The People We Are

Chapter XIV; Xayah

Xayah went from grave to grave, singing the chorus of the song she and Arlie first danced to. Well, first in the memory of Arlie. She touched each grave, remembering her journey with each one of them. The same golden light came out of them as it had thirty five years ago, before her true misery began. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she knew what was soon to happen. They yelled at her, but she didn't stop singing. Her voice was shaky and was now off tune, but she knew it wouldn't matter. She sobbed for her memory that only she had, now that Ideus was gone. Now, it would be his burden alone. She could barely sing as the darkness began to consume her. She saw the faces of her parents and Luna's father, who had done this. They joined her singing. Her body was no longer her own, all she could control was her voice. She flipped around in the orb of darkness, then plummeted down out of the trance.

That had just happened, and no one expected it.
But Xayah? She had planned it out for so long.
They couldn't remember their times being dead.
And now Xayah wondered if she ever went back, would she?

Ajof led them into the massive stone building. They weaved their way through countless corridors before finally meeting their rulers. Among them sat four rulers, two fairies and two npc's. There were four smaller thrones of which two sat on either side of them. Ajof sat in the one closest to the already seated fairies. "Elves, my family, elves have come to us." he said as he sat. Xayah and Ideus stepped forward in front of the humans. "So it seems. What are your names, and why have you come here?" the Ajof's father asked. "We are Prince Ideus and Princess Xayah of Faormen. These are our friends, the other Princes and Princesses of Iphica." Ideus spoke. "Iphica? Is that what it was called? No more. That's now continental Youchawi. Why have you come here?" the npc King said sternly. "Please, your majesties, so many lives have been lost. We've had to leave our homes and make camp in unfamiliar grounds. Please, spare us." Xayah herself said. "While some of your people may be like us, they are affiliated with those of the likes of humans. Have you not heard the horror stories of humans, young rulers?" the fairy queen asked. "That is over now. Humans and elves live in harmony now. These people behind me are my closest friends, they'd never do anything to hurt us." Ideus said, looking back to Anastasia, who nodded.
"Stay, elves. Send the humans out." the queen of the npc's beckoned. Xayah and Ideus got mad. "We all stay or we all go." Xayah snapped. They allowed the others to stay, but they had to remain silent unless spoken to. They waited until the other three members of the royal council arrived. Among them were two npc's, named Doel and Leod, and another fairy named Foja. They all sat down and the elves began to beg for the Iphican lives. They seemed to hear them out, but being the foolish teenagers they were, they didn't think of the fact that they would already have their minds settled, no matter what they said. In the end, they talked their way into the opposite direction: getting attacked themselves.
They all ran out of the castle, getting lost in the endless labyrinth that was the castle. Soleil became a seagull and Ideus became a cheetah. Xayah's long legs carried her forwards fast and they eventually found their way out and ran back to the shore. Ryaxleb, with his incredible speed, had managed to get there very quickly and already lowered the plank for the rest of them. Ideus transformed into an elephant and started rampaging around the island as Anastasia frantically climbed into the ship and began to shoot arrows at their attackers once she got a height advantage. Being the tallest person left there, Xayah helped the others get a head start as their attackers were fended off by Ideus and Anastasia's arrows. Once they were all up, Xayah climbed herself. Noticing that they were all on the ship, Ideus disappeared. A bug flew past her only to reveal itself as Ideus, who had become so small the attackers couldn't aim for him. They pulled up the anchor and set sail away from the situation they had made so much worse.
They all collapsed on the deck except Anastasia and Ideus, who went up to control the ship. "Hey!" They heard three voices calling from the ocean. "Hey!" they heard them yell again. Ryaxleb went over to the rim. "What's going on?" Xayah asked from her spot on the deck. "It's Princess Foja, Prince Leod and some mermaid down there." He said from the rim. "What do you want!" he yelled at them. "We're trying to get away too!" Xayah heard one of them yell. "Please, we're on your side! Trust us!" Xayah got up and looked down at them. She looked to Ryaxleb, then the others. Before they could decide what to do, Foja flew up to them. "Please, I know what they're doing is wrong. We want to help you in any way that we can. Leod is a skilled fighter. Cordelia has the gift of prophecy. I have information. Please, let us board." she begged. Xayah, and Foja it seemed, knew that they could just grab her and put her in a container at this point, to where she'd never see the light of day again. "We should at least hear them out, right?" Xayah asked. The others had gotten up and come over there. "We should take precautions, though." Luna pointed out. She grabbed Foja's tiny arm, and she wailed out in pain. She loosened her grip and she was alright. They lowered the board and Leod, who was on Cordelia's shoulders as he couldn't swim, was able to walk up to the boat. Cordelia stayed down, seeing as she couldn't leave the water. She had to stay, however, or else she wouldn't know what would happen to Foja and Leod. They tied Leod to the mast, and Luna held Foja in her hand.
"Why are you here?" Arlie led the conversation. "They're corrupt. They've been putting innocent lives at risk, as you all said. Truth be told those of Iphica never did anything to us, it was the others we should be after." Foja responded. "What others?" Soleil asked. "Do you not know? South of the isle of others lives another land of humans. We used to live with them in harmony, until they drove us out to the isles. Now our parents show hatred to all humans, even Iphicans." Leod answered. "What about elves? You all seemed surprised to see Xayah and Ideus." Ryaxleb asked. "Elves used to live there too. They were the first ones the humans drove out, but they went somewhere else. We all assumed they were all dead, but here they are." Foja answered. "We've been told of the other places we went. We called it Iffarris." Xayah said. "Please, we just want to get out of there. You aren't the only people scared of them." Leod stated.
They let the three come along with them, and they even took up shifts in maintaining the small ship. They traveled on with their new companions, excited to bring back sources of information for the Iphican people. Xayah herself had wanted to get to know the mermaid better, as she'd been stuck fighting to keep up with the ship. They had smaller boats with which they could escape should the boat start sinking, and so Xayah had herself be lowered in one of them to talk to her. "What are you doing here?" Cordelia asked once she hit the water. "Grab on to the side and hold on. You won't have to swim that way." Cordelia did as she was told, but kept eyes on Xayah's hands. "I won't push you away, Cordelia. I want to get to know you." Yeah, sure. Cordelia thought. "I should have you know I can read your thoughts. We each have a gift, and that is mine. How should I believe you? "You can think of words and I'll say them to you." Pearls. "Pearls." Coral. "Coral." Seaweed. "Seaweed."
The two talked for a while, and suddenly Cordelia's eyes went gold. "You're more powerful than you think, Princess Xayah. There's another gift within you. You'll be able to do it twice, once for one and again for all."