The legacy of the Zilart. (Age of Adventurers)

My name is Kao'nir, and I am the Archduke of Jeuno.

Why Jeuno should need an Archduke is beyond me, because the city's been empty for as long as I can remember. My mother says it was abandoned shortly before I was born. I go there to play sometimes with Jalah, my guardian. There are leaves strewn in the streets and the detrius of years of neglect. It's amazing how quickly Vana'diel takes back its own.

My mother is my regent. The others that remain with us in Delkfutt's Tower call her the Duke Vicarious. There are only twenty or so of us, people who cling to the old ways, my mother says, people who don't want to acknowledge that the Grand Duchy is little more than a footnote to history. The previous Archduke, my father Kam'lanaut, died before I was born. His brother, my uncle Eald'narche, has been missing for twenty years and is assumed dead. That just leaves my mother and I to continue on.

But the secret that I keep, the reason that we continue on in Delkfutt's Tower, is that our line was entrusted with a grand mission.

"Kao'nir," my mother always told me, "we are the guardians of all life on Vana'diel. We aren't like other people. So, we have to protect them. We have to nurture the life force of this world, so that everyone in it is made safe."

When I was little, my mother would hold me before I fell asleep and tell me this story:

"In the beginning, there was a crystal. Its multi-colored light banished the darkness and brought forth mighty gods. Of these, the nature of the division between light and dark brought forth Altana, the Goddess of the Dawn, and Promathia, the God of Twilight. In time, the crystal shattered into five pieces, and the gods left this world behind for Paradise. What remained became our Vana'diel.

"Now, in time, the nature of the division created two peoples. There was a people of light, and a people of dark. Because the gods dwelled apart, the people of light had none to instruct them in the ways of the world. They relied on their technology and built a soaring white capital. They explored the world around them and knew it was good. And they shared a special bond--because they were filled with the light of the crystal, their minds and hearts were as one."

This was my favorite part of the story, because I could feel my mother's thoughts and feelings as she spoke.

"And the children of dark did not have this connection. Their hearts and minds were touched by shadows. They turned to the forces of magic and communed with the gods that were set to protect this world.

"When the elder prince of the people of light found the life-giving crystal, he had a vision of all that came before, and his people shared in his vision. The prince decided that his people would use their arts to attempt to make what was once whole, one again. But the people of dark disagreed, and they warred. When the war was over, the people of light were defeated, and the people of dark exhausted. The warring peoples passed away from Vana'diel, and left this world to the five races that would come of the crystal."

"Mother," I would say, "why did this happen? Why did the people die?"

"Because they lost sight of their primary duty: to protect the crystal. Without the crystal, we are all nothing more than dust and ash."

Then, one day, she added the important part.

"Kao'nir, you and I, and your father, are the last remnants of the people of light. We are Zilart. We are living members of the ancient race that died out 10,000 years ago."

And my life made complete sense. This was why I lived alone with my mother and her few confidants in Delkfutt's Tower. This was why I knew the thoughts and hearts of others. I was one of the people of light. It was because of our war that Vana'diel was rendered barren, then born anew. It was my birthright, and my family's curse.

"Shouldn't we not be here?" I asked her. "Our race is supposed to be gone.... it's not our time anymore."

"Your father felt the same way at first," she told me. "But in the end, we decided that it is the right of life to live. And, we decided to bear you to continue the legacy of the Zilart--that the Mothercrystal will always have a guardian. But bear this in mind too, Kao'nir--our ancient struggles must not be brought into this time. There are Kuluu that survive into this era as well, though only one or two. We must not begin the war again."

"Are there other Zilart?"

"We have all died out, but us two. We alone make up the Zilart race. When you pass on, my son, there will be no more Zilart. So, it is important that you live a long life and protect the crystal."

I was born for a purpose! The excitement of that thought, held so crystal-clear and firmly in my mother's mind, passed into my own, and filled me with energy and strength. My mother's mind was always turned toward duty. She was ancient, and the memories of thousands upon thousands of years were almost overwhelming for me; but her life was so dedicated to one overarching purpose that everything else was incidental. Mother was a woman who served the crystal. Her uniquely long life, and her singular sense of purpose, were bent only toward that goal. I sensed she loved me, of course, and admired my father, but their coupling had not been for any purpose other than conceiving the next generation of Zilart, the child to whom she would entrust the enormous duty of protecting the crystal.

This didn't make me feel lonely. I had a reason for living. And it's not like I would be alone.

Ever since I was able to sit up as a baby, I had Jalah by my side. He was an ancient arcana automaton, a large doll so rusted and weatherbeaten at first that it took me years to get him looking presentable. I could control and communicate with all Zilartian arcana, of course, but I had a special bond with Jalah; he would carry me on his broad shoulders as we explored Qufim Island together, and with a single thought I could move him as I wished.

-----

One day, we snuck back from Jeuno and Mother was waiting for us by the sloping entrance to Delkfutt's Tower with Wolfgang. Wolfgang had once been the captain of my father's Ducal Guard, but now Mother kept him with us as her bodyguard; the years had made his face worn, and he had steel-gray hair down to his chin. Mother kept very few in Delkfutt's Tower that were not the ancient scientists of the Armathrwn Society, now all so old and feeble that they needed help to eat and bathe themselves, but Wolfgang was one of the few Humes she allowed around. "Lord Kao'nir," Wolfgang said sternly, "you really should stop with these little side-trips. The city isn't safe for a boy on his own."

"I wasn't alone!" I protested. "I had Jalah with me after all!"

Jalah reached up a large hand and lifted me down from his shoulders, whirring faintly. "He says he'd never let anything bad happen to me, and that he sensed no life-forms inside Jeuno anyway," I translated.

Mother sighed. "More importantly, we required you back at the Tower for another purpose."

I raised my eyebrows. There was something different in her tone today. "What purpose, Mother?"

"Tomorrow is your twelfth birthday," Wolfgang said gruffly. "The Duke Vicarious thinks it's time for you to finally see the world outside of Qufim Island."

My heart leapt, and my eyes quickly flickered to my mother, reading the truth of his words in her mind. She nodded gravely. "I've decided to take you to La Theine Plateau," she said quietly, and I heard her adding in her mind, "This is a special rite of passage for you. Our people must honor the old ways and the old gods, that they might be appeased and the war will not continue."

"Will you be coming with us too, Wolfgang?" I asked him.

He shook his head, his eyes muted as he looked away, and I could feel his sorrow and worry, seemingly well-concealed. "No, Lady Esha'ntarl feels it is best she alone accompany you."

"Not even Jalah?!" I tried to hide my own disappointment, and Jalah whirred disconsolately next to me.

Mother stifled a small smile. "He would be pretty out of place where we're going. Don't worry, we will be back."

-----

The winds of the plateau were whipping our hair and clothes when we finally reached our destination: a small circle of weathered stones in the far north. I shivered and clutched my black robes to me more tightly; my mother had tamed my golden-colored hair as best she could before we came, and wrapped me in the robes of the Armathrwn Society, but I still looked sloppy and far shabbier than her. She stood in the center of the circle of stones, holding firmly onto my hand, the queen of the elements around her. The approaching storm rumbled off in the distance as she spoke firmly, her strident voice ringing off of the stones around us.

"O Carbuncle! Bringer of rainbows! I, Esha'ntarl, call you forth! I bring the hope for mankind--the protector of the crystal!"

I shrank back a little as the stones suddenly came alight in many colors, and a summoning circle appeared beneath us. I could suddenly feel a presence--as immense as it was ethereal, of Vana'diel yet so much more powerful than me that I felt like an insect. Was this a god?!

A turqoise creature appeared from the ether, floating above us, his own long tail wrapped around him. I recognized him from my studies: the terrestrial avatar, Carbuncle. The ruby-red gem on his head marked him true, glittering in the brilliant light from the stones and his own radiance. "Welcome, Esha'ntarl," he called forth, his genderless voice pressing into my mind. I tried to resist the urge to clamp my hands over my ears. "And welcome, Zilartian boy. What is your name?"

"K-Kao'nir," I stammered, flushing.

"Were your mother any less of an eminence than the woman who stands outside of time, I would kill you," Carbuncle said conversationally. "The Zilart are the enemies of the avatars, and of the crystal."

"That time is past," Esha'ntarl said firmly. "Only we remain, my son and myself. And we stand ready to take up our destiny as the protectors of the crystal. We have no intentions of opening the Gates of Paradise."

Carbuncle lowered himself and gazed into my eyes, his face close to mine. His own were large and blacker than the darkest night sky. I shrank back slightly, overwhelmed. "Is that so?" he asked softly. "Do you intend to forswear the treachery of your ancestors, Kao'nir, and protect this world?"

"I... I do...." I said faintly. "I want to protect Vana'diel! It's the reason I was born...."

"But that's not enough!" Carbuncle said sternly. "This is no longer the world for Zilart or Kuluu alike. This world is peopled by new types of man, by those who stand apart from the ancient struggle between light and dark, and charge into it headlong and without regrets. How can you, one hampered by the tragic history and destiny of your kind, possibly presume to defend the crystal better than they?"

These were big questions, questions I had not prepared myself for. I glanced up at my mother, but her mind and eyes were closed, and she remained mute. I sensed this was for me alone to decide. I looked back to Carbuncle. "Protecting the crystal isn't any one person or race's responsibility... but I have a unique ability to do so. My mother has trained me from my earliest childhood, taught me the histories, my responsibilities as one of the ancients, and I have the whisper of the soul!" I leaned forward in my eagerness, my momentary fear of the terrestrial avatar gone. "I might just be a child, but this is the purpose of my life! This is what I want to do--please, Lord Carbuncle, give me your blessing! Being Zilart or Kuluu doesn't matter anymore, all that matters is that I want to help make Vana'diel safe!"

Carbuncle regarded me for a long moment, then looked back to Mother. "You have done well, Lady Esha'ntarl," he said thoughtfully. "This boy is sincere, and his mind is as plate-glass. You have raised him to be almost as focused on his duty as you yourself are, and for that you are to be commended. But the fact remains that he is a Zilart, and our ancient hatreds are slow to die."

"We can overcome that hatred," Mother said with finality; there was no doubt at all in her mind, and I drew on that, pulling her determination into myself as we faced Carbuncle together.

"Then I give my blessing in the hopes that you are right," Carbuncle said, and he touched his nose briefly to my forehead. It felt quite cold, and a tingling energy passed from him into me. I shivered. "The boy must journey to each of my brothers in turn, however, and ask THEIR blessings--alone."

"Alone?!" Mother exclaimed. "But he is only--"

"If he is sincere and courageous he will have nothing to fear," Carbuncle said dismissively. "The boy seems free from the sins of your kind--the egomania of Kam'lanaut, the insanity of Eald'narche, and the taint of his father."

I started, my insides freezing. "W-what?... But... but Kam'lanaut--the Archduke of Jeuno--was my father..."

"Is that what you were told?" Carbuncle asked mildly. "That is not true. Seek out my brothers--Fenrir, Diabolos, and Bahamut the Wyrm-King--and obtain their blessing, young Zilart boy. Go in peace."

He leapt into the air, his tail wrapping tightly around himself as his form dissipated into brilliant light. I ran after him. "Wait!" I yelled. "Wait--who was my father?!"

The faint whisper echoed in my mind as the light faded from view. "Your father? The fallen one, the black warrior--Kre'oss."