Eliza was asleep when Alrik slowly rolled out of bed in order not to wake her. Zee was positioned beside the bed, and Alrik picked her up and left the room. He moved to the roof, figuring it was the best place to begin his training. The roof had a pool, a bar, a space for small gatherings, and space for stargazing. He chose the part of it that was for stargazing, since it was mostly just empty space with telescopes. He moved everything out of the way, and took Zee out of the new sheath he had made for her.

"I'm done. What do I do first? Which ability should I practice with?" He asked.

"If I was human, I would laugh right now. The fact that you already have abilities at this point is just an anomaly. If we had done all of this properly, you wouldn't have access to any power till level two. If we jump right to mastering abilities, it may not end well for either of us. It might impact the bond we need to strengthen our connection."

"So what next?" He asked with a sigh.

"Meditation first. I will tell you the tale of the Queen whose love crossed worlds, and swore to protect her beloved and his blood. Sit, get comfortable, close your eyes, and focus on your breathing. Breathe in with seven counts, and breathe out with seven counts till you can do it without the numbers and still be right.Clear your mind of all thoughts."

As Zee instructed, he sat on the padded floor, and closed his eyes. With his legs crossed, he lay the sword across his thighs, then he began to count but it was not as easy as it sounded. Counting, while also trying to focus and clear his mind was difficult, because he needed his mind to count. His thoughts wandered off periodically, and he had to force himself to remember why he was there.

"It's been an hour. You're still struggling."

"I'm trying. I never knew meditation was so hard." Alrik sighed in frustration and opened his eyes.

"That's because you're trying to approach this logically. You're over thinking everything."

"Just go ahead and tell me the tale you spoke of. It's your history, right? Maybe listening will lull me into a meditative state."

"It's the other way around. Only if you enter a true meditative state will you not only hear, but see."

He was determined, but a few more hours passed and it wasn't until the sun began to rise that he finally achieved it. His body was relaxed, and anyone would think he was asleep as he breathed in the crisp morning air.

"A long time ago, before the boundaries between worlds was disrupted, Faeri was a land of three kingdoms, Olmithr, Myelae, and Elaeria. Your world has technology, my world had magic of all kinds. Elementals could control all aspects of nature, shifters could take animal form, spells could be cast by those who possessed enough mana in their veins. Elaeria was the biggest, and the kingdoms prospered, but like all civilisations, troubles came."

Zee was right. As she narrated to him, he could hear her words and he could see in his mind's eye what this kingdom actually looked like. It was beautiful As she mentioned examples of the types of magic, he could see people wielding fire, water, changing to various animals, and more.

"Elaeria had a princess whose beauty was a tale of legends, born when night became day, and the moon bled."

The analogy was a bit confusing, but he could see how it happened. Elaeria had two suns, but those suns were also moons. What she described was a very rare occurrence, when one moon became a sun, while the other became a blood moon, both occuring at the same time so the sunrise was red.

"Great power flowed through her veins, but nature must always compensate. With her great power, came a weak body. She spent most days in bed, too weak to do much. So she lived in dreams, but even in dreams, she remained weak. And one day, she dreamt of another world where her body was fit, and her pain no longer existed. So happy was she of this new world, that she spent more time in dreams and forsook reality. And one day, she dreamed of another."

As she said that, Alrik could see him. And he recognised the male immediately.The portrait of his ancestor hung in the Zerdon family hall. The first warrior to wield the sword, and the only one that it glowed for.

"He was so strange a being. With round ears, instead of long, pointy ears. With no ounce of magic she could sense. He was also fascinated by her, and to him, she was also strange. He spoke of stories, and she wondered how tales from her world crossed over to this one. That was when she knew, all her dreams were never dreams."

Alrik realised what she meant after a few seconds. Soul walking. Her desire for escape was so strong that she projected her soul across worlds.

"Someone else from her world must have soul walked across worlds, and spread tales of their world, that became myths. With a new friend, she decided to do the same. They spent so much time together, but soon, she began to grow weaker and her soul grew heavier. Too heavy to leave her body, and so she was forced to face reality again. Her sorrow multiplied because she fell in love with the strange being, and her beloved was gone, too far out of her reach."

Alrik could almost feel her sorrow, and he understood after being separated from Eliza for a while. Losing someone you loved was never easy, whether it was through death, or another means.

"She decided to find her beloved, no matter what it took. Her body was weak, but her power was great. Word slowly spread of the mad princess, who fell in love with a dream, and tried to make her dream live. No one believed the dreams were of another world, because no tales had ever been told of humans in our world. She didn't care, but soon word reached, Jaeryn, the second prince of Olmithr. He had been betrothed to the Princess of Elaeria, and he accepted only so he could one day become King, since he had no claim to the throne in his own kingdom. Hearing the Princess speak of other worlds, he came to claim her and his right to the throne of Elaeria."

Alrik could see Jaeryn, conquering smaller towns, forcing people into his army, and slowly amassing a great force to declare war on Elaeria.

"Elaeria would still win of course, it was a great kingdom after all, and Jaeryn knew that. The war was just a distraction for him to snakily get close enough to the princess, and steal the powers she was blessed with. He believed he could rule all three kingdoms with it, and if he succeeded, he would be right. But he never found her. She found a way to cross worlds to meet her beloved. Zerdon and Amreth. Amreth always thought she was a dream, till a portal opened, and he saw she was real."

Alrik could feel their love, so strong. But he knew tragedy was close by.

"He hid her away because he knew she was too strange to fit into the human world. Who knew what would be done to her if her identity was revealed. As the son of a wealthy house, he had the resources to ensure she remained comfortable. Her presence made his family prosper even more, for she retained some of her power even after crossing worlds, and like she was in her dreams, she was no longer weak."

But…

"No secret can remain hidden forever. Eventually the rulers of the country you now know as Velmorra found out, and demanded he give up his beloved. He refused and eloped, escaping into hiding with her. But they found a way. Jaeryn found a way to reach this world through the soul plane. Dark magic. The most evil of spells to exist. And the rulers in their greed believed every lie, and decided to help Jaeryn cross over and grant them magic. They sacrificed countless lives for a blood sacrifice demanded, and opened a portal. But the blood that stained the field of sacrifice was too much. The cries of the innocent from both worlds. The two moons of Faeri bled. And beasts were born from this foul magic. Just like I have, Jaeryn found a way to preserve his soul, and has never stopped trying to cross over to this world to take my power. The only way to save your world then was to become a relic. I was the only source of magic here after all. I did so willingly. For love."

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