A Substance Not Of This World Comes From The Ethereal World
A Substance Not Of This World Comes From The Ethereal World
We all have heard of the power of meditations, mantras, and repetitive rituals that don’t mean nothing, and are all vanity.
Although these may have some sort of limited power, these powers don’t compare to the one whose name is above every name. If you don’t know this name, you must look for him in ancient writings of the East. With reading eyes may you see and perceive his name.
Besides all…
The land of Tartaros was a magical and mysterious place. It was a place where creatures and monsters of all shapes and sizes lived in relative peace. New arrivals popped up with little to no warning and little memory of the world that they originally hailed from. Unlike the Northern Garden, and its heavenly like atmosphere, the citizens could take on all sorts of appearances. It wasn’t too unusual for some of Tartaros’ people to only look vaguely human like.
At the center of it all laid the capital of Insomnia, where people lived in almost a perpetual twilight. The rulers of Tartaros lived in the citadel in the center of the city, The Royal Calum Family. They were blessed with strong magical powers, but were rather benevolent rulers.
Legend has stated that the price of such infinite power was the user’s sanity. If the magic is not able to be contained in the original vessel then it will run amok and eventually consume everything that the person once was. In order to control their ever-growing power that they must share their magic with only those whom they trust with their life. Those who are gifted the use of their lord’s magic are then bound into a familiar’s servant contract and share the burden of carrying the immense weight of sharing their life force with their master.
While most people with an aptitude for magic only required one or two familiars in a life time the royal family required far more. People with strong magic have been said to feel the pull of their magic leading them towards their ideal familiars. It is as if the magic is showing which sort of person makes the best container for the type of magic the original user has. Royal children often needed to have a bound familiar before they reached puberty. Usually the first person to be bound is the first friend the child makes. After that it is rare for one to need another familiar until they reach the adult hood. The current prince already had two, and by Tartaros standards he was still a child.
“Noctis! The council is enraged that you have declined yet another candidate for your next familiar.” The cloaked man dictated as he adjusted his glasses. His face scared over one of his eyes. Old burn wounds that were hidden behind the tinted glass. “While I know that this traditionally is a very personal decision.... You do understand that if you can’t find another familiar soon that your magic will become too much for us to bear, right? We might have no other choice in the matter as long as your magic continues to grow in such an alarming rate...”
“Ignis, Stop being such a worry wort.” The Prince replied as he stretched his arms over his head and let his large black wings sit freely. “You act as if I haven’t been seeking a new familiar at all for the past couple of weeks. We just haven’t found the right sort of person to add to our group yet. Besides I can feel my magic calling out to someone in the city. It is faint, but I know they are out there. Anyways, isn’t it better to bond with the one my magic is seeking out anyways?”
“Be it as it may I’m afraid we might not be able to afford the luxury of taking time with this one.” The man called Ignis replied. “Your father is growing more concerned by the day. Please do understand that while he does not wish to force you to form a contract with Lady Lunafreya against your will he is only trying to protect you from the dangers of being destroyed by your own powers.”
“Luna already has her own responsibilities to her own people in the Garden. She loves her land and her people with all of her heart. I’m not about to force my childhood friend to sacrifice all of that to live here in Insomnia with us. She wouldn’t be able to be happy here.” Noctis replied. “Besides her brother isn’t very keen on the idea either. I’d rather not have to deal with him more than I have to.”
A massive man who was walking quietly besides Prince Noctis finally entered the conversation. “You have to admit that Prince Charmless here has a point, Iggy. Besides this isn’t the first time they tried to force their own political agendas on him. Before Luna, they wanted to have him form the contract with that Drautos guy with the shady connections. Even Cor was against that one.”
“I’m well aware of that, Gladio.” Ignis sighed. “I’m am not fond of giving into them either, but time is running out. I fear we may have only a month left before we have to swallow our pride and accept one of their offers.”
“Well....I’m going to refuse to talk about any more idiotic ideas that involve dealing with potential political discord.” Gladio stated. “Nothing that involves political families either. Some of those guys just want to get their hands on the position of Noctis’ familiar in order to gain more political power, and those are exactly the people who would not keep Noctis’ best intentions in mind.”
“Well hopefully tomorrow I can spend more time actually looking for my own familiar rather than being stuck in boring meetings about the council about the subject. “Noctis yawned. “Sometimes I swear they just love to meddle in other people’s personal business.”
“Indeed.” Ignis smartly replied.
“Think it’s about time for us to hit the hay for the night?” Gladio responded with a yawn.
“I suppose it will be alright to retire for the evening.” Ignis sighed. “Although I will expect Noct to be ready to start the day nice and early tomorrow.”
Prince Noctis rolled his eyes. It wasn’t like Ignis ever let him sleep in anyways. Or at least he hasn’t ever since he first became Noctis’ familiar. “Yay. Bed time."
Soon enough the three men retired to the Prince’s wing of the citadel for the night.
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Ignis had awoken the Prince far too early in the morning. Although that could be said about every morning. It was widely known how much the Prince enjoyed his sleep. He could probably sleep through an entire millennium if someone let him. By the time he was awake enough to be functioning his breakfast was already prepared and Gladio was already finished with his morning practice and was eating his own meal.
On the long table in the dining area sat various breakfast foods. Eggs, Bacon, Toast, hash browns, to a paleo meat breakfast and green smoothie that Gladio was already eating. Already waiting in the Prince’s usual spot was a glass of juice made out of all sorts of fruit.
“Thanks specs.” Noctis said as he took a big bite out of the piece of toast in his hand. “As usual this is delicious.”
“Enjoy.” Ignis responded with a small smile on his face.
“So, what’s the game plan for after breakfast?” Gladio inquired in between sips of his green smoothie.
“If at all possible, I believe we should depart from the citadel as soon as possible.” Ignis replied. “Perhaps we should split up and try to explore the town. Since our time is running thin it would be best to cover as much ground as we can. I’m sure that someone out there will be the perfect candidate for us.”
“Sounds good enough for me.” Noctis replied. “I’m thinking that I’ll head to the old castle plaza on the outskirts of town. While it is rare, occasionally someone will pop up there. Since it is farther from the citadel it might explain why their presence seems so faint to me.”
“I’ll head to the city proper.” Gladio replied. “Iris has already been on the lookout for some candidates at my father’s request. Although I have no idea if she has made any progress yet. In any case my sister seems to be quite friendly with most of the people around, so if I feel our magic acting up then I can have her identify who they are.”
Ignis took another sip from his black coffee. “In that case I’ll check in with the new recruits for the Crown’s Guard. While it might be unlikely perhaps, they have already been right under our noses this entire time. Also, it would be good to scope out any families that are just trying to use this occasion to try and earn political favors.”
“Sounds like a plan then.” Noctis nodded as he played a bit with his breakfast on the plate in front of him. “Iggy....Since you are going to remain nearby make sure to at least let my father know of our intentions today. He might be able to come up with something to distract the council from trying to interfere.”
The rest of their breakfast went by quickly. All of them eager to set out and find their ‘new’ companion. One by one they began to go their separate ways, and agreed to meet by the Kenny Crow statue in the city plaza before the twilight darkened into the deep of night. If by chance they found the missing link, then their linked magic would alert the others just by being near them.
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The Old Castle Plaza was just as abandoned and decrepit as it usually was. As a small boy, Noctis used to use this place as his own little hideout. He hadn’t been there in over a decade or so, but this area hadn’t seemed to change one bit. While almost every fiber of Noctis’ being was telling him that no one was there, his magic on the other hand, seemed to indicate that he was going in the right direction.
The Prince decided that the best thing to do would be to fly over the location. Normally this would be an action that the Prince would try and avoid since it tended to draw a lot of attention, but since he was so far away from the city proper it would be worth the risk. From a higher vantage point he would be able to spot if anyone was hanging around. Noctis would also be able to spy spots that he would have to check out on foot.
His attention was drawn to a figure by an abandoned bell tower. Cautiously Noctis landed to check the person out. His magic was telling him that his new familiar was close by, but there was an ominous air surrounding the man. Something about him just seemed to be off about him.
“The twilight is beautiful at this time of day. Such a shame that this place has been abandoned. The view from here is spectacular.” The man said as he turned around to greet Noctis. “Don’t you think so as well?”
The light seemed to illuminate the man’s figure. Several things stood out at first glance. The man’s face was obstructed by the hat and scarf that the stranger wore. Blood red hair peaked out. The stranger’s clothes were worn, old, and in tatters in some places. It was like seeing a living and breathing ghost from the past.
“What’s that? Cat caught your tongue, child?” The man chuckled. He started walking towards Noctis. Although there was nothing unusual about the way he moved each foot step seemed menacing. As if the man was a hunter stalking a new born calf. “No matter....I must be on my way now. I do hope you find your Highness. Ta ta for now.”
As soon as the man past the prince it was like he vanished into thin air. There was no sign of him anywhere. The Prince wasn’t sure what to make of it? He would never admit it out loud but something about that man made his hairs stand on end. One thing was for sure though, Noctis was relieved that whoever that was is gone now.
After a few seconds Noctis was able to regain his focus on the task at hand. Upon still feeling the pull of his magic leading him forward he could start his search again. Now he at least knew for sure that the strange man he encountered was not in fact the once his magic was leading him to.
The Prince made his way into the abandoned bell tower building where he hoped the one, he was looking for was contained within. There were doors anymore. The only thing keeping people out was some wooden planks nailed to the front of the building, but even that seemed to have been done half assed. It was easy enough to remove the boards and go inside.
There was a ton of dust inside. Enough that it made Noctis cough a few times. It was faint but the Prince could hear something moving on the floor above him. The sound was not like normal footsteps that you would hear a person make. Instead they seemed to be much smaller and lighter sounding.
Noctis looked around for any clues to the owner of the foot prints. Nothing seemed to have been moved much inside, but very faintly he could make out what seemed to be a trail of tiny paw prints. With nothing else to go off of Noct decided to follow them to see where they lead.
Sure enough, the tiny paw trail leads up a rickety flight of stairs. The upper floor was mostly clean surprisingly. It was nothing like the previous area. A small table sat in the middle of the room with a single chair. Several crates and dressers lined the walls. On the far end of the room was a makeshift bed made out of old linins.
As the Prince entered the room, he could hear the faint sounds of something moving yet again. The sounds came from an area that had several crates stacked up. Curiously the Prince continued towards that direction and was amazed about what he had found.
In a gap behind the boxes was a tiny golden kitten. The poor thing was shaking uncontrollably. Once it saw Noctis however it did its best to puff up and make probably the least threatening hiss in the world. It would have been more intimidating if the hiss hadn’t come out as a squeak that broke half way through it.
Still looking at the cat, Noctis could feel something inside him saying that this was going to be his new familiar. His magic had led the way to it and now it was unmistakable. He had finally found it.
