June 15, 2014

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Dust II: Elysian Kingdom

Chapter 5 Scars


"No.. that's not possible," Dust quietly let out in denial at what Lady Tethys had just revealed, shaking his head.

"Indeed it is," Elder Gray Eyes reconfirmed. "At your core, you are a product of the Life Thread itself. Just as your body was born of the dust, given form and traits from the two souls that you possess, it can very well be wiped out of existence.."

Dust couldn't be more dismayed, yet questions filled his mind. "Does that mean Jin and Cassius would.. be reborn?"

"Of that we are not sure; this kind of thing doesn't happen often, much like your revival," the Elder answered as he closed his eyes briefly. "But let's not dwell on this small factor too much. Now that you're back, I have high hopes that we can stop this imbalance before it reaches that stage."

Lady Tethys intervened, "Then on to the more current situation.. The plan is that we strike this problem at the source, whatever that may be. However.. it's going to be slightly difficult to do that without much information, as we are currently."

"No need to worry, Lady Tethys. I have one of my greatest reconnaissance soldiers out in Falana looking for anything suspicious as we speak. He should be back any day now. With whatever information he brings, we can send Dust out to investigate even further."

Even though he was still processing what was being said, Dust couldn't stop dwelling on his own thoughts. The fact he could cease to exist was almost unbearable. He still had so many questions to ask, about both things that he had just learned, along with topics he didn't get a chance to ask about in his previous time in Falana, but he didn't want to overwhelm the Elder or the Lady. Not to mention the room itself was still giving him chills.

"Dust," the Elder suddenly said, breaking Dust out of his small trance. "Do you have any other questions for Lady Tethys before we return to the surface?"

He tried to collect his thoughts, but his questions were more suited for the Elder. "I think that's all. Thank you, Lady Tethys, it was great to see you again," Dust said as he bowed his head slightly.

"All the same to you, Dust.." the Lady said humbly as she retreated back into the darkness of the room. Elder Gray Eyes nodded at Dust and began walking back towards the staircase to the space above, with Dust following slowly behind.

The Elder and Dust returned to the hallway outside Lady's Tethys' upper room. They both had remained almost quiet on the short walk back. Dust finally broke the silence as they stood in the hallway.

"Elder," he began. "Why didn't you want Ginger, or Fidget, or anyone else to know about the situation? How come you didn't tell them when it started happening..?"

The Elder sighed. "It's too alarming of a complication, Dust. I'll tell them when the time is right, but not yet. Especially since you've made them so happy after so long.."

"But they'll have to know eventually!" Dust raised his voice, before toning it back down a bit. "You know Fidget will want to come with me whenever I have to leave. And she'll need to know the whole story."

"I understand your concern.. I'll make the announcement to everyone in the palace very shortly, I assure you."

There was a pause before the Elder began again.

"Alright then Dust, since your return is such big news, we're going to a have a bit of a gathering in Aurora later today.. Everyone will be there so you can speak to them all at once. I'm going to tell Bean and Calum to go there and let everyone know."

Dust was a little hesitant. He wasn't completely sure if he could face all those people so soon, but he didn't object; he knew he had to sooner or later. "That sounds like a great idea."

He smiled and continued. "Good, good! Now, you should wait in the infirmary so we can get you out of that.. interesting outfit, and into a new one that suits you! I'll tell Ginger to meet you in there," he finished as he gestured towards the door on the wall to the far right as Dust looked over at it. "Farewell for now, Mithrarin."


Elder Gray Eyes exited the hallway through the door to the foyer, as Dust waved passively before heading down the hallway and into the infirmary. The room was fairly large, filled with a few simple medical tables with matching side tables lining the right wall. The other wall was occupied by some glass-doored cabinets containing medicines, equipment, bandage tape, and various other objects. A few of the cabinets didn't have glass doors so Dust couldn't see what was inside. There was also a regal wooden sink in one of the back corners.

After he was done observing, Dust went over to one of the tables and sat down facing the door. The table's surface was topped with thin square cushions that were subtly comfortable. He was just relieved to relax after all the traveling he had done. He leaned over the end of the bed and set Ahrah against the frame, who didn't say a word. But the silence was nice, for once.

A few minutes passed before Ginger entered the room, at which point Dust immediately turned towards the door to see her, wearing the same outfit as before.

"Hi Ginger.." Dust said softly. He was still trying to get used to talking to her, and everyone, again. It was a weird feeling as if he was a stranger meeting someone for the first time.

Ginger closed the door behind her and started walking over to the table he was sitting on. "Hello again, Dust. The Elder said you needed some new clothes?"

"That would be nice," Dust responded as Ginger passed his bed and moved toward the sink in the corner. He continued talking with his back turned to her, assuming she could hear him fine. "Something more suited towards versatility and combat would help, since this cloak is mostly for harsh, cold conditions."

"I bet you're sweating under that thing then," Ginger observed as she laughed quietly, washing her hands in the corner sink.

Dust suddenly realized that she was right. "Wow, yeah I am," he said as he began to remove the cloak from his body.

"Uh.. you do have pants on under there, right?" Ginger asked jokingly, but awkwardly.

Dust chuckled back at her. "Don't worry, I do."

As he lifted the cloak completely off and over his head, Ginger gasped at the sight of a few large gray scars across Dust's back and some near his shoulders.

"What's wrong, Ginger?" Dust wondered as he turned his head to look behind him.

"You have some really big scars on your back.." she started as she moved closer and felt Dust's back gently. "Does that hurt?"

Dust slightly perked up at the touch of Ginger's hands. "No, it feels nice actually. They must be just leftover from my fight with Gaius. I guess regeneration doesn't heal scars."

"Interesting.. it's good they don't hurt though," she responded happily. Dust nodded. "Ok, I'll take your measurements for the new outfit now."

She took out a measuring tool and held it up to Dust's shoulder, then lifted one of his arms out as he complied, stretching the instrument's tape from his back to the end of his hand.

"I didn't know you were a couturier, Ginger."

"Oh no, I'm hardly a professional," she explained as she wrote down the numbers then continued on to measure Dust's back. "I just learned a bit from my mother, and I only design for the people here in the palace and sometimes the residents of Aurora."

Dust smiled slightly. "Still, it's impressive."

Ginger was lucky that Dust wasn't facing her so she could hide her slight blushing, but she quickly shook it off. "Could you stand up, Dust?"

"Sure," he agreed, getting up from the table and walking over to the other side where Ginger was. She then kneeled and held the measuring tape near the floor.

"Hold this down for me," she nicely commanded. Dust moved his boot over a bit to hold down the end of the tape, while Ginger stood back up and held the instrument up to the top of Dust's shoulders. "Are these pants alright for you, or do you want new ones?"

He looked down at his pants, which were torn at the ends of each leg, ending at about the middle of his lower legs. He didn't really mind though, as long as they were comfortable. "Nah, these are fine, you don't have to worry about making new ones."

Ginger smiled. "Alright, any specifications for the design then?"

Dust really wasn't one to get concerned over appearance, as long as he could fight and was mostly covered up to minimize damage. "I really just need something that'll be good for when I'm fighting, and you know how I used to dress, so I suppose just follow that as a guideline." He looked down again, this time at the old boots Erin gave him. "And whatever you think works for the shoes."

"Sounds good, I'll get working on this right away. Oh, and Elder Gray Eyes said to meet him in his room after we were done, just go up the stairs and his is the door in the middle," Ginger instructed cheerfully.

"Okay. Thank you, Ginger," Dust responded, picking up Ahrah from the bedframe and exiting the infirmary. Ginger smiled contently as he left.


"I saw some strange things over in Aura Village. People moping around, not acting themselves.. However, the ones who were staying at Hotel Clarity were just fine, from what I saw at least," a young teenager explained what he had observed during his recon mission.

This boy wore a simple outfit of pale blue pants, a white and gold shirt, a bandana, and no shoes, complemented by an armor and armband combo on his left shoulder, with a long glove on his left hand. His fur was reddish-brown while the front of his face was a lighter shade, and his long blonde hair covered his right eye but exposed his other, which was deep blue in color.

Elder Gray Eyes listened as he sat in a highly regal throne against the back wall of his room. The room was large, but the right and left sides were blocked off by high, thick curtains, hiding the remaining space so it just appeared to be a slightly wide hallway leading down to the throne.

The Elder rubbed his chin. "Yes, that's very interesting.. It might just be the first lead to the source of our problem. Aura had always seemed to be a peacef-"

Dust entered at that moment, unaware that he was interrupting a conversation.

"..Corbin?!"

"No way..! The Elder wasn't lying!" Corbin's eyes lit up as he ran over to Dust and hugged him, letting go quickly. "Y-You're really alive, Dust!"

"Corbin.. it's so good to see you, and all grown up like this," he said, placing one of his hands on Corbin's shoulder. Dust was just a bit taller than him, which was strange since Corbin used to be about half of Dust's height just a mere five years ago. "How's Colleen doing?"

Corbin rolled his eyes playfully at the mention of his sister. "Oh she still worries about me, you know how she is. But for my sister, she's been doing fine, haha."

"Good, good. So what are you doing here?"

Corbin confidently explained, "I just returned from a reconnaissance mission out in a nearby village. As I was just telling the Elder, I've noticed some suspicious activity there.."

Dust looked past Corbin to Elder Gray Eyes, who was just getting up from his throne and walking towards them. "So, he knows?"

The Elder nodded. "Of course. I've had him out in the field since the day we found out about the disturbance, but this is the first case of anything to come up."

Corbin looked toward the Elder. "I'm just glad my training is finally being put to use!" He turned back to Dust. "I was trained in stealth and light combat under Sanjin pretty much right after you left us, Dust. I'm a hero just like you!" His eyes lit up as he spoke to his idol.

"That's really great, Corbin," Dust said with a smile on his face. "I'm sure you'll be a huge help." A wide grin came across Corbin's face as he closed his eyes and slightly blushed in pride at Dust's compliment.

"Yes Corbin, you've been a great asset to this investigation," the Elder added to Dust's previous praise. "However, I need you to continue searching for new and odd developments. Search to the north of Lake Nadir, around Alcaeus Village; we don't have much ground covered there."

Corbin saluted then bowed. "As you wish, Elder Gray Eyes!" He turned to Dust again. "See ya around, Dust!" The door shut after the young boy left post-haste, leaving Dust and Ahrah with the Elder.

"So, Mithrarin," the Elder started. "We still have some time before the gathering in the village, so now would be the time for you to ask anything that's on your mind."

If only the Elder really knew how much was on Dust's mind right now. He just came back from the dead and it hasn't even been much longer than a single day, yet he was overwhelmed with information to process. He didn't quite know how to feel. Despite feeling like he knew who he was and being protective of both souls inside him in the moments before his fight with General Gaius, he now felt as if he still was facing an identity crisis and was completely vulnerable to this shrouded corruption that was all too real. Was this simply due to the regeneration process? Were his feelings 'reset' to before his truth-discovering journey? He needed answers. Ones that would give him some peace of mind. Ones that he didn't have a chance to obtain during his previous life.

But now he had that chance.

"I want to know if you have any idea how my regeneration was possible. Ahrah had a theory but I want to know what you think."

The Elder thought for a bit. "I suppose in your situation, regeneration isn't quite the appropriate word."

"It isn't? What do you mean?" Dust wondered.

"Well, you have the souls of Jin and Cassius inside of you. But they are not fused as one entity. They are separate, only rooted and joined by your body. What I'm saying is, it's highly probable that one of the souls is now laying dormant, while the other is still active. Which soul is in which position is another story, however. Think of it like the 'cats have nine lives' saying, but you only have two. ..Well, one now."

"So.. how would I get the dormant soul to become active again?"

The Elder closed his eyes, knowing that he didn't have all the answers Dust was seeking. "I don't really know, to be honest.. But it would take a huge concentration of magic to make that happen, no doubt. Probably the same concentration, or even more, that was originally used to forge the Blades of Elysium so long ago."

"Yeah, that leads me to my next question," Dust began. "How and why exactly were the Blades of Elysium created? And what happened to the other four?"

"..Come, Dust," the Elder said after a pause, walking over to the curtain on the left of the room and pushing it open a bit, revealing a low table and a few floor cushions. "We may need to sit down for this tale."