Fantasia

Chapter 16 - Clash of Azure and Lightning

Before anyone could retort, the library doors burst open and out strode a figure all too familiar to me. My old man, who I've spent as much of my life as I could remember with, yet thought little to nothing of leaving him for the past few weeks with barely a word. But that's the thing about us. We never needed to exchange many words. And we didn't now either, as a shared glance was all it took for him to get an idea of what I've been going through. I walked over and embraced him tightly. I'm glad to be back, I thought to myself, though it was all but temporary.

"I got your note," Vandor says. Then, with a squeeze of my arm, he added, "Good lord, Ray. What has happened to you? Who blessed you with such otherworldly strength."

I had a feeling he would know, if anyone. "It's a complicated story, I'm not too sure of the answer either, but it has something to do with my origin, and I need to look for it right now."

Vandor's eyes widened, as if he understood everything in an instant. "You need to leave," he said simply.

And the truth was, I haven't decided on anything. My life had been fairly closeted up to this point, leaving nothing in my disposal to deal with sudden change. I was not ready to commit to something that could potentially take away everything I loved about my current life. I didn't know how to shift my focus to something I had no experience in. I saw no path ahead of myself that wasn't clouded with doubts. What did he mean by otherworldly strength? There was no such thing.

But this was also a chance. My only chance, likely, and slightly forced on me without providing alternative choice. Vandor believed in me. I nodded firmly, sending a completely different message as to what I was feeling.

He took a step away from me and scanned me up and down. I believed I looked worlds apart from his most recent memory of me, though all I really did was wake up some ancient sword. "I know exactly where you need to go. Come, follow me," he said, beckoning me, and thus the rest of the group to his library. Which... looked different, as well. Different was a weak descriptor for the sheer abhorrence I witnessed. His self-proclaimed 'planning table', which I had never seen lying under a single piece of paper, now had dozens covering the deep brown of its wooden surface, finished with a light touch of his vomit-inducing handwriting scribbled all over. In it's centre, a map of Fantasia, the most detailed one I've ever seen, its corners pinned to the table, and my mind immediately went to the various hurdles he had to go through to get his hands on something like that. How was this my first time seeing it? I was completely enthralled.

"Twinpierce Islands," he said, and my gaze snapped to the dead centre of the map in an instant. The ultimate trading hub of Fantasia, where every route passes through. Day after day they keep on working. Rumours were the entirety of the islands was laid over with civilisation. Many of the 10 great families were located in its kingdom. That was all I had heard about the island; rumours, more rumours, talks of underground deals and hidden secrets. I've never been there myself, of course. "The mind bank for everything you need to know. The intelligence hub for the biggest information market in the galaxy, located right at its heart," he continued, "Anything you need to find, you'll find there. Including... information on your Father. Right here." He pointed at a spot on the map.

"The twelve nights market..." my voice was filled with awe as the words escaped my mouth. Even on a map the landmark looked massive. Again, my knowledge of it was fueled by stories and folklore, most of which I read in this exact library.

"A market as deep and dark as the mouth of a whale..." Emili said, stealing the words straight from my thoughts. "I've always wanted to go. Ray!" She looked at me excitedly.

But before I could reply, Dawn had cut in, "Actually, Ray and I have... somewhere else to be first." She shot me a glance that could be interpreted only as accusatory.