Skies of emrub

Guardian

Qilby paused as he studied the sunlight falling in through the window on the open desk. He considered what that could mean, considered the fact that his student was missing. The young eliatrope was almost always on time, even early, to their lessons, and had such a real passion for learning anything that Qilby almost always found himself indulging in herquestions. The little student was always diligent and determined to learn, soaking up new information in any way she could.

Qilby dragged his fingers over the elaborate desk that he used for his personal mentees. He had taught Yugo here not very long ago, the young protector carving his marks into the desk, along the thousands of others that he had carved in previous lives, different eras, but all the same person and soul. He was different from Cleomyn, both academically and personality wise. The young protector was very enthusiastic and adventurous, passion flowed through his veins as sure as wakfu did, though he sometimes took things too far without meaning it, saved only by his compassion and innocence.

Cleomyn, the dofus' guardian, on the other hand, was more quiet and curious academically. She trusted easily and trusted hard, and she seemed to trust none more than her brother and Qilby himself. She didn't just trust Qilby, she idolized him. The child knew he would be important, had seen visions about it that she had confided in the elder and her brother, Chibi, with tears streaking freely down her face. Qilby had mused over those visions, reveling in the novelty of them, the novelty that quickly wore off as the mechasms settled in, the novelty that had so quickly fled his long long life, leaving him breathless and begging for more.
Qilby picked up his fingers, idly observing the dust that was left on them from the desk, lost in thoughts. He could hear breathless laughter approaching, along with the small beating of wings and light tapping of bare feet. He turned to the door and after a minute, his student arrived, laughing and panting in the company of her older brother. They had obviously raced here. Qilby smiled at the young guardian. The child met his eyes and smiled sheepishly, expecting to be scolded for her late arrival, no doubt. Qilby idly noticed the lack of depth behind them, as if she wasn't able to fully see him. That wasn't unexpected, as the child had been born with a gift and a drawback. Cleomyn's foresight was a gift and a curse, often leaving the poor child with migraines and anxiety attacks, slowly sapping her actual sight away, leaving her with no choice but to learn wakfu currents. Her parents in this life had willingly given her and her brother up to the council, as they recognized the signs of the guardian being born. She had grown up surrounded by the council - it was all she knew.

"Um.. Sir?" Qilby snapped out of it. Cleomyn's tone implied that she had been talking to Qilby for a while. The child blinked at him.

"My apologies, what is it you need?" Cleomyn just stared at him.

"I, uh, was just um, apologizing for being late- I ran into Yugo on the way and he asked me to do something for one of his tofus." Qilby nodded with a small smile that quickly melted off. That did sound like something Yugo would do, repetitive, brave, spunky Yugo.

"Well, there's no need. You learn on your own time. I trust your brother made it to Shinonome?" he felt a pang of happiness as he said his sister's name. She was the only one who understood him and his curse, the only one who could mildly alleviate the restlessness that crept up at the edges. Myn nodded, making her way over to the carved bench that served as a seat for the desk. She looked up at the elder eliatrope with his empty silver eyes.

"Good. Let's get to work then. We'll be focusing on the Dofus today, since you were so curious about them the last time we were here." The guardian visibly brightened, her covered wings perking up, the criss-crossed ribbons that had been a gift from Qilby trailing lightly on her head. Qilby allowed himself a smile at the child. Perhaps if he couldn't savor life any longer, he could try and enjoy the reactions from this little guardian, familiar as they were.

"What do you know of the council's Dofus so far, so we start off on a note you know." Qilby sat across from the eliatrope, studying her reaction.

"Well, I know that only the council and a few lucky eliatropes are born with their dragons in a dofus, and me and Naz are one of those." the child mused cheerfully, pausing before continuing.

"Only the council can reincarnate through their dofus and they can use the dofus to enhance their powers. All of their dofus were made from the first dance of the great dragon and the great goddess." She paused, then went on after thinking for a bit.

"I think a dragon lays a dofus whenever they fall in love, but I don't know for sure." Qilby nodded. That was all the basic knowledge.

"And what can you tell me about the eliatrope council?" the child shot a quizzical look at the chronicler, but responded all the same.

"Well um. There's King Chibi and Grougalorogran, King Chibi has the gift of prophecy and um, he's the current oldest right now, besides you." Qilby motioned for her to continue, standing up and walking to the window, staring out of it. Cleomyn's gaze followed him.

"Then there's you and Shinonome, the chroniclers. You teach the rest of the council and you also remember everything from your past lives." She paused again, waiting for feedback. Qilby nodded. She continued.

"Then there's Mina and Phaeris, keeper of wisdom. They help keep our people in line, and stop any fights they can." This time, she didn't wait for qilby's feedback.

"There's Yugo and Adamai, the protectors of our people and really brave! They're really nice and they take care of all of our people, and go on adventures lots!" Cleomyn's voice was excited as she spoke. She took a moment to think before continuing.

"Then, there's Glip, the teacher. He helps teach the other eliatrope kids things, with his dragon brother, Baltazar. And then, Nora and Efrim, I don't know much about them but they're always really nice and everyone adores them." Qilby noticed how shy Cleomyn sounded about the last part; clearly she looked up to Nora. He turned around to face the little eliatrope.

"Good. Now, all of the council have their Dofus, correct?" A nod.

"Good. Now, you are kind of an unusual case, and I know you've been thinking about your circumstance this entire time. I'm here to tell you that the reason you and your dragon brother share a Dofus is because you are the guardian of our Dofus." He paused, assessing the reaction of the eliatrope child before continuing.

"You and your twin brother, Nazalath, bear a special connection to the Eliatrope Dofus, and as a result, your natural instinct is to be near them, so much so, that your spirit will not rest until it is as close to the Dofus as it can be. This leads to you reincarnating in times of need, but differently from the rest of the council, which brings us into your little quiz for today." Cleomyn sat up, nodding a bit, clearly interested. So interested in fact, that she conveniently forgot to look at the window where Qilby stood, failed to notice her dragon twin staring at her, trying his absolute hardest to distract and mess with her, forgetting in the thrill of mischief, that his sister would struggle to see him clearly. Qilby chuckled, endeared by the childlike wonder in the young guardian's eyes, her lack of attention towards her rapidly boring brother. He idly wondered if that could ever get old; seeing his pupils' eyes light up with wonder. He knew the answer; eventually, it would.

"What do you remember of your origins?"

"My parents gave me to the council once they realized that my dofus also had an eliatrope in it." She answered earnestly.

"And do you understand why now?" A fervent nod, along with a smile.

"Good. Your lesson for today is over, and I suggest you go find your brother. I trust Shinonome has taught him the same things today." Cleomyn nodded, standing up. She walked towards the exit of the room, then hesitated, looking back at Qilby.

"Sir?"

"Yes?" The eliatrope paused

"When will I get to see the Dofus? When do I start guarding them?"

"When the council decides you're ready." The eliatrope nodded, then left the room with a swift goodbye, running off to find her brother. Qilby went back to the window, studying the landscape out of it. How many times had he had that exact conversation with the guardian, in the exact same location? How many times would it keep happening? He felt the itch of restlessness creep at him again. He chose to do nothing in that moment, but to walk away from the window, away from the thoughts that pushed him to give the guardians the Dofus earlier than usual, push them to use them ahead of time, just to see what would happen. Just to feel alive for once in the dreary existence he now called his life.