The island appeared ever closer, as did the sphere of pulsating light above them.

“It is hard to accept that humans could damage such a sacred place,” continued Faye, “Their kind is indeed a destructive influence on our world,”

“I don’t think they sound so bad,” said the Princess.

“Perhaps that is because your mind does not follow logic,” said Faye, “All evidence points towards humans being a corruptive power. It was because of their actions that Erebus appeared and propagated the Great Cataclysm.”

“But you don’t know that,” said the Princess, “You said it yourself! The Guardian was killed, right? So no one knows for sure what could’ve happened back then? Even Queen Thetis don’t know!”

Such an illogical mind. “As I said, all evidence points towards humanity,” said Faye, “You lack the ability to accumulate evidence and form a reasonable deduction. That is a power of a Water faerie.”

“You can be wrong!”

“That is possible. Our conclusions are based on deductive reasoning. However believing something on a whim, when the evidence suggests otherwise, is not a logical action,”

“Queen Thetis wouldn’t say that,” said the Princess.

“Queen Thetis is wiser than I,” said Faye. She knew better than to question the deductions of her elders. She was only second-instar, after all.

The island appeared a few steps away, bathed in a cool blue light from the Goddess, whose shimmering form that now encompassed three quarters of the sky. The solitary landmass was bordered on all sides by sloping mountains whose roots fed into a vast crystal lake that glistened under the divine light.. A coral temple more splendorous than even the Water Palace rose from the centre of the lake, a constant stream of mana flowing from its tip to the Goddess herself.

Faye wondered what memories were locked inside that expanse of water – memories of the countless pilgrimages undertaken over the millennia; memories of the destruction and restoration of the Guardian; memories of Lady Thalassa, Queen Thetis and Lady Eudore’s own journeys. Opening herself to what surface knowledge she could touch, she began the descent towards the lake.

Princess Phantasia was the first to notice them. “Are they demons?” she asked. Faye followed her gesturing and noticed them herself.

They were manifest shadows; tiny creatures with infantile bodies of varying shapes that bore no marking except for beady blue eyes. They scampered and swarmed around the edge of the lake, small claws scratching away at an invisible barrier that kept them at bay.

“They are primordial Darkness,” she explained, “They seek eternally to devour the Goddess’s light. I anticipated them to be more threatening in nature but they appear more like hapless insects caught in a cycle they do not know even exists,”

As the faeries approached the lake, they began to notice its pure inhabitants moving around under the surface. The Water elementals were just as small as their dark counterparts, but their bodies were made from droplets of water and their eyes reflected the Goddess’s brilliance. Several noticed their approach and scrambled from the lake’s surface towards them, only for the nearby Shades to pounce. Princess Phantasia squealed unneeded despair as the elementals were torn to pieces in front of her. Faye held her back.

“Do not intervene,” she explained, “This is where we began our current existence. Of the thousands of elementals in this lake only a few will pass by the shadows to reach the Palace and achieve sentience,”

Some more elementals made a break from the lake and Phantasia started forward to protect them from approaching shadows. Faye grabbed her arm and forced her back.

“They’re going to die!” cried the Princess, watching with horror as the shadows claimed more victims.

“This is part of the cycle,” said Faye, “The Shades will gorge on the elementals and each other in order to gain the strength necessary to penetrate the barrier surrounding the lake. However, once they break through and try to reach the Goddess they are purified by her light and their amassed power returns to the streams to flow once more.”

Chapter 38
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