Border of Reality

Answers to More Questions

Kyo leads us down a long set of spiral stairs, as I try not to trip on my new attire Tyroh gracefully keeps up with him, talking lively about something she did the other day, my mind wanders to what Alyson would think of this place if she were here causing a deep sense of longing for my best friend. 

Finally reaching the bottom I look up to see a massive room with three pillars in the middle of it, each holding shelves lined with cylindric objects, the lights were a warm golden color, almost as if they were collected stars. "This is the archives," Kyo says  I turn to see a younger male in place of where Kyo's voice was, "my home." my jaw goes slack as I realize that he is Kyo a much younger-looking one.  Tyroh laughs at my reaction as Kyo walks towards the center of the room, to where one of the pillars proudly stands. "My ancestors had found an emerald sphere from another world, being magical beings they decided to enchant the sphere to do one thing." He starts speaking while pulling out what I now see are scrolls, lots of them, all looking like they were just written a couple of years prior to my being here today. "That one thing was to open the gateway back to their own world, which could only happen through pure crystals, once they found the sphere they celebrated the ending of their fear." He continues his story while walking towards one of the many tables that lay throughout the room, setting each of the scrolls down, he pulls out three chairs before sitting in one himself.  

The first scroll he rolls open has very detailed artwork of an emerald sphere, the one they've been talking about, with a bunch of foxes and people around it, each either touching a different place on the sphere or prancing around it. "They had gotten it open returning home in high spirits, deciding to leave the gateway open knowing that if other fox spirits were trapped in the other world they could get back home." Kyo unrolls another scroll revealing more beautiful artwork. "It wasn't long until others found their way through the gateway and into our world, some by accident and could be reasoned with, and others weren't," the artwork depicted a lot of scenes where the fox people were shaking hands with more human-looking people and others where they were fighting each other. "before long they closed the sphere's gateway, saving our world from the hands of greedy people." 

"The Mystic has twelve territories, led by twelve different leaders, Evocia, this territory is led by Ayame a female fox spirit, she's nice and welcoming." I raise my hand before cutting Kyo off. "So you're telling me that the Sphere's gateway is closed? Then why'd the marble bring me here?" Kyo's pursed lips show his disapproval but he answers my questions anyways, with yet another scroll. "There is a prophecy about a chosen one for each of the twelve leaders of the territories, soulmates if you must, Ayame had found her soulmate at last year's annual celebration." He points to a depicted drawing of a marble that looked exactly like mine. "It is said that twelve marbles appear in the other world, already drawn to the people they're meant for, whether by accident or on purpose the marbles find their chosen ones to transport back here." Kyo finally pulls out the last of the scrolls, showing an array of celebrations and a very familiar-looking clearing. "The celebration is held in this clearing, the same one where you had shown up in." 

Tyroh looks up from where she's been quietly listening to Kyo's story studying me closely. "When's this celebration?" Since I didn't see any decorations or anyone happily milling around with some in their hands it got me curious. "It happened two weeks ago, you're stunningly late to the party it seems." Kyo chuckles at his own joke before patting my shoulder in reassurance. "We can go to Ayame and see if she can send out a message to the other leaders and see who is willing to throw a party again, in hopes of finding their soulmate." 

After helping Kyo clean up the many scrolls, we follow him up the stairs where he opens the front door and ushers us out the door before stepping out himself, on the way up the stairs he'd grown older, with the confusion still going on in my head I didn't notice a thing. We are now on our way to where their leader Ayame, is located. In fifteen minutes or so we reach a smaller type of castle made of the same stone and wood concept as the rest of the houses and buildings, but somehow I feel a lot of power radiating from it. Outside the front of the castle's gates stands two guards on each side of the entrance. "State your business." one of them says when we come up. "I'm the archivist, here to see Ayame, it's important matters, contending to someone's soulmate." Kyo says the last bit in a hushed tone, but two guards' eyes land on me, and my cheeks burn. Without another word said they open the doors for us and in we go. 

My jaw drops at the sight of the inside, it's so much bigger than the outside lets on, the floors and walls made out of some type of marbled stone, it's so beautiful. Kyo leads us down a couple of hallways before stopping at a closed door, he turns and looks at Tyroh and me with a slight grin playing on his features. "Come in." A female's voice that's dripped in honey says from the other side of the door, as Kyo raises a hand to knock, chuckling and mumbling something about twin telepathy or something like that he opens the door to a stunningly decorated gold and autumn-colored room, in the middle sits and beautiful woman with honey-like eyes. "Kyo long time no see brother, I see the archives have been treating you well." Kyo and Tyroh bow their heads in respect and I follow the gesture unsure of what to do. "As they must, the magic does wonders to the body, makes me feel younger as soon as I step back into its grasp." The woman on the other side of the room cracks a smile at his statement before clearing her throat. "So I heard about the late arrival." Her honey eyes land on me and she winks jokingly at me. "No worries, I'll have an invite sent out to the other territories to see if they want to attend a ball here." Tyroh claps her hands together in excitement just as my stomach decides that it's the right time to announce its hunger.