After the tension had subsided in the room, Arlinn offered the resources of the Blue Palace out to Cosmo's companions. Both Elias and Molniya had opted to scour the near infinite libraries present on the upper floors, while Lileth simply wanted a warm bath and a method to contact Elarra. Lysander initially wanted to be with Cosmo for the time being, making it clear through a single look from across the large spruce table. Cosmo, however, wished to be alone with Arlinn, making eye contact with him and subtly shaking his head. Downtrodden, Lysander instead decided to investigate one of the many halls filled with ancient artifacts, hoping to find something of arcane importance.
Now, nearly an hour later, Cosmo sat at the table facing the kitchenette as harsh sunlight streamed through the nearby windows. Arlinn stood with his back turned to him, washing the mugs they had just used by hand inside of an immense basin. Just as he was about to ask why a god would wash his own dishes by hand, Arlinn spoke up beforehand.
"Because after thousands of times washing the dishes by arcane means, it gets boring to watch. Sometimes I simply prefer to do things by hand." He spoke solemnly, not bothering to turn around and face Cosmo.
"I don't appreciate you reading my thoughts without my permission." He responded, a shiver rolling down his spine. It felt like Arlinn had physically stuck his fingers between the lobes of his brain.
"It isn't much of a choice when you're practically screaming the thought across the room." Arlinn chuckled and Cosmo looked dismissively out the window, ignoring it. "So, Cosmo. Each of your friends desire something for themselves," The sink stopped, causing Cosmo to look up at Arlinn as he turned around, drying his hands with a colossal towel. "Vin ra'al." the god interrupted himself, effortlessly casting a spell on the towel that wicked it dry, the water evaporating into the air. "What is it that I can provide you?"
The question struck Cosmo, probably more than what Arlinn intended it to. For a moment, he considered responding with that he desired nothing from the god, that nothing he could provide would ever repay the debt that Cosmo believed he owed. However, the more he began to think about it, the more he realized that he wasn't entirely sure exactly what he wanted.
"I'd like to see the Prism." He finally answered, still shaken by his introspection. Cosm decided to ignore the feeling for the time being, instead focusing on what he had been chasing for the past two months.
"Then I shall take you to it." Arlinn nodded, turning to the seven cups that sat on the counter next to him. "Va'al." In an instant, they vanished, and the god crossed the room, waiting for Cosmo in the doorway.
"What are those incantations that you use? The spellbook I own includes nothing like them." He asked, following as Arlinn began to walk down a nearby corridor. The walls were also lined with stained glass, painting a beautiful kaleidoscope of colors across the floor. Cosmo found it difficult not to stop amidst the light, mesmerized by the extraordinary patterns something as simple as particles of dust in the air could create.
"Oh, I suppose you wouldn't understand those. I've lived here by myself for so long, I forgot that others cannot understand the Eldest Language." Arlinn smiled somewhat to himself as they reached the end of the hallway and began to climb a spiral staircase that seemed to ascend for hundreds of floors.
"You know how to speak the-" Cosmo caught himself. "Nevermind, that's an obvious question."
"You need not hold your tongue around me, Cosmo." Arlinn looked down at him and smiled. "I contain the depths of human knowledge and much more. Seldom do I get a chance to share that."
"Why can't you?" Cosmo asked. "I'm sure many would appreciate it. Or am I once again mistaken?" The latter half of his response was tinged with the bitterness that still rested in his stomach.
"Did Tatiova not tell you? Gods are bound to their realms, Cosmo. The only reason I could live among the mortal realm was to leave my immortal form behind. The spell was incredibly complicated and almost scoured my essence in the process. When the other gods discovered what I had done, they cast me back to Half-Moon Island. Even so, I'd still do it all over again." He wistfully sighed as he looked out a nearby window at the mountainous landscape and the flocks of beautiful white birds that circled the various spires of the Blue Palace. "I understand that you are worried about never seeing those you call family again. Just know, my son, I can never leave this place again."
"Quit calling me that." Cosmo scoffed. He found it hard to care for the god, despite the harsh conditions he had suffered. "At the very least, you could've told me who I actually was. What I actually am. Gods, you're not even sure what I am!" He felt outrage slip into his voice and he tried to calm himself, moving closer to the inner railing of the staircase and away from Arlinn.
"I have my reasons for that, too. I do not exist merely to cause you distress." The god responded.
"I find that hard to believe." Cosmo shrugged his shoulders in response.
"Then I'll show you why I did what I did." Arlinn sighed. "I do not expect you to forgive me for what I've done to you... and for what I am doing. But I wish for you to understand why I am. Maybe then you'll be able to bear my presence a little bit more." The two wordlessly reached the top of the staircase, which held a small circular room with eight windows and a domed roof covered in murals. Sunlight illuminated the room from all directions and Arlinn sighed as though it was a familiar place.
However, what amazed Cosmo the most were the contents of the room: eight golden pillars accented with gleaming silver, each holding a sacred artifact of arcane significance. An astrolabe of pure gold, an orb of crystal, a quiver that levitated slightly off of its pedestal, and several other mysterious items ringed the room. On the far left, hanging in midair and exuding a strong aura, the final Divine Prism occupied the last stand. Despite it being what he had requested to see, Cosmo was not at all interested in the Prism, nor the other seven artifacts that gleamed in the glittering daylight.
Instead, a ninth and larger pedestal caught his attention, this one in the very center of the room. Atop it hovered a deep blue orb of swirling energy and as Cosmo looked into it, he could feel something looking back at him. He wasn't exactly sure what kind of power it held, only that it held a great amount of it. He desired to inquire upon it, completely forgetting about the conversation he had been having previously with Arlinn.
"What is that?" Cosmo couldn't hide his amazement.
"My greatest curse. Something I wish I had never created." The god responded gravely as he scowled towards the orb. "It is called the Omen, and through it, those that are divine can preordain the future."
"Something that can see events before they come to pass?" Cosmo approached the orb without a second thought, quickly restrained by Arlinn's hand on his shoulder.
"That device has only brought me grief and sorrow. I plead you not to use it." The god's tone became softer, and Cosmo heard the pain in his voice. "It was the Omen that showed me who you are and what you would become. I witnessed the events of your journey years before they happened in the first place."
"Years?" Cosmo exclaimed, wheeling on Arlinn with fury. "And your first instinct, after viewing the past two months of my life, was to ensure my true identity remained completely hidden from me?"
"It was a foolish decision, Cosmo. I know in my heart that it was incorrect." He paused, swallowing and taking a deep breath, looking to the clear blue skies outside of the enormous windows that rested behind each artifact. "I thought... Some part of me thought that if I concealed who you truly were, if I could somehow keep that part of you secret, that the prophecy could somehow be broken."
"Then why not tell me the truth when I almost discovered this island initially? Why cast me out with a channeler I lacked the knowledge to use properly?"
"The second you attempted to cross the gateway to Half-Moon Island, I feared your very essence would be torn apart. I knew not whether it was physically possible for you to survive. Only when you had become stronger was I sure that you would not perish." Arlinn paused. "I kept your identity from you then with hopes that it could somehow alter the path of destiny: that you would learn magic on Wyrfel and remain safe for the rest of your life. By the time you had left for the Clifftop Haven, you had already exceeded the range of my abilities. I am a god, but I cannot do everything. For that, I feel the deepest sorrow."
"Then why give me Dragon's Focus? If you wished to prevent the future that you saw within the Omen, you should have ensured that I would never come into contact with magic!" Cosmo let loose his anger once again, halfway exhausted from the overwhelming swell of emotions that had passed over him that day. Much to Cosmo's frustration, Arlinn remained calm and answered to the best of his ability.
"I knew that Galdernad would sense the intense amount of mana required to open the gate to Half-Moon Island. With a burst of energy of that magnitude, I could tell that it would be a matter of days before he arrived on Coeden. I gave it to you because if I hadn't, you surely would have died along with the rest of your people, leaving Felwyn doomed to struggle under Galdernad's reign forever."
"You mean to tell me that your goal was not to call me towards the gateway?" Confusion washed over Cosmo as he thought back to the very beginning of his adventure, attempting to remember how the voice in the forest had called out to him, luring him to the cavern.
"Of course! If anything, it would have made me most content if you never had to face me at all." Arlinn sighed, looking to the ground. "I had cursed you with enough merely by bringing you into existence. I couldn't bear the idea of you having to carry that prophecy on your shoulders as well."
"Then why did that voice direct me towards the gateway? Had I not been called out to, none of this would have ever happened." Cosmo stated the question rather than asked it. He wanted nothing more than to finally figure out the truth.
"What in all of Felwyn are you talking about?" For the first time since Cosmo had arrived on Half-Moon Island, Arlinn displayed a complete look of bewilderment, somehow unable to believe what Cosmo was telling him. "I can tell that within your mind you believe what you are saying to be true. But not once did I call out to you in the forest. I have only been capable of attaining a connection strong enough to your mind three times, and they were while you were unconscious and within a certain range of my abilities. Twice at the gateway on Coeden, and once in the wilderness near Manech."
"Then what presence took control over my mind and limbs that night? What spoke to me while I was meditating in the forest outside of Wyrfel?" Cosmo sputtered, unable to believe what he was hearing. "How do I even know what you say is the truth?"
"Here. I will prove it to you." Arlinn reached out and, much to his disliking, pressed one of his gigantic palms against Cosmo's forehead. Suddenly, it was as obvious as the color of the sky. Arlinn had not told a single lie since he had arrived on the island. "Whatever contacted you... whatever spoke to you during those times was not me." Cosmo remained suspect, unable to explain what had transpired.
"May I take the Prism?" He asked, looking Arlinn in the eye. Still unsure of whether he could truly trust the god of the mind, he wished to keep all four Divine Prisms within his possession for the time being. He did not wish to lose all he had fought for.
"If you must, I will not stop you. Since my blood courses through your veins, you need not use a pouch or glove." Arlinn gestured towards the pedestal that sat next to the door, the blue crystal hovering above it, slowly turning in the air.
"Even if I am only half divine?" The words on his own lips made his stomach turn. Everyone else had seemed to take the new information as fact, and hadn't struggled with believing it. Cosmo, on the other hand, felt the complete opposite. I am just a man, no, a boy. I am no god. He thought as he tried to shrug off the feeling, which had been making his skin crawl.
"I will be on guard to intervene with magic if necessary." Arlinn reassured him, bringing a surprising amount of comfort to the situation. The terrible feeling regarding his godhood still crept up the back of his spine.
With hesitation, he began to reach out to the crystal, his fingers inching closer and closer to its glossy surface until they collided and Cosmo felt the true power stored inside. Immediately, he could hear the sea breeze rustling through the pine trees and the sound of waves as they crashed against a rocky shore. The wood of a boat's hull creaked in the distance as a bell called it to harbor in a storm. Everything the Archipelago had seen was within the Prism. No, it was the Archipelago.
After several moments, the feeling subsided and Cosmo's visions faded away, leaving a stinging feeling on his hand as he clutched the crystal with all five fingers. The sensation wasn't pleasant and in the slightest, almost as though someone was rubbing sandpaper against his palm. However, he knew that no regular mortal could do what he was doing right now. More than anything, it gave him a strange sense of power that almost made him feel afraid.
"How does it feel, Cosmo?" Arlinn asked, after he had stood there for several moments holding the Prism.
"It's extraordinary. It..." He paused, feeling a wave of emotion crash over him. Tears welled in his eyes before sadness even twisted his gut. "It reminds me of home." He managed, placing the Prism in his satchel, attempting to compose itself.
"I understand the feeling. To hold so much power in your hands," Arlinn sighed. "It's extraordinary." Cosmo nodded in amazement. "That's enough for now. I will direct you to the living quarters on the second floor. There, you can bathe and rest if you need to. Perhaps sometime later I can accompany you to this room and walk you through the remainder of the artifacts." The god smiled and Cosmo wrestled with the idea in his head. The contempt he held for Arlinn was so strong yet, he began to wonder whether it was justified in the first place.
"That would be nice. I do not yet know enough about magic." Cosmo turned towards the spiral staircase and began to walk to it, avoiding eye contact with Arlinn.
"You sound just like your mother." The god softly smiled before accompanying him.
* * *
Several hours after Arlinn had shown Cosmo the Divine Prism, he sat in a common room with Lysander, Elias, Molniya, and Lileth, who sat on velvet armchairs and couches, facing one another. The sun still remained directly above the palace in the sky, but Lysander had closed the nearby curtains and lit a nearby fireplace ablaze, shrouding the room in a deep orange light. Cosmo relished in the comfort.
He, as well as his companions, had had time to both bathe and eat, leaving each one of them sated and ready to get some rest. As he sat in the common room now, Cosmo could feel the aching in each of his joints, his body exhausted from the journey behind him. Even when he looked at his elegant and peaceful surroundings, he thought it hard to believe that it was even real. Some part of him was still bothered with how they left things. Is it truly correct to leave Galdernad to his own devices for so long?
"Does the sun ever set here?" Lileth's voice drew Cosmo from his thoughts, bringing his attention to the shifter, who sat perched on the armrest of a nearby chair. They had once again changed their appearance, this time to a taller masculine figure with pale skin covered in freckles. His hair was now a light auburn, but Cosmo could still easily see through the disguise, as Lileth's smirk instantly gave them away.
"You know, I've been wondering that since we arrived here." Lysander chuckled. His hair was still sopping wet as he laid his head back against the fine upholstery.
"I do not believe it does. The sun hasn't moved an inch." Elias
remarked, leaning in his chair to see past the gap in the nearby curtains. "It is fortunate we are capable of blocking such harsh sunlight."
"At least it provides ideal conditions for reading." Molniya shrugged, setting down a book she had propped open against her leg. "I couldn't stand that musty library we had been using in Cors."
"Don't speak ill of that library." Lileth perked up, pointing an accusatory finger at Molniya. "I'd like to remind you that that musty bookstore you speak so poorly of is the only reason you're sitting here as we speak." He put his hands on his hips.
"I wouldn't go that far." Lysander smiled impishly. "I almost suffocated on the layers of dust in there." Lileth playfully punched him in the shoulder before slumping into the actual seat of the armchair he had been balancing on.
"What have all of you found so far?" Cosmo piped up, breaking up the miniature squabble that had broken out between Lysander and Lileth. They both looked at him with the appearance of children who had been caught breaking the rules before their expressions softened and Lysander answered.
"You wouldn't believe the kinds of things Arlinn keeps among the halls of his palace." Lysander looked at Cosmo with eyes like dinner plates, and he could see the pure wonder in the younger boy's eyes. "Every channeler you could imagine resides within these halls: wands, gems, rings, even whips! Not to mention the rooms full of jewels that have been charged with incredible amounts of mana. Just touching one will singe the outer layer of your skin! I had to learn that one by experience." He bashfully laughed while displaying the tip of his index finger, which had been bandaged.
"Incredible." Lileth responded, genuinely in awe. "Magic is so uncommon in Cors. Being here is vastly different." He allowed the sentence to drift off as he looked at the walls around him.
"The repositories within the palace regarding the art of healing magic are far more descriptive, as well." Elias continued, sharing what he had committed the last several hours to, which came as no surprise to everyone present. "When I awaken next, I will contact Hiner as soon as I am able. There is much I wish to share with him, with Arlinn's permission of course."
"It's the same with lightning magic." Molniya nodded. "The volumes here discuss things I've never even heard of, and I've been practicing it my entire life. When I return to Ogof after these next few years, I'm sure to be the most powerful person there." She smirked, clearly happy with herself. Cosmo couldn't help but smile as well.
"Reading isn't really my speed." Lileth said, slouching in the chair and putting his hands behind his head. "I did, however, spend nearly an hour in that bath."
"An hour?" Lysander asked incredulously as everyone in the room began to laugh. "Had I done that back home, my parents would've been sure to kill me."
"What better is there to do? Look at a bunch of old junk on pedestals?" Lileth scoffed and evoked another round of laughter from his companions. "Instead, I explored the surroundings. There's a courtyard in the center that houses more flora than you could imagine."
"You should show me the way tomorrow." Elias leaned forward. "Perhaps it would remind me of home." He smiled in a way that made Cosmo remember that he was not the only one missing out on his past life.
"And what have you and your father been doing all this time?" Lileth asked, after the conversation had returned to silence for several moments. The emphasis on Arlinn being his father made Cosmo nauseous.
"Don't... call him that." He winced. "We've been in a room upstairs. He actually took me there to see this." Cosmo reached into his satchel, producing the Divine Prism from it bare handed. He found it took a conscious effort to remain focused on what his friends were saying, the sound of crashing waves echoing in the back of his mind.
"That's it, isn't it?" Lysander exclaimed, hardly able to contain himself.
"And you are capable of making contact with it using your bare flesh." Elias's eyes grew wide. "You truly have divine blood within you."
"So it would seem." Cosmo grimaced, setting the Prism back within his bag. He still wasn't sure how he felt about the situation, and still felt a queasy feeling in his stomach each time it was mentioned in conversation.
"It explains, then, why you were capable of learning magic so quickly." Lysander laughed. "You wouldn't believe it," He spoke, now to the rest of the group, pride in his eyes. "No more than a week after I met him, he went from being completely unaware of the magical world in general to casting his first spell: something that took me nearly an entire month!" Everyone in the room except for Cosmo laughed, Lysander's lighthearted jealousy made obvious to the group.
"It gives him even less of an excuse for being so slow to pick up lightning magic." Molniya chuckled, shooting him a sly grin that Cosmo rolled his eyes at. The four continued talking for hours, until they eventually grew too weary to continue on. Cosmo dragged himself through one of the many large sets of double doors that bordered the room, emerging into an ornate bedroom with high ceilings.
The sleeping quarters amazed Cosmo in more ways than just their elegant appearance. Across from a large four poster bed adorned with more pillows than he could count was a beautiful window of latticed glass, that provided a beautiful view of the night sky filled with countless stars outside, despite the fact that it was the middle of the day.
Cosmo gasped to himself as he stared out the window in amazement, the sounds of night critters just barely audible through the panes of glass. Once again reminded of the familiarity of his childhood, tears rose to his eyes. He took a shaky breath before turning around and collapsing onto his bed. He undressed with effort, working against the soreness in his muscles. Each leg felt as though it weighed more than a boulder. However, as heavy as his limbs were, his eyelids were tenfold. Barely having the energy to do so, he pulled the covers back and laid down.
The second he closed his eyes, his journey flashed through his mind. All that he had seen, and all that he had killed to get where he was. And yet, what remained incomplete gnawed at his stomach. How many more years will the people of Felwyn suffer under Galdernad's rule? He turned over in the bed, scrunching his eyelids shut so hard that his ears rang. He couldn't stand it. I'm doing the right thing. This is what my friends want. Hell, this is what the gods want. Who would I be to undermine that authority?
"But what about what you want?" A voice Cosmo had almost convinced himself didn't even exist called out to him, the sound of its words resounding against the inside of his skull. That presence...it's the one from the wilds. "Never have you been so close to the source of my power." He shot up in bed.
"Who-" He stopped himself, looking around the interior of his dark bedroom, questioning whether he had even heard anything in the first place. "What are you?" Cosmo asked into the shadows, his voice low. If any of the others heard him, they would surely think him to be crazy.
"One who wishes you peace." The voice answered cooly, echoing off of the walls and ringing in his ears. Cosmo shivered.
"I figured getting a clear answer out of you would be difficult." He scoffed, frustrated.
"When have I led you astray in your travels, Cosmo?" The voice asked, a hint of smugness in its voice. "When you were stranded alone with the Amarok on Hiäen, I bestowed you with Dualta. I convinced you to continue studying magic when you were on the verge of quitting. And look how far you've come."
"That journey is over now. Even if you are the reason that I persisted, why do you now interrupt my slumber?"
"I have already asked you my question." The voice responded ambivalently. "It is you who has not answered me. Staying in this palace does not seem to suit you. What is it that you truly want?" Cosmo didn't have to think about the question long.
"You seem to know my thoughts, why don't you tell me?" He smirked.
"You wish to see Galdernad fall. For all of the pain he's brought you."
"Aye."
"Then why, with the power to raze armies in your hands, do you choose to remain here, whisked away on some mysterious island?" The voice inquired. Cosmo stayed silent for a moment to think before responding.
"If I attempted to siege Halverwedge at the moment, I would surely perish. I am nowhere near talented enough to put the Divine Prisms to use, and I would stand no match against the influence Galdernad possesses. If I am to stay here, we guarantee his fall, even if it takes several years."
"I think we both know that isn't going to happen." The voice responded curtly.
"What are you talking about? You can hear my thoughts, you should know that I cannot leave Half-Moon Island and abandon my friends. Even though I wish to see the traitor upon our throne slain, I cannot break the bond I have created with my friends. And to defy Arlinn... to defy a god? It is unthinkable."
"No, Cosmo. What is truly unthinkable is the idea of allowing your nation to suffer under the rule of a malicious tyrant who only uses the people under him as slaves, as resources in order to attain more meaningless power. If you truly believe that leaving is selfish, you should consider just how selfish the idea of remaining on an isle safely tucked away on a corner of the world unreachable by Galdernad while he slaughters thousands looking for what you have tucked away in your satchel." Cosmo leapt out of bed with frustration, looking to the ceiling with rage in his eyes.
"You know full well that it is not my choice to be here! My friends and one of the very deities that governs over Felwyn have instructed that I stay here. What do you recommend I do? Betray the very people I have entrusted my life to?" He no longer cared if one of his friends nearby heard him. After completing a journey that the voice had practically forced him upon, Cosmo was furious. All he wished to do now was rest.
"Deities can make mistakes, too, Cosmo. You know their plan is faulty, don't you? What do you believe will happen when Galdernad falls from power in fifteen, twenty years?" The voice paused, and upon hearing no response, continued. "Will another man not rise to power in his place and continue committing the same atrocities? Do you not see what has happened? Your mind has been muddied by the presence of a god who does not know the truth of his own words. With Arlinn's plan, Felwyn is doomed to a long line of kings that will slowly be the nation's undoing."
"Why discuss such matters with me? What could I possibly do to change it?" Cosmo's voice cracked as his tone became desperate. A terrible fear gnawed at his stomach, as he knew deep in his heart that the voice was correct. Helplessness washed over him as he imagined certain demise Felwyn faced at the hands of Galdernad.
"I have told you already. You have incredible power tucked away within your satchel. Not only are the Divine Prisms each powerful enough to level a mountain, but Dragon's Focus lends you more ability than I think you are aware of."
"And what makes me the best candidate?" He rebutted.
"The blood of the divine? The answer to that question I am not entirely sure. Perhaps simply the right place at the right time. What I do know is that with what you possess, you will be unstoppable.
"I would be unstoppable. I lack the training and the skill. My learning of magic was rushed, at best. You overestimate what I am capable of."
"That is why I will provide you with my aid."
"Your aid-" Cosmo cut himself off. "What could you possibly lend me?"
"What your teacher could not do in one week." He could hear a smile in the voice's tone as it continued. "Fluency."
A bright flash of blue light overcame Cosmo, blinding him. His vision turned white as strange symbols washed over him, glowing vibrantly with magical energy. In an instant, every sigil he saw made as much sense as his common tongue. The word for fire, the word for the sky, for the sea, for the night, it all made sense as it rushed past him, moving along his vision like minnows in a stream. As his head began to pound, he closed his eyes, putting his fingertips on his temples and groaning from the pain.
Falling backwards, he collapsed on his bed and writhed from the aching, a stronger and more visceral feeling than he had ever experienced. Confusion struck him as he questioned just what was happening to his mind. Just as he felt as though he would be torn in twain, his mind cleared completely and what had just occurred became incredibly transparent. The Eldest Language.
"Rwyt yl dal." The voice spoke, once Cosmo had gotten his bearings.
"I can understand you completely!" His eyes widened as he looked up at the ceiling once more."
"Precisely."
"Just what are you?" Cosmo asked, bewildered.
"I am the Omen."