Seeking answers in the human realm.

[Lance]

Mary lowered her aura slightly, though she did not get rid of it entirely. "Aria...now I recognize you, you were tasked with cataloging mythical beasts...The Wind Kingdom's royal family was particularly interested in flying creatures."

Mary took a moment to breath, she was glad that Lance was alright, but hearing that he was on Terra Mystica was still more than a little upsetting. "I'm the last known living member of the Wind Kingdom's royal family to be born on Terra Mystica...my birth name was Sephira Owain Volatus III...yeah, you can see why I shortened it when I fled here. My husband is...well, he's "the bastard son of a royal messenger and the head of the Wind Capitol guard.", at least, that's what everyone called him. I always called him by his real name, Alvar. He was never given a last name, his parents weren't exactly popular after the affair was known. But he saved me when the bandits came, so I fell for him all the same."

When Aria mentioned the amulet she had given Lance, she sighed. "That amulet is a key, it unlocks a great number of things in the wind kingdom, hidden, powerful artifacts." At that moment, Lambert walked into the room, having overheard the conversation. "The wind kingdom had a guild, they were a group of sorcerers and inventors. Men of intelligence and magical wisdom, all united by a single goal, the exploration of Magic and it uses in inventing new devices. The people in this world call these places "think tanks"."

Lambert set the bowls of stew down on the table, handing Aria and Mary a bowl and a spoon before sitting down next to Mary. "They created many things, golems that were so close to human that they very well could have had a soul, armor that bound itself to the wearer, and could be called forth at will. Powerful weapons forged from enchanted steel and other metals..." Mary cut Lambert off, sensing that her husband was going off an a tangent. "The point is, that amulet is the key to all of these things, things that the bandits couldn't get to because the enchantments would have stripped them down to the bones. Things to royal family hid away because of how dangerous they would be in the wrong hands. I just hope that if Lance gains these things, he'll use them right."

[Arin]

Aria sighed and closed her eyes, having taken in all of Mary and Lambert's information about the think tank and the magical artifacts that the wind kingdom had contained within "Mixing magic with science...Such a terrifying combination." She opened her eyes and looked at both Lambert and Mary "...Sephira, Alvar, I cannot force you to do anything. But I thought you should know that the wind kingdom has long fallen, along with two others many centuries ago. Only the fire and Ice kingdoms remain standing, and they are on the verge of a war that could destroy what is left of the 5 great kingdoms. Should you choose to return, the wind kingdom is your birthright, to restore or dismantle as you see fit. Despite this, I still feel it appropriate that you tell Lance this information yourselves, but I will do so myself if you choose to remain here as Mary and Lambert Devereux."

[Lance]

Mary looked at Lambert, who simply shook his head, "We...can't, if we tried to rebuild the Wind Kingdom, we would make the same mistakes...it's time for a new generation to take up the torch." Mary sucked in a breath, tears welling up in her eyes, "Did you know that my family was half-elf? We hid it, used magical surgery to round our ears. But, I'm over 200 years old, and I'm not even considered middle age. Between the powerful magic in us, and the elven blood...Lance could live for 2000 years easily, and he doesn't even know it. How do you tell your son, your little boy, that he's going to see his friends grow old and die?"

Lambert sighed, "Can..can we at least tell him in person before going back? I can't live there, it brings back too many memories, and not a whole lot of them are good."

[Arin]

Aria crossed her arms around her waist and looked at Lambert and Mary dully "...You mean you only learned the dimension shift spell for one direction? I also fail to see why you don't wish to be with your son. Your return simply means you would be able to either take ownership, or bequeath the title to another. You also know now the correct choice of action to prevent the mistakes of the past from repeating, something that he does not." She stood up and straightened her dress, looking Lambert and Mary in the eye with confidence "The world may bring up bad memories, but those are intangible fears that can be overcome. If Lance does choose to claim his birthright, having someone he can trust to give him words of wisdom that guide his decisions will ensure he becomes a benevolent ruler."

[Lance]

Mary looked at Lambert, and then at Aria. There was a solid minute of silence before the woman relented, "All right! You have a point...Yes, it would do Lance good to have us with him, yes we could probably fix some of the problems that our predecessor's created, but the fact of the matter is that me and Lambert haven't fought in years, what if someone from the Fire or Ice kingdoms comes after us? Do we just let our son, let your son act as our shields?"

Lambert placed a hand on Mary's shoulder, "Mary...we both know that's not the reason you don't want to leave..." Mary grit her teeth. "Is it wrong to not want to go back to a place that shunned me for loving you? For wanting to stay in a place that had been more of a home than where I was born?" Lambert shook his head, "Of course not, but Lance needs us. We have to be there for him." Mary sucked in a breath and nodded, "Fine...but there's one man I want to say goodbye to first." Mary pulled out her phone and scrolled down through her list of contacts, before finally settling on who she was looking for. "Here's hoping he's nearby."

Jonathan was sitting on the beach outside of the Devereaux's home, listening for anything out of the ordinary, when suddenly, his phone went off, startling him. "Woah! who's calling me?" Jonathan pulled out his phone and blanched, Mary Devereaux was calling him while he was right outside her home. 'Did she see me?' Jonathan answered, speaking in a level tone of voice. "Hey Mary, how's it goin?" <I'm alright John, how about you?> "Just fine, what can I do for ya?" <I need to speak to you, I have a gift.> Jonathan smiled, "Well heck, you didn't have to do that." <I did, I think you'll like it, please come as soon as you can.> Jonathan nodded, even though Mary couldn't see him. "Alright, I'm actually in the neighborhood, I'll be there in about 5 minutes." Jonathan stood up and dusted the sand off of his trousers, looking up at the Devereaux household. "A gift eh? Well let's go see what it is."

[Arin]

Aria watched as Mary was making a call, turning her attention to Lambert and speaking quietly so not to disturb his wife's call "Lambert, many years have passed since your both left, if your memories of WHY you left are any indication. There are not many people who would contest your union, it is likely that most of them have died off, or scattered like the wind during the bandit attacks...I cannot even say for certain if Mary's parents are still alive, if they have not tried to retore the kingdom after all these years." She then turned her attention back to the outside, thinking on who Mary could be talking to, and waiting for her to end the call "Mary, who were you speaking to? And should I be back in my disguise for whatever is happening?"

[Lance]

Mary smiled and hung up. "No...you needn't do that. He'll know more soon enough." Lambert looked at Mary with a wary expression. "Mary...what are you doing?"

Mary stood up and walked out of the room, returning after a couple of minutes with a large, leather-bound book. The book's cover had runes on it, and the pages were bound with cord, indicating that it was an ancient tome. "This is The Book of Winds, it holds our kingdom's history, told in the form ot tales and fables...I'm giving it to Jonathan." Lambert stood up, "You're what!? Mary, that man is not of our world, giving the book to him is...is..." Mary cut Lambert off, "A validation of a theory that he has pursued his entire life! It cost him his hand Lambert...he deserves to be proven right. It's his life's dream, and I know he won't betray our secret."

Almost on cue, the doorbell rang, signaling Johnathan's arrival.

[Arin]

Aria's eyes widened when Mary said she was going to give a tome of Terra Mystica's knowledge to an outsider, and was about to speak in Lambert's defense, before Mary started to describe the gentleman in question. Hearing one key word in particular, her mind started wandering to the man who had helped her earlier. "Only one hand you say...I think I might have already confirmed this gentleman's life's work, I believe Mary when she says he can be trusted." She even had other thoughts that might interest the scholar's quest for knowledge, but she would wait for the room to be secured again, and for Mary to finish her business, before she gave her own words of wisdom.

[Lance]

Lambert opened his mouth to protest, but quickly shut it, he had been overruled. "Alright, go ahead." Mary nodded and answered the door, "Hey Jonathan!" The old man smiled and tipped his hat. "Hey Mary, good to see ya..." Mary waved Jonathan inside. "Come in, come in! I have something to give you." Jonathan nodded and entered the house, taking off his hat and shoes as a sign of courtesy. "I heard, what is it exactly?" Mary just gave Jonathan a pat on the shoulder. "Go sit down first, you're gonna love it." Jonathan looked at Mary for a second before doing as she asked. She was acting unusually perky today.

Mary walked into the dining room and grabbed the book before returning to the living room, she stood in front of Jonathan and held the book out, offering it to him. "Here Johnathan, I want you to have this. As a thank you for how kind you've been to my family for so many years."

Johnathan took the book gingerly, noticing immediately how old it was. He sat the book down on his lap and opened it, immediately noticing the writing. "This script...it's..." Mary smiled and sat down next to Johnathan. "The same as the ones in the ruins where the accident happened, right?" Johnathan nodded, his eyes wide. "That's because it's from the same continent, this book had been in my family for thousands of years...and it details the history of my home, the Wind Kingdom." Johnathan looked at Mary, "You...you're..." Mary nodded, "I'm from the 8th continent, and so is Lambert, and to add more to it, we're both about 200 years old."

[Arin]

Aria listened to Mary as she started layering on the information rather thick for Jonathan to take in. She simply got to her feet and walked into the living room, speaking up before walking into the room, so as to announce her approach "Careful, Mary, you don't want to give the poor man a heart attack now. Let him take it in one bit at a time." She walked into the room, smiling kindly when she saw Jonathan. Just from a quick glance at her, he would know that she was clearly not in the same garments she was in when they first met. "Hello Jonathan, how is your hand?"

[Lance]

Mary looked at Aria and laughed slightly, it had been a long time since she had told ANYONE about where she came from, doing it twice in the same day, once to a man from the human realm, had made her a bit anxious. "Sorry."

When Aria spoke to him Jonathan was snapped out of his shocked trance. He looked at the woman and nodded, "Much better, thanks..." Jonathan looked back at Mary, his expression a mixture of curiosity and disbelief. "So...you're from the 8th continent?" Mary nodded, "And you and Lambert are both two centuries old at least?" Mary nodded once more. Jonathan then pointed at Aria, "And she's from there as well?" Mary nodded again, and Jonathan put his head in his hands. "Pardon my French but...son of a bitch. I have so much to ask, what type of metals do you use? what is "Mana"? How advanced is the technology there?"

[Arin]

Aria smiled and walked over to an empty chair in the living room, listening to Jonathan ramble on with all of his questions "Settle down, settle down. We can answer any questions you have, but please, one at a time."

She leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs, her hands resting on her knees "We use pretty ordinary metals compared to the science of this world. Though we do often salvage metals from those who find their way to our home, after they've been checked for safe habitation. As for technology, we're still fairly primitive. Though I won't lie, having people stumble into Terra Mystica from modern times with knowledge of modern technology has been beneficial, to some degree. We always dismantle all guns we come across however, especially after the first encounter. As for Mana, I'm impressed your research has gotten you so far without ever having encountered someone from our world."

She lifted a hand and Jonathan's hat lifted up from his head, floating several inches above his head by an unseen force before jetting over to rest above Aria's hand "Mana is the essence of all things in the world, a hidden force that is slowly built up over time. If one were to train themselves to sense its presence, and tap into it, they can do extraordinary things...Most people commonly know this talent as magic or sorcery. However, this is a very difficult feat to accomplish, and takes many years of training and practice to master any forms of spells. Those not as adept at sorcery use special stones that contain varying quantities of mana stores. In Mary and Lambert's case, they can use magic that can manipulate the wind, whereas I myself, am more versatile with magic that can manipulate space and time, as you've seen with your hand."

[Lance]

Johnathan took in all of the information that Aria had given him, he looked down at his hand, moving the joints. "So..you time shifted my hand? Facinating, but, I've heard in a lot of fantasy stories that there are ores and minerals charged with magical energy, tell me, is that possible in real life where you live?" Mary added her own question to Johnathans. "I've always wondered that myself, my parents told me that the walls of the castle were lined with Mithril and Orichalcum, but are those magical metals?"

[Arin]

Aria levitated Jonathan's hat back over to him, letting him pluck it from the air before rubbing her chin in thought "...Hmm...I wouldn't necessarily say they are magical, but rather magically reinforced materials. It's takes a combination of science, alchemy and sorcery to construct these metals, and as such, they can be very rare. And yes, Jonathan, in a way, I time shifted your hand. IT's a type of magic I've proclaimed as Arc of Time. I can shift an object's state of being back to that of an earlier, more stable time, but it only works on inanimate objects, and all of the pieces or pieces equivalent to the original must be in one place for the spell to work." She smiled softly as she shifted her gaze among the two "So, is there more either of you would like to know, or share? Because I have a tiny bit of information to share when our little Q and A is concluded."

[Lance]

"I only have one last question...why did your civilization leave? All of the archaeological evidence I've gathered indicates a thriving co-existence between the world of man and the world of magic, but then, about 5000 years ago, nothing. It's like the 8th continent just...vanished."