Aqua- the Unforgiving Sea

by J. C. Ritchie

  The boatman eased the old wooden boat along the small wooden dock and tied it to the wooden post with a rope from the back of the boat. Creo climbed out of the boat and stepped up onto the dock. “Thank you.” He said turning to look at the boatman.

  “Don’t mention it lad.” He said lighting a cigar before taking a long drag and exhaling the smoke.

  Creo turned from the boat and continued his path along the docks into the city.

  Levian hadn’t been a kingdom quite as large as Lytos but it was nice enough. It was and always had been Le’Freya’s main source of seafood and clean water. Fisherman and their crew would come into Levian to sell and trade what they caught on their recent trips out to sea. From there, the fish and other seafood were distributed throughout the remaining kingdoms in Le’Freya. Levian was also home to a large water treating plant. The plant would filter out harmful materials and chemicals within the water from the ocean and then it was boiled to remove the salt. Normally the Sanctorum had forbidden machines of any nature but had made an exception for the machines within the water treating plant due to its advantages for the people of the six kingdoms.

  Creo saw seen a man walking towards him, he had worn nicer clothes and Creo could tell he was from a wealthy family. “Excuse me sir, where would I find Levian’s Sanctorum Headquarters?” Creo asked the man politely as he passed him.

  The man made an awful face as if he was disgusted, stuck his nose in the air and walked on without saying a word. It was apparent that people of a higher upbringing and social class were still just as proud and judgmental in Levian as they were in Lytos.

  Creo then felt a tap on his shoulder; he had turned to find a cloaked man standing behind him. “Yes sir?” Creo asked.

  The man removed his hood to reveal his mid-length sand colored hair and matching goatee. His eyes were a sapphire blue; Creo had thought they had resembled two large crystals embedded in his skull. “Are you new to Levian?” the man asked him. “I just happened to hear you asking where to find the Sanctorum’s Headquarters.”

  “Yes I am. I’m a little lost at the moment.” Creo said looking down at the ground afraid to look the man in the eyes.

  “Don’t worry kid, I’ll help you get there.” The man said walking out in front of him. “Follow me.”

  “Thank you so much sir.” Creo said politely.

  “So what brings you to Levian?” the man asked. “I can tell by what you’re wearing that you’re an acolyte from the cathedral.”

  “That’s right.” Creo said.

  “So tell me then; why is it that a Levian acolyte doesn’t know where the Sanctorum’s Headquarters are?” The cloaked man asked him.

  Creo was getting annoyed; this man had suspected something already. He was asking too many questions and it was making Creo uncomfortable. “It’s a long story trust me.” Creo said not knowing what else to say so he had said the first thing that came to mind.

  “Id love to hear it, sadly I guess that’ll have to wait until next time.” The sandy haired man said smiling back at Creo. “Here’s your stop.”

  Creo had spent so much time talking to the mysterious man that he hadn’t noticed that they had come up on the Sanctorum Headquarters for the kingdom of Levian. It was a large dome shaped building that had been placed at the heart of Levian. It had not been as large as the Headquarters in Lytos with all of the fancy artwork and columns but it was large all the same.

  “My name is Creo, Thank you er-“Creo started.

  “Oh names are not necessary Creo, but you are very welcome.” The man said smiling widely and taking a bow. “I hope you enjoy your stay in Levian.” The man had placed his hood back up over his head covering his face and walked on passed Creo and down the street.

  “What an odd character.” Creo thought to himself.

  He quickly forgotten about the strange man and turned his attention back to the Sanctorum’s Headquarters. He sighed deeply and walked up to the entrance and through the large double doors. Inside Creo found the first priest within distance of him and walked up to them.

  “Hello father, I am a transfer from the kingdom of Lytos.” Creo said eagerly.

  “Oh hello my boy.” The old man said turning to see him standing behind him. “A transfer you said?”

  “Yes sir.” Creo replied.

  The priest walked over to the large wooden desk in the middle of the hall. He had looked through a stack of papers and mumbled something to himself. “Well my boy I’m not seeing any transfers from Lytos.” The priest said. “Are you sure you are where you are supposed to be?”

  “Yes father I am certain, I was supposed to meet a man named er-“Creo began.

  “Yes?” the priest asked.

  “His name is er-“Creo struggled. He suddenly couldn’t remember the man’s name. The man that General Baltier had told him to find once her had arrived. He couldn’t remember his name at all.

  “Listen son, we are very busy here today.” The old man said sternly. “I do not have time for foolishness.”

  “I don’t know why I can’t remember his name, all I remember is a floating island, a three headed Numina, and Lytos being destroyed.” Creo said frantically gripping his head with his hands.

  The priests eyes widened and he instantly became angry, “Young man, how dare you spout such foolish words from your lips.” The priest said. “You had best run along to the cathedral and pray to Lady Aquarus to remove these ridiculous thoughts from your mind.”

  Creo didn’t know what else to say, he had simply watched as the angered priest walked away from him mumbling under his breath. Creo stood in the middle of the hall, not able to remember the man’s name at all everything was still fuzzy and confusing. If only he had remembered all of the pieces of what had happened. He stood up next to one of the stone columns in the center of the hall and could feel his face turn red from embarrassment.

  “Are you alright?” a voice asked him.

  Creo had turned his head to find a boy with short, messy white hair walking towards him. “Excuse me?” Creo said.

  “You seem lost, is everything alright?” the boy asked him.

  Creo noticed that the boy had been wearing nice clothes that made it seem like he came from a wealthy family. He had carried a square shaped bag on his side that seemed to contain a particular book.

  “Yes I’m fine.” Creo lied. “I just had a moment back there where I had forgotten something that’s all.”

  “Cyrus Oriander.” The boy said holding out his hand.

  “What?” Creo asked as if he were confused by the gesture.

  The boy began to laugh, “My name, Cyrus Oriander is my name.” he said his hand still extended.

  “Oh I’m sorry.” Creo said. “My name is Creo Naviae.”

  “Well Creo Naviae it is a pleasure to meet to.” Cyrus said shaking Creo’s hand. “So are you from Levian?”

  Creo was going to say that he was from Lytos but for some reason he had had the overwhelming feeling to lie to this Cyrus Oriander. He didn’t know anything about him; he was going to have to lie for now. “Yes Levian is my home.” Creo said. “Where are you from?”

  “I was born and raised in the kingdom of wind, Aerian.” Cyrus said. “I am a High Born Evoker.”

  Creo had never heard of a high-born evoker before, “What is a high-born evoker?” Creo asked.

  “Well as a high-born evoker I come from not only a wealthy family but a powerful family of evokers as well.” Cyrus explained. “We can summon Numina with our spell books with our own magic alone. We have no need of multiple evokers to summon one Numina.”

  “So you must be extremely powerful?” Creo asked.

  “Ha I wish. Sadly, when it comes to us high born we can only summon Numina to a certain degree. They are not as powerful as the original Numina.” Cyrus said.

  “So they are like shadows of the originals?” Creo asked.

  Cyrus began to laugh, “Something like that. I’m getting ready to go and take the test to a
cquire Levian’s Numina Aquarus.” He said. “Would you like to come and watch?”

  Creo’s eyes suddenly lit up with excitement; he had never seen Numina before up close, except for the large black dragon from the sea. “Of course.” He said trying to contain himself.

  “Wait here, I’ll only be a moment.” Cyrus instructed him.

  Creo watched as Cyrus walked across the hall and found one of the nearby priests. He stood watching them talk for a moment until Cyrus turned around and motioned Creo to follow him. They walked until they come to a set of large double doors in the back of the room. Cyrus pushed the doors open and together they walked inside.

  Inside was a smaller circular room. In the middle of the room was a pool of water surrounded by many candles. “Creo, if you don’t mind could you wait over there against the wall?” Cyrus asked him.

  Creo shook his head, “Not at all.” He agreed walking over to the wall on the other side of the room.

  Creo watched Cyrus as he walked up to the pool of water and knelt down, bowing his head. Creo couldn’t believe it, in just a few moments he was going to see an actual Numina up close. No one back home would have believed that he would have gotten to witness something as exciting as this.

  The small room was quiet; the only thing that Creo could hear was Cyrus muttering something in a language he had never heard before. The air in the room had become dense; Creo could feel a strange tingling sensation on his skin. The hairs on his arms and neck begun to stand up. “It has to be the magic.” He thought to himself.

  Cyrus raised his head and looked up at the pool of water, “Aquarus, Goddess of the Sea hear my cry! I summon you!” he shouted throwing his hand up into the air as a blue aura shot out of his hand, into the air and landed into the pool of water. Creo could see a bright blue symbol appear inside the water and then came the blinding blue light. Creo raised his arm to shield his eyes. After a few moments the light had faded. Creo lowered his hand and there she was in the middle of the pool, it was Aquarus.

  It was unlike anything Creo had ever seen, not this close at least. She had the tail of a fish and the body of a beautiful woman with long red hair that ran down the length of her body. On her head sat a silver tiara and beside her sat a large blue pitcher. She was a mystical sight to behold.

  “Was it you that had summoned me humana?” Aquarus asked Cyrus.

  “Yes Lady Aquarus, I am Cyrus Oriander from the kingdom of Aerian.” Cyrus said. “I am a high born evoker on a journey to acquire the powers of the Numina.”

  “I see, so I assume that you have acquired the power of Valefore?” Aquarus asked him. Creo noticed that while beautiful, she had a very aggressive nature about her.

  “Yes, Valefore is the only Numina I have bonded with at the moment.” Cyrus said sill kneeling being very careful not to offend Aquarus.

  “Why is it that you seek my power?” Aquarus asked him.

  Cyrus looked up at her and gazed into her eyes. “I wish to become something more than I am. I wish to become powerful so that I may protect our beautiful world of Le’Freya.” Cyrus explained to her.

  Aquarus had motion for Cyrus to rise, “I see that your intentions are noble and true, your eyes have told me your story.” Aquarus said. “You may have my power Cyrus Oriander.”

  “I thank you Lady Aquarus.” Cyrus said pulling out the book from his bag on his side. He opened it to a blank page. “Numina Captum!” he shouted. The wind began to pick up in the room and a powerful gust had blown through. Creo looked over at Aquarus who had transformed into a beautiful blue light once more and was absorbed into Cyrus’ book. Just before he had closed the book, Creo could see writing and the blue symbol from before appear on the page.

  Creo walked over to Cyrus who had put his book back into his bag, “That was incredible, an actual Numina was in the room with us.” He said.

  “Yes they definitely are a sight to behold.” Cyrus agreed. “Say, have you eaten?”

  They very mentioning of food had caused Creo’s stomach to rumble. He was definitely hungry. “No I don’t believe I have.” Creo said.

  “Excellent, you will come to my sister’s home with me I’m sure she has something prepared.” Cyrus said walking towards the door in the back of the room.

  Creo didn’t exactly feel comfortable meeting all these people at such a strange time. He had loved to meet new people and make friends but perhaps under different circumstances. He didn’t know what information had been relayed from Chancellor Lars of Lytos to the Chancellor of Levian about him. Everything happened so fast after he boarded the boat that he didn’t know if there had been any time at all for them to get the word out. Even so, he didn’t want to be rude to Cyrus. Creo did feel awful for lying to him like he did but he had no choice. He would work to correct the issue later if and when he found out he could trust Cyrus enough.

  “Are you sure your sister won’t mind?” Creo asked testing Cyrus.

  Cyrus chuckled, “Well of course not Creo, she just so happens to be the kindest soul in all of Le’Freya.” He said. “Well come on then let’s get going.”

  “Alright.” Creo said smiling at his new friend as they opened the doors and walked back into the entrance of Levian’s Sanctorum Headquarters. They walked on through the large circular room and right passed all of the priests and proceeded out the front doors.

  ***

  Outside Creo noticed that the sun was setting. It had felt as though it had only been mid-day when he had walked inside the Sanctorum. He felt as though time was escaping him just as everything else had been. His memory was still cloudy, one moment he could remember everything clearly and the next his mind had drawn a complete blank. He didn’t know exactly what was going on but he didn’t like it at all.

  “So your sister lives in Levian?” Creo asked Cyrus who at the time was too busy staring up at the sky not watching where he was walking in the street. He had almost bumped into a few people except for the fact that they had saw him coming and moved out of his way.

  “Oh yes, she had moved here not too long ago from our estate back in Aerian.” Cyrus said.

  “Why would she just move away from you and the rest of your family?” Creo had asked abruptly.

  Cyrus had stopped walked an immediately turned his attention towards the ground and his tone had changed. “My sister didn’t leave of her own will. She was forced to leave.” He said.

  “Cyrus I didn’t mean to pry, I’m sorry.” Creo apologized feeling guilty for bringing on this terrible mood.

  “No Creo it is alright. My family is wealthy and we are for the most part all high born evokers from birth.” Cyrus explained. “However my sister was born with other unique gifts. She is a cleric, and my family had forced her out of our home.”

  Creo had always been so close to his mother and father, he didn’t understand that such a terrible situation could occur when it came to family. “That’s terrible, I’m so sorry.” He said trying to sympathize with his new friend.

  “No need for that Creo, my sister is happier and much better off here in Levian. I had promised her that on my journey to acquire the Numina that as I arrived in Levian I would come and visit her.” Cyrus said smiling. “And here I am making good on that promise.” His mood finally restored and the frown in his face faded.

  “Well it is great that you and your sister are so close.” Creo said.

  “What of your siblings Creo?” Cyrus asked. “Are they here in Levian?”

  “No I’m an only child.” Creo said.

  “Well family is family no matter how many members there are within it. Praise be to the Numina that you and your family are well.” Cyrus said as they continued on down the street. “So how about your mother and father?”

  Creo didn’t know how to respond to the question about his parents, he had immediately thought back to the boat. Watching the dragon Numina destroy his home and his family along with it. He had blurted out the first thing that had come to mind. “My parents are dead.” Creo sa
id sadly.

  Cyrus was quiet for a moment before speaking up, “I’m sorry to hear that Creo, no siblings and no parents; I guess that would make you an orphan.” He said. “I couldn’t imagine something so horrible.”

  Not that he really had had the time to think about it but it did make sense. He had no other family to care for him, he had no brothers or sisters and whether his parents were alive or not was yet to be determined. His bet was on their death, no one in Lytos could have survived an assault like that. The entire kingdom looked as though it had been on fire. Creo could see the flames yet again dancing on top of the water out in front of the boat.

  “I guess it would seem so.” Creo said not knowing what else to say besides agreeing with him.

  Cyrus suddenly stopped beside a small stone home on the right side of the street that they had been walking down. There were bright green vines that scaled the stone walls on the outside of the home and there had been a small glass window on the left and the right side of the house. Cyrus walked up to the brown wooden door and knocked gently. After a moment or two the door had opened slowly and in the doorway to greet them was Cyrus’ sister.

  “Little brother, I’m so glad you’re here.” the young girl said.

  Cyrus had walked up to her and hugged her tightly, kissing her on the cheek. “Emelia, I would like you to meet my new friend Creo.” Cyrus said looking and pointing to Creo who was standing awkwardly behind them.

  Emelia waved slightly, “Hello Creo it’s very lovely to meet you.” She said smiling softly. She had been a tad shorter than Cyrus even though she was the older child. She had been wearing a small white dress that had covered her ankles. Around her waist had been a black sash that was tied in a bow behind her. She had long and sleek black colored hair that had been fixed into a braid that ran the length of her back. She had the kindest eyes that Creo had ever seen. Cyrus was right, just by speaking to her anyone could tell that she most definitely could have been the kindest soul in all of Le’Freya.