Emirie in Aetherspace:

Chapter VII: A note from Yellow

Everyone has the capacity for doing what is good. Being good is the natural
state of being. To live is to be social. One cannot exist completely on your
own. You will always have to relate to someone somehow. Thus you come to extend
and give of yourself to others, in hopes that it will be given back to you.
Well, that's what a philosopher would tell you anyway. Emirie was not so sure
though. She couldn't say how others viewed the question of Good and Evil, but
for her, it was personal belief. She didn't save Toi because he was her friend
and she wanted a friend back, she didn't do it because Toi had given Emirie a
chance to escape, and thus put her in debt to him, she didn't save him to be a
hero or punish some wrongdoing. She did it because... because it was the RIGHT
thing to do. The intellectual may try to create a logical solution to how
everyone acts, but emotions were not made to be logical. Unfortunately for
Emirie, that also meant she had no logical course of action to take against this
mad... creature.

"Wait, wait, wait. Slow down." Emirie lifts her paws before herself in a feeble
attempt to shield herself from the lunatic. "Why do you want to hurt me? I've
never done anything to you."

"Not this body no." The sword shrinks down to a knife again, and the woman
starts to fiddle with it. "Ah, you probably don't remember do you? I really did
overestimate you. To think that this is the shard that imprisoned me so long
ago. Well, it is an entertaining tale at the very least. And hey, this time I'll
make sure that you're not reborn. You other two listen as well. Maybe you'll
learn to serve me and realize the folly of going against me." She points the tip
of the knife down on Emirie. "You probably don't know, but I was aware all the
time. Every single moment crept by slowly, but I was chained and could do
nothing but observe as the centuries passed me by. For someone normal, that
would have been a waste of time, but for me, I would spend the time thinking.
Like I've always done better than you. I think, and thus I act better than you.
A being of logic, cold and pure." She gives Emirie a dispassionate smile.
"Unlike you. You have always been an emotional fool. It will be a relief to cut
you away, like I've done with the rest."

"You seem to be under the impression that we know what the nil you are talking
about." Toi snarls towards her. "You don't sound like a logical creature. And
why do you look like that anyway. You're most definitely not a human."

The woman turns her attention away from Emirie, and the young furrikin
immediately look around for something to help her out of this situation. Saria
seems petrified with fear, so Emirie can't rely on her. Toi is at least keeping
the woman distracted for the time being but... then she notices it. "Oh, how
clever of you to notice. This shape is a strange one indeed, but it is perfectly
balanced in all aspects, and thus it only fits that I take such a perfect
shape." Toi snorts loudly in clear disagreement. "But you call it human? Such an
odd name to give it, and even stranger still is the fact that you have seen it
before. And here I thought that I had crafted an unique body for myself. Ah
well, it only ascertains my genius if it has evolved at a later stage. But
enough about that. Seeking knowledge is a good thing to do." Her gaze rests on
Toi for a short while, her face turning into something almost resembling
friendliness. "You're a smart one. Maybe I won't have to kill you."

"You know, you speak as if I am already dead. However, I would like to object
to that." The woman turns back to Emirie just as the young furrikin curls up and
roll between her legs. Moving quickly, Emirie grabs hold of the chain which has
gotten tangled into the feet of the "human" and yanks it, sending her sprawling.
While the woman is struggling to take the chains of her feet, Emirie bolts up on
her feet and dashes towards the exit. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

Toi and Saria stare at Emirie in surprise for a moment, before they too hurry
towards the exit. The woman hot in pursuit after them. Emirie runs through the
dark passage, fear giving wings to her feet. Finally she reaches the exit, which
she tumbles out of, followed by Saria and Toi in quick succession. She turns
with a desperate look to find that the woman has almost reached them, when
suddenly a wall of ice springs out from nothingness and blocks of the passage,
creating a loud "bang" as the woman crashes into the wall from the other side.
Emirie glances around for the source, and finds three of the tail-creatures
standing in the stairs. She also notices that one of them has folded his tail so
that it looks like an arrow, and is pointing it at the wall of ice. "Huh? Did
those things just..." Toi begins, but his voice trails off in a cringe as
another crash sounds from the wall. "Nevermind. That wall won't hold long. We
need to get out of here."

"Yeah. Come Saria." Emirie helps Saria up in standing position, before they all
run up the stairs to meet the small animals. As they approach them, the two
smallest turn and begin to run up the stairs, while the biggest merely steps out
of the way, maintaining a steadfast gaze on the ice. Emirie feels that she
should say something, but words fail her and she instead follows the two smaller
tailers up on the first floor.

Up there, Emirie stops to look around for the animals, but can't see them
anywhere. Toi runs a few steps past her, before he notices that she's no longer
running and turns towards her. "Hey Emirie. What's the hold up. We need to get
out of here."

"No, wait..." Emirie scans the room, before she finally spots the tip of a
tailer tail disappearing up on the floor above. "These creatures, they seem up
to something. Quick, get Saria out. I'm going to follow them."

"Emirie no. Don't you dare. You've made enough of a mess already." Toi shouts
out as Emirie begins to climb the stairs.

"Yes Toi. I've made a mess, now get her out. It's me that monster wants. Not
you. So get your sorry tail out of here and take Saria with you. Now!"

"Emirie!" She hears Toi echoing her name up the stairs, but she refuses to
listen to him. Someone wanted her dead, but she would in no way go out without a
fight, or let anyone else get hurt in the process. Up on the second floor, she
finds that the building still hasn't split into two towers. The room she is in
is flat and nondescript, with only a few bulbs of light in the roof, and two
tailers standing in the middle of the room, poking at the floor for something.
Emirie walks over to them and finds that they are toying with a loose tile in
the floor. She helps them take it off and finds not one but two booklets. The
pages are old and brittle, and crumble at the edges when Emirie touches them.
Still she figures that there must be a reason for the creatures to want her to
find them, so she opens the first page and begins to read. Surprisingly, despite
the poor state of the paper, the ink is as clear as day, making it incredibly
easy for Emirie to read it.

"I am who I am. I am the daughter of Emotion and Spirit. The blood of divinity
is in my veins. I am a refuge from the soulless, a seeker of peace and a place
without the fell beasts. I am the one who sees into the future. The sun to my
moon. The day to my night. I am Yellow."

Emirie looks up from the book she just began reading, her face a mix of
confusion and comprehension when a loud crash comes from below. The dangerous
woman must have finally managed to break free. Emirie looks around the room for
an exit, and before her eyes, the walls on the western side of the room shimmer
out of existence, revealing stairs leading even further up. Emirie wonders how
and why, but has no time to dawdle and quickly moves towards the stairs. In a
short moment, she realize that she only has one of the books. She hesitates,
wondering if she should run to retrieve the book, or run onwards for now.
Finally, she decides that it is too much of a risk to grab the book, and instead
she starts to run up the stairs while flipping through the book, reading what is
written there.

"Dear reader. You are lost, confused and scared. Fleeing from someone who wants
you to die just because you are who you are. You have only wished to do what is
good, but somehow it has just turned for the worse. You want the fighting to
stop, find out what is happening and understand why... I don't know your name,
what you look like or where you come from, but I know one thing. You are me
reborn." Emirie looks up from the book for a moment. She has subconsciously
kept on running up the winding stairs, and now exhaustion is starting to kick
in. Still she forces herself to keep on going. Further up she can see soft light
pouring in from windows in the tower, and the breath of fresh air gives her the
motivation to forge on. Again she returns to the book, which makes another claim
that she's someone else reborn.

"We both have very little time. Soon, I will no longer be able to write, and
soon you will no longer be able to read. It is important that you listen and do
not question what I say here. The one chasing you now is one whom I will name
Mind, and she is the mother of my companion Blue. Long ago, during the vernal
wars, our parents whom I will only call Emotion, Mind, Spirit and Body sought a
way to flee from the horrible Soulless. Though the Edifices of Power had been
created, and Vernals were created to combat this plague, even they were
powerless before these monsters. Though they were not Vernals themselves, the
four were all very powerful mortals and knowledgeable regarding the planes.
Searching through the aether, they found this place, a bubble of life, much
smaller than the Prime Material Plane, but still, or perhaps because of that, it
was a haven of life and the living, unnoticed by the hunger of the Soulless. The
four poured over their studies, and finally they found a way to travel to this
place, and not a moment too soon. The soulless attacked. In a desperate bid to
save themselves and their kin, the four managed to craft an unstable gate here.
Several citizens and animals ran through the gate in hopes that it would lead to
salvation. Others still ran away from the gate, not trusting it and thus they
were lost to the soulless. As you are me, you should now be thinking, "why do
you tell me this if you know that I'm about to be eviscerated?" and I will tell
you so now." Emirie sighs and looks up, she couldn't run any longer. Her legs
were heavy, and breathing was painful. Tears flowed in her eyes, making it
difficult to read, or even see, but the book was right. It was so incredibly
painfully right and accurate and... Emirie leans against a window and gazes out
at the world outside. From up here with such an excellent view, she found that
it was a truly beautiful place. But... she returned to the book. The short break
had given her energy to force herself to keep climbing. Somewhere on those pages
there had to be a solution.

"When the soulless attacked, Mind was their first and only line of defense.
Using her strength, she managed to divert the attention of the soulless long
enough to get all refuges through the gate, though not long enough to get
herself through it. No one but Mind knows what really happened there, as the
Soulless feasted on the city of old, but Body, Spirit and Emotion all waited on
the other side of the gate, hoping and praying for Mind to come. When all hope
seemed lost, Mind stumbled through the gate and collapsed before her three
friends. They destroyed the portal and tried to nurse Mind back to health, but
it was obvious that she was changed. You do understand what I'm trying to say
right? Mind was a hero, who lost herself in the battle against the soulless
fiends. And now I, you, Blue... we all understand that. That despite the good
she did, she is now a danger to all." Emirie stops for a moment to catch her
breath. This is all too much for her. Soulless, quasi-deities, magical gates
through the aether, a race of refuges from the vernal wars... and a hero she has
to defeat because she lost her mind. Life isn't fair. Not fair at all. The faint
sound of quick steps reach Emirie's ears, a clear sign that Mind is in hot
pursuit.

"Now, I come to what is interesting for you. The tower that you are in. It was
a design by Spirit, built by Body, and it contains a marvelous contraption, the
bells of Harmony, crafted by Emotion. When these bells ring, they can create a
melody to greatly alter your state of being. The music can make you happy, sad,
stronger or weaker. They had hoped to use the bells both to keep peace in this
new land, and to heal Mind, who had fallen into a catatonic state. For a long
time, life was good. The animals we brought with us flourished, the earth
provided bountiful harvests and we were safe from the threat of the soulless. It
was then that me and Blue were born. The three leaders who had brought us to
safety chose us to be their successors. We were taught the history I just told
you, how the towers work, and about Mind... it was then it happened. Mind awoke,
and it became clear how changed she was. She no longer held any regard for
kindness, compassion or emotions. Only cold and pure logic mattered to her now.
She was intoxicated with her own might, and found herself to be superior to
everyone around her. Much like what you have seen. In her cruel new pursuit for
power, she almost destroyed the Startails, a type of beast with psychic
abilities, the ability to sense and command wind and incredibly long tails.
Maybe you have seen them? Regardless, it was then that it was decided that Mind
could not be allowed to act freely again. They took Mind to this tower, and take
note of this, they turned the music from the bells of Harmony against her in an
attempt to put her back to sleep. However, they underestimated her. When Mind
found out that she had been lured into a trap, she killed Body and Spirit, and
mortally injured Emotion before she finally fell asleep. With her final breath,
Emotion bound her rapidly diminishing spirit to me and Blue, making us eternal
guardians of this tower. Do you understand? You are me reborn. You being here is
not a coincidence. It was predestined that you would come here, and
unfortunately, it is also destiny that you would awaken Mind. But I am getting
ahead of myself." Emirie mutters in agreement, before she looks up again. She
has finally reached the top of the tower. She can't run any longer. Here, she
will have to stand and fight... but how? Desperately she turns back to the book,
trying to finish reading it as quickly as possible.

"After Mind had been put to sleep and Emotion passed away, a period of peace
followed. Me and Blue would both take care of the tower, learning how to play
the bells to keep peace in this land, and preparing for this day. You see, Mind
has woken up once more. And this time we cannot merely lull her to sleep. As I
am writing this, Mind is chasing me. Blue has crafted a chain which we will fill
with the music from the bells. I pray that it will succeed, and that there will
still be a world here for you to save when you arrive. You have to put Mind back
to sleep. I wish there was a way to destroy her, as cruel as it sounds that is
the only way to create lasting peace, but there isn't. None that I know about.
To defeat her, you have to..." Emirie blinks as a swift force knocks the book
out of her grip. She stares in the direction where the book went, and see it
stuck to the wall with a knife sticking out of the covers. She turns back, and
curses the fates inwardly for hating her so much.

"Mind..."

"Oh, so you remember me now?" The cruel woman takes a few more steps forward
and stands before Emirie. "It's time to die now. You have interfered with my
plans for the last time."

"Wait... Mind, tell me what happened to you. Why do you want to do this. You
used to be a hero."a

"A hero, hmm?" She smiles and reaches out to grab Emirie. The young furrikin
barely manages to dodge out of the way. "There is nothing to learn from being a
hero."

"You're wrong!" Emirie states as she backs out of the tower and onto a small
bridge that links the two towers. "What you learned made you a hero. You saved
so many lives with the knowledge you got. Why don't you see that?"

"Frankly, it does bore me to hear you talk. Which is both a pity and partly
impressive." Mind steps out on the bridge after Emirie. "I have thrown away my
feelings, they do only get in the way."

"Mind... please. It doesn't have to end like this." Emirie reaches out her paw
towards Mind, wearing her brightest smile.

"Don't waste your smile on me." Mind growls. "It is no use. It is a waste. You
shouldn't bother showing warmth. It is only temporary. Just like you." Mind
lunges forward and grabs hold of Emirie, before she holds the young furrikin
over the edge of the bridge. "It was nice... back when I was still as worthless
as what you are. But things are different now. You betrayed me. You all betrayed
me. You are dangerous barriers that stand in the way of new knowledge. Now...
goodbye."

And with those words, Mind throws Emirie off the bridge.