MTG Cardsmith Community Forums
Story for TheGamingBolasChannel's custom sets
If you don't know me, as I expect most of you have no idea as to who I am, I have been working on my own custom sets for some time with the intention of writing their stories. Having finished The Battle For Freedom, my 6th full set, I have decided that it is finally time to get to writing. This means that Corrinella and Milina's Revolution won't be made for some time, but I hope you all will enjoy reading the story behind my sets. I am looking for any input any of you may have as this is practice for my writing abilities.
Background: Rigo is a plane that has five major species that live on it. The demons and giants have been brought to extinction by the combined efforts of the five races or by the angels respectively. The plane itself is set within a fairly regular Magic The Gathering plane style, being mainly medieval. However, this wasn't always the case as after the victory against the demons the human civilization on Rigo managed to become highly advanced, similar to our own modern/ 20th century society. This was ended by the angels who assaulted this city, slaughtering droves of humans in the battle. The humans alive on Rigo today are descended from the survivors of that assault. Those descendants lived within isolated human tribes and towns, in fear of being raided by the orcs or attacked by the angels. Only recently, last thirty or so years, has humanity managed to come together and reform a civilization worthy of respect. The orcs have a barbaric society and move constantly, looking for glory in their raids. The mermaids and merfolk keep to themselves within their ocean cities. Lastly, there are the kokiri, a race that was brought to the brink of destruction except that a single member managed to survive. That last survive has last all memory prior to about a hundred years ago and has dedicated themselves as a guardian of their forest.
Rigo
Chapter 1: The Honored Seraph Returns. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iEDtNzq-6nofCArBHb3HdNJL4mcvvTX_R8Suc9tN29U/edit?usp=sharing
Background: Rigo is a plane that has five major species that live on it. The demons and giants have been brought to extinction by the combined efforts of the five races or by the angels respectively. The plane itself is set within a fairly regular Magic The Gathering plane style, being mainly medieval. However, this wasn't always the case as after the victory against the demons the human civilization on Rigo managed to become highly advanced, similar to our own modern/ 20th century society. This was ended by the angels who assaulted this city, slaughtering droves of humans in the battle. The humans alive on Rigo today are descended from the survivors of that assault. Those descendants lived within isolated human tribes and towns, in fear of being raided by the orcs or attacked by the angels. Only recently, last thirty or so years, has humanity managed to come together and reform a civilization worthy of respect. The orcs have a barbaric society and move constantly, looking for glory in their raids. The mermaids and merfolk keep to themselves within their ocean cities. Lastly, there are the kokiri, a race that was brought to the brink of destruction except that a single member managed to survive. That last survive has last all memory prior to about a hundred years ago and has dedicated themselves as a guardian of their forest.
Rigo
Chapter 1: The Honored Seraph Returns. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iEDtNzq-6nofCArBHb3HdNJL4mcvvTX_R8Suc9tN29U/edit?usp=sharing
Comments
Rigo Chapter 1: The Honored Seraph Returns
Plane: Innistrad
For three years I have been on Innistrad studying the angels of this plane. Innistrad, a warped plane where demons, zombies and abominations run rampant. A race known as vampires also exist on Innistrad, but they are a race that I know little of nor are they native to my home plane. For humans, who are at the mercy of the nightly horrors, angels and spirits protect them. The problem though recently on this plane was that the lead angel, Avacyn, disappeared and the horrors of this plane began to ransack their settlements. Thanks to the actions of a planeswalker, Lillianna, Avacyn was freed along with many demons and other horrors. I even noted the release of a planeswalker as well. Things seemed like they were all good, but that other planeswalker came back and began to mess with the plane. Things have already begun to get warped. Avacyn too has changed and my goal before I leave is to confront her and ask her why she has turned against humans.
I push a warped branch to the side and continue walking down the dirt path toward the cathedral that was already coming into view from between the branches. I could make out the shape of some of Avacyn’s angels, each one already had their eyes on me. I drew closer and drew mana in preparation for an attack.
“Avacyn, I want to talk!” I yell out. One of the angels on the roof slowly turns around and I recognize the face of Avacyn. The ends of her hair and wings were different from what I had seen prior. They both had blood red coloring at the ends of the pure white hair and feathers. Her spear had changed a lot as well. It had become black and brittle. It was only then that I noticed it was already headed towards my skull. I swing a shield wall into the path of the spear.
“You are clever. If the helvault hadn’t been destroyed I would be trapping you inside of it right now.” Avacyn said, coming down to my level to retrieve her spear.
“I want to know why you turned against all of humanity. I followed what you did on Innistrad in order to improve my own home, but now you are no different from the angels I grew up with!” I yell at Avacyn, keeping the shield wall in between us. The wall I was utilizing actually was made of wings, and wasn’t a solid brick wall like many of the more well defended human cities like Thraden.
“Well they’re the issue with Innistrad.” Avacyn said menacingly, picking her spear up. I back up and place a hand on the hilt of my sword. Avacyn prepares to throw her spear at me, but pauses and backs off. I slowly move my hand away from the hilt, but I keep my eye on Avacyn. Instead of trying to catch me off guard, Avacyn flies off. I dissipate the wall I had created and watch Avacyn fly off. I take to the sky as well, but I head in the opposite direction Avacyn had taken, towards the home I had while I was on this dark plane. I make it back and start to gather all of my journals and prized possessions. I know Avacyn will likely be looking for me once whatever had taken her attention off of me was no longer of importance. As I’m gathering my items, I feel a presence, a presence stronger than I had ever experienced. Then I heard it.
“Emrakul.” I heard a voice say within my head. I clutched my head in pain and immediately pulled in mana and planeswalked off of Innistrad for my own safety.
Plane: Rigo
I’m immediately hit with air that feels clean. I look around to see that I’m in a wheat field, likely within human territory. Off in the distance, I can see the mountains known as the Cold Forest Mountain Range. My daughter, Sama, actually has a home within the Cold Forest.
“Honey, get inside the house. Who knows what foul magic that angel is using to appear like that.” I hear the voice of a man say behind me. I turn around to see a farmer pushing his daughter toward their home. The father is holding a pitchfork at me, veins bulging out of his forehead.
“How is Alexander doing? I haven’t seen him in roughly three years.” I ask, hoping to ease the situation. The father backs up towards his home. I can see the girl looking at me from behind her father. I give her a kind smile and a little wave, which causes an object to fall out of my grasp among all the items I brought back with me. I kneel down to pick the object back up and pause when I see that it is Avacyn’s symbol.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing demon!” The father yells at me. I spin around, dropping everything I’m carrying as I reach for my sword, prepared to defend myself against the unholy creature. Instead, I see an empty field. In confusion, I turn back around and look at the man. Then, remembering where I am I press the heel of my hand against my forehead.
“This isn’t Innistrad. Its Rigo. The demons here have been dead for millenium.” I say softly to myself. I sheath my sword and bend down to pick up everything I had dropped.
“What are you? Get back here this instant young lady!” I hear the man say. I don’t look up at all as I continue to pick up my possessions. I only stop when I see the girl’s foot, which happens to be touching Avacyn’s symbol. I look up at the girl, who looks back at me. I keep steady eye contact with the girl as I pick up the symbol. I stand up and look at the father who is still tense, but has a look of confusion within his expression.
“Will you accept a gift from me?” I ask the girl. The girl nods her head and holds out her hand. I put the symbol into her outstretched palm and close her fingers around it.
“Listen child, there is a lot you need to learn about my kind.” I say looking the girl in the eyes.
“Like what?” She asks.
“Some of us care only about helping humans. The object you are now holding is the symbol of one of those angels. If you are ever scared, you may pray to her for salvation.” I say calmly.
“And her name is?” The girl asks.
“Her name was Avacyn. She may no longer be alive anymore, but as long as the angels of Rigo scare you, you may pray to her for safety, just like those she protected did.” I say patting the girl on the head.
“What if I want to pray to you instead? Who do I pray to then?” The girl asks. The sentence didn’t make much sense but I understood what she was asking regardless.
“Angelis. My name is Angelis.” I say, turning around.
“Thank you Angelis. I’m glad to have met you in person.” She says happily. I turn and look at her.
“What do you mean by that?” I ask her. She looks up into the sky, likely recalling a memory.
“I would watch you fly to and from that mountain range every few weeks. I always imagined flying alongside you. When I heard you had vanished right in front of a bunch of humans, I thought they had killed you. What happened to you? Also, be honest. This thing isn’t from Rigo is it?” The girl asks, looking at me. I nod.
“You are correct. That symbol is from a place known as Innistrad. I just left that plane for the first time since my spark was ignited three years ago. Try not to think about it too much. Your head may hurt.” I say with a smirk. I unfurl my wings and lift off a few feet into the air.
“Have a safe trip!” The girl shouts up at me, waving her hand. I wave back, taking care not to drop anything I was carrying, and smile, before I rise higher into the air. I couldn’t help but wonder what Sama’s reaction was going to be as it sounded like people believe I had died. I headed in the direction of the Cold Forest Mountain Range at a nice gliding speed. It was clear to me that it would take some time to adjust to being back on Rigo, especially based on my reaction to hearing the father refer to me as a demon had been made clear. Since I had time to kill while I was flying, I allowed myself to recall some of the memories I had made while on Innistrad. I quickly thought about my friend Arlinn Kord, a native of the plane and a werewolf. The first time I had heard her say that, I was so confused that not even her explanation made any sense to me which caused her to transform into a werewolf. That had scared me pretty bad back then, but I smiled at the memory. I thought of other individuals I had met as well, including the other archangels, Gisela, Bruna and Sigarda. I had the strongest connection with Sigarda. There was a bond between us that I couldn’t fully explain.
“Mother? Is that you?” I hear a voice call out to me from below. I would be able to recognize the voice of my daughter anywhere and I snapped out of memory lane. I look down to see her, wearing a black fur dress. The look of shock on her face makes me so happy I end up grinning.
“I’m carrying a lot of things with me so please hug me after we get inside.” I say, gliding downward. Sama nods her head and waits for me to land. My sandals hit the snow and cause me to sink. I feel the cold of the snow rise from my feet all the way to my head, shivering as a result.
“I’ll never understand how you withstand the cold,” I say looking over at Sama, “but you’re likely in shock at seeing me again after three years that I doubt you can give me an answer right now.” Sama nods at me. The rest of the walk is in total silence, Sama likely trying to wrap her head around where I had been for three years, and as for I, I was contemplating how to tell her how much I had missed her, but felt that I needed to learn about Innistrad’s angels to help our own world.
We reach Sama’s hut after about a full ten minutes of walking. My feet were killing me as much from the cold as having the worst kind of footwear for the environment.
“Wait here.” Sama says as she walks towards the door.
“Why, is something wrong?” I ask, looking around and not spotting anything that seemed to imply danger.
“Just want to make sure my pet doesn’t get too wild at the sight of you.” Sama says, gingerly opening the door of the hut. I hear a yip as a dog or a wolf attempted to push its way past the door. Even from where I was I was able to make out it’s nose sniffing the outside air.
“Fennic, have you been a good boy?” Sama asks the canine. I hear a happy yip sound as Sama opens the door more. A dark grey blur speeds past Sama and heads towards my direction. It stops just short and the wolf growls softly at me, probably thinking I was a threat to Sama or itself.
“Fennic, come here boy!” Sama says after whistling to the wolf. Fennic takes one last sniff of my scent before returning to Sama’s legs, acting much like the girl had when her father had mistaken me as a threat.
“This is Fennic. I took him in after his mother abandoned him as he was a runt.” Sama says, giving the wolf a scratch behind its ears. He licked the inside of her leg, which made Sama giggle. I felt a ping of guilt at hearing her giggle again.
“Lets go inside.” I say holding back tears. Sama nods and heads into her hut, followed by Fennic, who looks back at me as he heads in. I follow them in, feeling the warmth of the hut engulf me. I walk in just in time to see Sama take off the large leather coat she had been wearing, unfurling her pearl white wings, the only feature that she shares with me. I head over to the nearest table and start to lay down my journals and other items.
“I hope whatever is in those books will help explain how you are here.” Sama says from behind me, making me jump a little. I place the last book down before turning around to look at Sama. I pull her into a hug as my tears begin to flow.
“I’m sorry I never took a break from my research to visit you while I was gone.” I say while crying. Sama squeezes me back.
“That is something my mother would say for sure,” Sama says, burying her head into my shoulder, “I’ve missed you so much. I thought about you every day, prayed to Aryana that you would return one day. I love you so much mom.” We hold each other, crying with both joy and sadness. The entire time Fennic is looking at us curiously.
“I think I should tell you what happened.” I say, letting go of Sama. Sama nods while wiping a tear out of her eye.
“You have some explaining to do you old hag.” Sama says with a chuckle. I lightly flick her forehead and turn back to the books I had brought back. Some of them were my journals and writings about the Innistrad angels while others were books I had managed to slip out of some of the human cities. I’ll have to return them one day. I push one of my journals to the side as I sit down and realize that the book under it wasn’t one I had previously. I picked up the book and looked at it. I realize that the cover of the book is far thicker than it should be otherwise.
“Is something wrong?” Sama asks.
“I think someone put this book with my belongings, hoping I would see it. I was in such a rush when I left that I don’t think I actually noticed it.” I say, opening the book’s front cover. In the cover, there is a hollowed out spot in the shape of Avacyn’s symbol.
“Angelis, Bruna and I have fallen under the same affliction as Avacyn has. Before we lose all sense of ourselves, we wanted to leave you with a gift for you and your daughter. We were able to locate two holy symbols that had yet to be warped by the lunarch inquisition. Also, we know you are similar to Sorin, Avacyn’s creator. Stay safe and safe travels to wherever your gift takes you to next. Gisela and Bruna.” I hear Sama read aloud. I look at the first page of the book to see that there was a message written there in black ink. It looked sloppy, like the writer couldn’t be seen writing out the message. I flip the book to the inside of the back cover to find the second symbol, safe within its hollowed out crevice. I take it out and place it on the table.
“Well, I have a few more questions than I had prior to reading that,” Sama says, looking at me, “Who the hell is Gisela, Bruna and Avacyn. I’ve never heard of any angels on Rigo with that name. Also what do they mean by you being similar to this Sorin individual?”
“Can I have you answer a question first before I give you the answer you are looking for?” I ask.
“Sure.” Sama says.
“Do you believe that there are planes of existence beyond our own that most have no idea exist?” I ask, glancing at Sama as she takes in my question.
“I guess there would have to be as there is no reason for there to be only a single reality of existence.” Sama says, looking at me.
“What would you say if I told you there are hundreds upon thousands of other realities out there?”
“If you had told me that three years ago, I would probably call you crazy, but seeing these books you have in front of you and that message that was written to you and me, I can’t help but believe that you somehow found a way to one of these other realities.” Sama says.
“I didn’t find a way to. I had to ignite the part of my that would open all of those planes up to me. Sama, I’m a planeswalker, the legendary world walkers from the ancient Kokiri legends.” I say, watching Sama.
“You? A worldwalker? I don’t believe it. Although you did vaporize in front of those humans after all.” Sama says, deep in thought.
“The ignition of a planeswalker’s spark occurs when one faces a great emotional or life threatening experience. For me, it was the fear or losing my wings.” I say, turning around to reveal the healed scar located right where my wing is attached to my back. Sama’s finger runs along the scar.
“I guess Alexander was too nervous to tell us what they had done to you. All I know was that he had them executed for their involvement in your vaporization.” Sama says before getting interrupted.
“Spark ignition.” I say. Sama nods and continues.
“In your spark ignition that everyone thought had been your death.” Sama finishes saying.
“After my spark ignited I found myself on a plane filled with twisted, dark magic. I would later find out that this plane was known as Innistrad and the angels of this plane protected the humans of it against the zombies, demons, werewolves, spirits, vampires and other horrors that made the wilderness their home.” I say, “Gisela and Bruna are two of those angels, each of whom leads what is known as a flight. These lesser angels help their specific leader in protecting humanity. Then there is Avacyn, an angel made by a planeswalker of Innistrad, a human who had been turned into a vampire a long time ago and the trauma of it had ignited his spark.”
“That is a lot to take in.” Sama says softly. She flips open one of my journals and begins to read.
“Hold up, you were attacked by a horde of zombies on your first night? That sounds scary,” Sama mutters, flipping past more pages before pausing again, “And fought a demon to protect a family of humans. Wow, it sounds like things were not easy.”
“It wasn’t easy to begin with, but when Avacyn disappeared it became far tougher fighting off the horrors whenever they attacked.” I say thinking back on the three years I had been there, again. I look over to see Sama flipping through some of the other books I had brought back with me.
“You were researching the angels of Innistrad, were you not?” Sama asks. I nod quietly to her.
“After Avacyn had been freed by another planeswalker, Avacyn and many other beings on Innistrad began to get warped mentally and physically. Avacyn began to attack the humans she once protected. I saw the actions of Anlex in this warped version of Avacyn and I had a meeting set up so I could understand why she had begun to attack humans. It didn’t go as I had hoped. She attacked me with her spear as soon as I was close. I was able to save myself with a barrier. I still don’t know what it was, but something or someone took her attention off of me. I used that opportunity to get back to the place I had been staying at and gather up some of my things. Right before I left, I heard a strange voice in my head say the name “Emrakul.” I left right after that.” I say before picking up Avacyn’s symbol.
“Gisela, Bruna, Sigarda, please be okay. I want to chat with you all again some day.” I say, clutching the artifact within my hands. Sama puts a hand on my shoulder comfortingly.
“I’m sure they are okay.” Sama says with a smile. I smile back at her. It is only then that we both realize that Fennic has been growling softly at something outside the
hut. I look at Sama and reach for my sword’s hilt. Sama creeps towards the door and opens it up a jar. I barely notice, but I can tell that Sama’s gaze is brought towards the sky.
“Angels. They seem to be headed further into the mountain range.” Sama says quietly.
“What would be that far into this mountain range? Humans don’t live near here as far as I know.” I say, coming up alongside Sama.
“The last giant.” Sama says, “They must have located the last of Rigo’s giants and are going to slay it.” I can hear the sadness within her voice.
“I’m going to go.” I say, “If I can warn this giant maybe they can get to safety.” Sama sighs.
“I don’t think that’ll work, but we can definitely go and watch.” Sama says quietly, slowly opening up the door. The cold wind chills my bones once again. I can tell that Sama got chilled as well, but she pushed forwards into the cold air. I follow her, closing the door carefully behind me. Together, we take to the air, but remain close to the tree tops, trailing the flight of angels.
We follow the flight of angels in silence for about half an hour or so. They swoop down as they pass over the top of a nearby peak. Sama and myself fly to that peak and find a flat section to land on. We watch as the angels circle above the mountain-ringed valley below which also contains a giant. Even on Innistrad, I had never laid eyes on a giant in my life, so to be seeing one now was disheartening. We watch as one of the angels breaks off from the group, dives towards the giant and slash it across its forehead. It lets out a bellow of pain and swipes at the angel with its club. The angel maneuvers around the crude weapon and rejoins her sisters far above the giant.
“After being on Innistrad for so long, even with the angels turning against the humans, there is something horrifying about seeing angels toy with another being like this.” I say sadly as another angel dives at the giant and slashes it across its cheek. This angel too avoids the swing of the club and rejoins her sisters.
“I haven’t been on Innistrad and I find this kind of behavior to be cruel.” Sama replies. We watch as a third angel descends towards the giant. I can sense the angel pulling in mana in preparation for a spell.
“Now the last giant falls.” I say quietly, with a ting of sadness as I watch the angel form a massive sword. It is sent hurtling towards the defenseless giant, piercing it in the chest. The giant stumbles backwards, running into one of the mountains that surrounded the valley. It struggles against the blade, which had pierced through its body and into the side of the mountain. I watched as the life left the giant. The guilt I felt was already weighing down on me. Both Sama and I were so busy watching the giant’s death that we almost didn’t hear the flapping of wings approaching us.
“What are you two doing?” The all too familiar voice of an angry angel said behind us. I turn around, as Sama does the same, to see the one individual I feared meeting so soon after returning to Rigo. The angel Anlex, queen of the angels. The angel who sits upon the throne of the largest city of Rigo, The High City which was also known as Riga. The look of surprise on her face was priceless to me.
“Honey, meet me at Alexander’s capital in three days.” I say, kissing Sama on her cheek. Before Sama or Anlex can say anything, I pull in mana and planeswalk, but instead of heading towards another plane, I move myself deeper into Alexander’s kingdom. I planned to reappear near The Oceanic City. Right as I began to return to Rigo, I noticed a shapeless mass near Innistrad. A smaller object appeared to hit the form before being launched towards a plane I could not see from my viewpoint. The landscape of pulsating spheres disappears as the landscape around the Oceanic City appears before me. Having planeswalker right in the middle of the palace was the best scenario I could have hoped for. It felt even better to be greeted by the shocked expression of Maddie and Lillie, Alexander’s adopted daughters, who had just been interrupted mid kiss.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to drop in on you two like that. I do have a favor to ask of you two.” I say, feeling exhaustion taking over.
“Yeah?” Maddie says, more into Lillie’s lips than at me.
“Let your father know that Sama will be stopping by his capital soon as will I,” I say, “Also I am starving. Do you have any leftovers I can eat?”
“To the first one, yes. To the second, lunch was three hours ago.” Lillie says. I smile at them and lay down against a pillar.
“Wake me up when dinner is ready then.” I say, closing my eyes for some rest.
Rigo Chapter 2: To The Oceanic City
Location: The Coral City located a ways off of Furur’s right coast.
I open my eyes and look up at the ceiling of my bedroom. I trace the formation of the coral ceiling in my mind. The work that had been put into each curve, each crevice in the coral. Each had been painstakingly placed there by mermaid and merfolk artists when the Coral City was first being constructed. Everyday after I would wake up, I would spend some time doing what I was doing now. Just looking at the details of the work done to the Coral City. As I’m laying in my bed, I hear the door to my room creak open. I turn my head to see my handmaid, Victoria. Victoria has to be, by all accounts, one of the most beautiful mermaids that isn’t part of the royal family. Her light brown hair reaches past her shoulders and chest. Victoria also has a trait that isn’t common in the royal bloodline which results in her not having any scales located around her chest like me or any of my sisters. As a result, when she was assigned as my handmaid, I had traveled to the human city known as the Oceanic City and bought her something known as a bikini top. My understanding is that it is some kind of swim wear used by female humans. Then there is Victoria’s tail, a light ocean blue in color. Victoria also has bracelets as well as a hair pin, which I tend to forget about a lot.
“Good morning princess.” Victoria says in her usual cheery voice. She is one hell of an early riser if you ask me.
“Good morning Victoria. Also how many times do I have to tell you. You can just call me Maya.” I say, turning over in my bed, hoping to be allowed to stay longer. Most likely my mother, the queen Tymaria, wants to see me about something so I doubt I can get some extra rest.
I can hear the water moving around Victoria’s tail as she approaches me. I feel her finger poke at my cheek.
“Come on get up.” Victoria says with a whiny voice. I roll over and cover my ears. Victoria pulls the covers off of me and while they are still drifting above me she grabs the middle of my tail and begins to pull. I latch onto the side of my bedframe with all of my strength. Unfortunately for me, Victoria’s body is very deceiving when it comes to showing how strong she is. I quickly lose my grip on my bed frame and get flung toward the ceiling of my room. I strike the ceiling and the impact causes me to lose my breath.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.” Victoria says apologetically. I let myself sink downwards so as to not get dizzy after being flung.
“Don’t worry about it. I had only been up for a few minutes so my body hasn’t fully woken up yet.” I say with a yawn. I lift my arms over my head and stretch, loosening up my muscles for whatever grueling task I was going to be given by my mother.
“Ah, I see the resident sleepyhead is finally awake.” I hear Katie say from the doorway. I jump a little having not heard her swim by.
“Oh, hey Katie, Jane.” I say, turning around. Katie, my twin sister looks nothing like me. Where I have light sky blue hair, Katie has jet black hair. We don’t even share the same color for our chest and tail scales. Katie has a blue coloration to her scales, I have an orange, which extends into thin wing-like structures I have on my back which I use to help me while swimming. Jane, our older sister who is far more mature than Katie or I, has blue hair like I do, but with a darker tint to it. Her scales though are far more fish like and have an orange and blue tint to them. The scaling has also made its way to her face where it can be seen around her lips and eyes. The only reason she has not been considered the heir to the throne is that she isn’t a true mermaid, even though she was born like any other. She has the ability to fuse with and disappear into a cloud of fish at will. How she does this she has never told anyone.
“Somehow I’m not surprised Jabe showed up.” Katie says, glancing to her left. Jane just smiles at her before turning into a bunch of fish, who swim over to Victoria before Jane reamerges. Jane pats Victoria on her head.
“Katie, do you know anything about what mother wants to see me about?” I ask. Katie looks at me for a moment.
“Why should I know. I’m hardly told anything.” Katie says. I head towards the doorway as Katie moves aside.
“Victoria, I’m gonna go see what Tymaria wants from me. I’ll tell you if I need anything.” I say.
“Okay!” Victoria replies cheerfully. I turn back to see her waving at me with a big grin on her face. I can’t help myself and grin back at her. I’ve always enjoyed spending time with Victoria as she happens to be an extremely sweet individual.
I head out into the hallway and make my way towards the throne room of the Coral City. I make my way past many other mermaids and merfolk. Many of them nod or wave at me as I pass by. A few greet me and some don’t even look up from their work. I reach the doors of the throne room after a relatively short swim.
I look up at the large doors. The metal reinforcements were placed by humans from the previous civilization they had. I still have a hard time believing that they had found a way to prevent a wooden door from rotting while under water, but they did. I reach for the handle, grasp it firmly and pull the door open. Due to the weight and size of it, I feel myself struggling to pull it open. Finally, after a few seconds of struggling against the door, I get it open.
“Good morning Maya. I see Victoria was able to get you to wake up finally.” My mother, Tymaria, says to me from the throne. My mother is completely scaled from her chest down with green scales, with small orange fins along her hip and at the end of her tail. Next to her is my father, who looks extremely human except for the dark blue scaled tail he has.
“Morning mother.” I say with a bow as I make my way to the center of the room. I float within the center of the room.
“Do you know why I wanted to speak to you today?” Tymaria asks me. I shake my head.
“No. No one told me anything.” I say.
“Maya. I want you to take Victoria with you to the Oceanic City. I feel it is time that we forge an alliance with the human civilization.” My mother tells me, catching me completely off guard.
“I thought we weren’t allowed to make contact with humans!” I exclaim, thinking back to the time I had snuck out to go to attempt to explore the city, only to have to return to the water for my own safety.
“Don’t worry. Lillie and Maddie have already been informed and will be waiting for you along the coastline near to where you walked the first time.” Tymaria says, with a hint of anger near the end.
“Okay, okay.” I say, backing up. Tymaria swims towards me while carrying a staff of some kind. She places it in my hands and I stare at it, unsure of what to do with it.
“While you are up there, maybe you can try to see if you have any magic potential.” My mother says with a smile. I look at her in disbelief, but take the staff gratefully.
“I’ll do my best to remember.” I say. My mother nods and heads back to her throne. I turn around and head out of the room, making sure to close the heavy door as I leave. I head back to my room, thinking about why Tymaria was sending me and not Katie, who is more likely to be the next queen, to have these talks. Was I really prepared to form a diplomatic alliance with a race I knew almost nothing about.
“Is it true? Is it true! Are we going to go to the Oceanic City?” I hear Victoria ask from down the hall. I look up and see her swimming towards me as fast as she could go.
“Yeah, we’re headed to the Oceanic City.” I say with a chuckle. Victoria swims in a circle out of pure excitement. I laugh as I watch her.
“She’s sending you though, why isn’t she sending me?” Katie asks me. I shake my head.
“I don’t know, but I think this may be a clue.” I say, holding up the staff for Katie to look at. Katie visually scans the staff.
“So she thinks you might have potential for magic?” Katie asks me.
“I guess so,” I say, “Although we should get going. We don’t want to keep anyone waiting.” Katie nods and heads off in her own direction. Victoria comes up next to me before swimming out of a window at full speed. I shake my head as I watch Victoria swimming as fast as she could. I follow after her, quickly catching up to her due to the strength I can generate with my tail. I poke her shoulder to get her attention before pointing upwards. She takes note and tilts herself upwards, followed quickly by myself. I see Victoria break the surface of the water. I do the same, quickly hearing the wind blowing across the surface of the waves as well as Victoria flailing around in a comical confusion.
“Victoria, calm down,” I say laughing, “You won’t suffocate or drown. We can easily change between aquatic and non-aquatic breathing.
“It feels so uncomfortable.” Victoria says, sinking until only her eyes are above the water. I smile at her.
“Okay. We’ll be headed in that direction, “ I say pointing to the west. Victoria turns, keeping her eyes above the water, to look in the direction I’m pointing. She looks back at me and silently begins to head towards Furur. I decide that it would be a good use of working out my legs, so I shift to them and begin to do a breaststroke alongside Victoria. Victoria watches me, giving me room as I swim.
“Our bodies generate a dress for us when we take on a human form?” Victoria asks, raising her mouth out of the water. I flip onto my back in order to chat with her better.
“Yeah. At least it means we won’t show up naked and make a fool of ourselves.” I say with a chuckle. I look over to see Victoria has gone beet red, likely thinking of being naked in front of strangers, let alone seeing one of the princesses naked. I even catch a squeal of embarrassment coming from her when she realizes I’m looking at her.
“I’m only seventeen! I’m not ready to do anything like that!” Victoria shouts at me which makes her even redder in the face.
“I know. You won’t have too. Thank the fact that we all have a little bit of magic we can use.” I say, before realizing that I had dropped the staff when I started my breast strokes. Victoria realizes as well and dives down. I dive down and grab her by the shoulder and shake my head.
“But!” Victoria starts to say, but I shake my head. I open my mouth to speak, but quickly realize that I’m still in human form as water fills my mouth. I quickly swim upwards and cough after breaking the surface.
“Maya are you okay?” Victoria asks me as I’m having a coughing fit. I give her a thumbs up as I manage to get longer breaths in between each cough.
“Yeah, I’m good. Just was being stupid and not remember that I was in human form.” I say weakly, “I was trying to point out that though.” I gesture toward a shape approaching the both of us. Victoria looks at it trying to figure out what it is.
“Is that your staff?” Victoria asks me, confused.
“Remember what I said to Katie?” I ask.
“Yeah?”
“It was a lie. I’ve been practicing in secret for some time and I guess my mom found out.” I say as I take the staff back from the elemental. I look at Victoria to see that her eyes are wide open and I can make out a small sparkle of excitement.
“Wow that's so cool.” Victoria says staring at the water elemental.
“Is it okay if you carry this for me the entire way?” I ask the elemental. Victoria starts to respond, thinking I’m asking her, but I am already handing the staff to the elemental. It slips back into the ocean. The only thing letting either of us know where it is, is the position of my staff. I lay on my back and begin to perform a backstroke. We’re far closer to the shore by now so I’m no longer worried about getting attacked by an ocean beast. We continue on in silence, Victoria continuing to swim with only her eyes above the water.
After quite a bit of time, I hear the sound of someone calling out. I turn over to see the shore of Furur approaching fast. On the shore I can make out the figure of two adult women and what appears to be a row of guards on either side of them. I glance at Victoria who has her head turned to look at me.
“You should transform now. It’ll save you from any potential embarrassment.” I say. Victoria nods and I glance at her tail to see it transform into a pair of legs. I also watch as a dress that is the same color as her scales covers her body. Caught off guard by the added weight and new mode of swimming, Victoria struggles. I mentally order my elemental to give me my staff and to go wrap itself around Victoria to help her keep herself upright. I decide to doggy paddle until I can stand as I want to keep an eye on Victoria to make sure she is doing all right.
“This is so weird.” Victoria says with a whine.
“Just alternate which leg you are pushing down and move the opposite arm outwards.” I say.
“Hello you two.” I hear one of the women say from the shore.
“Are you both Lillie and Maddie?” I yell back.
“Yes we are.” The other woman says. I hear a yelp from Victoria and I look over, worried something has happened.
“My foot just bumped something.” Victoria whines at me. I glance down to see that the rocky bottom is pretty close to our legs. I take a breath and dive down and use the rocks to crawl along the bottom in order to prevent my legs from getting scraped. By the time I run out of breath, I’ve reached an area where I can stand and be mostly out of the water. I look back to see Victoria trying to walk through water that is up to her neck. I make my way towards her and carry her to the shore. I can tell Victoria embarrassed that I have to carry her to the shore.
“From one princess to another, I welcome you to the city known as the Oceanic City.” The first lady says, performing a curtsy. I set Victoria down and I give a small curtsy, nudging Victoria to do the same. Victoria performs a very clumsy curtsy before nearly falling over. I catch her just in time.
“Thanks.” Victoria says quietly, becoming beat red in the face.
“I have one question. Which one is which?” I ask. The woman with black hair, gold shoulder pads and a dress that appear to actually be on fire stepped forward.
“I’m Maddie. She’s Lillie.” The woman named Maddie says, gesturing towards Lillie. Lillie wore a light blue dress, had ornate decorations in her hair and wore strange decorative sleeves that formed a spherical structure right around her elbows.
“Hi Maddie, Lillie. I am Maya, one of the three princesses of the Coral City. This shy and embarrassed girl next to me is Victoria, my personal handmaid.” I say, pulling Victoria next to me.
“Hi.” Victoria says quietly, grabbing my arm for comfort. Maddie smiles at her and looks Victoria in the eyes.
“Has anyone told you how beautiful you are?” Maddie says. Victoria buries her face into my side.
“Yeah, I’ve heard it before.” Victoria says.
“My god Maddie! Stop terrorizing the poor girl. How about this, if you stop harassing Victoria, you can do whatever you want with me tonight.” Lillie says, putting a hand on her hip. Maddie backs off and makes a sulking face at Lillie.
“I was just having fun, but fine.” Maddie says. I look between the two, trying to piece together what I had just heard.
“Are you two …?” I began to ask, not wanting to finish the question.
“Gay?” Lillie responds.
“Lesbians? Of course we are!” Maddie replies excitedly. Lillie presses her hand against her forehead and mutters something under her breath.
“We should have lunch. You both must be starving, but I don’t know if you have the same appetite of our other unexpected guest.” Lillie says.
“My mother didn’t mention anything about anyone else showing up.” I say, as Victoria lets go of my arm. The guards that have been standing quietly snap to attention as Maddie and Lillie turn around, hand in hand.
“It's a secret.” Maddie says, looking back with a grin. It is becoming quite clear to me that Maddie is much wilder about things than Lillie is. I take Victoria’s hand and squeeze it. Victoria gives a return squeeze and we follow Maddie and Lillie along the path. Victoria stumbles a few times while we are walking along the path. Lillie ends up noticing that blood was dripping down Victoria’s leg and had us stop so she could bandage her up.
“How does that feel?” Lillie asks Victoria after tightening the bandage. Victoria grimaces.
“It's a little painful, but I think I can deal with it.” Victoria says. Lillie smiles and pats Victoria’s head. Victoria appears to be getting more accustomed to being with other members of royalty.
“Good. I don’t want you to get an infection. Probably wouldn’t help us with an alliance.” Lillie says.
“In all honesty, I would probably take the blame for letting it happen.” I say as I immediately let my protective instincts take over.
“But you're a princess.” Maddie says.
“Doesn’t matter. Better me than it get blamed on humans.” I say, lifting Victoria back to her feet.
“We’re very close to the outer gates. The citizens know that you both are going to be arriving so they plan on giving you both a warm welcome. We continue the walk in silence and I see the walls of the city after a few more bends.
“Those designs are made by mermaids and merfolk aren’t they?” I ask. Lillie and Maddie look back at me in surprise.
“You can tell? You are impressive.” Maddie says.
“I’ve studied the carvings in the ceiling of my room and they appear the same as the ones on your wall.” I say.
“Huh. We don't have any record about the creation of the Coral City, but we know it was made around the same time as the Oceanic CIty. In fact this city used to be an outpost for your people to trade with us land dwellers for resources.” Lillie says, approaching the gate. It heaves and rises at her approach. I contemplate that it is some kind of magic until I notice the soldier inside the city using a pulley system to raise it up.
“Welcome to the Oceanic City!” Maddie yells out enthusiastically. I feel a spark in me ignite and feel it spread throughout my entire body. For the first time I was going to enter into a city that wasn’t controlled by my mother.
“Maya. I’m nervous to go into their city. What if someone attacks us?” Victoria asks me. I squeeze her hand reassuringly. When I had first adventured to this area, I had been nearly assaulted by some humans so I understood her concern.
“I’m right here for you and I won’t let anyone harm you.” I say.
“If anyone even tries, our father won’t be happy either.” Lillie says.
“Thanks for the reassurance.” Victoria says, straightening her back to display confidence. We walk through the gate and I hear it shudder as it moves back down, protecting the cities’ inhabitants from attacks. Regular citizens look up from their tasks and wave at Maddie and Lillie. When they notice Victoria and myself, many look at us in disbelief, some even slapping their cheeks as if they were trying to wake up from a dream.
“Excuse me? I would like you to have this.” A little girl says, catching both Victoria and myself off guard. The girl offers a small package to Victoria. Victoria looks at me and I nod.
“Thanks.” Victoria says, accepting the gift. The girl watches as Victoria opens up the wrapping. I look at the object that is in Victoria’s hands. It was a necklace made out of an emerald green stone.
“It’s so beautiful.” Victoria says, putting it on. The little girl’s eyes shine at the complement before she runs off to her parents where she bounces up and down in excitement. I hear Lillie’s chuckle and look to find that they had turned and watched the entire interaction.
“Our special guest is waiting for you both to arrive so they can eat some of our quality food.” Maddie says with a grin before receiving a back handed hit from Lillie.
“That sounded so rude. Act like a ruler for once.” Lillie says with a laugh. The rest of the way to the palace is uneventful. Lillie and Maddie point the both of us to the dining room before heading to the kitchen to check on the food preparation. When we get there, Victoria runs ahead and pulls a chair out for me. I sit down in it and thank her. She sits down next to me and stretches out while yawning.
“Who is this special guest?” Victoria asks me. I shrug.
“No idea.” I say.
“Hey there Maya.” I hear a voice say. I turn my head towards one of the ends of the table. There, sitting in the chair is an angel. Its not just any angel though, it is the angel that had died three years ago.
“Angelis?” I ask in shock.
“Yeah, thats me. No I’m not a ghost. Also I’ll help you with your magic after your talks.” Angelis says with a smile.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZLTpMEQFNHW1ub0c_oVLYAvMTW-YKEsetXoLZCmOfnE/edit?usp=sharing
Rigo Chapter 3: The Alliance Between Humanity and The Coral City
Location: On the tip of Furur, Oceanic City. Human territory.
“I thought you were dead.” I say in shock. Angelis, the angel in white as she was known as in the Coral City, was sitting at the same table as Victoria and myself. Her white wings were outstretched and her black hair flowed onto her chest. We had likely arrived while she was straightening it out. The white dress she wore with the vine like decoration that ran along it was just as stunning.
“I’ve heard about you.” Victoria says.
“Oh really? What have you heard about me?” Angelis asks, looking at Victoria.
“Well, I’ve heard that you never harmed another individual in your entire life. I also heard that you are great friends with Alexander. Other than that I really don’t know much else.” Victoria says.
“Well the part about harming others isn’t exactly accurate for me anymore. Demons do count as individuals after all.” Angelis says nonchalantly. I raise my eyebrow at the mention of demons.
“I thought all demons on Rigo had been killed.” I say.
“That is true, but I’ll wait for Lillie and Maddie to bring out some food before I explain. Planeswalking can be very tiring.” Angelis says with a yawn. The three of us sit in awkward silence. Victoria looks up at me and back at the floor a few times, likely trying to think of something to say to me.
“All right! The cooks have one hell of a feast prepared for us!” I hear Maddie yell out as she enters the room, followed by Lillie. Behind them, I see a line of waiters carrying silver trays with lids on them. Lillie and Maddie sit across from Victoria and myself. I watch as the waiters take up position behind everyone, noting that there are two waiters for Angelis. In unison they all lower their trays to the table and remove the lids. The smell of cooked meat fills the air along with herbs and spices. I notice Victoria looking at the food like a starved animal.
“We hope you enjoy your meal.” The waiters say in unison before leaving the room.
“Okay. You may begin to eat.” Lillie says calmly. I look over to see Victoria attacking her food. I look over to Angelis, expecting her to be digging in, but instead I see her making some form of a prayer. She catches herself during it and embarrassingly looks at me.
“It kinda became a habit.” Angelis says with a shrug before digging in. I pick up my fork and with my knife, I take off a piece of the meat on my plate and take a bite. I had never tasted anything so amazing in my life before. I actually froze without realizing it.
“Something wrong?” Victoria asks me.
“No, just surprised by how good it tastes. Although, you need to be a little neater.” I say, seeing juices running down Victoria’s chin. I take the napkin provided for us and wipe her chin with it. Victoria looks a little embarrassed but lets me do it.
“Well, now that we all have at least a little food in ourselves, we should address the living ghost in the room.” Maddie asys with a smile.
“Stop calling me a ghost.” Angelis says, looking a little annoyed, but quickly cracks a smile.
“I can’t help but ask, how did you find demons when they’re all dead and what did you mean by planeswalking?” I ask Angelis.
“I was expecting you to ask me that after I let it slip.” Angelis says, sitting up. She puts down her utensils and clears her throat.
“Is she about to lecture us?” Maddie asks.
“I am a planeswalker. Very few are born with the ability to become a planeswalker and even for those that do, not all ignite that potential. Three years ago I nearly had my wings removed by a band of humans. Right as the blade was digging into my skin, my spark ignited and I left Rigo and found myself on a plane known as Innistrad. It is here that I would encounter my first demons. Innistrad also had a human population that was protected by the plane's angels.” Angelis says before getting cut off by Lillie.
“I’m sorry. Are you saying there is a landmass out there with angels who help humans?” Lillie asks. Angelis shakes her head.
“No. Innistrad isn’t Rigo. Innistrad and Rigo are planes of reality separate from each other.” Angelis says. My mind began to race with the idea of there being entire realities beyond our own.
“My head is spinning.” Victoria says, “How can you say all that like it's no big deal.” Angelis lets out a little chuckle.
“It was hard for me to accept right away as well, but you can’t deny the existence of the multiverse once you have seen it. Thankfully I made a friend who helped me wrap my head around everything I was experiencing.” Angelis says.
“Did you explore any other realities while you were gone?” I ask. Angelis shakes her head no.
“I was researching the angels of Innistrad for they help the plane’s humans. I wanted to learn from them so I can help the angels of Rigo become guardians of the plane and not the terrifying force they have become.” Angelis says. I decided to continue eating, pondering everything that I had just heard. Other realities, individuals that can travel between them. I got so deep in thought that I actually lost track of time. I’m brought back by a tap on my shoulder.
“Maya, you’ve been staring at your plate for a few minutes now.” I hear Victoria say. I realize that I must have finished all of my food while I was deep in thought.
“Oh sorry. I must have gotten so deep in thought that I must not have realized.” I say sheepishly. I give Victoria a quick smile.
“Hey Maya, do you want to get to work on the diplomatic portion of your trip?” Lillie asks me.
“Yeah, I think that would be a good idea. Victoria, if you want you can go explore the city.” I say. Victoria’s eyes widen at the thought of getting to explore a human city by herself.
“Really?” Victoria asks. I nod.
“I’ll stay nearby in case anything happens.” Angelis says, standing up. Victoria bolts out of her chair so fast that it falls over. Victoria, with the grace she’s always has had, swings around and picks the chair back up within a single motion. I hear a gasp of surprise from Maddie after Victoria’s display of grace. I watch as Victoria walks up next to Angelis and gives her a smile before they leave the room.
“She is a very special girl isn’t she?” Lillie asks me, referencing Victoria.
“Yes. She is one very special girl.” I say turning back around. Maddie taps her glass with her spoon and the waiters from earlier enter the room and remove all of the plates and silverware from the table before leaving. A single man enters the room, carrying a stack of papers. He sets the papers down between Maddie and Lillie before he too leaves the room.
“If there is one thing I hate about being one of the leaders of a city, it would have to be the amount of paperwork that has to be done.” Maddie says with a chuckle.
“Maya, how much do you know about being a diplomat?” Lillie asks me.
“Not much.” I say, scratching the back of my head, “I really don’t know why I was chosen for this, but I’ll do the best that I can.” Lillie looks surprised, but then lets out a chuckle.
“To be fair we don’t really know how to be diplomatic either. The orcs would prefer to kill us than talk, the angels excluding Angelis and Sama would want to kill us and the Kokiri are almost extinct and the last one doesn’t interact with outsiders.” Lillie says. All three of us let out a laugh at the thought of us stumbling through a historic event.
Victoria
I race down the steps of the palace, catching myself on a banister before I tumble into a crowd. I take in a deep breath and let out a sigh. It feels so nice breathing air into my lungs instead of breathing in water. I look back to see Angelis making her way down the steps slowly, lifting her dress up so as to not step on it.
“Angelis!” I yell at her, “Can we check out the marketplace?” Angelis looks at me and smiles.
“Just don’t get too far ahead okay?” Angelis asks me. I nod and pace at the bottom of the stairs waiting for her. When she finally reaches the bottom, I excitedly begin to walk towards the market place.
“I’m glad Maya let me go explore the city.” I say.
“Diplomatic talks can be boring. Especially to someone who has a lot of energy like yourself.” Angelis replies. I look at her and give her a big thumbs up which makes her laugh.
“Hey there you too, what brings you to the market today?” A man’s voice calls out to us. I turn to see a shop vendor smiling at the two of us. I make my way over to his stand and study the carvings he has laid out on the table.
“You’re a wood carver aren’t you?” Angelis asks the man.
“I sure am miss. I started making them for my daughter, but she got killed by a group of angels years ago, but I kept making these toys out of habit. It was my wife who told me I should start selling them to other kids. It's what my little girl would have wanted.” The man says. He reaches for a carving that had been painted. It looked like a weeping angel, as if it had just seen something so horrifying.
“I keep this carving for myself, taking it with me everywhere I go. As she layed in my lap dying, my little girl told me about how one of the angels sank to her knees after seeing her get stabbed. I witnessed it myself so I knew she wasn’t lying.” The man says, his voice drifting off.
“Can I look at it?” Angelis asks with a shaky voice. The man hands it to her. Angelis turns the carving around in her hands, studying it.
“I had planned to make a carving of my daughter and have it so her head would rest on the angel’s lap but the pain of losing her was so hard I never got around to it and now I can’t even remember how she looked.” The man says with a sigh, “Sorry about how depressing that was”
“I hope that angel has been doing what she can to keep your daughter’s spirit alive and stand up for humans.” I say with a smile
“Sir. I have never forgotten the day your daughter died. I was that angel. I was the one who was horrified to see her get killed. I’m sorry I wasn’t stronger or quicker to save her life.” Angelis says quietly. Both the vendor and I look at Angelis in surprise.
“No. You don’t have to apologize, Miss angel.” The man says with a smile. Angelis puts the carving down and I notice that another figure has been added to it, the figure of a young girl. Not only that but the statue’s posture has changed, sitting with the girl in her lap. The carving of the girl was reading a book.
“Now it's complete.” Angelis says. The man takes the carving and looks it over.
“How?” He asks in disbelief.
“I told the wood what shape I wanted it to take. It's some magic I learned on my travels.” Angelis says, “I named my first daughter after your girl to keep her memory alive.”
“Thank you.” The man says on the verge of crying. Angelis gives his shoulder a pat.
“Remain strong for your daughter okay?” Angelis asks. The man nods, “We’ll be going now. Please treasure that carving.”
“I will miss.” The man says, “Also I never got your name did I?”
“Angelis. That would be my name.”
“Farewell for now Angelis.” The man says, waving at the both of us. I wave back at him and start looking around. I spot a table where a woman is sitting with a crystal ball in front of her. Intrigued, I head towards it.
“Victoria, you know that you may see one’s future with those right?” Angelis asks me. I look at her in surprise and shake my head.
“Even so, I feel a strange draw to it.” I say looking back at the sphere.
“All right, let's do it.” Angelis says, walking towards the booth. I follow behind, suspense building as I think of all the possibilities of what I may get told.
“Greetings.” The woman says without looking up at us. Angelis and I sit down on the chairs provided. Angelis begins to sift through her bag for some coins.
“You must be Angelis. I know those coins aren’t from here so I won’t require any payment for you and the mermaid.” The woman says, giving me a smile. Angelis stops and returns to a normal sitting position.
‘How does this work?” I ask nervously. The woman smiles.
“You’ll have to touch the crystal while I do. That way you can see what I am seeing.” The woman says. I carefully place my hands on the sphere and watch as the woman does the same. I feel my vision blur and images flash through my mind. Some images last a little longer. One shows a boy about my age in a strange outfit standing between me and a monster. Seeing him, I felt my heart beat a little faster as if seeing him made me nervous. Then there was the image of a young mermaid who was singing a song. I soon found myself floating in a dark void. I look around in a panic.
“Calm yourself my child.” I hear a voice say both outloud and in my head. I look around and see a mermaid floating in the darkness in front of me.
“Who are you?” I ask the mermaid. She lets out a laugh.
“Did you really think a human would be able to provide you with knowledge of the future? Even if she can read one’s mind she can’t tell your future.” She asks me with a laugh, “Only we gods are able to show people their future.”
“What are you trying to say?” I ask.
“What I am trying to say is that everything you saw was because of me. The woman plans to tell you that you must not have resonated well with the crystal after telling her that you didn’t see anything. Aryana, Grimlore, Aries, Korit and myself, Monrica need someone to prepare our world for an alien force. A threat so dangerous that it will force all five races to shelter together behind the walls of Riga The High City.” Monrica says. I stare at her in shock. I see a quick flash of a horrifying creature and I let out a scream.
“What just happened!” I hear Angelis yell. I open my eyes to see the blue sky above us. The woman backs up in fear.
“What is that angel doing!” I hear a male voice yell out. I push myself to my feet and see a group of humans running at us. Angelis yanks me up so that I am standing.
“We may have to fight.” Angelis says, pulling out her sword. I look over to the wood carver who is in shock and is moving to get in front of Angelis.
Maya
I hear the scream before Lillie or Maddie do. I drop the papers I was reading over and bolt for the door, staff in hand. I hear the couple’s footfalls behind me as I race towards the front of the palace. I run past soldiers who are scrambling to take up defensive positions. I finally reach the front of the palace and look out to see a crowd of humans approaching Angelis and Victoria aggressively, save for one man who was standing between them, trying to take sense to the crowd.
“What in the name of the forking angels is going on here!” Maddie yells from next to me. A soldier runs up the steps and stops halfway.
“Someone seems to think Angelis was planning on attacking the city and they want her dead. It seems like they plan to kill Victoria as well at this point.” The soldier yells.
“I can;t have that.” I say, drawing in mana. I lift my staff up and channel everything I have into my strongest spell. Above the crowd a large sphere of water begins to form. I let it grow and grow and finally, I release it, dropping it on the crowd. Angelis launches herself into the air to avoid getting hit while Victoria runs for the steps. I watch as all the people trapped in the water begin to realize that they were likely going to drown.
“Maya. Let them go please.: Victoria yells at me.
“I wasn’t planning on becoming a killer.” I say, releasing the spell. I turn away as a lot of coughing comes from the group of humans.
“Sorry about that, I get extremely protective of Victoria.” I say, opening my arms for her. She runs into them and grips me tightly. I stroke her hair as she cries into my chest.
“No, we’re sorry. We should have expected something like this would happen.” Lillie says.
“How dare you treat our guests like that! You want me to have Alexander come here and deal with you lot!” I hear Maddie yell at the crowd of people. Angelis lands next to me and places her hand on Victoria’s back.
“You’re safe now Victoria.” I say kissing her on her head.
“Victoria. What did you see?” Angelis asks. I look at her confused.
“I saw Monrica.” Victoria says softly. Now all of us looked at Victoria in surprise.
“A god contacted you?” Angelis asks.
“Yeah. Something bad is coming.” Victoria says. She lets go of me and mimics something. I see a worried expression on Angelis’s face.
“Is this something you have seen before or reminds you of something?” I ask Angelis. She shakes her head.
“It isn’t anything from Innistrad, but I know there are many things out there in the multiverse that could be horrible to have show up on Rigo.” Angelis says.
“Well that is worrying.” I say.
“Maddie, Lillie, Maya, Victoria. I should get headed to Alexander’s Capital if I want to get there on time.” Angelis says. I go over to Angelis and give her a hug, catching her off guard.
“Stay safe.” I say. Angelis smiles at me. Angelis lifts off into the air and heads further inland. I watched Angelis fly off, wondering if I would ever be able head further inland and get to explore more of Furur.
“Maya. I saw something else in my vision. I saw a human boy protecting me from some sort of monster. The strangest thing was not only his outfit, but I felt my heart race at the sight of him.” Victoria says quietly to me.
“Maybe he’ll be your boyfriend.” I say quietly to Victoria. Victoria elbows me in my side, causing me to lose my breath.
“You two good over there?” Lillie asks us. I give her a thumbs up as I gasp for air.
“Okay then.” Maddie says, heading back up the stairs.
“We should get back to working on this diplomacy. I think Victoria will be safer if she explores the palace and not the rest of the city.” Lillie says, looking back at us. Victoria nods.
“That sounds good to me.” Victoria says with a smile. I give Victoria a push on her back and she runs up the steps of the palace. I follow her up the steps at a slower pace. I guess Victoria was going to have more fun and get to explore more human architecture while I had to continue working with paperwork.
Your setting for "The Battle For Freedom" on the plane of Rigo sounds fascinating, with rich backstory elements and diverse races. Here's some constructive input to help enhance your narrative:
Based on what i know of your work, one of the most important things I would want you to remember to help the readers is:
Consistency:
Beyond that, based on my reading so far... I would like to present to you some of my notes from College writing courses:
- World-Building and Setting (Historical Context, State of the World)
- Narrative Style and Structure (Multiple perspectives, dialogue and interaction, pacing and tension)
To put these in your terms more clearly, here's how i'd approach this if you were truly writing a collection of stories...
World-Building and Setting
Historical Context:
Current State of the World:
Narrative Style and Structure
Multiple Perspectives:
Dialogue and Interaction:
Pacing and Tension: