Strena Animéga Part One

 Rest

Strena opened her book and wrote down the adventures of the River Towns over the past couple of months. Then she came to the part where they came up with the plot to thwart Bash’s mother’s plot to marry her off to one of the worst kings of the Sky Kingdoms, King Skipher, by having her marry her Uncle Zaryb once she turned eighteen, which was only two years away, and had freed him from Wolfox.

She looked up to her uncle as her hand touched the spot where the Artemis necklace used to be. For a moment, she could feel it’s ghost there. Almost like it was still there. Yet, after stroking her neck, she was able to remind herself that it was long since gone. In fact it had been more than two years since then and she was shocked at how she could still feel it's ghost around her neck. Yet her hand finally dropped once she had finished her journal entry.

They soon arrived at Animéga. She felt her jaw drop as she saw the high temples that had floors stacked upon the lower like the floor below was supposed to be the roof but the architects wanted another floor and they did not bother getting rid of the roof of the edge. Making it look beautiful. She could see twin longs at each entrance with red gates where people were going to and fro at one side of the gate. The homes were all wooden and made up of rooms and open door corridors with stone gardens with a piece of bamboo collecting water from a small stream and it dropped to a small pool with orange, coral and reddish orange fish swimming. Then the bamboo flicked up. She saw strange trees that grew pink petals instead of leaves and wisteria grew in an arch and dangled over the water.

She opened the journal and quickly painted them all and used her magic to dry the paint. Then she put it away.

They could feel at peace in the sound of silence and running water. Then they docked at the river. Soon they all picked up all their belongings before setting their barge on fire that had been their home for the past three months. Suddenly Strena felt a tug in her heart as she looked at the fire. It seemed like she was forever leaving one home after the other. It also seemed like she was never going to stay at one place that she could call home for more than a year. 

She wondered if she would ever find a place like that? Would she ever have a place that she would call her own? Would she belong to a place? Would she ever belong to anyone for that matter? She touched her F shaped scar.

No. I don’t think so. She concluded slightly bitterly. 

She walked after the group. She could feel her throat tighten as the barge sank beneath the waves.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Cerpheres purred in her ear.

She let out a scream as she went to punch him. He caught it as he smiled as his eyes widened.

“Well that wasn’t very nice!”

“Neither is sneaking up on people like that!”

He relaxed his smile as he let out a chuckle.

“What?”

“You’re adorable. You sound just like those two beauties over there!”

She felt a ripple of shock run throughout her body as she looked at Bash and Chashathrophogh. She frowned as they approached an inn. It was the size of a small road back in the West. That had two floors on each building in the shape of a circle with a pool in the centre like the ones that she wrote about in the journal about the River Towns and a small open café. All built of wood. They walked to the innkeeper.

He had long white hair with the upper section tied up in a bun that pointed up at the back and narrow black eyes. His nose and chin were pointed. He wore a cotton blue robe that looked more like a dressing gown.

What a beautiful old man! She thought as Chashathrophogh signed them in.

They all paid for their rooms and dinner and breakfast. Soon they had their food brought to them. They were given a bowl of water to wash their hands and rice. Soon the table was covered in food that she had never seen before.

“Here, try the sushi.” Purred Cerpheres.

Strena, out of mere curiosity did and she found that she liked it. She then tried it with the sauce and found that she did not like the sauce. This was followed by Chashathrophogh who also liked the sushi without the sauce. Yet Zaryb and Bash tried the sushi and did not like it then tried it with the sauce and liked it a little bit.

“Now, we will do only two things here. One, take care of Kitsuné Ryu, the Masked Dragon of the East and two, Dark Lord Gajellidor and Dark Lady Grasharlo. We can sense that he has only just reached the final island of Animéga’s Southern Archipelago. Once we have reached him, we will get that box and break this Demon Realm Destined spell both me and my dear niece together.”

“Then I can finally get my bounty!” Strena and Bash said together. Then they looked at each other with a frown.

Wow! I really do sound like them!

So she just ate in silence as they continued to talk.

“Yes. Then after that we will work on freeing Zarry from Wolfox.”

“And what about Dark Lady Grasharlo?”

“We will soon think about that bridge when we come to it.”

Strena nodded as she rubbed her scar. Soon she ate her full and grew tired.

“Where’s the room that we will be staying in?”

“The one that’s closest to the exit.”

She nodded as she reached it. She soon crashed her head into the pillows and closed her eyes.

She saw the man again and she killed him again and left her empire of blood behind her. She woke up needing to loo. So she walked out of the room and found it and did her business. Once she had left, she saw Chashathrophogh sitting alone. He drank from a cup bowl of saki that looked like a Swiss dolls hat. She soon sat down next to him and looked up at the starry sky.

“Seems like things are coming to an end.”

“I wouldn’t say that, girl.”

“Why not?”

“Things are far too unpredictable. Sometimes when things seem to come to an end, life leads you down a different path. After all, I thought it all would come to an end almost two years ago. But Gajellidor was stronger.”

She nodded.

“I think it will be three years in a couple of months.”

He nodded.

“So do you think that it’ll happen? Do you think that Uncle Zaryb and Bounty Hunter Bash will marry when she turns eighteen?”

He shrugged.

“Can't say that I know.”

She looked down.

To think that I might be related to this man if that happens…

“Did you have any uncles?”

“No.”

“And what happened between you and your parents? I know your bounty says that you killed your parents but why did you do that?”

“They tried to assassinate me.”

She let out a gasp as her eyes widened in shock. Yet she could not help but cry.

“Are-are you alright?”

He shrugged.

“Better than you would expect.” He said as he looked at her.

His eyes widened as he looked aside as he wiped her tears away with an almost sweet melancholic smile.

“Save them for someone worth your tears.”

“B-but is that-is that why you became evil as you did?”

He looked down.

“Guess so. After I ran away, I met Grasharlo and Zarry. Honestly, she knew how to make you addicted to the darkness.”

She looked down, remembering her time with the Dark Lady. Suddenly she felt cold as she remembered the feeling that she got when she tortured Zaryb.

“Did she give you anything?”

He narrowed his eyes and nodded.

“An amulet that I lost shortly after I met my dear niece. Although, at that point, I didn’t need it.”

She found herself resting on his arm like she used to with her father.

“And when we can get these off, what will happen?”

“Can’t say that I know. Do you?”

She shook her head as she thought of the recurring dream. She felt strangely calm and comfortable in this man’s presence. It reminded her of the feeling she got with her parents. In the time before she knew what her father was really like. Soon her eyes blinked and he too started to blink until they both fell asleep.

“Wakey, wakey, sleeping beauties!”

They punched Cerpheres as they got up. He chuckled.

“You two are like father and daughter!”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Never mind!”

“Well, I thought you should know it’s time for breakfast.”

They nodded as they were both feeling well rested and set off.