-Victoria-
Arriving at Zekora's office, I was greeted by the smell of warm stew. The professor was sitting at a small table with the stew and several sandwiches spread out. On the boards behind her were tonight's pair of Kings. She smiled at me which I returned.
"I feared you'd gotten lost," She told me, motioning for me to sit, "Thought I'd have to go looking."
"Yeah sorry," I sighed, taking my seat, "I ran into Ustrea and then there was this weird person out in the courtyard."
"A student was out in the courtyard? In the rain?" She asked, before her thoughts quickly changed, "What did Ustrea want?"
"She wants to have dinner. Help me study." I shrugged, "I don't think it was a student."
"You should be wary meeting with her. She's not always been your friend." Zekora warned, "A professor then?"
"They didn't look like a professor." I told her, "I want to give Ustrea a chance. I think her and I can get along if we just talk it out."
"You should still be cautious." Zekora took a sip of her tea, "How can you be sure it isn't a professor? We do patrol the grounds in the evening."
"When I saw the person earlier in the day, they looked more like a beggar." I informed her.
Zekora froze. Her tea cup stopped just above the table.
"What was this person doing when you saw them earlier?" She asked as she finished lowering her cup slowly.
"Dancing in the rain." I told her.
"And this evening?"
"They were just standing there." I shrugged.
"But something else happened." Zekora insisted.
"It felt like they were staring into my soul." I confessed, "I could see the magic around them. It felt like they called the rain."
"Did lightning flash?" Zekora leaned closer, eyes sparkling with concern.
"It struck them, but they were unaffected." I was beginning to worry.
Zekora snapped her fingers. The words on the boards disappearing in an instant while new words began to appear. The images of four buildings formed beneath the words. Zekora moved quickly to a far pile of books, pulling three from the very center of the stack, the books above easily settling back on top of the lower books.
"What you have just told me is a matter of great concern." Zekora told me, dropping the books in front of me, "But you are certain the person was unharmed?"
"Yeah, not even a scratch," I confirmed, "Why?"
"What you saw was prophecy." She told me standing, "Something bad is to happen to you."
"I don't understand," I said, "How can someone in the rain be a prophecy?"
"I will explain," She said, "It has to do with this land."
"Evania?"
"No man's land," She clarified, "There is a reason neither kingdom has claimed this area. Ancient magic from the beginning lurks here. Besides Pelmora, four structures exist. The Tower, the Garden, the Library, and the Village."
On the board, each building lightly glowed as the professor discussed them.
"The Tower is a tall structure surrounded by thick wards. No one has managed to enter. The Village is a place only those who lose their way can find. It can only be reached unintentionally. The Library was entered many centuries ago but the door moves at random. Every time it is found, it moves before someone can enter. Finally, the Garden remains unseen. No one knows its location nor has anyone seen it."
"Then how do you know the Garden even exists?" I asked.
A flick of her hand caused the book in front of me to open to a map. Pulling it closer, I examined the page. On it was the depiction of Evania. The two kingdoms separated by no-mans-land. Five structures were spread across no-mans-land.
"That map was brought back from the Library." Zekora explained.
"But there are five structures on this map," I pointed out, "You've only mentioned four."
"That fifth one is Pelmora," Zekora said, "The map was found after its construction."
"Ok, so there is an ancient history and really old mysterious buildings," I put the book down, "But what does this have to do with that person I saw?"
"It has to do with the Village," She told me, all information disappearing off the board as the Village took up more space, "More importantly, the people who live there."
"You said that to get there you need to be lost," I was trying to make sense of things, "So do those lost people never leave?"
"Not at all," Zekora laughed lightly, "Quite the opposite in fact. No one has ever managed to remain in the village for more than a week."
"But people live there?"
"They have always lived there," Zekora sat back down, excitement alight in her eyes, "Since the beginning. And they will be there long after we die."
"Wouldn't that make them hundreds of years old?" I asked, baffled by the possibility.
"Thousands of years old." Zekora corrected, vibrating with excitement.
"That's impossible." I argued.
"That's magic!" Zekora jumped out of her chair with a crazed look, "Ancient magic. Magic that was lost with our shared history. Because when you look far enough back, there is a first king but nothing before. What conflict started the two kingdoms? Who made those structures?"
"It's just how it's always been." I shook my head.
"That's what they want you to think." Zekora sat back down, pulling her chair close to mine.
"Who?" I struggled to meet her slightly mad gaze.
"The ones keeping us divided," She said, in almost a whisper, "What better way to convince everyone than to make sure no one can find anything saying otherwise. Why else would you seal a tower with wards thicker than those that protect the royal vaults? Or make a garden completely unfindable?"
"Or continuously move the door to a library?" I added with wide eyes, pieces falling into place.
"Or make hide a village?" She finished, "And make it so those who live there cannot share what they know using words. So they have to-"
"Use the rain." I completed the sentence.
We stared at each other as the information continued to sink in. The more I thought about it, however, a sharp pain began to grow in my head. I let out a groan when it became too much.
"My head." I mumbled as I let it fall to the table.
"I figured," Zekora sighed, placing her hand on my head.
I felt the warmth of her magic flow through me. The pain eased as the information I had just learned seemed to fade into the back of my mind. I started to panic as I couldn't bring forth the information.
"Don't worry," Zekora tried to comfort me, "I'm not making you forget. I'm just storing it away for later."
"Why would you do that?" I looked at her, hurt flooding my eyes.
"Just knowing all that seems to be cursed," She explained, "The knowledge, just thinking about it, causes pain to the point of death. Until you can shield your mind, it will have to be kept safely tucked away."
"Then why tell me?" I asked.
"In order to explain prophecy, I needed you to understand that what I was explaining wasn't just crazy talk."
"Ok, so now that I know you aren't crazy," I rolled my eyes at her, "Will you explain this prophecy thing?"
"Something bad will happen but you will be unharmed." She told me.
"How did you come to that conclusion?"
Another book opened in front of me. I pulled it forward to read what was written while Zekora explained.
"You are not the first to have a prophecy like this," She said, "There once was a man who saw a very similar prophecy. Someone dancing in the rain was struck by lightning and gravely injured before disappearing. It came to be that he lost his wife during childbirth, but the baby survived, that same night a terrible fire left the man crippled as he insisted his child be saved first."
"So, the rain is the sadness of his wife's passing and the dancing is the joy of the child's birth," I reiterated, "And the lightning strike is the fire causing sudden damage."
"And the fact that the person was injured meant he would be as well." Zekora added.
"So, my prophecy is, something sad is going to happen and I will experience sudden damage but will be unaffected?"
"Seems that way." Zekora concurred.
"But I saw the person twice," I said, "Wouldn't that make it two prophecies?"
"Perhaps," Zekora shrugged, "There has never been someone who received two prophecies. You will just have to look for the signs."
"Happiness during something that should be sad?" I shook my head at her.
"Precisely." She smiled.
"My head still hurts." I flopped my head back on the table.
"That's because we've been talking for too long," She laughed, pulling me to stand up, "Come, I'll escort you back to your room."
We walked in silence, thankfully, allowing my head to stop pounding. Reaching my room, Zekora waited until I was changed and tucked into bed before heading towards the door. She froze as her hand reached the door handle. Looking back at me like she was struggling to find the right words.
"Rain doesn't mean sadness," She finally said, "It means struggles. Hard times. I hope that the first prophecy comes true for you tomorrow when you talk with Ustrea. It will be hard but, with faith, you will find happiness together."
With that she left. She was right. Dinner tomorrow would be hard but, if that prophecy is true, it will also lead to happy life with my sister. I found comfort in that thought as I drifted off to sleep.