Sophie (S): Isodrink, what's a Disclaimer?
Isodrink (I): It's a lie I tell people so they don't believe I own Tales of Graces and sue me because they think I'm wrong, why?
S: *Rips of mask* Because I am the Disclaimer and you have shown your true side. NOW REPENT AND DESPAIR!
I: Help! Stop! Stop! Put the bow down, nobody needs to get hurt! Wait... how did you even GET a bow ?
Disclaimer (D): Foolish mortal, let me relieve you of your pathetic existance. You (Isodrink) do not own Tales of Graces or any of the characters it contains, you (Isodrink) merely own what you write in this fanfic!
I: Wait... doesn't that mean I own you as well?
D: I guess. Damn, my plan has been foiled!

AN: The first who guesses which character out of which videogame-series typically behaves like the Disclaimer get's... air to breathe for free ^^'

Chapter 9: Of trust and explanations

~ Fendel ~

Months ago Zavhert had been a bustling city. Raised to defy the cold and survive in a climate that made agriculture impossible it had been the very epitome of fendelian stubbornness. Countless people had lived in the city, pouring through the streets that were framed by majestic buildings in typical rough fendelian architecture.

Now the streets were empty. Only molten metal and ash remained of the city that once stood proud against the elements of ice and snow. But the city wasn't the only thing that was missing for the struggle against ice and snow.

The climate of Zavhert had made a complete turnaround. Instead of icy coldness that had dominated the weather there now was a gentle warmth in the region around city. It melted the ice to water which was all too eagerly absorbed by the ground beneath. The winter had done nothing but dried it out over the cause of hundreds of years.

Even some fast growing plants had begun to reclaim the city, though they remained far away from its northern side. They were unable to survive in the heat that increased the closer they came to Forbrannir. The sheer amount of fire-eleth that the dragon radiated could only be called colossal. For the guardian dragon who stood unmoving outside of Zavhert's northern wall it was normal. His eyes were closed as he reflected over the past days.

The first of his attacks had been an outburst of rage. While still a being with unimaginable amounts of experience and power that didn't save Forbrannir from wasting far too much energy in that first explosion of eleth.

He cursed himself for his foolishness. That the human city was now destroyed pleased him, but his attack had also melted the glacier around the fire Valkines. Now it was imprisoned on the bottom of a sea that once had been pure ice. And the sea was boiling from the large amounts of fire-eleth the now fully active Valkines radiated just like his guardian.

The thought of his own Valkines buried underneath disliked element irritated Forbrannir. It went against his pride to let the core of his power be surrounded by the same matter that was under full control of the being that could best be described as his brother, Duplemar.

The fire-dragon couldn't help it. He always had strongly disagreed with Duplemar, who preached control of emotions while barely able to contain them himself. In his eyes there was no power in binding your own will. Not too long ago his brother had even been a supporter of the race that had dared to steal their eleth, a race that Forbrannir had been wary of as long as he could think. If not for his brother and sister, he would have started this plan long ago.

But it had to come to this before the other two had finally begun sharing his position. And even if they were now supporting his agenda, he couldn't trust either of them, least of all Duplemar.

No, Forbrannir couldn't take the risk to have the source of his power surrounded by the element he could trust the least. Not when he could change that so easily.

It might cost him large amounts of the eleth, even on his scales, but it wouldn't change a thing in the end. At best it merely delayed his plans to destroy what had to be destroyed.

The fire-dragon had all the time he wanted after all.

~ Strahta - Near the Rockgagong sea~

"Malik, draw your sword. I demand a duel."

The words were loud enough to be heard at the campfire that Asbel and the others were resting it. It took all of them a moment to process their meaning. The captain's was the first to react.

"What?"

"I said draw -",

Hubert took a step towards Malik, fingers still clenched around his weapon.

"- your -",

another step.

"- SWORD!"

Malik had the fraction of a second to draw his weapon and parry the horizontal strike of Hubert's dualblade. The strike was not designed to kill him but still would have left a serious wound, possibly leaving him unable to fight.

"Hubert, what has gotten into you?!"

"You have no right to address them! No one has!"

In a quick motion he separated his two blades and began to attack Malik with a quick series of strikes that the older man was forced to dodge and parry. It took all the skill and speed he could muster to keep the attacks from hitting him. This was not a good position for him to fight.

His reflexes could barely keep up with Hubert only to defend himself, there was no opening he could use to attack. And harsh as it was to admit, age did not help in matters of speed. This had been the exact reason he had begun to avoid close combat situations in the first place. There barely was time for him to breathe before the next series of strikes began raining down on him.

"HUBERT! STOP!"

Malik could hear his former pupils voice over the metallic sounds of the two weapons clashing together. And sure enough he was able to see some movement in the corner of his eyes. Before he could get a closer look however, a horizontal swipe forced him to lean back. While the first blade slashed the air above him, the second began to move in a vertical strike, ready to impale the fendelian's stomach.

Anticipating the direction of the second strike, Malik used his backwards momentum for a roll and got back up. Quickly he tried to raise his weapon, fully expecting his opponents follow up attack, but he knew he was too slow. Try as he might, Hubert would be faster than him and use this opening. Malik had lost.

"NO!"

"HUBERT! STOP!"

Desperately Asbel tried to stand up. He needed to get to his brother. Hubert would listen to him. He had to. Only Lhant's lord could stop this fight. Everybody relied on him. Just like back then...
A mix of stubbornness and determination allowed him to stand up, ignoring the burning pain in his chest that screamed at him to lie down again. Asbel would never be able to allow someone to hurt his friends. Not even his brother.

Cheria was still too shocked to notice the lack of weight in her lap. What she did notice was the soft "thump" as Asbel fell to the ground a short distance away from her, his hands clutching his chest. The pain was too much. But he had to move. He had to stop them. Still, his body denied every single one of his orders. He could do nothing but watch the spectacle in front of his eyes, even as Cheria rushed to his side.

He was powerless as he watched Hubert follow Maliks backwards roll with another stab, again aimed at the fendelian's stomach.

"NO!"

The sound of metal scraping against metal followed Sophie's cry.

Just in time she had jumped in the attack of Hubert and blocked his swords with her mithril-gloves.

"Stop... Hubert... please, stop!"

Her shaking voice and her sad glare were enough to snap her uncle out of it. In shock he looked at what he had done. Malik was breathing hard in front of him, his face contorted in an expression that was still anticipating the killing blow. Asbel's eyes betrayed a consternation that hurt him more than he could ever admit. Hubert had never imagined such a look to be there in his brother's eyes. Not while looking at him. Cheria didn't even care to turn in his direction while Richard watched the scene with oppressive silence.

Not knowing how to react to the new situation and unable to bear his niece's eyes he turned his back to them and fled into the dark solitude of the night. None of the others followed him.

Come the next morning Hubert Oswell returned. Dark circles adorned his eyes but otherwise he maintained an emotionless expression, except for the moments he thought nobody was watching. Without a word he helped dismantling the camp, avoiding eye-contact for the fear of seeing disappointment and rejection in them. The look of his brother haunted him already more than he wanted to allow himself.

Once on their mounts, Hubert increased the distance between himself and the rest of the group, remaining stoically silent even when Richard or Sophie made the effort and tried to talk to him.

Asbel watched the situation in front of him with a sigh. His teacher's plan had backfired and it had done so horribly. He didn't know how much it would take to repair the damage the fight had caused, but Asbel knew that Hubert would first have to overcome himself. Something he didn't know if his brother was capable of.

With an even thicker demotivating atmosphere they arrived at the Rockgagong sea in the mid of the next day.

Hadn't they all been in such a bad mood, they would have to admit that the sight was breathtaking. High cliffs surrounded the northern part of the lake, granting an intimidating sight of what nature was capable of, given the right circumstances. It was impressive to say the least. High as Windor's royal palace they reached into the sky, casting wide shadows over the lake. The surrounding sands of the desert did nothing to diminish the sight. It even added to it by giving a strong contrast.

It lifted Asbel's spirit to see them finally move forward on their journey.

"Now we just have to find that Valkines. Look out for it, it has to be here." he said, calm determination in his eyes.

His eyes looked down through the water, hoping that the Valkines might be beneath them. It was amazing how clear the water was. Looking at the bottom of the lake was no feat at all, nothing disturbed the view to the ground; No dirt, no fishes, no plants... Come to think of it, why was there no signs of life in this lake at all? There was only water and sand as far as he could see...

"Asbel. I think I found something."

Sophie's voice forced him out of his thoughts. Excitedly she shook his arm and pointed towards one of the cliffs.

"Look, there, at the cliff."

He followed her finger to the place she was pointing at. It was an especially dark part of the cliff where several of the shadows from the midday sun overlapped. It looked normal at first glance, but hidden in the shadows was a part where the stone seemed darker than the rest of the wall of rock. Asbel blinked and looked again. If he watched closer he could...

"A cave! There's a cave over there!"

~ Strahta - Lake Liberte ~

"Wow, this is totally awesome!"

Pascal didn't seem to care that she was still a prisoner of Duplemar. Her surroundings were too enchanting for her to care. The azure waters of lake Liberte in front of her reflected the morning sun that was beginning to rise. Together with a myriad of small, fast growing plants that surrounded the lake it was an awe-inspiring site. Awe-inspiring enough to let her regain her composure and give her back the cheery and confident attitude that she had seemed to have lost.

The reason why she was here however didn't wait long to remember her.

'Do not make me wait, human'

Duplemar's calm and collected voice boomed through her mind. She didn't need to turn around to know that the dragon was still standing behind her, no change in his intimidating appearance. Completely unfazed by the way he the dragon tried to intimidate her she began with her usual antics, turning around with a salute before answering.

"Yokai!...uh... what was your question again?"

'Your aura!' a hint of annoyance tainted Duplemars telepathic voice for a second.

"What about..."she was cut off before she could finish.

'Tell me why you possess my aura as part of your own. Tell me why you possess Gloandi's and Forbrannir's auras as well. And tell me why the strength of your aura is unsteady as the sea!'

The interruption was harsh but still the tone of the dragon remained calm, no signs of impatience.

"Hey, give me at least the chance to answer mister! Didn't your mother teach you any manners? Sheesh... Wait, the strength of my aura changes all the time? Well if it's like that I... uh...Ah! I know! According to theories of eleth fluctuation in the lost archive there is a correlation between eleth-radiation and mindset of the individual. However, the correlation increases or decreases for several individuals and shows signs of inheritance, meaning... I'm moody and I was born with it?"

Her reply came out more as a question then an answer. But it seemed correct so far, now she only needed to tell him why she had his aura...and she had no clue why.

"As for the aura part of you and those other two...uh..."

'We had a deal, amarcian'

The calm voice of her adversary seemed suddenly all the more threatening.

"Yeah I know but... only you can have your aura so... are you certain I've got yours?..."

Her mind raced through the different explanations, desperate to quickly give a fitting answer but she could see the dragon already shaking his head in disappointment. He fixed her with his eyes.

'So you don't know after all. I should have known better than to trust humans again.'

"No wait! I-I just need a minute to...!"

Her speech was cut off when a bubble of water tried to encase her like before. Just in time she noticed the air rippling around her to avoid the trap. Pascal wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.

'Oh darn, now he's bummed out!'

Again Duplemar tried to imprison her with water and again managed the amarcian to dodge.

"Dude, let me think!" she screamed while dodging another attempt to catch her.

'So you can lie to me? No, let's finish this farce'

Was there a hint of sadness she could hear? Before she could think further about it something else demanded her attention. Something big. As in two-stores-building-high-wave big.

Summoned over the lake Liberte the mass of water was on it's way towards Pascal, and it was moving fast. Just as the wave was about to connect she screamed out three words, inaudible to Duplemar over the roaring sounds of water.

"Pure will! Cyandine!"

Without stopping the wave washed over her, drowning everything in it's path, the white foaming water concealing what was beneath it. Seconds passed as the wave began to lose its momentum and slowly flew back into the lake.

'This should be enough to end her' thought the Guardians telepathic voice to no one in particular.

The thought was barely finished when his eyes widened in surprise. Quickly they fixed the flooded place Pascal had stood on. What was this familiar presence he had sensed just now? Could it possibly be?

The seconds grew longer as the wave retreated further into the lake, giving back the land it had claimed for a second. And on this land stood a thoroughly dry Pascal, the water-spirit Cyandine in front of her. Her palms were facing the lake, her arms outstretched in an attempt to keep up the blue shield that had saved her summoner.

"There better be a very good reason you got yourself into this mess Pascal or I just might kill you myself. You interrupted my beauty sleep!" the eleth-spirit grumbled with closed eyes, only audible enough to the amarcian.

Pascal quickly got ready to dodge another water-trap before she answered.

"Less talking, more fighting! Angry big blue dragon incoming!"

"Angry blue what?..."

'Cyandine?!'

For the first time in all of her conversations with her captor there was something different to calmness and slight annoyance in his telepathic voice. It was genuine surprise.

"Wha...Master?" Cyandine's eyes widened as she shared the surprise of the guardian.

The water-trap Pascal expected never came. Noticing the broken concentration of her captor, the amarcian quickly made use of the few seconds his surprise would give her and analyzed the abrupt change of situation.

Duplemar wasn't attacking anymore, good. Instead he was simply staring at her water spirit, which was... what?

'How can this be? You were dead! Your mind link was severed! Mandragos slayed you!'

Cyandine didn't answer. Instead she just returned the disbelieving gazes of the water dragon who began to turn towards Pascal.

'You are the summoner of Cyandine?' there still was a hint of surprise in the voice of the dragon.

Pascal grew more confused of the situation by the second. They weren't fighting anymore but talking again and her Duplemar somehow knew Cyandine?

"Well, duh! Anyhoo, what does that have to do with anything?"

Her eyebrows twitched as Cyandine turned towards her summoner.

"Pascal?"

"Huh?"

Pascal could hear the water-spirits teeth crunch while she gave the amarcian a look of suppressed anger.

"Disrespect my master like that again and I'll bathe you. With cold water".

Even in this situation the prospect of a cold bath made Pascal cringe.

"Huh?! Hey, I thought I was your master! You said that when I found you in Strahta back then!"

"I nev..."

Duplemar interrupted her talking.

'This explains a few things... Cyandine, why are you in her care?'

Slowly the mermaid-spirit turned around, facing the dragon again with a concentrating expression. Nothing happened until Duplemar could be heard again.

'I see... I will think about it. Cyandine, guard your summoner while I decide what to do next.'

"Yes Master!" she answered, her tone full of conviction and eagerness that Pascal had never heard before from her spirit.

With steps that shook the ground the dragon walked into the sea, disappearing beneath the waves they caused until there was nothing left of him to see.

The immediate danger was now out of sight, but Pascal felt still on edge. This whole situation didn't make sense to her, in fact, nothing did. It took her all the brainpower she had to just process a small amount of what had transpired in front of her eyes. But the realization that hit her when she did was all too bitter. Cyandine had switched sides.

Her shoulders slumped and a tired smile appeared on her face as her gaze wandered over to her friend.

"I guess that's as far as our friendship goes, huh? Didn't know you were all hanky-panky with our enemies. Any other surprises kickin' around over here?"

The water-spirit gave her an empty look. Now that the rush of the fight was leaving her too she saw that she had been caught up right in between two fronts, and she belonged to both of them.

It made her sad to see the disappointment in Pascal's eyes. She was one of the first human the water-spirit had come to like. They had laughed together, fought together, played pranks together...they had become far more than summoner and elemental-spirit. To have to betray her like that was heartbreaking.

"Pascal, you never asked about my past, but maybe you should have. Then you would have known why I can't go against him. He is the one that created me. I exist, for the most part, thanks to his power. You can't expect me to help you fight him."

The water-spirit turned away from her.

"Maybe I'll tell you the story one day. But for now, believe me, my life is his. This doesn't change the fact that I was your friend. I still am. But I can't disobey him. I could never do that."

The resolve in her words cut deep into Pascal's heart. She was unable to answer.

With no words left between them Pascal laid down onto the sand, straining to get the whirl of confused emotion inside her under control. She didn't notice the sad look Cyandine gave her as she closed her eyes. This was a lot to digest for her. Maybe sleep would help her do so.

The sound of footsteps awoke Pascal with a start. There was no time to ponder who it might be, she was surrounded by enemies anyway. And if it was Cyandine, she thought bitterly, she could at least give her a small scare. As quick as humanly possible she could she got up and into a fighting stance, ready to defend herself even without her staff.

"Don't you think I would have finished you off by now if I really wanted to kill you?" a strangely familiar sounding voice asked her.

The tall man standing in front of her in the daylight did nothing to react to her offensive stance. He didn't even blink. Instead he just watched her with calm eyes, waiting for her next move.

It was strange for Pascal to suddenly find herself in front of visitors. These last few days she had done nothing but waiting for Duplemar under the supervision of Cyandine. She had been in desperate need of something to distract herself from the events of the last few days. She needed at least a chance to get some distance between her and her feelings.

It didn't help the matter that the water-spirit who made the distraction necessary was the one guarding her.

Looking around, she noticed that said water-spirit suddenly wasn't around anymore.

'Where's Cyandine kicking around when she should be here?!'

The thought of her friend-turned-enemy made her feel a small pang in her chest. She still couldn't fully accept what had happened. But there would be time later to think about the water-spirit, now she needed to evaluate the situation.

"Come now Pascal, surely you realize who you are talking to? Watch closer".

The question was asked with a mocking undertone that was not supported by any expression on the man's face. Not daring to let her attention slip for a single second she decided to do as she was asked to.

Her observer was tall with very defined muscles, that much she had already noticed. His only piece of clothing was a blue, glimmering robes that displayed entwined ornaments on the sleeves. It had plenty of room for him to hide a whole arsenal of weapon beneath it.

What she hadn't noticed was his blue hair, long enough to reach the middle of his back, glimmering in the light of the morning sun. And those clear eyes of azure framed by gentle and defined features, radiating such calmness that it was hard to stay active while looking at them. Those eyes that seemed so familiar to her...

"Dude, you're Duplemar !? But you were all dragony and stuff with this big roar and claws, how are you human?!"

The corner's of supposed-to-be Duplemar's mouth twitched at her disbelief as if suppressing a smile.

"I will explain later. Just know that eleth-sprits such as myself are not restricted to a specific form. But let's discuss why you're still alive. I have talked with Cyandine. She pleaded for your life. You have to be quite the human to get her support, which is no small feat after her past with your kind. Considering this I am willing to repeat our talk and let you go afterwards, even if you can't answer all the questions. Should we meet again after that or should I notice that you don't tell me everything you know, your life will be forfeit, understood? "

Pascal nodded. Questions were forming on her tongue, burning to be released but she controlled herself. He wouldn't answer them anyways.

"We don't need to talk about your aura anymore. It was Cyandine's eleth that made your aura look like mine. Tell me, can you summon two other spirits, Bloodflame and Sylvie? "

Pascal had expected many things but not a question about her other elemental-spirits. Come to think of it, she hadn't summoned any of them since the crisis had begun.

"Yeah I can. They are my friends, why? "

Duplemar's expression remained unchanged.

"I think Gloandi and Forbrannir will be pleased to know that their presumed dead spirit-companions are still alive. That is all."

"Hey, you want to take my friends away from me ?!"

The anger in Pascal's voice was far from hidden but the water-dragon just slowly shook his head.

"Oh I won't do that, amarcian. They will. Those two might be the same as I but that won't motivate me to do any work for them. Let's get back to the point. Why did three of your friends have a soul forged by the Lastalia and Fodra? The planet's core has been dead for far longer than your kind lives. It is not possible".

Pascal began to think. Deep in thought she scratched her head.

'A soul forged on Fodra... That means that one has to be born on the planet. But none of us are from there except Sophie. Hey, that's it! Sophie is from there! Emeraude said that they had used the little Queen to create Sophie, so maybe that's the way she got her soul! That way she totally would have a soul from Fodra! Aaaaaand I still totally can't explain why three of us have a Fodra/Lastalia-soul kickin' around...'

'Hmm... maybe it's stuff like with Cyandine. Something else influencing the aura with it's own eleth output or something. But when did anybo...hey that's it! Asbel, Cheria and Hubert had this whole drama stuff going on in their childhood with Sophie. They had these whole particles from her that gave them these crazy superpowers! That totally makes sense. Man I'm awesome' .

She smiled formed on her lips when the answer occurred to her. In as few words as possible she passed on her conclusion to Duplemar, who listened with raised eyebrows, his expression otherwise unchanging.

"A humanoid with a soul from Fodra... that is something hard to believe. Still, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you're telling the truth. Let's move on then. Answer this last question. One of your friends, the one my child injured, had the power of my own kind. He had the power and aura of an eleth-spirit. What do you know about him?"

It didn't take much for Pascal to understand who the water-dragon was talking about. It seemed like Asbel possessed the aura of an eleth-spirit. In the blink of an eye she knew the answer for the 'why' as well. There was only one reason for it: Lambda.

Thinking back on it, Lambda didn't seem to know what exactly he was. He was a life form found in the core of Fodra, that was all they, including Lambda himself, knew. Could it be that he had been created by the Valkines spirits? Or could he possibly have the same origins as them?

Either way, for some reason Pascal didn't like the idea of telling Duplemar about her friend. It felt like a mistake to her. Still, she didn't have a choice and there wouldn't be that much harm done by telling him, right?

"Huh, this aura stuff doesn't come from Asbel, he's the one you mean. But Asbel has this spirity-thing inside him, Lambda. Lambda was the one who absorbed all the eleth in your Valkines while he was controlling another guy, Richard. He tried to reach the Lastalia and ..."

The longer she spoke the deeper became the stronger the water-dragon furrowed his brow until he raised his voice again.

"Stop human. Cyandine spoke in high regards of you, but this claim is, like before, is hard to believe. After your description you are telling me that there is another eleth-spirit roaming free, powerful enough to drain the three Valkines by himself. Even if there were eleth-spirits that weren't under our control, none of them has the power to attempt such a thing. We had to remove the last one who had hundred's of years ago. It is also all too convenient that this Lambda also seems to be to blame for the whole reason the current fights against humanity are going on. "

The way Pascal was doubted again without Duplemar even considering her telling the truth irritated her. But even through her irritation she didn't miss the things she had expected earlier.

The dragons were attacking humanity because of the things Richard and Lambda did two years ago. What would happen if they lost that reason?

"I don't know about the eleth-spirit thingy or whatever but it's the truth! Lambda controlled Richard when he absorbed all this eleth. He...He wanted to become the planet's core so nobody could hurt him or something and he has this funny looking misty ball-spirity form when he's not in Asbel..."

Duplemar's habit of interrupting other's again shone through, though he didn't even need to speak. His expression was enough to make the amarcian stop talking.

"Dude, could you place at least place a little bit of trust in me?"

That earned her an icy glare.

"Trust is something humanity has proven countless times to be hardly ever worthy of. The last time a human had my trust, Ephinea got almost destroyed. So don't you dare speak to me about trust. You don't have it."

It was almost frightening how the water-dragon could say all these things while only small signs in his body language betrayed his emotions. Pascal knew that it was probably a bad idea to continue her argument. It was the first time she was able to see that many signs of emotion on the man, but she needed him to understand that the guardian's reason for fighting was wrong.

"Okay, maybe we can't be all hanky-panky because of your past, but that doesn't change a thing. Humans didn't do the the eleth-absorbing stuff. That was Lambda. We never brought any harm to you. And you are killing all of us! Without reason!"

"ENOUGH!"

His hand raised and slapped her hard enough that she lost her balance and fell on her bottom. The silence that followed was deafening. Slowly the amarcian raised a hand and touched where without a doubt was a large hand print on her face. She jerked when she touched it. The slap stung.

Still in silence she was about to get up when she noticed a small shadow passing her in the corner of her eyes. The moment her eyes blinked it vanished, but she was certain that she had seen it. Her eyes lingered on the sand a little longer, than she refocused her attention on her captor who had started advancing towards her.

"From all I know you are most likely telling me lies without end, human. And you have the audacity to accuse me? Be happy I don't kill you for tha..."

With satisfaction the amarcian noticed that this time it was Duplemar who didn't get to finish his sentence.

"GET YOUR HANDS AWAY FROM HER YOU BASTARD!"

Sand swirled up, accompanied by a loud thump as a heavy body hit the ground that Duplemar would have stood on, had he not dodged at the last second. Raising from the small crater he created was a shape clad in dark blue, wielding a dualblade that was pointed right at the throat of the water-dragon's human body.

"I don't know who you are or what you are doing here, but harm this woman one more time and it will be my pleasure to let this be the last of your inappropriate actions".

Pascal stared at the man in front of her, completely stunned by his action.

"Don't worry Pascal, the others will be here soon" continued the voice she would recognize anywhere.

In front of her stood Hubert Oswell. Her friends were coming for her.

Lost archive - Database

Entry: Eleth-spirits

Last edit: ...DISPLAY ERROR...

Eleth-spirits are currently the highest valued theory on how planet-core's and Valkines work. As accidentally discovered by the colleagues Cornell and Emeraude of the humanoid-research lab, a planet's core is able to produce eleth by itself (See entry - Fodra's core).

The eleth produced by the planet's core normally accumulates without further stimulation and does nothing. This however is in conflict with other papers that claim that the eleth-core of every form of life is formed in the planet's core. The theory that has been agreed on after several meetings has been the assumed existing of another entity, eleth-spirits. It is an agreed premise that these eleth-spirits provide the necessary means to disrupt eleth-accumulation and distribute it over the surface of the planet which in turn are the basis for life.

The existance of eleth-spirits remains yet to be proven, therefore questions if they possess a conscience can't be answered at this point in time.

END OF ENTRY

~ 1000 views special ~

Cyandine

The story of Cyandine is a story of ancient times, a minor scene on the stages of history, forgotten by most despite being the very reason the republic of Strahta came to life. It begins with a little red-headed girl named Darena in the kingdom of Strahta, two decades before a revolution turned the country into a giant warzone out of which the strahtan republic arose.

Three times this little girl met with water. And three times she emerged.

The first time, she was a child.

Carelessly she climbed on cliffs near the ocean and fell to her death. After her body broke through the surface she saw Duplemar. No, she felt Duplemar. An immortal presence in the water, watching with warm eyes, guarding the sea, guarding life.
It was not her time yet, the dragon decided. He gave her a second chance.

And so the little girl emerged from the water, badly wounded, but alive and well enough to survive until she was found.

The second time she was a teenager.

Driven by her feelings she followed her friend out on the sea, drawing in nets of fishes to fill the empty stomachs of their families caused by harsh taxes. They both knew that that a storm would arrive soon and still they went. For a time it looked like things would work out. But the storm came too fast. It surprised them on their way back to the shore. The boat sunk and with it the boy and Darena.

Again she came in front of the eyes of Duplemar. This time he wanted to keep her and let the boy live. She had already had a second chance. Against her wishes the boy sacrificed his own life and gave her a third chance.

And so the girl emerged from the water a second time, badly wounded in the depth of her heart, but alive enough to survive the sadness that followed her loss. Alive enough to grow stronger for it.

The third time she was a woman.

It would be the only time she sought the water for salvation.
The royal army razed her village during the rebellion that followed the harsh taxes. They slaughtered the men and did unspeakable things to the women. A few, unlucky souls they took with them for 'entertainment' on their way to the last big battle against the of them was Darena.

The horrible things she had seen and deeds they had done to her body were enough to break her. For a long time she became their toy until she was no longer able to bear it and sought to flee into death's painless embrace. A cliff, just like the one she had climbed in her early years, would be her chance of escape. But her body hit the water and again did she find herself in front of the warm gaze of Duplemar.

He knew of her pain. He knew of the things she had to endure, the things that had broken both her body and her soul. He showed compassion.

And so the woman emerged from the water a third time. This time no wound adorned her new shape while her soul was slowly bleeding out inside her. No mercy was in her eyes as she made her way to the royal army, wielding power no human being should be allowed to wield.

In this night the woman Darena died, along with the core of the royal army which eventually lead to the downfall of the whole kingdom. The broken woman finally followed her family to find peace. There would not be another time she returned to the water.

But in her place, a new life was born.

In her place Cyandine returned.

AN:
Ladys and Gentleman, I want to move your attention towards me editing this chapters and shortening the AN. I mean who cares about that anyways. Here also small additional info that might be nice for you to know.

For those who didn't understand Pascal-ish:

Sophie's soul = Soul from Fodra
Hubert/Asbel/Cheria = Soul from Lastalia + Fodra because of Sophie-particles
Pascal = Soul from Lastalia + Elements of Duplemar/Forbrannir/Gloandi in her aura because of elemental spirits like Cyandine/Bloodflame/Sylvie who are nothing more than humans that decided to serve them for eternity and were given all their power and therefore their aura by their new lords.

I also want to explain something. Valkines-dragons can have two kinds of servants: Normal dragons like the one Asbel & crew already fought and elemental spirits. Elemental spirits are kind of special because they are not created by their master, instead they are a modified preëxisting life that decided to serve one of the Valkines guardians. All the three summonings of Pascal are elemental spirits.

And yes, we're going with the idea here that in ToG souls are what make machines different from true life and allow living things to feel emotions. It's a nice plot element and a bit more...romantic than the scientific point of view.

Like always, reviews are very much appreciated because I'd very much like to improve my style ;-)