Chapter Three ~ Aftermath

"Well, this does not make any sense, the blade isn't here nor our successors, so why are we here?" a female voice asked, though it came through very muffled for Ella. The girl's head ached, and her whole body felt sore, suddenly something in the human gave a lurch: and Ella coughed out a good amount of water. The salt had made her mouth bitter and dry, and the young blond could feel her face scrunch up. However, relief flooded Ella; it felt so good to fill her lungs with fresh air. She coughed a few more times, gasping the rest, and slowly opened her eyes.

"I told you she wasn't dead" a male voice spoke, this time a little more clearer. The voice sounded deep and worn. But for some reason, it sent a shiver down Ella's spine. The human was laying on her side, parts of her hair were cast over her face and her vision was still a little blurry. The sun was starting to set, casting the beach into a dark, golden glow. A few feet away from her, Ella could make out three figures. An alae, pellie, and a human. Ella squinted her eyes before reaching up and brushing her hair from her face. The group seemed like the start of a bad joke. The young girl struggled to get to her knees, spitting sand from her mouth as she tried to wring her shirt out.

"I hate water…" Ella mumbled out loud, her ears picking up what the small group was saying.

"Not much of a pellie's daughter now is she" the alae-women mused. The remark made Ella snort, finally getting enough strength to push herself to her feet.

"You guys do know I can hear you, I'm right here," Ella said loudly, not looking up as she began to examine herself; noticing many cuts and bruises, however, no broken bones. "But yeah, no, talk away, I'm sure whatever conversation you are having is way more important than a half-drowned girl," she mumbled to herself. The strangers seem to fall silent, but Ella didn't notice. Wincing, the young blond felt the back of her head; the rough, crackled feeling of dried blood met her fingertips. It was at this moment that something finally clicked in Ella's mind, and she looked over at the three. "How...do you know about my dad?" she asked, Ella had never told anyone in the port-town about her father; even when she was asked, she said that he was gone and refused to say anything else. The three looked just as bewildered as Ella felt, they all looked at each other for a moment before the human-male spoke

"Are you the one that summoned us?" he asked, Ella looked at him in confusion

"It has to be her, no one else has the blade," the pellie-male said, while the alea-woman folded her arms, staring at Ella for a moment before she spoke.

"You girl, you were raised by Fenric, were you not? Did he not entrust you with my brother's blade?" the alea-woman asked. Ella was taken aback by just how straight forward she was; her tone was very blunt. The young human blinked, trying to find her voice.

"Ye-yes" Ella stammered "he was my father, but how did you know him? And what do you mean by 'your brother's blade'?...the only sword dad ever gave to me was-" Ella cut herself off, her brown eyes began to widen a little. "W-wait, if the sword was… and you said… that means!" the human girl held her head, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment before opening them again, looking back at the three. "I'm dead...aren't I?" Ella asked out loud. The pellie-male shook his head. He took a few steps forward, raising his hands to try and calm down the panicked girl.

"No, you are not dead, Ella."

"Then how else am I talking to you!! All of you are supposed to be dead!" Ella said, taking a few steps back. "I know the stories; I know who you are, Rikus, Altus, and Isis." The alea-woman let out a sigh

"It feels so good to know that we haven't been forgotten, even by the likes of her," she said in a mocking tone. Rikus crossed his arms, glaring at his sister.

"Don't you two start!" Altus hissed softly, turning his head to his younger siblings before looking back at Ella. "This...might be hard to explain," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "A trial is about to occur, and it is going to pin the new Gods against each other." Altus siad, then Rikus chimed in

"Under better circumstances, your father would be the one to see the trial through...however, that duty now falls onto you," the human god said, though he didn't meet Ella's confused eyes.

"I don't understand! What trial? What is my duty!?" the girl asked. This time, it was Isis turn to speak

"You saw the warning sign; it won't be long until the new gods find out what has happened here, and when they do you must be there to advise them" Isis mused as she added "You have the blade of Altus, like your father before you. You must keep balance amongst the Gods." This statement did not help Ella feel less lost. The young girl blinked as she held her head with one hand; it was starting to hurt even more now.

"Recover your blade, and seek out Ari, he will be the easiest one out of the two to find" Altus spoke up. Ella squeezed her eyes shut, then quickly opened them as she looked up

"I don't even kno--" she cut herself off as she saw the empty space where the old gods once stood. The human was silent for a moment. Then, she burst out with a yell. "Oh Come on!! You can't just drop that bombshell of information on me then leave!". She began to turn around in hopes to at least catch a glimpse of the three, but no such luck. Ella was alone on the beach. The blond slowly sank to her knees, cradling her head and trying her best to collect her scattered thoughts. "I don't even know where Ari is…" she softly to herself. It had been years since she last saw the God of Light, and that time he sought them out. Ella took a deep breath in, listing to the crashing waves. A flash of light suddenly caught her eyes, and she removed her hands to see something glinting in the sand. It was her dagger; Ella rose to her feet and walked over to the small weapon. "Must have fallen out when I was in the water," she thought as she reached down and plucked the silver blade from the wet sand. "First things first...get back home," Ella said softly to herself as she returned the dagger to its spot in her boot. Ella looked up, seeing the dusk sun slowly starting to sink below the ocean, and judging by the forest behind her; Ella was not so far away from the port town. The young girl's heart began to sink however, once she turned in the direction she needed to go. A huge smoke cloud was like a marker on a map, and it was right over Sullan Port.

~~~

Ella, when she was young, use to have nightmares of a watching a town bursts into flames. Walking into Sullan-Port was like walking into her nightmares. The once-booming seaside town was now quiet and dead. Fires crackled softly over piles of crushed wood; buildings were toppled over like they were matchstick houses. Some people were walking about in a state of utter shock, while others sat weeping next to piles of rubble. Ella took a step, and the sound of glass crunched under her weight caused her to wince. She lifted her foot to see she had stepped on a picture of what looked like a family. The young human slowly squatted down, picking the glass away only to reveal that the fire had damaged the picture; The faces had been burned away. It was at this moment her mind drifted to Noah and his little post office. "If there are survivors, then maybe he's okay" Ella tried to think calmly, but she was starting to run. Trying to remember which street lead where, but they all looked so different now. Ella stumbled over something, catching herself just in time before crashing face-first on the ground. This, however, caused her to slow down, noticing scattered papers. The young human looked up to see the collapsed building that used to belong to Noah. It was a heap of chard wood now, the glass had been shattered and the shards stuck out of the ground, and the mail was either on fire or getting caught up in the wind. Ella felt her chest tightened, and her breathing started to quicken. The girl shut her eyes, placing her hand on her chest and gripped it, "no, no, no," she said hoarsely. "Not again...please not again" she started to take a few steps back until a voice cut through the panic haze.

"Ella?" the human spun around to see the older alea hobbling up to her, he looked rather beat up but still alive and breathing. Noah was using a piece of wood as a cane, gripping it with his right hand while he kept something long and wrapped tucked under his left arm. The alea gave a wary smile when he saw the human girl, and Ella gave a brighter one in return.

"You are okay!!" she gasped in delight

"Oh...it's going to take more than a giant whale falling from the sky to take out this old buzzard" he chuckled as he stopped and planted his makeshift cane into the ashy earth. Ella's smile faded a little, she held her arm and looked down

"What...happened?" She asked. Noah let out a thoughtful 'hum' sound, his eyes turning serious for a moment as he began to recall the events that happened earlier that day.

"The ground shook so bad that I was sure that the entire post office would collapse...I walked out to see nothing at first" Noah began, glancing up at the darkening sky; a few stars were starting to poke through. "The next thing I hear is a roaring splash, yelling, then a giant shadow over the town. The cloud maker was going insane! Using that tail of theirs to knock over the buildings" the older alea shifted, handing Ella the wrapped object. "I managed to grab this from your room before running for safety," he added as the girl took it; it was heavy, but she recognized the feel. Ella unwrapped it just enough to show off the handle of the sword. The blue gems shone brightly in the dying sunlight. It was not hard to tell that the weapon had been through a lot, and yet, it had the feeling that it was ready for more. "That is a quite the sword" Noah mused, giving a little nod as he talked. Ella took the rest of the sword's covering off, and unsheathed it just enough to see her reflection in the silver blade.

"My dad told me to take care of it if anything were to happen," the girl said softly

"That is a tremendous responsibility," Noad said, resting a hand on Ella's shoulder, making her lookup. She was quiet for a moment before saying

"You...have no idea". Noah only gave her a knowing smile, patting her shoulder gently. Ella sighed, placing the sword back in its sheath, then, taking the straps she managed to buckle it onto her back. "Noah, I need to get to Altusi-" she said, the alea quickly cut her off. Shaking his head, Noah said;

"Sorry to tell you, but the port has been demolished, every ship we had is gone...but if you can wait, some will be back in...oh, the next five weeks, give or take the weather." Ella blinked, glancing off into the direction of the sea then back at Noah with a panicked look.

"I can't wait that long, I have to find someone, and I can't find him without talking to someone else who is on Altusi! And I have to find him now because something bad is going to happen! I mean something worse than what just happened" The young human began to ramble, taking a hand and pressing it to her forehead while doing so.

"Ella! Calm down" The older alea said quickly, once again placing a hand on the girl's shoulder "there might be someone else who can help you get to the island, follow me," he said, leading Ella towards the western side of the town. "Earlier, a group of pellies came in after the dust had settled, offered to take as many injured or in need as they could back to their camp" Noah explained, stopping at the edge while Ella continued to walk for a second before stopping. "If you ask, I'm sure they can help you to Trust, and you can get a ship that way." Ella thought for a moment

"I don't need help getting to Trust, I know the way," she said, giving a smile; but Noah gave her a stern look.

"But you shouldn't go alone," he said before sighing softly "be safe Ella, that's all I ask because if you don't come back how am I supposed to deliver all the mail, I'm not a spring chicken anymore" he laughed, and the young human laughed with him. Ella turned around and began to follow the path, leaving the destroyed town behind her; but making a silent promise that she would return.

The day gave away to the night, the crickets -hidden within the brush- chirped to one another. Nearby an owl called out; it was a warning to the prey in the night. But the only thing that kept Ella on edge was the distant thunder slowly rolling in. The human had no idea if she was following the right path if it starts to storm, then precious time will be lost. Ella reached up and tugged on the sheath's strap, feeling the weight of the sword tug back. It had been years since she last held the blade, let alone even looked at it. A part of her had tried to forget about it after her father passed: She kept it beneath her bed, covered and under a pile of forgotten junk. But it was always there, in the back of her mind. A splash pulled Ella from her thoughts: her foot had taken a step into a puddle, cold water began to seep through her boot. she let out a groan. "I've had enough of water for today!" she mutters under her breath, lifting her wet foot and started to shake it.

"You are not very bright" as voice mused, startling the young human into spinning around.

"Where did you come from!!" Ella gasped, seeing the looming figure of Rikus standing in front of her. His arms were crossed, and he gave his head a tilt

"You called out to me, why else would I be here," he scoffed, starting to walk past the bewildered human.

"I...didn't call you!" Ella argued, but she let her voice trail off when Rikus shot her a glare.

"I gave that pellie more credit then I should have...didn't he teach you anything about that blade?" the old god asked. Ella gulped a little, shaking her head. The only thing Fen every told Ella was the stories behind the sword. Rikus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "You are reckless...walking a path at night alone, with a valuable weapon for the whole world to see" Rikus began, glaring at Ella as he did so "foolish, very foolish." Ella could feel her face burning, she bit her inner cheek and started to walk past the human god

"Well, if you don't like it so much! You take the sword!" The girl spat, "I-I don't have time for this, I need to find that camp" she added.

"Trust me, girl, if I could, I would gladly take that blade...but the dead can only observe" Rikus mutters as he began to walk next to Ella.

"And whose fault would that be?" the young blond mused with a smirk, glancing up at the old god only for her color to drain from her face as she saw the cold stare Rikus was giving her. His eyes narrowed and his mouth formed a very thin line. Ella quickly looked away, keeping her eyes glued to the ground.

"Keep your mission a secret, and keep that blade hidden" Rikus growled. Ella only offered a nod in response, still refusing to look up. There came a dark chuckle which caused Ella to shiver a little. After a few minutes of silence, the young human finally looked to see that she was once more alone. Ella took a deep breath, stopping and bending down.

"I really hope I'm just going crazy" Ella whispered hoarsely to herself before straightening up and continuing walking again. Thankfully, it didn't take long until Ella could hear the distance chatter, and further down the path, she could see the light of campfires. As she approached, Ella got a quick glance at her surroundings. It was a large encampment. Tents were set up and large bound fires crackled with people around them. Some were laying on blankets as someone tended to them; Ella recognized a few from Sullan. Just then a pellie dressed in guard like clothing appeared in front of the young human. He glared down at the girl before asking;

"What business do you have here?" Ella took a few steps back, holding onto the sheath's strap.

"I need supplies to get me to Trust," she said

"Are you from Sullan-Port?" he asked, Ella gave the nod. The pellie shook his head, uncrossing his arms, looking the human girl up and down, "our supplies are running thin as it is, we can only give it to those who are in dire need, go on your way, I'm sure you'll get a good few miles to Trust before hunger kicks in" The guard then turned away and started to walk off, but Ella followed.

"Please, I need to get to Altusi, the port in Sullan is destroyed and Trust-" she started, but the pellie only brushed her off

"Not my problem," he mutters. Ella frowned, she didn't know what else to say

"Let me talk to the person in charge!" she said quickly, running in front of the guard and stopped, forcing the guard to stop as well. "I'm not going to leave you alone until I do," she added; placing her hands on her hips. The pellie looked down; Then up after a long sigh, he looked back over.

"I don't have time for this," he muttered under his breath, then saying "Fine, follow me." The pellie guard led Ella to one of the bigger, round tents. Before entering, he turned around and held out his hand. "Your sword and any other weapon, hand them over," he said. Ella gave raised an eyebrow at him, "it is for everyone's safety," he added. The girl sighed, first reaching into her boot for her dagger, then unstrapping the sword from her back; Handing both to the guard. The pellie opened the tent flap, entering first as he said "my apologies Marée, Orage, but this girl wanted to speak to you." He then set both of the weapons onto the table in the center of the tent. Peeking out behind from the guard, Ella recognized the three people around the table. And one of them instantly knew her.

"You gotta be kidding me," Lotus said, it was quiet, but Ella still heard it. The irony of it all was that Ella was thinking those same words. It wasn't until now that Ella began to wonder what had happened to Lotus after the small boat had tipped over. How did she end up here? She didn't look like she needed medical help. As for the other two, the young human remembered them as the twin pellies from the forest. The female one, Marée, smiled, standing up from her chair.

"Thank you," she said. The guard gave a nod and left the tent. Marée eyes met Ella's, and she gave a small chuckle. "Well, if it isn't our little friend from the forest, Orage," the female-pellie chirped, walking over to Ella and offering her hand, which the girl took with a friendly smile. "Ella correct?"

"Yes," the human girl said

"It is good to see you again dear, though I must say, you have seen better days, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you…. I just need some help getting to Altusi," Ella said. Before Marée could respond, Orage spoke from behind.

"Where did you get this?" he asked, his voice was dark. The male pellie lifted the sword from the table, unsheathing it to show the rest of the people in the tent. Lotus's eyes widen at the sight of it and Marée stared blankly, whispering something that Ella couldn't hear. Marée took the sword from her brother, cradling it gently for a moment before lifting it towards the tent's candlelight, studying it intensely. Something in the back of Ella's mind was telling her to play dumb, but the way Orage stared at the young human made her blood run cold. Besides, what need was it to lie?

"My father gave it to me," Ella said, Marée glanced over at her

"And who gave it to your father?" she asked.

"A man named Bayde," Ella responded. The air in the round tent seemed to get tense-not to mention awkwardly silent. Marée, still holding onto the sword, rested the tip on the ground.

"We had heard a rumor that Fenric had a child...I just never thought…" Marée trailed off, looking up at Ella with a strained smile "It is an honor to meet you," she said.

"Did...you know my father?" Ella asked, Marée gave a sadden nod while her twin shifted, crossing his arms before speaking.

"Once, we met...he was a great pellie."

"Indeed," Marée said in agreement. Ella looked down at her feet, trying her best to ignore the twang she felt in her stomach. "And it would be a true honor to help his daughter in her time of need" the female twin added. She then turned her attention to the quiet Lotus who looked to be in shock. "Lotus, you have room in your tent, Ella will stay the night there" then Marée turned around on her heels, walking back to her seat "tomorrow, we shall have your things prepared for your travels" Marée finished. Ella looked over at Lotus; the pellie's face was twisting into a frown as she stood from her chair and started to walk towards the tent's flap without another word. Ella quickly retrieved her dagger and was just about to follow; but she quickly touched her chest, then turned around quickly.

"My...sword," the human said, standing still as she looked over at the female-pellie. Marée blinked, turning around to look at Ella before looking down at her hand to see the sword was still in her possession.

"Oh...of course, such a scattered brian I have" Marée giggled, handing the blade to her brother who placed it back in the sheath. Orage gave the sword back to Ella, who bowed her head, eyes not leaving the pellies.

"Thank you," she said, strapping the sword on to her back.

"Ella!! Come on!" Lotus cried out from outside. The young human quickly turned around and left the tent and the pellie twins inside. Ella quickly walked behind Lotus as the two navigated through the small city of tents. "You have a lot of nerve; you know that" Lotus suddenly blurted out, catching Ella off guard.

"What do you mean?"

"Where did you get the sword hu?" Lotus sneered, turning to face Ella as they continued to walk "did your parents steal it? Is it a fake?" Ella frowned, glaring at the pellie girl before turning her head away

"I told the truth if you don't believe me that's your own problem," the human said. Lotus gave a small growl but didn't say anything else. When Ella had turned her head, she noticed something next to them as they passed. It wasn't a tent; It sat on wheels and was made entirely out of wood and metal. Almost like a covered wagon. Just then, before they fully passed it, Ella heard something coming in that direction. It was a whistle, but not a whistle, a person could make naturally. Ella stopped for a moment, squinting at the wooden structure. Wondering if what she heard was real or not. Lotus didn't notice that the human was no longer walking with her. Again, Ella heard the whistle sound; it was definitely coming from the structure. The blond noticed a split between the wooden boards, closing one eye Ella peeked through the slit. Squinting to see if she could make out anything in the darkness. Suddenly and an eye appeared right in front of Ella, the girl yelled out in surprise; pushing herself away from the wooden structure and stumbled back.

"Hey!" Lotus shouted, briskly walking over to Ella with an angry expression on her face. "What are you doing?" the pellie girl asked, placing her hands on her hips. Ella took a deep breath, looking back at the big cart thing then back at Lotus.

"Uhm...nothing…" Ella said, before gesturing to the thing behind her "what is that exactly?", Lotus scoffed, crossing her arms and formed a smug look

"It does not concern you," she said. Ella gave her a blank stare before smirking a little.

"You don't know what it is either," the human said, causing the pellie girl to go red in the face.

"Just shut up" Lotus mutters, grabbing Ella by her arm and leading her away from the large wooden cart. The human gave one glance back at the structure before looking away and focusing on following Lotus to her tent. At that moment, a clap of thunder shook the sky and the heavens opened up with rain.