"She got distracted kwa a cute Earth Elemental in the crowd." "You would've put a hole through your bass, besi drum if you'd seen him too," Sylvi retaliated, poking her guitar, gitaa with a pout. "This is important!" Rozumary snapped, coming across to me. "Have wewe sensed anything strange with the upinde wa mvua Portal lately?" she asked. "No, it hasn't talked in about a month. Why?" "Did wewe hear about the meteor kuoga a few days ago?" Luri asked quietly, fiddling with her iron pendant. "Vaguely... I did hear some rumors from servants, but that's about it." I didn't like what this information was implying. The upinde wa mvua Portal was a ring around Farix, shinning with the 7 colors of an Earth rainbow. It rotated and signalled seasons in various parts of the planet- the sky never stayed the same color for long. It also was like an energy chanzo for Portal Spheres, which were placed at strategic places around the planet for the species that couldn't fly.
And lastly, it was also the energy chanzo that kept my kingdom island from falling apart. Because, wewe see, the upinde wa mvua Portal might be an energy chanzo but it wasn't there when the planet was created. It was made through the creation of 7 Elemental Rune Swords kwa a human named Northern Oakes, several hundred years ago. Kendréa was the kingdom where all 7 were made and brought together, and the combined energy they produced should have destroyed the entire island. In fact, some pieces of the island had already fallen away as the upinde wa mvua Portal had begun circling the planet. But for some reason, once the ring was in place, the island stopped falling apart and has been that way ever since. Erosion should've wiped the island off the map a few hundred years zamani but that clearly hasn't happened yet.
"What about the meteor shower?" I asked. "It happened about a week zamani while we were performing at night in Rinnec. The upinde wa mvua Ring was also present in the sky that night and well.." Rozumary trailed off and frowned. "It looked like it shot straight through the Rainbow. The meteors didn't disappear like normal.. They actually looked like they physically burned through it. They crashed a good few miles away but we were busy.."
I folded my arms. "Okay.. then what?" "The inayofuata siku we were packing up and-" Sylvi began. "-We saw some people pointing at the upinde wa mvua Ring, arguing about what they saw," Ovikita finished. "They were saying that the Ring had begun fading from the outside, but others were arguing that nothing had happened to it," Luri alisema softly.
"As we walked through the city to the Portal Sphere, we passed zaidi and zaidi people who were trying to convince others that the violet colored band wasn't as thick as it had been before the meteors." Rozumary folded her arms. "I didn't want to just ripoti rumors to wewe so I visited a scientist friend of mine who confirmed that the Ring had suffered damage from the meteors' impact." I frowned hard at this. "Is there more?" "He alisema the rocks weren't from our galaxy, and that's why they made an impact instead of being teleported elsewhere like normal. He believed that they came from a galaxy known as the Milky Way."
"Why wasn't anyone at the Palace told about this?!" I fumed to myself. "Something like this means death to most of the citizens of Kendréa if it's not fixed, not to mention the upinde wa mvua Portal itself-" "How are wewe planning to fix a planetary ring?" Autzoran mumbled. Sylvi whacked her. "Have some respect!" "Thanks for the information, guys. You've been a huge help so far."
I abruptly made my exit, Kevin trailing along silently behind me. While reviewing the information in my mind, I walked blindly through the streets. Suddenly a person bumped into me. I looked up and recognized him to be the same young Earth Elemental from outside the café. "My apologizes. I had to walk into wewe for wewe to notice me. My Marafiki call me North." I stared blankly at him, still trying to figure out what to do about my situation. "What is your business with my friend?" Kevin's voice, stern and trustworthy, slid into the back of my mind as I chose to ponder more. He could handle any mashabiki I ran into; I honestly didn't have time for anything else. "The upinde wa mvua Ring is disappearing," North alisema sadly. My radar went up and my eyes took in his features. His brown hair was held in a ponytail and green tinted glasses sat on his dark face. Behind the lenses, his scarlet eyes glowed with a shrewd expression. "My name is North," he repeated patiently. "I know why the Ring has been weakened. But please, let's not talk here. How about we go over to GrapeAppleBucks? It's my favourite coffee business in Choloroville. Follow me."
Chapter 3
I followed him without hesitation, curious. He led us into the northern part of the town and into the establishment. While we waited for the orders that North had placed, he calmly explained that the 7 Elemental Rune Swords were moving apart from each other as the years went by. In order to restore the Ring's integrity, they must be reunited.
The coffee was brought to us and as I sipped on the creamy drink I thought about his words. It wasn't likely that he was lying, I only knew the location of one of those swords and it was the one that I was Elemental Leader of. The Plant Elemental Rune Sword lay in the Choloroville Forest and kept it the greenest and thickest forest on this side of the planet. "How are wewe so sure it's because of the swords moving apart?" Kevin asked. "If wewe went around to check, why not bring them all together yourself?" North frowned. "You should've figured that out yourself." He turned his scarlet eyes on me. "Those swords are important to your Kingdom. wewe should've been keeping an eye on them." "Excuse me? Are wewe implying my friend is royalty?" Kevin frowned at the Earth Elemental. "I'm not implying; I KNOW she's royalty. And the only one capable of handling all 7 of them due to her training with Code méniéa- her body can respond to every element." "Whether you're right au not, wewe shouldn't be accusing anyone of being Royalty in the presence of commoners," I quietly mumbled, stirring the drink with the straw. "They can't hear us," North returned. "I've put a Spatial bubble around us." I stiffened. Someone used méniéa around me and I didn't sense it? North could be very dangerous if he decided to end me.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he continued gently. "You see, I'm a Wandering Spirit and I need help with my Afterlife Quest. And you, Jessica, are the only one who can reunite the swords, being bound to this time." "Prove that you're who wewe say wewe are then," Kevin snapped, putting an arm over my shoulder protectively. "For starters, I'm human. My real name is Northern Oakes." "That's a tall claim," Kevin frowned, narrowing his stony bluegreen eyes.
North rolled up his left sleeve, revealing a Xenar rune scorched into his skin. "This is part of my proof. Since I'm human, I can't use méniéa without external means. And since I lived on Farix for several hundred years, the method for etching runes has changed quite a bit. Of course, I could've done this just to earn your trust so-" He stood up. "I'll take wewe to the Plant Elemental Rune Sword."
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
He led us into the Choloroville forest. "What do wewe think?" Kevin whispered to me. "I believe him. I can tell he's human, but being Northern Oakes is a stretch. No one has ever claimed to be such a historical figure before. Doesn't help that there were no pictures in the history books." We came upon a sudden ring of trees that stood so close together they were impassable. "The sword is in here. Thankfully this is one of the few swords that didn't songesha from where I put it." North's tone turned irritated. "Frickin' people uigizaji like it's their family heirloom- kwa the way, there's a barrier around the swords that still reside in their element. I'm going to have to remove it if the sword is to be taken." North held out his hand and a beautiful staff materialized. The juu half was wooden and the lower half was a steely gray color. Scattered across the length were gemstones of various color and shapes.
"By the way, Princess, I'm also going to need wewe to ask the trees to let us pass." I stepped forward. "Can't wewe get them to songesha yourself?" "These trees weren't here when I placed the sword here. Besides, I can't talk to plants." I rolled my eyes and placed my hand on a nearby mti trunk. 'Hey there, what's your name?' When the mti answered it sounded like a choir of people in an empty, endless room. 'My name is Ioa Lapi. I protect the Elemental Rune Sword that resides here. Who are you?' I was taken aback. "I'm the Plant Elemental Leader and the Princess of this Kingdom's SOIL wewe happen to be growing in!" "Don't get them angry," North warned, resting the end of his staff on the grass. "How could they NOT know me?" I snapped at him. 'The Plant Elemental Leader? wewe are a liar. The Leader is not you. His name is Corstal and he is not royalty.'
I took a breath and tried to calm down. "How long have wewe been here?" '306 years, pRinCesS.' The trees were mocking me. 'Corstal has been dead for 103 years. Since then, his successor was killed kwa an Ice Elemental, the inayofuata Leader died at 64 years and then I was born and was gifted the power kwa the upinde wa mvua Ring itself.' The trees creaked angrily. 'Our Corstal is dead? We will only let his bloodline through.' I gave an exasperated sigh and turned to North. "They aren't cooperating." The Earth Elemental stepped forward. "Hey! Let us through! I need to get the sword! The upinde wa mvua Portal needs restoration!" At his words, the wind picked up in the forest. I felt the stirring of the Cholorocell méniéa in me and I looked up. The feeling was familiar, though it had only happened once before, when I was 15. It meant... the upinde wa mvua Ring was about to intervene. Was it getting impatient? If so, then North must've had something to do with it.
╔══╗────╔╗
║═╦╬═╗╔╦╬╬╦╗
║╔╝║╬╚╣╔╣╠║╣
╚╝─╚══╩╝╚╩╩╝
Jessica's eyes changed shape the moment her skin started glowing. Kevin got a little closer, noticing a different pattern within her eyes. The outer iris had changed into a diamond shape and the iris itself had morphed into a broken butterfly, kipepeo with a solid green color.
She said, ✾Remove yourselves. wewe are interfering with my restoration and I will not tolerate it. If wewe will not move, I will songesha wewe myself.✾ Jessica's voice had gone very quiet, a threatening tone dripping off. To Kevin's surprise, the trees gave a single shiver and did not songesha again.
✾YOU DARE DEFY ME?!✾ Jessica's voice was no longer her own, layered with the voices of past Plant Leaders. The entire ring of trees Lost its leaves within an instant. The leaves left the trees and swirled around Jessica, giving the two males only glimpses of her shining form. Kevin saw long green hair with black tips. A gauze was flapping around within the leafnado, green color in a large band down the middle. On either side, the rest of the colors of the upinde wa mvua shone faintly in thinner stripes. The leaves gradually began forming a path over the trees and down into the clearing behind them.
✾Go, Northern Oakes. I thank you.✾
The light faded and Jessica, back to her normal self, sat down abruptly, her face inaonyesha exhaustion. Kevin took her hand and helped her up. It wouldn't take long for her to regain her strength; the sun was still visible. "Well done," he told her. "Wha- what happened?" "What do wewe remember?" He asked. "Uh.. That the Ring was telling me to speak. That's it. When I could see again, I was on the ground." She frowned, watching North walk ont the surprisingly short nyasi that was beyond the ring of now leafless trees. "I kinda wish it wouldn't blind me like that."
Beyond the mti ring grew a ridiculous variety of plants and trees, some that shouldn't even be able to germinate due to the hot climate. In the very center there was a small six sided platform, untouched kwa the greenery. Sunk into the middle of the platform was a shallow six sided hole. Floating above this was the Plant Elemental Rune Sword, bobbing ever so slightly up and down.
Two Wonder of the World leaves made up its hilt, extending directly from the moyo of the sword, a light green translucent orb. The handle, which sprung up from the juu of the orb, was a smoothed piece of wood with a C shape at the end that held a green six sided gem. Wrapped around the handle was a length of a leafless vine. The sword's blade was a long cane leaf with two square ridges cut into each side near the tip.
And lastly, it was also the energy chanzo that kept my kingdom island from falling apart. Because, wewe see, the upinde wa mvua Portal might be an energy chanzo but it wasn't there when the planet was created. It was made through the creation of 7 Elemental Rune Swords kwa a human named Northern Oakes, several hundred years ago. Kendréa was the kingdom where all 7 were made and brought together, and the combined energy they produced should have destroyed the entire island. In fact, some pieces of the island had already fallen away as the upinde wa mvua Portal had begun circling the planet. But for some reason, once the ring was in place, the island stopped falling apart and has been that way ever since. Erosion should've wiped the island off the map a few hundred years zamani but that clearly hasn't happened yet.
"What about the meteor shower?" I asked. "It happened about a week zamani while we were performing at night in Rinnec. The upinde wa mvua Ring was also present in the sky that night and well.." Rozumary trailed off and frowned. "It looked like it shot straight through the Rainbow. The meteors didn't disappear like normal.. They actually looked like they physically burned through it. They crashed a good few miles away but we were busy.."
I folded my arms. "Okay.. then what?" "The inayofuata siku we were packing up and-" Sylvi began. "-We saw some people pointing at the upinde wa mvua Ring, arguing about what they saw," Ovikita finished. "They were saying that the Ring had begun fading from the outside, but others were arguing that nothing had happened to it," Luri alisema softly.
"As we walked through the city to the Portal Sphere, we passed zaidi and zaidi people who were trying to convince others that the violet colored band wasn't as thick as it had been before the meteors." Rozumary folded her arms. "I didn't want to just ripoti rumors to wewe so I visited a scientist friend of mine who confirmed that the Ring had suffered damage from the meteors' impact." I frowned hard at this. "Is there more?" "He alisema the rocks weren't from our galaxy, and that's why they made an impact instead of being teleported elsewhere like normal. He believed that they came from a galaxy known as the Milky Way."
"Why wasn't anyone at the Palace told about this?!" I fumed to myself. "Something like this means death to most of the citizens of Kendréa if it's not fixed, not to mention the upinde wa mvua Portal itself-" "How are wewe planning to fix a planetary ring?" Autzoran mumbled. Sylvi whacked her. "Have some respect!" "Thanks for the information, guys. You've been a huge help so far."
I abruptly made my exit, Kevin trailing along silently behind me. While reviewing the information in my mind, I walked blindly through the streets. Suddenly a person bumped into me. I looked up and recognized him to be the same young Earth Elemental from outside the café. "My apologizes. I had to walk into wewe for wewe to notice me. My Marafiki call me North." I stared blankly at him, still trying to figure out what to do about my situation. "What is your business with my friend?" Kevin's voice, stern and trustworthy, slid into the back of my mind as I chose to ponder more. He could handle any mashabiki I ran into; I honestly didn't have time for anything else. "The upinde wa mvua Ring is disappearing," North alisema sadly. My radar went up and my eyes took in his features. His brown hair was held in a ponytail and green tinted glasses sat on his dark face. Behind the lenses, his scarlet eyes glowed with a shrewd expression. "My name is North," he repeated patiently. "I know why the Ring has been weakened. But please, let's not talk here. How about we go over to GrapeAppleBucks? It's my favourite coffee business in Choloroville. Follow me."
Chapter 3
I followed him without hesitation, curious. He led us into the northern part of the town and into the establishment. While we waited for the orders that North had placed, he calmly explained that the 7 Elemental Rune Swords were moving apart from each other as the years went by. In order to restore the Ring's integrity, they must be reunited.
The coffee was brought to us and as I sipped on the creamy drink I thought about his words. It wasn't likely that he was lying, I only knew the location of one of those swords and it was the one that I was Elemental Leader of. The Plant Elemental Rune Sword lay in the Choloroville Forest and kept it the greenest and thickest forest on this side of the planet. "How are wewe so sure it's because of the swords moving apart?" Kevin asked. "If wewe went around to check, why not bring them all together yourself?" North frowned. "You should've figured that out yourself." He turned his scarlet eyes on me. "Those swords are important to your Kingdom. wewe should've been keeping an eye on them." "Excuse me? Are wewe implying my friend is royalty?" Kevin frowned at the Earth Elemental. "I'm not implying; I KNOW she's royalty. And the only one capable of handling all 7 of them due to her training with Code méniéa- her body can respond to every element." "Whether you're right au not, wewe shouldn't be accusing anyone of being Royalty in the presence of commoners," I quietly mumbled, stirring the drink with the straw. "They can't hear us," North returned. "I've put a Spatial bubble around us." I stiffened. Someone used méniéa around me and I didn't sense it? North could be very dangerous if he decided to end me.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he continued gently. "You see, I'm a Wandering Spirit and I need help with my Afterlife Quest. And you, Jessica, are the only one who can reunite the swords, being bound to this time." "Prove that you're who wewe say wewe are then," Kevin snapped, putting an arm over my shoulder protectively. "For starters, I'm human. My real name is Northern Oakes." "That's a tall claim," Kevin frowned, narrowing his stony bluegreen eyes.
North rolled up his left sleeve, revealing a Xenar rune scorched into his skin. "This is part of my proof. Since I'm human, I can't use méniéa without external means. And since I lived on Farix for several hundred years, the method for etching runes has changed quite a bit. Of course, I could've done this just to earn your trust so-" He stood up. "I'll take wewe to the Plant Elemental Rune Sword."
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
He led us into the Choloroville forest. "What do wewe think?" Kevin whispered to me. "I believe him. I can tell he's human, but being Northern Oakes is a stretch. No one has ever claimed to be such a historical figure before. Doesn't help that there were no pictures in the history books." We came upon a sudden ring of trees that stood so close together they were impassable. "The sword is in here. Thankfully this is one of the few swords that didn't songesha from where I put it." North's tone turned irritated. "Frickin' people uigizaji like it's their family heirloom- kwa the way, there's a barrier around the swords that still reside in their element. I'm going to have to remove it if the sword is to be taken." North held out his hand and a beautiful staff materialized. The juu half was wooden and the lower half was a steely gray color. Scattered across the length were gemstones of various color and shapes.
"By the way, Princess, I'm also going to need wewe to ask the trees to let us pass." I stepped forward. "Can't wewe get them to songesha yourself?" "These trees weren't here when I placed the sword here. Besides, I can't talk to plants." I rolled my eyes and placed my hand on a nearby mti trunk. 'Hey there, what's your name?' When the mti answered it sounded like a choir of people in an empty, endless room. 'My name is Ioa Lapi. I protect the Elemental Rune Sword that resides here. Who are you?' I was taken aback. "I'm the Plant Elemental Leader and the Princess of this Kingdom's SOIL wewe happen to be growing in!" "Don't get them angry," North warned, resting the end of his staff on the grass. "How could they NOT know me?" I snapped at him. 'The Plant Elemental Leader? wewe are a liar. The Leader is not you. His name is Corstal and he is not royalty.'
I took a breath and tried to calm down. "How long have wewe been here?" '306 years, pRinCesS.' The trees were mocking me. 'Corstal has been dead for 103 years. Since then, his successor was killed kwa an Ice Elemental, the inayofuata Leader died at 64 years and then I was born and was gifted the power kwa the upinde wa mvua Ring itself.' The trees creaked angrily. 'Our Corstal is dead? We will only let his bloodline through.' I gave an exasperated sigh and turned to North. "They aren't cooperating." The Earth Elemental stepped forward. "Hey! Let us through! I need to get the sword! The upinde wa mvua Portal needs restoration!" At his words, the wind picked up in the forest. I felt the stirring of the Cholorocell méniéa in me and I looked up. The feeling was familiar, though it had only happened once before, when I was 15. It meant... the upinde wa mvua Ring was about to intervene. Was it getting impatient? If so, then North must've had something to do with it.
╔══╗────╔╗
║═╦╬═╗╔╦╬╬╦╗
║╔╝║╬╚╣╔╣╠║╣
╚╝─╚══╩╝╚╩╩╝
Jessica's eyes changed shape the moment her skin started glowing. Kevin got a little closer, noticing a different pattern within her eyes. The outer iris had changed into a diamond shape and the iris itself had morphed into a broken butterfly, kipepeo with a solid green color.
She said, ✾Remove yourselves. wewe are interfering with my restoration and I will not tolerate it. If wewe will not move, I will songesha wewe myself.✾ Jessica's voice had gone very quiet, a threatening tone dripping off. To Kevin's surprise, the trees gave a single shiver and did not songesha again.
✾YOU DARE DEFY ME?!✾ Jessica's voice was no longer her own, layered with the voices of past Plant Leaders. The entire ring of trees Lost its leaves within an instant. The leaves left the trees and swirled around Jessica, giving the two males only glimpses of her shining form. Kevin saw long green hair with black tips. A gauze was flapping around within the leafnado, green color in a large band down the middle. On either side, the rest of the colors of the upinde wa mvua shone faintly in thinner stripes. The leaves gradually began forming a path over the trees and down into the clearing behind them.
✾Go, Northern Oakes. I thank you.✾
The light faded and Jessica, back to her normal self, sat down abruptly, her face inaonyesha exhaustion. Kevin took her hand and helped her up. It wouldn't take long for her to regain her strength; the sun was still visible. "Well done," he told her. "Wha- what happened?" "What do wewe remember?" He asked. "Uh.. That the Ring was telling me to speak. That's it. When I could see again, I was on the ground." She frowned, watching North walk ont the surprisingly short nyasi that was beyond the ring of now leafless trees. "I kinda wish it wouldn't blind me like that."
Beyond the mti ring grew a ridiculous variety of plants and trees, some that shouldn't even be able to germinate due to the hot climate. In the very center there was a small six sided platform, untouched kwa the greenery. Sunk into the middle of the platform was a shallow six sided hole. Floating above this was the Plant Elemental Rune Sword, bobbing ever so slightly up and down.
Two Wonder of the World leaves made up its hilt, extending directly from the moyo of the sword, a light green translucent orb. The handle, which sprung up from the juu of the orb, was a smoothed piece of wood with a C shape at the end that held a green six sided gem. Wrapped around the handle was a length of a leafless vine. The sword's blade was a long cane leaf with two square ridges cut into each side near the tip.
