Chapter 2: First Encounter, Part 2

<Later that day>

Setting: Lexi and Geron’s Farm House
Time: 6:15 pm

Taylian wakes up to an ice pack on top of his head. He squirms in pain.

“Somehow… I made it out alive today.”

He looks over to his desk and sees that it's 6:17 in the evening. 

{Like every other human, I grew up north of the mountains of Gamajora, in the land of Adamatrium. The region south of the mountains, is the main continent of Elyzen - the domain of the Primals. No one dared venture out there…. unless they wanted a quick death}

He sits up from the bed and watches the ice pack fall to the ground. He lifts his shirt to look at his body, and he sees bandages covering them. He looks around surprised to be in his room.

“How did I get up here?....Oh yeah…Aunt Lexi must have brought me.”

Taylian grimaces as he smells the stench of the healing ointments that had been placed on him. 

{The land of Adamatrium consists of three major cities. The city of Texdan is where I live. Growing up in the slums of Texdan, I had experienced such treatment for as long as I can remember. The puzzle I was yet to figure out is why I am always specifically targeted}

Taylian touches the bandage beside his ribcage and notices blood starting to ooze out. He gets up and walks downstairs so he can replace it.

{I live with my aunt Lexi and her husband Geron. We live on the farmlands of Texdan, called the Bayrin Hills, and make a living that way. In Adamatrium, when you turn fifteen, you must select the profession that you will live out for the rest of your life. Once the decision is made, you cannot change it. The whole thing seems ridiculous to me, but what choice do I have? My aunt Lexi and I were headed to the farmers' enlistment station earlier today……before we were attacked…}

As he reaches the bottom of the stairs he grips the railing to support his weight. The beating he had received earlier was gruesome but the after effect was far worse. 

{It’s not like I'm not used to this sort of treatment. However, today was the first time I truly thought….I thought….I was going to die. The hatred had always been there…. but what happened today…}

Taylian looks up and sees Lexi in the kitchen.

“What really happened to my mother and father?”

Lexi, surprised by the sudden question - as she had her back turned and had not realized Taylian had come downstairs - jumps in surprise, dropping her plate in the process. She pauses for a few seconds without looking at Taylian, focusing on the broken plate. Suddenly, she turns around and rushes to him.

“What are you doing out of bed?! You will re-open those wounds! Do you know how long it took Geron and I to-”

“Thank you, Aunt Lexi… for the bandages…I am grateful…but you are still withholding from me what I want more than anything…Tell. Me. The. Truth. I am not stupid, I see the way people treat me and look at me. It's not like this city isn’t filled with bullies,”

A tear rushes down from Taylian’s eyes.

“…but why am I always their favorite victim?”

Taylian rests his back on the wall to support himself, as the aching pain increases with every minute he continues standing. Lexi holds his head while fixing his bandages.

“We have been through this already. Your parents died and there was nothing to it. These people are just bullies looking for victims to targe-”

“ENOUGH!”

Lexi jumps back in shock, looking at Taylian as he continues to cry.

“JUST TELL ME! STOP WITH THE LIES. TELL ME, OR I WILL LEAVE. I will leave, and all you will hear is about my demise. As soon as I leave this house those jerks will come for me. And they will dispose of me as they’ve always wanted to. You won’t be there to stop it.” Taylian exclaims, overwhelmed with varying emotions.

Geron and his young daughter, Iris, rush into the house. They were already headed inside when they heard Taylian’s screams and rushed in.

Taylian lowers his voice. “You will be forced to sit here, and wait for the news of my demise. So…please...Just tell me!”

“Lexi. Tell him.”

Lexi turns to see Geron with a saddened look, and Iris seemingly confused and upset. She then cups her hands to her face, and begins to sob.

“You shouldn’t have to know this. This shouldn’t be your burden to bear. All I wanted was for you to have a normal life. All she wanted was for you-”

“You mean my mother?”

Lexi pauses. She then looks at Taylian, tears still flowing from her eyes.

“...your birth name… is Taylian Izana…Son of Kato Izana and Aurelia Yuki…my sister. I took you in when they banished her but-” 

“Banished?!….but….You told me she was dead. That my parents had died shortly after I was born?”

“What choice did I have?! I did it to protect you! Kato was killed, but Aurelia was banished. You see…Aurelia was a Flare Aid. Those who serve the sun god Sol in mind, body, and soul, with favor from the faeries themselves. They are bound to chastity for life. But Aurelia fell in love with Kato…and you were the product of that love….”

Taylian’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“...when their affair was made known, she was to be punished for her crimes by beheading. Your father, Kato, took the punishment for her. He was beheaded instead… and your mother was banished….”

Taylian grabs onto the stair railing to steady himself.

“So all this time…this whole time, you’ve been lying to me….deceiving me…”

Geron tries to hold Taylian as his balance sways. “Taylian try to understand….can’t you see that this is difficult for her too….not only did you lose a mother, but she lost a sister…”

“And decided to hide it from me… This whole time…..even you, Uncle Geron…I believed that I must just be cursed or something…I never understood….It never made sense why it was always me…why I was always chosen as their object of hatred…You saw me go through all this…”

Lexi: “no…no”

Taylian: “...and still chose…”

Lexi: “Taylian, please understa-”

Taylian’s voice cracks as he says: “...to keep it from me…”

Lexi drops to the floor, as tears flow from her eyes even more. The rest of the room goes quiet, as Lexi continues to sob uncontrollably. 

“...where is she?”

Lexi suddenly stops crying, and Geron stops looking down in shame. They both look up at Taylian, whose eyes radiate determination. 

“WHERE IS SHE??!!”

Geron: “Like Lexi said, she was banished beyond the mountainside…..to the main continent of Elyzen….the domain of the primals….which can only mean she’s dead…I’m sorry,” Geron moves to where Lexi is on the ground to comfort her.

Taylian, feeling like the wind has been knocked out of him, struggles to stand on his feet. 

[“Hot. Everything feels hot. Air……I need air…can’t breathe”]

Taylian takes advantage of Geron’s distraction by grabbing a shirt and running out of the house.

Although she is too young to fully comprehend the situation, Iris is aware that her cousin is upset and had earlier threatened to leave. She stands by the doorstep, continuing to cry out to him.

“Tayliannn! Please don’t go!”

Taylian, consumed by pain and anger, is too far gone to hear her cry. He rushes into the forest that surrounds the farmlands and immediately begins to leap through the branches of the trees.

{Every muscle in my body is crying for me to stop. I can feel the bandages underneath my shirt starting to come off…..revealing my wounds…what the bandages covered is the effect of the physical pain, but what I feel in my heart cannot be covered…..cannot be rescued…cannot be healed…}

[“Air, breathe…pain…in, out, out or in….I can’t think…hot..everything is so hot….I just-”]

Suddenly a dark red light/flash that had been building up and surrounding Taylian is released into the atmosphere. From the moment he left the house, a dark red aura had begun to form around him…building up…and it finally discharged itself and released towards the atmosphere…..appearing like a red beam and beacon towards the sky. 

This beacon then filled the black sky…painting it red all over.

After the energy is dispelled, Taylian, feeling even more weakened than before, loses his balance as he steps on a tree branch. The ankle that was stepped on earlier causes this slip up, and he grimaces in pain as the ankle pain suddenly resurfaces. As he raises his hand to reach for the next branch and propel himself forward, he loses his grip on the oncoming branch and his footing on the previous branch. He falls from the trees and blacks out.

 

******Meanwhile*****

 

Setting: The Central Hospital of Flortian, Niko’s office
Time: 7:00 pm

Atlas: “What was it about that boy you disliked so much?.”

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“That BOY….is no concern of yours.”

Niko walks over to Atlas and softly scratches his chin, caressing it in her soft hands.

“I’ve never known you to be a gossip. Why the sudden interest darling?”

Atlas stares back at Niko, blushing as he likes when she does that. He then regains focus. 

“Don’t you find it weird? That a kid like that was beaten to a pulp, and no one did anything to interfere? I understand people can be tedious, but that was a very extreme situation for just a kid.”

Niko pinches Atlas’ cheeks and smiles as she leans in

“You call him a kid, as if you two aren’t probably the same age.”

Atlas smacks her hand away.

“Whatever.”

Niko sighs and hugs her arms to her chest. She looks out the window and looks to the sky

“...It's a full moon tonight.”

“What of it?”

Niko cups her hand and whispers softly in Atlas’ ear. “...Lunarias…”

Atlas cups his hand and whispers softly in Niko’s ear. ““Enough with your fables of sun and moon gods.”

“Atlas!”

She looks around the room to make sure no one heard.

“Sol and Lunarias are to be feared and worshiped! They are our guardians and protectors! I am a servant of Sol, you know this!”

“Well, your gods must be dead. Or rather, they took a vacation and decided to never come back. What kind of guardians would allow their people suffer through wars and terror. When has Adamatrium known true peace without fear of those damn beasts?! Your gods are nothing more than two overpaid failures of security guards.”

Niko gasps again. She knew her son’s cynicism had grown over the recent years but she hadn’t realized it extended towards the gods too. 

Atlas walks to the window, and looks out to the rest of Floritian.

 “What we should look towards is science. Science and innovation will deliver us. Not gods who have already checked out their retirement and pension plans-”

 “Enough!”

Atlas stops, and turns back to Niko.

“You don’t have to believe in them… I have never forced that upon you… but at least respect me enough as a servant of Sol to not speak ill of them.”

Atlas scoffs, and turns back to the window. Niko walks over to her chair, and sighs.

“Atlas….sweet boy….there is so much you don’t know.” 

Niko then pets her favorite spirit, no longer seeming upset.

“The boy you saved today….His name is Taylian…”

Atlas looks back at Niko once again, surprised she is willing to speak about him.

“It is well known by those who witnessed it in Floritian about fifteen years ago…that he is the son of the deceased Kato Izana, and the banished Aurelia Yuki. Aurelia…was a Flare Aid.”

“...I see…it all comes together now….why was she banished instead of beheaded?”

“Her lover Kato took her place. He was executed…she was banished. Can you see why I want you to stay away from all that? It's too much trouble.”

Niko stands up and walks towards Atlas and holds his face in her hands. 

“Words cannot describe how happy I am that you got promoted to be the new Mason….and at such a young age…” 

Niko’s face begin to shine, and tears of light form at the bottom of her eyes

“I just want you to focus on that… and stay clear of that type of drama. I mean, today was your first day, ONLY your FIRST day as the Mason… and you just had to get involved…You have worked too hard for this-”

Atlas shoves her hand away from his face.

“So you would rather have me stand by and do nothing? I don’t care whether it be the strong and noble of Floritian, or the weak and poor of Texdan, I will NEVER allow myself to stand by in a situation such as that.” 

Atlas begins to walk away to distance himself from Niko.

“Perhaps you cannot understand it as faery, but we humans have something called morals. Morals we abide by. Morals we ought to exemplify. Even as we fall short of those morals time and time again, we cannot allow ourselves to falter into a place of existence where such a staple becomes nonexistent.”

Atlas turns around, glaring straight at Niko.

“After all…isn't that what you faeries do? Claim to be helpers of mankind… claim to be our protectors…yet when it really counts, you all just sit back and do nothing…leaving our kind to fend for ourselves as if we are only hindrances to you all.”

“That’s false, and you know fully well that is fals-”

“When was the last time any of you have actually left Adamatrium?”

“...Ophiel has been…”

“Yes…Ophiel is the only one willing to do anything for any of us. But what about the rest of you?”

“Atlas, please understan-””

“Understand ME…THAT is the real form of understanding that is lacking here. I didn’t become the Mason and join the King’s Council just to break bread and sit back while the world continues down this path. I did it… because I want to create a new one. A new world where we no longer have to live in fear, and be at war. A world full of peace and tranquility. A world… where situations like earlier will never happen again. If you don’t understand that to be my goal, and continue to dismiss my actions to achieve it…then you truly don’t understand me at all.”

Niko steps up to him once more and holds his cheeks in her hands. She looks into his golden eyes and attempts to foster such understanding.

“Of course I understand you….how could I not? I raised you. I know you better than anyone. It's because I know you, that I can say without certainty, that you will irrevocably leave a mark on this world. Like one never seen before. I have lived many ages. Remember I have been here since the beginning…all I ask is that you tread carefully…because this world is not one where such a dream is easily achieved…”

Niko drops her hold of his cheek and walks away. Atlas looks out the window and stares at the full moon.

 

***Meanwhile***

 

As Taylian was knocked out, he slipped into a state of vivid consciousness. 

*DREAM*

A woman walks through a field of grass, dressed in pure white. She dances in the fields, causing dandelion seeds to spread about in the wind. She holds her hand out and invites Taylian to dance with her, as she is below in the valley and Taylian is high above on the mountain. At first, Taylian attempts to go, but then stops as he is apprehensive and realizes he does not know who she is. He stops and thinks, and then beckons for her to come to him on the mountain. The lady in white stops dancing and suddenly becomes sad. She tries to step up on the foot of the mountain - but it scorches her and burns her feet. She drops and begins to cry. Taylian, horrified that he had caused her pain, begins to run down the mountain towards her. As he runs down the mountain, his feet get stuck in a bed of sand. He fights the sinking sand and begins to run again, but the same problem persists as the sand swallows him once again to the point he cannot escape. Suddenly, a gust of wind pulls him out from his dire situation, and he continues towards the foot of the mountain. His vision is now blurred. As he continues, he notices his feet are now surrounded by scorching hot lava. He cries in pain, but tries to press forward. His feet then enter water that allows his feet to cool, but also causes him to sink into the water. It’s dark. Very dark. He struggles to breathe, but eventually finds his way to the top. When he reaches the surface of the water, he finds himself on an unknown island. He looks around at the unknown place, and then looks back to the vast sea. He then realizes that the mountain…the beautiful field of grass… and the woman in white…are all gone.

*END OF DREAM*

 

Taylian wakes up startled and disoriented. He stares up from the ground towards the sky, through the tall trees, and sees the full moon. 

[“It's a full moon tonight. Aunt Lexi says that the powers of the moon goddess, Lunarias, are stronger on nights like these…meaning our protection is greater as well…”]

Taylian wimpers and rolls over in pain. If he thought he was in pain before, what he felt now could be hardly described in words. It felt like every movement was like driving needles into every cell and tissue of his body. 

[“Best not to move I guess. This is what I get for overdoing it.”]

Suddenly, a gust of wind rushes through the trees rapidly, startling Taylian as he looks towards them. The gust was rapid, but the movement felt soft and warm, almost like an embrace. In that moment, he could only manage to think and utter a single word:

“....mother….”

Immediately as Taylian utters those words, the earth beneath him starts to shake. He looks back in the region towards the house…and sees the ground beginning to break apart.

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