Episode 2: the Outcast's Past
29th of Ferventis
Aelita bolted up and immediately grabbed her ribs as she huffed in pain. It took a few moments of controlled, labored breathing before she remembered why. Boulders hurt, she recalled, before looking out of the window to see that either much time had passed and it was nightfall again, or that no time had passed and morning had never come. She struggled to pull herself out of her bed. Her bed? She looked down to see the dusty white sheets from so long ago, and she started quaking in anticipation. Forcing herself out of bed and summoning Erahalam to give support, she limped over to the mirror near the door. It was as she thought—Aelita had returned to the apartment in Falcon's Bridge, and Eleanor's influence could already be seen. Her hair had been covered in a white bonnet, her facial markings covered with makeup and her traditional elven clothes had been swapped for a white blouse, a dark green skirt and a white apron, as well as a pair of light green shoes. Aelita leaned against the wall, kicked off her shoes and ripped the right sleeve off of her blouse to show her arm markings. She leaned against Erahalam again as she rubbed the makeup off her face and yanked the bonnet from her head.
The indignity of her state of dress corrected, the Outcast limped out of the bedroom, intending to flee Falcon's Bridge before the sun rose. She stopped when she saw Jeremie and Ulrich waiting at the table, blocking her exit. Jeremie seemed less than pleased, as did Ulrich, though the Mercenary's displeasure was aimed at the Wise Man. Aelita sighed as she looked down to her toes. "I guess you want some answers, huh?" She said as she sat down across from the boys.
"You 'guess' we want answers? You 'guess'?" Jeremie shouted, though he lowered his voice upon seeing her flinch. "When we arrived, the guard captain—Jim—he called you Maya Tyron and directed us to Lowel and Eleanor. When Eleanor answered the door, she recognized you? What's going on? Who are you?" His hands were shaking. Aelita prayed it was from the cold autumn air and not because of her.
"Enough, Jeremie." Ulrich said firmly.
Aelita sighed again, and she was silent for a long time. "This is difficult to explain. I thought I was ready, but I guess I wasn't." She looked up at Jeremie. "I am not Maya Tyron. Not anymore. Maya Tyron is the name of a girl who was stolen in the night and replaced by someone else. Maya Tyron is the name of an elf who tried far too hard to be something that she couldn't be, and was punished when she tried to make others see it too." Aelita looked back to her twitching fingers. "Maya Tyron is dead. I am still living, but barely."
Ulrich looked at Jeremie sharply, but then to Aelita. "Please, Kitten. Just… start at the beginning."
The Outcast looked away for a moment, but then she looked back to the boys. "I… guess it started in 4:91 East." She said.
Jeremie looked at her skeptically. "Unless I've missed something, you couldn't have been more than a baby at the time."
"Exactly." She said, and she half-smiled with a faint glimmer of hope in her green eyes. "And perhaps I should explain… why I left, and why I've done the things I have."
The Wise Man narrowed his eyes. "You had better."
His tone like daggers, she flinched and began. "This is how I understand it to have happened."
18th of Molioris, 4:91 East
Eleanor was young, only recently having reached her twenty-first birthday. It was a miracle that the baby had been born—she and Lowel had been married for four years now and her parents were beginning to wonder if she was infertile. But she held this blessed baby in her arms. She looked like Eleanor with her strawberry red hair and light green eyes, her features sharp and not altogether unpleasant. It was far too soon to know if baby Maya would keep looking like Eleanor, though she felt in her bones that Maya would grow to be the spitting image of her mother.
She held Maya high over her head and then brought her back close her chest, holding the baby with all the tender motherly love that she could possibly give. She danced over to the crib inside of the wagon she and Lowel were taking to Cortex. Then, she joined her husband, and they slept.
There was a ruckus near midnight, and Lowel woke to find two dark figures standing next to the crib. He shouted at them, and Eleanor slowly awoke. Lowel jumped and chased after the figures as they ran, though one turned and twisted the earth around Lowel's feet. He used his own magic to make the earth collapse, and while he was about to continue the chase, Eleanor screamed, and he rushed back to the wagon.
Eleanor had collapsed next to the crib, sobbing. Lowel looked into the crib and gasped. The figures had been elves, and they'd stolen their daughter and replaced her with an elven baby. But this baby was strange, not only in her heritage, but in the fact that she did not cry. She lay whimpering, and her large green eyes were filled with tears, but she was otherwise silent. "Those bitch-born knife ears!" Eleanor cursed, crying enough for her and the baby. "Why would they do this?" Lowel swore rather loudly, and he lifted the baby out of the crib. He carried her out of the wagon, and Eleanor stood to follow him. She gasped when her husband held the baby over the nearby river, and she yanked the elf-child from his hands. "What are you doing? You can't just kill her!"
"Can't I? The elves must learn that this will not be tolerated! This is the third child they've stolen this year, and it's only Molioris!" Lowel shouted, though the elf-child still would not cry.
Eleanor was holding the child, but not in the same way she'd held Maya. "Do you have any idea how bad we'll look if we show up in Cortex without a baby? My mother has been looking forward to this for months!"
"Oh? She'd rather see a knife-ear than hear that the elves stole our child?" Lowel questioned.
His wife glared at him. "Plenty of functioning families involve changelings, Lowel." She looked down at the whimpering elf-child. "Let's just… give it a shot. Please?"
Lowel stared at his wife for a moment, and he sighed. "Very well." Eleanor smiled, but there was still pain behind her eyes.
15th of Eluviesta, 5:03 Guardian
Maya Tyron, now ten years old, flinched as the sun shone in through her window. She sighed, as she had done every morning for what had felt like eternity. Maya pulled herself out of bed and dressed quickly then braided her long pink hair. She looked at her reflection and blew a strand of hair from her eyes before pulling the bonnet over her ears. She pulled her apron over her dress and started on her chores, sweeping before she started a fire to boil the water she would use in the tea. By the time Lowel, Eleanor and Milly had awoken, Maya had breakfast ready and she'd cleaned the kitchen.
Lowel started listing the other things she was to do that day, and she was only half-paying attention to him. Instead she was focusing on the singing birds outside of the apartment, and the clouds visible through the blooming branches. It looked like it might rain, she noted. "Maya, are you paying attention to me?" Lowel demanded.
"What? Oh, yes, Father." Maya lied, and she returned her attention to the window. Her parents entered the sitting room and Milly sat near the windowsill, looking outside and sadly at the chrysanthemum bud potted and placed on the windowsill. Milly had put it there several days earlier, but still it had not bloomed. Maya looked nervously to her parents before holding her hand out and summoning her magic. Lowel and Eleanor did not allow her to practice her magic at all, not even from the safety of their apartment, but she found ways to sneak practice, though admittedly in her six years of knowing about her skill she had not gotten any better with it.
Maya focused on the chrysanthemum, and she thought of it in bloom. Slowly, the bud began to open, and Milly sat up and smiled at her sister. Eleanor looked up, and Maya dropped her hand, which caused the flower to wilt. When her mother looked away, Maya focused on the flower again at Milly's encouragement. However, she put too much magic into it, and the roots shattered the pot. Maya flinched as her parents shouted at her for using her magic. Milly shrugged with an apologetic look on her face.
The humans left about an hour later, leaving Maya alone in the apartment. She dutifully completed her chores, and a pebble hit the window. Maya looked questioningly at the window, and she opened it. Outside, a dwarf with shoulder-length brown hair and peach fuzz stood outside, and he waved at her. He pointed over his shoulder to the carriage behind him. "Get in, salroka! We're going shopping!"
Maya smiled and shouted, "Murray!" She dropped her feather duster and rushed down the stairs. He held open the carriage door for her, and she curtsied before jumping inside. "So, are we really going shopping or am I just giving you advice on what clothes I think will impress Edwina?" Maya teased.
Murray laughed. "Advice, of course! Remember what your parents did last time you went shopping?" His tone was jocular, but the memory hurt. Maya had 'borrowed' money from the family collection to buy a doll—she'd never owned one, and it hadn't cost more than a few coppers—and Lowel had been very angry. He'd thrown it into the fire. "I'm sorry, Maya. I didn't mean to bring it up."
"It wasn't your fault." Maya said flatly.
The friends were silent in the carriage until Murray looked up and presented her with a painting of three men—a human who looked like Ben, a minstrel in the Hunter's Meadhall, run by their friend Eva Skinner's mother, a dwarf who looked like a younger version of Murray's father, Chris and an elf. "An old friend of my father's is coming to town today. He and Ben used to travel with this wilder named Nico, before his clan called for him."
Maya grabbed the painting. "I've never met another elf before, not even a city elf. A wilder is coming to Falcon's Bridge?"
"Yeah, they're giving an outdoor concert for the Feast Day festival." Murray explained.
"That won't be for several months, at least."
"These things take time to plan."
Maya looked at Nico's face on the painting, and then she placed the painting next to her feet. "My parents will never let me meet him."
"Then don't ask!" Murray advised. "Nico and his sister, Edna, are coming to the Meadhall today to make plans for the festival. You can speak to them there."
"Murray… I don't know about this."
"Come on, salroka. All you've got to do is play him a song, and he'll be crazy about you."
Sighing, Maya agreed to meet with the elves. Murray ordered the carriage driver to take them to the Meadhall, where they waited for the wilders to arrive. Ben and Chris waved to the two as they began their next song. Ben and Chris often played together, and it always sounded beautiful. They were able to create a variety of auras, from excitement to complacency to patriotism, and Maya had learned everything she knew about music by watching and copying them. Her normally clumsy fingers were as elegant as swans on the strings of a lute.
Maya strummed on an imaginary lute as the doors to the Meadhall swung open. Two elves with brown hair entered, and they were clearly different than everyone else. They walked with a sort of swagger, and neither one of them wore shoes. The man wore a green jacket with strange patterns embroidered on the back, and the woman wore a long tan coat with a hood. On her back was a staff with a skull on the top, and Maya concluded the woman was a magician. The man hugged Ben and Chris, and he motioned to the woman behind him. Chris called his son forward, and Murray instructed Maya to stay put.
They spoke for a while, and the woman took her eyes away from the others to watch Maya with great interest. Soon, she sat next to her, and she smiled. "Andaran atish'an, da'len. Are… you Maya? The girl that Murray told Nico about in his letter?"
Maya nodded. Unable to tear her eyes away from the woman's face, Maya studied the patterns that seemed tattooed there. They were circular, making the woman look almost feral, though the gentle look never left her eyes. Maya trusted this woman, though she knew that it was dangerous to do so. "Are you Edna?"
"Yes, I am indeed Hahren Edna, the leader of the Aloten clan." The woman gestured to herself. She collected a lute from her brother and presented it to Maya. "Murray told me that you play music. Please, show me."
Maya nodded, and she began to pluck the strings, creating a simple and bubbly tune. Edna closed her eyes and absorbed the music, and when she'd picked up on the tune, she began to hum along with the lute. Murray tapped his foot like a metronome, and Eva stopped doing her chores around the Meadhall to listen to Maya play.
When she stopped, Edna opened her eyes and smiled at her. "You are very talented. Your parents must be proud."
Maya shook her head. "My parents don't let me practice music, or dancing, or magic. They say that invites demons into my head."
Edna's face twisted in confusion, and she said, "Music and dancing do not invite spirits of any kind, unless it is those of joy." She looked far away. "I can understand their reservations about magic. The People certainly have been… liberal with our deals with the spirits, but we have had magic for a long time, and most magicians understand which spirits to deal with and which not to. But an untrained magician is a worse threat to anyone than a blood magician could ever be."
Maya sighed. "I wish you could tell them that. They do not understand."
Edna considered this. "You cannot go without training, da'len. Has anyone shown you any magic?"
"I have taught myself some, though I am not very good. Just this morning I shattered a clay pot trying to make a flower bloom."
"I will train you in magic, da'len. My brother can train you in music. There is nothing to be afraid of in either world, you will see. With luck, maybe others will see, too."
"Are you using me to make the humans understand the wilders better?" Maya questioned.
"Of course not. But if it helps, I cannot be faulted." Edna smiled and added, "You won't hurt my feelings if you say no, da'len."
She looked at her shoes, and then back up to Edna. "Okay. But my parents cannot know about it."
"I shall not say a word."
23rd of Eluviesta
Maya had snuck out of her home that night to meet the elves in their camp. It was a six-minute walk out of town and into the forest, and she was surprised to find their land ships in a semicircle around the campfire. Edna had said the Aloten clan was small, and that most of the elves had not wished to visit a human town. There were about fifteen elves around the campfire, and Edna waved her over.
There was no magic lesson that night, Edna had said, nor would there be a music lesson. That night, she would be educated in a different aspect of elven life—ancient stories. There were children's stories, claims created within the clan, like Edna's infamous lobster story or the newer story about how a human woman was raised by the elves—a changeling just like Maya—and sent back into the human world to prove her worth, ending up marrying a young prince and creating a kingdom far, far away in the south.
But there were other stories, ancient stories dating back to the ancient kings of Elvhenan, and Maya found that these stories were much more compelling. Edna spoke of the deal with the Goblin King, and the children clutched their toys graciously while they looked lovingly at their mothers. Edna spoke of the destinies written in the stars, and of the ancient holidays long forgotten because of the human invasion.
Maya found herself wanting a life among the People. She learned that night that Edna's previous apprentice, a young boy, had been found kidnapped, tortured and killed by unknown assailants, and she was in need of a new one. Maya begged for Edna to accept her as the new apprentice.
Edna, surprisingly, did not seem overjoyed by this idea. "It isn't that I don't love you or enjoy your company, da'len, but even if you come with us willingly, your parents will claim that we kidnapped you. Furthermore, you haven't been confirmed, and your name is… not elven. Many of the People will not trust you, not even among the Aloten clan."
"I can change my name! I can become confirmed! Please, hahren, I want to be an elf, not a slave or the obedient housewife of an abusive husband!" Maya begged.
Edna looked into Maya's eyes. There was such desire, such hunger for belonging that she could not say no. "When is your name day, da'len?"
"My parents say it is the 18th of Molioris."
Edna rubbed her chin. "Bloomingtide, eh? Very well. On the 18th of Bloomingtide, I will confirm you. You shall be given a proper elven name and I will teach you the Vir Tanadahl. You will be a bit late, but your eagerness to learn may give you a leg up."
"Thank you, hahren!" Maya breathed, embracing the elf.
Edna smiled and pushed Maya's hair from her face. "No, da'len. If you are to be one of us, you shall say 'ma serannas' when showing gratitude."
"Ma serannas!" Maya laughed into Edna's arms.
18th of Molioris
Confirmation was a long process. Maya had to repeat many phrases and light candles while reciting the Vir Tanadahl: "Vir Assan; fly straight and do not waver. Vir Bor'assan; bend but never break. Vir Adahlen; together we are stronger than the one. We are the last of the elvhenan, and never again shall we submit." That wasn't even the painful part. The painful part was the tattooing of the symbol of the Creation Father on her back—Edna had said this was a choice and not every elf did it, but Maya had wanted it done. She did not regret this decision, only that she had refused the pain killing potion her hahren had offered. The symbol was a small one, a pale green archaic hawk holding a rose in its claws. That evening, Maya went through a process that few others had to—the renaming ceremony.
It was that night Maya had unofficially changed her name from Maya Tyron to Aelita Durgenbora, or in the human lands, Stone-Hopper. She still answered to Maya around her family, and she never told them about her confirmation or her plan to run away with the Aloten clan.
4th of Matrinalis
Edna demonstrated to Aelita the secrets of the Creator's Sight. This was not something Maya would have needed, but Aelita found it very useful. It had taken Edna an hour to coax Aelita back to her after she'd discovered the forest had accepted her. "Aelita, look around you. What do you see? What do you hear?"
Aelita did as she was instructed. "I see the trees, and I see the sky. I hear the birds chirping, and I think I hear Nico playing a song."
"Good. Now, close your eyes and open your heart to the Garden. What do you feel?"
She looked strangely at her hahren, but she obeyed. "I feel… the heartbeat of the trees. And… I feel their roots twisting under my feet."
Edna smiled, but it was weak. Aelita felt in her heart that she'd disappointed her. "As you get used to the Creator's Sight, you will come to understand better how to use this ability, and it will grow stronger." Aelita hung her head in shame, feeling like a newborn child in her ineptitude. "Oh, don't be so hard on yourself, da'len. Your parents have treated you like a human for so long, this sense has grown dull. Imagine only eating porridge your entire life. How dull would your tongue be?"
Aelita sighed. "That analogy works wonderfully until you eat something amazing, like… I don't know… cocoa imported from the south."
"Don't overthink it." Edna said flatly. Suddenly she stopped, and she asked, "Did you hear that?"
Aelita curled up her nose. "No,"
"But I did. Come; follow me." Edna and Aelita raced through the forest, the novelty of the Creator's Sight distracting the younger elf from paying attention to where she was running. She almost ran over Edna, who had stopped to examine one of the clan's hunters. He'd been badly wounded, and judging by the patterns of the wounds, Edna could only guess that magistrates had been sent to warn the elves that their presence was unwanted. "Elgar'nan, if we don't do something quickly, he'll die." Edna cursed.
"You have magic, don't you? Use that!" Aelita said, motioning to the hunter.
Edna shook her head and then took her staff, Erahalam, from her back. She placed the skull on the hunter's forehead, and a bright flash blinded all three of the elves. When Aelita opened her eyes, the hunter was healed of all his wounds, and he stood, complaining only that he was stiff. Edna instructed him to return to camp, but to pace himself. Then, she looked to Aelita and smiled. "Come, da'len. We still have much to do before you must return to the apartment."
19th of Matrinalis
Aelita played a complex tune on the lute, her fingers a blur as they plucked the strings. When she finished, she smiled at Nico, who had been more willing to show her the ancient songs after she joined the clan officially. After Aelita had finished her song, Nico asked her to put the lute down. "Edna asked me to teach you a new song, one that will befit you once you have taken her place as Hahren."
She smiled and said, "Oh, good! What kind of song is it?"
Nico didn't smile back. "It isn't a happy song, da'len. It's beautiful, but not happy." He struggled to explain it. "Are you aware of how it seems the heroes in fairy tales seem immortal?"
She flushed and looked to her feet, which were bare when she was outside of the city, just like how she let her hair fly out of their braids in the woods. "Um… my parents never let me 'indulge' in 'such idle fantasies.'"
He frowned, but he said, "I should have expected that answer." He rubbed his temple. "You see… a long time ago, in the days of Elvhenan, the elves were immortal, and when the elders grew weary of life, they entered a time called Uthenera. The elves are no longer immortal, and the song sung then is now used for funerals."
Aelita cocked her head. "You're teaching me funeral rites?"
"Yes. It is important that you know them. They're the same for drow and surface elves, and it isn't uncommon for city elves to ask the Hahren of a clan to perform funeral rites on important members of their society." Nico stood, and he sang the elven eulogy. It was a beautiful sad song, and Aelita struggled on the elven words, her tongue not yet versed. Nico was patient, and he helped her sound out the words. He wrote them phonetically out in dirt, though it was through persistence that Aelita memorized the melody. "The People have learned to live with much sadness. But you have spoken the Vir Tanadahl, and you know that there is no great challenge that we cannot overcome."
8th of Solis
It was three days before the Feast Day festival was to begin, and Lowel Tyron had discovered Aelita's secret. He'd dragged her to the Knight Templar, who saw the mark of the Creator on her back as a sign of evil seeded within the youth of Falcon's Bridge. Thomas Vincent pushed his spectacles up the bridge of his nose and rubbed his eyes. "Those damned knife ears. I should've known letting them into Falcon's Bridge was a bad idea. They always poison those too stupid to resist with words of deception and lies."
"I want to know just why you thought it a good idea to turn your back on your family in exchange for those savages!"
Aelita pulled on her father's grip, and she struggled to break free of his grasp. "Those 'savages' have been better family to me than you ever have! At least they treat me like one of their own!" Aelita yanked her arm away and began to walk backwards away from Lowel. "And now I am one of them! I am my own person now! You can't control me, Father!"
Lowel stormed up to her, and she screamed as he pulled on her braids to drag her across the room. "You listen to me, you ungrateful little bitch, you'll never have a place anywhere! You think those crazy heathens will hesitate to sacrifice you to their god in some crazy ritual? You think they won't sell you into slavery the first chance they get? You don't belong anywhere! You're an outcast, a freak!"
Aelita's eyes filled with tears, but she stood firm in the presence of her father. "I'd rather die at the hands of the People than live one more second as your slave!"
"Enough!" Thomas Vincent shouted. He walked around his desk. "There may be a chance to save your daughter from the claws of evil, Tyron. Perhaps we should show her what happens to heathen witches that defy everything sacred."
Aelita looked up at him. "What are you planning?"
Thomas Vincent attached his sword to his side and pulled his helmet on over his spectacles. "We shall arrest Edna the Witch. This crime of corruption will not go unpunished." He glared at Aelita. "And Maya, you know what we do to witches."
She felt her jaw hit the floor. They planned to put Edna to the stake! "No! I won't let you do this!" Aelita said firmly, and she rushed over to the window. Lowel and Thomas Vincent ran after her, but she'd already jumped. She transformed into an owl, and she flew as swiftly as she could to the campsite. Edna greeted her with a smile, like always, but when Aelita transformed back and the hahren caught sight of her panicked expression, her smile vanished. "Knight Templar Thomas Vincent plans to burn you. He called you a witch!"
"What? I know that T.V hates everyone not of Lyoko, but he has no reason to try me for witchcraft." Edna stated.
Aelita looked at her feet. "Father found out about my confirmation. He dragged me to his office and I heard it there. It sounded like to me that he's been looking forward to something like this for a long, long time!"
Nico spat at the earth. "That snake! I'll cut his throat out myself!"
Edna shook her head. "No, Nico. This is no time for violence. Tell the others to pack up and leave. I see no other way to resolve this mess."
"What about you, sister?" Nico asked.
"I will stay. Perhaps my arrest will give you time to escape."
Nico shook his head. "No! We will not leave you!"
Aelita nodded. "Neither will I. Vir Adahlen; together we are stronger than the one."
Edna smiled at her student. "Your devotion honors me, da'len." Her smile vanished once more, and she directed Aelita into her aravel. She removed Erahalam from her back and presented it to Aelita with great respect. "My time in the Garden has reached its end. Carry my staff now, Aelita Durgenbora, for you will take my place as Hahren."
Aelita refused. "No! You will survive! I am not ready!"
Edna took her tiny hands and placed them on the staff. "Take Erahalam. The bond is yours now. Be wise, da'len, and do whatever it takes to survive."
Not half an hour later did the magistrates arrive, and they dragged Edna away in chains. Lowel forced Aelita back into the apartment, and from her bedroom window, she could see the magistrates' oubliette.
18th of Solis
"On the count of witchcraft, how do you plea?" Thomas Vincent asked. The Feast Day festival had been canceled, and instead they used the stage as a place of public execution. Edna was tied to the wooden stake, her hands bound and a constant shield of magic-negating energy prevented her escape. Aelita was in chains in the back of the audience, and one of the magistrates lifted her up onto his shoulders so she could witness the entire ordeal.
Edna stared Thomas Vincent in the eyes. "I am not a witch," She said flatly, resisting the urge to spit in his face.
Thomas Vincent scoffed and spun around, waving her off. "Then the die is cast and you shall commit to the flame." He said, and he lit the hay at her feet.
Aelita covered her eyes for a while, unable to watch as the flames began to lick at the hem of Edna's plain white tunic. She suddenly became furious, filled with a rage that no dragon could match. The changeling kicked the magistrate binding her in the neck, and she jumped off of his shoulders. She summoned lightning and fired it at Thomas Vincent, who dodged it and glared at her. She spun a water spell around her hands, but before she could complete it, the Knight Templar negated the magic. Aelita screamed in pain, and she fell to her knees, sobbing. "Send her to the oubliette! Tonight she hangs!" T.V shouted, and Eleanor jumped onstage.
"No! Please, Maya is just a stupid kid! She doesn't know any better!" Eleanor pleaded, ignoring the red-hot flames radiating heat.
Murray jumped out of the crowd and raced towards Aelita. "She's not a witch! You cannot hang her without a trial!" He declared, drawing his broadsword from his back.
T.V looked at the dwarf without amusement in his eyes. "Can I not? Perhaps you would like to hang with her." Thomas Vincent ordered the magistrates to arrest them both. Murray fought to protect himself and Aelita, incapacitated from T.V's silencing. But they were too numerous, and he was only fifteen. He surrendered, and T.V looked to Eleanor. "I will honor your request. Your… daughter will not hang. It is too bad the boy's father was arrested for insurrection. I cannot make that same promise for him."
23rd of Solis
Aelita had spent five days in the Oubliette, the only way to know how long time had passed was counting the minutes. She told herself the stories of Elvhenan, and she wondered why this had happened. The chains on her ankles felt like heavy bricks, and she'd studied the negating wards carved into the steel. She heard murmurs as the magistrates guarding her spoke of an elven uprising after Edna's execution. She was horrified to learn that there had been no survivors, and to prevent a future attack, T.V had ordered the deaths of the remaining elves, even the children. She'd cried for hours after that, knowing it was her own stupidity that had caused this mess. Edna had warned her that the humans would not like her joining her people, hadn't she? Aelita ran out of tears, and she coughed with a dry throat. "Please, I want some water." She croaked out, trying to gather the attention of the guards. She tried speaking louder, her voice weak and hoarse, "I haven't had anything to eat or drink since I arrived, please, may I just have some water?"
They said nothing and Aelita curled up in the corner where she waited for one of the Guides to claim her soul. But a Guide did not arrive, rather a spirit that had sensed her hunger and her pain. It was a creepy looking thing, with many tentacles and a dome that showed electrical currents running through it. Aelita backed away from it, but it did not attack her. It spoke. "Da'len elvhenan," It said, a voice squeaky and painful, "Freedom is in your blood."
Aelita looked at the spirit in confusion. "What?" She asked.
The spirit spoke again. "You wish to be free? You have the power to be free and to free a hundred more just like you flowing through you." A sudden scream that sounded like Murray shattered what little calm there had been. "It isn't too late to save him. Find the blood and find your freedom."
Aelita looked at the spirit hesitantly, but when Murray's scream broke the silence again, she nodded. She rubbed her open palm against the rough rocks until her skin broke, and then she kept rubbing until the bleeding continued. The spirit cackled, and it wrapped her with its tentacles, gifting her with the arcane knowledge of forbidden magics. Aelita honed in on the bond Edna had told her she'd established with Erahalam, and the staff pierced her stomach.
She coughed, but she pulled the staff out of her body. Aelita forced her magic against the cell door, slamming it against the wall with such force that it shattered the skull of one of the guards. The other charged her, but she grabbed hold of his blood. It began to boil, and he fell to the ground, screaming as he died. Aelita jumped over his corpse and rushed to find an exit, andthen she looked on the upper levels to find Murray.
When she found him, he was bloody and bruised and he didn't appear to be breathing. Aelita gasped, and she looked to the skull on Erahalam. She remembered Edna saving the hunter, and she placed the skull on Murray's forehead.
The room filled with a vile red light, much different than the pure white light that had healed the hunter. She was forced back, losing her grip on Erahalam as she fell to the stone floor. When she sat up, Murray's body was no more than a skeleton. She shrieked, and she started sobbing.
Inside of her, and yet coming from the direction of Erahalam, she could've sworn she heard Murray shout for her to run. So she grabbed the staff, and she ran. Thinking of nowhere she could run that would be safe; she fled to the Aloten campsite. Nothing was left there but the smell of death and fire. She sang the dirge of the dead before she kept running, her mind set on fleeing to Arlathan.
29th of Ferventis, 5:08 Guardian
Now that she had finished her story Ulrich comforted her. Jeremie wanted to as well, but anything that came from his mouth would be insufficient. She remembered clearly the sight of Murray's skeleton, and her mind filled with flashes of Edna's burning corpse. Five years later and she still hadn't convinced herself that it wasn't her fault.
Ulrich looked up to Jeremie with an angry glare, and he said, "So long as we're being open and honest here, Belpois, maybe you should tell Aelita what you did over your summer vacation."
"I'm not sure now is the best time." Jeremie said, a humorless laugh escaping his lips.
"Why not? Is there ever a good time for these things?" Ulrich asked.
Aelita looked to Jeremie, her large green eyes fixated on him. "Tell me what, Jeremie? What did you do?"
Jeremie sighed, and he looked down to the golden band he wore on his left ring finger. "Aelita," He said as he looked up at her, "I accepted Laura's wedding proposal. I'm getting married."
There was no time to explain, not that he could have. Aelita had transformed into an owl and she'd flown out the window, though even in this form, it was obvious she was still hurt.