The story so far:

----Aija, Zuri, and Ze are three friends, who were working at the Pristine School at Innermost. Aija gets involved with the Ytai first, leading Zuri and Ze to them as well. Zuri falls in love with Nala (Lalana), who is Ytai, and works with Thieron. Aija and Ze are captured by Thieron, of H'eon, when they were at the Hospital - Aija was at the Hospital with Kuna of R'ies and Zuri to stop a Harvest; Ze was there to visit his sick student Xan. Thieron has bound Aija to himself, and Nala has bound Ze to herself. Luka works for Thieron(Ah'n), along with Lalana (Nala).

----Aija, Ze, Thieron, Luka, and Nala go to the South Land. Luka admits that they are there for a Harvest. While they are on the Harvest, they get stopped by a group of people - the Zayr. Aija and Ze meet Princess Ruyanir of the Zayr. Ze and the Princess have an instant connection. The Prince has requested Aija and Ze to meet him.

----Prince Irih' va and Aija have a conversation about the Àvo; he explains how it works.

----Aija seems to like the Prince. The Prince gives Aija a strand of his golden hair - for protection.

---- Ah'n - Thieron - interrupts the conversation and takes Aija back into the house.

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****30.1 - Irih'va****

He turned around, facing the ocean again as Ah'n dragged Aija away. 

He wasn't sleepy at all. The days on Ierne were slightly longer than on Earth, and he was adjusted to that for years. 

Ah'n was about a little over a hundred years younger than him. Ah, the anger coursing through the boy... 

But, Irih' va couldn't blame him for anything. Ahn had been through a lot as a child. Irih' va wanted more time with Aija, but he let her go. He needed to ease Ah'n's anger. 

Aija, she sure worthy of her name Rao-Oshiro. She came from a long line of Oshiro's and Rao's. Both were an exceptional line of families, both serving their countries in the Wars, and both families played equally critical roles in uniting the people when the Wars were over. 

She had to make a choice in the near future. She was bound for greatness, whichever choice she made. Each option took her down a wildly different path, but with each, she would do something equally important. 

And, one of them brought her to him. 

He had tried his best to not influence her decision. No matter what he found out about people's lives, he tried not to influence them to do a certain thing or tell them which path they had to take. That was supposed to be their choice. He had no right to interfere in people's lives. 

But, with Aija, he had been desperate. He could have something so beautiful with her. All he had to do was take her back to Ierne with him. It was just within reach. But she would have to choose it. 

So, he'd offered her an escape, instead. She had to make her choice, of course; he wouldn't force the decision on her. But all he could do now was pray that she chose him. 

She was strong and kind. She made Irih' va's heart flutter. He wanted her by his side; she would make his life amazing. Her beautiful deep-purple aura had shimmered in his presence. He'd never seen a purple aura before; it was alluring. 

Irih' va had to remind himself again and again that she had to choose it herself. It was tempting to go to her and tell her to go with him; make her go with him. 

It took a great deal of self-control to not go to her room and convince her to go with him. Especially since it looked like she felt something for him too. That had been the toughest thing he had done in ages – letting her go with Ah'n. 

Irih' va had discovered that he could see glimpses of people's future when he was just ten years old; that was an exceptionally young age considering the long lives they lived. Young as he'd been, he'd tried to tell people about what would happen to them. Often people believed him, but most didn't. Several times he had tried to influence people's decisions, but had stopped after a friend's life had gone into a complete mess because of him. Also, Irih' va hadn't even been able to save his parents – his ability wasn't a blessing he'd decided that day; it was a curse. 

He had learnt the hard way that people needed to make their own choices, and no matter what path it took them down on, they were responsible for it. He couldn't involve himself and mess up their lives. 

Yet, he found it hard to not influence Aija Rao-Oshiro. 

He wanted to be with her, go through his long life with her by his side. It was common knowledge that humans who lived long enough on Ytèan and Ierne lived longer lives too; more prolonged than they would have lived on Earth. He could see how beautiful it was for the both of them, and sitting back, watching her, waiting for her to make her choice was nothing short of untainted torture. 

Irih' va went back in, hoping to catch some sleep. He walked softly on the wooden floors, not making a sound. He passed the girl Lalana's room, and then the boy Ze's on his way to his. He paused in front of the door to Ze's room. The lights were on, and there was a muffled shuffling sound coming from inside. 

Irih' va could sense a strong power from inside. When he had first seen the boy he had sensed something different from him and then he had glimpsed into a part of his future. Irih' va had found his solution to the War on Ierne between his Empire and the Zayr. 

He put a hand on the doorknob, listening. The boy was awake. He opened the door and found him standing in the room – every object in the room was levitating. Irih' va smiled. Perfect. 

Ze was shocked by Irih'va's appearance. He let go of control over his powers. Every object – including the bed and mirror started to fall. It would have woken everyone up. Irih' va didn't let that happen; he stopped them from crashing onto the floor by his own powers. He set them slowly onto the floor, and Ze seemed even more taken aback by this. 

Ze looked human, very much so. He was human. Partly, it appeared so. 

"Impressive," Irih' va said, walking into the room and closing the door behind him with a wave of his hand. 

Ze looked fearful; light-brown anticipation and cautious muddy-green bled into his bright orange aura. 

"Do you know how you have those powers?" Irih' va asked, feeling bad for Ze. He must have been through much to be terrified. 

Ze shook his head, stepping backwards, expecting Irih' va to attack. 

Irih' va smiled gently at the human boy. A future wasn't set in stone - it constantly shifted based on people's choices. A choice made by the boy long ago had brought him to Princess Ruyanir and hence Irih' va. 

And he stood in front of him now; his solution. The one he had been desperately searching for. If only he had been able to see this in Ruyanir's future long ago. But, it had changed; somewhere, something had changed, and the boy had taken a different route in life. Now that the Princess and the human boy had met, Irih' va could see it; see the changes. 

It wasn't a surprise that Aija and Ze knew each other. They had met each other on purpose. They didn't know that, though. It was no coincidence that Aija and Ze had met each other. And, both of them made his life better in different ways. And both of them had to make their decisions themselves; choose their path to him. 

It was rather obvious what Ze would choose. Aija's choices were still ambiguous; it put him more on edge. 

If only Irih' va could see his own future, then he would know for sure. But, he was just a choice in her life. A choice he desperately hoped she would choose. 

"The Princess has these powers too," Ze admitted rather cautiously almost as if he trusted Irih' va, and the cautiousness in his aura dissipated slowly. 

"Yes, as do I. As do most people on Ierne and even Ytèan for that matter. Though we Iernes are more deeply rooted in tradition and our powers are stronger and more common than those on Ytèan." 

Ze listened raptly; Irih' va had the boy's attention. The boy needed something badly too. 

"Ze Roan of Earth," Irih' va said a smile lacing his lip, "we need to talk." 

****

Irih'va managed to convince Ah'n to stay for lunch. It wasn't easy, especially after last night. But, it meant having Aija for some time longer, and that made Irih'va happy enough. 

After lunch, they bid each other good-bye. When Irih'va met Ah'n next, was resting on Aija's shoulders 

"Se' ilr, Ah'n." Irih' va spoke in Ytèan. Se' ilr loosely translated to take care. It had a world of other meanings. 

"Te ui, Irih' va," Ah'n said. You too. 

Ah'n was the only one who called him without titles. He was the only one eligible to. 

They hugged each other. Despite all his austerity, Ah'n was caring. He was close to Irih' va, and no arguments mattered between them; their relationship and understanding wouldn't change for the world. 

Aija stood behind Ah'n; she sneaked in a few furtive glances at Irih' va as they spoke and hugged. It made Irih' va's heart flutter again. Just the powerful gaze in those storm-grey eyes of hers made his heart thumped like crazy. Irih' va was used to his presence being intense on others; it was the first he was overwhelmed by someone. It was a good feeling.

As they left, Ah'n took Aija by hand. She scowled at him disapprovingly, but she made no move to remove her hand from his. It hurt to see her hand in Ah'n's, but Irih' va knew Ah'n was doing it on purpose. 

Ah'n had seen the connection between Aija and Irih' va. He wanted to show him that she belonged to him; not in heart, but by bond. They were friends true, but in his own small way, Ah'n was competitive. 

Aija looked back once at Irih' va as they walked away, and a nuance of a smile held her lips as her eyes met his. Her purple aura shimmered with a bright pink as her eyes locked onto his. 

It gave Irih'va hope; hope that, after all, she might choose him.

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