Piranha squinted and shuffled uncomfortably. “You think so? I don’t understand it at all.”
“She might be right,” confirmed Mercury. “There are four subjects in this poem: 'little badger’, ‘silver wolf’, ‘little monster’, and ‘featherbird.’”
“Hmph. I wonder who the monster is supposed to be,” Pir sneered, fangs stained red from eating mushrooms.
Mercury’s eyes widened in horror for a split second, as if noticing Pir’s bizarre appearance for the first time. “Um. Yeah. Sorry. Blame the tree. This poem just needed us to identify its subjects. You are from the Jungle, right? A place known for dangerous monsters? That would explain the word choice.”
Willow turned white, eyes locked on the last two stanzas. He gripped his stomach and whispered, “I don't like this.”
“Don’t worry,” Olivine attempted to reassure him. “These predictions are not explicit, and the truth is always open to different interpretations. The wind motif indicates Wyvern’s involvement in this conflict, that much I can say for certain. Note the references to war, like 'dire dance', 'storm', and 'disaster'. Words like 'calm' and 'won' imply your involvement is key to bringing us back to peace.”
I examined the imprinted copy of the poem, my eyes drawn to a particular word. “In the original, why is ‘ATMOSPHERE’ written with different lettering?”
Gold-and-Silver perked up. “Clever observation. ATMOSPHERE is Divine One, the strongest in the Pantheon, one of the two warning powers.”
I blinked. “Warning power?”
“Yes. Powers that return when humans begin abusing the Pantheon and the gods decide to intervene.” He looked away and added a weak afterthought. “The other is called Reaper.”
Marrow sat upright with disciplined posture and said, "Each Dark Prophecy has a corresponding twin in the Wind. We don’t know what it says, but we know it convinced Wyvern to believe Divine One would manifest in one of his children, half of whom defected from his ranks.”
The air around Mercury crackled with anger. “Five years ago, Wyvern discovered we were sheltering these defectors, and began sending Wind Scouts. They didn’t find ATMOSPHERE though, and most of the Wind refugees lost their lives or fled to the Undreamed Shore. He knows the warning powers can stop him, so he’s doing whatever he can to stay on the throne, even if it means killing his family.”
My heart skipped. Until then I thought that kind of cruelty existed only in the past, in the grim history of centuries ago. And yet, there I was, about to be steeped in it.
Olivine stared into the distance at nothing, as if locked in a memory. “The Sapphire Clan suffered the most losses. Now they’re angry and want a fight we can’t win. Since Obsidian is weak, they used Pyrite to take full control of him, and of the Dark. We didn’t realize until it was too late.”
“Wait, how does Pyrite factor into this?” I asked, remembering the patchwork nature of his bizarre soul. “He never told us about his power.”
Gold-and-Silver’s face was obscured by growing shadows. “He wields a dangerous Variety with no safeguards, named Puppeteer. It can control everyone, even people in the Pantheon. Melodia’s own power can’t touch Obsidian, but she can control Pyrite, making her the most dangerous person in the Dark.”
Willow snapped out of his dour attitude. “You thought I was a Wind Scout?”
“Can you blame us?” Mercury indicated all of Willow, with his sun-white hair, gold jewelry, and blue-feather scarf. “After the killings, Scouts are the only Wind people that dare enter here.”
“But…you said all the remaining fugitives fled,” noted Sharp. “Why are Scouts still breaking in?”
“Defectors aren’t the only thing they’re looking for,” Marrow explained. “Obsidian is in possession of an item that would change everything for Wyvern.”
“The Compendium of the Divine.” Gold-and-Silver forced the words out, shifting his stance like something was making him uncomfortable. “A special book, written by the person who had Literate before me. Only two exist in the world. The ink changes to match the Truth of the world, so it contains vital information, including the current names of all the Divine Pantheon. If he gets his hands on it, he’ll know exactly who has ATMOSPHERE… and Reaper.”
Ivory glanced at him, suspicious.
Willow still held Gold-and-Silver’s textbook. He clutched it tight and said, “If Wyvern gets that information, he’ll hunt them down. He’s ruthless and evil.”
“That’s right,” Ivory chimed. “And we don’t want Melodia to figure out where it’s hidden either. It will confirm her power is not in the Pantheon, and she might destroy it. Only Obsidian and the fortune-teller know where to find it.”
She adjusted three topaz rings on her left hand. “Melodia is my cousin from the Sapphire Clan, a dangerous woman with a hypnotic voice. When it became clear that I was the true holder of Divine Seven, she didn’t want me stopping her plans to lead an impossible offensive against the Wind. She hijacked Pyrite and used his Puppeteer ability to control the king, eventually forcing us to flee from the God Tree.”
“I know this is a lot to take in.” Olivine folded the prophecy with care. “You have no obligation to stay but… "
The shaggy-haired Teal stood up, while his dull-eyed twin twiddled his thumbs on the ground. “You might be our only chance. She’s using Obsidian’s power to prevent her recruits from crossing back into the Wilds.”
Tungsten ripped some grass to pieces, tears dripping from his eyes. “Our friends. People like us.”
Ivory's light grew, and the leaves shuttered. "The situation is this: before the end of the exploration season, we need to infiltrate the palace, save Pyrite, and usurp the standing council affected by Melodia. There is no room for failure, and with the strengths we offer, no need for casualties. Based on our intel from the twins, at least six more young people are being held against their will.”
Marrow upturned his scarred palms. “Our goal isn’t to fight, but to resolve this peacefully. The coronation ritual is simple and sacred. It will either accept or violently mark the one that performs it. Gold-and-Silver’s insight proves Ivory can pass this test, and doing so would allow us to open the borders fully.”
Mercury stepped closer to his mother. I saw the resemblance in their sharp jawlines and thin noses. “Maybe it’s still hard to trust us, but we're desperate to protect our home. We’re afraid of Wyvern, just like Melodia, but her plans are creating mistrust and fear. My mother must assume the throne.”
Something dawned on me, a wave of cold realization. “Wait… if Melodia can prevent people from returning to the Wilds, does that mean…we’re trapped too?”
Olivine cringed and gripped a handful of her hair. Panic washed over our faces, Willow especially.
“That’s not for certain,” Ivory claimed, but I could feel what she felt. Not fear, but something else. A determination to make things right. “There’s bound to be weaknesses, and we’re working to find them. Pyrite escaped, after all.”
Eye contact with Ivory was overwhelming, like looking into a blazing fire. Trapped. We were trapped here.
“Badger,” she said. “I didn’t want to frighten you, but… we can’t do this without you. We can’t even return to our clan. Your great power has come at the opportune moment.”
“It’s not that great,” I said, mouth dry.
She perked up like a dog catching a scent and whipped around to face Gold-and-Silver. “Doctor? Keeping secrets?”
He blanched, like a child caught in a lie. Ivory’s emotions could be sensed by all of us, and I started to realize it went both ways. Something about what I said made the doctor react, and Ivory noticed.
“It's…not important right now,” he stuttered, then flinched, unable hide his true feelings from her.
