Iceblade: Chapter 2

Emily learns a little backstory.

“Fair enough,” Megas agreed, and started to fill in the Etherworlder.  “The Realms are-“
            -What’s a Realm?-
            “A Realm is a… oh, what do you call it…. A planet.  Anyway, there are Realms, Myrcadia, Fenai, Etherworld, Mara, Jupa, Sitri, Yurr, Tunerei, and Plyda.”
            -Don’t you mean Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter-
            “That’s your names for them.  Anyway, the Etherworld used to be uninhabited, which made it the perfect place to become a prison camp for criminals and lawbreakers.”
            -You’ve got to be kidding me.-
            “No, it’s true.  There were all sorts of Sunanians there, so they kind turned it into their own planet.  They became Etherworlders, in other words.”
            -We’re descended from alien criminals?-
            “Glad you caught on so quickly.  Yes, although most were sent there for inter-Realm relationships.  Eventually, they got rid of that law because of the Proclamation of the forty-fifth Sunan court, though a lot of people still frown upon it today.”
            -What’s the-
            “Please save your questions for the end.  No one wanted to leave by that time, however, because either their ancestors were sent there, or it was the only home they knew, or they just wanted nothing to do with Sunan.  So, contact broke off, and the Etherworld was forgotten.
            -What’s Sunan?-
            “That’s all the Realms together.  In the… oh, can’t remember which court it was, but after Sunan had been forgotten completely by the Etherworld, your astronomers began to grow curious about Sunan.  By that time, Sunan didn’t want anything to do with the Etherworld, because that was the Plyda Rebellion, but when we found out about the whole astronomy thing, then we thought it would be best for you to believe that nobody lived on the surrounding Realms.”
            -Why?-
            “We just had the Plyda Rebellion!  We were low on ammunition and population, and if you wanted a war…”
            -Okay, I’ve got it.-
            “However, we did send down spies, and that’s when we discovered that the Etherworld had been building satellites.  That was when Mara started to use their technology to mix up the data that the Etherworld received.  Scientists assumed that the different Realms were barren, desolate.
            -That makes sense.  But what are you doing in my head anyway?-
            Megas almost sighed.  “My stupid uncle is a bit of a scientist, he was making some devices that he hoped would ‘harness the power of the Realms’.  Every Realm that I know of has a certain environment that bestows an ability upon its inhabitants.  I have wings, some have claws, some have ice manipulation….  Well, my uncle wanted a device, so that once you have it, you can call the power to yourself.  That device was the pendant.”
            -So what are you doing in my head?-
            “My uncle had told me the operation of the pendants, but never told me that to gain a power of the Realm for a pendant, it was necessary to absorb a fresh one from a person, which can never be taken from a person, dead or alive.  Instead of separating the power and the person, my uncle used borrowed Mara technology to absorb both into the pendants.  Apparently, I was a victim of this process.  Therefore, you cannot only use my power, but you are able to communicate with the person absorbed.  That was my idea.”
            -Your idea?-
            “My uncle designed the pendants in such a way that the one absorbed into the pendant was isolated from the operator of the pendant, and instead was thrown into a form of coma.”
            -But I thought that your uncle didn’t tell you about the whole soul-absorbing thing?-
            “Sorry.  I didn’t know at the time, but now that this has happened to me, recalling the mechanism, I now fully understand what exactly I did to this pendant.”
            -What were you trying to do?-
            “Well, you know the words you spoke, to activate the pendants?”
            -Myrcadia-
            “Don’t say it!”  Megas cautioned.  “Well, I was trying to make it so that those words could be pronounced in the mind.  I accidentally used the wrong lever.  So instead of making the power readily available in the mind, I made it so that the person absorbed was available instead.  Got it?”
            -I think so.  I’m a little confused, though.-
            “Sorry.  I forget that the average Myrcadian has a higher knowledge of mechanics.  Anyway, I messed with this pendant a little, and that’s how I can talk with you.”  He paused, and tilted his head.  “You found the pendants?”
            -You can tell?-
            “I guess.  It’s weird, like I hear someone calling out.”
            -You only worked on this pendant?-
            Megas looked at his feet, slightly embarrassed.  “He said that under no circumstances, was I to add to his machinery.  He only let me watch him work.  I was the only one he let watch him.”
            -Is there any chance we can duplicate that at my house?-
            “Yes, if we can find the tools.  You want to try to talk with the others?”
            -If I can.-
            Megas tried to remember exactly what he had done before.  “It could be a bit tedious, but there’s no reason why not.”  He started to smile, thinking about Emily Frostlen, whom he now perceived, not as alien, but an equal.