Lavian's Introduction

The fire burned merrily in the hearth, lending a little light to the large room. "It does get cold here, this far south, dear," says the old woman, hobbling towards the comfortable chairs. Her tray, worn from years of use, carries the last two glasses of whatever concoction she had just been brewing in the kitchen. "Now dear, lets get down to business," she says in a mock serious tone.

Lavian looked in the glass skeptically. It smelled good and it was hot, but it was hard to overcome old habits. She dared a sip, finding it was very sweet. Probably good against the winds blowing outside. She found herself thinking about her travels when she was interrupted.

"Please dear, go on." Without really thinking about it, Lavian continues, remembering a day long past.

How long Lavian stood on that mountain would be impossible to say. It could have been hours or days. Led by the whispers, she could see all the way to the ocean from her vantage point. The peacefulness made time irrelevant. The man's approach went completely unnoticed until he was very close.

"We do not get many visitors to this place," he said. "No, don't be startled. I mean you no harm. But you know that already." He was completely covered by a silver-gray cloak, head to toe, most of his face obscured by the hood, leaving only his lips and chin exposed. "You are the first I have ever met. It is said that the mountain whispers, but none of us hears it." He stopped as the wind picked up and waited for it to die down again. As it quieted, she could hear it again. "...Lavian..." He turns his head and then speaks again, "You will come with me." His curious inflection could have been question or command.

He moves effortlessly up the mountain, almost seeming ethereal within his cloak. "Once there were men and women dedicated to the light. They were constantly beset by the forces of darkness and none are left. The only sign they ever existed is this mountain. It is a sacred place." He is silent for some time, having no difficulty throughout what should have been a treacherous climb.

The cave entrance seemed to emerge without warning from the very side of the mountain, all but invisible until almost within its maw. "...Lavian..." The man paused by the opening. "This cave? It is called the Cave of Memory." From within the cave, the whisper seemed to call. "...daughter..."

The walls and ceiling inside were bluish-white and mirror smooth, revealed by pools of water that seemed to glow with their own light. From further inside came the sound of trickling water. The silvery surface of the gleaming waters seemed to beckon.

In the first pool, a beautiful face was reflected, but not her face. The kind eyes of Sillielean return her gaze. With sorrow, she realized that she did not remember what her own mother looked like.

The next reveals another face, this time a man. It is the noble visage of Ashram, but broken with lines of pain and suffering she couldn't remember. Two small girls skip after him down an uneven stone path...

The sky greeted her in the water of the next standing pool. It is streaked with the first light of the coming dawn. An old man suddenly blocked her view, a knight. His eyes are filled with pity, but also with determination. Blood drips from his mouth onto the pool's surface, but he carefully wipes it away. As the light fades from his eyes, he busies himself with checking the young woman's bandages once more.

All that can be seen in the next pool are two eyes. The eyes of an old woman. Lavian blinked, and they were gone. A feeling of being watched came over her.

A city awaited her in the final pool. It is a scene that she had seen in her nightmares a hundred times over. The city smolders in the aftermath of a horrific battle. In the clear light of perfect memory, she could see the relieved citizens and exhausted soldiers celebrating and sorrowing together. Both rejoicing and suffering, but not her father. There is one other thing that she could not see: her own countenance.

With trepidation, she found herself before a thin curtain of running water. What lay in the chamber beyond she did not know, but whatever it be, she feared she might not endure. She passed through the veil, entering a smooth, circular chamber.

Lavian stopped dead in her tracks, she was not expecting this at all. Before her was a pool of blood, curled up along the wall of the cave was the body of a young green haired girl. She was sobbing quietly as she clenched her chest with both hands, trying to keep the blood in.

"K-Keiko?" Lavian hoarsely whispered. She could not believe what she was seeing, she would not believe it. "No." She turned around, her back towards the little girl. "This cannot be true, this is not real."

"Lavian, is that you?" The small voice pleaded between sobs. "It hurts, it really hurts." The girl's face was streaked with tears and wrinkled in pain. She was the exact replica of Lavian.

Tears came quickly to Lavian's eyes as she listened to her sister, she could not turn around. She wanted nothing more then to hold her sister, and to comfort her, but she could not. She was petrified with fear, she was scared that it was real, there was no way it could be real. No way at all she told herself over and over again.

"I was all alone when you left Lavian, I was so alone and scared. I did not know what to do without you and father, I was lost." She paused as she coughed up blood, "I even decided to come look for you. My only sister, my only family. I wandered for months trying to find you, I would only hear of your passing. I was always one step behind you." Keiko smiled through her blood soaked lips. "And what did you do when I finally found you? This is what you did, my only sister, the sister I loved for years." She stood up, showing Lavian the hole in her stomach. "How did you repay my love? With this? My death, killed by my only family." Keiko laughed harshly her voice filled with hatred.

Lavian wheeled about quickly, she was astonished by what Keiko had said. She could not understand why she would say such a thing, this was her worst nightmare. "W-what are you saying Keiko!? I did not kill you, I could not have!" Keiko scoffed and pointed at Lavian's hand, "Well, then what is that? You would make a poor excuse for a thief. Pardon the Pun, but you were caught red handed."

Lavian stared at her blood soaked hands in horror, she could not believe it.

"Impossible! I-I do not remember doing it at all! I couldn't have." Lavian stared at her hands, doubt creeping upon her.

"Lavian the murderer. I can't believe I ever trusted and loved you. I was a fool to do so, but now that I have seen how you truly are." She smiled again, the blood upon her face twisted her image into something demonic. "There is nothing in this world more that I would like to see then your death. My, Dear, Dear sister."

Lavian shook her head desperately, "No, no! This is not what I wanted. I left to spare you from all this pain and suffering. Not to have you die! I left for your sake, I left so you could leave a normal life!"

"Then why did you kill me!? Huh? Tell me why??"

Lavian took a step back, she did not understand. She only wanted the best for her sister, she wanted her to live a life without fighting. She did not want her to see the pain and suffering she saw when she was a knight, she did not want to have her die as well.

"Tell my why you left!" Keiko grabbed Lavian's hands and drew them closer to her.

"I already did! I wanted to protect you!"

"You lie! I want the real reason, I want to hear you say it."

"NO! I cannot!"

Keiko drew Lavian's hands closer, putting them on her chest, sinking them into the hole in her chest. "Tell me why."

Lavian fell to her knees as she sobbed uncontrollably, "I-I was scared I would have to see you die... I did not want to be there when you died too." Keiko let Lavian drop to the floor like a pile of rags. "I see, so you were to weak and afraid to be next to me when I died, like we were with father? You wanted me to die alone, how nice." Keiko turned her back on Lavian. Lavian wanted to believe she left for Keiko's own good. But underneath all of her lies, Lavian now knew the real reason why. The reason she had chosen to forget, the one to painful for her. She could not stand the thought of watching her sister die, so she pretended to not have one. Someone who does not exist in your mind will not make you sad when they die, for then never existed in the first place.

Lavian continued to cry as the world around her faded into nothingness, unconsciousness quickly over took Lavian.

She was awakened by the sound of water. It was comforting. Familiar. But she was still in the cave. She felt a strange peace, despite what she had seen, as if she had purged some great evil. But her shoulder still ached, and she was no less lost than she had been before the mountain had whispered to her. Perhaps even more. For some reason unknown to her, she got up and left the cave. Outside the man waited, but when she approached she could see that it was only a cloak hung on one of the stunted trees. The wind picked up, whipping the cloak around and threatening to tear it where it was snagged. She reached out to touch it...

And she was back in the cabin. Several new faces had appeared in the room as she recounted her story. A little person was staring at her in rapt fascination. Nearby, a mushroom creature was studying a nightstand. A woman nearby was listening with mild interest. With a small commotion, an old man carefully lead someone into the room. Dirty and disheveled, the new arrival was clearly injured.

G6 Continued