"You want to know about the Queens?" Cherrini asked.
Nys nodded as they travel further into the cave. "Everything. I want to know everything about them. Start from the beginning."
"It's a long story."
"I know, but right now, I don't know what to think about anything. If I take the time to learn about where I came from and the world that used to exist, then maybe I can figure out where I stand."
Cherrini nodded. "If you insist. I'll give you a history lesson, but you better be prepared."
Nys nodded, and they slowed their pace a bit.
"Before Queens and Kings, there was the Alkren Empire. Alkren ruled over most of Elemencia for almost a millennium. It is also where the first deity ascended." Cherrini said, looking toward her mother. Mine nodded and held her hand out. In her palm was a droplet of water that expanded and changed until it was a replica of what the world looked like.
It looked nothing like the world Nys knew. It was familiar, but also completely unfamiliar to her.
"Acleon was the name of the royal city. It was known as the center of Elemencia. The Emperor Alycone Ienis was the 77th ruler. His rule only lasted ten years." The water changed until it showed a beautiful city with a palace in the center. The city was astounding even without the proper colors.
"That's a short time." Nys said, wanting to touch the display.
"Alycone's rule ended abruptly because of the ascension. Though the history of Alkren is murky in some areas, yet what is known is that the appearance of a young woman name Nurue forever changed the course of history. This is because her affinity for manipulating Kren was given to everyone in Elemencia. At first only certain royal family members could control Kren, but after her appearance it was spread to everyone."
"So she's the reason we can use our powers?" Nys asked.
"Yes and no. Nurue is the reason everyone has an affinity for manipulating Kren. Alyconeiru is the reason Queen's have power."
"Alyconeiru?"
"It is the deity that the Emperor Alycone and Empress Nurue became after the ascension. Alyconeiru is the Perfector of Kren, also known as the Deity of Dusk." Cherrini said as Mine created a replica of a crest Nys had never seen.
"Unfortunately, history is unclear on how or why they ascended together. All that is known is that once it happened, Acleon was annihilated and everyone died except Prince Valenth, Alycone's brother. He was found in the ruins."
Nys turned her attention to Cherrini, "What? Why would they kill everyone?"
"Although their rule together over Alkren was the most peaceful, their ascension ended the first half of the Alkren Era. Nothing was left of the royal city. Alycone's brother Valenth eventually took over what was left and the second half of the Alkren Era began. Fortunately, that history is well documented. King Valenth Ienis of Qivahana."
"The king didn't know what happened to his brother and sister-in-law either?"
"If he did, he told no one nor had it been recorded. He never spoke of his miraculous survival either." The water gave a three dimensional bust of Valenth. He was familiar to Nys, but she couldn't place where she had seen him.
"He's kind of cute." She said absently.
Cherrini burst out into laughter. "Well, the 78th Emperor was quite the eye candy. It was well known and was entered into our history books like a cold hard fact."
"There are no records of the 77th and his Empress?" Nys asked, wondering what they looked like.
"No, it has been completely erased from history and the memories of those that knew as well. The power of Alyconeiru at work."
"Okay, so if Alyconeiru gave Queens their power, then why not stop what happened with our world?"
"I don't know, but the creation of the Queens was the work of two deities. Alyconeiru and Eschalia."
"Eschalia is the Conductor of Kren and also known as the Deity of Dawn. Two halves of the same coin." The crest that appeared caused Nys to grab her chest in pain.
"Nys?" Mine grabbed the girl to steady her.
"I'm sorry. I had a weird feeling. Fear...or terror." She mumbled to herself.
"We should move on." Mine said, letting Nys go as she got her balance.
"No, tell me about Eschalia."
Cherrini looked at her mother and seemed to wait to see if Nem would stop her. He said nothing, so she continued. "Eschalia ascended during the era of the Three Kings. Again, a strange event that hasn't been well documented. Escha was a descendant of Alkren. His relatives and background are unknown, but he was known as the Bestower of the Circlet."
"Circlets were a power given to certain people to control Kren. Though everyone had the innate ability because of Nurue, it was still impossible to actually bend Kren to one's will. Circlets were created by Alyconeiru to do that and Escha was the one to give them to worthy ones. Kren was out of control during that time. This was because of experiments and the constant misuse of Kren, causing it to become volatile. It was the duty of the Circlet holders to control the Kren and keep it from tearing apart Elemencia."
"Let me guess, something terrible happened?" Nys asked.
"Yes. The experiments of Klaire Phanelle cause the creation of Kren Miasma. His experiment also tore open the Aetas Gate. That is how Dahlia arrived. She was the second half of Eschalia and a person from the future."
"What? This is getting weirder than some scifi novels I've read." Nys said. She already had a hard time getting over the fact that she was a queen. Now time travel was a part of history. It historically happened.
"Elemencia history is exciting and terrifying all at once. However, it is thanks to this time traveler that Elemencia was saved for a second time and the Queen Era began. Once Eschalia ascended, both deities created the Queen system." Mine showed Nys the world again. This time, there were more continents.
"Finally, I can tell you about the Queens." Cherrini said.
Nys nodded and prepared herself for the story to come.
"The Three Kings were all holders of Circlets and for many years they could keep the Kren under control. Unfortunately, the Miasma spread and tainted much of the first Celestria. It shortened the lives of the inhabitants and eventually caused Akre, a Kren sickness that killed many people. Kren Miasma eventually mutated into the shadow element. It was the second element to be born."
"Shadow element, it sounds familiar." Nys said, wondering where she remembered it from.
"Anima was the first, along with it Eone was born. She was born far before the Three Kings, but back then she wasn't a queen. She was simply a new existence created by Alyconeiru."
"So Eone wasn't always a queen and became one later." Nys said.
"Yes." Cherrini said before continuing. "During the Three Kings time, the Star King tried to contain the shadow element, but failed because of his Queen, Hanu'el. Again it becomes murky with the details but the Star King Nire lost control and merged with the shadow element becoming the Shadow King. That is when everything was once more almost destroyed. Celestria sunk into the ocean and the area became known as the Black Sea. The Shadow King terrorized all of Elemencia for decades before he was killed by the other remaining Circlet holders."
"Their deities couldn't save him." Nys felt a little angry that the most they could do was kill him. Though she killed the Voids in the beginning. She felt like they should have done more.
Cherrini shook her head. "After the death of the Shadow King, Eone became the first queen. She established the second Celestria. It was known as the Jubilant Kingdom of Celestria. Her rule helped in the recovery of many places. Centuries later, my mother Cherrimine was born. She was the first Queen born to Elemencia and the second queen. She ruled over the Luxurious Kingdom of Aquinnia. It was the largest kingdom in Elemencia. As many of the inhabitants of Aquinnia were first under the rule of the Snow King, Wyne and his wife Cherrimin during the Era of the Three Kings. Cherrimin is my mother's grandmother."
"Many centuries after my mother's birth came the third queen, Moiira."
"Moira?" Nys said.
"No, Moiira." Cherrini enunciated the name. "Moiira is the queen of the Lightbringer Kingdom Vahnaine."
"But I thought her name was Sine." Nys said, confused.
"Moiira Sine Eithne. The third queen and conductor of the Fire Element. She was a charismatic queen that rebuilt Vahnaine and inherited the Phoenix King Elocius' bow Xia. The only queen to inherit a weapon from a former King. The three of us did so much to fix Elemencia after the abuse of its power." Mine explained, showing Nys a reel of the Three queens and their feats.
"Moiira..." Nys found her breathing a little odd. Hearing the name didn't bring memories. It brought emotions that clawed their way out, but under that she was fearful of something else. What if Moira was a queen? What if she was that queen?
"The fourth queen and the sixth queen were born at the same time. Eurytia, the fourth queen, is the Queen of the Glittering Kingdom of Argenia. She is in control of the Silver Element. She supports the elemental family of Alyconeiru. Vi is the sixth queen. She is the Queen of the Radiant Kingdom of Hymnnia. She controls the Golden Element and supports the elemental family of Eschalia. She is known to you by the name Ai. Those two elements are mysterious even now as neither queen has ever explained their power. They seem to be the servants of their respective deity. Not much is known about them other than that. They didn't really associate with the other queens."
"Servants of the Deities." Nys said, wondering what that entailed.
"The seventh queen is Aria. She was born last and was the queen of the Forever Spring Kingdom Ventuia. She controls the Wind Element. Her kingdom was the smallest, and she was the most immature, though she was born to the same parents as Eurytia. Aria is known by Hyacinth in this world."
"They're sisters?" Nys asked and realized that they shared the same strange eye color.
"Yes. They are." Cherrini said, walking a little slower. Nys slowed down.
"What about the fifth queen? Me." Nys asked.
"You know who you are. You're the fifth queen. You control the element of light. Your home was Illacrimina."
"Then what about my mother? Who was she and where did she come from? What was her wish for me? And what about how everything got ruined?" Nys asked.
"Cherrini." Nem called from ahead. "We're at the exit."
"Nys, your mother is a wonderful person. She gave us you, the one person who can help bring back the Elemencia we belong to, which is her wish. As for the rest, we'll have to wait until another time. " Mine said and Nys sighed but agreed. Cherrini nodded, but her expression was oddly forlorn.
"We have to hurry." Mine said sprinting to catch up. Both women followed behind her. Nys had a lot of questions, but she had to save them for—
Nys threw her hands out suddenly and Liri just suddenly popped into existence. She caught him knowing exactly where he'd show up.
"Liri?"
The doll looked up at her, "I told you to stay out of trouble."
"Stay out of trouble? Where the hell have you been!?"
Before she could receive an answer, the silence crowded out her thoughts, but it shouldn't have been possible. Nys flinched as the pain returned. Liri grabbed his head and was in pain as well.
"What is that!" he said, almost shaking in pain.
"A new Void. It's a long story but it shouldn't be able to enter this place or that's what they said." Nys shook off the pain and kept moving. She couldn't hesitate. They reached Nem and Callen. Both of them looked like this were in pain but doing a better job of standing it than Liri. The doll was almost incapacitated.
"It's waiting for us to leave." Callen said, motioning at the exit.
The Void sat patiently, waiting. The surrounding color faded away from the environment.
"Wh-what is that thing? It doesn't belong...N-nemone, what is that?" Liri could barely speak. Nem turned and looked at Liri with an odd expression that Nys couldn't read.
Her brother came over and picked the doll up. His violet eyes inspecting him. "An abomination. Deal with the pain for now. We have to destroy it if we want to leave." Nem said, patting the doll's head a few times gently. Nys could see a soft purple glow from his hand. After a few more pats, Liri was alright again.
"My prince, thank you." Liri said jumping on to Nys' shoulder. Nem nodded and looked toward the monster at the exit.
"Nys, will you be able to destroy it all at once?" Nem asked. "You should feel stronger since you've traveled the Depths of Silence."
Nys thought about it. She felt different. She didn't even realize it until Nem said something.
"What happened?"
"The Depths of Silence are a trial from the past. Queens would take the trial when they were of a certain age. It enhances their power and gives them quite a boost. The only thing is you can only take it once. You got to pass so easily because you talked through the whole trial. Congratulations on somehow cheating." Callen explained quickly.
"Callen." Liri said warningly. "Don't tease her."
Callen smiled and turned his attention to the Void behind the barrier. "Yes sir."
"Do you have confidence, Nys?" Liri asked.
"Yeah. I think I can take it out." Nys said, flexing her fingers.
"Then let us proceed." Nem said, calling his weapon. Callen did the same and Nys was surprised that he had one. No other voids fought with a weapon. At least none she knew.
"Surprised right?" Callen said, showing off the black and red sword. "It'll be fun to finally show off."
"Nys be careful," Cherrini said, standing back.
-----------
How should Nys proceed?
[] Choose your party setup. (Write-in)
*Cherrini is not a fighter. She must be protected.
Voting Ends Sunday
Current Circumstances
*Another Vocivus has arrived
*Nys had leveled up, she now knows Annihilating Star
*Liri has joined the party
* Cherrini History Lesson will continue later
