Removing the Curtain. Part Two.
Suddenly, a white orb formed in Gwilym's palm, and in seconds, white lines began to appear on the cold rock on which they were sitting. The lines flowed toward one another and connected in various ways; eventually, they formed an outline of a crowned woman. Professor Ng gasped at what she noticed next.
“The hourglass!”
And once mystical white magic finished filling in the details of the crowned woman, indeed, she held an object the shape of an hourglass in her right hand, and a circular item, of which Ng had clue, in the other.
“Many, many years ago – not long after Cruithne had formed – a powerful species, called the Primorians, dominated the universe, with a queen at the head. This queen, Edrea, had abilities even the most adept users of magic today can only imagine. And out of all of her gifts, she needed only a select few to rule over all. However, even she was subject to mortality; she was dying.
”Although Callie had already filled her in on some parts of Queen Edrea’s story, Ng could not help but to be enthralled by the story Gwilym was telling. His deep voice and apparent wisdom made everything seem so clear. He certainly knew how to tell a story. Ng wondered if somehow Dion met up with Gwilym.
“The queen could not be killed by another mortal, but she was susceptible to disease and infection. A disease similar to that of which plagued Cruithne, but much more potent and devastating, wrecked the planet of Primoria, the queen’s home planet, inflicting the queen as well as the majority of the entire Primorian race, itself!
“Even with all her riches and her fame, there was one thing that the queen did not have: immortality. That was her goal since the beginning of her rule. Now, the immortality she ended up with I am sure she did not anticipate in the beginning…”
Gwilym waved a glowing hand, and the white cast of Queen Edrea shifted into three separate figures; the white turned to blue. “Although she had seen her own fate by peering into the future, she knew of one other way to immortalize her name, as well as her influence. She would accept death, if her power lingered on. And she would do this by transferring her own power into tangible objects, so whoever obtained these objects would in a sense be the next Queen Edrea.
“She decided that three items would be enough, and they would be three of her most prized possessions. The first: her seer’s ball. Before it was bestowed with great power, it already allowed its user to see in real time other parts of the world on which it sat; however, Edrea enchanted it to allow its user not only to see other parts of the world, but also be able to manipulate and control the seen area to a certain degree. For her own pleasure, as she was very arrogant, she named the ball the Orb of Sapience.”
“Hold on a minute…,” interrupted Professor Ng. “I remember Callie explaining to me long ago that Agorr, the being responsible for ridding Cruithne of the dreaded disease, had a powerful orb that allowed him to scan the asteroid and survey the damage dealt by the disease. Could that…?”
“…You’re getting too far ahead, now. Allow me to continue... Now, where was I? OH, right. The enchanting of the Orb of Sapience did not go without repercussions for Edrea. All the power she placed within these objects was removed from her own person, thus weakening her and allowing the disease to spread and become more infectious and harmful to her. So her time was limited if she wanted to achieve her sense of immortality.
“Next, she chose her most beautiful possession to enchant: her crown. It is said that for every star in the sky, Queen Edrea’s crown had one embedded jewel. If you choose to believe such nonsense, then go ahead. The truth is, nobody truly knows except for the Primorians, themselves.” The silver Nature Spirit paused to reposition himself on the rock floor.
“Now, anybody who thinks they know of Queen Edrea and her story will tell you that she was too conceited to ever have a family. But they would be telling you a lie. In fact, she did have one son, named Rondal. Rondal was only a child during this deadly plague, and sadly he was one of the first to die as a result. Losing Rondal crushed Edrea, so she vowed that her son live forever with her. And she would accomplish this by bestowing a gift she had given Rondal with untold power. It was an hourglass.”
“This is what she had been searching for all along! The Harenian tablet had information about Rondal’s Hourglass!” Thought Professor Ng.
“At this time, Edrea was very close to death. But she knew that her power could mean the end of time, should it get in the wrong hands. So, she chose to disassemble the items, Rondal’s Hourglass in particular, and scatter the pieces throughout the galaxy.
This way, only the most achieved being able to travel the universe would be worthy of ruling. Alas, this wouldn’t be the case. She hadn’t enough power to properly hide the hourglass pieces throughout the galaxy.“Instead, she hid the pieces on a recently discovered asteroid: Cruithne. Now, keep in mind, she did all of this in secret. Nobody else at the time knew of her imminent doom or transference of power. In fact, she didn’t tell anyone of her plan until, shortly before dying, she told her would-be predecessor Lyra. But she told not of the location of the hourglass pieces. Instead, she had given the crown and the orb to Lyra, in hopes that she’d fulfill Edrea’s dying wish for immortality.
“Instead, Lyra and the other surviving Primorians – at this time, the disease had mysteriously stopped – they agreed that the fate of the galaxy should not rest with one person. So, they formed the Primorian Order, which would consist of many notable survivors, to hold supreme power. And thus is the story of Queen Edrea. I am sure your foaming with questions, but they’ll have to wait.” The symbols had disappeared from the bottom of the cave, and Gwilym’s face turned rigid. “Now, the prophecy…”
“Prophecy?” Professor Ng asked. “How does that include me? I’m not even a native of Cruithne.
”Gwilym shook his head and brought an index finger to his lips. “You continue to listen. I am not to answer any of your questions, as I made very clear in the beginning of our chat. You decide which is a path of more importance, as your options will become evident very soon.
“Your comment on Lord Agorr was indeed correct. The Primorian Order appointed Agorr to serve as a more independent ruler of Cruithne; the other individual planets and inhabited rock bodies received their potentates, as well. The Primorian Order has always had a fascination with Cruithne. Could it be that it is because they know the disassembled hourglass is hidden somewhere on this asteroid? Possibly. But that’s really irrelevant. The takeaway from this is that Cruithne is supposed to have some higher power protecting it from threats. And now that the seat is open, the fate of the asteroid is unknown.
“A dark energy has destroyed Agorr and is now in control of his Orb of Sapience. I am not sure the evil being knows just how influential that orbs makes him, but I am positive he will find out soon. If all fails, this will be the fate of us all.” With eyes closed, Gwilym sends a sliver of glittering magic into the air, which in turn bursts to reveal a large scene. Like a movie.
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