To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
-Oscar Wilde
The Great Kingdom of Minerva, Southern Ardeneon.
May 2
If you were to ask River Ladiston to describe his step cousin Nyxia Zyran in just one word he would undoubtedly choose the word 'headache'. Saying she annoyed him would be an understatement, her entire existence gave him a migraine, every single time she opened her mouth the speak, he was instantly reminded of a fly. And that's not an insult to Nyxia, it's just an accurate description of her personality. A description which Dexter would no doubt agree with.
"Are we there yet?" Nyxia chimes for the millionth time on their walk deep into Minerva.
"Oh my days, Nyxia can you please stop talking?" Dexter mutters under his breath but she didn't hear him.
"You can always go back home, there's no need skipping your lessons for this" River responds calmly because he knew if she kept talking.m, Dexter would lose his calm, and that wouldn't help matters.
"But then Dexter would be all alone, we can't have that now can we?" she eyes River.
"Dexter doesn't even care about your existence dude." River wanted to say but he decides to keep it to himself.
"From the bottom of my heart, I really wish you could just disappear Nyxia" Dexter breathes out as they trudge through the snow "There's a light in the distance, maybe it's closer to the tailer farm"
"You know I want you Dexter, it's not a secret I tried to hide" Nyxia fumes her eyes tearing up.
"I wish you would keep it a secret" Dexter answers nonchalantly.
Ever since Skai became unresponsive, Dexter changed, he's been harsher and less interested in anything that doesn't benefit Skai's welfare, it doesn't help the fact that Nyxia forced herself to go with them and literally frisks Dexter every 4 hours...their journey started 9 hours ago.
9 hours. When they started this trip, they had 234 hours left, now they have just 225.
They needed to get a move on. River and Dexter knew this, but Nyxia seemed to have been having trouble catching on.
"Nyxia, I swear if you keep making this trip slower than it already is with your incessant whining and unacceptable behavior, I will end your life." River threatens dead serious.
He wouldn't have Skai die because of the excuse of a sprite.
"You would kill me?" she laughs mockingly "You don't have the nerve"
"We'll see" he gives her a tight-lipped smile "Just keep testing the waters, I won't be putting my sister's life on the line for your stupidity."
"That is not just a light" Dexter says and they look at the direction he was looking at, some sort of avalanche.
In the distance, what Dexter was talking about seems to be approaching eerily closer.
"Is it getting closer to us?" Nyxia asks
"So you do have a brain?" Dexter gasps sarcastically making River stifle his laughter.
"Should we run?" River whispers to Dexter
"Let's have Nyxia check it out" he smirks wickedly.
"Something worse might lie ahead, let's not use her just yet" River tells him.
"We should check it out" Nyxia suggests.
"I mean I didn't intend for you to get hurt so soon but go off" River shrugs and she shoots daggers at him with her eyes.
Suddenly an ice wall rises in front of them, 2 months ago River and Dexter would have been surprised, amazed...and maybe scared a little. But right now, they were wondering who thought it was a smart idea to inconvenience them like that.
"You're in the way-" River covers Dexter's mouth before he could finish his sentence. He needed them to be sure the person wasn't a threat before they speak however they please.
"You're not from here are you" a feminine but familiar voice points out. She remolds the ice to look like a slope.
She slides down the slope, her skin so pale, nearly as pale as the snow yet still reflecting the ice, snow white hair cascading past her shoulders in loose curls softly bouncing as she skids, bangs covering her forehead, her ghastly eyes bores into theirs, something flashes in them but disappears soon after.
"What are you doing here?" She asks.
"I don't think it will have much to do with you" River shrugs trying to move around her when she whistles, and a herd of tailers begin to surround them one by one.
"What the hell" Dexter mutters and Nyxia starts squirming latching on to Dexter, Dexter trying to push her off.
"You need to leave" the girl commands.
"Look, we mean no harm" River tells her "We just need a dead tailer, please"
"Why would I give a northerner anything?" she scoffs "Deceased tailers belong on Minervan soil."
"I'll do anything for one"
"Go back to your home" she tells them.
"We have no home, lady" Dexter breathes out aggravated. "Please, there's a hole where my heart used to be, if she dies, then I'll lose every idea, every dream of living, we wouldn't come all the way here to thread southern grounds, we just need the damn tailer." A tear trickles down his face. Dexter was beginning to lose it, and something tugs at Rivers heartstrings.
Skai is going to be safe; Dexter will keep her safe, River now knew he had no reason to worry. They just need to wake her up first.
"I don't care, that has nothing to do with me." She shrugs.
"You're heartless" River mutters.
"And one of you is a murderer but of course I'm the heartless one" She chuckles lowly.
Dexter and River lock eyes confusion evident on both of their faces, "murderer?" they both mumble.
"I don't know what you're on, but we're not murderers you can't just make things up because you don't like northerners." River sighs "My sister is dying, we just need the heart of a tailer, that's all" he explains to her.
Something seems to click in her brain and the ice wall breaks down revealing a sled.
"In and out, no detours" she warns, and they nod. "That one doesn't speak?" she nods her head at Nyxia while talking to River and Dexter.
"It's for the best" Dexter assures her as they all settle down in the sled.
"What's your name?" River asks her as she was tying the tailers to the sled.
"You don't need to know" she climbs into the sled, sitting at the front center. "Get what you need and get out, I don't need to be affiliated with any of you"
'Isn't she just a bundle of joy!' River tries to keep his calm considering that she is helping them, 'just get the tailer heart and get out of here.' He reminds himself
"How long is it to the farm?" He asks her.
"Would be shorter if you weren't talking" she quips.
"Just answer the question" Dexter groans clearly not in the mood to deal with her lack of manners.
"We're not going to the farm; we're going through the village to the cemetery. That's the only place you can get a deceased tailer" she explains under her breath.
"Why are you helping us?" Nyxia asks and River throws her a bombastic side eye. "If someone is helping you, you let them help you before getting all curious with them." He whispers to her, River wanted to know too but he would rather she finished helping them before trying to figure it out. "I swear you get dumber by the day."
The lady doesn't answer Nyxia.
"Just asking" Nyxia huffs.
"Shut up, will you?" Dexter breathes out. "Couldn't have said it any better." River says to himself under his breath.
"Anything you say" she swoons. 'I swear I've never met anyone as desperately stupid as Nyxia...and I thought Skai was bad, this is another level, is it a family thing? Could I be that way? No no, it's Skai's side of the family. That's crazy to say, Skai's part of the family, we used to be one family.' River couldn't stop the swarm of thoughts in his brain.
"What's your name?" Dexter asks while shaking Nyxia off.
"Not your business" she mutters.
"Just wanted to know the name of our helper jeez" Dexter grumbles back and River nudges him despite being just as curious.
"Let's just appreciate her help silently, okay? She's not interested in getting to know us or vice versa" River whispers to him.
"She seems nice I don't know" he shrugs, and River looks at him like as if he had two heads.
They slowly approach the village, and no one seems even a bit fazed by the dozens of tailers coming towards them.
"Put your hoods on" the lady instructs them, and they comply without hesitation...well except for Nyxia she was struggling to put hers on but if we're being honest she just wanted Dexter to help her out.
River couldn't understand her obsession with him, in irritation he aggressively pulls the cloak over her head. "It's really not that hard dude, even little Phinius can do it" he rolls his eyes.
The journey was painfully slow, but they eventually arrived at the Minervan tailer cemetery. Both boys couldn't wrap their head around the whole obsession with tailers to the point that they had to build a whole cemetery for them.
"Come on quick" the lady ushers them towards the gates and they scurry inside following her orders.
"If we get caught, we're all done for, tailers are Minerva's pride and joy" she tells them "That and the mineral mines"
"If you'll get in trouble, why are you helping us?" Nyxia asks, River and Dexter were thinking it too, but they just wanted to get the heart and get back to Zephyr.
"You want my help or not?" She sputters causing River to wonder whether she was leading them to their death, All the confidence she had a second ago just disappeared.
"Kashi!" she waves over at a guy that looks like her as they walk into a building at the cemetery. He is sitting behind the reception.
"We need a heart" she says placing her hands over the desk staring at the guy with big doe eyes.
"Do I look like an organ distributor?" he chuckles softly looking back at her. "You're serious?" it dawns upon him.
"Why would I jokingly ask for a heart?" she looks at him confused.
"What kind of heart?" he asks slowly.
"A tailer heart"
"Zumi, I can't just give you a tailer heart" he looks at her seriously "That's got to be illegal"
'Ah, so that's her name, Zumi' River thinks as she walks behind the desk pulling him behind a closed door.
"Think that's her dad?" Dexter voices River's internal questions "maybe son?"
"It's her brother" Nyxia says as if it was the most obvious thing on earth.
"Okay Einstein" River taunts but he knew she was most likely right, she's used to the ageing of sprites, they're not.
"So, her name is Zumi" Dexter breathes out.
"I guess" River shrugs, and they step out of the door.
"The head guard beeped me early in the morning, he's bringing his dead tailer in today." The guy 'Kashi' informs them "I'm Takashi by the way, Takashi Mako" he gives them a soft smile.
'At least someone here has manners'. River forces himself not to say that out loud.
"And I'm only doing this favor because-" 'Zumi' nudges Takashi and he groans. "Point is I'm doing the favor, so you can't tell a living or dying soul" he says in all seriousness still recovering from the pain inflicted on him by who they are assuming is his sister.
"We won't, we promise" Dexter tells him.
"Do we?" Nyxia mumbles.
"If we break it then you can take her" River smiles at him before leaning in and whispering "she is very irrelevant to the cause"
For some odd reason they both seemed to understand what he meant. "Take them inside Zumi" Takashi tells 'Zumi', and she nods in compliance.
"Come in" she motions for them to go around the desk, and they do, following her through the doors into their home.
It didn't have excessive gold and marble like the Bolveras, it wasn't huge and bougie like Palace Zyran, but it felt lived in, it's minimalistic and family fit.
She escorts them to the couch, and they all sit down in wait, well Nyxia is looking around in disgust, but the two boys sit in wait.
"Since my brother already mentioned my name, it's only fair I introduce myself" she breathes out uninterested "I'm Suzumi, Suzumi Mako, Minervan descent"
'Pretty name and pretty face, too bad she has a bad attitude.' River couldn't help but think. She's helping you River, just be grateful.
"River Ladiston" He pauses wondering if he should say his descent "Zale descent" he shrugs.
"Dexter Bardo, Shivan descent"
"Nyxia Zyran, daughter of Arran and Liya Zyran, Granddaughter of King Khalil and Queen Wilhelmina Zyran of Zephyr descent"
"You didn't have to do that much" Suzumi shakes her head "I promise you, I couldn't care less"
Dexter and River both stifle their laughter as she defends herself "It's royal protocol" Nyxia shrugs innocently.
"It's only called for when you're in your kingdom, here in Minerva or anywhere at all aside from Zephyr or maybe the capital, you're nobody" Suzumi says with a straight face, not one emotion evident on it.
Shivers run through both boys and Nyxia doesn't respond, she flat out ignores Suzumi.
"So, how long till the guy comes with the tailer?" Dexter asks Suzumi.
"Pfft. I don't know" she picks at her nails, deep in thought... Dexter hoped they'd get the heart before she realizes it's a bad idea putting herself on the line for complete strangers.
Her eyes meet River's and she asks, "How's Zale like?" it seemed more like an interrogation than a question.
"Never been" he answers truthfully.
"You're from there but you've never been there?" she scoffs "So where exactly have you been?"
"Everywhere in the north but Zale I guess...and Nieves, and I've been to Thairo" he gives her an answer one which she seems to understand almost immediately.
"What about you two?" she demands looking at Dexter and Nyxia.
"Same with River" Dexter shrugs.
"I only go to Alpinel and back to Zephyr" Nyxia shrugs bubbly "The only reason I go to Alpinel is for school, I go to Lu-" Suzumi cuts her off.
"So now you're just travelling the south, it's not safe here you know?" she tells them sympathy subtly lacing her tone.
"Well, you can only choose safety when you have the choice" Dexter smiles sadly.
Meanwhile, Emily and Elijah seem to be lost on their journey to Nefeli.
The Floating Kingdom of Nefeli, Southern Ardeneon.
"This is not Nefeli" Elijah scans his surroundings deeply unsettled, and Emily opens her scroll touch, quickly going to 'pathfinder'
Elijah had been hiding something from her, she could feel it, she just didn't know how to approach him about it with all that is going on. Perhaps she'll bring it up after Skai wakes up.
Her eyes trail off of the pathfinder in confusion, according to it they're in Nefeli. taking in their surroundings slowly and more cautiously this time, her eyes graze the grass around them, casually peering over the cliff in front of them and darting towards the sky and then it catches their eye.
An upside-down mountain floating above them, adding a touch of color to the southern skies. "We're underneath it" Emily informs Elijah, and he looks up, just like Zephyr, Nefeli graces the blue hues of the Ardeneon skies.
Looking down the cliff they are standing by, Emily's words become stuck in her throat, and she gulps, Elijah senses her discomfort and encases her palm in his pulling her closer to him.
"Can you zoom into Nefeli grounds?" Elijah asks her and she does so on the pathfinder letting go of his hand, he sucks in a sharp breath deep in thought "I think I can get us into Nefeli" he tells her quietly.
"Unless, we had a Pegasus" she looks into his eyes "or an aircraft...there's no way into Nefeli from down here, it's not like we can fly" She had no idea what he was thinking but she did know that getting up there is impossible without some sort of flight.
"This might be even better" he gives her a small unsure smile...she did not like the look of that, Elijah is always sure. He wraps his arms tightly around her and does the unthinkable... he jumps off the cliff.
"Elijah Starling!" she curses at him, her eyes shut tight, this is not the way she planned to die, she continues to throw profanities at him, hoping he had some sort of trick up his sleeve, she tried to trust Elijah...knowing he wouldn't lead them to their death without a plan.
Scratch that, she was now convinced that they were going to go splat anytime soon, she continues throwing profanities at him until they land...they didn't go splat.
It was more like a soft thud.
"What was that?" she looks up at him as if he is mad, waiting impatiently for an explanation, and it had better be a good one.
"Surprise?" he scratches his neck "I can teleport" he stands up from the snowy ground ignoring the eyes on them and reaches his hand out to her, she takes it still startled from what just happened.
"I have a heap of questions to ask, but that will have to wait till we get back to Zephyr" she sighs trying to focus on their objective.
"Of all places we could land, the middle of the market" she groans softly watching the hustle and bustle which is relative to markets.
Some sprites landing on the ground and their wings disappearing, others are buying things, some are in a rush and little sprites or younglins as they say playing around while their parents get groceries. It's all kind of warm, that's a bit contradictory seeing as the weather is freezing cold.
"Bad day to wear summer clothes" Elijah says and Emily sighs.
"Where exactly would we even get the hezmorphic flower?" Elijah opens his scroll touch looking at the picture of it he took from the history books.
The purple flower has a silver lining to it that contains the important element they need to save Skai, aesophlyric wiclae. The flower looks almost poisonous, and according to the books they had read prior to their journey to Alpinel, it is poisonous.
"It only grows on royal grounds; I can't believe I'm saying this Ellie, but we need to sneak into the royal garden." Emily tells him as they make their way out of the market, using the map.
"One step ahead of you, sunshine" Elijah chuckles changing his scroll touch into binoculars.
"What are you doing?" she looks at him confusion probably clinging onto every inch of her facial composition.
"I can only teleport when I'm experiencing some sort of adrenaline rush" Elijah sputters out in an attempt to explain.
"So, you're going to teleport us into the garden and then back to Zephyr" She concludes.
"No, no" He pauses and looks at her, "We can't go in together, someone has to be on the outside, judging by the looks we're getting, word has reached the palace that we popped up here."
"So, what do we do?" she sighs exasperated.
"We need to get to the edge of Nefeli first" Elijah begins to explain "I'll teleport into the garden somehow, then I'll come back for you, all you have to do sunshine is tell me if anyone is near with your map"
She pauses thinking it through "That isn't really possible, I can't be on a call with you and on the pathfinder"
....
"Wow this garden is beautiful" Emily gapes as they get up from the cold floor. It really is beautiful; it would be even better if snow didn't lace the plants and the fountain wasn't ice. The place itself looks like it's made of ice.
"We should start looking fast" Elijah mutters and Emily nods in agreement.
The garden was huge seeming endless, it would possibly take ages to find the flower, days even, so Elijah thought.
"Found it!" Emily whisper yells and Elijah looked over at the area she was searching, an array of blue flowers, different kinds, different sizes all sat nicely next to each other.
Elijah scurries over to her, his eyes rest eagerly on the purple flowers which were scattered in the midst of the blue one, he quickly digs the jar stuffed in his satchel out as Emily pulls two out. As they place it in the jar an alarm goes off.
"We have to get out of here" he tells her.
"You don't think the alarm is for us, do you?" She looks at him and he shoves the jar back into his satchel.
"Better safe than sorry" Elijah scans the garden searching for a way out, no cliff, no exit, just an endless field.
"Let's hide" he suggests.
"That alarm being for us is 50-50 anyways, it's possibly nothing." Emily sighs, and Elijah pulls her towards the fountain that is in the middle of the garden.
"Stop right there!" A voice calls out and a powerful gust of wind comes out of nowhere hitting their faces. Elijah immediately pulls Emily closer to him.
They both curse as they slowly look up and just as they feared. A guard.
"We mean no harm" Elijah starts to plead their case.
"You'll tell that to the King"