Time for some more worldbuilding backstory, and the links that bind the distant past to Max's present.
Enjoy!
Chapter 5: The Answer That We Lost
Norman watched Virgil's body fall back into trance, followed by a boneless slide towards the floor. He picked his oldest friend up with one arm and pulled the nearest chair closer with the other. When he settled Virgil into place, the Lemurian was still close enough to reach the sleeping Cap-Bearer; Norman arranged it so that Virgil could hold Max's hand even in sleep.
"Be careful, Virgil." Norman settled himself at the foot of the bed to wait. "Bring him back."
-==OOO==-
"He's a demonspawn, you know."
Areti blinked at his former Teacher. "I have become aware of that fact, yes. It was hardly difficult to deduce, given that I spend every moment of every day with him."
She shook her head. "Please. Be careful."
Areti was offended on behalf of his young acolyte. For only a handful of years S'arelmari had been learning the arts of knowledge, the secrets of Lemuria. Had his former Teacher always been so quick to judge those whose heritage was unusual?
"S'arelmari is of Lemuria. He is my student. I could not possibly be in any danger."
"We believe he is descended of the Anathema Hallusko. It is impossible to know for sure, of course, but that is our best estimate. It means he has the potential for great power and even greater evil. You must be certain that all the demon-taint in his blood is entirely purified and his mind is strong and disciplined in order to resist the baser natures of his birth."
Areti frowned at her. "S'arelmari is not the first demon child to join Lemuria, nor shall he be the last. I will not allow him to be defined by the circumstances of his birth."
She scowled at him. "Though you permit yourself to be so defined, my once-student."
Areti drew himself up. "There is a difference, and you know it. I am called by Destiny to Teach. The obvious conclusion is that S'arelmari himself shall lead Lemuria forward, perhaps as an Elder someday. I will not shirk my duty to make him ready for such a task, and I shall ensure he is as sound in soul as in mind to stand as a pillar of Lemuria."
Then his voice darkened.
"But you will not do either of us the dishonor to question my student's mind or his intentions. S'arelmari is a good youngling, dedicated and curious and clever. I will not permit you to treat him with unkindness because of the bloodline he bears by no fault of his own."
His former Teacher, if anything, looked even more troubled. "I wish you the kindness of Fate, then, my friend."
Areti accepted the blessing and forgot about the fear underlying it.
-==OOO==-
In their seventh year together, Areti moved himself and S'arelmari from the collective living space shared with many other Teachers and students to a smaller dwelling just outside the bustle of the shining city. It meant they had to walk farther every day to reach the library, to wander the markets, and to hear the lectures given by the Elders, but it also afforded them greater privacy away from so many prying eyes.
Areti's own Teacher was not the only Lemurian who now looked at S'arelmari askance.
No one ever took any action against the boy, of course. To do so, to treat him with the savagery other species showed to one who was different from themselves, that would be cause for expulsion from the city, if not banishment from the whole of Lemuria. None raised a hand to the boy, and most were unfailingly polite to him as they were to any student or acolyte.
But Areti knew how to read coldness in others. He had experienced it himself in his youth, before his own time as an acolyte.
"It is difficult to be marked by Destiny," Areti told S'arelmari one evening after the chill in the society of the market had been particularly noticeable to them both. As S'arelmari was getting older and larger, his pale face was slowly taking a shape which was less human than even Areti had expected, and there was no denying the student was developing rather a frightening visage.
"Why are they so frightened of me, Teacher?" S'arelmari asked.
"Because they do not understand that we are both marked with glorious purpose." Areti checked himself quickly — it did not do to speak so broadly before his student. "And that purpose may yet be a simple one. But to live in the service of Lemuria is noble, and few are those who will change the path of our people in even the smallest manner."
"And you think I can?"
"I think you certainly will." Areti patted him on the head. "I think that Destiny has chosen me to Teach you, perhaps because we are so much alike. You are different from the other students, and not because of your heritage."
S'arelmari looked carefully at his Teacher. "Am I...smarter than the others?"
Areti smiled. "I think that you are. Your mind is quick, young one. As quick as my own. If you continue at the pace you have set, you, too, will claim the Right of Naming before you have finished your hundred summers of contemplation."
The student looked at his pale hands, increasingly thin with long fingers. "Would they...like me better, do you think, if I were more like them?"
"I think you must be what you are," Areti told him. "As every star in the sky is different, but all shine upon us, you must be whatever you are, and find yourself in your own way. It may mean you stand somewhat apart — perhaps you are no binary star, nor part of a cluster — but your light will be all the brighter in comparison to the dark."
S'arelmari nodded and settled himself on the floor, leaning against Areti's chair. Areti fondly patted his student's head again before he lifted the book of literature he had been reading aloud every night. Most Teachers, he knew, did not socialize with their students in the evening, but Areti and S'arelmari had no one but each other with whom to spend time in their little home. And neither was overly friendly with their peers in other student-Teacher pairs. So Areti took it upon himself to share the arts with his student as well as the Wisdom of Lemuria.
Areti thought his life had never been so peaceful or so pleasant.
-==OOO==-
"Teacher?"
"Yes, S'arelmari?"
"I do not understand this passage."
Areti leaned over his student's broad shoulders to look at his copy of the Four Thousand Epos. "It speaks of the coming of the Krateros, a hero to surpass all heroes."
"But why is the next passage missing?"
Areti nodded in approval at his student's cleverness. The passages of the Four Thousand Epos were each numbered for better study; the following passage was absent. But the numbers were small, curved into the illustrations that ran from page to page, and it took a quick and clever eye to catch the ones where numbers jumped so abruptly.
"There are a few Fates which are held most secretly," Areti said. "They are known to the Elders and the Eldest, but taught to none else. The Fate concerning the Krateros is one such. But it is of no great concern. Continue your studies, please."
"Yes, Teacher."
-==OOO==-
Areti found himself pacing outside the closed chamber, hands clasped behind his back.
It was the end of S'arelmari's first cycle as a student, ten years of relentless study now being closely examined by the Elders for any fault or failure. Every student was called to be questioned and tested at the end of each cycle, and if they had not progressed sufficiently, they would be required to remedy the lack and submit to a subsequent evaluation before the next cycle could begin. The majority of students found themselves called to several examinations before they could progress in the early cycles — it was normal to expect the young ones to need more time to recall all that they had learned and to balance the beginning of Wisdom within, especially when such diligence was still being mastered.
Areti dearly hoped S'arelmari would not be found lacking.
A great deal of this was pride on Areti's part; he himself had needed no subsequent examinations and had proceeded from cycle to cycle without delay throughout his time as a student. He had been named an acolyte after the sixth cycle, as was the custom, but had been pronounced completed with his studies after only the eighth. Most students required at least eleven or twelve cycles before they were ready to stand for the Right of Naming. But Areti had progressed so quickly, so effortlessly, so easily.
He wished the same for his own student with all his heart.
Perhaps the people of Lemuria, and the Elders in particular, would warm to S'arelmari if they better understood his intelligence and his drive to learn.
Areti would be proud of S'arelmari no matter how this cycle was judged, or the next, or however many after that. If S'arelmari required but eight or nine cycles before his Naming, or if he required twenty, Areti would be proud of him. But he knew in his very bones that S'arelmari was capable of far more than the average student. It was his private belief that S'arelmari might even be designated an acolyte at the end of his fourth cycle, earlier even than Areti himself.
But that was getting very, very much ahead of today's concerns, and Areti made a tight turn to continue his pacing.
If S'arelmari did not progress today, he would not be given access to the next chamber of the library, either. S'arelmari was very eager to pass beyond the Red Door, to gain the secret knowledge within, to deepen his understanding of Lemurian Wisdom. Areti had warned him that every set of doors, beginning with Red and ending with Black, led the way to new chambers, new hidden teachings, deeper and more profound knowledge. Areti was sure that the cycles of examination were the only thing keeping S'arelmari from racing through them all to the innermost sanctum of the library where acolytes could only enter before standing for the Right of Naming.
And only upon that occasion would they be told of the secret Diamond Door, whose location was known only to the Elders and the Eldest, which guarded the deepest, most profound secrets of Lemuria.
Even Areti had tried to find it — how could he not? But there was nothing in the Black chamber, no possible hidden space or entrance, and he had soon given up. He must master the Wisdom on his own and earn admittance as an Elder before he might share these last secrets.
Areti was not too discomfited by his failure, however. All things must happen at their appointed time, and the ways of Fate were not to be questioned. If the Diamond Door were meant to be found by a mere Teacher, it would have been. It was not, so, logically, Areti knew that he had not yet achieved his Destiny sufficiently. He must continue his own studies and his own Teaching, and at last True Wisdom would make itself known.
There was a sudden tension in the air, and the door to the examination hall opened.
"Enter, Teacher of S'arelmari."
Areti tried to move with dignity, but his heart was pounding and he stepped a little too quickly to join his student in the center of the room.
The Elders all looked at Areti with blank, unreadable faces. With a jolt, Areti noticed that the center chair of the Eldest was vacant. However, the Elder to the right hand of the Eldest's customary position rose.
"The first cycle examination has been completed. We pass S'arelmari to the next cycle of study. Congratulations, Areti."
Areti grinned before he could school his expression. He bowed.
"Thank you, Elders. We are honored by your approval."
"You honor Lemuria with your dedication," the lead Elder replied.
Areti accepted the dismissal and led S'arelmari from the room. Outside, he grinned again.
"I am so pleased with you. You have shown true intelligence and courage to work so hard in such a short amount of time."
S'arelmari gave a tiny shrug and an almost-embarrassed smile. "It was your Teaching and dedication that carried me so far."
Areti felt a surge of warmth, of pride, of certainty wash through him.
"Then let us begin the second cycle at once. Between the two of us, I am certain you shall attain your own Naming far sooner than anyone expects."
"I look forward to it." Then, shyly, S'arelmari reached out a hand. "It would honor me greatly, Teacher, if you would also be...my friend."
Areti grasped the long, bony hand with two of his own. "Traditionally, one who Teaches cannot call a student 'friend' until at least they achieve acolyte-ship." But his eyes twinkled. "In this case, given the...uniqueness of our situation, I don't mind acting against the norm."
"Thank you, my friend."
"We shall be very old friends, indeed," Areti said, releasing S'arelmari's hand and beginning to lead the way to the library. "In a few centuries, I believe we shall be united as no two allies in many eons of Lemuria's history."
S'arelmari smiled at Areti and fell in beside him. "I look forward to it."
-==OOO==-
S'arelmari answered Areti's ambitions with great success, passing each cycle in turn and earning his place as an acolyte in his fiftieth year of study. By tradition, an acolyte was not so called until the seventieth, but Areti had forgone tradition and now so had his student.
Areti was fiercely proud of S'arelmari, and cared nothing for those who raised eyebrows at the flaunting of how things were done. After all, Areti had been called to acolyte at the same time in his own studies, and had further disregarded tradition when claiming the Right of Naming and Teaching immediately upon gaining entry to the Black Door, the last phase in one's studies, rather than finishing his full hundred summers of contemplation. Areti understood that such limits were in place to ensure students had time to assimilate and comprehend the difficult Wisdom that required patience and maturity to understand, but such limits simply did not apply to him or to S'arelmari, either.
It certainly did serve to isolate them further from Lemurian society, however. Other Teachers and students rarely spoke to them, and even the Elders grew more distant as the years passed. It saddened Areti that his friends and peers were so uncomfortable with his and S'arelmari's successes.
And yet, they could not do so well if it were not their Destiny to be exceptional, and Areti rested comfortably in the knowledge that they were so Destined and therefore there was nothing to fear.
However, that comfort shattered in the middle of S'arelmari's penultimate cycle.
It was late in the high summer, when even in the depths of night the air was warm and pleasant. The sun itself had long since dipped below the horizon and night had fallen.
Areti himself had left S'arelmari to his studies in the library, opting to take an evening walk while contemplating the next lessons for his student. S'arelmari was progressing so quickly, Areti was afraid they would complete all the material for the cycle prior to the end of its ten years. As they could not proceed into the Wisdom of the final cycle until passed by the Elders' examination — and the Elders would not examine S'arelmari early; such was simply not done — Areti needed to strategically plan the next few years to ensure his student was not left idle.
He was startled out of his musings by the arrival of his student. S'arelmari had grown enormously in the last cycles, towering over Areti and most Lemurians. His skin had continued to drain of color until it was nearly white, and he still bore a somewhat skeletal appearance. Even the long robes of the acolytes could not hide his strangeness.
But his appearance did not trouble Areti who knew him so well; the rushed, wide-eyed expression, however, did.
"Whatever can be the matter?" he asked. "Has something happened?"
"Yes, and I urgently require you to accompany me back to the library, my friend."
Areti frowned. "The others are not refusing you access to materials you require for study, I hope?"
"No, nothing like that." S'arelmari shook his head. "In fact, once it was apparent to them that I intended to work late into the evening, they chose to absent themselves. The library is quite deserted and has been for some time. But you must see what I have found."
Areti nodded and they returned to the city, entering the library and finding it abandoned for the evening. Together, they passed through the Red Door, moving from chamber to chamber along the path of a student towards the deep, innermost sanctums that held the most difficult Wisdom to master.
But when they reached the chamber of S'arelmari's current level of study, Areti rocked back in shock.
"Impossible!"
The Verdant Door, the one that should have remained sealed to S'arelmari until he was passed by the Elders, stood open.
"Please, Teacher," S'arelmari said. "I beg of you to trust in me. Any violation is worth the knowledge I have attained."
Areti swallowed, but finally nodded. "Very well. You have my complete faith, my friend. Lead on."
Still, it was with great trepidation that Areti followed his acolyte through the Verdant Door. How it had opened for him at all, Areti had no idea — always the library guarded its secrets until a seeker of Wisdom was deemed ready by the Elders.
"How did you come to open the Door?" he asked, whispering. There were no others about, but the library demanded silence always, and he felt great trepidation besides.
"It was not difficult," S'arelmari said. "I simply approached and asked it to allow me to learn all that it contained. The Door itself made the choice to admit me."
"Never have I heard of anything like that happening in the history of Lemuria." And despite his misgivings, Areti felt a shake of joy inside. "Perhaps the time of your Destiny, and mine, is finally upon us."
"That is my hope as well." S'arelmari paused before the Black Door, the last opened only when an acolyte was about to stand for the Right of Naming. "Now, let me show you."
Areti was certain the Black Door would never give way for one who was still a cycle from Naming, and yet as they stood before it, it opened slowly.
"S'arelmari, this is unheard of!"
"This is not all, my friend. Look." And S'arelmari stepped into the center of the Black chamber, his white skin eerie in the darkened space.
The stones beneath the acolyte's feet began to glow.
"This cannot be!" Areti moved forward, stunned. For the stones were shifting and shining, their light both colorless and prismatic. They formed into the shape of a small, round platform.
"What is this, Teacher?" S'arelmari asked. "It is in nothing I have studied before."
"The Diamond Door," Areti said, filled with wonder. "The final bastion of all the Wisdom of Lemuria. It is known only to the Elders."
"Until now." And the platform sank into the floor, carrying S'arelmari and Areti with it.
In some part of Areti's heart, he knew that this was a great sacrilege. He knew that to enter the Diamond chamber without the knowledge and blessing of the Elders, to allow an acolyte who had not even stood for Naming to do so, was an offense greater than most in all of Lemuria. He knew that whatever powers had bent themselves to permit S'arelmari so far could not be excused.
And yet, he had longed to attain his own Destiny. It was written in the Four Thousand Epos that he should hold a place of great honor and import in the history of Lemuria. He was young compared to his own people — the Eldest himself was many tens of thousands of years old — but he felt sure that his years must be sufficient for him to finally answer the words found inscribed on the inside of his birthing shell.
Perhaps this was the very path meant for him and for his acolyte. Perhaps their Destiny was to change Lemuria, to reveal her secrets, to find insight in that which had been hidden which would lead their people to even further greatness.
Perhaps this was what must be.
So Areti silenced the uncertainty within himself and simply allowed events to carry him.
The platform descended into a large, dome-shaped chamber. With every moment that passed, the chamber slowly grew from darkness to light, uncountable tiny stones glowing in celestial patterns upon the rounded walls. When the platform at last touched down on the floor, light spread out in all directions, pale as the moon and brighter than the sun.
Areti gazed at the wondrous chamber, far beyond what even he had imagined. "I never dreamed that the Diamond chamber could be so beautiful."
"But if it holds all the True Wisdom of Lemuria, could it be anything less, Teacher?" S'arelmari asked. "Come. There is so much to show you."
"S'arelmari, I am not sure that is appropriate." Areti did not step off the platform yet. "The secrets here, they are secret for a reason. Lemuria stands upon the foundation which was laid in this very room. If the Elders had intended for either of us to study here, the Diamond Door would not be forbidden."
"I understand your apprehension, but I believe you have been misled."
"What can you mean?"
"When I first ventured here just before seeking you out, I thought perhaps to fulfill only my curiosity about the missing passages in the Four Thousand Epos. It seemed a harmless place to begin. But what I have learned...Teacher, you must see for yourself."
His dark eyes were so entreating that Areti found himself nodding and allowed his student to lead him along one of the brilliant paths deep into the room. Glowing stones radiated from the platform like sunbeams; they followed the largest and brightest of these to a wall covered with writings and images. The language was familiar, but the pictures depicted were barely comprehensible.
On a pedestal before it sat a thick, bound volume.
Areti hesitated, but S'arelmari picked up the book as if it were one of his own and began turning pages.
"I remembered that you once told me that the Destiny of the Krateros was that of a great hero, but that all else concerning him was known only to the Elders. That is where I began my examination. What I found is so disturbing, it drove me to learn more. Please, tell me I am misinterpreting this."
Areti accepted the much heavier version of the Four Thousand Epos and returned it to its pedestal. He scarcely noticed S'arelmari drawing a nearby stool close so that he could stand easily upon it to read the ancient tome. Turning past the familiar pages, he found the beginning of the foretelling of the Krateros and began to read. Almost at once, he was lost to anything but the hidden knowledge before him.
Areti did not track the time he read, nor what S'arelmari did while he was engaged. As horror grew in his heart at the words so directly stated, he shook his head — this could not be! He turned to where he had begun and read the passages another time, more slowly. The sun would have risen above, the day well begun, but still Areti read. He did not care if a full summer passed without his notice — he must comprehend this terrible Destiny!
When at last Areti closed the book, turning to sink down upon his footstool and holding his head in his hands, he felt infinitely wearied. Aged, even, by the Wisdom he dreaded to know.
"Teacher?"
Areti gulped a sour taste and looked up. S'arelmari sat nearby, perusing another book; Areti did not even bother to notice which. From his posture, S'arelmari had been waiting for a long time, and had read rather a tall stack of the sacred, secret texts in the meantime.
"S'arelmari...I…"
"Do I misunderstand?" He set down what he was reading and folded his hands in his lap, his bony knees sticking out awkwardly. "Is it truly our Destiny…?"
"Oh, my friend." Areti thought he might cry at the forlorn expression on his student's face. "I am afraid there can be no other interpretation."
"The Krateros is no hero at all." S'arelmari leaned forward, his words unsteady and almost angry. "He will rise to kill us both. And when he does so, he will destroy the whole of Lemuria as well."
"Yes. But it is far worse than that." Areti realized he was shaking. "Every Teacher and every student, every acolyte, every person in Lemuria knows of the coming of the Krateros. We all are charged with ensuring his rise at any cost. It is the only part of the Destiny of the Krateros which is known to all."
"Then…?"
Areti drew in a painful breath. "The Elders know that the Krateros will destroy us all, and yet they continue to ensure it will come to pass. The Elders have betrayed Lemuria."
S'arelmari went very still for a moment. But when he spoke, his voice held none of the doubt or indecision that was so common to his ways. Instead, he was firm, as though a fire had been lit within his very soul.
"Then we must do something."
"What can we do? We have broken the very laws of Lemuria to attain this knowledge. We shall be banished, our Names stricken from us." Areti was beginning to feel almost hysterical himself.
He was, in fact, beginning to feel rather young. This knowledge, this Wisdom, it was greater than his heart could bear. The level of betrayal, the pending doom for all he treasured, the stark certainty of his own death — it made him feel small and powerless and desperate for someone stronger than himself to help him.
For all he was a Teacher, Areti wished dearly that he could stand in the shadow of another and let their Wisdom guide him. For he knew not what to do.
He did not expect S'arelmari to stand, holding out a hand to draw him up.
He did not expect to see a power, magnetic and reassuring, in his student's very eyes.
He did not expect S'arelmari to answer his weakness with such courage.
But Areti was profoundly grateful for it. And so when S'arelmari spoke, Areti found himself comforted even upon hearing words that were yet more frightening than those he had read.
"If the Elders have betrayed Lemuria, then they must be banished, not us. If this is the Destiny they have nurtured for us all, then we must undo all they have done to ensure the safety of our people. And if the path of the Krateros leads to our deaths, then we must prevent him from rising, no matter the cost."
S'arelmari's eyes had never looked so black and dark.
"Together, we must drive out the Elders and conquer Lemuria, for it is the only way to save it from destruction."