We all stood round the gravesite. Tears streaming from my eyes. My eyes moved from the casket, which was a stained maple, to the gravestone. I still could hardly believe the name carved upon that quartz stone. Josheph Kamuya. My father.
He had disappeared upon one of his archaeological expeditions a year ago, forcing me to move in with my godfather, Seth Ragnara, in Almahna. And there I came to learn of a sister I never even knew I had, Zoe, who now stood beside me, arms crossed and a frown on her face. I could tell she was annoyed even being here. That was Zoe. Short temper, easily annoyed. But she was family. And now the only family I had left. And she never even knew Dad, as she lived with Mom her whole life, so I guess I couldn't really blame her for being indifferent about all of this.
"I am so very sorry, Kairine. I wished and hoped for a different outcome," said a soft voice to my left. I looked to see Seth come up beside Zoe and me. "Have you seen his spirit anywhere about?"
I shook my head. Oh, I suppose I should have started with that. I am what's known as a telepath. Or Psion, or, well, there are a dozen different names for it. Frankly, I don't like the labels. Some use the labels in a derogatory sort of way. Anyway, I can see spirits, as well as several other 'gifts' as some call them. I call them a curse.
"Well, I hope he has gone to a better place. Wouldn't want to have to cross him over as well. That would be harder on you, I can imagine," he said as he walked away.
When he was gone, Zoe whispered, "You lied, didn't you? You have seen him, haven't you?"
I nodded. "I see him everywhere. But he won't speak to me. And that's the part I can't really figure out."
"Then. . . how did you find all those clues to nail all those cultist idiots from the Sethu Legion, or whatever they call themselves?" she asked.
"Sechi Legion. And just good perception. Even in his death, he left behind plenty of clues to identify his killers. Sometimes good detective work can do what a psion can't," I said. "But even so, I failed. One got away. And he's more dangerous than all the ones we did manage to catch put together. Flarius. And something tells me we haven't heard the last of him."
"Hmph, well, when he returns, he's going to wish he'd just gone and jumped in the pit of Mount Hellfire," she said, cracking her knuckles.
I chuckled. Sometimes her attitude was actually rather endearing and amusing. "I see you've come around to me and my gifts," I said. For a long time, it was clear that she didn't put much stock in my gifts at all. But of course, she was a Mystia Caster, so I suppose it came with the territory.
She shrugged. "Meh. I figure you're either really good at faking it, or your gifts are real. And I take you as being way too honest for your own good, so probably the latter."
Hard to argue with that logic.
Changing the subject, I nodded to the grave. "I really wish you could have known him. He was a really kind man. And fun. I always enjoyed it when he would take me with him on his expeditions." I said, as another tear fell from my eyes.
"Yeah, it's not fair. You got the good parent, and I got the drunken bitch," said Zoe.
"Such colourful language. Certainly shouldn't let you give the eulogy at her funeral." I said, chuckling.
"Do we have to have a funeral? Why not just cremate her and be done with it?"
I rolled my eyes at her. Though Mom had apparently treated her really badly, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Or blame her. From all she's told me, Mom was an alcoholic and drug addict, and abused her constantly. I thanked the Gods she was out of that environment now. I could only imagine how rough it was living through all of that. It was little wonder that she turned out the way she did.
Then my mind flashed back to Flarius. There was something about him that I couldn't quite place my finger on. Something off-putting and strange. Was it his behaviour? It was erratic and chaotic, very much so. But he also seemed really. . . different from other members of the Sechi Legion. The Sechi Legion primarily spoke of bringing about the apocalypse and similar events. . . he did not. He seemed quite. . . mad. He also seemed to delight in torture and pain.
My mind kept pondering Flarius' behaviour and his words. Everything I experienced with the madman flooded through my mind. But in particular, one simple sentence which somehow escaped my attention before now came roaring back. One thing he said. "The Ancient Ones shall cometh!" his words echoed in my mind. But for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what he meant. Was he talking about the Alchemists, the ancient civilization that left Terr'ahna ages ago? No, that seemed wrong. Then what?
"Hey Zoe. . ." I asked out loud. "Have you ever heard of something called 'the Ancient Ones'?"
She shrugged. "Some band or something? I don't know. Might check the library. But then you spend all your time there anyway. Particularly when you met a certain someone. . ."
"Ok shush," I said, my cheeks flaring. "Thanks for the suggestion."
David. . . Oh, why did she have to go and mention him? He was a nice boy I met a year ago, some time after I moved to Almahna. He drove me nuts, but in a good way. But then he went and vanished without a word. Zoe thought I had a crush on him. I wanted to hit her for even suggesting it. But then, I had to admit, he was attractive.
I turned around to go. "Maybe I will check the library. Not sure what I'll find there though."
"If you find another case, could you leave me out of it, please?" said Zoe as she turned to leave with me.
I rolled my eyes. "It's not like I dragged you on that one on purpose, you know. Frankly, I'd rather not. Your attitude can get in the way more often than it helps," I replied. Once in a while, the Maji Guard liked to bring me on to assist them with cases, despite the fact that I was fifteen and a student in school. I suppose my psionic abilities and good perception was useful for them. If I'm being honest, I welcomed the reprieve from dealing with everything in my life. But the last case I assisted them with, Zoe nearly angered everyone in the city, somehow. I'm not even sure how she did it, but she was banned from the entire city of Sapphire Port. "Perhaps when you learn to keep your mouth shut, I'll think about taking you with me."
"Hey, it's not my fault people in that port town have such thin skin!" she screamed back at me.
"Zoe, most of them are Vikarahn! They have thicker skin than most people. But when you go and insult their beards and ancestors all in one breath, of course they're going to take offence to that!" I spit back at her. Sapphire Port was a city on the northern coast of Almahna. We lived in Calrune, the capital of the country, so it was just north of us. It is also one of the direct trade routes with Highwind, so most of the people living there are Vikarahn. Made of sturdier stock, they had a unique culture that I appreciated. They didn't believe in gods. Instead, they prayed to their ancestors.
Zoe and I packed into an automobile with our godfather, as he smirked at me from the front seat. I rolled my eyes. I could already tell this was going to be a long ride back home. Seth clicked the key and the engine whirred to life, as gas poured out from the back. I sighed. I really didn't like these contraptions.
Automobiles were Mystia powered vehicles, running off of the energy that flowed through the whole world. I felt for sure that the gas that emerged from the back of this one contributed to pollution in the world. It was long a fear in the Quatrica Islands, which was why such vehicles weren't allowed there. Airships weren't even allowed in Quatrican airspace. I suppose it was possible that my upbringing in the Islands contributed to my dislike of them. But I also thought it was absolutely possible that it was causing pollution. How could anyone be sure it wasn't?
As Seth backed the automobile up, just narrowly avoiding a sand dune, I looked out back toward Dad's grave. And that was when I saw him, looking back at me and winking. Before I knew it, he was gone. I shut my eyes as tears welled up behind my eyelids. I knew in that moment. . . He, the man who raised me for so long, who used to take me with him on expeditions; who used to read stories to me every night; who I knew loved me with every ounce of his being, my dad. . . had crossed over. And I was never going to see him again. "Goodbye, Dad. . ." I muttered under my breath as I looked forward.
