((Currently still a WIP. I'm aiming for this to be a three part story; Showing what is happening with Shalisa, what is happening with Haleona, and finally the ending where the two events (and woman) come together. Not quite happy with the current set-up of how these 3 stories are woven together. Has to be a better way to do this... *ponders* Anyway, Shali's story (part 1) is not entirely finished, but nearing completion. Same for Haleona's story, with the difference that the main point of that story is already made.))

Part 1
Shalisa took a deep breath and hesitantly opened her eyes. A sun tried to rise in a sky she knew it would never conquer. Its red light painted the clouds and the sky in a surreal light. The whole scene had the feel of that perfect sunset in spring, where the clouds and sky wrap around you like a warm blanket. Was it that kind of warmth? Shalisa wondered and almost regretted her detachment. She looked at her dress which remained unaffected by the red light and instead gave off a faint white glow of its own. A few wispy clouds passed her as she looked down at nothing. They passed her vertically. “Oh dear, I came in too high…” She raised her arms to chest level, the palms of her hands facing eachother. She focused her gaze and soon a glass like orb took shape between her hands, growing in size as she spread her hands further apart. Sitting down on the orb, she felt the intensity of the wind increase as she forced the orb down at high speed.

At last the world appeared. Mountains, a lush forest, a small lake and a marble city. Like an island in the sky. There wasn’t exactly an end to the landscape, but she knew that what she was looking at wasn’t a normal horizon either. It was so easy to fall into that trap, thinking all of this is real. Closing in on the city she slowed down. The white marble appeared red in the presence of the fake sunrise. The streets were clean and not a single grain of sand dared to be ill-positioned.

She stopped a good 15 meters above the empty square. “Isildien..?” “Welcome to my humble abode.” The voice from the ground caught her off guard, and she almost lost her balance as the orb dropped a few meters closer to the ground. Focus. The man bowed down deep and graciously. “I startled you. I am ever so sorry.” Shalisa shook her head and smiled apologetically. “I should have known you would find me here.” She turned the orb to face him and made it descend a few more meters to look him in the eye. The momentarily changing of his clothes betrayed his reaction to Shalisa’s appearance. “It is only appropriate to properly greet a lady such as yourself.” She successfully suppressed a giggle, such a charmer.

A stone behind him choose to take flight and changed into a ball of yellow light, Shalisa welcomed this event and followed it with interest to avoid having to respond to him. He looked at her with amusement. “Is it an unusual sight?” “Who’s to say? I am not that experienced in this.” He reached out his hand and helped her to the ground. “Ever so modest. This is exactly why, I am sure, you are the one who can help me.” Shalisa touched the orb and it shrunk, casually balancing it on her left hand while looking at the surrounding buildings. Could she really help? She wasn’t so sure herself.

“Is this Isildien?” “As it should be.” the entire city became even more vivid as he said this. She focused her gaze on him again. “Is it? As it should be?” Clouds started to gather in the sky. “Why do I have the feeling this isn’t about Isildien anymore?” Shalisa twirled around while catching the ball of yellow light in her right hand. “Because it isn’t.” She walked up to him and released the light a few inches from his face, letting it ascend to the sky and drift away. “It’s all so vividly beautiful.” “Hearing you say that makes me happy. I did all this for you.” “For me?” “Of course. It’s not that often that I get visitors here, so I thought I’d clean this place up.” Shalisa sighed and looked at him with pity. “How can I help you if you hide things from me? You said you had lost your peace of mind, that you were being torn apart by sadness and guilt. How am I to help you get rid of that if you hide the problem?” She blinked and looked down at a reproachful little boy. “Sowwy… But…but… you’ll get scared! And... and… you will think bad of me! Please don’t hate me!” She kneeled down and stroked his cheek. “Now now, don’t worry about such things. I don’t get scared that easily, and I will never hate you. Never.” The boy’s sobbing lessened. “You promise?” Shalisa nodded and rose to her feet. “I promise. Now, be a big boy and show me what’s real.” She took the boy’s hand and pulled the man to his feet.

“I am sorry you had to see that. But, that is the truth.” She smiled at him from atop the orb. “That’s good, as what I said was the truth as well. Now, if you don’t mind?” The picture perfect sky was the first to show cracks. It started with little chunks, but soon entire clouds were falling from the sky. She giggled at the man as he jumped around to avoid the pieces that were falling and disappeared before they could hit the ground. “You should watch the shadows. If you’re standing in a shadow, you need to move away.” “You’re acting pretty high and mighty from up there. Aren’t you worried you’ll get hit?” “Why would I get hit?” He motioned to a large chunk that was falling in a collision course with the priestess. She looked up at the piece of sky that was coming closer and closer. “Oh.”

It was quite a magnificent sight. It was like standing in an enormous building of which the ceilings plasterwork was falling down in increasingly large bits. Or, not quite. It was a sealing upon which a breathtaking mural had been painted. Shalisa looked at the piece that was coming towards her and then calmly looked at the man with a faint smile. He looked at her with growing disbelief and concern. “Move!” She didn’t move. The piece continued to fall, and it fell right through Shalisa.

His expression changed from disbelief to admiration while Shalisa continued to smile. “What we were standing in wasn’t real. Well, even less real than everything else here. It could’ve hurt me, but only if you wanted it to.” “In other words, I’ve been making a complete fool out of myself?” “Perhaps. I don’t know. It might work different for you.” She looked around at the changed landscape. The city now lay in ruins underneath a pitch black sky. A strong wind forced its way through the ruins, making no sound. A deafening silence held the city in its grasp while 14 huge statues stood watch over the ruins.

The statues were all the same. They showed a woman in torn clothes with a sad yet stern face. Her bow appeared readied for battle, an arrow in place and ready to be released. Yet it pointed downwards, as if it had been lowered in defeat. The eyes bothered Shalisa. There was something about them she couldn’t quite place her finger on, and it weren’t the tears of blood coming from them. The tears cascaded down the stone faces like waterfalls, and once on the ground, formed little pools and rivers that ran through the streets. In some way, she had been preparing herself to see something like this.

“How sad…” She had seen ruined cities, she had seen blood. But this wasn’t the real world, not a place that would most certainly heal even if it took millennia. This was someone’s heart. Which meant these statues had to be her. She looked at him as he averted his gaze from the statues and the blood. She didn’t have the heart to ask him to confirm her suspicions. She tried to think of something comforting to say, but he didn’t allow her the time. “Can you get rid of them?” “The statues? It’s why I came right? I don’t think I can do it from here though.” Her gaze lingered at the little rivers to avoid the stare of the women. “Where do these run to?” The man shrugged. “Does it matter?” Shalisa nodded, her eyes still on the stream as she tried to determine where they were flowing to. “There!” She pulled him next to her on the orb and started to follow the stream. But then there was a noise. She looked over her shoulder to try and determine its origin. It was faint, and sounded somewhat like stone grinding on stone. “What was that?” “Huh?” “That sound. Did you hear it?” “No. There is no sound here. You probably just imagined it.” Oh, you’ll know if I imagine things, she thought. Regardless, the sound was gone now and she decided to keep on following the stream as it led them to the outskirts of the ruins.

There, in the middle of debris and broken marble, a swirling pattern in the pool of blood marked the place she’d been searching for. “This is it. This will take us to the source.” The man frowned as he looked down at the tiny maelstrom beneath them. “But… this is where it’s going, not where it’s from. This can’t lead us to the source.” “Normal physics don’t apply here. All of this is nothing but a representation of you. So one way or the other, all of it is connected. This memory however, should not connect to this place this strongly. But because it is connected this strongly, we can use this ‘exit’ as an entrance to the source.” She didn’t even give him time to process the information. “Shall we go then?” She had hardly finished the words, or she heard a sound again. Stone grinding on stone, and… something else. The sound of something large cutting through the air.

She looked around in apprehension. “No! It couldn’t be..!” Huge stone arrows were headed straight towards them. Shalisa kept her calm, preparing her defense. “Watch out!” He pulled her close and jumped into the blood below them. Falling down, she reached out her hand and absorbed the orb into it. Moments later, they hit the blood. Caught in the now much larger maelstrom, the pair was pulled down more and more by the stream.

Somewhere, somehow, the blood gained more density. It had started cluttering up, no longer completely enveloping them but instead leaving space between them and it as it changed its texture. From one moment to the next, it had left so much space that the pair was now falling down. Shalisa looked up and let out a sigh of relief as she didn’t see any arrows. She wondered smiled and looked around in wonder as the man covered his eyes and screamed. “I’m gonna die! Do something!” “Nonsense, you can’t die here.” She paused to think some more on this. “You can get lost, which is arguable worse, but not die.” The man dared to look down for a split second. “I cannot even see the ground!” “You shouldn’t look down, you should look around. It’s really quite pretty!” “That is not the point!!!” Shalisa went quiet as it dawned on her that she had problems of her own. All this time, she had been trying to summon her orb but was unsuccessful.

At last, she saw an outline which seemed to resemble something solid. Never one to dwell on set backs, she tried an alternative method. Ribbons. Usually summoned to restrain things, this alternative use was proving to be quite effective. She let out a sigh of relief as her falling slowed down, coming to a complete stop altogether while the man continued to fall. “Ah! I think I can see the ground!” He trusted her word, and answered with more intense screaming. “Just fly! You can do any-” there was a thud, and a subsequent stop of the screaming. “Oh…”

She gently lowered herself to the ground, landing next to the pile in which the man had fallen. The ribbons let go of the bookcases they had so carefully hooked themselves too, and returned to their original size while Shalisa scooped up some of the substance the pile was made of, before looking up to the top of the pile. “Are you all right in there?” Some of the flower petals fell to the ground like a small landslide as the man dug his way out of the pile. With her free hand, Shalisa pointed to the centre of the pile and then upwards. The man looked in amazement as he watched the two streams of flower petals circle around eachother, one going upwards, the other down. “This is..?” “This is what I was talking about when we were falling. Pretty isn’t it?” He jumped down to face her. “It is, but that doesn’t answer my question.” Shalisa raised her hand and blew the flower petals into his face. “This is the blood. The stream going upwards will become the blood and enter your ‘current sate of mind’, the stream coming down was the blood we fell in earlier.” While he looked at the heap of flower petals some more, Shalisa clearly saw her hand for the first time since they fell down. Her palm was covered with blood. Dry blood. She turned her back to him in shame and fear, knowing that she had to get rid of it as fast as possible. Only after calming down her fear was she able to summon her inner strength. The strongest weapon she could wield here, the knowledge of her flaws, her dreams, her strength… all that made her Shalisa; her self-awareness.

She glowed faintly and the blood clustered together, forming flower petals identical to the ones on the heap. “So where are we?” Shalisa welcomed the distraction. “Where we should be. I never thought you were such a traditionalist though.” “What do you mean?” She motioned at the room. “A library. It’s the most… obvious way to categorize memories.” “This is my memory?” “The index of your memory.” She motioned to the rows of bookcases that surrounded them. Bookcases higher than the most ancient tree and rows longer than the eye can see. “The books are the memories. There is some system in which the books are ordered, as there are certain thoughts or emotions which directly trigger a specific memory. We don’t need to concern ourselves with that though.” “Why not? Aren’t we looking for a specific memory, a specific book?” Shalisa smiled. “We are. And my guess is that we’ve already found it.” She nodded to the flower petal pile. “It’s probably under all of that.”

She glowed faintly and the blood clustered together, forming flower petals identical to the ones on the heap. She turned one between her fingers “Mageroyal eh?” “Huh? What?” “All these flower petals, they’re from the mageroyal.” “It… It was her favourite flower.” Shalisa dropped the petal to the floor, not sure what else to do. “So where are we?” “Eh? Oh. Exactly where we should be. I never thought you were such a traditionalist though.” “What do you mean?” She motioned at the room. “A library. It’s the most… obvious way to categorize memories.” “This is my memory?” “The index of your memory.” She motioned to the rows of bookcases that surrounded them. Bookcases higher than the most ancient tree and rows longer than the eye can see. “The books are the memories. There is some system in which the books are ordered, as there are certain thoughts or emotions which directly trigger a specific memory. We don’t need to concern ourselves with that though.” “Why not? Aren’t we looking for a specific memory, a specific book?” Shalisa smiled. “We are. And my guess is that we’ve already found it.” She nodded to the flower petal pile. “It’s probably under all of that.”

“Right. So this is the part where you do something surreal and make the book magically appear in your hands?” “I’m sorry, but it isn’t. This is the part where you dig.” “You have to be kidding me!” Shalisa thoughtfully stared at the heap, not answering him. “I’m really sorry… I cannot help you, I’m too fearful of touching the book.” “Oh? Why that?” “It wants to be experienced. There is something in the way you are dealing with this memory, that is disagreeable for it. It is trying to tell you something, but you aren’t listening. Its desire to be heard is too strong. I fear that if I were to touch it, it will take that opportunity to be heard, to be experienced. But it’s not my memory…” “What does that mean?” “If you wish, you can show me a memory here and everything will be all right. But this would be a forceful experience, not triggered by you as you have no conscious control of it, but by the memory. I could only experience it if the memory became mine.” “Is such a thing even possible?!” Shalisa’s gaze still remained averted from him. “The me that you see is the embodiment of the link between our two minds. I fear that through ‘me’ the memory could leave your mind and become part of mine instead.”

There was a silence after Shalisa said this. Nothing here was supposed to be able to effect her, as long as she remained focused and aware of their different selves. But the blood sticking to her hand had made her painfully aware that this was not always the case, that things could flow both ways. It was a realization that caused her much fear. She wanted to leave this very moment. But she knew that she couldn’t, that she had to help him first. She couldn’t look at him, too scared he would see her fear. Because of this, she couldn’t see his reaction. She didn’t know if it had scared him, or if he was worried for her. Didn’t see that he was slowly nodding while processing the information, before walking towards the large pile and started to dig.

“All right, I’ll take care of this then.” Shalisa gave him a grateful smile as he dug through the flower petals. “I think you can find it on the floor, in the centre of the pile. That would be the most logical position. Oh! And try not to touch it.” Though time is an elusive concept when it comes to matters of the mind, one could say that the man spend a lot of time digging. Shalisa watched with concern as she noticed that the pile of petals he had dug away and thrown behind him, was growing in size while the one he was digging from remained about the same.

“Uhm… I think you can stop now…” He stopped and looked over his shoulder as Shalisa pointed at the pile behind him. “Ugh… seriously.” “Now, I think this might have something to do with the petals coming from the book. So! Could you try to dig your way to the book, instead of trying to dig it up?” “I can’t really see the book then, can I? How will I prevent myself from touching it?” “You’ll just... have to be very careful. If you do touch it tough, it’ll most likely cause you to relive the memory.” He did not respond. “I know it’ll be hard, but it is the only way to make things right, please, you’ll have to endure it.” She hopefully awaited his response but he remained quiet. Eventually, knowing of no better alternative, he started to dig into the pile.

After a while, a muffled sound came from the pile. “What exactly should I do when I get to it anyway?” “I don’t know.” It was probably for the best that Shalisa could not see his face right now. “Right… You don’t know?” “It depends on the book. You sound as if you’re in the centre, are you staying close to the ground?” “Yes yes… I’m not a complete idi- ah!” His hands had stumbled across something that felt harder than the seemingly never ending flower petals and of different texture than the floor. Some more feeling around dampened his spirit however, as he felt something that most certainly wasn’t a book.

“Is it the book?!” “It... kinda feels like I’m touching a cage, actually.” “Really?” “Yeah, I’ll just keep searching.” “No wait. Hold on to that cage. Could you please bring it out of the pile?” Shalisa frowned as she heard a slight grunting from underneath the petals. “It. is. heavy.” It took him considerable effort, but he eventually managed to get out of the pile, with the cage. Shalisa nodded thoughtfully at the cage holding the opened book. The book being in a cage made sense, it was just the question of how to solve this which troubled her. “You look worried.” “I am thinking. The cage resembles your attempt to suppress the memory. The book being opened indicates its activity and the petals are its means to keep a hold on you.” “So what do we do now?” He tilted the cage and the accumulated flower petals fell to the ground. “You close the book.” “It’s… in a case.” Shalisa nodded. “Hence my thoughtful look. I’ve got it now though: open the cage.”

Part 2
She took a deep breath as she stopped her saber in front of the worn down little house. Doubts filled her mind as her heart urged her to turn around and forget everything she had so carefully plotted. Her search for this house had been long, and her determination had waned with every passing minute. She dismounted and walked to the house. Nature was working hard on reclaiming it and the owner of the house had done little to prevent it. She knocked once, the force of the knock alone proving enough to open the door.

“Come on in, you know you don’t have to knock.” The man’s voice sounded warm and far away. “Sit, sit. How nice of you to come and see me so soon after your last visit, I wasn’t expecting it. How are you? You’re in luck, the water’s just done. I’m fine, fine.” The woman took a few steps into the room and sat down in one of the two chairs. There was little furniture in this room, only the bear necessities. Despite that, it came across messy. On the table in front of her she saw a withered bouquet of peacebloom and wild steelbloom next to a pile of letters. She took a few of the letters and started to read. Not to know who they were from, nor to learn what was written inside. She read them to reaffirm the reason she had come here, to regain her resolve.

After a while the man entered the room with two cups of what she suspected to be tea in his hands. He fit the room perfectly. His hair was long and unkept, his clothes baggy and dirty. Truly a verstrooid old man. His eyes were scanning her desperately. They didn’t show the fear of seeing an unwanted stranger, they showed the fear of not recognizing a familiar face. She couldn’t help but pity the man and smiled at him as warm and kindly as she could. He looked at her questioningly and hesitantly started “Sh-“ She shook her head and he stopped, obviously relieved. “Don’t worry. I am Haleona Nightwhisper, Priestess of the Sisterhood of Elune and mentor of Shalisa. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

He continued to stare at her. “Why don’t you sit down so we can have some of that tea?” He sat down in the chair opposite of hers and gave her a cup. “She did quite an amazing job. I was there when you saw her again after the war, you were quite far gone. And if I am to understand the rumours, stayed like that for many years.” His eyes lightened up with pride. “She is quite something else, isn’t she? She brought me back you know?” The priestess sipped her tea. “Did she now?” The man nodded franticly. “I wasn’t even conscious most of the time back then. I mean, I was there, but the things I said and did, that wasn’t me. My mind was foggy. And cold, so very cold. One day, it suddenly felt a little warmer. There was a faint light too. And then, it was gone. A while later, it came back. And it went… and it came back... again and again and again and again... Then one day, the fog was all but gone. And I noticed, that I was floating on a rock in a great nothingness. And the light grew stronger, and it came closer. And I was oh so scared.” He lowered his voice to a whisper in shame “I think… I think I attacked her then.”

“What happened?” “The light. The orb emitted a light so strong that none of my attempts were successful. It protected her like a shield. And she continued to come closer and closer… and then I saw her face. She was smiling in that disarming way of hers… and I didn’t recognize her. She was just… an intruder. I screamed and yelled, and she remained so calm. She sat down in front of me, the orb shrunk and stopped emitting light. Instead, it showed an image of myself playing with her in front of our house, when she was still a little girl. It was then that I recognized her. She took my hand, and took me away from the rock, back to the ground. And once there, she just started to rebuild everything.” The priestess almost dropped her cup. “A-are you saying she rebuild it, and not helped you rebuild it yourself?” “Why, yes. Is that so unusual then?”

Haleona finished her tea and placed the cup on the table. In one fluent movement a delicately crafted dagger appeared from her sleeve and was placed on the table, next to the cup. “Let me put it this way. Have you ever heard of such a service being provided by the Sisterhood? Is it common practice to heal the insane in such a manner?” The man slowly shook his head, his mind trying to comprehend the implications the priestess was trying to make clear. “Would you find it unlikely, given what she has done to your mind, that she could destroy that of others?” “She would never! She is not that kind of person!” The priestess remained calm. “I think you are right. Not of her own free will. However. Are we always able to act according to our own free will?” “Are you saying she could be forced?! Who would do such a thing?” “For now, no one. As there are none who know just how skilled she is. I would like to keep it that way.” His gaze wandered down to the table, stopping at the dagger. “I need your help to achieve this. Will you help me?”