Eternity's Quest

Victory's Defeat: Part 1

Hey, everyone, I'm back with the second story. In this one the two sisters must find a powerful staff that can teleport its user anymore in space in time, but an evil wizard is also after it. Will they find it in time, or is the World of Eternia doomed?

In the early morning hours before dawn, Olya woke with the terrifying images revealed to her in the deep chamber that housed the great sphere. The being originating from the strange blue planet came to her in a dream, but Olya had more important matters to deal with. Tracking Bloss' activities became her first priority.

Ten years ago, the day of the great fire, was the event that crushed her world as well as her sister's. Pike had been so kind to them. Watching over them, teaching them of their great Eternian heritage, but one question he couldn't answer was who they were, and where they came from. He called them the gifted: Sheeba, the skilled fighter and artist and Olya, the practical scholar with the gift of magic.

The three lived a secluded life in the lighthouse upon the Aerian Sea. The citizens of Poe thought the trio to be a bit eccentric. Sheeba was the most social of the group, which confused her sister. Olya still insisted on hiding her deformed hands. Sheeba always insisted she had beautiful hands, but Olya's shyness prevented her from showing her true self to strangers.

She couldn't quite pinpoint what it was that was truly troubling her. She traveled down the spiral staircase to see Pike up and about. He was working diligently on an experiment. Watching Pike at his work always astonished her.

"Good morning, Pike," she said, her voice low.

After the botched fluids exploded, breaking several beakers, Olya felt a pang of guilt.

"Oh, Pike, I'm sorry," Olya said, trying to help him clean up the mess. "Did I disturb you?"

"No, friend Olya," he said, looking at her. "Too much sulfur on my part, and I thank for the distraction." He saw the worried look at her face. "What troubles you, my dear?"

"Nothing," she said with a sigh, and sat down in an old worn wooden chair. She saw in his face that she was not telling the truth. "Everything," she continued. "I don't know. These images, I guess. Just when I think this time the answer will come, it doesn't."

"You must have patience," he said, sitting down next to her. "We do not master our fates all at once. It is a process, friend Olya."

"But what of Blue Planet?" she asked. "Why do their people suffer so?"

"It is not for us to know. Perhaps they are slaves of their habitats. Our goal is to reach immortality, to abolish hate, to reach contentment."

"The sphere has the answers," Olya said, raising her arms in frustration. "Why can it not tell me what to do?"

"That is a slave state. Harmony can not come from the mindless. Use the knowledge. Mistakes will be made, yes, but learn from it," he said and then looked over at his botched experiment. There was a hint of a smile on his face. "As I will learn to be more careful with sulfur."

A smile came to her face. "Thank you, Pike, I feel a little better."

At that moment, Sheeba came bolting down the spiral stairs. "Good morning, all." Sheeba looked towards her sister, "Oli, no sour faces today. I know you're disappointed about yesterday, but past is past."

"It's not that, Sheeba, I just..."

"You just want to sit around and mope. No way, sister, you're coming with me." Sheeba her sister's arm and pulled her towards the door.

"Where?" Olya asked.

"To town," Sheeba said excitely. "Where else, and without those silly gloves." She tried to pull on the first one, but Olya snatched her hand away and pulled the glove back on.

"Forget it," she said shaking her head. "I can't go to town, because Pike needs me here."

Pike stepped forward to offer his opinion. "Go on, child, I will survive." She gave Pike a sour look hoping he would help her get out of it. "You can't stay closed in here all the time, so go, have a good time."

Olya groaned. The last thing she wanted to do was go out in public, but it was a two against one, a no-win fight. She had no choice than to give in to her sister, but there was no way she would show herself in public without her precious gloves hiding her shameful deformity.

"Okay, you win," Olya said, "but I don't have to like it."

"That's the spirit, sister," Sheeba said, putting her arm around her sister's shoulders. "The world awaits."

To be Continued...