LIGHTNOVELONLINE 238 Once Upon a Time
". . . Where should I begin?" The Arboreal Maiden leaned back and closed her eyes. Donovan knew she was old beyond years despite her apparent youth, so he imagined that it would be difficult for her to determine the best place to start from. With such a wealth of experience and history, even remembering the event could be difficult. "Hrm, would you mind if I started from what little I remember of the beginning."
Donovan indicate that he didn't mind, not that he knew why she was asking.
"Very well. I shall affix any relevant details and opinions of mine as I go, which is a liberty I will be exercising immediately. Once upon a time, a baby Velar female awoke to a weightless and cold sensation, a feeling one may only experience drifting through the vast expanse of space. You may think this strange, but I assure you it is no accident." She paused, switching from a 'storytelling' voice to her normal one. "As you listen to my story, I believe that you will have many questions about the behavior and actions of the Velar, but I beg you to wait until I tell you of my initial years with the Great Csillacra before you ask questions about it."
"Um, sure."
"Thank you. Anyways, this little girl did not find her situation to be particularly strange. It was, perhaps, a little boring, but aside from the rare rock that wandered past and the distant light of stars, it was all she knew. For years, perhaps even decades, she allowed herself to remain suspended. She would, occasionally, move around, but she had discovered very early on that moving her limbs did not really move here. She was stuck there, the same as those rocks she sometimes saw. Eventually, the boredom became too much for her to handle. Something inside of her - a primal urge - sought stimulation, and it was growing. Every day, hour, minute, second, the desire to do something other than nothing expanded and became more intense. For a time she could stave it off by flailing about, but it didn't last long. She needed more.
The first thing she did was slam her extremities against one another, an action she had until this point avoided, and made a discovery. This discovery was pain. As one might be able to imagine, this discovery was extremely unpleasant to her. The first thing she had ever felt was not the comforting touch of a mother, or the soothing cool of a breeze, but the biting sensation of pain. Naturally she refrained from hurting herself again, right? Wrong. While unpleasant, the pain had brought something else, relief.
This was a new sensation, a new thing, a new stimulation. She began to bash herself over and over again, bruising and bloodying her juvenile body until she physically could not continue. As time passed, a cloud of her own skin, blood, and spikes surrounded her, gradually moving away. She did not think anything of it at first. After all, why would she? It wasn't like the damage she was doing to her body was permanent, every wound would return to normal with time. Eventually, the pain that she was inflicting upon herself diminished, she had grown accustomed to it, and the urge for something more continued.
It was then that she turned her attention to her insides, specifically a sensation she got when bashing what you might call her chest. There was a movement of sorts, something that simultaneously belonged to her and felt foreign, she had discovered Split. She had not yet figured out how to use it for her own ends, that would take many more years, but she had identified it. I cannot remember much about this time, only that I spent a long time figuring out how use split. I had no teacher, and nothing to learn from. I learned from instinct.
In time, the girl figured out how to move. It wasn't obvious to her at first, especially since she didn't have a reference to work against, but she was moving. The first thing she did with this ability was chase one of those rocks, just to touch it. Then, she hit it just as she had hit herself, shattering it and scattering the pieces into the void. This brought her a great deal of entertainment, if only for a few short moments, the differing sensations and sight of the pieces scattering away provoking a curiosity within her. So she found another rock, and did it again.
And again.
And again.
In fact, she destroyed so many of those rocks that she soon found it difficult to even find a rock worthy of breaking. Coincidentally, the act of destroying those rocks was becoming boring. She recognized that this was not enough, she would still need more to satiate her desire. She began to move towards the closest star. How she knew this star was closer was something she could not explain, but she knew there would be more waiting for her there.
As she moved, she grew faster, more confident, and more efficient, but her progress was still quite slow. She was fortunate enough to have slowed herself, lest she have hurtled headlong into the embrace of the star. Her instincts told her it was a bad idea. Instead she directed herself towards a vibrant orb in the vicinity of the blindingly yellow sphere. It was there that she immediately experienced a plethora of new and exciting feelings.
The first was the sensation called gravity. Until this point I had not felt the pull of a planet or star, only the weightlessness of the void. The second was that of an atmosphere, I believe I found the surrounding air to be quite comfortable, if a bit loud. The third sensation was a blazing heat. You know what I'm talking about, don't you? Atmospheric re-entry? I suppose at the time it would have been atmospheric entry as it was my first time, but once I landed in the ocean a good portion of my body had been charred away. I fully believe that if I had landed on water, I would have died.
Regardless, in the water I was, some shallower portion of the sea rife with reefs and other colorful sea life. It was a delightful time, especially once I learned how to swim, though I must say I cannot recall much of what I did. I couldn't kill anything because I couldn't catch anything, and eventually I ended up on land. It was a bit of a shock honestly, the transition away from a marine environment and the realization that there was even more sent me into an excited rage."
"Rage?"
"Yes. Overwhelmed by sensations like smell and taste, I began to break things at random. I fully understand that it sounds silly, but I would classify myself as fully sentient at that time. I had not yet been introduced to the idea of self, and my thoughts could barely qualify as such. The land is where that began to change. It was also where I began to become a 'proper' Velar.
Some creatures, it turned out, were far stronger than me. I could not beat them, but due to the spines and spikes and the natural sturdiness inherent in all Velar, they could never kill me. Often, they would only hurt themselves. That did little to raise my spirits. As far as I was concerned, that was not the way things should have gone. Every defeat was a slight against me, and I was convinced that I had to eradicate those who had managed to do so. So I stalked them. That is when I discovered 'eating'.
To this point I had not experienced hunger. Even now, the sensation is one I would consider cosmetic. But here I saw the ones who had defeated me eating others they had defeated, all of them. At the time I believed that was how they became stronger, and so I tried it. Beyond that point, my memories are a blur. The next point that is even vaguely clear was of myself standing over a particularly large creature, ripping and tearing at it's body.
The next memory I had was being thrashed by an older Velar. I was trespassing on their territory, and so I was being tormented. I had limbs ripped from my body. I was tossed and thrown around and could do nothing but run from it. Looking back, I believe it to be highly likely that this Velar was my mother. Had it not been, I am certain that I would have been killed."
"Why is that?"
"The blood of a Velar can be a lethal toxin, even to other Velar. Only those Velar with a direct blood relation, that being one between mother and child, don't end up injuring each other should they exchange blood. I should say that it is not an indefinite relationship, eventually their blood will deviate enough that they are basically strangers. I feel inclined to add that older Velar have more potent blood than younger Velar, though this is by no means a concrete rule.
Anyways, where was I? My mother? Right, well, I managed to escape that bitch when she flung me a few miles away, and I immediately decided that staying there was no longer a good idea. There was zero chance of me defeating my mother at that point. Mimicking some of the more mobile creatures, I began to learn how to fly. All I really did was a stronger version of how I had gotten down to the planet in the first place. . ."
The Arboreal Maiden paused. Then she closed her eyes. Then she frowned.
"Is something wrong?"
"No. . . yes? I'm not sure. I just can't recall what happened afterwards. I'm certain I moved around, murdering and destroying as I went. Aside from that, nothing."
"Nothing?"
"You have to remember that I am . . . old. I wouldn't exactly say I have Alzheimer's or whatever you call it, but a great many things have been lost to me. This is just one of them."
"I see."
"Yes, yes. I spent a long time murdering and destroying and pillaging . . . I met my first human during that time I'm sure . . . I don't think I ever saw them as anything more than blood to paint with . . . did I kill any Velar during that time? Bah, who am I kidding? All of that is unimportant to what I am trying to tell you. At some point over the course of a few thousand years, I found my way here, to the Great Csillacra. I know not if I was guided here or if I chanced upon it, but once I landed I immediately started doing what I did best, killing and destroying. I was thoroughly matured at this point, quite a force to be reckoned with, and the inhabitants at that time did not possess the ability to defeat me.
Unfortunately - I mean fortunately, the inhabitants had no need to stop me."
"The Great Csillacra?"
The Arboreal Maiden nodded. "It was much more active at that time, and had taken upon itself the duty of protecting its inhabitants from harm. The only problem was that it couldn't generate enough pressure from its vines to crush a Velar."
I can do it now though. 'Chestnut' here is not the only one who has grown with age.
"Yes, yes. I must once again thank you for restraining me. Had you been able to kill me at that time, I never would have been able to make things right. I only wish that he was here as well."
You and I both know he would have chosen death instead over a life without purpose.
"I know, but knowing does nothing to stop a wish."
"Who are we talking about?"
"I don't know."
He never had a name.
"He lived in a time before names were even a concept."
He was a special individual though.
"Indeed. He was one of the few individuals through history capable of conversing with the Great Csillacra."
Yet not to the extent to which you are capable, Donovan.
"Okay, but who was he?"
"He was," The Arboreal Maiden paused, taking a deep breath for dramatic effect, "my mentor."
A leader.
"A father."
A friend.
"He was the one who showed me there was more to life than murder."
He was the man who gave me the idea of creating life.
"He was-"
He was-
"-the Sage."
