Revelations and Endings: Episode 2

Athelus sat and opened the ledger at the library desk as she had for countless days in a row. Polaris had asked her to maintain the library in her spare time, and she loved the job, but things had been so quiet for so long. A part of her, despite her affinity with healing, craved battle simply for a change of pace. Dracona hadn't even blown anything up in over a month. She knew why, but preferred not to think about it: everyone knew the Tower would have to move again soon. She took a walk through the halls and floors of books, pleased to see that, as always, all was in order. The Tower inhabitants treated the books with deep respect, and that satisfied her immensely. She sat down to write in her journal when a silvery orb of magic appeared in front of her. Whim magic, from Polaris, she thought.

"Speak, orb. What message do you bring?"

Polaris' voice came out of the silver orb and she could barely contain her inappropriate excitement. The Tower now faces it's greatest threat, beyond what we could ever conceive. Be prepared for a meeting soon. She leaped up at the thought, and realized she ought to worry and feel displeased rather than excited. She sat back down, desperately trying to relax, when she felt an odd tugging at her soul, as if someone had summoned her. Perhaps the meeting is already happening, she surmised, and relinquished herself to the tug with closed eyes.

She opened her eyes to an all-white room with nothing in it but a pedestal of whitewood topped by a frosted glass orb. This was the Room of Recording, a room where all the memories of many worlds could be stored and reviewed. The room held all information imaginable, but the room allowed people in by summons only. Such levels of information were dangerous, so only the Room decided who got in, when, and what they would see.

The room's deep voice spoke out: "Athelus, Healer-Warrior, will you see what I have to show you?" She had to choose, in that moment, whether she would put her hand on the frosted orb and see the memories offered her or decline, and lose this moment. She had no reason to fear, but walking up to the orb still felt solemn, somehow auspicious.

The walls of the room swirled with color and scenes began to appear. Athelus saw scenes of old enemies approaching the tower: Maleficent and the Heartless, Sauron and his orcs, and many others.

"The danger now coming will cause far more pain than anything that's ever happened." The voice said.

The colors swirled again and the wall displayed the many friends and members of the Tower. Athelus painfully realized how many were gone. The Tower had fewer inhabitants than ever before, and the pain ran deep.

"How can we hope to win with so few?" she asked the Room.

The colors swirled and displayed a young boy - perhaps a man, but youthful looking. He lay on the grass with a bow in hand, aiming for a rabbit. Athelus felt pained as she saw the the rabbit's den nearby and baby bunnies inside. She suddenly saw the hunter also notice the den. He relinquished his shot, lowered his bow. He tossed a carrot into the den and walked away. Athelus smiled at his generosity, and then saw the mark on his wrist. She knew that insignia: it was the brand of a local guild of assassins.

"Why do you show me this being?" she asked.

"He needs help. If you help him, he can help in return. But you must go find him."

"Where is he?"

The colors swirled faster and faster until Athelus found herself back in the library. She began packing some supplies hurriedly, and paused only when she realized Polaris stood in front of her. "Whatever you're doing, I trust you," he said.

"Thank you," she replied. As she rushed out of the room, Polaris tried to stop her to give her the book she left behind. Polaris knew that even in such a rush Athelus never left books behind. He didn't catch her however, and glanced at the book.

"Curious, indeed." He put the book back on her desk, tracing the word 'Hyozanryu' as he released it.