Eurel's Chamber

"So do I get to hear that story now?"

"Patience Nel. Patience."

"...There is a fine line between calling for patience and making bullshit excuses. I dread to think what you make of that line."

"Huh! Would you rather I said you aren't ready for the story?"

"There's nothing I am not ready for!"

"...Actually untrue, but perhaps...hmm...this story, you can hear. Sit down then, and listen."

A young boy had been captured. There were many things to say regarding the situation, but the basest truth of it was that the boy had been captured. He was being held by the arms up a lengthy stairway, by two figures clad in shiny silvery armor and white cloth, wearing a string of flaming feathers, and crowns adorned with emeralds, each baring a fine obsidian spear, two cubits long, the tip shining with a bloodthirsty flare and the edge sharpened with lightning.

The boys' arms were like sticks and his eyes were half shut. His stomach grumbled from hunger, and his body longed for rest and warmth. The guards reached the top of the stairs, a vast square where a large number of women were lined on the sides. Each beautiful beyond compare, with pure blue eyes and long brown hair, wavy like the ocean, dressed in black cloth and in it danced many small flames that were much like stars.

Every one of them bore a golden crown and numerous golden adornments, with a large necklace of stones spelling out a name for each. "Ifrel", "Evrel", "Yurel", "Efril" so on so forth. Every variation, every twist of those sounds that was somewhat similar yet never the same. The guards let the boy in their center, and the women begun to ask him many questions, but he was more concerned with looking around. They stood atop the branches of a titan tree and so vast the branches were that they surely bloated out the sun for hundreds of miles on end.

It was like a vast network, and atop each branch there were buildings: houses, towers, a wall here, a landing port there, a gigantic ring in the distance, rising over several branches. The one the boy was in however was definitely the highest of them all and he could overlook the rest of the realm, expanding in front of his very eyes.

"Who are you? Who sent you? Why are you here? What is your name? How did you get here?"-the women pelted him with questions, that he could no longer ignore. The boy turned to them, looking around, taking in the looks of every one of the girls. They all looked...oddly similar. They were not related, but they seemed to have been selected for a number of qualities, their hair, eyes, age, even their voice to a degree.

"My name is Vaan."-the boy said, and proclaiming that gave him a bit of strength. "I fell from the sky. I do not know where I am."-he answered. The women begun whispering amidst one another and then turned to him.

"We do not know what to do with you. So we will throw you back to where you came from. Go away now."-they proclaimed. But the boy was hungry and tired, and the women did not know, that when hunger and tiredness came together they birthed a fiery and terrible spawn: Anger.

"Who are you people? What is this place??"-he shouted to the women, before the guards could seize him. The women remained silent for a while but one of their number broke the silence. "Look up. Look behind us."-The one names 'Ifrel' said.

The boy did as told, and for the first time he noticed it. Just beyond the square, where he had somehow not thought to look was a vast cube. Wrought of some metal that he could not name, and painted with symbols unknown to him. There was a circle drawn in the front, and Vaan understood that this was like a doorway, even if he did not know how he knew that. He immediately thought to ask about the strange cube, that was suspended between two branches of the great tree. "What is that?"-he asked Ifrel, but just at that moment the guards made to take him.

So the boy ran ahead across the square, and the guards were afraid to chase him for they could not tread on the domain of the strange women without permission. "No! Stop! That is the Great Cube of Eurel! You may not enter it!"-the woman called Ifrel shouted. The others gasped, and the guards looked on in confusion for a moment, for a reason that Vaan did not yet know.

"There is no Eurel among you. Does she live inside that box?"-he asked, and the guards turned to him with their spears now. "Be careful what you say boy! The Great Axiom Eurel is not one you can so easily make claims of! She watches over us! She is our benevolent ruler! Be mindful of what you say!"-they warned, shaking their spears. The boy for his part failed to care since they threatened to throw him off the great tree.

"There is no Eurel here."-he said. "I read all of the names, and the real Eurel is not here. Only very convincing replicas with false names."-he shouted at the guards, and the two were forced to recognize his words, by looking around. The woman turned to him now, and rebuked him. "Do you see what you have done? Your ignorance has destroyed the age old truth that this men knew of!"-Ifrel said, but the boy shook his head.

"How could it have been a truth if it was not true?"-he asked, and then ran further, to the cube. The guards would have stopped him if they were not too surprised by the revelation that they had never seen or heard the voice of their great Axiom. The boy knocked on the space within the circle, and a great echo was heard across the vast expanse that forced everyone in attendance on their knees. And so they turned their heads and averted their eyes for it was a sight not meant for those whose spirits were rigid and minds full.

The circle released a white light that drew Vaan in. Vaan for his part was powerless to resist it since he was already tired to his limits and he was about to pass out. The boy fell into the light and then his eyes closed off, lost in the whiteness.

-------

"Wake up. Come on, wake up now."-A female voice called out to Vaan. His eyelids slightly parted, to reveal a vast realm, a large grassy field, with the blue day sky, albeit no sun anywhere in sight. Vaan stood up, bewildered by his surroundings. While the surface of the strange tree had been beautiful there was something that felt a bit...off. Whether it was the stench in the air, or the strange feeling in his gut, Vaan could only now tell the difference. This realm was peaceful. Completely peaceful, in a sense that words could not capture.

It was as if his soul was released from a terrible weight that he did not even know was there. Vaan looked around and saw quite a few wondrous things. In the far distance, stood a tall white tower, and at the top of it shone an immense light, much like a sun. The sky around it was of a very dark blue color however and the meeting place between the usual azure expected of the mid-day and the night sky that was focused around the tower's top, shifted constantly.

There were these small, firefly like glowing bits in the air, that all seemed to soar upwards. Higher up, the small glowing creatures changed shapes, first into these tiny humanoid looking sprites of gold and then into magnificent winged beings. Some were like two serpents that twirled around one another into a large helix and at the top, merged into a single face made of stone, with two glowing eyes and with the head of a bird, starting from the upper half of the bird, existing atop it. The eyes of the bird glowed as well, and many wings emerged from the body of the serpent, some to cover it, and some to be spread.

Further still, there were ones that had human-like bodies clad in armor and cloth resembling magnificent warriors, with a mask atop their face that reflected white light, and a single star on their forehead, multiple wings once more and a spear or sword in hand that radiated an aura of fire, light and heat. Their passing evoked the sound of thunder and their bodies looked like stone.

The ones flying higher had much the same sort of body, yet existed in purer forms, made of white light, sailing in the ether. Their bodies projected a massive ring of flame, and some were so bright they were impossible to look at.

"They are Sprites."-the womanly voice called out again and Vaan was now reminded of it, looking to face the source. A simple girl, with long brown, wavy hair and blue eyes, wearing simply a black dress (even if it's fabric felt...strange, almost ethereal) with two golden adornments near the shoulders, and a third just below the neck. "Sprites?"-Vaan turned to her, speaking almost as if like in a trance.

"Sprites. The guardians of the Great Towers. Their two missions in life are to soar and to defend the light atop the tower. Soaring fills them with light, which helps them grow up. But when someone attacks them they have to fight back."-the girl says, as she looks to the sky. Her expression darkens a bit afterwards however. "The ones that face someone in battle tend to harden and turn to rock, with the faces of their enemies appearing on their bodies.

They have to forget about their enemy if they wish to become pure light again. Also...my name's Eurel. Why did you disturb my guardians?"

Vaan blinked, taken aback for a moment, before clearing his voice. This woman was the Eurel they spoke of before? She looked so...normal? "I'm...sorry? But they were under the impression you were out there. I simply corrected them."

"Well, you managed to at least see that. It's the only reason you are in here after all. So tell me, where are you from?"-Eurel sat down on the grass, and patted the space in front of her. "Your questioning will take some time."

Vaan reluctantly lied down as well, before responding. "I do not know. I don't remember much other than my name."

"Now that is untrue."-Eurel responded right away. "You also remember how to speak, don't you?"