The air became thick with tension and anticipation. Xerxes was constantly studying Daryul. Any shift in mana, any shift in expression, and he was ready to call it out.
Or was he as ready as he had thought?
'Even if he did know, what could it mean? Were the apostles, like Yves, enemies to those who stood at the pinnacle of Elaijyan strength? Surely they would not be allied, would they?'
He refused to believe that any Elaijyan would ever ally themselves with someone as sadistic as Yves, but it still stood true that Yves either came from Elaijya or the eastern continent of Fedradia. So it was a possibility.
Daryul then spoke, his usual inviting and warm voice as cold as ice, "That...is something you should not know. A piece of advice, Xerxes: do not ever speak to anyone about it, or even display your phoenix to more people, until you have the strength to best an entire kingdom. On this occasion, I will not mention this to even my superiors. Now leave."
Xerxes clenched his fists, his rage bristling throughout his being. He was ready to raise his voice; he was ready, if need be, to fight Daryul for that information. But what would that cause?
'If I do anything now, I jeopardise Leiya's safety, I jeopardise Airi's, I jeopardise my own. I hate this; I am as hopeless as I was back then.'
Xerxes turned, releasing his clenched fist, as he began walking away, ready to leave Daryul, this building, this entire kingdom, but the Vaisel mage wanted to give him one final piece of advice.
"If you do wish to unveil more about this world, about the truth you are limited to, my advice would be, when you are powerful enough, become an aspect. I know that was my reason for becoming a Vaisel Mage. I was once like you; I was always in need of knowledge, of power, and the best way to do that is to hold strength, status, and knowledge."
Xerxes did not reply, but he took those words with him. 'Become an aspect.' Before, when he spent time with Aya and Dorian back in Layne, it seemed like a pipe dream, something that was only an unrealistic wish, but it seemed that with each passing day, that childish ambition of his was becoming a reality that he needed to embody.
He opened the door, and many people began swarming Xerxes.
'What artifact did you get from the Sanctuary?'
'How has winning the Eclipse Tournament benefitted you!?'
'Share us some of that gold!'
But it was background noise; Xerxes could not pay any consideration to their words, he could not rejoice in any of the praise other people were dishing out; he simply did not need it. Though it felt great, once in his life, he could not bring himself to be satisfied; nothing would until Yves was dead, until he found out more about the world.
Thornfum immediately barged through the crowds, "It is looking terrible around here, too many people, too many questions, let's boogie!" Thornfum then created walls around Xerxes and himself, which divided them from the crowds, as they both began hurrying forward.
Eventually, after repeating a cycle of running and hiding, they both arrived back at the inn, where there was more peace and quiet.
In a repetitive manner, Xerxes hung his apparels and placed his sword on a table, whilst Thornfum sat down on the couch, with a curious expression.
"Alright, even though I know it was buggin' ya, the questions and all, what did'ya get?"
Xerxes never found a problem sharing it with Thornfum in the first place, so he explained the artifact he had chosen and what it could do.
The explanation of the description went over Thornfum's head; he did not know why it held such an intricate and detailed description, but he could at least understand its function, and as a crafter, it was sort of his forte too.
He always needed to understand the functions behind a particular item, and he also needed to acknowledge its purpose and structure.
Thornfum then observed the map and asked, "Well, les' give her a whirl."
Xerxes agreed; first, he wanted to track Moonshard, and then he wanted to review what he had discovered in Lumanaria's sanctuary, as he was sure Airi must have figured out something about herself, or her mission.
Not really knowing how to use it, Xerxes simply stated, "Moonshard ore close to the Baratheon Kingdom."
The empty canvas of a map then began inking itself; it provided a layout of Baratheon, but it did not seem familiar; it did not mark any monuments or anything akin to that.
The map simply resembled a simple kingdom without much detail; however, it trailed down south, and it kept going, till eventually it arrived towards the interpass of Baratheon and the Amento Kingdom, where there was a marking of red ink.
Thornfum then observed the map, and as a native citizen of this kingdom, he quickly realised something strange about the map, "This map, Xerxes, it ain't showing anything recent. It looks as if this was Baratheon, four..nah, seven centuries ago; this resembles some of it. For example, the castle is marked a bit north, which it is, but it does not display the Forest o' Dreams, something that came around 7 centuries ago."
Xerxes immediately wondered how this artifact must have found its way to Lumanaria's sanctuary, and how so many artifacts were in there. But that was not his only question; he had to ask something else, "If this map displays the landscape roughly 7-8 centuries ago, then how do we know if the Moonshard will actually be there?"
The question was valid, but Xerxes did not realise how simple the answer was. Thornfum replied, "Why don't we just test it out when you can use the map again tomorrow? Put my location down, and if it says I'm in some crazy place, then we will know."
Xerxes nodded, "Fair enough, we will test it out tomorrow, and we will try to formulate a plan. We will try to give ourselves a week or two worth of prep time."
Thornfum agreed, "Sounds good to m'ears, well then, I ought to get as many books as I can about this ore; I need specifics, temperature to smelt it, the pressure required to shape it, all of that jargon."
Before Thornfum left, Xerxes stopped him at the door, "Thank you, Thornfum, and as promised, per our agreement, this is yours, 500 golden pieces." Xerxes handed a third of his prize winnings from the tournament. It was extortionate; it was practically like giving someone five years' worth of hard work, but Xerxes knew a weapon crafted out of Moonshard would be more valuable than gold could provide.
Not really knowing how to respond to Xerxes' praise, Thornfum just eyed the gold within the pouch and put a thumbs up before finally leaving.
Xerxes then decided to inquire about the deeper points of what happened with Airi; first, he needed to know what she had discovered.
Airi fluttered from Xerxes' shoulder, landing on the table side, and Xerxes asked her, "What were you able to uncover?"
She took a moment to think before answering Xerxes' question. It was obvious that there were many thoughts and memories showering in her mind, and he was patient, allowing her to process everything.
"The memories were not coherent; they were meddling all in various ways, but I think... I think I know that I had relations to Luminare, the Lord of Light, in some mysterious way. There was a female warrior, who wielded a golden sword; she seemed...seemed so miserable."
Airi's voice started filling with confusion, and for some reason sorrow, "I had an enemy, no, multiple; I just remember a few words, 'Do not let the darkness fracture the light'."
Xerxes thought about the coincidences, about the way things have been presenting themselves, "First I meet you, then we narrowly escape Yves, and then we enter the sanctuary. What if destiny, fate, whatever it may be, was showing us what the darkness truly was?"
He paused for a moment, recalling Yves' words, his powers were dark and sinister, and he must have received them from a god. Whether they were dead or alive, was this 'god' the embodiment of 'darkness' Airi was warned about?
"I think whoever Yves gained his powers from is the threat to the light. I am not sure if anything I am saying is making sense, but I have the inkling that if you are able to find out more about Luminare, the Lord of Light, then perhaps we can understand more about you, Airi."
Even though the way Xerxes was speaking sounded foolish, straight out of a fairytale, Airi did not react as if it were. She understood what he was saying was pretty logical based on what was happening; after all, there had been too many coincidences; everything seemed to intertwine ever so intricately.
"But, even with those messages, Xerxes, it is yet to give me clarity; I do not feel inclined to live up to some mission I need to accomplish. My purpose... it feels meaningless."
Xerxes observed Airi; he had never heard her like this. She was confused and perhaps lost. She did not know what she was meant to do, and all this time, had he been helping?
He reflected on how he had been treating her; it was not intentional, but Airi had been doing so much to help him, and he had neglected her needs. She was not just a weapon, but she was someone who had sentient thoughts, beliefs, and emotions.
Sighing, Xerxes walked over to her and gently patted her feathers; she seemed flustered, as if broken out of the confusion she had been consumed by.
"Wh-what has gotten into you, Xerxes?!" she stammered, embarrassingly.
Xerxes smiled, with genuine appreciation in his demeanour, "It may seem confusing now, Airi; you may feel lost, but as I said to you before, whoever you were back then does not determine who you want to be. If you want to fulfil some mission entrusted to you, then do it, but if you still need to find the reason, then we will search for it. Elaijya is vast; there will be more people we meet, there will be more we uncover, and I am sure there is some silver lining between that."
Looking out the window, peering into the endless sky, "The world took your memories, not your wings. You may have lost who you were, but not the sky."
Airi giggled in her old tone; it was like the bliss they had in the fallen kingdom.
Xerxes continued to speak, scratching the back of his head nervously, "I am not sure if what I'm saying makes sense, but you have the sky; you have endless possibilities of what you can do, Airi, my destined companion. So I apologise if I have not let you spread your wings to your fullest, but I want you to find your purpose; I want you to grasp it, and once you do, I will be glad."
Airi also peered at the sky; she had been fixated on the broken pieces of her past, that she had been stalling her progress, her development. The past served a purpose, so did the present. "I need to be able to find some purpose in this era, too, and I am sure destiny will tie the present and the past together. Whether or not I have some relation to Luminare, or to something less or more significant, if I do not make myself ready enough to fulfil that purpose, then I do not think I will ever be able to fly freely."
Xerxes nodded, with a sincere smile on his face, "That's it. You know what you need to do, and I will not stop you. I promise you that I will not neglect you again, Airi."
Airi felt as if she wanted to shed tears of happiness, "Thank you, Xerxes."
Xerxes stood up and picked up a pen, and paper. He was not sure if he was going to return to Baratheon; he was not sure if he was going to see Leiya again after this, so he wanted to do one last thing and write down everything he was able to figure out or theorise and send it to Leiya.
He began writing.
'Hello, Leiya,
As you probably know, I won the Eclipse Tournament, and in doing so, I was able to take the chance to enter Lumanaria's sanctuary. In there, I was able to get a few confirmations and theories that you may or may not care for. Firstly, I had told you that I noticed Yves had the marking '3' on his body when I was beaten by him. It may seem insignificant, but I believe it means something more, and I am sure of it. The Lord of Light, Luminare, was said to have seven children, each possessing one of her weapons, and what I found out was that the 5th Aspect of Baratheon, wielded a hammer belonging to Luminare, which made him an exceptional warrior, even by the standards of Aspects. So what if there are different conduits? What if apostles are not like Aemon? Aemon inherited the eyes of truth, but what if there are different methods? What I am getting at is that I do not believe a god needs to have a singular apostle; I believe a god can have multiple, and if what I am saying is correct, then Yves is not the only one shrouded in darkness; there must be others. So I am leaving; I am leaving Baratheon as I need to get stronger. I have done all I could here, and the next step for me is to gather Moonshard, an ancient mineral that can enhance my power. This is all, and I suppose it is goodbye. Live freely.'
The last words were the hardest to write, but they needed to be written.
Xerxes thought about the power he needed to acquire with his own two hands, and he recalled the moment he reached Tier 4; it was back then that he realised how much this endeavour would assist him.
The being within his soul core had decreed that, with a blade made out of ore that descended from the moon, coupled with a branch from the Tree of Eros, then he would be able to grasp the Ezurewrath style, a sword style that was lost by the ages, but remembered through that steel.