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Chapter 1The red cloak attached to her neck swept the ground and concealed her floor-length dress. The sapphires in her eyes glanced up at the afternoon's sky as a gentle breeze swept the long strands of her wavy, jet-black hair off her attractive face. The heels of her knee-high boots tapped the granite flooring of the sidewalk she currently strolled on. She smiled as she stood at the familiar entrance where her best friend worked at, and with a graceful gait she stepped in the shop. Its walls were lined with hundreds of shelves containing thousands of bottles, with miscellaneous liquids inside.
"The weather is calm today, isn't it?" The woman behind the counter greeted the woman draped with a red cloak.
"Yes, Megumi. The warmth of the sun is fair today." She said as she removed her red cloak. Her floor-length, long-sleeved white dress was accentuated with intricate red embroidery, matching her cloak.
"Kaoru, can you sit there for a while? I need to wait for the customer who sent a message a while ago, asking me to wait for him." Megumi said to the woman before her.
"Of course. What potion or antidote do they need to ask you to wait for them? Is it an emergency?" Kaoru said as she sat on the soft cushion of the couch located at a corner of the shop.
"Well, according to the message he sent me, his little brother played in a small creek near the boy's friend's house, and to mention that they are Mavalaz." Megumi recalled the message sent to her a while ago. In response, Kaoru's mouth formed a tiny 'o' shape.
They had their usual conversation about their lives, their work and other girly stuff. Kaoru and Megumi were in a middle of a laughing fit when the customer they had been waiting for entered Megumi's shop. The man hurriedly snatched and paid for the potion to cure the burn on his little brother's skin.
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The world above is oblivious of the life their rulers live. At the core of the planet, the servants of the castle are busy preparing for their masters' dinner. The servants are chosen by the assistants of the four great rulers because of the trait they believed the most important…loyalty. (But that didn't mean that the other Liviers aren't loyal.)
A thin sheet of glass rested on a wall in one of the numerous chamber rooms in the castle. It displayed the reflection of the world of the Liviers. The gigantic chandelier at the ceiling of the chamber revealed a man, standing before the said glass, with waist-long fire-like hair and a set of eyes that looked like the raging fires of the sun. He didn't notice that someone entered the chamber because his eyes were focused on the images of Liviers displayed on the large mirror.
The person who just entered caught the attention of the other when he draped his arm over his shoulder. "Hey Kenshin! What are you looking at? Have you decided yet?" The newcomer said to the smaller man. The newcomer has a matching dark-brown color for his eyes and hair. His muscular body contrasted to the slender body of the man with fire-like hair.
"It's nice of you to drop by here Sano. I thought you hated this mirror so much", the one with flame-like hair responded, his voice carried a little (just a little) sarcastic tone.
"Buddy, it's true that I really hate this room 'coz I could see how the people up there enjoy their life, while were down here doin' nothing, aside from working. It's not like I don't like seeing them happy, I'm just jealous of their life. Now, have you decided yet?" Sano said to Kenshin. Kenshin gave out a huge sigh before talking.
"I haven't decided yet. I'm thinking and weighing the gravity of the possible consequences our plan has." Silence walked by as both of them watched the world they rule through the mirror.
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Megumi closed her store after the customer she was waiting for left. She draped her green cloak over her shoulders, thus concealing her matching floor-length dress. Megumi had a lot of clients that day so Kaoru helped arrange the messed up bottles
The heels of Kaoru and Megumi's boots gently drummed the sidewalk. After they finished cleaning up the shop, they decided to head to their favorite pastry shop to buy several of their favorites then head to Kaoru's house and 'chat'. As they walked down the sidewalk, they smiled at the familiar faces opposite their way.
The people in their world are kind and hospitable. The Livier's values are very conservative, they also dislike violence and discrimination. They are fine with living with another race of Livier, in fact they enjoy helping one another with their special skills because they believe it will make their lives less difficult and more enjoyable. In this world, all of the people are equal. It means that is no such thing as 'poor' or 'rich'; everyone treats everybody equally.
The rich aroma coming from the pastry shop attracted many noses. Well that explained the crowd of people around the counter
Megumi and Kaoru stood at the entrance of their favorite pastry shop. The crowd was so thick, they wouldn't be surprised if they will be crushed if they attempt to get to the counter. "Megumi, I think we're not the only people who favor this place." Kaoru's shoulder slumped as she spoke to the taller lady.
"Then let's buy something else from the market. I think it will be impossible for this crowd to thin out." Megumi was disappointed, she really looked forward in eating her favorite tart.
The two women began retreating from the pastry shop, and decided to find an alternative food to suffice their cravings. While they were walking, Megumi spotted the city market, and being tired from her job she pulled Kaoru towards it.
"What's it gonna be, Kaoru? Chocolates or pie?" Megumi said, her forefinger on her chin. Kaoru was having a hard time deciding between the two so she picked
"Both", she said.
Megumi nodded, "Nice choice", she retorted. After getting their purchases the two women went straight to Kaoru's house.
As the two women entered Kaoru's house, Kaoru shouted after someone. "Yahiko!" her voice filled the entire house. A small boy with spiky hair, probably twelve years old, emerged from one of the rooms.
Her house is a bit bigger than the other houses in their neighborhood. She is, after all, the one who taught young Hydros how to use their abilities. Yes, she is one of the most talented Hydros in their kingdom and she is the one who teaches young ones how to use their distinctive skills.
Her house has a medium sized hall that she uses for her teaching sessions. There are a lot of rooms in her house, but only two rooms have inhabitants in it—Kaoru and Yahiko.
"Whatcha shouting at busu? Ya hair got caught in fire or somethin'? The boy scratched his sweaty hair.
"Were you practicing Yahiko-chan? By the way, if my hair got caught in fire, I can easily remedy that you silly boy." Kaoru said as she crumpled his hair.
"Don't call me 'chan'. Yes, I was practicing before you came in shouting, which caused the barriers of my concentration to shatter!" Yahiko's voice had a teasing note.
Kaoru smiled at her brother's arrogance, "Well that means your concentration wasn't good enough!" she rummaged through the market bags she held. After some seconds of looking through the brown paper bags, she held out something wrapped in a silver paper for Yahiko.
"What's this Busu?" Yahiko's arrogance still in full bloom.
"Why, my gift for Yahiko-chan's birthday." Kaoru said, emphasizing the chan.
"Thank you, but it doesn't mean that I will not call you Busu anymore!" Yahiko ran towards his room, laughing at Kaoru's enraged face.
"Kaoru, he's just a kid. Anyway, do you know that kids don't lie?" Megumi added to Yahiko's intentional insult.
"Megumiiiii……" Kaoru's voice contains a deadly warning tone.
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In the dining hall, there's a long dining table and before it sat four men eating their dinner.
"So, have the two of you decided?" A man, at the right side of the table, said to the person in front of him. The man who just spoke has black hair and navy-blue eyes, although they were sitting, you can see that he is the tallest among the four of them.
Sano who is in front of the man, replied, "I'm waiting for Kenshin's decision." Sano made it sound like the said man was taking a whole lifetime deciding.
"What hinders you?" The man, who first spoke, looked at Kenshin. Kenshin, on the other hand, took a long time before he answered back.
"Aoshi, I'm thinking of the consequences we will face…" But he didn't had the chance to finish his statement because his other companion interjected.
"Consequences? The other day you were obsessed on getting out of here, now you are having thoughts about consequences. If I were you, I'd take the chance and…live. If you know what I mean. Besides, you're not going to do anything wrong. The two of you just want to unwind from this castle and you two are going to come back." The man who spoke had a lighter shade of hair color than Sano. Kenshin just sighed, if his companions think that it's a good idea, then why not?
"Soujiro, do you really approve on this kind of thing? I mean, there might be some problems and we can't use our powers excessively………the Liviers may feel our auras, they might think that there is war coming. I'd not like to confuse them." Kenshin said back to the man.
"I think it's good. You just have to be careful." was all the (light)brown-haired man said.
Later that night, Kenshin sat on his four-poster bed, his legs dangling at one side. If you were to look at him, you would think he just woke up from a strange dream, but the surface impression isn't useful when it comes to this man. He was thinking of the conversation he and his friends had a while ago.
"I think it's good"He remembered what Soujiro said.
"Maybe it is." Kenshin said to no one in particular. He had made his decision.
That very morning, Kenshin went to his friend's chamber room. He stood by the barely visible form of his friend under the massive sheets of the four poster bed.
Sano grumbled at the feeling of someone waking him from his deep sleep. When that someone knocked his head as if it were a door, he jumped out of the bed. At first he was furious at the person who dared interfere him with his favorite hobby.
"Whatcha need early in the morning?" Sano said, his voice still rough from sleep.
"You and me, my friend, are going to the world above. Today." Kenshin smirked at his friend's bulging eyes. When Sano had finally put himself together, he packed a lot of gold coins then went to see his friend.
He approached Kenshin, who was with Aoshi and Soujiro, near the edge of a cliff behind the castle where the gate that leads to the surface world was.
"Kenshin, Sano, do be careful up there." The tall man named Aoshi said.
"You two better do a good job in hiding your identities. No one should know. You are aware of the repercussions, correct? Avoid using large amounts of magic, it may cause an imbalance between the surface world and our world." Soujiro reminded them.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You two, sure you want to stay here?" Sano inquired, he was really excited at their escapade, but also a little depressed at the fact that he would leave his other two companions.
"Who's gone stay here and watch the world, and monitor the two of you? Especially you Sano, you will definitely cause trouble there. Well, so much for hiding your identities…" Soujiro retorted, he gave a mocking sigh. He'll miss his two friends.
"Hey! You ou—" Sano was cut off by Kenshin.
"Anyway, we must say goodbye." Kenshin stopped the brewing friendly-argument between his companions.
Sano just grumbled as a response as he and Kenshin turned to face the very edge of the cliff and the total blackness below. Aoshi and Soujiro were right behind them. Both of them looked back at their friends, and in return, Aoshi and Soujiro nodded to them. It was time to go. Kenshin took a deep breath, then both he and Sano jumped off the cliff. Instead of plummeting down, they looked as if they were flying. Halfway towards the opposite cliff, they were swallowed by a dark portal, creating ripples just like how the surface of a still water is disturbed.
After swimming through the shadows between the world of Liviers and the rulers, Sano and Kenshin arrived at a forest adjacent to a city. Their forms were cloaked with light, and after a few moments the luminescence disappeared to reveal the Lords.
Sano stepped away from Kenshin and stalked towards a tree, holding his hand up to touch it. He then closed his eyes and smiled. "The forest is delighted that we blessed it with our coming here. It asks if there is a brewing battle." Kenshin lightly smiled at his friend and kept his silence. Sano became quiet after his talk, as he resumed his silent conversation with the forest. After a couple of minutes, Sano dropped his hand and faced his companion. "I instructed the forest to keep the confidentiality of our surfacing. I also asked it to tell the other forests, and the animals that may feel our aura, to not tell any Sluds that we are here."
Sano walked away from the tree towards a bald spot, Kenshin followed him. "The forest thought that another battle is coming because I don't visit the world at the time of peace, as if I were neglecting it! Can you believe that?!" Sano whispered as he cupped his hand to Kenshin's ear. Kenshin snickered at the obvious teasing of the forest to its caretaker.
They decided to hide behind a wide tree to change their clothes. With a wave of their hands, their wardrobe changed from expensive robes to simple garments. Kenshin wore a white tunic paired with khaki-colored pants tucked in his brown boots. The cut along his tunic exposed a part of his lean chest . Sano wore a light yellow tunic with brown pants and black boots.
After a couple of minutes of walking through the forest they, at long last, stepped upon the city. With the lack of trees to shade them, the sun greeted their pale skins. Kenshin closed his eyes and looked up, the warmth of the sun rejuvenated his body, cleared his mind. He will miss the sun when they return to the castle…
And finally, they have arrived. They have arrived at the world, the world they rule upon.
The world of the Liviers.
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Kaoru sat alone, her eyes closed, at the center of the wide training hall of her house and in front of her was an oval-shaped Aquamarine gem. The gem is almost the same size of Kaoru's palm and is attached to a silver chain.
Hydros can turn into and control water, but the water source must maximally be about five hundred kilometers from the person. Water may also be of underground origin, but the Hydros must possess greater skill because he/she must break the ground.
For the Hydros, the Aquamarine functions as a source of greater magical energy, it is like a reservoir so the person that owns it can summon water even if he/she is miles away from a water source. Inside the gem resides the water creature of the owner. Residing in the gem will give the water creature greater power and it can be summoned anywhere. Aquamarine is very rare in their world and thus, only a few possess it. It is said that the most precious one—the one that has black obsidian stones embedded in it, is owned by the Lord of Hydrilia.
The gem floated to the level of Kaoru's chin. As Kaoru opened her eyes, water emerged from the stone. She lifted her hand and as a response, the water surrounded it and further traveled down her arm to finally envelop her whole frame. With a snap of her finger, the water separated from her to take a shape of a phoenix, her water beast. The water-phoenix flew around the training hall, droplets of water trickled from its tail. With another snap of Kaoru's fingers, the phoenix landed on the space in front of its owner.
Kaoru smiled at her phoenix. Upon hearing her apprentice's loud footsteps, she snapped her fingers again and her phoenix went back into the stone.
From the approaching noisy footsteps of her apprentice—she sensed his ki—she knew that he just opened the gift she gave the night before.
"Busuuuuu!" came the thrilled voice of Yahiko. He found her sitting at the training hall. He ran towards Kaoru and embraced her from behind. "Busu! The gift, it's fantastic! Where did you find it?" Yahiko shouted at her ear. He was holding a think bangle, at the center of it is a rectangular aquamarine. The wristlet is further decorated with golden Tiger Eye stones.
She smiled, she knew Yahiko wanted an Aquamarine, ever since he saw her using one. "There's no need to know where I found it, little boy. It's time for you to own one", she answered.
When she found the Aquamarine, she asked an old jewelry-maker to attach it to the silver bangle and add Tiger Eye stones beside it. From the abilities her apprentice shows, she knew, the Tiger Eye stones will be very helpful.
"Busu teach me how to use it!" Yahiko kneeled in front of Kaoru, his right arm outstretched, displaying the bangle.
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Author's Note:
There's the first chapter.
I'm asking for an apology in advance because the next update will surely take a long time. My break is coming to an end. University life is not so easy, especially this coming semester where I'll be making a lot of research work.
Take note, I just made up the stuff about obsidian being embedded in Aquamarine and it being the most precious one.
Oh, and please do leave reviews! Ta Ta!