Mahnu and Arculas

While this uprising of the towns and people was happening in Kralaide, Hector continued, not in the least bit guilty or remorseful for what he had done to both Bena and Havlish.

Taking up most of a year, digging up everywhere and getting the box trapped yet again, Hector finally had it in his hands!

And, eight days ago, it was opened...

A light had escaped from his clutches and he was unable to catch it in time. It hadn't happened with 'The Chest of the God's' and he didn't know how it should be explained…

After Hector consumes the rest of the God's powers and souls, he finds out...That he was still incomplete...That light that had escaped a week ago, he needed it! Whatever it was, it was something that would help complete him!

...Actually, Arculas, who had been separated just like the Elements all this time, wanted to become one!

At first, he could only display the thought in Hector's head. But as Hector 'trapped' more and more God power and souls inside of him, Arculas was able to provoke the need to complete more easily.

…Now, all Hector had to do, was find out where this light went!

***

The light that had disappeared, flew straight towards Nowell, at a very fast speed, and it lands into a body, making it...Complete.

As the light starts to disappear, dormant thoughts and memories of the past become known. Immortality, God powers and sufferings also connect to this body, making this person have to bear unimaginable pain...

This person was a direct descendant of Mahnu, 'The Betrayer of God's and Saviour of Mankind' also part of the 'royal' line that hadn't been discovered.

A replica of Mahnu’s dormant thoughts and memories had been passed down the generations but had played no part in their lives. Because of the dormant thoughts and memories that were something that couldn't be destroyed and were incomplete, they had replicated into each child of Mahnu, then into their children, and further going down the generations...

As the agonizing pain continues inside of Mahnu and the light disappears, she becomes the reincarnation of Mahnu.

Her body reverts to how Mahnu had looked like over five centuries ago, making her unrecognizable to the people who knew of the descendant that had now been forever changed.

Screaming to the pain and ripping at her clothes, she fell to the floor in complete, utter torment! The pain was so unbearable that Mahnu was unable to stay conscious, falling into a deep painful sleep, as she relived her past through her dreams.

When Mahnu awakens, hearing hushed voices not far away, she sighs sadly in her heart.

She felt totally sympathetic to the life she had just stolen. Her descendant was having a happy mortal life, ready to travel and follow her dream with her teacher, as she wanted to study and become a teacher herself. But, Mahnu had ripped that future away from her!

Why!? Why has she returned!?

Being quite emotionally unstable, Mahnu didn't know whether to laugh or cry at her miserable existence.

She was sure that no one would want to swap their life for hers...How could anyone want to live forever and watch the people they love die? How could anyone want to watch as the world changes and you don't? How could anyone not be scared of you if they knew the truth? How could anyone do the same thing over and over again as the time goes on and on!? How could anyone tolerate the continued sufferings of the people flowing through you?

Even the child that she had replaced gave her suffering because her family didn't know her whereabouts...If only she'd had a choice!

...Her Richard was gone...

...Her beautiful family...Gone...

The agonizing pain on having become Mahnu again had gone, but...Another pain had come.

This pain made her want to cry in sorrow, made her angry in rage and made it hard, very hard, to find any reason to continue. Even if she couldn't die now, due to being immortal once again, how could she continue!?

She felt...Empty.

Living to an old age and seeing her grandchildren, Mahnu started to cry. Her life with Richard had been very good...Very fulfilling!

Their five children had stayed with Richard and her in Nowell. Building roads and bridges, houses and farms. Their work brought in other people, who ended up also residing in Nowell...

After several years, not only had they been able to stop the transport of goods from the King but start a trade from Nowell themselves!

By the time she was old and grey, Nowell was flourishing! She had also looked ahead, towards her grandchildren, and made sure that there was a school there, even though there weren’t many kids to attend it...

But, coming here...Now...She felt like she'd lost everything! It was all gone!

Letting out a small chuckle, she shook her head, who could be so cruel!? She wanted to scream and then scream some more to her inner turmoil!

Wiping her tears, Mahnu didn't want to think about it...It hurt too much!

Trying not to think at all, she left the house, that people had taken her too when she had been found unconscious, and didn't care to even leave something behind as a thank you.

Mahnu didn't want to care about anything...She was barely holding herself together as it was...

But...She came across her old home and memories came flooding back to her mind...

The swing that she had pushed her girls on, the picnic area that they all had spent a lot of time eating and playing, the sun room where she had told her stories, the main bedroom with Richard, the children's rooms, William's and Jaclyn's room...

That was all it took for her to fall to her knees and cry like she had never cried before. It was like she was making up for all the times that she hadn't cried in her entire existence…

Her heart was severely shattered, cut up into little, tiny pieces. This kind of pain for a mortal, surely would have gave them trouble breathing, giving them a want to end their own life...

But Mahnu was an immortal, how could she deal with this kind of sadness and heart break?

Unexpectedly, she saw more things that gave her memories and total, utter despair filled her entire being…

Unknowingly, she had made somewhat of a spectacle in Nowell, as people watched on as an unknown girl ripped at her hair, screamed and cried their eyes out…

Her memories of meeting Richard, being with Richard, being a family, had been so fulfilling...But as the pain was so huge, she wished she hadn't lived so happily, because it would have been easier to endure now! But how could she regret those most precious memories!?

Mahnu was utterly torn!

She had loved her life in the end, happily admitted it had been all worth it...Now, it was just too much...

Mahnu, over the time of an entire day, slowly became a lifeless corpse. She crawled into a ball, in a corner of the house, and didn't respond to anybody or anything.

The owners of the house were actually the family members of the young girl's body that she had taken. They wouldn't know that they were related to Mahnu, as her looks were totally different.

But, with their sweet, young daughter missing, they hadn't given Mahnu much attention, as they had nearly everyone out searching...

And as they searched for someone that will never return, Mahnu's eyes held no focus and finally she was able to sink back into the state of oblivion that she was in a long, long time ago, when she had been in the hut.

…Unthinking, unmoving and unfeeling...

***

Days went by and people didn't know how to react to Mahnu. They had tried to move her, but she wouldn't budge, even with five of them trying. They tried to give her food and water, but she never touched it.

They all felt hopeless as they thought that she had already passed away in soul, just not in body. They also all thought that she would perish one day soon, but suddenly, she had actually disappeared instead.

Not knowing who she was, the people were unsure where to look for her, and with her despair that they'd seen or heard about, they figured that she had no family left and would kill herself...

In a small way, each person was sort of glad that she had gone. Her behaviour had scared not just children but a good few of the adults as well...

…It was at this time that not only Hector, but the Elements were on their way to Mahnu, in Nowell.

The portal that the Elements used to transport themselves and Loralle here, had disappeared about an hour beforehand. They had originally gone towards Havlish, but now had to change directions, as Hector was moving towards Mahnu.

They ended up having to have to fly over some of Conrella because of the change of directions. It was only a small spectacle, as only one person had seen them, and by the time that they had tried to show someone else, the Elements and Loralle had gone out of sight.

Mahnu hadn't left Nowell, but she had found a place that no people saw her. She was up a tree, still lifeless and defeated.

Hector, unable to pin point her exact location, put up another barrier around Nowell, so that she couldn't escape.

With his crazy and strange personality, he searched and killed anyone that got in his way. There was no remorse and there was no time for anyone to react. The God did as he pleased, as he continued to look for his objective, his mind only filled with this one mission...To be complete!

Nothing else mattered or entered his mind...He hardly knew what he was doing as he savagely went from house to house.

Mahnu, who could feel the suffering of Hector's victims, still didn't move. Even though she knew those people died because he was searching for her, she didn't move because she no longer cared.

Nothing phased her out of her lifeless state...Even when Hector showed up beneath the tree that she was in.

Looking up to see Mahnu, he jumped up to be next to where she was and without a second delay, he grabbed her by the neck and proceeded to swallow her powers and soul.

Hector muttered quick words, linking his mind to those who he calls 'slaves' back in Bena. Having a few of them fall, drained of everything including blood, a corpse laid there looking like it had been dead for many, many years.

There was no fight against him, as Mahnu hung limply from his hand. In fact, once she realized that she was being drained, she welcomed it.

Closing her eyes, she let herself think of Richard once more.

This time, she didn't feel so much pain and she smiled, as everything to her started to turn foggy and blurry as she started to disappear.

Then, a white light went out all over Kralaide, much like it did over Mondal, when the Elements become one. People stared at it in wonder but covering their eyes because of the brightness!

The three barriers around Nowell, Havlish and Bena disappeared, to form three little lights that raced towards where Hector and Mahnu had been.

Then, the light disappeared, to show that somebody else had jumped lightly to the ground from the tree.

This person wasn't Mahnu or Hector. He was quite angelic looking, with a white gown and with long, white hair that flowed to his knees. Bare foot and blue eyed, he turned to a certain location and sighed.

***

The Elements were ecstatic!

Their brother hadn't needed their help after all!

What a coincidence that they met up like this! It was really was quite fortunate!

It wouldn't have mattered, though, if they had come earlier, they would have just watched the show...

But it was all done now, and they could finally reunite!

It took another couple of minutes, but finally, they saw their brother standing their waiting from them. He hadn't particularly moved at all...Neither did his eyes, but his face held quite a few emotions.

"Ah! Brother!"

"Why didn't you come meet us!"

Arculas looked at the five little balls of elemental powers and the body of Loralle, that was still unconscious. He went up to Loralle slowly and put his hand out.

"Wait! Not this time brother!"

"Please. Give her some time!"

"I like er!"

Arculas pulled his hand back. He was going to make her into a mindless slave, to make it easier on them all, but really, the Elements wanted to give Loralle a chance first. Actually, it was very normal for Arculas to act that way, he had made the Element's vessels slave's many times. But, not only had Loralle helped them escape from punishment, she had known who Earth and Fire was!

Yet, that...Wasn't the only reason to stop Arculas...

Arculas tended to tease them with their vessel as well. Since he could control the person and the Elements had to stay close to their vessel, he had made it do many ridiculous things that the Elements hadn't liked!

This time, they definitely wanted to try keeping Loralle from becoming a mindless, teasing slave of Arculas.

At least for now...

After Arculas pulled his hand away, he said, "We want to."

"Not this time!"

"Yeah man, I like er!"

They had to always keep on their guard with Arculas. He was full of many different personalities. His words and actions were not harmonious at all, in fact he was very inconsistent!

Even though he had pulled back his hand, to state he wasn't going to do it...He still meant his words.

Very often, Arculas would say a positive and a negative in one sentence and mean to say them both. He had sometimes even laughed and cried at the same time! It was even normal to see him fighting with himself and conceding with himself at the exact same time...

Arculas might be the only one who could tolerate the Elements, but really, the Elements thought that it was truly the opposite!

...They were the only ones that could tolerate Arculas!

"We are happy! But it's not good to see you!" Arculas said, smiling, his angelic face stunningly beautiful.

"Yes, Very well. This is Loralle, she ended up being the only one who could help us after such a long time!"

Arculas nodded, happily recognizing her...Then he sneered, "She's weak. But...Cute."

The Elements were surprised! They had never heard him utter the word 'cute' before. Perhaps this time, being punished by father had bordered their brother's horizons...But would that be a good thing or a bad thing?

"Eh! Brother you've changed!"

While they continued their banter. Earth made a chair for Arculas and a small hut for Loralle to lay in.

"We don't want to sit down." Arculas said, while sitting, trying to get comfortable.

"So, why does brother know another word?"

Arculas looked up. "Our father hates us. He used an interesting combination of our abilities and personalities to prevent us from combining sooner. It was very well done!"

At Arculas's smile, the Elements didn't think much of the strangeness of his ways.

"Father hates us as well, he made the element powers hate each other and we weren't able to kill people without reason...Just like last time!" Water was very upset with their father!

"This place..."

"Yes, father made it for our punishment. It’s pretty…Bleak" Arculas said monotonously, only adding a nicer tone when he had said ‘Pretty’.

"It's smaller..."

"Yes."

"Wudda been funner if we were split up on the same planet again, aye!"

"Ah, that takes me back."

"Haha, yeah we blew up that whole solar system! No wonder he put us on two different places after that!"

Arculas sighed. "When someone who can see the future, team up with someone who can trap a God and take its power, and yours..."

"He should have known it was going to happen!"

"Haha, but he didn't! What an idiot!"

They leisurely continued their conversation on mocking their own father and reminiscing about the past...

***

It was another few hours until Loralle finally woke up. She came out of the small hut and wiped her eyes.

"For you! Look I cooked it for you!"

A fire ball jumped in front of her face a few times, then flew down to an earth plate that held food.

Loralle found herself rather famished and happily sat down to eat, "Thank you, Fire."

"Loralle, dear, this is our brother Arculas."

She looked up, then dropped her food, "...Pretty!"

Arculas raised his eyebrows at her...Pretty? Then he narrowed his eyes at her.

Her face totally looked like she wanted to keep him as a treasure! Her eyes sparkled with greediness...

He was speechless to her obvious infatuation with his looks…Yet at the same time he could curse and yell…There was even a small part of him that wanted to flirt right on back to her!

Laughter broke the silence and Loralle continued to eat, while staring openly at Arculas...

She looked like an innocent child...That wanted to hungrily devour him...He saw the similarity between them.

He smiled at her strange personality and looked back at her, having a strange sensation of wanting to see how each of his personalities would collide with hers.

Licking her lips, after eating, Loralle wanted to jump up and down in happiness, to her new pretty friend!

She got up and jumped onto his lap and cuddled him with no reservations.

Arculas widened his eyes, sneered, blushed, went pale white then, slowly smiled...

His thoughts had been everywhere!

…Someone had touched us! A human had touched us! Get off me! A really cute, incorrigible girl was on our lap! What do we do? She feels...Really good!

What you don't hear though, was the different voices that his thoughts portrayed. Obviously, some were furious, and some weren’t…Some were of that of a male voice and some of a female voice. There was even a robotic type voice and a voice that buzzed…

Loralle watched him like he was her new, shiny toy.

How interesting, she thought.

She could see many adventures going to happen with this strange, pretty man! It was like looking at a whole entire tribe and its people in one person! So much fun!

"I like Arculas. Arculas, pretty!"

Arculas softly put his hands around her, feeling this woman's body on top of him...Then, he harshly pushed her off him, making her fall to the floor.

But…He hadn't thought she'd retaliate, as a water rope pulled him down to fall on top of her!

She put her hands around his neck and kissed him before thoughts could even be made into his head.

Most personalities inside him became dumbstruck and were silent!

Arculas, in a mind of confusion, just took her kiss…

He only had memories from being split up and them doing such a thing, but he had never done this himself!

Suddenly, the Elements laughter was able to awake the personalities inside of his head again and he got up, very quickly and disappeared.

Loralle watched as his profile became air and sat up as well. She felt like she had just marked him. For some reason she wanted him to be hers!

"Loralle, honey, you can't just do that!"

"Haha, never seen him running away before! Hilarious!"

"Have to admit. It feels kind of good to get some payback!"

Loralle laughed with them, she had gotten quite upset before but...There was nothing she could do.

Seeing the 'pretty' Arculas and her friends, made her realize that she was fine. She did miss Mitch, but she had only known him for a short time...Her connection with him are memories now and she was happy to move on.

Sighing, she felt like she had when she had left the Fire Tribe for the Air Tribe, in the past. That there wasn't anything to connect with...

Honestly, she did care for Mitch but as a protection for herself, she had placed Mitch that way so that she could try to move on. It was just something else that she had to adapt too...

Sitting down at her food, she continued to eat, seemingly unworried with what had just happened.

…Arculas didn't return, making the Elements laugh even louder!

They rejoiced and played with Loralle, liking her more and more!

***