Tales of Aria | Piercing Lightning

II: Fairy Tales

Once upon a time...

"Two celestial beings arrived at our world." He continued. "One was called Farrus, and the other one, Rhys."

"Farrus had the power of life, and creation. Rhys, on the other hand, death, and destruction. Regardless of how they used it, both had unimaginable strength."
"Also they correlated each other, sweet." Eric mumbled.

"You're right." Vernio, upon catching that. "The two arrived on this world long ago, when Aria was just one, massive chunk of soil."
"Before Aria was divided into four? That's waaay too long." Mavin chuckled. "Probably since my greaaat grandfather's still suckin' his thumb."

"Both of them sat on the spectator seat for a while before thinking 'hey, this world's kinda cool!' and decided to give a portion of their power to us humans."
"Oh, you betcha this world is cool!" Miko jumped off her seat. Flailing her arms up. "There are Mammoths, Sabertooths, Bears, and. Big. Big. Bunnies!" Her hand held up near her head, to that of rabbits.
"Are you referencing a Cotl?" "Ray sighed. "Besides, what's a bunnies?"
"Yeah that! There could probably be other creatures that I've only seen in games and anime! Unicorns, Dragons..." She kept on rambling.

"So that's how these strange shards came..." Lyria snapped her hand. A tiny spark of lightning came.

Magic didn't really exist on the land of Aria. The four lands were pioneered forward by technology, and the pure instinct of humankind, with Hope being the most advanced. It was often dismissed as mere superstition. Even at Eirandell.

"... Can I continue?" The mockingly tired-looking old man sighed.
"... Yes, sorry." Lyria hastily covered Miko's rambunctious mouth.
"Young girl, I'm afraid you're right. The strange power did came from them."

"But here's the catch..."

"They agreed in giving their powers, but they disagreed on how." He continued on. "Farrus wanted to stand as equal, yet Rhys wanted to play tyrant."
"Play tyrant?" Ray asked.
"She wanted to rule over Aria."

"Their disagreement turned into an affair, and the affair turned into a duel." He continued.
"And that duel, you see, is the reason Aria was split into four."
"What, you mean, their forces simply bounced off to our world?" Stein shrugged, mocking.
"... You're not wrong." The storyteller replied.

"Eventually, Farrus realized that if they go on with their little-big duel, Aria would ultimately be destroyed." He went on. "So a plan was devised."
"It was to seal Rhys inside a makeshift coffin, and connect it right into Farrus' power. In the end, that's exactly what he did." He finished.

"So, day's saved. Job well done, Farrus. Absolutely nothing to do with the strange power I harbored. I'll be takin' my leave." Mavin sighed. She got up quickly.

"Well, that's where you're wrong, kid."

As soon as she turned around, and took a step or two away from the delusional old man, he managed to stop her with just one sentence. Everyone eyed on the two.
Indeed, a fairy tales didn't have a "catch", yet this one did, and it made Mavin slowly turned her body to Vernio. It might've still be one, big superstitious fabrication.

"In fact, if you were able to see the invitation's true message, then that's a prove that you have everything to do with it."
"..."
"Sit down."
She couldn't refuse her own curiosity. After all, he was right. The invitation's "true" message could only be seen by people harboring the newfound power.