Daughter of Dusk
Chapter Twenty-one: The Archives

I didn’t realize how much I missed Kera until I landed there again. Even something as simple as the sun on my skin is enough to make me feel safe. All the colours of the trees around me make me feel like I’ve walked straight into a painting, as though every brush stroke has come alive into something thriving, beautiful.

Maybe I do belong here.

As I walk through the forest trees, taking in the greens and various shapes of the leaves, I can’t help but think of Soren. I know he’d love this place, the colours, the textures, all of it; his artistic prowess would shine so much here. I’m sure they’d have a willow tree somewhere here, one even more vibrant than the one back in Zala. Though I do have to acknowledge that the willow in Zala has a certain quiet strength to it I don’t think could ever exist on Kera.

I make my way past the houses and along the sidewalk toward the main square, where I went with Blaire my first time here. Teagan said the Archival Library was there, with a mural on the side of the building; if there are any hints about who my mother was, as well as any other secrets Father is keeping from me, I would imagine they’d be there.

The elegant white stone gives me solace in its simplicity as I walk into the main square once more, the small imperfections and nicks trying to communicate to me in their unique language. I have to stop myself from waving at the large clock tower, a landmark that almost seems alive every time a minute passes by. The white stone stands out against the sky, with not a single fluffy cloud in sight. It’s far quieter here than it was before; perhaps that’s just because it’s so early in the morning.

But as I walk through the plaza, a familiar face with red hair on a bench to my right catches my gaze. I quickly approach them, and as I step closer, they turn to me and wave.

“Hi, Luna.” Mychal smiles, the action making his freckles stand out. “You’re here early.”

“Seize the day, as they say.” I laugh to fill the awkward silence. “I could ask you the same thing.

“Oh. Blaire usually goes to the training centre in the morning because that’s when it’s the quietest. I was just going for a walk and took a little break.” His blue-gray eyes light up. “Do you want to visit? Maybe test out your powers again?”

I shake my head. “Maybe another time. Well, I’d like to see Blaire, of course, but I’m here to investigate the Archival Library. Teagan mentioned she’d do some digging for me on a few things. Mostly about an Aether prophecy and why my energy feels different to her.”

“Teagan thinks you wield Aether?” His eyes widen just a little.

“Mmhmm. Something like that. I’ve determined it’s most likely what I wield while I was gone, but she said she’d have to do research to be sure.”

Mychal stands, and I notice he’s only a little taller than Soren. “Well, Teagan just went into the Archives, I’ll get Blaire and meet you there if you’d like? Then we can all help you figure this out,” he says with a smile.

I nod. “Sounds good. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

We head our separate ways for the time being, and I walk towards the building with the big mural on it – just like Teagan said. It’s a beautiful piece; a representation of the Gods of the Elements: Terra, Aer, Aqua, and Ignis. Terra sits on the bottom, rooted to the ground, and Aer flies high up in the sky, with Ignis and Aqua’s powers intermixing between them. A symbol of harmony in this beautiful place, even if the concept is not always something that exists. The interaction with Finn told me as much; one can dream, I suppose.

After gazing at the image for a moment longer, I head inside the white, marble-looking doors of the Archival library.

The inside is much smaller than I thought it would be for holding so much information. It is smaller than my library, that’s for certain. Shelves of files line the walls and reach up to the high ceiling. The space between the rows of wooden shelves is narrow, with a few square tables scattered throughout the gray-carpeted floor. The smell of old parchment is similar to my library as well, but lighter due to the leathery scent missing from this place. A small fireplace stands off to one side with a few chairs surrounding it, allowing for a place where knowledge can thrive. Even though the space is smaller than the library back home, I can sense the organization, the work that has gone in to make this place easy to access for everyone, as daunting as it may look.

I catch a glimpse of Teagan in the far corner, who waves at me from a ladder. “Luna! What a surprise.”

“Hello.”

She comes over to me with a stack of papers in hand. “Welcome to the Archives. You have great timing, actually. I found something for you.”

Without another word, she leads me further into the space, where she has a small stack of books on one of the tables. I smile as I think of my own library and wait at the table as she fervently scans a shelf nearby.

In the time Teagan is away, Mychal enters the space hand in hand with an energetic Blaire. Her short hair is up in a ponytail, likely to be kept out of her face during combat training.

“Luna! I didn’t think I’d see you here again so soon.” Her energy is infectious, and I can’t help but smile.

“Call it a newfound sense of urgency,” I joke, but my tone soon turns serious. “Some things happened, and, well . . . I need to replace information about Aether and my mother as soon as possible.”

“Start with this,” Teagan interjects as she returns, handing me a book with an intricate gold cover. “Everything you ever wanted to know about Aether and interpretations of the prophecy is in there. It’s one of the oldest books here, in fact.”

“Well, I’ve all but confirmed that Aether is what I wield in the time I was away, so this will be good. Thank you.”

She shrugs. “Glad to hear it. And don’t mention it.”

Blaire nudges me. “You wield Aether, and you didn’t tell me? That means you’d have more power than any of us!”

“I only just figured it out while I was away,” I say with a chuckle before I process her words. “But – wait, what? I don’t think I’m more powerful than any of you.”

“You don’t know that.” She grins. “How much have you used the full extent of your Aether powers?”

I look down at my hands. “Not much, I suppose.”

“Then don’t rule it out just yet, darling,” she says with a wink before looking down at the book Teagan gave me. “I’ll leave you be. If you need me, I’ll be doing more research with Teagan.”

She heads over to the other side of the room, and I open the fragile pages, scanning the handwritten words.

There have been numerous interpretations of the Aether prophecy over the years. But one aspect that remains constant is that someone with Aether powers – a Son or Daughter of Dusk – will be born when a Shadow Wielder of Zala and an Elemental Wielder of Enas come together.

Soren and I were right! That means my mother had to have been from this world. My flashback told me as much.

Thus, the Son or Daughter of Dusk will have the ability to survive in both Enas and Zala without consequence to their powers. It is also said that they will be more powerful than any other being in either world. The prophecy calls the Son or Daughter of Dusk a destined ruler over the Darkness and Light, and many believe this detail means that whoever wields Aether will one day come to Kera and lead us into a new era of continued prosperity.

“Oh my God,” I breathe.

“What?” Mychal’s voice makes me jump – I suppose I didn’t realize he decided to stay and flip through the documents at the table next to me.

I turn to him. “Well, Blaire mentioned that Aether is more powerful than anything, which is mentioned here. But it says here Aether powers make me a leader – according to the prophecy, anyway – and that I could survive in both worlds.”

“I mean, I could see you being a leader.”

I frown at him. “I’m not automatically a leader because of something written in a notebook, even if it is a prophecy. I’ve never seen myself in that light.”

“Well, it is still your choice at the end of the day. I know this prophecy is at least part of the reason there’s no leader on Kera. Some believe in it and are waiting for someone who wields Aether, others just treat it as a legend, but are still fine with being in a leaderless society.” He pauses. “But the way you handled that whole Finn situation the other day was brilliant. You were respectful but stood your ground on something that was wrong. I think that says a lot about you. You’re already on your way, especially with the prophecy at your back.”

He thinks I could lead Kera? Based on what, how I handled one interaction?

But more importantly . . . does Father know about the leadership detail?

I shrug. “I don’t know, we’ll see, I suppose.” I think for a moment. “How does the leaderless society even work here? There’s always been a ruler in Zala, I’m just curious about how the absence of one would look.”

“I guess, well, I’ve never had to explain it. It’s second nature. Every elemental skill set has its role in society. It’s just a collective understanding between people. Take Teagan for example. Earth Wielders can create natural resources, so she and other Earth Wielders are responsible for making sure everyone has a home. Fire Wielders like me and Blaire help Earth Wielders create things like glass. Stuff like that. But having a leader would make things easier, that’s for sure.”

“Oh, I see. Has anyone ever tried to lead before?”

“Some have, throughout history. But it didn’t really work. The elemental skill sets are all equal to one another, and one having leadership and power over the others threw things off and usually ended up making things worse. The wrong things got prioritized, they didn’t have the full support of the island, and eventually, people would demand that they step down. That was the general trend for most people that attempted to lead. People stopped trying after a while, and we came to a collective agreement that if someone with Aether did exist, they’d be here one day to lead the island. But until then, we’d exist without a ruler.”

“I didn’t know it was that involved.”

“Just a bit.” He smiles. “And, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot about being a leader there. But think about it. I think you’d be a good fit.”

“For what?” Blaire suddenly joins the conversation with Teagan, and I relay the conversation.

“Everything about the leadership points is true,” Teagan thinks aloud, “But I think it means something far more poignant right now.”

“And that something is?” I ask.

She points at my amulet. “It means you don’t need that to survive here.”

My eyes widen as I look down, holding Soren’s precious amulet in my fingers as reality sets in.

The book says it all – I can survive on both worlds without losing my powers. And Teagan is right, I don’t need this amulet; theoretically. But . . . how true could this prophecy be?

“But this is . . . I can’t just get rid of this.”

“That’s not what I’m saying.” There’s dry humour to her words. “You’ll know right away when you take it off, but you can still hang onto it.”

I suppose she’s right. There’s no harm in at least trying.

Slowly, I pull the silver chain over my head, placing it on the table next to me.

Even if I do wield Aether, there’s a part of me that is anticipating the feeling of my powers draining. That the prophecy was wrong, somehow, that I can’t survive here without the amulet.

But frighteningly, I feel nothing.

Even if I knew I had Aether powers before this, the confirmation of it all is more than I can take sometimes. I was told I was a Shadow Wielder my whole life, and now I’m suddenly not. Part of me is still waiting for the illusion to break, that I’ll wake up and replace out that none of this ever even happened.

But it’s not an illusion. It’s more real than I could have ever imagined.

“Well?” Blaire asks.

I pause, waiting until I’m absolutely sure before answering.

“I’m fine. I feel completely fine,” I breathe, looking down at my hands, letting a silvery mist linger between my fingers. “I don’t think my powers are affected either.”

“See? There you go!” Blaire supports. “And you could stay here and be a leader if you wanted to.”

She’s right. I could be a part of either world. But there’s still too much I don’t know.

And then there’s Soren . . . I can’t just leave him there. Not to mention I still have his amulet.

I frown. “I still don’t think I’m ready to make a decision like that. I still have a lot in Zala that . . . well, I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

Teagan’s face lights up. “Speaking of Zala, I did replace one thing that I think you should see.

She rummages through her stack of paper, before handing me a collection of unbound pages. “It seems you weren’t the first person from Zala to come to the island.”

My eyes widen. “What? When?”

She points to the top of the page. “About eighteen years ago. Give it a read, it could be useful.”

The three of them sit with me as I read, quiet filling the space around us.

Numerous sightings of a mysterious man have been noticed over the span of the last several weeks. He doesn’t seem to stay for more than a few hours, appearing and disappearing without a trace. His intentions on the island and his means of getting here are unknown as of writing. He has been seen using a skillset that does not fall into any that exist on the island. Based on our records, it is likely he uses Shadow. Whether this person is dangerous is unknown, but he does not seem to interact with anyone during his time here. More updates will follow next time he is seen.

The words cause my mind to race, considering all the possibilities as to who this could have been. Unless someone in Zala was travelling to Kera for a leisurely stroll, there’s only one person this could have been.

“I think this was my father.”

Blaire’s eyes widen. “What? How do you know?”

I run my hands through my hair. “I can’t tell for certain. But I know it was him. I can feel it in my bones.”

Teagan glances at me. “Hmm. There aren’t any pictures of what he looked like, unfortunately.”

I hand the document back to her. “That’s unfortunate.”

“But,” she continues. “It doesn’t sound like he did much when he was here. Can you think of any reason why he was on the island in the first place?”

I think back to the prophecy. Darkness and Light.

Zala and Enas coming together.

“If it was Father . . . I wonder if he was here because of my mother. If I wield Aether, she’d likely be from here. Is there any record of him being seen with anyone?”

They flip through the pages, before Teagan’s eyes widen.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Evangeline,” she breathes.

I frown. “I’m sorry?”

Blaire suddenly slams her hand on the table, her emerald eyes igniting with realization. “Gods, that’s it! That’s why you look familiar!”

I look between all of them as my mind moves in a million directions. “Hang on just a moment. Who’s Evangeline?”

Teagan hands the document to me. “She was an old friend of my mother’s. She’s not around anymore, unfortunately, but . . . well, it’s best you read this. I’ll go replace her file in the meantime.”

I hesitantly take the parchment, reading through the handwritten ink as Teagan leaves the space. It’s dated a few months after the last entry.

The Shadow Wielder has been sighted on Kera once more. Their purpose for being here continues to be a mystery, but this time, they were seen with the Water Wielder Evangeline. She did not seem to be in any danger while the Shadow Wielder was here, and seemed familiar with him, suggesting they knew one another before. Evangeline denied any questions about the Shadow Wielder, insisting that nothing was out of the ordinary, and she was in her usual high spirits. More updates will follow if the Shadow Wielder is seen again.

Evangeline . . .

Even just seeing her name written here, knowing she was seen with a Shadow Wielder who was more than likely my Father is enough evidence for me. But even if I didn’t know that detail, even if I only knew her name . . .

I think I may have just found my mother.