fraction until she let him go.

"Thank you for making my stay here in Lemuria a lot easier than it would've been. Not only was I unaware of the lockdown that the Senators placed, but I would have been lost and in trouble if someone had found an outsider here," she says with a nervous grin and slightly pink cheeks.

"It's the least I could do for a friend I'd just met, it's not a problem. I'll be sure to come back to everyone soon! I shall set off now," he squints his eyes and sends Riko a duchenne smile.

"Bye-bye, Piers!" she waves before he turns his attention back to Riko and chuckles.

"This is no goodbye, only a 'see you later'."

She's caught by surprise at his response and nods, she turns to head back in but only after she sees his ship goes out of sight. Although this is not the way she expected her story to turn out, she is quite happy at this moment now that she has a home to come back to and all the time she needs to research alchemy and Lemuria in order to search for her mother.

A few moments later…

The ground starts to shift and shake while she's on her walk back. Rumble.

"That wasn't me from tiredness, is it? Surely it has been an entire day but I can endure it," she thought.
Rumble. The rumbling eventually turns into an earthquake and Riko is brought down to her knees until she can't stand anymore. She covered her ears and kneeled to hold her own ground. The whole of Lemuria was experiencing an earthquake caused by the lighting of the Venus Lighthouse, and the bigger earthquake was caused by the awakening of Poseidon, King of the Sea of Time. Once the quakes have stopped, Riko rushes over to the house to see everything in shambles, but with everyone alright… except… her.