'...' thoughts
/.../ telepathy
Daystar's Prophecy Part 6
The village covered a roughly fifty acre area of the open valley through which the boys found themselves traveling. It had taken several more hours of walking but they had managed to arrive by lunchtime, just as Duo had thought. The main road, which they had been traveling on for some time, went through the middle of the village. It crossed over a small steam via a stone bridge about halfway through and had a few smaller roads that branched off and led into the surrounding countryside. There were approximately forty or fifty houses that they could see spread out around the main road, each with its own yard and garden. However, the area around the stone bridge was where the middle of the village appeared to be, and the boys could see a few larger structures there that appeared to be shops and inns. When they had nearly reached the first of the houses, Duo stopped and turned to look at them.
"Ok guys, there are a few things you need to know before we go any further." Duo explained, all signs of joking gone. "First, a quick geography lesson. Our current location is the center region of the continent of Isalidan, which is the largest of the three continents on this world, the other two being Pantari and Darsalo. Second, this region is inhabited solely by elves and fairies. And since fairies are few and far between, that means that most everyone we meet will most likely be elven."
"Duo, what exactly are you trying to say." Trowa prompted; evidently this was a touchy subject for the longhaired boy. He watched as the fairy closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing.
"After the war, the humans settled in the far south and over the years they've managed to gain back some of the trust they lost with the elves that also live in that area. But, around here, most of the elves haven't even seen a human for hundreds of years, if at all. Also, elves as a whole have a very long memory and unfortunately, they tend to hold grudges. So, I need you guys to stick close to me, not that they would do anything, but I'd rather be safe than sorry, ya know?"
"What about you, Duo? Do your people still hate humans?" Quatre asked sadly.
"No, Quat, they don't hate human but they do fear them. And as for me, I have my own way of looking at things." Duo answered with a shrug of his shoulder.
"And what way is that?" Heero asked.
"Let's just say I'm open-minded."
"I say you're too trusting." Wufei countered, earning him a laugh.
"Yeah, my friends tell me that all the time, too. Now let's go."
********************
As they walked through the outer reaches of the village, Heero realized that Duo had not been exaggerating about the reaction they were likely to receive. Only instead of hostility, they found fear. The instant the elves realized four of the travelers were human, men and women alike discarded whatever they where doing and ran to their homes where the doors were shut and he could hear the sound of bars being put in place. Children, who were playing happily in the yards, were likewise gathered up and bustled into whichever house was the closest. All of this was done in complete silence with no screams or shouts of dismay but occasionally one would stop and stare at Duo for a long moment, a look of disbelief on his or her face. Heero was so shocked by the villagers' reaction he almost missed the boy running between the houses, heading toward the village center to no doubt warn their leaders. Sure enough, by the time they were approaching the stone bridge, Heero could see a group of five elven men standing on the far side awaiting their arrival.
Duo also saw the elves about the same time Heero did and he immediately felt his stomach begin to roll. He knew what was about to happen just as he knew the questions it would likely generate, and even though he really did not mind answering, he would have preferred to answer them in Shantari. Unfortunately, he had no other choice but to bring them to this village. It was the closest one where he knew they would be able to acquire the horses they needed to make the trip. Therefore, dreading the upcoming encounter with every step, Duo started across the bridge. When they were almost halfway across, he looked up and met the eyes of the elf that was standing in the front of the group, what he saw caused him to groan softly and curse his luck because he knew immediately it was going to be much worse than he had thought.
"Your Highness, it's an honor to have you in our humble village." the elf said as he bowed low causing Duo to blush a deep scarlet. He had to stifle the urge to hide his face in his hands, instead he plastered on his best smile to try and cover his embarrassment.
"Thanks." he said, feeling somewhat at a loose. He had never really known how to answer in these types of situations.
"What brings the Seeker to our village, your Highness?" one of the other elves asked, earning him a glare from the elf in front.
Duo could practically feel the questions emanating from the four boys behind him as their eyes seemed to bore into the back of his head. Lucky for him though, they appeared content to wait for a more private setting in order to raise them.
"I tracked an artifact to a cave in the Solan Mountains just east of the Dark Forest. I retrieved it yesterday and am now on my way to the capitol."
"An artifact? What was it?" one of the others asked, his voiced laced with excitement.
"I'm sorry, I can't say. Only the counsel can release that information." he answered, causing the elf to frown in disappointment. The disappointment was short-lived though as the group began speculating on the nature of the artifact. After several minutes had passed, Duo began to think they had forgotten about him and his companions.
"Um, excuse me." Duo said, clearing his throat politely. "But could you tell us where we could get something to eat as well as horses and other supplies." At the mention of food, Duo's stomach grumbled loudly causing the elf who had first address them to blush brightly in embarrassment before mentioning them toward a building not far from where they were standing.
From the outside, the "Standing Oak" as the large, swinging sign above the door proclaimed the place to be, was a simple, two story building. It had a wide front porch that was covered to protect patrons from the weather and was made of the same rough hardwood as the other buildings and houses in the village.
"The Standing Oak is the finest inn we have and has the most delicious food for miles. Acron Niles is the owner and he will see to it you are taken good care of." the elf explained, stumbling over his words in his embarrassment. However, as they approached the door, the elf stopped and turned to Duo with a sheepish look on his face.
"Forgive me your Highness," he began. "but the humans with you are..."
"Visitor's." Duo finished firmly, his voice taking on an edge the others were surprised to hear from the normally sweet tempered fairy. "And to be treated with the utmost respect."
"Of... Of course, your Highness. Please forgive my rudeness." the elf said with a bow but it was unclear as to whether it was the edge to Duo voice or the word Visitor's that had caused him to drop his complaint. Straightening himself once again, the elf turned and quickly led them into the inn.
The inside of the inn was light and airy with a simple setup, which complimented the outside perfectly. There were six long tables lined up in two rows with plenty of room between each table to allow for a feeling of privacy. A bar ran the length of the back wall with stools set at even spaces along it and a portion at the far right side could be flipped up to allow access between the bar area and the dining room. There were also two other doors, one located in the area behind the bar that more than likely led to the kitchen while the other was on the right wall beside the bar.
Once inside, the elf stopped and asked that Duo and the others wait at the door before he turned and approached the bar. He called out to the barkeep and within a few minutes, a sturdy looking elf came through the door behind the bar. The elf stood at least six foot six with a broad chest and shoulders and from the look of his arms, there would not be much fat on his bones. Silently, the five boys watched as the two talked in hushed tones and while nothing could be heard of what they said, the barkeep kept glancing their way with a curious expression on his face. Finally, the conversation was finished and the other turned to leave. On his way back through, he stopped and once again bowed to Duo before scurrying through the door as quickly as he could.
"Good day your Highness, gentlemen. I'm Acron Nile, owner of the Standing Oak. Am I to understand correctly that you require a good meal, fresh horses, and supplies for the trip to Shantari?" the barkeep asked as he crossed the room toward the five boys.
"That would be correct Mr. Niles." Duo answered.
"Very well then, have yourselves a seat and I'll have MeiMei see about getting you some lunch going while I work on the horses and supplies." the barkeep said. "Oh, and my name is Acron; don't much like Mr. if you know what I mean."
"Thank you very much. And only if you call me Duo. I don't much like 'Your Highness' if you know what I mean."
Acron laughed heartily and winked at Duo before returning through the door behind the bar. Since the inn was empty, the five boys had their choice of tables and picked one in the back corner that would allow them to see anyone coming and going through either the front or back of the inn and waited for their meals. They did not have to wait long before a young elven woman came out from behind the bar with a large platter balanced on her shoulder and carefully made her way over to their table.
"Here you go. This should tide you over until the stews warmed up. I thought the lunch crowd was through and took the pot off the fire but it shouldn't take too long." she said as she place the platter on the edge of the table and handed out tall cups of mead and a plate with crusty bread and cheese wedges. Once the platter was bare, she once again raised it to her shoulder. "I'm Meimei by the way. If you need anything else just let me know."
"Um, aren't you afraid of us?" Quatre asked suddenly at which her rich laughter filled the room.
"Of course not. For one thing, both Acron and I are originally from down south, so we're a bit more accepting of things. But more importantly, you're in the company of a fairy and that's all the proof I need that you're alright." she answered with a wink then turned and left to finish preparing their lunch.
As soon as she was gone, four sets of eyes turned toward Duo expectantly. Trying to stall for as long as he could, the braided fairy grabbed his cup and took a long drink, giving a satisfied sigh afterwards.
"Good and cold, just the way I like it." he said and looked around at the others. "What's wrong guys? Not thirsty?"
"Duo, what exactly is going on?" Heero asked.
"Damn, I'd hoped this would wait just a little longer." Duo sighed and took another pull from his cup before setting it down. "Let me guess, you wanna know why they call me 'Your Highness' right?"
"Hai."
"And Seeker, too." Quatre added.
"Whoa, one at a time." Duo exclaimed, stopping the barge of questions he say coming from the other boys. "If I try to answer all of your questions right now, we'll be here forever. I promise I'll answer anything you ask me, but not right now. It's a three day ride to Shantari, which should be plenty of time." He waited until all four boys nodded their heads in agreement before continuing. "Ok then, I'll start with the most obvious one. Seeker is what I am, my profession I guess you could call it. Basically, it means I look for ancient artifacts, which are hidden in this world, and then I change them into usable items."
"But they called you the Seeker." Quatre put in.
"That's because there's only one Seeker at a time and right now, that's me. If I die, a new Seeker will eventually be born to take my place but not until then. It took nearly one hundred and fifty years after the last Seeker was killed before I was born."
"You said you found something in that cave?" Trowa asked and the boy nodded his head yes but did not elaborate.
"What was it?" Heero asked.
"Um, well..." Duo knew the counsel would not be pleased if he told anyone about the staff but he really wanted to tell the others, it just seemed like such a petty rule most of the time. Subconsciously he rubbed the back of his neck before deciding it was worth the risk. "It was a staff, a really wicked looking one."
"Where is it now?" Wufei asked.
"It's being transmuted." he answered to which only blank stares and silence greeted him. Looking around the table, he sighed once again before gathering his thoughts to try and explain a magical process to completely unmagical people.
"This is gonna be hard for me to explain so that you guys can actually understand. But basically, I use magic to change the things I find into energy, which I absorb into my body. Once inside, the object's magic interacts with my magic and begins to change. Sometime, the object is changed just enough to allow it to be used in its original form but there are times when they change to the point of becoming something new entirely. It takes anywhere from a few hours to a few days to complete, depending on the amount of magic the object contains, and during that time, my magical ability is reduced because most of it is needed for the process. When it's finished, I have a ritual I have to do, unfortunately the ritual is very difficult and usually leaves me either exhausted or unconscious. That's why I wanna be back at the capitol before it happens."
"Ok, let me get this straight. The staff you found is inside you." Quatre said and received a nod.
"And when it comes out, it may or may not be a staff anymore." Once again, the fairy nodded; leaving the blonde just as confused as he was before he asked so he decided to move on to another subject. "You said the objects have magic of their own, so why do you have to change them?"
"That's because no one in this world can use that magic and those who've tried didn't live long afterwards. My magic's the only one that can harmonize with it and then change it so it can be used by others."
"Someone had to make the object, so they would be able use it." Heero said.
"Yes, but no one knows exactly who those people were. All we've found are some scrolls and only one of them talks about the artifacts. But instead of giving details on the objects themselves and the magic they contain, it details the creation of what the counsel believes is the first Seeker. What happened to them and why they hid the objects only to create someone to find them, no one knows."
"Then why do you look for them?" Trowa asked.
"Because it's what I was born to do."
"Duo, just because you were born with this ability doesn't mean that you have to." Quatre said.
"Yes, I do." Duo said and upon seeing the stubborn look on the blonde's face, he continued. "Fairies are born with the knowledge and abilities for what they'll be in life and there's no changing or disregarding it. The minute a fairy blooms, he or she is taken to the area they'll be tending and left with an elven family until they've come of age, usually at one hundred years. At that time they begin the work they're born for; whether it be healing, growing, protecting, whatever; and will continued to do so unless they die."
"So when you talked about your mother yesterday..." Quatre said.
"Yes, I meant my elf mother who raised me."
"Do you, I mean, have you ever... met your fairy parents."
"Yeah I have. Lissia is a healer on the far western edge of the Attilion Plains. She and I have become really good friends actually. As for Martelis, well, you'll be meeting him when we get to Shantari."
"You don't sound happy about that." Wufei noted.
"Yeah, well, we don't exactly get along very well." Duo said with a grimace.
"Wait a minute." Heero suddenly said, staring intently the boy beside him. "What exactly did you mean when you said that fairies bloom?"
Fortunately for Duo, Meimei chose that moment to arrive with their lunch so he was saved from having to explain, at least for the time being. Once again, the elf brought the large platter over to their table and handed out the steaming bowls of stew. Then, after refilling their cups, she left them alone to eat. Duo immediately dug into his food with gusto and it took him a moment to realize the others were eyeing theirs doubtfully.
"Don't worry guys, it's vegetable stew." Duo said at which the others smiled gratefully before they too began eating.
TBC...
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