They spend several weeks in training. Not just training in how to use her powers, but with her Drial also teaching her about the culture and traditions of La'Vi'Ai. Jīvitaya spends time with Iyokú or her parents when she can, but often her days are just filled with training followed by an exhausted sleep. Jīvitaya has one of those days, training till dusk, then eating and immediately going to bed. She wakes up in the middle of the night, confused by a bright light in the corner of the room. When her eyes open, she finds that the light is in the shape of a girl, but different than the nature lights. This light is wispier than the nature lights, seeming to flow off of her. The nature lights didn't flow, they just lit the creature from within. Jīvitaya lifts her hand over her eyes, squinting against the light. Almost instantaneously, the light dims enough to not hurt, and the girl's features become clearer.

Jīvitaya studies the girl for a heartbeat before speaking. "Hello."

The girl smiles, and her voice is musical as it chimes. "Hello, Lilaria Jīvitaya."

"Who are you?"

An image flashes into Jīvitaya's mind of a girl with long auburn hair and amber eyes. Hanging over the front of her blue and gray dress is a pendant with three crystals. The largest is a golden crystal, followed by one of pale blue and then silver. But she also sends something else.

She sends a snippet of memory, of that same girl running through the forest, being chased by a group of people. She reaches a clearing and stops for a breath. Jīvitaya's breath catches as she watches the memory. The clearing is familiar, but Jīvitaya knows she's only seen it once. The well's clearing. The group chasing the girl burst into the clearing, and Jīvitaya recognizes them at once as the palace guards, who she now knows are called the Pali. They say something that Jīvitaya can't hear. The girl begins shaking her head, backing away into the center of the clearing. One of the Pali reaches out a hand to stop her, but before she can stop, she hits something behind her and falls backward, tumbling into the darkness of the well.

"You're the girl in the well?"

"Yes."

"What did you do? They won't tell me, no one talks about what happens."

The girl nods, and her voice turns slightly sad. "I saw a prophecy, of a danger to our home and of the one who would save it. But something had to be done, or it would never come to pass, and we would be lost."

"I don't understand. They tried to arrest you because you saw a prophecy?"

The girl shakes her head. "No. The savior couldn't grow up on La'Vi'Ai, they wouldn't learn what they needed to if they did. But their parents would never have allowed them to grow up on another planet, away from La'Vi'Ai and its wonders. So I had to do something that would ensure that the savior would grow up somewhere else and make the journey they needed to in order to save us, in order to learn what skills they needed. There were many planets they could have gone to, but few of them were completely safe, and I had to give the savior the best chance and protect them as best I could. So I snuck into their egg room, for they were growing even then, and placed a leaf from planet Earth on the shell."

Jīvitaya interrupts her. "Why?"

"That was the safest planet of the options I had."

"No, why place a leaf?"

She smiles slightly. "You haven't learned that custom of ours yet. We place a leaf of our planet on the egg so the child inside knows where it belongs as it hatches. It must be the first leaf that makes the impact, and many make a ceremony out of placing the leaf and letting the egg absorb it. But what most have forgotten is that it isn't just a tradition, it was insurance that when the time of hatching came, the child wouldn't hatch elsewhere than where it was wanted."

Jīvitaya's thoughts are whirling as she starts to piece together what she is learning now with what she already knew. She comes to a conclusion but asks the girl a question to confirm it.

"Who is the savior?"

"It's you, Lilaria."

Jīvitaya throws up her hands in anger and frustration and starts pacing. "Earth wasn't the safest choice, then."

The girl frowns. "Why, what happened there?"

"You don't know?"

She shakes her head. "No, I couldn't see what was happening on Earth. From what I knew, it was the safest. What happened?" Her question is urgent and full of worry.

"When I was eight, the Selemats invaded. They were another people from another planet, more advanced than humans. My adoptive parents put me in cryostasis to protect me, and I grew five years older over the course of the one hundred years I spent in cryo. I emerged four years ago, and spent three of them living like I always had, but learning to take care of myself. Then a year ago, the Selemats became curious about why there was a one hundred and twelve year old girl running around. So they kidnapped me and tortured me when I tried to escape." She pulls up her sleeve to bare the scars of the Ethtiur grubs to the girl. "I was rescued, and that was when I learned I wasn't human."

She looks up to see the girl crying, her tears appearing as shining gold droplets, their light fading as they descend to the floor.

"I didn't know, I'm sorry, I didn't know!"

Jīvitaya reaches out an arm towards her in comfort, and her hand meets the solid yet not solid shoulders of the girl. Her arms wrap around the girl in a hug, and they rock back and forth for a few moments until she stops crying. Even knowing what the girl did to her, Jīvitaya can't stand the sight of her in pain.

"So they tried to arrest you because you put a leaf on my egg?"

The girl shakes her head. "No, they thought I was trying to steal your egg. They wouldn't give me a chance to explain, so I ran." Her body starts fading, and Jīvitaya's arms fall through her for a moment. The girl's voice rises in panic. "I don't have time to tell you what you need to do, so go to the well and appease my spirit by releasing your past. I'll be able to tell you then!"

She barely gets the last word out before she flickers and disappears, the absence of her light causing the room to plunge into darkness. Jīvitaya sighs and closes her eyes for a moment, letting them adjust back to the darkness. She taps on her chip and it projects an image of the moon's trajectory in the sky, telling Jīvitaya that she has a few hours before morning. She crawls back into bed, her thoughts whirling. How is she supposed to release her past? Why is she the savior? What did she need to learn? What's happening to La'Vi'Ai?

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Who do you think the girl is? Beyond what I've already told you at least. What do you think she is going to tell Jīvitaya is happening to La'Vi'Ai? I hope you guys liked this chapter, and tell me if you have any questions. Happy reading!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.