Part One: Jasom's Disappearance
A teenage Ynnwn lay on the swaying grass, the light breeze rushing over her and disturbing her hair and clothing. In an hour's time - for it was close to midnight - she would be eighteen. She'd woken up suddenly, as if something were wrong, but figured it was just one of those dreams that one forgets as soon as one wakes up. She didn't remember many of her dreams at all (the ones she did remember, she tried to forget).
She rolled over, grabbed her canteen, and crept back into her tent, oblivious to the dark day ahead.
Dawn came. The Azure Sun snuck up on the makeshift camp, the light hurting the Ynnwn's eyes as she awoke. She took some bread out of her pack, and placed large handfuls of crystals on plates for her Kran companions. Six of the seven Kran came out of their tents within minutes. The last one to show up was the leader of the group, whom Monala called "Captain" when she had to call him anythig at all, because she couldn't pronounce kras real name very well.
"Good morning, Miss Monala. Have you seen Jasom?" Captain asked nonchalantly.
"No. Did kra leave in the night?"
"I was hoping you'd know. I heard you leave your tent."
"I didn't see anybody else around," Monala replied, frowning.
"So you heard me leave my tent, but not kra?"
"I am a light sleeper, but there are many noises in the night."
"I see."
Monala finished her breakfast in silence while the Kran conversed in a language she didn't quite understand. She was used to this; the Kran often spoke in the unfamiliar tongue when they were planning to get past monsters. This was so that the girl they'd been paid so handsomely to protect wouldn't be shocked at the talk of battle. This was an order of Monala's overprotective father. By the old Diaboli's logic, he thought that travelling with seasoned warriors was more dangerous and life-changing for Monala than settling down on her own in a place like Hydlaa would be.
"We're going to take you to the city, and then we can alert the authorities." the leader said. It wasn't a suggestion.
"Wait, so Jasom is--"
"We don't know. It could be dangerous here. We were paid to protect you, not let you get eaten by a hungry Consumer," replied the other Kran, the eldest of them. He was a bright shade of azure, like his entire family. His last name was Sunstone; nobody seemed to use his first.
"I want to help look for him."
"We have to take you to the city. I know you and Jasom have become good friends. We'll let you know the minute we find something," Sunstone promised.
Monala sighed, and let herself be taken to Hydlaa. Upon arriving at the gate, the two Kran immediately told the highest ranking guard they could find about what had happened.
"Kra probably just got too curious and fell into the well. Wouldn't be the first time it's happened," the guard said dismissively.
"But Jasom is much smarter than that! He's not the type to put himself in such danger!" Monala protested.
"Look, sweetheart, we'll send someone out to investigate, but your friend is probably gone."
The Ynnwn drooped. She told her Kran companions to leave a message at the tavern if they found anything, and then turned around and wandered listlessly into the city.
The next morning, she checked with the innkeeper to see if anyone had left a message for her last night. Nobody had. Determined to keep her hopes up, Monala stepped outside of the tavern and explored the city.
[Comments and constructive criticism more than welcome; a second part is coming up soon, but I have to go to bed right now]
Part Four: Betrayal and Redemption
[...aaaand now we get to the point where I have to use chat logs as a reference. Fun, fun.]
In her stay in Hydlaa, Monala had met another gentleman through Roled. His name was Amaymon. The three spoke of many different things, however, there was one recurring topic that made Monala a little uneasy.
Amaymon mentioned that having one ruler would be far more efficient than having an octarchy. While Monala agreed with his logic, she became increasingly uneasy as the talk of one ruler escalated to how such a change could be brought about, and then even further, to plans, and eventually to actions. Monala was entangled in Amaymon's plot, and he asked her to be the one to rule Yliakum.
The Ynnwn just wanted a simple life. She wanted to own a restaraunt, get married, and start a family, after she avenged Jasom and found her fortune (which would be spent on the building for the restaurant; trias mean little to Monala). However, she found herself hungry for the power she was offered, and it frightened her. She knew that power corrupts, so she took a long time to agree to it. According to Amaymon, all of the other potential takers had plans of their own if they were to take the position of ruler. Even after accepting, nervousness still gnawed at the edges of Monala's stomach when she thought about it.
As if she didn't have enough on her plate, Amaymon had also confessed that he had feelings for Monala. She was immensely confused by this, torn between sweet, naive Roled, and dark, mysterious Amaymon. She didn't let Amaymon woo her the way Roled did, though, feeling it would be unfaithful of her, but she couldn't help but think about being with Amaymon once in a while. It complicated both the revolution and Monala's personal life, especially since she hadn't seen Roled about. He'd taken a trip to Ojaveda, and she figured she didn't see him around because he had taken to travelling (whether or not this was truly the case, she didn't find out).
Both complications untangled themselves in one night.
As evening faded to night, a Dlayo Gladiator had rudely interrupted Monala's training session with her guildmates, killing them all. Monala was growing used to the sight, stench, and eerie chill of the Death Realm by now, especially since she knew the way out well. A small, dark recess of her mind, however, always tried to pull her back into the library she'd found on her first visit. The tantalizing pull of the Crystal in Dakkru's library troubled her deep down, but she tried to convince herself it was mere curiosity, and nothing more.
She returned in Hydlaa as usual, and headed straight for the tavern. Drink and conversation always distracted her from the weakness she felt after escaping Dakkru's grasp.
Monala spotted Amaymon almost as soon as she came in.
"Can we talk?" he asked. The words "in private" didn't need to be added any more; the two were a secretive pair.
They spoke of the revolution, at first. Amaymon wanted to use potions of questionable legality on people of questionable morals. This made Monala's uneasiness grow even stronger, and her mind began to race with ways out. However, these thoughts stopped immediately when Amaymon changed the topic to exactly how strong his feelings for her were, and then completely befuddled her when he said she ought to stick with Roled.
Amaymon had told Monala that he followed Dakkru before, and he reiterated the fact when the Ynnwn said, "I refuse to believe you're as blackhearted as you say. There's good in everyone, somewhere," matter-of-factly.
Amaymon proceeded to tell Monala about his past - of how Dakkru herself had appeared to him after his village was destroyed, and took advantage of his desperation by offering him safe passage to Hydlaa if he worshipped her. He spoke of a dream, one where he saw another follower of Dakkru fighting a Kran, one that matched Jasom's description. The Menki fighting kra had run off, and it was implied that Amaymon was the one to finish Jasom.
Monala was enraged when Amaymon stated that Jasom had entered true death. She punched him, repeatedly and mindlessly, blinded by tears, and he stood there willingly taking the blows in his guilt. When she eventually tired herself out, she leaned on the railing.
"I don't know if I'm sorry," she said, staring sulkily at her fists, "but I can't continue to work along side you in our mission. I know it was an order from your goddess...I don't blame it on you...," she said with a sniff.
"If you did continue working with me, I might even think less of you...but you have a right to know."
"Monala, I hated myself for doing it..."
Monala siged, shakily. "For a moment, I hated you for it, too, but...well, it's Dakkru herself I ought to despise. I'll likely face an unpleasant eternity for it, to say the least, when I face true death. Unless I seek immortality, but that's insane," she laughed a little as she wiped the tears off of her face with her cloak.
Amaymon shook his head "If I have to bring my blade with me into death, I'll see to it she never harms you again...."
He paused, and then continued. "That is why...starting now, I renounce her."
"Facing off against a goddess?" Monala asked, distracted, "That's the stuff of epics. I want a piece of her too, ye realize."
The two smiled at each other.
"When we enter true death, I'll be sure to leave an arm or something after I strangle the rest," Amaymon replied.
Monala laughed. "I'd prefer that crystal headdress of hers...it'd look much better on me,"*
After musing about whether or not a god can be killed and the like for some time, Monala paused, listening to something in the distance.
"I hear...magic..." she looked down at the entrance to the sewers from her vantage point on the tavern roof.
"What do you mean?"
Monala shrugged. "Someone fighting gobbles, most likely. Don't you hear fighting from down there?"
Amaymon nodded "
Yes...but magic?"
"It makes noise when ye cast a spell. You never noticed that?"
Amaymon didn't reply. Monala was oblivious to the face he made. She looked down at the sewer entrance contemplatively.
"Maybe denouncing Dakkru...took your..." she clapped her hand over her mouth before she finishes the sentence, her eyes widening.
"Oh...I...I'm so sorry. I need to think before I speak..."
"Monala, I owed that much. You....you can tell when it happens you know. It feels like a taint is removed from your veins....
Monala hugged Amaymon "Still..." she said over his shoulder, and then backed away, crossing her arms.
"Do ye know how to fight physically?"
Amaymon drew two swords with a speed she'd never seen before. Her eyes widened and her jaw gaped a bit.
Amaymon grinned. "I know a thing or two"
Monala involuntarily stepped back - a habit she'd gained from training with a guard named Percival, saying, "Well that's good,"
Amaymon noticed her step back, and looked guilty as he sheathed the weapons. "Uh, yes, sorry."
"I..it's not that I don't trust you. You just learn to do some things as reflexes when you've been training,"
"You....you trust me?"
"Sort of," she said, teasingly.
"Even through all this, Monala?"
Amaymon smiled widely as he hugged her "I can't tell you how much that means to me,"
"You may have done some terrible things, but you've done a wonderful one in renouncing Dakkru. I knew there was good in you, "
"Monala. you must have a heart of gold to say that"
The two spent the rest of the night enveloped in conversation. Amaymon revealed that his lost love - whom he'd told Monala of once before - was also a Ynnwn from another village, and had a lot in common with her. Monala was relieved and amused to hear it. After finding out that Amaymon killed Jasom, there was no way she'd ever consider being with him again anyway, but the guilt of knowing she'd break Amaymon's heart was lifted when she got the idea that she was another woman to Amaymon. She ignored his implied denial of it.
She slept the morning away in peace, not having to worry about either revolutions or love triangles.
* If memory serves, there is a description of Dakkru that mentions the headdress in one of the books in the the Death Realm library. Next time I'm unfortunate enough to make the journey, I'll see if I can get the quote.