Nola begins

[Nola]

Thanking, quite sweetly, the old boatman that only grunted a "G'bye", Nola starts off with a skip and strolls down the dirt road. She admires the lovely scenery around her, and pulls tightly to her the overcoat her Auntie had bought her just before the trip to Scotland.

"This is lovely weather!" exclaimed Nola to herself, who, being from a hot and sunny area, wasn't used to the foggy and cool climate of Scotland.

Continuing on her merry way, "I must make it before nightfall, at least...and if not, I guess I can set up camp."

After a few hours a thick fog rolled in, and much to Nola's dismay she lost sight of the path...

Saying to herself, "This is more than I can handle. If I knew that this trip was going to be like this, I would've worn my pants," she hiked up her skirt as mud had begun to collect on the hem, "Where do I go now...the path is so obscured..."

"'Focus,'" she heard her father's voice distantly in her mind, "Focus Nola, that's all you need..." That's also what her Father told Auntie Tara before he left to Ganold, an otherworld, again. For Tara, to make sure that little Nola learns focus. What was it that Ganold had called her? The River Child?

"I wonder why?" she thought to herself...she wasn't born by a river, and Nola means "Bell" or "Music" according to Auntie Tara. So. Why river child?

"'The River Child is a Wethian Myth,'" her Mother's voice; she could hear in her mind, "The one Wethian creature who is not from Wethia, and is more than 'just a monster'. The one creature that is true to the elements of Sea, Sky, and Land. The river is among one of the most important features in Wethia, it usually flows clean water in the normally murky swamps. It provides usable water for the Wethians. Being The River Child, is like being called The Helpful Child, or The Elemental Child...they think you are The River Child, but only based on your strange birth, from two even stranger beings...'"

Nola let go of her dress, rose her hand out in front of her, "'Birth from a Keldosian Hybrid Elf, and a Wethian Hybrid Elf. Not fully; Elven, or Keldosian Leprechaun, or Wethian Monster...you are free to explore that which connects our world and all of the otherworlds..." her eyes focused on the thick fog ahead of her, and she put all her mind on one thought to open the fog ahead, "'Nola, my daughter, you need to focus on what you want in the world, and the world will react accordingly,'" the fog separated in front of her, giving a clear path on through to the castle, "'You may not be The River Child, but you are so very lucky, to be so intimately connected to the world...'" she merrily skipped onwards through the path, "...and to be surrounded by people who love you so well in return...'"

---


Nola sees the Castle off very far still, but is definitely close enough to reach it before nightfall, she carries on.

[Rein]

Rein was wandering, still not used to the layout of the island. He had seen the castle, though he didn't remember most of it, and figured wandering the outside would be easier. It is an island after all. What he didn't count on was the weather today. Before, it was just admittedly fog: a little chill of moistness ghosting over your cheeks and arms, giving you a slight thrill as you trekked through the forest. This, however, was a freakin' wall. Rein could hardly see the tree directly in front him, some which he didn't find out were there until he had bumped in to them. The hem of his charcoal pants were quickly turning brown and gaining weight with all the mud, and forget about his shoes. His long hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail/bun, long strands escaping and falling down, others looped about his head as the ends were caught but not pulled tight. At least is wasn't hanging and getting caught around nearly everything. He needed to find the road again.

Rein stumbled as the ground dipped slightly, and it was like falling through a portal. One moment, he was surrounded by nothing by white and clouded shapes, and now he was in the clear, well, in a clear path specifically. Barefly managing to catch himself with arms wheeling, he stood straight and tugged on his shirt to try and act like nothing happened. Looking down the road, he could actually see the castle gates just barely over the hill, maybe an hour or two away. How far did he venture? Upon looking the other way, he saw a small girl apparently skipping towards him. His eyes widened, their soft silvery purple glow reflecting off the lightly hanging fog. This would be the first person he met, and he wanted to make a good impression. Straightening, he lifted a hand above his head in greeting, smiling kindly.

"Hello, Miss."

[Nola]

With the castle ahead, and the fog lifted; at least from the road, Nola sang and skipped as she sang. She barely heard the man ahead, "Hello, Miss," she stopped just in time to see the man (she would've kept going and skipped into him).

Excited to see a friendly being, as the boatman had been an "awkward such", Nola ran up the man, "Hello Sir!" she curtsied in her pale blue (kind of muddied) dress, also noting that even at full height she was drastically shorter than the man, "I am Nola! And who is it that I am pleased to meet?" she grinned, showing mostly normal teeth...were those fangs instead of canine teeth she showed?

[Rein]

Rein's smile widened as the girl approached. She was quite a bit shorter than him and she reminded him fondly of a beautiful porcelain doll. Well, excluding the particularly sharp canine teeth. Still, he found that the girl seemed quite adorable. He returned her curtsy with a chuckle and a bow of his own. His shoes clicked together as he came to attention, his right hand hovered over his heart and his left made a sweeping gesture as he bent at the hips down into a deep bow. Rising again, he quickly tucked the long strands of strawberry brown hair that had slipped over his shoulder back into place with a practiced hand.

"Fondest greetings, Nola. I am Rein van Roy, new to the Academy as of a couple of days ago." He paused, maybe a tad unsure about the etiquette of speaking with fellow 'unnormals'. "If it is not rude of me to ask, what manner of being are you to find yourself walking across this rather mucky road?" With a raised eyebrow, Rein cast a glance at the rather sad and pot-holey road they were currently sinking into, what with the gathering mud.

[Nola]

Nola gathered her coat closer, she wasn't quite used to the cold yet, and replied rather quickly, and enthusiastically, "I am a Neolian, an elf that is part of the Fairy family. I'm also part Wethian, a brand of monster..." her voice trailed off, and then quite loudly she exclaimed, "BUT THAT'S OK! THAT'S WHY I WAS SENT HERE!" gathering her dress from the mud and pushing past Rein, she shouted back to him, "We should get going before nightfall, Rein Von Roy, and you can tell me what brings you here?" she flashed that smile again as she hoped he would follow her down the road.

[Rein]

Rein smiled apologetically and scratched his head a tad sheepishly. He opened his mouth to say something but the girl was suddenly on the move again. Turning, he watched a moment as she walked away, starting when he realized he shouldn't be left behind. With quick steps, he caught up with the girl and took a moment to try and pattern his long strides with her shorter ones so they could walk together.

"Please, call me Rein, and I am here because I seem to be very ignorant of the world I rather suddenly find myself a part of. I am a Lijk, a normal human who has been made immortal by a wizard. I myself have no real magical abilities except for what being dead and alive at the same time has given me, I didn't even know about magic until I took on a job as a wizard's helper. I figure I should know a bit more if I'm expected to live forever without arising suspicion." He chuckled, finding some sort of humor in his situation. "I apologize that I don't know about what being from a fairy family versus a monster family entails. Though I assume it's okay, you've been nothing but cordial so far." Rein laced his fingers together behind his back, considering the possibility he might be talking too much.

"Nola, if I may, is being out past nightfall here bad for some reason?" Maybe there was something he was missing, she had seemed anxious to get back.

[Nola]

Nola listened intently as Rein spoke, whilst keeping pace. When he had mentioned being immortal, she stopped suddenly, as she let the thought of immortality catch up to her pace, and as suddenly as she stopped she began again, making Rein very confused.

When Rein finished his thoughts, Nola slowed her pace to mull over what things he had said; to herself, she thought, "This human, must be Earth bound...he must not know of the otherworlds. I mean, I don't know of any otherworld but Ganold, but Auntie Tara assures me there are multiple otherworlds, with their own variation on fairies and monsters."

She instead replied, first with question of Rein's he asked last, "I can feel a presence out here. I cannot tell if it is friendly or malicious, or even if the Castle will protect us if it's malicious, but either way I wouldn't want to be caught out here at nightfall. And if you were worried I would turn into a monster at nightfall, you have no fear! I only change when my emotions are caught off guard and also if the Earth's Moon is full,"

She looked up into Rein's eyes, he was definitely paying attention, she continued, "As from being both in the Fairy family and Monster family is down to genes and species (at this Rein rose an eyebrow, from something so young, came something so mature), so I am merely talking Taxonomy at this point. I'm considered not viable...or something, because the two species that I am a part of are a little too far away on the tree...like a Mule is both Donkey and Horse! You would be Homo sapien sapien, correct? Even with being immortal (which I am so so sorry, she muttered under her breath)?" she had noticed Rein's over-politeness, more over-polite then herself,

So, she caught her breath and continued, "Rein, in no way will I ever be offended in anything you do not know about Fairy kind or Monster kind, my parents have risen me to be better. I will answer any questions you may have, to the best of my knowledge, but that isn't saying much. I am 11 in human years and have been here on Earth for 4 of them...little of home, my otherworld, my Ganold, do I remember..." her eyes glossed for a sec, then she became her perky self again.

[Rein]

Rein listened with rapt interest to everything Nola explained, though a few things confused him. First, he wasn't sure why the girl had stopped and continued randomly, nor did he know why she muttered apologies for his immortality, and barely followed her talk on genes and family trees. This is not including the talk of presences or otherworlds, that just went a bit too far over his head, though he tried anyway. He gave a lighthearted shrug casting a quick nonchalant: "I have no fear" in response. It was a little confusing as to what he meant for that to intend though.

"Well, I don't know about anything malicious, but I can tell you there are lots of dead things on this island. Some still have souls, but most would be good bodies to call back up." It was really just a musing of his. Long ago did he become accustomed to his powers with corpses. It had definitely been freaky at first, and more than a little disturbing, but the dead weren't that bad once you got to know them a little (which mainly just consisted of explaining that they're dead and you've reanimated them to practice and that you're going to put them back in the Earth now, have a nice nap). There's just some things you get used to after awhile, corpses and doing things that should kill you were just a couple.

"I must admit, I don't get a lot of what you just said, but I'm taking it in stride. Though calling someone nonviable just because of ancestry seems a bit harsh. As for taxonomy: I'm just human. Though, I'm a human without a soul, but yeah, human." His sentence trailed off kind of lamely, but he was quick to return to a brighter mood. "I probably wont ask much about otherworlds, so don't worry about having to remember too much for me. I think I should just focus on understanding one world at a time for now. Already I'm sure it's going to take my whole existence to just ponder this one, I don't think I could handle another. Though I'm slightly embarrassed." Rein chuckled, smiling down at Nola. "You're so young, eleven. Yet you know so much, you are very mature. I am fifteen, but this is my forty-seventh year of existence. I feel a bit as if I've wasted some of my time. Silly really." Rein didn't want to linger on the subject of her old world, it seemed to pain her slightly.

"I thank you for being patient with my curiosity. If you could humor me a little more, I would ask after why you seem troubled about my interminable state of prolonged existence. Is this a bad thing?" To say the Rein was worried over what others would think of immortals would be generally correct. He would like to know what would be expected in terms of reactions he would receive, he would like to know if maybe continuing to hide his immortality would be wise even here.

(( ^^ Hey, talking as Coniine now, out of character. You are a really great writer, the only thing I'd just like to mention is the use of Rein in your post. You don't have to change the post you've already done, but you are not supposed to control other people's characters. For example, Rein raising an eyebrow and being impressed. You're not supposed to decide what another character will do or think, it's called god-modding. So you can't say that someone else's character definitely did something or not, you can suggest it, but you can't say it happened absolutely. You have to leave it up to the creator of that character what that character ultimately decides to do. It can sometimes be annoying as things don't always work they way you want or expect them to, but that's also part of the fun. Just keep it in mind. Otherwise, I really like your writing style. ))

[Nola]

The Castle was definitely getting closer, as Nola listened to Rein's replies and concerns. She giggled a bit to herself, maybe she had tried to explain it a little too much. It was no worry though, as she explained quickly, "If I seem a bit scatter minded, it is because I'm still so young," hiking up her dress over some mud, she continued, "The subject of immortality is interesting...also, terrifying. Everything begins, and everything ends, and then begins again. It is nature, it is law. But, laws can be broken, with either bad intentions or good intentions. My father once told me when I was really young, 'That the road to the Fires of the Underworld are paved with good intentions'. There are only eight immortals that I know of...Riota; who you call 'Apollo', 'God', 'Allah', 'Yahweh', 'The Great Spirit', etc...Kinal; an ancient dragon that had found out how to 'regenerate' his soul upon death...Kinal is almost a devil of sorts..."

Her thoughts trailed on, and then she continued after a quiet moment, "the last six are known as the Kings of Stone. Technically they die, just as Kinal dies. But they too figured out how to regenerate their souls to return...and continue causing havoc," she sighed, "The only 'good' immortal that I know of other than Riota, is considered a legend. He or she, who holds the Tear of Ayson, their spirit will die not if the body decays...but rather, the Tear holds onto the spirit until an 'empty vessel' is found for the spirit to dwell, and live again. But, forever more will the spirit be bound to the Tear. And will never die. Never."

She began to tear up a little, "I'm sorry, I can get a bit emotional...I guess I get that from my mother...hehe" she pulled out a hanky and dabbed her eyes, "Auntie Tara told me that when she was younger she met the holder of the Tear. Auntie Tara said that the gentlemen whom she met confided her with the legends of the Tear. It seemed to her that the Holder was going to vanish for a while..." she dabbed her eyes again, "Auntie Tara said the gentleman was vanishing out of depression...

'All those long years Nola,' Auntie Tara said to me, 'Alone, the Holder could never properly have a social life...couldn't live, couldn't laugh, couldn't love. Because after what seemed to the Holder to be a blink of his eye, was hundreds of years, and all of her companions...dead. Always having to start afresh with relationships, and starting over an identity when the current body "died". It wasn't out of boredom the Holder vanished, but out of a deep sadness. The Holder could never rest, could never "pass on", could NEVER be allowed entrance into the Afterlife of the Underworld.

Immortality, the thing that the Holder at first thought a blessing, had become a curse...but the Holder will never leave willing from the world, if he ever had that choice. She does care for people, and the world. He helps, and aids in times of need. But...the Holder's life is very lonely.' Auntie Tara had also told me whom the current Holder's past 'lives' were...but you wouldn't know them. And she never did tell me the current Holder she had met...it may have been someone my parents knew...fancy that. Legends, knowing a legend..." Nola's mind wandered, and the Castle came upon them.

((Speaking as myself and not Nola. She pities Rein, because she feels that his life will be long and lonely. Although she wouldn't actually say that...she doesn't want to offend him...so instead she tells of other immortals she knows. The Holder is the only true immortal that she knows of...Riota is a God...Kinal reincarnates (and keeps some past memories) and so do the six stone kings. But the Holder is the only one that is NOT a God and does NOT reincarnate. It could be many centuries before the Tear gets a new body, in which time the Holder's spirit is still trapped within its gem. And if that made any sense, cool!! If you could continue this into the castle maybe...so on the other thread...that'd be cool, because I really don't know how to RP too much ^^; ))

[Rein]

Rein's illuminated eyes were intense in interest as he listened to Nola's story. The silvery light caught on strands of blonde and red as the hair fell around the boy's face in the slightly foggy air. He kept quiet and hung on her every word. Even when she had finished, he held his silence in heavy thoughts of his possible future. From the girl's story, it seemed his life would be bleak, but surely this was not the only course. That is, after all, why he was here. If Jared and he found a road to immortality, then others must have as well. His family knew this, and as such, they sent him here. If the immortals could just find each other, then they would not be so alone. After all, he already had Neferure, and while there was no telling how long she would be alive as she was, they were still together for some amount of time. Surely that was better than always being alone. Casting off the depressing thoughts with a shrug, he gave Nola a light smile.

"Sounds depressing. Good thing I'm not really immortal like that then. I'm only highly death resistant." He guessed it was true. He could commit suicide by destroying his phylactery at any time he wanted. Though he didn't know why he would want to. Of course, he also didn't know what that would do his soul. It would be destroyed and he would be gone, he guessed, he didn't think that would be good to getting into the otherworld or heaven or hell or whatever there was. "Maybe the Holder just didn't have a hobby. A lijk, which is what I am, are tasked with the goal of collecting knowledge. It may be lonely after awhile, but there will always be more to learn and explore." Rein paused a moment. "I would ask about your parents, you say the are legends, and I am after knowledge, but I wonder if it would be too personal a question."

By this point, the pair had reached the steps of the castle which had steadily been looming closer. Rein's long legs took them two at a time and crossed the porch with a steady speed. Wrapping long fingers around the large door's handle, the boy gave a firm heave and the threshold swung open on heavy hinges. The entrance was grand, but even grander was the vestibule to which it lead to. Rein smiled widely as he turned to Nola, holding the door open and dipping his head like a gentleman.

"Welcome to the Academy at Lillegard Castle, Nola."

( Continued: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] )

(( Sorry for taking so long. ^^; I was really busy. ))

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