Jaek

Jaekel watched as his best friend walked off to her tent. She seemed tired. With a stifled yawn, he also decided to turn in. He almost offered Talon his tent but decided against it when he saw him getting comfortable under a tree. Especially when the elven girl plopped her head in his lap and fell asleep.

So he just shrugged and decked into his tent. It was really none of his business if they wanted to sleep outside or not.

It took him a while to fall asleep, his insomnia acting up again. He lay and thought about the day instead for a while.

It had been an interesting one. He really wished he knew more about these two people they had met. Talon and Niliah both were somewhat strange, and Jaekel could not get a complete reading on either one.

Just enough to make a whole lot of questions come up. Who were they? And why were they so important?

Jaekel eventually fell asleep with these questions in his head.

"Several decades prior, in the ruins of Nix'Ryl,

'A beautiful woman with reddish gold hair crouched in front of two adolescent children who looked to be of different races. The female was a serene looking elven girl who looked like the splitting image of the woman crouching before them. The male was of indeterminate race, neither elven or human or any other race but instead looking to be of rather mixed heritage. Unlike the female child holding his hand he was trembling, a look of utter horror on his face. He was staring at the mostly intact house behind of the woman, as it shook.

The woman spoke softly, "It will be alright. Children, stay here. I'll go calm him down. It will only take a few moments."

With that she stood up and slipped inside the building. The boy started crying, his whole body shaking. He seemed utterly terrified. The girl turned him to her and slipped her arms around him, patting his back, "It will be okay. Father hasn't lost it completely yet."

"But he will. Every week he gets worse and worse, and ever since mother died I think he lost the will even to try to keep himself sane."

"It is what it is. Not much we can do to stop it."

"So when I go that way, it will be the same? There is absolutely nothing I can do? My fate is already sealed, huh?"

"Oh, Sylv. Of course not. There is still plenty of time to save you. Father just… if he doesn't want to stop it, neither I nor auntie can do much. You know he only holds on for our sake. But he already longs for the oblivion."

"And he'll take auntie with him. I know how it works. But this is our fate. Our price to pay for the power gifted us. Eh, I'll try to do my best to keep my spirits up. That is all I can do. And I'll work to stave off the madness as long as possible. That way you can have longer too, Mem."

The two children fell silent, both of them just watching the run-down old house that was completely falling apart as awful sounds came from inside.'"

Feeling disoriented, Jaekel woke up to the sound of laughter. He did not recognize the laughter but it did not sound exactly unpleasant. He left his tent, wondering what was going on. And what he saw actually surprised him.

Niliah was the one laughing. She was standing over Talon and just laughing as she looked at him. The reason was fairly obvious –

Talon seemed unsure how to handle being laughed at. His eyes looked away and a bit down, and he seemed uncertain of just how to respond to his companion guffawing at him.

Jaekel knew it was rude but he could not help but stare at the young man. Talon's thick mane of hair was no longer that gray color that had seemed a bit odd. It was now a pretty pink, like the shade of a rose bud from the roses back home. His eyes too, were now much the same shade as his hair.

"Um… are you okay, P-princess?" His voice came out a bit soft, as if he was a bit unsure of himself. He could barely look at Niliah as he talked to her. "You've been laughing for several minutes now…"

"It's pink! Your hair actually turned pink!" She was still laughing, making him look even more uncomfortable than he had already. "What in the world does that even mean?"

"…" He sighed, and shuffled his foot against the ground and then said quietly, "I do look weird, huh… Not that that is anything new…"

"Aw, cheer up!" Niliah ruffled up his hair, "It looks good on you!"

"Eh!?" He jumped a little, "R-really? That can't be right… I'm totally not…that is… huh…never mind…"

Niliah let out another chuckle before walking off and leaving the suddenly embarrassed young man by himself.

Jaekel walked over and greeted his new companions, "Hello Niliah, Talon. Did you sleep well?"

Niliah smiled at him, a trace of laughter still in her eyes, "I did. Wind has an incredibly comfy lap!"

"…." Talon just looked away, an uncomfortable look on his face. He did not answer, instead sidling off.

"What's up with him?" Jaekel looked at Niliah, feeling confused.

She just shrugged, and smiled, "He's Wind. It's just the way he is. I've never seen this side before. Makes me want to tease him." Her eyes had a hint of mischief in them as she looked after Talon.

About then he heard Rune's startled exclamation and turned to look at his best friend who was staring at Talon with obvious surprise. He knew even before it started that she would definitely be asking questions.

Talon lasted two minutes, as his eyes grew wider and more filled with uncertainty. Then he bolted and they did not see him again until after they had eaten breakfast.