Lania - Path to Light (Part 6)

It had been the most anxious day of Lania’s life.

      As soon as the sun had risen above the mountains, Evan had told her to get dressed and dressed well himself, so that made Lania a bit self conscious with her dress, full of dents and wrinkles from sleeping in it, but as Evan said, there was no time to iron it or anything; the heroes instructed to see her NOW. Lania didn’t really get how she would be ANY help to the legendary heroes of Maple, but since Evan seemed anxious the whole morning, she could tell it wasn’t some stupid joke.

      Lania had first complained that she wanted to hunt down the thief, but Evan had told her that the heroes were anxious to meet her as they wanted to ask her some important questions, so Lania gave in. They checked out of the hotel and since Evan had told her there was NO TIME TO WASTE, they took a cab.

      Soon enough, they had reached the town of Henesys, a simple town with Maplers hanging out at every corner. Evan had grabbed her wrist and dragged Lania through a series of maps, and when she asked where his dragon was, he said it was already at his house, where the heroes were waiting. Finally, they had emerged from the simple forest in Henesys and was staring down at a small farm; EVAN’s small farm. All was quiet, except for the distant chirp of a bird and their ragged breathing.

      Even from far away, Lania could see the Black Wing insignia painted on the wooden door of his house. Stray paint marks were seen everywhere as the painter must have done a rather sloppy job of painting it, but that was enough to unnerve Evan, and he quickly looked away. He gave Lania a light push that sends her stumbling forward, him following slowly behind her.

      Lania’s breath caught in her throat when she saw a HUGE dragon snoozing under the shade of the trees, so quiet and still she almost missed him. His scales were glossy black, and giant golden horns were perched on top of his head. The same insignia tattooed on the back of Evan’s hand was shimmering in gold on his forehead, and he was snoring softly, his head resting on top of his golden claws.

     But Evan seemed delighted to see his dragon. “Mir!” he exclaimed, running towards the sleeping dragon. Mir opened one of his golden eyes and lifted his giant head to meet his master. Lania grew unnerved when she heard the dragon speak: “Hello, Evan. It’s nice to see you again.” The dragon’s massive eyes rested on Lania, and she forgot to breathe. Without opening his mouth, the dragon said in its telepathic way: “I take it this is the girl Mercedes was talking about.”

      “She is,” Evan said, his smile stretching from ear to ear. He gestured to Lania to come closer, and slowly, she did. She didn’t know why, but showing any signs of weakness in front of Evan was infuriating, and she was NOT about to do it now. Mir nodded to Lania as she stood in front of the dragon, his massive size making Lania feel small and weak. “Hello, little one,” Mir said, his gentle voice drifting into her mind. For a moment, Lania felt lost in those huge golden eyes, until she looked away, breaking her out of the trance. Evan slid off Mir’s head and landed on the grassy earth with a soft thump.

      “Okay, Lania. Enough dilly-dallying,” Evan said, the nervous edge creeping into his voice again. “It’s time to meet the heroes.” Evan cast a glance up at Mir, which nodded reassuringly, and Evan nodded back, giving his dragon a weak smile. He extended his hand out to Lania, which took it without complaint. Without a word, Evan led her to the small wooden house that stood out in the clearing, leaves falling silently onto the earth. Mir’s golden eyes watched them as they headed for the house, and something about the dragon’s gaze made Lania feel unnerved, but she doubted ANYONE could handle his stare without feeling unnerved. Those gold eyes seemed to look right through her soul.

       Evan stepped up onto the front porch of his old house, trying his best to ignore the insignia painted roughly onto his door. With his heart in his throat, he knocked on the door, then stood back, pushing Lania back a few steps with him. Lania could hear some muffled voices behind the door, and then the familiar creak as a wooden door swung open. Lania looked up from the floor, and stared into the icy blue eyes of an elfin woman.

       “Evan,” she said in her soft voice, her blonde hair spilling across her shoulders like a gold cape. “It’s nice to see you again.” Evan nodded, looking very uncomfortable, but not nearly as uncomfortable as Lania, which was trying her best not to gape. An elf! She was looking at an elf! And not to mention that this elf had such awe-striking beauty, it took her everything not to let her mouth hang open. Remembering Evan’s explanation about the heroes, she told herself this must be the queen of the elves, Mercedes.

       Mercedes’s blue eyes rested on Lania, and her breath caught in her throat. Mercedes nodded in understanding and stepped aside to let the two into the house. Evan nodded to Lania and they stepped into the threshold, Mercedes closing the door softly behind them. Two other heroes were sitting on couches in the living room, and Evan waved to them. One waved back, a woman with dark skin and snow-white hair that was tied up in a ponytail, but the other, a man with shaggy blonde hair and the most unusual hat, just glanced up at him, then returned to what he was doing, which was sorting out a deck of unusual cards.

      Lania could not explain how out of place she felt. Even Evan seemed to fit in with the odd bunch, which was chatting non-stop with the dark skinned woman, who gave out barking shouts of laughter every time Evan said something even partially funny. Lania could tell the woman was Aran, considering she had a giant decorative axe leaning against the banisters of the sofa.

       The man leaning against the couch, sorting out cards must be Phantom, and Lania shuddered as his deep, violet eyes rested on her for a moment, and then quickly looked away. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and fought the urge to cry out. She looked behind her and her eyes met the warm blue eyes of Mercedes, who was smiling a gentle smile at her.

      “You are Lania, correct?” Mercedes asked, and Lania nodded, her braid bobbing up and down with each nod. Lania felt butterflies franticly fluttering in her stomach, and her heart seemed to thrash so hard, it seemed to want to escape her chest. Mercedes pushed Lania gently and directed her to the couch which was half occupied by Phantom, which Lania was hesitant to sit on first, but then gave in and sat awkwardly on. She tried to ignore the gaze of Phantom, who had finished doing what the heck he was with his cards and was staring at Lania with dull interest.

      Aran gave her a warm smile and Evan gave her a thumbs up, whatever that was supposed to mean. Phantom leaned back against the couch, yawning, as if this entire situation was boring him out of his skull. Mercedes sat on the couch opposite hers and Lania realized in horror that EVERYONE in the room was staring at her in interest. Her cheeks fired up and she stared at the ground, not wanting to meet ANYONE’S gaze.

      “So, Lania,” Mercedes said, and Lania looked up at her, trying to block out everyone else’s stares. She gestured to Evan. “Evan told me that you had a foster father….but he’s no longer with you, yes?”

“Uh…yes?” Lania replied, not really wanting to be reminded of Luminous.

      “Ah,” Mercedes said, smiling at her. Lania tried her best not to cock an eyebrow at her. What did she do, just saying yes? It wouldn’t help her find this mysterious fifth hero guy, whoever he was. Aran leaned over Evan, whispering something in his ear, which Evan nodded at. Aran scratched her chin and resumed watching Lania.

      “So, Lania,” Mercedes said, leaning across her chair. “If it doesn’t upset you too much…..can we ask you of his name?” Lania flopped back onto her chair, biting her lower lip. Well, actually it DID upset her much. VERY much. Phantom cocked an eyebrow at her response, but remained silent. Aran and Evan were staring at her with curious eyes, and Mercedes just sat, calmly waiting for her answer.

       When the answer didn’t arise Mercedes just leaned back, smiling at her. “Never mind, Lania. If it does upset you, we will not force the answer out of you. However, can you answer the question I give next?” When Lania nodded uncertainly, Mercedes smiled. “Excellent. Now, does this ‘father’ of yours have grayish hair that becomes blue at the tips? Does his hair just barely reach his shoulders? Was he unconscious on your first encounter?”

Evan fired up. “Mercedes, this is ridiculous! She can’t possibly-”

“How did you know?” Lania said, eyes wide in surprise.

        Her response seemed to jolt everyone in the room. Evan gaped in surprise, Aran’s eyes widened in astonishment, and even Phantom seemed a little stunned. Mercedes’s kind expression changed into one of seriousness. She scratched her chin thoughtfully. “Lania,” she called again, and Lania looked up at her. Mercedes bit her lip as she replied: “Is your father’s name Luminous?”

       Lania froze, her eyes wide in shock. That was it, that was enough proof. Mercedes, and maybe the rest of the heroes knew Luminous, how was the question that rang in her mind. And how did they know he was unconscious on their first encounter? Lania considered lying, but since she sucked at lying she decided to just get this whole thing over with: “Yes.”

      “Holy shit!!” Aran exclaimed and clapped a hand to her mouth. Evan elbowed her in the ribs but couldn’t hide the astonishment in his face, either. Phantom shot up from the couch, and seemed to glare at Lania, why was the question. Mercedes pursed her lips together and sat back on the couch, seemingly trying to avoid Lania’s gaze. Phantom sat back on the couch and mumbled things to himself, something with the words “Ridiculous” and “Idiot” in them.                                

      Lania’s cheeks fired red again. What had she done wrong now? All air seemed to change in the room, and she wondered whether that was her fault. All the comfortable feelings she had for the room earlier on seemed to vanish into the air, and now she felt as uncomfortable as a kid on his first day of school. Butterflies did a frenzied dance in her stomach and her heart pounded against her chest.

      “Uh…. I’m sorry,” Lania muttered, and Mercedes looked up at her. “Did…did I say something wrong?” Mercedes snapped out of her trance and smiled wearily at her. “No, it’s fine. You said nothing wrong.” She flashed a glare at Phantom, who seemed to mouth: “What?” and nodded back to Lania, which made Phantom huff and leaned back against the couch.

     Mercedes stood up and walked towards Lania, stooping down so that she was level with the girl’s face. Lania looked up at her, her eyes wide with fear. “Lania,” Mercedes said with a more urgent voice, which took Lania by surprise. “Do you actually, REALLY know who your father is? Did he just….turn up at your house one day? Can you tell me what happened?”

     Lania was hesitant to reveal too much, so she just covered the major points: taking a walk one day, spotting Luminous unconscious on the ground, taking him back to her house, him staying and being a part of her family for more than seven years. But she left out the part of him leaving her on purpose, because she didn’t really want to be reminded of that. Plus, she dreaded what their response would be.

     Mercedes stood back up, pondering over something for a moment. Then she snapped out of her trance and shook her head in what appeared to be disbelief, and turned back to Lania, smiling a weary smile. “Lania, this might be hard for you to absorb, but….” Lania leaned forward, eager to hear what Mercedes was going to say. It sounded like something really big. Mercedes gazed out the window, sighed, and continued: “…your father is the legendary Light mage, Luminous, the magician who sealed the Black Mage away hundreds of years ago. Lania, your father is one of the heroes of Maple. He is one of us.”

        Once, Lania had jogged down the forest road and suddenly slipped, hitting her chest hard on the ground. The wind had been knocked out of her and she breathed long, ragged breaths, which was what she was doing now. Her eyes widened at Mercedes’s confession, and she almost couldn’t believe it. She was aware of Evan nervously pulling at his collar, wondering how Lania could react to the truth. Aran was leaning back on the sofa, muttering something to what appeared to be thin air. Phantom grunted and folded his arms across his chest, what made him angry, Lania didn’t know. But all of this, she saw later. Lania leaned back against the sofa, looking down at her hands. Looking back, she could see it was all true; how he knew  so much about the heroes, getting nervous every time she asked something about  them, why he was unconscious that day; it was all true.

       “He…he…he is?” Lania muttered quietly, looking up at Mercedes. She nodded and shooed Phantom away from the sofa, and sat next to the dumb-struck girl herself. Mercedes gave Lania’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze, but Lania didn’t even feel it. “I know this is hard to digest, but it is what it is. Your ‘father’ was a very strong mage in his days. He was the one that set the seal on the Black Mage. He was a good man, so why he suddenly left you….I have no idea.”

       Lania kept her gaze on the ground and kicked with her legs. She wondered whether this would be a good time to reveal what Luminous did that day, with the dark tentacles and stuff. He seemed to EXPLODE with dark energy, so MUCH pure dark energy, that it was hard to believe he was a LIGHT MAGE back in his day. Sure, Lania saw him do some light magic stuff back when he was here, but she never expected him to be the mage that sealed the Black Mage away. Everything was so confusing.

      “Lania,” Mercedes said gently, knowing the girl must be having a hard time absorbing all this new information. Lania didn’t even look up. She was too astonished and surprised and baffled. But more than anything, she was hurt. All this chit-chat had caused her to think about WHY her father left her anyway. Was she that unwanted? Or did she do something wrong to make him leave?

      “Lania,” Mercedes repeated, and finally the girl looked up, her eyes sliding to meet hers. Mercedes wasn’t surprised to see fresh tears falling down her cheeks, glistening in the lamplight. Obviously, this conversation had only freshened the memory of her loss, and Mercedes had felt that pain before. To think that you are not wanted by somebody you love…..it is one of the most painful heartaches. “Lania, I know you do not want to talk about this anymore, but….do you know where your foster father is? Do you have ANY idea where he could’ve gone?”

Lania remained silent.

        “Lania, please,” Mercedes coaxed, leaning over the girl and squeezing her shoulder in a reassuring fashion. Lania’s eyes slid back to her hands, rubbing them together as if it was cold. She pursed her lips tightly together, and she kept her head down, trying to block out the world. Mercedes tried again: “Lania, please. I know this is all very confusing, and you wish not to be reminded of your painful days, but we MUST now where he is, and you are the only help we have. It is painful, I know, to suddenly realize you are not wanted by-”

       “NO!!” Lania suddenly shrieked, shooting up from the couch and glaring at Mercedes, who was shocked to silence. Lania was enraged. How DARE they even THINK that her father left her because he didn’t WANT her!? He LOVED her like his own, and so did she, and here they were, QUESTIONING her father’s love for her! It was extremely frustrating. Evan and Aran had snapped back to attention, and Phantom was watching the whole scene in intense fascination.

“Hold on, Lania-”

        “No, stay back!!” Lania shouted, taking a few steps back. “You don’t KNOW my father AT ALL. He wouldn’t leave me like TRASH. He LOVED ME. He was just sick, that’s all!!”

        “That’s not what I meant, Lania,” Mercedes said, standing up and trying to calm the enraged girl down, but Lania was beyond angry. Fire practically spurted out of her nostrils. She looked ferocious, and Evan gulped, wondering how things could have spiraled this out of control. “Though I doubt your father was sick. He was a very powerful man; sickness did not come easily to him.”

      “Oh?” Lania fumed, tossing her head and folding her arms across her chest. “Then tell me, WHY did he have ONE RED EYE?? Since when did ANYONE naturally have ONE RED EYE??? And plus, if he is a LIGHT MAGE, WHY did he knock me out that day with DARKNESS? A huge, honking load of PURE DARKNESS??? You have NO IDEA how sick he looked!!” 

       Silence fell across the room, only broken by the whistling of the wind as it blew through the open windows. Aran and Evan stared at Lania with astonishment, which mimicked Mercedes’s shocked expression. Even Phantom had fallen silent and was staring at Lania in bewilderment. Lania was too angry to realize she had just blurted out her secret. Mercedes stumbled back a few steps and collapsed onto the couch, her hands holding her head as she fought back what looked to her like a headache.

     “I-I don’t understand what you mean,” Mercedes muttered, looking up at Lania, who was still fuming, her blue eyes darting across the room icily. “Luminous was a very talented Light Mage, yes, but he was a GENUINE light mage. He could never HANDLE dark magic. How is it….it possible that he…..he….” Mercedes pursed her lips together and sighed, her hair falling over her shoulders. Lania suddenly felt guilty of her outburst. It seemed like Mercedes already had a lot on her mind.

     “I…I’m sorry,” Lania muttered, and hung her head so that her gaze was locked on the floor. Evan had stood up and was now patting Lania on the back, comforting her the best he could. Phantom seemed grumpy again, and again, Lania had no idea why. Aran was talking to thin air again, and Mercedes just seemed to be having a migraine.

       “Please, explain so that I can understand,” Mercedes muttered, her eyes fluttering open. “So what your saying is….that day, when he left you….he unleashed dark magic? How powerful was it? And was that what he intended to do, or did it just……come out?” Lania hesitated for a second, then answered all her questions as truthfully as one could. She explained that it was quite powerful, actually VERY powerful, and it seemed that he tried to FIGHT it back, but just ended up fighting a losing battle with the rising darkness. When she finished, Mercedes seemed more troubled than ever. Phantom seemed to be trying to figure something out, and the rest of the room was as silent as graves.

     “Dark magic….” Mercedes muttered, thinking over something. “A red eye…..trying to fight it back…..ugh,” she heaved a sigh and leaned back against the couch, her hair spilling down the cushions like a shiny golden waterfall. Evan seemed bewildered as Lania, and Aran seemed to be arguing with the air. Phantom sat up, pushing his hat out of his vision. “Mercedes, May I say something?” he asked, his grumpiness creeping into his voice. Mercedes gave a brief nod, and Phantom stood up. “It may be possible that….ahem, Luminous,” he said the name in disgust, which he tried to hide as a cough when he saw the look Lania was giving him: “Perhaps…if the girl is not lying or delusional-”

“I am NOT,” Lania snapped.

     “-Luminous might have been half corrupted by darkness. I’ve seen it happen before.” As soon as he finished his last word, he collapsed back onto the couch, like those simple words tired him out of his skull. Mercedes opened an eye and Aran glanced at Phantom, who waved his hand, motioning that he was not going to say at anymore. Mercedes sat up straight and glanced at Lania, who seemed paler than usual. No doubt, Phantom’s suggestion scared her more than anything. Half corrupted by darkness? Lania thought back to that day, and realized it was true. She felt silly to have not realized it earlier.

      “That’s a good point, Phantom,” Mercedes said, tucking her hair behind her ears and sighing, clamping her hands tightly together. “But Luminous is a very powerful magician; not many people can corrupt him, so I doubt he would have – oh god,” Mercedes stopped cold when something struck her. She pursed her lips tightly together and brushed her bangs out of her face. Aran seemed confused for a moment, but then caught on immediately and leaned back in her chair, seeming dumb-struck. Phantom opened his mouth to ask what was going on, then managed to put one and one together and collapsed in his seat, his eyebrows lifting in bewilderment and shock, then furrowing back into a scowl.

        However, the two children standing in the middle of the room – Lania and Evan – were still as bewildered as ever, especially when Aran seemed to grunt for no reason and suddenly shrieking at thin air to: “Shut up!!” Lania was visibly shaken, and if all the chairs weren’t occupied she would have leapt onto one and squashed a pillow to her face, keeping the world OUT. Evan was asking gently for the heroes to please explain things a little more, but when no one answered him his voice rose into a shout.

“Mercedes, maybe you’re wrong. Maybe the child’s just delusional,” Aran offered.

“I swear to god, I am NOT!!” Lania snarled, trying her best to not throw up.

“She’s not,” Evan said, backing Lania up, and she felt grateful to him for that.

“Maha, SHUT UP!!” Aran screamed at the air again.

“Will someone please tell us what the heck is going on!?” Evan shrieked.

      “Enough!!” Mercedes shouted, and everyone recoiled. Mercedes stood up and faced the two children standing in the middle of the room, looking up at her in bewilderment. “I suppose, you both deserve to know.” She pursed her lips tightly and sighed, then said: “We are not certain, but according to Lania’s explanation…..” Mercedes hesitated, having a silent struggle with herself to tell or not tell, when she sighed and gave in, continuing: “….Luminous….might have been corrupted by the Black Mage.”

One could hear a pin drop in the room now.

      Lania could feel herself shaking now. She hugged her hands around herself, trying to block out the moment, the room, the WHOLE WORLD. She shut her eyes and tried to recall that moment when Luminous ‘exploded’…..Yes, it did seem really strong. She was surprised she had survived at ALL. And when she approached her heaping pile of rubble that used to be her house to fix it up, she could feel a tingle as her skin touched the wood; it seemed to tingle with dark energy, and Lania had to wait for the tingle to go away until she could rebuild as dark energy was not a good feel for the human skin.       

Just as she was opening her mouth to argue, it hit her;

       The dull thrumming at the back of her brain turned into a steady beat, and finally a huge, crashing wave of pain. Everything on her – her dress, her stole, even her braid – suddenly seemed to much a weight for her body. She crashed to the floor, her hands rammed to her ears to try and shut out the noise. It felt like she was standing right in front of the world’s LOUDEST drum, while it was being PLAYED. She could hear Evan saying something, and a screech as someone got out of a chair too fast, but the beating headache drowned out everything else.

      A dark silhouette flashed by her vision before it clouded over and she hit the ground, unconscious to the world.