Chapter 3: The Truth of Marua, the Chief of Doomera

"Do you not get this situation Lady Golo?!" Rora shouted as he slammed his hand onto the wooden table, the wooden table rumbling due to his natural strength as he slowly clenched the edge. Roran seemed to be stressed out, his spear seemingly lying in the corner for now, "Lady Golo, I need you to understand this..." he slowly said with a lower tone, his voice becoming more gentle as he tried to explain the main problem... Marua's Death. Yet Lady Golo stood there calmly and staring at him, she slowly looked around as her grey eyes simply looked at everything, their gaze threatening. "Roran, as much as it's surprising, shouldn't you be grateful? He put Marua out of his misery and even brought back the Dark Staff... just a bit burnt." She slowly spoke, her voice hoarse and rough as her state of health. "As much of a surprise as the foreigner, we can't lie that he did solve a major problem... I mean, for how long have you tried to finally put Marua down after he took that god-forsaken staff Roran?"

There was a long, long moment of silence in the hut, as Roran was left registering the words of Lady Golo, in all sense she was right. Yet as he stood there in silence, his hand slowly letting its tight grip on the edge of the table, Lady Golo spoke once again, "Roran, do you truly want to hear the full story of Marua? and that wretched Dark Staff?". He slowly sighed, nodding as reached over, grabbed a stool by its leg, and dragged it towards him, sitting down on it as he waited for the story. "So go on, tell the story, maybe even give me a nice warm blanket like you're reading a bedtime story eh?" He spoke with a chuckle, yet Lady Golo still had her usually stoic face, not a single reaction to his little joke, "Well, gonna tell you a long one, don't fall asleep on me alright?"

It was a few years back, nearly a decade as Lady Golo remembered through the many years in her mind. Doomera was much more lively back then, it flourished in its extremely fertile lands and its very consistent fruit growth. Nothing could beat the beauty that was in the forest, it was like walking through a gem field of dim emeralds that looked more beautiful than any other gem found, but the best times came during spring. During the soft windy times of spring, the forest turned into a golden yellow and orange, and the grounds were overflowing with leaves that had left their homes off the branches of the trees. Doomera was truly at its prime back then, it's not to say that Doomera isn't doing good currently, but it did much better back then, and it was all led by one man, Marua the Chief of Doomera. Marua was a great man, tall but a bit on the lightweight side, he always had a pale skin tone by always wearing that long dark cloak of his. He was also not much of a big fan of sunlight, mostly staying in the shade or indoors, but despite this, he was still a great leader, smart, tactical, and even crafty with his shadow magic. Lady Golo respected him due to his abilities and mind, while a young Roran looked up to him like an Idol, yet this was all ruined, he was ruined, once that Dark Staff appeared. During one normal day, on the sandy coasts, something washed up that would forever change Doomera.

"Uhm, Lady Golo... there is something I think you need to check out" A voice called out, it was a man, having the usual colorful robes and tanned skin, he seemed to be a bit nervous as he spoke to the old lady. "Something... strange that's going inshore" he slowly spoke again, the nervousness in his tone still clear as the sun. Lady Golo quickly grabbed her staff, its bell jingling as she put on her witch hat, before quickly moving out of the hut, her short frame allowing her to fit through the door as the man was left a bit stunned. Lady Golo quickly walked, and soon she could hear the commotion at the coasts, but she was too late, she could already sense someone quickly running away with a strange object. As soon as she sensed the object, she knew it was a magical staff, simply from its magical presence, yet that presence was dark and malicious. Yet she never knew that that day would be the last day she ever saw the chief, Marua ever again.

"So that's how Marua locked himself in the cave huh?" Roran said, his fist on his cheek as he stared at Lady Golo telling the story. "Yes, he took the dark staff, many thought he wanted the power to himself, yet he could already feel himself getting dragged into it..." Lady Golo slowly let her words roll off her breath, they were faint and soft, a contrast to her usual stoic and raspy voice. "Yet the fool decided to lock himself in that wretched cave, going insane due to the Dark Staff's influence on his mind, may Prometheus have mercy on his soul now.." Roran stared, it was a little bit dark yet refreshing, all this time since Marua disappeared, he was told that Marua did it out of selfishness... but after hearing the truth, it was nice to know he was selfless to the end. "There's something I need to tell you to Lady Golo after I went into the cave, I saw his body, it was disfigured beyond recognition due to the Dark Staff, yet still, it looked like he was fried." Lady Golo's attention perked up, looking at him with a confused look, "Fried...?" Lady Golo said with a whisper. "Yes fried, his body showed signs of being hit by intense heat and force, he cratered the dam wall behind him for Zeus's sake..." Roran said, looking down at the table now. "The boy not only took him out completely on his own... but I think he awakened his magical core... or some of it, but that firepower is still unbelievable, to be able to take out Marua?" Roran said, the look of worry clearly on his face as he stared at Lady Golo again, she slowly got up from her chair, looking at the candle that lit the dark hut. "We have a ceremony to attend, and I have a name to give, we'll talk about this later Roran... Just be grateful Marua is finally resting in peace" Lady Golo slowly said, as she soon started to walk towards the door of the hut. The wooden floor creaked as she finally left Roran alone, simply letting him come to terms with the situation.

As the drums were struck with the wooden sticks, the drums played out a low bass that rang through the small area. The flutes were played with precision as they all rhymed perfectly with each other and the drums, creating a traditional-like music that rang through the forest. People of the island were all dancing around the massive blazing fire that lit up the area in the forest, all chanting a traditional-like song with all of their hearts. It was rather a mesmerizing sight, yet the boy could barely see now, he was completely covered in flower necklaces and wristbands. Every single habitant of Doomera was giving him gifts, it was extremely overwhelming yet it was still nice. He was also given the traditional colorful robes, which were very comfy, much more comfy than the older clothes that he used to wear. Kids surrounded him, asking for the details of his fight, and adults were all over him, praising him as some sort of special prodigy. It was a rather nice feeling to be praised so much, yet there were still women who wanted to get a bit too touchy with him, he didn't know their reasons but he always tried to politely decline them. It was a nice and fun time, but soon things went dead quiet as some approached.

Lady Golo slowly walked closer to the boy, the bell of her staff jingling as approached, everyone went dead silent even the drums and the flutes were silent. The people spread out a path for the old lady, giving her an easier way to come closer. Lady Golo came face to face with the boy, looking at him as she seemed to be in deep thought. She slowly pressed the tip of her staff against the boy's chest, more so on the side where his heart was located.

"Your name, your name will be Lelantos."