Aetherian(Part 1): A War Begins

Belle

 Belle reluctantly began to pack her belongings for the long trip to Snowfall. Maybe it was for the best that she return home since her father was right. The Lysanders and Vestarrs are the worst of enemies, and Belle was surrounded by their soldiers constantly. She would be relieved to see Karlon and Allard again, along with her mother, Rose, but she didn't want to leave Prince Roderick. As intimidating as he was at times, Belle loved him. Maybe they would marry when they turned twenty, but there was no way Belle's father would let her step into Mistral again. It was a shame, too. Mistral was beautiful in the winter, and not nearly as freezing as Snowfall was year round. It wasn't something she would die for, though. The risk of the Lysanders attacking her again was too big to take. They probably would have if it weren't for Roderick and Melody. When Belle went to fold her blanket on her bed, she noticed something on the wall. There were wasn't any cement between two of the bricks, and the one above them was cut in half.

"Weird," she said to herself. At first, she paid it no mind, but the line that cut into the wall stretched from the ground, all the way to the ceiling.

"A door?" she asked herself. There might have been many secrets in the Ivory Tower that no one knew about, and opening a secret door in the wall seemed risky, but Belle was too curious not to. She pushed the wall beside the crack, and a white light suddenly shined from the other side, forming the shape of a door with an arch at the top. Belle had heard of these doors. They were doors sealed by the magic of the Draconians, hidden from ordinary people. Perhaps Guardians, or those with Guardians' blood, were an exception to that rule. When Belle pressed on the door again, her hand went right through it, as if it wasn't really there. She stepped all the way through and found herself in a dark passageway lined with bricks.

"Hello?" she called out, her voice echoing through the darkness. When no one answered, Belle went further into the tunnel. She stayed where the light could reach into it, but the passage began to lead downward, through a stairwell that descended into more darkness. When she couldn't see anything in front of her, she went back to her solar and grabbed a small flashlight, and when she flashed it in front of her at the bottom of the stairwell, she was met with three different arched doorways in the wall. There wasn't anything that said where they led, but Belle could feel a mysterious aura from the one to the far right.

"Hello?" she called, but someone did answer this time. It was a familiar little girl's voice.

"Belle?" Melody's voice echoed.

"Melody?" said Belle. She began to walk down the corridor, and a familiar blue light caught her eye. It was Melody's lightsword.

"Melody, what are you doing down here?" Belle asked as they caught up with each other.

"I felt something in my chambers and followed it down here," Melody answered. "You should get back to yours."

"And you shouldn't?" asked Belle.

"I'm a Guardian, now, remember?" Melody reminded, then she gave her sister a shove. "Now, come on."

"Melody!" Belle shouted, nudging Melody away. "I know there's something in here."

"Do you know what it is?" asked Melody.

"Do you?" Belle argued.

"I intend to find out," Melody answered. "And I don't intend for my sister to die in the process. Belle, please. You know father gets worried enough when I put myself in danger."

"It's a good thing I have a Knight to look after me," said Belle. "Like every lady should."

"Fine," Melody admitted, looking to a doorway on the wall. The mysterious aura was coming from it, and they both began to follow it, with Belle behind Melody. As they went further, Belle could sense the mysterious aura more clearly. It was radiant and ethereal.

"You know, everything I've felt in this place was dark and evil," said Melody. "This is definitely different."

"It is?" asked Belle.

"You haven't been to the catacombs," said Melody.

"Oh, that's right," Belle remembered. "The black dragons." By the grace of all the gods, the dragons weren't where the tunnel led to. The radiant power grew stronger when they reached a large chamber with a big, glowing crystal of white radiant malakyte in the middle of the floor.

"What is this?" asked Belle.

"Some kind of sanctuary?" Melody suggested. "Judging by the radiant crystal."

"Why would there be a sanctuary in this place?" said Belle.

"That's not what it is," someone suddenly said, from the doorway. It was a boy with auburn hair and golden eyes, with almost the same face as Trevor, but his armor wasn't a suit of heavy power armor, but silver plate armor, with the navy blue cape of a Guardian Knight. It was him that the radiant aura came from.

"You know, I'm the only Guardian that's ever been in this place," the Guardian said.

"The Ivory Tower?" asked Belle.

"No," the Guardian corrected. "My tomb."

"Wait a minute," said Melody, as she noticed markings in a circle around the large crystal. They were markings in Draconic, but they suddenly flashed a white light when Melody swiped dust off of them. They changed to Common, and spelled "Gunnar Karvine".

"No," Belle gasped, with widened eyes, then turned back to the Guardian. "But you're dead. You've been dead."

"I am dead, my lady," said Gunnar. "But for me, being dead isn't what I thought it would be."

"How come you're here, and not with the gods?" asked Melody.

"I have Lazare Lysander to thank for that," Gunnar Karvine answered. "He cursed me with undeath, and I was unlucky enough to become bound to this place. Not exactly what you would call a royal burial ground, is it?"

"So, you're a ghost?" asked Melody, and Belle gave her a nudge.

"Not exactly," Gunnar answered. "Ghosts are free to wander wherever they're buried. I can't leave this room. You're both daughters of House Vestarr, aren't you?"

"How did you know?" asked Belle.

"I'd recognize the face of Allard Vestarr anywhere," said Gunnar.

"Allard?" Melody repeated. "That's our brother's name."

"There's been a lot of Allard Vestarrs throughout history, sister," Belle reminded. "I think that was the name of House Vestarr's founder."

"What are you doing down here?" Gunnar asked.

"We felt something, and it led us down here," Melody answered.

"But nothing should have been felt until a time when Aetherian would need me, or a descendant of me," said Gunnar. "What is going on?"

"I know a Karvine," Belle answered. "A descendant of you, who became a Guardian of Zenartha, and saw Mistral's fall fifteen years ago."

"I know," said Gunnar. "His name is Trevor. I've not been ignorant. I also know that Robar Busch has taken Mistral and is calling himself King. Another Karvine, Valeria, is across the world, trying to fight her way here. If you both were able to sense me, then that means that something's wrong. Which one of you has been to the catacombs?"

"That would be me," Melody answered.

"What did you see?" Gunnar asked. "You, Trevor, and the Epsilon girl, what did you see under the Ivory Tower?"

"You aren't going to like it," Melody assured. "We saw dragons with black scales, and they were enormous." Gunnar had a look of dread on his face.

"Did you see a particular one?" he asked. "One that was bigger than the others?"

"Yes," said Melody. "It must have been twice the size of the other ones."

"Are you sure?" asked Gunnar, stepping closer to her.

"I am sure," Melody promised. "What's the matter?"

"That bigger dragon you saw?" said Gunnar. "It's Kidar, and if what you saw is accurate, then he is already fully regenerated."