MIRARIS PURPOSE Chapter 2. Walking The Path After Thot catches up to his new unexpected friend Augur and makes his plea to come with, the two decide to head off in the direction of The Path. Augur, having traveled to The Path before, knew exactly where to go. He invites Thot to ride along with him on his Wind-chariot - a small streamlined cockpit with big windshields and two oversized wind-turbines on either side of it. Augur takes a seat behind a small orb and places his left hand on top of it. The chariot starts up, the wind-turbines spin and the Wind-chariot lifts itself high into the air before speeding off into the horizon. They fly for hours at a time. Past the grassy fields and the desert plains, over mighty forests and rushing rivers to the hollowing winds of the snow-peaked mountains. As the two travel towards their destination, Thot - still not completely trusting his companion - feels the need to start asking questions. “So what is it that you know about The Path? Thot asks curiously. Augur explains: Ive been there many times before. Gazing at it. Studying it. Planning. I tried to learn a lot about what it is I was going to get myself into. Readying myself for today. The day where I would finally walk The Path. Ready and prepared. I even got the chance to ask some of the Masters themselves about their own experiences... Thots jaw drops: Youve met some of the Masters in person?! He tries to hide the jealousy in his voice as much as he can, but the tone is undeniable. You cant be serious?! So who did you get to talk to? Let me guess! Was it Macian the Knowledgeable, Master of Science? No, hes always too busy to talk to people. Wait, it HAS to be Victoria the Champion, Mistress of Athletics, wasnt it! Even though getting an interview with Drao the Performer, Master of Entertainment would probably be more realistic... Well... Augur interrupts a ranting Thot. His eyeball shaped Mirari appears from behind him and silently moves to hover over his raised hand in front of him. Ever since I figured out the true potential of my dear Beholder, I started looking up to Liste the Visionary, Mistress of Art. So one day I just decided to go talk to her. And I did. It all went down at a gathering, where Liste coincidentally happened to be at as well, and I decided to go over and tell her that I would love to talk to her some day. No sooner said than done and the next day she invited me over for a talk at her workplace. Ive never seen so many beautiful images and artistry in my life! I really look up to her. She really learned how to get the full potential out of her Mirari... Iris! Thot finishes Augurs sentence somewhat overly excited. Ive always been a great admirer of Miraris. Im just astonished at all the wonderful things we humans are able to do because of them. Like Iris for example - how it allows Liste to create multi-colored objects out of thin air! Or Soma - how it makes Atalanta faster, stronger, more durable and more agile than any other human being on the planet! And what about Drao’s ‘Odeon’ - that can make any person look and sound like anyone or anything they want! They are just amazing!!” Thot’s expression suddenly changes from excited to inquisitive. “Which reminds me, Ive been wanting to ask you about yours ever since I laid my eyes on it. What does your Mirari do? Augur smiles and says: Lets just say, Beholder here gives me a unique perspective on things. The blank stare that Thot flashes him brings an even bigger grin on the already amused look on Augurs face. Hahaha, dont to think about it too hard - you might break that little head of yours, my friend. Youll find out. Eventually. I see that yours is so malleable that it can change its shape. Havent seen any Mirari around that are able to do that. Your little floating friend there seems pretty unique. Its the first time in a long time that someones had anything positive and complimenting to say about Thots beloved Chimera. Most people just think of his Mirari as childish, juvenile and unproductive pastime. Its strange for him to not hear those words for a change. It felt good. His cheeks turned red. Not knowing how to respond, he bashfully bows his head and stumbles to mutter the words: Th-thanks... After a silent and awkward moment, Augur redirects the attention of a very blushing Thot. No time to look down and away, my friend. Raise your head. We have arrived. Thot looks up and over the Wind-chariots dashboard. Feeling like hes in a dream, he lets his eyes feast upon the impressive sight that is ‘The Path’! A towering ancient building with its tip reaching high into the sky, hidden behind a cover of clouds. The surrounding monumental mountains around the tower further accentuate its vast size. Thot’s eyes fill up with amazement at the thrilling sight of their final destination. It leaves him speechless. “There it is,” Augur explains. “The Path. A mysterious relic of the past, still operational today. Rumor has it that The Path was laid by the original first Master many centuries ago. Some say he was even responsible for the Mirari’s existence. Unfortunately nobody knows what the truth is. A lot of this ancient legacy is still wrapped in mystery. But it is used nowadays by people like us, who want to become Masters. So far everyone who became a Master had to walk The Path to achieve their goal. There are no short-cuts. There is only The Path.” After Augur safely lands his Wind-chariot in a nearby clearing, the two travel companions start making their way up a long and winding staircase carved out of the mountain that spiral upwards, leading to the base of the ancient tower. Closing in on to the towering building, Thot’s starry eyes are astound at seeing the colossal monolith’s complex mystic markings and detailed mythic figures sculpted into its solid stone outer surface. Up close the high-reaching structure appears even more awe-inspiring and intimidating than it already was. Augur breaks the silence: “Even after all these countless years, this infamous avenue has been able to withstand the test of time. Hard to believe that The Path has been around for centuries yet nobody has been able to truly figure out how it all actually works.” Out of the blue the pair are rattled by the sudden violent quaking of the ground. Augur is able to quickly regain his composure, but Thot - fearing that the end of the world is upon them - falls onto his hands and knees and goes into a state of complete and utter panic. Augur finds a way to calm his frightened friend by drawing his attention away from the soil shaking under his feet to the curious movement of the tower. Thot watches in disbelief as he sees the tower divide itself into smaller fragments, jumble its parts around like a swarm of frantic bees and then rearrange itself into a completely different shape - followed by a thundering thump that echoes throughout the mountains. Miraculously, the archaic building went from a cone-shaped tower to the form of a giant pyramid in the blink of an eye. “What just happened?!” Thot asks bewildered. “Every now and then The Path changes,” Augur answers.”When it does the land around it trembles. Nothing to be concerned about. It’s only dangerous if you’re standing too close to it when it happens.” Augur helps his spooked companion back on his feet and the two make their way to the entrance of the pyramid. Approaching the superstructure, the two notice what seems to be an campsite of some sort in the distance, not too far from the entrance. They are spotted from afar by the resident camp dwellers and are waved over to join them. Thinking it could do no harm, the two decide to stop at the camp for a while. At the encampment, they’re warmly greeted by an old man with a long white beard: “Greetings there youngsters, welcome to our camp. Please, rest up for a while and join us at the bonfire for some food and drink. Feel free to stay as long as you’d like.” Thot and Augur politely accept the invitation and take their place next to the warm and cozy fire. As the two make themselves comfortable, the old man continues: “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ceasar and I am the owner of this fine establishment. I provide rest and comfort to all those who pass here. Joining me are my other two guests, the smart and enchanting Latjana and the courageous and fiery Fel.” “Pleased to meet you,” Latjana says with a glint of seduction in her eye. The two boys wave eagerly at the long-haired brunette. “Hey, how are ya…” Fel mumbles somewhat disinterested. The boy’s cold greeting makes the two wave at the spiked red-head somewhat hesitantly. “Don’t mind the lad,” Ceasar addresses the newcomers. “Fel is always in a mood. But he has his heart in the right place. But enough about them, I would like to know more about you. I am guessing the two of you aren’t here just for sightseeing, am I right?” “That’s right,” Augur answers. “Me and my friend are here to take on The Path. We both want to become Masters.” The old man smiles. “It is always great to see eager youngsters ready to push themselves to the limit. Well, you must be tired from your travels up the mountain. Eat! Drink! Make sure you are well rested and relaxed. You will be needing your strength for the trials that await you ahead.” Augur and Thot heartily enjoy their unexpected reward of flavorful foods and delicious drinks as they are entertained by the old man and his hilarious tall tales. All of a sudden he takes out a flask, fills his cup with the sweet-smelling liquid inside it and passes it on to Latjana. As the candied scent tickles Thot’s nose, he immediately recognizes the smell and says: “Ambrosia...!” The old man looks over at Thot and smiles. “Ah, we have another appreciator in our midst. By all means friend, have some!” Latjana finishes topping off her drink and passes the flask to over to Thot, who eagerly splashes his favorite beverage into his cup and accidentally spills some on the floor. Embarrassed he looks up at the old man expecting to get a lecture on wasting. Instead the white bearded man gave Thot another smile and said: Not to worry my friend, I have many more where that came from! And pulls out several flaks seemingly out of thin air. Not having to feel guilty, Thot gladly takes a giant gulp of Ambrosia and swallows it all in one go. “Easy there my young friend,” the old man says to Thot. “This Ambrosia is stronger than anything you’ve ever tried.” Ceasar isn’t even done talking and Thot’s body already goes weak, almost instantly. Finally he falls over backwards, passes out and starts snoring like a little purring kitten. The next morning Thot wakes up in an empty tent. He looks over to the side and sees one bed already made up. He’s guessing and secretly hoping that it was Augur who slept next to him. His head still feels light and fuzzy. He can’t remember much of what happened after they passed him the flask of Ambrosia. Augur enters the tent: “Heaven’s first light be upon you. How did you sleep?” “May the light be upon you as well,” Thot replies. “I feel like I’m still asleep. What happened last night?” “Nothing much.” Augur replies. “You just drank too much Ambrosia, that’s all. Now go and get ready. It’s almost already noon. We have to get started on The Path.” “I’m not in any shape to walk The Path right now.” Thot complains while throwing his blanket over his head. “Let me get back to full strength first and then we can go, OK?” Augur’s playful expression turned serious in a heartbeat. “I also partook in Ambrosia, but not in the same way that you have. I feel fine. There is no sense in waiting or leaving this for another day. There never will be the right time to start on The Path. But the decision is yours. You can choose to stay here and enjoy your Ambrosia with your new friends. Or you can go ahead and do what it is you came here to do. Remember what it is you are here for.” That last sentence kept echoing through Thot’s head. A head that felt empty and unburdened. He felt loose from all responsibility. No need to prove himself to anyone. Why would he give all of this up? To him it felt like paradise! Not willing to wait for Thot to make a decision, Augur grabs his bag and exits the tent. “I wish you good luck Thot,” he says to his still intoxicated friend. “Who knows, we might run into each other again on the inside.” Augur turns around, throws the bag over his shoulder and walks away. Thot has never felt so alone before in his life. He’s always been so used to being around his friends and family all the time. Now he’s been dropped off by a stranger in the middle of nowhere and he’s staying in a camp with people he knows even less about. But before he can even think twice about the situation, Latjana sticks her head into the tent with a cup filled to the rim with Ambrosia. “What happened to your friend?” She asks puzzled. “Doesn’t he like it here?” “It’s not that.” Thot explains. “He is a man on a mission. He wants to get started on The Path right away. I just want to enjoy myself a little bit more before I shut myself up in that big pyramid.” He looks over to the building, expecting to see a pyramid. Instead, he finds to see a spiralling spire where the pyramid once was. The building must’ve changed while he was out cold. Latjana presses her cup into Thot’s hand: “Well, then I guess there’s more for the rest of us.” The next couple of days are all a blur for Thot. All he can remember is having a cup Ambrosia in his hand from the moment he wakes from his intoxicated dreams until he passes out again several hours later. Thot has been so under the influence that he’s even starting to forget what he was there for. Drinking Ambrosia day and night became somewhat of a routine. And he hated to admit it, but somewhere deep down it felt good. Being numb all the time meant not feeling anything, not thinking about anything and last but not least, not worrying about anything. At the same time Thot is slowly starting to realize he isn’t doing anything. Anything at all! All the things he loved to do, he hasn’t done them in a while. He doesn’t even remember the last time he played with Chimera! This came as a shock to him. There was nothing he would rather do than play with Chimera all day. Being stuck on Ambrosia every day made him forget about that. Augur’s voice started echoing again through Thot’s head: “Remember what it is you are here for.” All the memories he had of him playing around with his little friend came flushing back. Feeling empty from not seeing his favorite Mirari in a long time, Thot stretches out his hand in front of him and calls out: “Chimera!” A faintly glowing ball of energy appeared from behind Thot and slowly floated over towards his hand. Thot could tell that Chimera was in bad shape. He didn’t understand how this could happen. And then the truth hits him. Like a ton of bricks. Chimera is a Mirari. Mirari’s are a physical representation of a person’s natural skills and talents. If these traits aren’t treasured and nurtured, they slowly start withering away and fade into nothingness. And the same thing happens to the Mirari! Thot began to feel so guilty seeing his trusty little friend in such a state. All because he wanted to be numb all the time. He realized that it was time for a drastic change if he was ever to get his tiny companion back to normal again. Thot steps out of his tent with his bag in one hand and Chimera floating over the other. “I’m sorry Ceasar,” he starts saying to the old man. “But I can’t stay here anymore. Ever since I got here I forgot about the reason why I came here in the first place.” He stretches out his hand and puts Chimera right underneath Ceasar’s nose. “This is the reason why I came here. To make my dear Chimera stronger. To walk The Path. To become a Master! Just sitting around getting numb isn’t getting me anywhere. I need to let all of this behind and go for what truly makes me happy. Isn’t that right, little buddy?” Thot pretends to caress his Mirari with his nose. Thot turns around to address the other guests of Ceasar’s encampment. “You two, do you even remember what it is that brought you here in the first place?” Latjana and Fel look at each other and pull up their shoulders. Thot shakes his head. “What about your Mirari’s? I haven’t seen any of you call them up or play with them ever since I got here. What happened to them?” The red-headed Fell gives another uninterested look at Thot and says: “What’s a Mirari?” Thot got exactly the answer he needed. He turns back around to Ceasar and his white beard. “Thank you very much for everything,” he says thankfully. “Unfortunately I will no longer be able to stay. I have a task here I came to accomplish. So if all goes well I will be seeing you all again in one piece. I hope…” Before the old man even gets a chance to say anything, Thot already turns around and starts heading towards the - now diamond-shaped - building, ready to start on his new adventure. Or at least as ready as he’ll ever be.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 07:31:25 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015