THE KEEPERS RISE

Chapter 1 - Reaching Nirva - Part 2

*Remember to click the play button to listen to the soundtrack as you read!*

As soon as Velda touched the stone again, Cha became visible and the young mep stepped back in shock. After the initial scare, though, the look in her eyes shifted from fear to curiosity. Cha stared straight back at her. In a cautious voice, Velda asked, "Who are you?"

Cha had made sure to learn every language it could ever need, so it already knew Meppish, but it was still disappointed that this being wasn't speaking the Common language. The vaya was also startled by her bravery, given that she had probably never seen a vaya before. It admired her for that, and almost gave her its full name, then reconsidered and said simply, "I am Cha. And you?"

"Velda." She examined the being as it spoke. Cha was a humanoid, that much was certain, and Velda had learned about them a little. She knew humanoids had faces, but she couldn't see a mouth, or any facial features at all. Cha had arms, legs, a head and a body, but they were shaped like pointed ovals, each as deep a green as the emerald she had found, and with a similar green glow. Each piece floated independently, and though Cha's legs were just barely floating off the ground, Velda would have been looking up to it even if it had been sitting cross-legged.

Velda pondered Cha for a little while longer in silence, then said, "What are you, anyway? You're not magical, but you're definitely not natural." She circled Cha inquisitively, searching for any Magistone that could be producing a magical effect. "You're not using magic either."

"I am not magical or anything of the sort. I am a spirit. You may know me as a vaya, angel, deva, guardian, or fate."

Velda went wide-eyed and looked up at Cha's face in newfound wonder. She tried to speak, but couldn't. Finally, she whispered solemnly, "Great Fate," and knelt before the vaya.

Cha was mildly amused by this. "You know of us?"

"Of course! Fates control the destiny of the universe! At least, that's what I thought." Velda frowned. "What are you doing here, Great Fate? Is something wrong?" Then, her eyes lit up with realization. "You must be looking for someone important. I shouldn't be here. Sorry for disturbing you, Great Fate." She stood up, curtsied awkwardly, and dashed out of the clearing, pocketing the emerald to look at later.

Cha sighed. Velda was going to be difficult to convince. It wavered slightly as the Powerstone's aura weakened. "Wait!" it called. "Come back!"

There was a pause, then Velda crept back into Cha's line of sight, still in awe. "Do you need me to guide you somewhere, Great Fate? The capital, Trekorona, isn't too far away."

"No. And please stop calling me that. My name is Chalchiuitl." Cha tried its best to sound more serious. "I need to ask you something very important, and I assure you that it will be worth your time."

That got Velda worried. "I have to go, though. Miss Lexio will notice I'm gone if she gets to the park without me! I came just a little late last time and she was really upset."

"Trust me. You will be fine. I promise. Come, sit down."

Velda took one last, longing look at her way back, but she felt something urging her to hear what Cha had to say. She sat down on the tooth-shaped rock to listen, fingering the ridged edge with one hand. Cha knelt in front of her to make the interaction a little easier, though the vaya still didn't touch the ground. "This may be hard for you to grasp," it started, "But, the material realm is in turmoil. I was sent to this place to find someone to save it. There are seven other vaya like me with the same goal."

"Are they all green like you?" Velda interjected curiously.

Cha was caught off guard by the question. "No, we were all different colors, and chosen because we were each the strongest vaya of our color."

"There's even more of you than those seven?"

"Yes, many more. May I continue now, Velda?"

She smiled and nodded eagerly, and Cha made a soft sighing noise before going on. "We know that a single being is not strong enough for this task, which is why we were sent to places where Magistones were. They were converted to Powerstones with all of the stored magic we had left. Magistones are essentially-"

"I know what Magistones are, actually. There's a lot of them here on Myusaria. That's why I came back here. I found this empty ring, and I wanted to look for the stone that had fallen out of it to see if it was a Magistone. Turns out it is."

Cha cocked its head in a sign of confusion but kept going. "That Magistone is more specifically a Powerstone, and I am the vaya for it. If I am bound to the stone, it gives the Keeper of the stone tremendous power, but it is also life-changing."

"What do you mean?" Velda asked tentatively.

"If you choose to bind to that stone, you will be bound to it and me forever."

Velda gasped and stared at Cha. "Wait, forever? I've seen meps unbind from stones all the time! Magistones can't possibly be able to work like that!"

"Not typically, but this is a rather special stone."

"Maybe I'm not the right mep for this. There are lots of mages on Myusaria. You can find one of them."

"It is not quite so simple. I cannot go far from that Powerstone you hold. Without it, I would eventually faze back into the spirit realm."

"Oh." That made Velda feel rather stupid. Of course, Cha could only exist with some sort of energy to keep it grounded. "You said something about a Keeper. What is that?"

"A being who keeps a Powerstone and its Master Vaya. The Powerstones are meant to help establish peace in the universe. Keepers accept that responsibility with the keeping of the stone."

Velda had to be amazed again. "You're a Master Vaya? That must be the same as a master fate! You, and all of the vaya that got sent out..." She trailed off, awestruck. "You're the most important fates there are! How could you just leave the other fates?"

"It was a tough decision."

Velda nodded. "It must have been."

Cha had to think about how to proceed. It eventually decided to be straight with Velda. "Understand that learning how to control a Powerstone fully will be a lifetime of work, however amazingly powerful it may be. But there is even more to it than that. It creates perfect immortality."

"Oh my fates. You're joking."

"Not at all."

Velda looked around nervously. After a while, she said, "I need to get going. Do you want to come with me?" She grinned. "I guess you have to if I'm taking this." She held up the emerald Powerstone.

"That is correct."

"Don't you think I'm too young for this, though?"

"How old are you, Velda?"

"Fifteen."

Cha was surprised. That was older than it had guessed by looking at Velda, but also younger than it had expected when it had been told the Keepers would all be children. "Well, even if you are too young to be making important decisions by the standards of your society, you will be about the same age as every other Keeper by design. If you so wish, I can wait a day for you to decide. But if you refuse, I must be returned here with the Powerstone to find my true Keeper. My strength and mobility in this realm are limited."

Cha didn't need to fool itself. Velda was the one. The stone had chosen her right away. But, the vaya knew she wouldn't take well to having that responsibility laid on her all at once.

"I think I want some time to think about it. I need to catch up with my group."

"Right. Let us go."