MEMORY FRAGMENT

Nymph Capital Sorgente, Nymph’s Era

The archbishop’s prophecy came to pass. One of the insignificant human kingdoms had sent a messenger to the nymphs’ land cities, requesting that they be spared destruction. They were willing to face any consequences and had made a Moon vow to that effect.

Concerned by the coincidence, Giaccia had personally gone to question the bishop, but found that he was no longer there. None of the guards knew anything, no one had seen him… it was as if the man had vanished into thin air, leaving nothing but a scroll behind. On it were another two prophecies as well as an instruction that should they need more, it was upon them to visit the archbishop in the Order’s grand citadel.

Convinced it was a ploy of some sort, Giaccia punished the guards, then pretended to give the matter no further thought. There were battles to be won, and a minor disruption of such nature was no reason to put the war effort on hold. Her sister, though, wasn’t of the same opinion.

A month later, once the remaining two prophecies had occurred, Tiallia left the empire’s capital. No one knew where she went, but Giaccia had a pretty good idea. After several weeks, the princess returned. From that point on, prophecies started coming in.

“Be careful when you take Meghena,” Tiallia said. “It’s an ambush. They’ll surrender the city, then attack it from the outside.”

“I know how to fight,” Giaccia replied in a sharp tone.

“I know you do, but there are things you can’t foresee.”

“What did you agree to give him? The Order doesn’t just send prophecies for no reason.”

“Does it matter? They are helping us.”

“The archbishop could be organizing all that. The Order has its fingers in many kingdoms.” Thinking about it, it had a presence in every kingdom that the empire had conquered so far. More significantly, somehow the bishops had the foresight to leave the capitals prior to conquest.

“He could have. Which is why I went to see him.”

“It was a mistake.”

“No, it wasn’t.” Tiallia’s tone hardened. “He gave me a lot of insight.”

“That the Star can’t be trusted? I could have told you that.”

“He told me a lot more than the Star’s betrayal. Up to now, most of his prophecies have come true.” There was a moment of evasiveness as she spoke. Giaccia noticed it, but decided not to press. Things were getting tense, either way. When the two had started this, it was to change the world. Now, there was no telling whether they were of the same mind.

Seeing that there was no point in arguing, Giaccia focused on the fighting. Tiallia must have continued with her dealings, since letters from the Order kept on pouring in. What was more, syllablights were used to ensure that no one could read the contents of those letters; no one except for Tiallia.

Then, the Star’s betrayal happened. Giaccia had been so certain that she had been prepared. There were enough armies placed at the right places with the right equipment. Capturing the fury stronghold was supposed to be a breeze. However, it quickly turned out that all the information the nymphs had received was false. The mighty stronghold was occupied by less than a hundred soldiers, all fully aware that they were sacrificing their lives. The real enemy forces had taken advantage of the movement of troops to attack a series of undefended cities in the rear of the nymph empire. On their own, none of the cities constituted a major loss. Taken together, though, they had crippled Giaccia’s advancement plans and put their hold of the continent at risk. The only solution was to retreat and consolidate.

Tiallia’s response was mind-boggling. When Giaccia returned to the capital to bring her the news in person, she found her sister destroying Galatea’s statue.

“Tia?” Giaccia asked. The only reason she wasn’t shouting was because of the people present. There was no need to give further credence to the rumors of discord between the two. “What’s going on?”

“The archbishop needs Moonstones for adequate prophecies,” the other explained, not even looking in Giaccia’s direction. “This was faster than sending out hunts for them.”

“Destroying the state of Galatea?”

“A sacrifice, I know, but given our current situation, a necessary one.”

There’s no way that’s necessary, Giaccia thought.

“Is there something you needed?” Tia glanced at her sister for the first time. “This requires precision on my part.”

“Yes,” Giaccia replied in a calm fashion. Deep inside, she was boiling, but on the exterior she was as calm as a rippleless lake. “I’d like to have a conversation with you in private.”

With a snap of her fingers, Tiallia surrounded both of them with an aether bubble. A moment later, the bubble turned opaque purple.

“So?” Tiallia crossed her arms.

“We lost.”

“Please tell me you didn’t want to tell me just that.”

“What more proof do you want not to trust the Order? It’s just like with our brother. They assured you that their prophecies will bring you victory. We still got betrayed by the Star, not that there was ever any doubt. We still lost the continent. We should be engaging them and instead—”

“My dear, silly, big sister,” Tiallia laughed. “Always so focused on the practical. We had already lost months ago. The first prophecy the bishop brought holds true. There was no going around that. Did you think I was wasting my time trying to prevent it?”

Giaccia didn’t say a word, staring at her sister in disbelief.

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“I maintained this relationship for two reasons. The archbishop’s prophecy said that I can win. He just didn’t say when.” She moved closer to Giaccia. “Also, this was the only way I could ensure your survival.”

“My what?” Giaccia’s eyes widened.

“The battle that you lost, the one you just came back from. Originally, you were supposed to die there. Overconfident in your abilities, you would lead the charge and be ambushed. I’d destroy the city, of course. I’d even destroy a quarter of the remaining kingdoms, but ultimately, I’d be defeated. This way I have an alternative.”

Giaccia looked away. Despite hearing the truth in Tiallia’s words, she still found the whole story unbelievable. Awakened powers allowed people to do many things that were deemed impossible, but could prophecy be one of them? It was said that even the Moons couldn’t see the future. If so, how could a mere mortal?

“I’ve thought about this.” Tiallia placed her hands on Giaccia’s shoulders. “You can trust me.”

Whether or not she was telling the truth remained debatable. For almost a year later the unthinkable happened. After losing almost the whole of the continent, Giaccia and her armies had just started making new gains when an event like none other took place.

Giaccia suddenly felt her surroundings disappear, consumed by purple. It wasn’t a case of a spell or aether bubble appearing. She could feel a barrier inserting itself between her and reality.

BANISHMENT

You have been removed from the world.

A yellow rectangle appeared before her eyes. There could no longer be any doubt—the event that Giaccia had dreaded had come to pass. It felt very different from what she had imagined. When reading the historical tomes as a child, she had on occasion wondered what the copyettes had felt. She had also wondered what could cause the most powerful race to suffer such a fate. Now she knew the answer to both of those questions, and they seemed disappointingly mundane.

“Gia.” A voice rippled in the purple nothingness.

A tear within it appeared, revealing Giaccia’s sister.

“Tia?” Giaccia reached out to her, but an invisible barrier stopped her hand.

“Don’t,” the other said. “You’ll break the pattern.”

“Pattern?”

“Remember when I told you I’ll take care of you? Now’s the time to prove it.”

A bit difficult now that we’re banished, Giaccia thought. Nonetheless, she was grateful. She wasn’t alone in the nothingness, which probably couldn’t be said for many others.

“We’ll have to be banished for a while, but I’ve arranged for you to return to the world as an item guardian.”

Arranged? Giaccia wondered. What came out of her mouth, though, was. “Item guardian?”

“With your skills, you’ll still be able to see the world around you.”

“Tia, I don’t—”

“Not now!” her sister interrupted. “We don’t have long. Take the time as an item to learn all that you can. Learn about the world, about your owners, about the changes that take place. It might be a while before we see each other again, but when I come back, we’ll finish what we started.”

“Wait! How—” before Gia was done, she was ripped out of the nothingness and into a large silver room.

The interior was very similar to what her chambers in the nymph palace had been, though considerably smaller.

SHIELD BLADE level 1 created.

You are the SHIELD BLADE guardian.

Your new class is SHADOW

Your new level is 100

Rectangles appeared in the air. Giaccia waved them away and quickly went to the window. To her relief, there was a world to be seen outside. After a few moments, though, she quickly saw that it was an awakened realm. Beyond a certain distance, the landscape repeated, continuing with its sameness all the way to the horizon.

Only now did everything start to sink in. This wasn’t a dream or illusion. Giaccia wasn’t part of the world—at least not in the same sense as before. The nymph empire had fallen, the race was banished, and Giaccia was the guardian of a shield blade, of all things.

The only speck of comfort was that she was the guardian of a weapon. Could it be that her sister had arranged that as well?

“Hello?” Giaccia said. There was nothing to suggest that the item was linked to a person, but from experience she knew that she had to have an owner. Shield blades didn’t come into existence just like that. “Hello!”

ARN LEGRAND has linked the realm to his.

Great. Giaccia sighed. Naturally, it had to be a dwarf.

Then again, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. The nymphs hadn’t gotten to taking on many of the dwarf kingdoms yet, so there wouldn’t be too much animosity towards her. Of course, that would be if the dwarf would even respond to her.

It quickly became clear that her owner didn’t have the empathy trait. Thus, talking to him was as useful as petting a porcupine.

For the next few centuries, Giaccia learned what it was like to be an item guardian. The dwarf turned out to be a hunter, so he made good use of his weapon. Even so, his actions were slow and sloppy in comparison to what the nymph was used to. She couldn’t help herself but to correct his strikes, making the attacks more lethal. Soon enough the weapon she was guardian of became known for its lust for blood, and she as a combat guardian.

The dwarf passed the shield sword to his son, who then passed it to his daughter, continuing the tradition of hunters. Unfortunately, in the prime of her life, she came upon a creature she wasn’t able to defeat—a dragon. The fight had been quick—the dwarf hadn’t felt a thing. In the process, Giaccia’s item had snapped, taking her back to the purple void. Hardly had she done so than she was pulled into an entirely new item. This time it was a noble’s saber. Apparently, as part of her sister’s “arrangement” she was to be moved to a new item the instant her current one was destroyed.

The next seventeen years, she was the proud possession of an energetic, but spoiled baron’s son. The experience was tiring and filled with more showing off and petty duels than actual fighting. The owner had no regard for his items, so it came as no surprise that he snapped the saber in an attempt to force a door open.

Centuries and eras came and went. Through dozens of owners, Giaccia witnessed the fall of the dryads’ attempt and the start of the human age. Each time her item would break, she hoped that it would mark her sister’s promised return, and each time she was wrong. The experience made her more and more bitter, vengeful against the world and everyone in it. All the items she was guardian of quickly acquired a reputation of being cursed or bloodthirsty. Although still plagued by her fragile nature, Giaccia yearned for battle, finding that only it managed to keep her thoughts at bay.

Then, millennia later, she acquired an owner that changed her existence to its core.