Please note that this backstory chapter contains scenes that may be upsetting to some readers.
Chapter 7.5: Deep Sister
Windharp dedicated days in her room, honing her magical skills when she learned her older sister, Icedancer, and her fiancé Corus were creating a world they called Ossyria. To Windharp, her home of Toaton seemed so dull without Icedancer. Being nearly 60 years younger, Windharp almost idolized her older sister, being only 16 herself. Not to mention that even though Windharp could perform some simple magic, Icedancer was the one she turned to for help.
Despite Icedancer's constant attention to the world he was creating, Windharp carefully practiced her magic, eventually learning spells and methods for looking into the future, though it wasn't much more than about an hour.
"Wait until Windharp sees what I've done on my own!" She thought, waiting in anticipation for her sister's next visit. Their father was a politically powerful man in Toaton from a world called Versal, where the sun rarely shone, making his skin pale and ashen. Their mother was a Nymph Fairy, with large wings covered in soft feathers, some claiming she looked like an angel, a trait inherited by her sister Icedancer. Windharp, instead, held a rather elegant beauty, even if her tanned skin had a slight grey tint, like her father's. Despite their heritage differences, the sisters were quite beautiful, Windharp often being pursued by the town's young men.
At last, Icedancer and Corus returned to Toaton, both beaming as they told everyone within ear's reach of Ossyria's completion, their crowning achievement being their marriage in celebration. For the next week, Windharp did all she could to spend time with her sister, talking about their adventures in the other world, what spells or energies they encountered, but most of all, showing Icedancer what she had learned in being able to read the future.
"It's strange, though; most of everything I've seen never happens."
"Time Unwritten is something we cannot see with absolute clarity. My good friend, the Goddess Rhinne, told me of this. Those of us who use magic to read time can only see what could happen if certain events play out."
"So, I've only been seeing possibilities?"
"Exactly; only two entities can read time with certainty: Goddess Rhinne and the creature at the center of all time, Nexus." Windharp slumped over and hung her head; all her hard work to practice and become slightly as versed as her older sister was for naught.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Windharp: I'm proud of you for learning this much by yourself. I could never fully understand how to see the future as you do, even if it is a possible future." Icedancer said, hugging her close. Still, Windharp didn't feel any less disappointed.
"Tell you what; I will make you the Maid of Honor at my wedding. I haven't even picked out what color I want the dresses to be yet, and the wedding is in a week." Windharp's eyes lit up in excitement, forgetting about the disappointment of her spells, wrapping her arms around Icedancer and squealing in joy. The following week, she stood next to Icedancer, whose white wings sparkled with diamonds gathered by the people of their small mining village. The day after the wedding, Icedancer and Corus opened a portal to Ossyria, inviting anyone brave or curious to come to Ossyria and begin a new life.
Windharp stood off to one side, watching with sad enjoyment as a few people went through, wondering what the new world was like on the other side. She was just turning back for her room and prophesy spells when Icedancer called to her.
"Why don't you come with us? It would be a chance to expound upon your spells and be able to learn from my friend Rhinne. She is a powerful person in Ossyria, and I'll bet she would love to have you as a protégé."
"No, I'm alright here. If my sister can learn spells on her own, I can too. And by the time you return for a visit, I'll be a powerful sage just like you." she answered with a brave but forced smile. Icedancer nodded to Corus, who went through the portal as Icedancer approached her beloved sister, now standing slightly taller than her.
"Windharp, I didn't learn everything I know on my own. I spent years with masters of the arts before you were born. When my thirst for knowledge first began, Corus and I did what we could in training with the mage here. When we finished training here, our thirst didn't stop, and we traveled across Toaton and even across worlds to learn from the best masters those worlds had to offer. The knowledge you have gained without any master's help is incredible! I would be honored if you could teach me what you've learned." Windharp turned back to Icedancer with a tearful smile on her face.
"Really?"
"Yes, really. Coming to Ossyria will allow you to broaden your knowledge of your spells. Power there is still quite thick and available to help you learn." Windharp bit her lip in thought, Icedancer seeing the battle raging across her face.
"Can I at least have a room of my own?" Windharp asked. Icedancer smiled broadly and nodded, opening the portal after the two of them had said goodbye to their parents. When Windharp first laid eyes on Ossyria, she was awe-struck, taking in every inch of the forests, deserts, mountains, and garden areas, instantly feeling something wash over her entire body, tingling with a light burn.
"This place is amazing! And you two made this yourselves?!" She asked but didn't hear Icedancer's answer, admiring the plants that grew around the area they had come to, a city named Ereve. She was coming back to where Corus and Icedancer were talking to a fetching young woman dressed in a flowing white toga when Icedancer caught sight of her.
"Rhinne, this is my younger sister Windharp, the one I told you about." The young woman turned to her with a smile and extended her hand.
"My, my, Minerva, she's even prettier than you described; it is a pleasure to finally meet you." Icedancer smiled shyly, leaving Windharp taken aback. She spoke with Rhinne about her abilities long into the night, her step lighter and her head buzzing with all the new information the goddess gave. But when she saw Icedancer again, questions about her name flooded Windharp's mind, catching her sister's attention.
"What did Rhinne mean by calling you Minerva? Has she mistaken you for someone else?"
"No Windharp. Minerva is the name father gave me. Icedancer was given to me by mother. I have only used my second name because it is easier for most people to remember or say. Icedancer is still my name, but I consider it special, and only a select few people know it." Windharp nodded, smiling to know that she was considered a special person to know her sister's fairy name.
Decades passed in peaceful bliss as Windharp refined her abilities, learning from her older sister, whom she also referred to as Minerva, and Rhinne, perfecting her art to the point where she could see further into the possible future, even seeing multiple futures.
Many people came to her asking for their futures to be shown or fortunes to be told. Still, no matter how often she warned them that the future being shown to them was only a possible future, most people would blame her if her readings didn't come true. A few used her readings as advice and watched for events to avoid or take advantage of, one of whom was a man who often visited her. It had been at least four years since she came to Ossyria, maturing into an exquisitely beautiful woman.
Time and time again, this man named Allen would come to Windharp's shop, spending nearly an hour there talking with her or sharing a simple meal he prepared and brought with him, making others wait endlessly. While Allen's gestures were flattering, he wasn't the kind of man she could see herself falling in love with. But Allen had other ideas: he kept trying to woo her, giving her gifts, and trying to find a reason to spend time with her. But to him, she didn't understand his not-so-subtle hints until he confronted her about it.
"Windharp, listen, are you just blowing me off? I've been trying to get your attention for the longest time, but it seems that nothing I do is enough."
"Allen, you are a good friend; I enjoy your visits, and your gifts and actions are flattering. But I am looking for someone with whom I can share my prospects, who can see what's before them and not accept that is the only thing there."
"But I do that!"
"I'm sorry, Allen, but no, you don't," Windharp replied sympathetically. Allen huffed, shaking his head as he thought of an answer to come back with.
"Windharp, didn't you tell me that the woman I could fall in love with would be difficult?"
"The reading I gave you was a possible future, not the absolute truth. I can't see a 'for certain' future. Only Rhinne can do that."
"Well, stop being so difficult and just go out with me! I've tried many times, but you refuse me every time." Allen growled, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards him, but Windharp pulled away easily, pulling her shoulders back and straightening to her full height, nearly a full head taller than Allen.
"You will accept me one way or another." He growled, storming out of the shop and pushing Minerva aside, who stood outside her door.
"Windharp, is everything alright?" she asked.
"Everything's fine, Minerva. I believe Allen has misinterpreted the future I read for him as absolute, as have many." She huffed, brushing back her long violet hair out of her face. Over the years, Windharp had grown quite tall, standing over six feet, a foot taller than Minerva, which was enough to scare most men off, but not Allen.
"I see; I'm sorry to hear that. Should I have a guard posted in case the situation should escalate?"
"No, I'll be fine. What brings you here?" Windharp asked with a playful smile.
"A warning: there have been a string of attacks on women as of late; the lucky ones are still at the healer's in a coma." Windharp pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to think of a way that she could help her sister.
"Do you have any clues?" she asked, but Minerva only shook her head in disappointment.
"I can search for something tomorrow; quite a few people asked for a reading, and it has left me quite drained," Windharp stated apologetically, slumping into a chair and closing her eyes with a long breath.
"It would make me feel better if a guard were posted outside your room tonight." Icedancer urged. Reluctantly, Windharp agreed to the guard but still thought she would be alright, even leaving one of her windows open despite the guard's insistence that she keep it closed. Late that night, a noise woke her from her peaceful slumber. Opening her eyes, she sleepily sat up, waving her hand and lighting all the candles throughout her room, seeing nothing unusual. To be sure, she initiated a Seeking Spell, magically feeling out the layout of her room. A soft aqua light spread over her room, forming over every object in her room. Once the spell finished, she waved her hand to put out the candles and returned to her warm covers. But a moment later, she thought more thoroughly about the Seeking Spell and what it revealed. In the corner of her room next to the window, part of the spell distorted, though nearly imperceptively.
Windharp readied to throw off the covers and relight the candles when the air within her room felt changed as if someone had drunk a potion or activated a spell. Throwing off her covers and igniting the candles, their orange glow revealed a dark-masked man standing in the middle of her room holding an empty bottle.
"Who are you?" Windharp demanded, fire thundering in her palm. The guard burst through the door at the sound of her voice, only to be thrown back out as the door slammed shut when the man threw out his hand. In another blur of motion, the chair from her vanity flew under the door's handle, barring the guard from coming in. Windharp moved to her knees, readying to hurl her readied spell, when the man teleported on top of her, throwing the spell into the ceiling and pinning her to the bed.
His eyes were sickeningly wild, and the stronger she fought, the stronger he became. She tried to teleport away, but something felt like it blocked her mana, unable to form the needed rift. His heavy, guttural panting as he leaned down to her ear and whispered to her disgusted her more than anything. Windhard could hear the guard slamming his body against the door, which changed to the sound of his sword hacking away at the door, shouting to the other guards in the castle for help.
"I told you you would accept me," He growled, kneeling on her arm and rubbing his hand up her thigh, making her squirm and struggle until he knelt harder on her arms. He reached for one of the straps of her nightgown and slid it off her shoulder, but when she cried for him to stop, he put a hand over her mouth and shook his head.
"You don't want to cut our time short, do you?" He growled, sliding his hand softly down her jaw and neck, to her shoulder to her waist, and greedily running his tongue up the side of her neck. The slimy sensation made Windharp grit her teeth, slamming her knee into his groin and pushing him off when he loosened his grip on her, scrambling to the other side of the room.
"Oh, I like 'em feisty!" He groaned, staggering to his feet and pulling a short knife. Minerva shoved open the door just enough to see inside, watching as the man lunged at her sister.
"STAY AWAY!" Windharp shouted, forcing out as a spear of light shot from her hand through his chest and pinning him to the wall. Windharp threw dozens of spears, each one hitting a vital point on his body, until Minerva teleported to Windharp and grabbed her wrists to stop her assault.
"No! Stay Away! Get away from me!"
"WINDHARP! It's me, Icedancer!" Icedancer's shout made Windharp snap out of her fear-driven rage, collapsing into Minerva's arms, shaking and shuddering in tears. Outside the window, Minerva and the guard heard feet hitting the ground and sprinting into the night.
"Guard!"
"I'm on it, Your Highness!" the posted guard shouted, leaping out of the window and hurtling into the night while Minerva turned to the guard accompanying her.
"Sound the alarm; I want Ereve locked down. No one gets in or out. Bring anynotsn't part of the Royal Court to my throne room." Within seconds, the Royal Knights had closed all the gates and stationed soldiers around the perimeter while guards took Allen's corpse away. However, the guards never found the second person through the few hours until dawn with constant security sweeps. Minerva stayed with her sister through the rest of the night, speaking to guards in hushed tones so as not to add to the shuddering terror still clinging to her soul.
"Your Highness, you need to see this." a knight urged. Minerva ensured that Windhard would be alright before following the knight to a balcony overlooking the front gate. The light revealed a growing mob as the sun broke over the horizon.
"Oh no…" Minerva whispered.
"Shall we escort them away, Your Highness?" the knight asked, both of them starting to hear the growing chants and shouts of the mob demanding Windharp's head.
"No, that will only escalate matters."
"Do you think the second suspect gathered these people?" Minerva was about to respond when she heard one of the mob bellowing over the crowd.
"Why do we let these sisters rule over us? Luring otherwise innocent people to their deaths?! I am the groundskeeper for Ereve and saw everything!" the man shouted, turning and pointing to Minerva as she stood on the balcony.
"We have no groundskeeper, Your Highness."
"I know," Minerva growled through clenched teeth. "Find out who that man is and bring him to the throne room," she seethed, listening to the howling accusations of the man standing at their gates as the knight left for his assigned task.
"We, the people of Ossyria, need a check for those like Minerva and her sister so they can't kill us on a whim!" Minerva lowered her brow as the crowd became enraged, turning to Corus, who joined her on the balcony.
"Consulting Rhinne would be our best option. She could show us the exact moment," Corus grunted, staring at the mob with a lowered brow as three knights approached the gate.
"Very well. And once you have contacted the goddess, oversee the investigation of the attacks." Minerva huffed, turning for the hall behind her as Corus followed.
"And what of you? Are you going to speak to the mob?"
"No. There is the man claiming to be a groundskeeper for Ereve; I would like a word with him."
"Be careful, my love: This could be a tactic to paint us poorly to the people of Ossyria," Corus warned, squeezing her hand before leaving on his task. After a few moments, Minerva swept into the throne room, where three knights stood guard around the man claiming to be the groundskeeper. He appeared to be nothing more than an average man with a high forehead and his dark brown hair tied back, causing it to frame his face.
"So, the high and mighty Minerva, the Gentle, brings me into her presence. Was Corus too pompous to grace us with his presence?" the man sneered, pulling his lips to the side and tilting his head back, glaring at her over his upturned nose. Minerva stood silent with her back to him, gathering her composure before turning to face him.
"What is your motive, sir?" She asked, shifting her wings and approaching slowly.
"Whatever do you mean?" The man shot back, looking down at his fingernails in boredom.
"Telling the people of Ossyria being our Groundskeeper when no such person exists: to what end are you using such a tale?" The man stared at his nails for a while, taking a long breath before putting his hands behind him.
"You think you're superior to us, don't you?" he finally asked.
"Excuse me?"
"Do you and Corus think you are worthy to lead us because you created a world? What gives you the right to name yourselves our leaders without consideration for the will of the people?" The man asked with a smooth and smug tone, sauntering closer to Minerva. The Knights readied to guard her until she held up her hand, and they stood at the ready once more.
"Corus and I didn't take our thrones by force, nor do we seek to lord it over you. We simply assumed the role as no one else was present after Ossyria's completion."
"And yet you continue to hoard the role for yourself, even after almost 70 years. Being the nearly immortal sages you are, what stops you from maintaining your rule indefinitely?" Minerva squinted her eyes and thought through her response.
"That isn't what I asked you. Why did you blatantly lie to the people of Ossyria about being the groundskeeper of Ereve?" The man smiled as he neared her, leaning close to her face and speaking in a low, resonant voice, chuckling.
"Your sister is such a tease. I merely… provided the means for Allen to fulfill her deepest wishes."
"You know nothing of Windharp," Minerva growled.
"But I don't need to. I've already gotten what I want. Zeh others were merely test subjects." As the man spoke, it sounded like another accent began to surface in his speech while he pulled out and donned his round-rimmed glasses.
"But it appears that my weakening potion still needts work." Minerva felt a rise in power around her but couldn't tell where it was coming from.
"And what would that be?"
"Oh, nien nien nien, I can't spoil the surprise just yet. Needt-less to say, your sister is zeh key." he laughed, throwing a bottle at his feet and disappearing in a plume of dark vapors before anyone could react, his laugh echoing through the gardens and hallways around them. Moments later, Corus and Rhinne appeared in the throne room, still able to hear the fading echos of the man's laughter.
"What happened here?" Rhinne questioned. Minerva said nothing, looking to Corus with a set brow and fire in her normally unguarded eyes.
"Corus, I need you and Rhinne to show the people what happened to my sister; I have important business to attend to."
"What of Windharp?" Corus asked, knowing that Minerva was always protective of her, even if Windharp was physically stronger and taller than her.
"She is my important business."
"What about the man you brought here from the mob? Did he reveal anything useful?"
"I don't know, but whatever he's after involves Windharp, and he isn't through. Ensure that she is safe for the next few hours; I will return," She said, disappearing in a cloud of mana. Corus and the goddess did as Minerva requested, showing the mob what happened to Windharp and gaining the people's sympathy. Once through, Rhinne comforted her, saying nothing but staying close, which Corus and the Knights began searching once more for the man Minerva spoke to after hearing detailed descriptions from the knights present.
As the sun began to dip below the horizon, Minerva returned, her wings, arms, and legs covered in dirt. When Windharp saw her, she immediately moved to her sister.
"Icedance, where have you been? And why are you covered in dirt?" she asked. Minerva told her about the man she had spoken to and his plans, teleporting them to a musty cave deep within the Aquiros Reef.
"Where are we?" Windharp asked when the dull glow of the fire burning in the cave made her realize she was no longer in Ereve.
"A hiding place for you deep in the ocean, where you will be safe."
"So I'm supposed to run away from it all?!" Windharp asked angrily.
"That man is tailoring his attacks and approaches for you specifically. While staying in the palace will offer you more protection, I highly doubt you would want to remain cooped up or be constantly escorted by a platoon of soldiers. Until we can locate this man, you will not be safe on the surface."
"So I'm supposed to stay in this dank cave alone?! Allen tried to force himself on me, Icedancer! Do you want me to forget about that?!" Windharp snapped. Minerva cooed and put a hand to the side of her sister's face in gentle comfort.
"No, but I will come to see you as often as possible to help you heal. Unfortunately, I can't let people know where you are, so please stay here for now. I will keep you safe, Windharp, I promise." Windharp huffed angrily, shaking her head and shrinking away from Minerva's caring touch when she tried to comfort her before disappearing in a cloud of mana, reappearing in the castle.
"Is she safe?" Corus asked as Minerva nodded her head when she noticed a girl standing with Corus.
"Who is this?"
"This girl has grown quite fond of your sister and begged to see her," Corus explained, motioning over to the girl where she sat talking to one of the Ember Sages. Minerva nodded her understanding and walked over to the girl, squatting down to her level.
"Hi there, what's your name?"
"Melissa. Where's Windharp?" The girl replied. Minerva smiled sadly.
"Windharp had to go away for a while. But there is someone a lot like her that she taught named Carta, the Sea Witch. She says she's not quite ready for people to visit her, but she will be soon. Would you like that?" The statement made the girl nod contentedly before one of the knights escorted her and the girl's mother to the front gate.
"Carta? Is that how you plan to hide her?" Corus asked coldly.
"It's all I can do for now, my love. In time, when things have settled, Windharp will come back to the surface. But for now, taking on another identity is her best chance of staying alive."
A plume of vapors fell away from the man who'd been in the palace a moment before, surrounded by his flasks, distilling condensers, and various potions on all manner of desks. After fanning away the smoke, the man walked to a less cluttered desk where a journal lay open, depicting neat handwriting on half the left side page. Taking up his quill, the man dipped it into the ink, narrating his words while he wrote.
"Test number 487 dash 3. Zeh potions effects on subject Allen and seh sage's sister vwere more potent zen projected outcomes. But zeh Sage's sister still proved more powerful zen my mana nullifying potion spell and my strength inhibiting potion spell. Both potion's potency vwill be amplified by a factor of eight to provide zeh desired effect." as the man finished his note, he moved halfway across the page, signing his name to the entry, just as he always did to ensure whoever discovered his research would know whom they owed their progress to: Dr. Gelimer Sakur.
