"Mom! Mom!", yelled Violet as she ran out the doors of the kingdom reaching for her mother.
"Yes, sweetheart.", said Ruby turning around. "Oh, I see you've found my book. How nice of you. May I have it back?", she said reaching her hand for it. She was about to grab it but Violet kept it to herself.
"What's the matter?", asked a confused Ruby.
"You're not telling me something, mom. The wizard, the Griffin, the red sphere, and now this.", she said as she pointed at the book's cover.
"I know all of this, mother. I know it's the mountain of Pyrothos. Just tell me why it was imprinted on the Griffin's eye and I promise I'll give you back your book.", she said enclosing the book in her arms.
"Sigh. I suppose it is time you know. You've always been too cunning and clever for your age, my precious daughter.", she said as she sat down on a ledge that overlooked Veridia. Tapping the place adjacent to her she said, "come, child, sit with me, for a long tale I have to tell.", she ended as Violet and Anneliese sat down.
"Wait, hold up. Natasha! Here at once!", yelled Anneliese as Natasha came marching at the spot.
"What's up?", she said biting an apple. "What's with the serious faces?"
"Ruby is about to tell us something important, you should listen.", Anneliese replied as Natasha too was now seated with the three.
Ruby took a long breath for she was about to open her mouth and utter words that were forgotten for years.
"It all started long long ago. After the world of Arionis was made a long and treacherous war was fought between the good and the evil, it was called The Great War. In it, the elementals and several other mages fought mythics with the aid of kingdoms, kings and queens. The war was fought due to the greed of the Dragons, foul creatures they truly were! The creators of Arionis had made the mythics to ease their troubles in building the world, all the mythics co-operated as they developed their own special niche; The Griffins roamed the sky and helped erect structures, The Fairies put spells upon protected lands, The Wizards gave wisdom to men and women, in short, every creature wanted to be a part of of Arionis' success. Not the Dragons, they were made to help build mountains, for they were the only ones strong enough to smash through rocks, but they grew greedy of all the power they possessed, they were under the assumption that all the wealth of Arionis was theirs and theirs alone. To obtain the wealth from the hands of those who made them, they poisoned the minds of the once godlike mythics. Promised them riches, power and tyranny over us mere humans, elves, mages and trolls and corrupted them to the bone. The mythics turned against their very creators, killing and crushing several of them under their strength, all for extracting as much gold as they could. As for the symbol, that's the mountains of Pyrothos, a deadly mountain made by the allmighty power of the Dragons and their hiers, from here they conquered all of Arionis, and from here they piqued hate in the hearts of mythics. That's why you see the symbol in their very eyes, my darlings, for the Dragons had brainwashed them to obey their every command, marking their eyes with a symbol so fowl, only those who lived it could appreciate it's terror. The spellbook I own was used by me when I set on a mission along the many kingdoms of East and West to reclaim our lost wealth, but the journey there is unforgiving, mythics all over guarding the gold even after the demise of the last Dragon. Multiple men and women faught another war against these mythics, but alas, their power was just too much for us. We were aided by the only mythics who had strayed away from the Dragon's corruption, Wizards. Truly brave they were, humanoid in form and wisest of us all, they fought alongside us but the mythic you saw yesterday is only the surface of the diversity Arionis holds, some much stronger than the Griffin we faced. It's no surprise that we lost that battle in a shameful defeat, the mythics invaded our kingdoms killing countless knights, spearmen, archers, spellbinders, men, women and children. It's almost frightening to think that the mythics that roam Arionis today aren't even the surface of what the number was years ago, many mythics had been sealed away for good by brave kings, queens and elemental mages.", Ruby finished her tale as tears rolled down her eyes.
"Now you see, my precious daughter, why I had to keep you away from this. Arionis is darker than it seems from the night sky, a world populated by gods among men, bloodshed and sacrifice in every corner, it truly is a land where being safe is a challenging task. We've come a long way to build Veridia after the war.", she ended.
"Oh, mom!", said Violet strongly hugging Ruby, bawling the whole time. Anneliese and Natasha too joined in, crying their eyes out and kissing Violet's forehead.
"But don't you worry, my girls", Ruby said sniffling, "What you've done today was absolutely amazing! I'm proud of all three of you.", she said as tears once again escaped her eyes against her will.
Violet got up and walked slowly towards the door of the kingdom, there she saw the Griffin lay dead and rot. Looking at the Griffin she was reminded of the horrors her mom told her about, everything played out in her head as she imagined the betrayal the forefathers must have felt from the wrath of the Dragons. Eyeing the destruction the Griffin had caused her eyes moistened, deep down she felt responsible for the outrage of the Griffin and kept blaming her need of closure of doing what she did. The kingdom was dust, the courtroom blackened and floor uprooted. She couldn't help but feel worse and worse the longer she stared.
"Wait a minute. If you never won that war, that means the gold is still there, yes?", she said turning to Ruby.
"Legend says it resides under the mountain of Pyrothos in molten form, constantly boiling under it's hot magma.", replied Ruby.
"Mom, I'm about to say something, I know you're going to object it but I need to say this out loud.", she said staring at the floor.
"What is it?", Ruby questioned.
"I'm thinking of going to Pyrothos.", Violet said squeaking.
"What?! No! Absolutely not! Not if I have anything to say about it! I'll trap you in a red bubble and never let you leave it! NO!", Ruby said as her face reddened with anger.
"Mom, think about how much it could help us! I've cause this kingdom a great deal of pain, I let loose a mythic that nearly killed our entire population, I am the reason why there's cries being heard from down the hills, I robbed thousands of houses of the gift of life to prove a stupid fucking point! I'm not going to let my action be the cause of suffering of millions. This debt is mine and mine alone, if I were to give my life to fulfill it, then so be it!", she said bawling.
"Shush! One action doesn't define who you are! You're not going to the mountains, end of discussion!", Ruby responded getting angrier.
"I love you ma, and I respect everything you say, but this time I need to stop listening to you and listen to myself first.", she said turning away.
"The last time you didn't listen to me, you killed a kingdom!", her mother burst out angrier than ever. These words broke them both, Ruby couldn't believe what she'd just said. Violet didn't say a word, she stood stone cold facing opposite her mother.
"Violet, sweetheart, I'm sorry. That's not what I mean, I-", Ruby tried explaining but was interrupted.
"Its ok, ma. Deep down even you know I'm the cause of this. The burden you have to carry to hold those thoughts back is huge, now imagine the burden I must carry to hold back the cries of men, women and children who were torched because of me!", she yelled loud as her eyes turned purple.
"Violet..." her mom whispered under her own breath as tears rolled down her eyes. Anneliese marched herself towards Violet and stood adjacent to her. Holding her hand she said
"If you're going, so are we. This isn't your burden alone, my love, we're all equally responsible. Without me the garden would've never let you in.",
"And without me we never would've decided to there in the first place.", said Natasha as she gripped Violet's arm as well.
"We love you, my pretty Violet, and if anything happened to you we could never forgive ourselves, or each other. Go if you must, just know you're never alone.", said Natasha as she hugged her to her chest.
"Ma, please don't hate me for this. I'm doing this for the kingdom and for the kingdom alone, I need to go to mend my scars, you're either with me or against me.", Violet said approaching her mom.
Her mother lay still, she didn't utter a word and her eyes were lost in an eternal thought, emptier than space itself.
"It's ok, ma. You don't have to say a word. Please just come to wave goodbye tomorrow dawn, I'll await your footsteps.", said Violet as she began walking away. "I love you", she said under her breath.
Morning cracked as the light shone bright, our heroes were up earlier than usual as they walked towards the door of the kingdom from their camps.
"My king", said Violet bowing, "I sincerely apologise for all the pain and suffering my negligence has cause your kingdom. I know the cost of rebuilding this mighty castle is vast, but I promise to repay it's debt at life's cost. I shall push myself to limits I never knew of, I shall explore all lands leaving none unturned and I shall tread paths barren for centuries, but I promise to mend this castle to the best of my abilities.", she said as her voice shook the king himself.
"My child, you don't owe this kingdom anything, we owe you for your bravery and your wits. If you find travel to ease your passing then no man or woman dare block your path, but please know this kingdom is thankful to your services and always will be. While you're gone, I, the king of Veridia promise you, pretty Violet, that I will make sure to check in on Ruby everyday and hope she doesn't feel a glimmer of loneliness in your absence, you have my word.", he said stroking her hair.
"Thank you very much, my king. To you I owe my eternal gratitude.", she said as a teardrop rolled off her cheek.
"Violet! Over here! It's time we make haste!", shouted Natasha's voice from the river side. Violet bid the king and his soldiers a last farewell as she turned around and marched towards Natasha and Anneliese.
"Violet! My child! Wait!", yelled Ruby's voice as she ran straight to her, panting.
"Mother! Didn't think you'd come.", she said as a sigh of relief let loose of her body.
"Keep this with you. It's more than a spellbook, my child, it'll help you navigate through the paths that I once tread. If you're lucky enough you too shall cross paths with Thea.", she said as she enclosed the book in Violet's hand. "Please know that I'm extremely proud of my daughter, of the woman she's become. I know this isn't the last time I'm seeing you, I just do. I'll always watch over you wherever you are, I'll always be with you, forever. Travel safe, my precious daughter, for I love you more than life itself.", she said hugging her daughter.
Off they went to tread paths unexplored for centuries. A plan was set and a path was made, now it was time to journey to forgotten lands.
