Timidly stepping up the stairs was the worst part, he’d gotten used to being made fun of for being the craven coward. And now that he had a logical reason for being scared, he had to go in anyway.
“I’m doing it for the stone, I’m doing it for the stone!!!” He reassured himself.
The mirror looked a mile away, and yet always seemed too close to him.
“I’ll just close my eyes and run if I see something I don’t like!!!”
He slowly drew back the curtain of the mirror.
What he saw made him both scared and excited at the same time.
He saw himself. But not in any way he had expected. He saw…no wings…no fangs, or teeth, or monsters.
“No…wings? I…look…human…normal.”
He smiled as he traced the reflection of what was in his heart. “Me! A human being? Not some dragon freak with a spear? So this is what I look like on the inside…,”
Fenris came back with a massive toothy grin on his face. “Next.” He chirped.
“Sure took you long enough,” Urd snapped, “Did you like what you saw…?”
“As a matter of fact…yes…,” he beamed.
“Egotistical…,” Urd said under her breath.
“What was that?” Fenris said.
“I said I’ll go next…we need to get that shard.”
She quickly and briskly walked up the steps without another thought.
“My heart’s pure enough, I’m sure of it!” She proudly thought.
As she uncovered the mirror, she noted something that only proved she was not who she was.
Instead of her thief garb, she stood in a flowing white dress, sash, and golden crown.
“Queen….Garnet?” she asked herself.
“Even now…as I stand here…seeing my true self…I still do not understand…,”
She walked back silently, speechless, the queen regarded her with a smile, and said, “Find out where we both came from for me…”
“Now what did she mean by that?” Urd thought.
It was Strife who stood next in line.
“Good sir, I have no doubt you’ll pass this test.” The queen flattered him.
“A test is a test, no matter how easy or difficult it is.” Strife said stiffly.
His crimson scarf-cape flowed behind him as he quietly strode up to the mirror.
“What have I to fear in this day and age I wonder…,”
Pulling back the mirror, he did not see himself, nor anyone else for that matter.
An empty mirror.
“Feh! Useless!” he scoffed, that is until he heard a clash of swords, the sound pricked his ear and he turned about to see his empty reflection.
A young girl lay dying, slain by an all too familiar blood red hand.
“Hmm…so it was you... hiding on me eh?” he said thoughtfully. He looked at the mirror at the girl, who looked to him in a final plea for help. And a single solitary tear fell from his eye.
“Don’t worry…,” he said, “I’ll never let it happen again.”
Striding back, Strife’s face was just as cold as ever. But it was Tempest who could see what was in his eye.
“A tear?”
It was Rose who stood next.
“I may not know who I really am, or if I can understand it, but I’m willing to look…,”
“Good for you, Rose,” the queen encouraged, “I know this is trying on all of you, but it is all a part of the test, believe me, it is the only way for you to truly fight as warriors, unhampered by doubts or confusion.”
As Rose stood quietly in the main room where the mirror stood, she sensed something.
It wasn’t fear, more like hope, a hope that she would be able to grasp a piece of the puzzle that was her life.
“I want to know…,” she said opening the curtains.
As she did she noted two things, first, that she was the way she always was. Smirking, arrogant, and overall plain her. The second thing she noticed was quite different. A massive black lion beast with angelic wings stood behind her, kneeling, as if completely hers to command. From the look of it, the creature was infinitely powerful with its massive paws and wings filling the whole room.
She spun around to see if it was really behind her.
“Nothing….,” she sighed, such power and beauty deserved to be seen.
As she looked back, another vision appeared to her. Shadows of two people placed their hands on her shoulder, a slight tinge of warmth was felt. A sense of belonging, of family.
“Who…?” she blinked, and the image was gone.
She looked deeply, sadly into the mirror and said, “Why can’t you speak the truth, instead of show it?”
And begrudgingly walked back to her group.
“I suppose, I’m the last…,” Tempest said quietly leaning on her sword.
Picking up her sword and sheathing it, she walked down the hallway to her own personal truth.
“I never cared for truth…it always hurt, it always tears away…never anything good.”
With a wince, she pulled back the curtain of the mirror.
What she saw confirmed something that was aching in her heart. A hunger, a need.
“You said you weren’t my father…,” she said to the crimson-clad visage, “But you never said you weren’t family…,”
The scarred face, blonde spiked hair, and steel blue eyes gazed at her deeply, as if they knew every aspect of who she was.
“I never cared who you were…but now I wish you’d never leave my life…,”
The weathered face cracked a small, feint smile, giving her hope.
“I don’t know where you came from…but someday you’ll tell me the truth, and not this mirror…,”
Closing her eyes, shutting away tears, she briskly walked back.
As she came back, the queen assembled the group.
“Braves…the time has come, each of you has faced the challenges of the Mirror of Truth alone…, now you must face it together, and receive the Shard of Light. Remember, fear can be overcome by unity, so focus on the Light, and it will grant you sanctuary.”
“We will, my Queen…,” Pharda said, bowing neatly.
The final ascension up to the mirror was the same as a ritual, quiet and methodical. Each brave had sought out the truth in their hearts and came out whole, or at least without regrets…
The queen pulled back the mirror and an intense light emitted from it.
“Ahn!” Pharda yelled as the light had blinded him.
“Do not be confused Pharda, Light is elementary, you only need light to see, it cannot truly blind you.”
As Pharda forced his eyes open, as did the rest of the group, the pain of the light seemed to vanish, and it seemed the more they gazed wide-eyed at the mirror, the more it seemed to crack.
And then the mirror broke.
“Eh?” Andomiel said, “What happened?”
“Your eyes overcame the light, and now the Light is yours, Braves…come see…,”
As they approached what was left of the broken mirror, they noted one of the glass shards was not like the others, it did not reflect in any way shape or form. It was merely a shard or stone.
“The shard!” Pharda said snapping it up. “We got it!”
Upon inspection, Pharda noted the stone contained two markings: his own totems, Leo and Capricorn. He pondered the irony of his getting his own stone.
As the group cheered for the moment, it was Tempest who asked, “Where do we go next?”
“Good question…,” Andomiel asked, “Where do we go?”
“The answer to the question lies in the riddle presented,” Strife replied, “Solve the riddle, and we find what we’re looking for.”
“Remember the riddle?” Urd said, “Restore the old paths of light, Light and Lightning…,”
“So we go to the Thunder Shrine?” Pharda said inquisitively.
The queen made a small suggestion, “If I may, braves, the Shrine of Thunder can no longer be found on Gaia, at least…that is what the legends say, they also say that the Thunder Shrine exists among the clouds…,”
“Hmmm….,” Andomiel thought, “But doesn’t that mean we have no way of getting up there? I mean, we don’t even have the means to get there, much less where it is.”
A tapping sound came from the floor, rather impatiently. The group followed the sound up to one clawed foot, who happened to be attached to the half-dragon known as Fenris.
“You finally notice that you have a flying guy in your party?! That maybe I might have something to contribute to this conversation?”
“Erm…sorry Fenris, guess we forgot…,” Pharda apologized sheepishly.
“Well, it’s nice to be needed once in a while…,”
“Well, do you have something to contribute to this conversation?” Urd said impatiently.
“Well, for your information, as a high-flyer among dragons, I happen to know a few legends about said ‘Floating Island.’ And know of a few places it might be located. But there’s a slight problem…,”
“And what may that be?” Andomiel said, not getting his hopes up.
“Well, I’m the only one who knows how to fly, and we don’t have an airship…so what now?”
As the group muttered to themselves about where they could get an airship, it was the Queen herself who raised her slender hand. “I…um, may be able to help in that area.”
“Your majesty,” Pharda said, “We couldn’t ask anymore of you now? It would be too much,”
“Think nothing of it! I own a fleet!”
Soon, the group found themselves in Alexandria Castle Proper, preparing for the ride of their lives.
“I can’t believe it! We’re going to be flying! This is gonna be cool!” Pharda said excitedly.
“This wouldn’t be your first time, now would it?” Rose said sarcastically.
“You say that as if you’ve rode in one before?” Andomiel said.
“Well, yeah, as a matter of fact, being a former mercenary had its perks…,” Rose trailed off thinking about her past dealings.
“If you’ve seen one ship you’ve seen them all…,” Urd said, rather miffed.
“Oh lighten up, Urd, you’re always grouchy when Rose has something to say.” Andomiel countered.
“Well, that’s cause she’s…she’s…,”
“Hey what are you guys talking about?” Pharda butted in.
Taken aback by Pharda’s intrusiveness, Urd stammered, “N-nothing…,”
“Hmmm…I wonder…,” Andomiel said with a slight smile, “if you’re jealous.”
“Am not!!” she said, and spun around and walked off.
“What was that about?” Pharda said scratching his head.
“I doubt you would want to know…,” Andomiel said, “Trust me…,”
“The queen is coming,” Strife interrupted, “Prepare yourselves,”
“Your Majesty…,” Pharda bowed, “Thanks again for your help,”
“It was nothing…I did it as a symbol of my people, and I did it for my sister…by the way…where is she?”
“Oh she had something on her mind…,” Andomiel muttered, slightly smiling.
“Hm…,” she said, “Very well, if you see her, give her this note, I wish her to read it…,”
“We will, your highness…,” Pharda said, “again, I thank you.”
As the queen left, Fenris swooped in and had a smile on his face, “Guess what I saw guys…,”
“What is it, Fenris?” Pharda asked.
“The fastest airship in the history of Alexandria…and it’s all ours!!”
“You don’t mean….the Highwind, do you?” Pharda asked.
“One and the same!”
“I heard stories about that old ship! Auto-pilot, weapons system, radar/sonar, air/water transport, and even after 100 years it still works!!” Pharda said, “I’ve dreamed about riding on that ship, just once!”
“Hmm…just the way I remember it…it’s been years,” Strife said.
“Huh?” Pharda said at first, but then it registered what that ship meant to Strife as well.
He smirked and thought about what it must have been like. Then said, “I’ll go find Urd, you guys go on ahead to the Highwind!”
Running down the stone walkways of Alexandria Castle, Pharda wondered why Urd had walked away in the first place. When he found her, he noticed she was hiding in an archway.
Had she been crying?
“Hey! Urd! Where were you? The queen wanted me to give you this note!”
“I don’t want anything!” Her voice was tear-soaked, and she was sniffling.
“Hey, what happened? Was it something I said?” He cocked his head in surprise.
His innocent look stared at her till she could no longer stop frowning.
“Oh, you are so clueless!” she said between sniffs.
“Come on, Urd, you know we have to go! They’re waiting for you!”
“I’m not leaving till you make me feel better!” she said in a slightly bratty tone.
At first Pharda hadn’t understood, but when she was being playful with him after her crying, this seemed to confuse him even more. All he knew was that she had been crying and she needed some comfort.
“I guess I forget you’re a girl sometimes…,” he said, and hugged her trying to make her feel better.
“I’ll right, I’m coming now…,” she said between sniffs.
And he quickly grabbed her hand and ran towards the newly furnished airship.
“You okay, Urd?” Tempest asked as the two arrived.
“I’m okay now…,” she smiled innocently, which made Pharda blush a bit.
After this their reverie was broken by the raising of the massive ship. Its engines roared into life as it hovered overhead.
“May I present to you…the Highwind!” A young engineer bowed, then ushered them up a set of steps toward the boarding section of the ship.
“This thing is huuuuge!!” Pharda marveled.
“Mind your step, samurai, you may have commandeered her, but she’s my ship!!”
“Eh?” Pharda turned around to see an elderly gentleman wearing goggles and carrying what seemed to be a massive hammer over his shoulder.
“Name’s Cid th’ twenty ninth! And you’re in my way!”
“Oh! Sorry sir!” He quickly stepped aside.
“It’s nice you step lively for elders, you could grow up to be a good warrior some day! So where we goin’ anywho?”
Strife came from out of nowhere, “We seek the floating Thunder Shrine…,”
“So ya lookin’ fer dat place eh? Can’t say as I know where it is, but if you know, I’ll get ya there with this baby…,” he patted the side of the railing, as if it were his ‘pet’ and continued, “She’s been through more’n a hurricane and held together.”
Oddly, Strife glanced at him strangely, “So you’re the 29th?”
“Yep, me great umpteenth grandpappy Cid the 7th build this wonder, can’t say she’s changed that much after all these years…,”
“Yes...it hasn’t, has it?”
Cid looked up at the giant swordsman in wonder, “You speak as if you were there when me pappy built it? Ye look too young fer this old thing!”
The old man shook his head and marked it off as a fluke of statement, but Pharda scarcely heard under Strife’s breath.
“Looks can be deceiving...,”
After the preparations were made, the airship disembarked and was off. Urd was the first of the group to step out on the upper deck and take in the breeze.
“Isn’t this grand…?” She said in awe.
“We’re searching for something that will help us fight in a war we know little of…,” Andomiel said behind her.
“So what if we don’t know anything? It’s not like we have a choice of what we know…,” Urd shrugged.
Pharda overheard the conversation and thought to himself, “I know a lot more about this war than any of you, and I still don’t know what’s going on!”
