The Chronicles of Aumar: 53

Blessings of the Elder Mystery

"I see… so Kashad has died and his great-grandson is the new chief?" Solomon stated with everyone back in his office. Atticus was sitting across from his desk with a cup of tea in hand.

"Yes, Loremaster. Chief Rayya will strive to bring prosperity to his people," Atticus replied. "They denied to aid the Allies but directed us to seek the Views for aid."

"That might not be easy," Oren replied, sitting between Luca and Doug on a plush couch. "The Views have been incredibly defensive ever since they were ravaged by the Caprican Plagues. Not only that, but they're the only native peoples of this land who actually control and protect a sovereign state and they intend to keep it that way. Trying to gain entry, even high priority, will take at least a week at best."

"Would they be willing to aid us?" Sarah asked.

"They're more likely to aid us than Darmana, but there's no guarantee of that either since Timoran nations were just as cruel," Solomon explained. "While Darmana gets some blame for bringing the Plagues to the Views, it was from goods from Timor. The Timorans tried to take back everything they sent despite the fact that it was only the crops that were bad. The Views were left with hundreds of thousands dead, many of them being those past puberty, and all who remained were effectively orphans. The various remaining clans of the Views Tribe unified and fought against the colonists, who wanted to take the supplies for themselves, and established their nation using everything they could scrounge up from the defeated."

"Still, the Allies need as much help as they can get. Especially due to recent events," Oren said.

"Wait, what has happened?" Sarah asked with concern.

"Oh right… you guys were gone. Darmana has gotten control of most of southern Timor and there are skirmishes in Galacry and Valadon. Westport City has fallen to Kaeru warriors."

"Kaeru? Wasn't Riselia staying neutral?" Red queried.

"Official news sources are stating that the Empire of Darmana and the Riselia Federation have entered a non-aggression pact, though my network sources are saying it was a means of insuring that Riselia wasn't invaded by Darmana. That means that Riselia is still technically neutral since they haven't declared war on the Allies nor have they officially sided with Darmana. The warriors they sent were basically state-funded mercenaries as a sign of good faith. However, that also means that Darmana saw Riselia as a threat and keeping them pacified, for the lack of a better word, is the best choice for both of them. That leaves the Church of Gaia in the Holy Land as the only true neutral party in Canon," Oren explained with a grim face.

"Would Darmana even try to attack the Holy Land?" Doug asked.

"No," Luca replied quickly, "but even if they did try, they would get a massive backlash. The Holy Land is strictly for members of the Church and most high ranking members of the Church specialize in healing or light magic. Trying to invade would be a disastrous and foolish endeavor for them."

"But the Church will be forced to do something to appease Darmana now that they're surrounded by the Powers and Riselia. They don't have the ability to take on all of Canon by themselves," Oren said.

Atticus was silent, a blank expression on his face as the tea cup he held shook slightly, to which he placed the tea cup on Solomon's desk. He bowed his head and walked out of the room without saying a word. Everyone was stunned by his sudden departure, none of them sure what to make of it. Sarah stood up and followed after him in much the same manner.

"Well… I suppose that's enough for now. Thank you very much Oren. As for everyone else, you're free to browse the library to your heart's content," Solomon proclaimed. "As for me, I'll send Atticus' report to Freedom and to Port Valadon."

After a few minutes, Sarah found Atticus sitting at a long table hunched over the book that Rayya gave him, quickly glancing and reading the notes that he had been given on Zi'dane runes and jotting down notes of his own. Sarah sat in the chair next to him and placed her hand on his.

"What's wrong Atty?"

"Nothing," he replied quickly. His hand was squeezed by Sarah; he stopped writing and looked at her and saw the concern in her eyes. Atticus sighed and rested the pen on his notes and positioned himself with the chair so he could look at her.

"Several years ago, I had a friend who studied at the Scholar's Library. When she left I was about Doug's age, maybe younger. She was incredibly kind to me; she was stern to make sure that I did my assignments that Erasmus gave me, but she was very sweet," Atticus replied with warm nostalgia. "When she became a Scholar, she wanted to take up a long-term assignment as a teacher in one of the small farming villages in the south rather than do multiple assignments."

"She sounds very special to you," Sarah said.

"Back then, she was very dear to me. These days, she's simply another old friend whom I care about. Last time I checked, she's still in Toppan."

"Toppan? The very same place that was destroyed?"

"After the Massacre in 1905, there was a push to rebuild the town once peace was declared and the Great War ended. Once there was a large enough presence, a request was sent to have a teacher to the Scholar's Guild. She jumped at the opportunity when even veteran members didn't want to go to some backwater village. For the first year she sent me letters, then as she got more accustomed to things she eventually stopped mailing them regularly."

"So… you're worried?"

"There are very few people in this world that I care for personally. I don't have any family, so my friends are all I have," Atticus said rather defensively. "So yeah, I'm worried."

"Okay, sorry!" Sarah replied hastily.

"I'm sorry Sarah," Atticus stated with calm regret. "I just… I need something to occupy my mind for a moment. Since we're gonna be in Visara for a while, I just want to start translating this. We'll do something later," he replied with an honest smile.

"Okay. It's a date," Sarah replied.

Atticus returned to the book as Sarah walked off. While he was hunched over and quickly writing, Sarah had an unsettled expression cast to Atticus and sighed. She turned away and walked back to Solomon's office. Standing in front of some shelves while holding a book was Red, which Sarah noticed as she walked by him.

"Trouble in paradise?" Red asked as he peeked over the cover.

"What concern is it of yours?" Sarah contested.

"Quite a lot if I must answer honestly," Red replied. "You seem awfully defensive for something so minor."

"And you seem awfully nosy for someone who rarely shows his nose!"

"Really? Come now, you can do better. You're half Venal, or has the Wind extinguished the Fire?"

Sarah stormed off, much to the bemusement of Red. He continued reading and gave a small giggle at the content of the book, the subject of which was unknown due to no markings on the plain cover and the spine stating the title concealed by Red's left hand.

After several hours, the sun eventually began to set and the lights suddenly turned on as Atticus had begun to start reading the text that was before him as well as learning just what the runes were.

'The runes are actually a Terran creation brought over by the people of Dyne over two thousand years ago. However, the Zi'dane had no idea what any of them meant so they adopted their own meanings to them as symbols rather than letters. After some centuries, they began to morph and change to be more adapted to being sown on cloth rather than being etched in stone. The symbols that Erasmus wore represented mainly represented his deeds: power, knowledge, respect, but also arrogance, isolation, and ruthlessness. Was the battle he and Lemuel that intense…? Wait, this one means "blessed by Elder Mystery." Kashad kept mentioning an Elder Mystery.'

Atticus flipped through the pages of the book to find something written that he could read. On a page with a strange diagram listed several terms to explain the diagram while on the opposite page was a detailed written description. The diagram was layer of three circles with the center being the smallest and labeled as "the world," the middle circle labeled as "the heavens," and the outermost circle labeled as "beyond knowledge."

'The peoples of the Nat'awl believe in a structured world in which this plane of existence is the Pat'scio, or "Mother of Knowledge," in which all thinking beings see the known workings of Malva Nata, or "Elder Mystery." Elder Mystery is the name of the Zi'dane god of creation and the unknown who, according to Zi'dane myth, brought about the world as a result of a cycle that has endured since the beginning of time but for reasons beyond knowing. What the Zi'dane call Pat'scio is what we Terrans call Aumar, and what they call Elder Mystery is what we call Gaia. As such, it was easy for missionaries to convert some Zi'dane to the worship of Gaia but the Nat'awl were not so easy to convert and thus many were willing to die for their continued worship. To this day, the Nat'awl remains one of the few Zi'dane tribes that refuse to embrace modern sensibilities even for the sake of survival. The superstitious members of other tribes believe that the possibility of a prophesized reunion from their collective past will be lost if any of the Zi'dane tribes go extinct.'

"For a language you've never read before, you're translating it rather quickly," Red replied as he looked over Atticus' shoulder.

"Red!"

"I saw Sarah walking off rather flustered. Perhaps you should do something about it."

"But I…"

"No buts. That book wasn't in your possession for a long time. It'll be fine if you go clear your head for a moment and have fun with Sarah. This is a city unlike anything in Valadon. Enjoy it while we're here," Red replied in a brotherly tone. "I'll keep it safe for you."

Knowing that he lost this battle, Atticus stood up from the table and rushed towards the direction that Sarah had left. Red picked up the book and looked at what had Atticus had written and smirked.

"Heh… he's just taking notes of the important details. The book is already translated… by Erasmus no less. Atticus really should give more credit to Sarah since she's a member of the Scholar's Guild too. These notes…well, the old man was a stickler for detail and his pupil appears to be too," Red said quietly to himself. "Just what were you planning for, Erasmus?"

With the book firmly under his arm and the notes tucked under the book's cover, Red walked out of the quiet library and to the hotel room he and the others were staying at. Before he left, Solomon was standing near the exit to the library and held his hand out.

"Noah's Army could use a book that was written by one of its greatest members."

Red handed over the book with some unease. Solomon opened the book and skimmed the pages quickly before shutting it once more.

"Atticus needs to know eventually."

"He'll know when he must. For the time being, keep an eye on all of them. You and Henry know what you're doing. Lady Deidra is counting on both of you for this mission. Keep them safe until the allotted time or until the war ends."

"Will the war end before two years?"

"I certainly hope so, but hope is in short supply these days."

"Any word on Lemuel's dealings with Darmana from within Noah's Army?"

"None yet, but I looked over his papers with Darmana. I doubt Lemuel is truly dead, but I can only hope he is. What he was planning was beyond treasonous for more than just the Northern Federation."

"I see..."

"If you see him, you know what to do."