A short history lesson

A/N NOTICE:

Greetings readers! Is anyone actually caught up to the current chapter? If so then please leave a comment! if there are some of you that are current then I'll release some more chapters with frequency.

Chapter twenty-five

"Haaah…"

I sighed as I looked down at the sprawling plateaus below me. My eyes drift from one to the next as I take in the small details from each. Lazily, I shift my eyes to a notebook in my lap. I decided to take up a journal after getting back from the outing with Grandma. Now I'm sitting here on the tallest tower of all the plateaus, wondering about what I should write.

"There really isn't much for me to write about… But I really feel like I need to. There are definitely things on my mind."

My eyes shifted to the pen I had been twirling around in my fingers.

It was pretty advanced all things considered. As I understood it, it was something made by Grandma utilizing mana to create the ink so that others who could not use mana would have ease of use. It wasn't well-received initially as most shun the use of it vehemently, but eventually, they started using it anyway. I guess it was just too convenient for them not to utilize.

"Guess convenience beats morals. Humph"

I laid back on the black tiles of the roof and looked up into the sky.

"Maybe I could write about the memories in my head."

I dangled one of my sandals Idly off my toes as I hovered the tip of the pen over the top left portion of the leftmost side of the page. And yes, despite the fact that my origin is based in what would be considered the far east I still write this way. I don't have any particular reason other than I suppose getting this habit from the fusion with my past life.

"Welp. Guess I should start writing."

My hand sprang to life on the page.

~Dear future me~

~How are you doing? This is you from the past. I mean you already know that I suppose since you're reading this but I just wanted to ask. Me? I'm good I guess. I've got a lot on my mind and so I'm talking to my future self. First? Well, I guess the first thing I can think about is perhaps… The new additions in my life. The Demi-humans. I've thought this before but it's refreshing to be around people who are like me. Of course, they're not literally the same species but they at least understand the bare minimum of what it means to be a living person. Not to say anything bad about my grandma or the other fairies but they're as different as different can get. I can feel that alien separation between morals and values is something that has made itself all the more apparent.~

~for example, when Isaea just casually mentioned clearing out an 'infestation' of humans. What does that even mean? Don't answer that. I don't really want to know. I was just posing the question. But if you take the inference to its natural conclusion then we already know what it means. I mean I know that they're a unique existence and they have an untold amount of history, but to just treat humans like pests? It just feels wrong. Heh. I guess that must be the former human in me talking.~

The thought left a subtle smirk on my face as I gently tapped the butt of my pen on the page, thinking about what I'd like to write next.

~Hmm. There are still things on our mind, future me. I just don't know if I feel like broaching them yet. I'm sure you'll understand. Besides, I want to enjoy this moment of peace that I have while I'm up here looking at this amazing world.~

~Entry number one closed~

"I wonder what I should do now?" I thought to myself as I closed the book, attaching it to a small hook on my waist whilst pocketing the pen. I looked over the view once again, rubbing the tops of my knees.

"Guess I'll head back down and study or something."

I carefully picked myself up and made way for the hatch to the interior of the tower.

===============================================================

Later that same day:

Large onyx eyes stared at me inquisitively as I did my usual round of studying.

"I can't study…"

I murmured to myself as the pressure of having an observer proved to be a great distractor. With half-closed eyes and a furrowed brow, I peeked over my shoulder, looking at the viewer.

Kagu sat in one of the many wooden chairs of the study eating what looked to me like a piece of jerky. He was just staring. I brought my right hand around and waved it over my left shoulder, seeing if I could gain his attention.

A few seconds passed…

I did it again.

Another few seconds passed…

Is he even paying attention? Had I been worked up over someone who was completely absent upstairs? C'mon me, you've got to be better than this.

Mentally reprimanding myself, I turned back to the book I was reading. It was the first volume of the history of the Fairies. I figured it was about time I got more knowledgeable on this world's history so I knew what to expect in the future. For all I know, Humans could be a completely different species than what I know in my head in this world! Currently, I was on… the first page.

Look! I only just started and I couldn't focus at all since I thought that big oaf was staring at me! Erm. Yeah!

Anyway. First chapter here I go!

I redouble my attention down at the page and begin to read the book's contents.

In the beginning this world was one of purity. No singular creature wanted for anything beyond their station and every need for the garden that was the world was met by us, the caretakers. We oversaw countless cycles of death and rebirth as the world continued on without incident. Taken by our beauty, the world had created beings in our image. They were identical in everything but composition, for we were created of the substance that made the world, the very earth we tread upon was us and we were it. They on the other hand were created of the wisps of energy that we, the caretakers, had given off in our countless years of existence. The voice of the world spoke aloud telling us that it created a partner for us to have so that we may be free of the burden of taking care of the world. At the time, we understood not what the world meant and so continued our task since time immemorial.

Together with the wisps of the sky, we of the earth tended to the world with even greater care. Before, all we could manage was to maintain what was naturally occurring, but with the help of our other half, we began to experiment with new life. In our image, we created beings of the soil to live and frolic within this Garden of ours. We taught them the ways of tending to the world in hopes to bring forth even more caretakers so that we could give back to the earth in return for giving us those of the sky. All was well as countless generations passed. Slowly our creations began to diverge into many varied different species all commonly linked together by one heritage. Some had grown furr and various animal parts on their body, becoming more bestial, while others had grown more refined, getting traits from those of the sky.

One day, a strange being fell from beyond the garden into our world. Its size was no larger than that of one of the many bipedal species we had gifted to the world, but it contained such enormous power. This power frightened us, as its very existence changed the world around it. It was unnatural. Collectively, we had decreed that none shall lend an ear or hand to the creature and for many years we left it to roam our Garden in peace.

The entity passed through the lands and with each step, brought death. The plants withered to dust. The soil became tainted with this strange ichor that poisoned everything it touched, changing it into something truly alien. Centuries passed as we observed the entity in the distance. Eventually, those of the sky came forth with a proposition. They proposed that we send an envoy to communicate with the strange entity. Given that this suggestion came from our other half, the ones gifted to us by the world, we could do nothing but agree. We gathered our many species and had decided to choose those who had the least to lose. They had not been thus far capable of learning the methods of caretaking and so were barren seeds to the world. They were called Humanity. We had hoped that in this way, they would be able to give back to the world all that it took for them to be sustained. A single man is all we sent to the creature. Of his brethren, he alone was willing to partake in the task set out before him.

His name was Remiel. He strode forth with only the whispers of the sky to give him guidance on where the target of his journey roamed. Remiel passed through the desiccated lands left behind and wept for them. Unknowingly, we had sent off the only one of Humanity who had truly received the power of earth and sky. Remiels tears vivified the ground beneath him, creating a path of healing in the wake of death that the unknown entity had wrought. This balancing act continued for a brief time until Remiel made contact with the entity. Through his eyes, we could see the creature up close. It's form was not dissimilar to that of a woman and so was deceptive in its captivation. The two lingered together for a time, staring into each other's ey-

"What's that?" Blurted out a voice from over my shoulder. I knew who it was as soon as I heard him. Kagu's scruffy mane rubbed up against my face as he looked down at the book. To him, these words should be little more than pretty images on a piece of paper, so why was he looking?

I shot him a curious look in hopes that he could pick up the rest of the meaning so that I could avoid actually having to speak. After learning just how deficient I was I wanted to avoid speaking as much as I could with them until I was as fluent as my ancient fairy. He looked up from the words and gave me a smile before patting me on the back with so much strength that I face-planted into the book. I could practically feel the glyphs from the page on my face with how much force he had struck me with.

"You're super smart to be able to read something like this Suzu. You should teach me sometime!"

What followed next was another pat which nearly sent me into the book itself. Kagu pulled up the chair he had and sat next to me. I remained implanted in the book as I found that his pats had blown the air out of me.

Forget all the other stuff I had talked about concerning mutual understanding. We clearly have different ideas of what is okay!

I peeled my face from the pages of the book and rubbed my cheeks with both hands, checking to make sure none of the bones in my face were broken. It was a painful experience, to say the least. I was sure to swell up something fierce if nothing happened as I could clearly feel bruising.

Ah… Am I really just that brittle? I can't be, right?

I looked over at Kagu who had this face of pure innocence that would fool anyone into thinking that I had managed to inflict this pain on myself.

D-Damn… If he wasn't so cute I'd be furious!

I huffed and again tried to redouble my attention to the words. It was getting interesting before I had been bamboozled. Where was I?

I focused once again on the pages.

The two lingered together for a time, staring into each other's eyes. The creature broke out into cries of anguish as it leaned on Remiel, hanging onto his naked form. He reached out and embraced it and at that moment, the ichor that had been leaking from the creature shot into Remiel. His veins shown through his skin as his blood underwent a rapid transmutation, leaving him with a pallid image. Defiled to the very core of his being, Remiel turned away from the Entity, who was following behind his form and returned to the rest of humanity. What exactly happened thereafter is unknown, but after a period of silence, Humanity as a whole came out in violent rebellion with the new power of the mysterious entity. Together with the Sky and our descendant species war was waged on the lost children.

End of page.

I flipped over to the next page, continuing where I had left off.

The newfound power of Humanity proved formidable for even our combined efforts and so took many years of warfare. Many caretakers of both the earth and the sky were captured and taken apart by the new humanity. Some had been turned into weapons, others had been turned into jewelry, and all were sentient for the entirety of the process. Humanity had made sport of hunting us.

This relentless assault continued for many years until the side of Humanity had cannibalized itself from within. The children of the union between the strange entity and Remiel had created beings of unparalleled strength. These halflings had short pointed ears and horns that protruded from their foreheads. They wrought a savage war on Humanity so grievous that Humanity itself had withdrawn from the grand stage of conflict. In our fear and foolishness, we assumed that they would turn their power against us and so we struck-

I blinked and gently pressed my fingers against the edge of the page. It had been ripped in half, as a matter of fact, the pages afterward were also torn up if not completely missing.

"That's strange…" I said as I checked the rest of the pages.

"It's all just… ripped apart or outright missing."

Is it really so important to hide this history? Or is it just that old? I wonder.

I idly ran my hand through my hair as I ran over the thoughts in my head.

Meanwhile, Kagu had since returned to his strange vegetative state whilst once again staring at me.

I closed the book and set it aside. It was rated as a beginner-level book by Isaea so I'll likely find more information about it later if I just keep my studies up.