When I was little, my mother left to do what few people do: save the world. I never knew my father. Mom always said he was a kind and brave man. He was the new breed of humans from New Zeal. She would cry tears of joy when she would talk about his boldness, his devilishly good looks, and unwavering faithfulness to her. It is odd, looking back, that my mother would cry. She was never the type. People have told me she was one of the most influential women of her time. I hear stories about her bravery, about her near death encounters and how she would laugh at them. About how no matter how crazy her plan was it always worked. But never about how she would cry.
I remember the stories she would tell me, when I was little, to put me to bed; tales of adventure and excitement. She would craft images of lands so exotic it was almost impossible to believe, and creatures so fierce it seemed nearly improbable for them to exist. Most of the time I would only get wound up and not fall to sleep at all. It would always make her get stern with me, but I know she was only playing and trying to be a good mom. She would remind me so much about how much she loved me. My mother was always so strong and so loving.
In our world, everyone seems to think they have a purpose. Everyone like us is striving to be more than they can be. We are nothing but a handful off exceptions that, when you think about it, are not really the exception; we are just striving to be. Most people say they are going to save the world, but what they do matters almost for not in the grand scheme of things. The over exaggerations and eccentric thoughts of most always makes us believe we are on a mission. But in truth, the only mission we are on is to prove ourselves to ourselves. So, when I say my mother left to do what few people do, believe me when I say she actually left to do what she said she would. I never saw my mother again, and the world did not end that year as it should have.
I was seven the night my mother left. In the care of some of her closest friends I was left. Not that I am mad at her for that. When she left, my two aunts went with her. Mom was the middle child of the three, which meant she was the glue of the family. At least that’s what she would always say. It’s hard for me to recall them. I know one was very tough and had red hair. The other was often quiet, but always so sweet. She had two children. I know that. Twins, one boy and one girl. They were just a bit older than me, and after that night I never saw Providence again, I know she did well for herself. That I checked in on. However, I did bump into Holy one more time in his life after that night.
I grew up on the deck of a ship, and when I wasn’t there I was in a temple of Vox. Funny how things work out over time. The women mom left me with were a motley crew, but they were the best anyone could ask for. Most would say I was robbed of my childhood, but I think I am still in it at times. By the time I was a teenager I could handle almost any vessel, and I made sure to get all life had to offer.
I was born over two centuries ago. My mother and father were human, just like their mother and father was. As much as she would probably scold me for following in her footstep, I too do my fair share of saving the world. At least, that’s how I view it. I have looked death in the eye and laughed. I have seen the world, inside and out. I have been to stars beyond our own, held a one on one personal conversation with more than one of your “powers” , seen the past with my own eye and I know where this world is heading.
When I was in my late teens I separated from my surrogate family for a test of myself. I set out to venture the world and make sure I could survive. They did leave me with a few of my mother’s possessions. Among them were the family sword and a map to nothing. Most people would have explored the map more, I know, but I felt it needed to wait till a later date. I did what I was raised to do, and I did it quite well: I took what I wanted.
I remember my first real trip to the Capital city of Revrent. The walls seemed to stand so tall. Built around a mountain of black lava frozen in time, the gleaming white walls of the main keep would call out to all as you approached the grand city. I highly recommend visiting if you ever get the chance. Spiraling roads that always seeming to climb upward surround the citadel and I will say that they do have one of the most formable defenses I have seen in my years. Of course, what I was doing was much smaller scale for what they had in mind. So it was impressive, and that’s about it.
Then, gaining entry into the castle was relatively easy if you were female. I hear that’s changed a little since then. None-the-less, the information I gained about the lay out and location of items within the keep was spot on and well worth the price I paid for it. ‘Course, the problem didn’t lay in getting the Royal jewels, as most will tell you, it was getting out with them. And for this I had three plans of operation laid out depending on the situation.
I will stop here to lay down a little guidance for anyone new to the field or so far just getting by by luck: always plan for the worse. If you have three well laid out plans, make sure you have a fourth for when the shit hits the fan. Because all you’re planning, all your hard work, and all your time is really just wasted in the end. Personally, I say just do the damn thing and talk about it later and embellish how you “had” plans to begin with but in the truth you just flew by the seat of your pants.
So there I was with my pretties. In the main hall of Castle Revrent surrounded by what was at the time the beginning of the Raven Special Forces and the prince himself, which if you are not aware was a damn good fighter. I never liked show-offs with the quarterstaff after that brawl. Lastly, in the group of death about to jump me was the Palace’s priest of Trom, I think. Regardless that bastard found it in his duty to follow me to his death.
Now when you use explosives the first time it sort of takes you by surprise. I mean, you know it is going to be loud, you know it is going to be all devastation, but you never really prep yourself for the blast unless you have seen them before. I recommend, before having your fourth back up plan be “blow a hole in the side of the castle”, that you test the plan first to make sure you are not caught in a daze as you continue forth. I also recommend when you jump through a newly made hole in the side of a castle that lies on top of a very tall mountain that you make sure that it is not a wall that sides a cliff that is nearly a mile deep.
It’s hard to tell that time slows down as you free fall. It’s nothing like most would imagine. The sound of the wind alone rushing by is louder than your screams. That is if you are screaming, not that I was. In the majesty of a death-defying fall it was almost unbelievable what you think of. I thought of my mother. How I missed her. How I wondered if she would be proud. I thought of that prince, and how he had defiantly caught my eye. Its then that the sick realities of life catch-up with you. Like the Trom priest that found it in his best interest to jump out after me. What was he thinking?
Who in their right mind would jump out of a hole in the side of a castle that sat atop a mountain side over five thousand feet high? I mean, yea, I did… but I had a ring that magically slowed your descent at the point of impact to always have a safe landing. Hello, have a plan. He, however, didn’t. That was the first time I had gotten someone else’s blood on me. It wouldn’t be my last. Coincidently, I also got blamed for that death, and I had nothing to do with it other than making the hole. Funny thing, I never recalled them ever yelling about the hole. Theft of the Royal Jewels, check; assault on a member of the Royal Family, check; murder of a member of the Order of Trom, wrongfully check; but never destruction of Kingdom property… explain that one to me.
Youth, understanding it will never be fully comprehended by those who have it. My escape from the grounds was roughly well planned out. I was on the opposite side of the castle that I planned to be on, but things happen. Needless to say I had to steer clear of Revrent for a bit. But if I hadn’t I would have had the chance to spend a small time in the Gates. And if I would have never visited the Gates I would have never been swept up by the tales of the ancient oddities lost now found: the flying ships.