Upon a Star: Karyana's Journey: Chapter 1, part 2

As the previous section introduced Karyana's parents, this one introduces Demyan, the last incarnation of Reveen, as well as his foster family.

Asuna looked through the liquid surface of her mirror at the sleeping child with a serene smile. "Even as a child, you still remind me so much of him...", she spoke, as if expressing her love for the tiny boy that rested in a master-crafted cradle. The hinges of the oaken object barely creaked as the child slept. The alabaster-skinned Planar felt almost a motherly love for the infant who now possessed the spirit of the Magelord who had passed away almost a year ago. Even as she looked on, she looked back at the maiden who looked upon the child tirelessly.

"Valara." the Lady of the Moon beckoned. As she did, the construct handmaiden looked in the direction from which the voice came from. Walking over to the moonlit mirror, she gazed into it and saw the pure beauty of the lunar Planar-maiden. "My Lady." she replied in her semi-neutral tone, not making the curtsy that was expected of one her rank to her superior. In fact, her tone was as if she spoke to her like equals.

"How are the people of Citadel?" the Planar asked. "I know that Reveen's magic has sealed them away from time, but I wish to know... for Progeny."

Taking a moment to think, the maiden closed her eyes before opening them in a slow motion. "Viceroy Hayle was successful in calming the people." she replied in such a tone that it felt like it was a scout telling a fellow soldier what happened on the roads. "Although they do not understand why Citadel is now sheltered in Reveen's Plane of Meditation, they have come to accept it. Most farmers have had to adapt their crops to the increased mana flow, and-"

Asuna halted the maid's speech for a moment. "I understand. Until the threads of fate are woven again, this dimension will be Citadel's sanctuary." she uttered, before looking back at the child. "Has the Viceroy found someone to nurture the child?"

The woman slowly shook her hair, gears clicking and whirring like clockwork. "The final ritual was successful. No one knows that he is the Magelord in reborn flesh." she answered back, placing her hands against the crease of her skirt. "Thus, the people of Citadel believe him dead, aside from the constructs such as myself."

The silver-haired woman examined what could be seen of the cottage room where the mechanical handmaiden and the child were. Though well-decorated with mana-infused flowers, weaved baskets and meticulously-sculpted toys, it looked like something important was missing. "Is there no one to aid you?" she asked, her tone showing concern. "Perhaps a mortal man?"

The maiden shook her head again. "No mortal would see a couple of a construct and a non-construct as morally-" was all she had time to say before a burst of light beamed from the mirror into the room, striking Valara square in her chest. As the light envelopped her, a silver sheen envelopped all of her mechanical sections. As the room basked in an unnatural glow, the wooden walls started to grow branches and budding leaves, broken toys mended themselves and tiny runes appeared on the carriage.

The more startling changes were not to the room - which now seemed to be glowing with mana energy -, but were happening within the former's king's first construct. Gears, bolts, studs and plating melted and reshaped into skin, bones, veins and muscles. The maiden's eyes lost their glassy stare and brimmed with awakening life as her pupils fluttered, eyelashes growing where none were. Her skin, formed of reinforced porcelain, lost its stony gloss and grew delicate, making stiff limbs that moved with mechanical accuracy stiffen for an instant, only to fall delicately to her sides with the grace and poise that only mortal young women would have. As the steel skeletal structure reshaped into human bone, Valara felt the perfectly-tuned whir of gears vanish... only for a different, slower yet steadier sound to emit from her chest: a pulse.

As copper mesh flowed down from her scalp into waves of hair, the woman felt something within her change. Matter was not the only thing that changed, as her docile, calculating mind was bombarded by hundreds of concepts she never experienced first-hand before: emotions, impulses, instincts, knowledge that
only mortal bodies would grant...

As the light died down, Valara let out a sigh and was surprised by the feel of air in her lungs, the flow of blood in her veins, and the sound of her own voice as she looked into the mirror. No longer was the pure-white maiden there. Instead, the once-construct was gazing at herself. Her moment of confusion and admiration was cut short by the cry of the child. Reacting on instincts more keen to a mother, she rushed over to the child and carefully picked him up.

"Demyan... no, shhh... it's alright..." she said, in a state of mild panic. However, the very touch of the child against her altered arms felt warm, and both she and the boy calmed for a moment.

---

Ferix eased his shield against his back and his continued his round. Although he knew the Day of Mourning - the day one whole year ago, where the King spoke of his death - was coming, his heart was not in the spirit of mourning. In fact, what he mourned was his lowly status as a guard. Being constantly called to work to protect Citadel from threats that never came, he only wishes for a mug of frostmead, a warm meal and a night's rest. And the fact that he was woken from his light sleep by a citizen shouting about a strange light at the house of the former king's maiden wasn't his plans for a good evening.

Wearing his polished armor, he strode over to the house in question, a small cottage near the temple district. The house itself was nothing fancy; the fact that it was a construct 'living' in this house didn't quite meet to most people's views. In fact, since the fall of the Old King, most human-like constructs were seen like artefacts of a passed era. The soldier didn't hate them; in fact, the maiden looked quite fair for a man-made creature.

Knocking at the door with one gauntlet-wearing hand, the other holding an oil lantern, he waited almost impatiently, shaking the sleep off his dark-grey eyes, his neatly-trimmed black hair hidden under the standard guard helmet. "This is Townsguard Ferix Mird. Open up!" he shouted.

Before he could knock, the soldier heard the cry of an infant, and it seemed to be getting near the door, but as it did, it started to hush down into a series of gurgling sounds. "I didn't know someone would be so entrusting as to give a construct the guard of a-" he said before the door opened.

Ferix looked startled as he looked down at the handmaiden who held the baby to her breast, feeding the infant. Looking confused, he tried to conjure enough authority to speak. "Excuse me... um... miss..."

"Yes? What is it?" she asked in such a voice that his crisp stance relaxed in an instant. "I'm sorry. Little Demyan has trouble sleeping."

"Err... um..." Felix tried to speak, noticing how gingerly she seemed to be taking things. "Well... I was called here because some citizens have report a strange light..."

"Oh, I'm sorry." she said. "There was a mana disturbance in his bedroom. The Viceroy told me he was to send a tinker to fix it, but he hasn't come over yet."

Having heard of the Viceroy's less-than-stellar first year as a ruler, and knowing the problems the nobleman had with all the tasks of bureaucracy - which explained his lack of days off -, the tall soldier let out an irritated sigh. "I see... Well, I'll be on my way. Citizen."

Switching the boy to her other breast, Valara adjusted her uniform's top before raising her free arm. "Please wait." she said, looking worried. "Would you... Would you stay with me tonight? I will repay you..."

Ferix didn't know if it was because of his tired state, how beautiful the copper-maned woman was, or the fact that she was taken care of a child all alone, but he looked left and right before turning off his lamp, the flame flickering before dying out. "Well..." he said with a tired smile. "I couldn't say no to a woman in distress, let alone a fair young one like yourself."

The maiden opened the door widely, letting the well-toned soldier in, feeling a sense of accomplishment. Something in the back of her mind felt right, whispering to her that the soldier would be coming over more and more often.

---

Prolectae walked over to Asuna, even as the pale lady turned away from her mirror. "You bend the rules too much." the golden-haired Planar said, her arms folded under her heaving breasts. "The Childlord said not to interfere in the boy's life, and what did you do? You turned that mechanical maiden into a
mortal woman."

The alabaster-skinned Planar rose from her crescent-shaped seat and looked at the Aspect of Beauty. "I allowed him a family. Were you not the one who told me how the Aspect of child-bearing and family one of the symbols of beauty?"

The sultry Planar relaxed her stance and walked over to the white dancer. "My dear, you truly are a master of honeyed words." she said with an amused grin. "But what will you tell Progeny? He will know sooner or later."

After a moment of thought, the silver-haired Aspect of the Moon replied. "Tell him, on my behalf, that I will relinquish my rights to see him if he asks it of me. In exchange, on the night of Lord Demyan's fate, I will appear to him as his Chosen. Although the child will be shaped to be the future king's betrothed, I wish for her to live the life she wishes."

Prolectae cocked a brow. "Do you really think he will accept?" she asked.

"There is no reason not to." came the Childlord's voice from behind the lunar beauty.

Both womanly Planars turned towards Progeny. "My Lord..." both spoke in discordant tones.

"I can see you wish Reveen to return to you." he spoke, raising his right hand to touch her left. "But what of the boy? Would he not be as Reveen, once he becomes king?"

Asuna looked down and closed her eyes. "My lord... I truly love him." she uttered, unsure what else to say.

"Do you love Reveen, or the mortal Magelord?" came the child-like Creator's reply. The silver-haired Planar let out a gasp as the issue came to mind: if she loved the mortal, what of the girl? Would she be left to a hollow fate? And if she loved Reveen... what would happen to all of Citadel once the knowledge of mana left the mortal world? And if she loved the mortal... how would the world be without the Moon? So many questions came to mind that she
didn't know how to respond.

"Take all the time you need to give me an answer." the Childlord replied before closing the door to Asuna's garden.

Author's Note

As written in the previous sections, every constructive comment, critique, edit and view is appreciated.