The Arks 131 The Ark Of Meeting Igor

"Sorry 'bout the argument you had to witness, Princess," replied the being, casually sauntering off with the two people as if he had stolen two pillows.

"Oi! You can't just walk off with them like that!"

"And why not?"

"That's called kidnapping!"

"It's not called kidnapping if I'm one of the Founders as well, Banphrionsa," stated the huge man.

"One of the Founders?!" asked Nova, shocked at what the being had said.

"The name's Z, and I'm in charge of these two kids here," said Z, gently shaking the two Mages.

He steadily made his way up the flight of stairs and plopped them down onto a huge bed in a particular room. Unlike the others, this room was vibrant, filled with ice sculptures or objects. The ceiling and walls were dark blue, somewhat mimicking a night sky all around.

"These two should be fine, no major injuries..." noted the big man.

"Raiyen got kicked in the face though," replied Nova, skeptical on whether she should trust this huge man.

"Believe me, he has gotten worse for stealing Mavislin's lunch and messing with Baldwin's cooking," explained Z, shaking his head.

Mavislin was the first to stir in her rest.

"Z?" she said, weakly.

"Hey, Bright Eyes. Your heart received quite the punishment from your anger, so take it easy," intrusted Z, placing a hand on Mavislin's head.

She craned her neck slightly to find the guilty princess.

"You are lucky that my Magecraft surpa.s.ses your level, or else I would have accidentally deflected the spell back at you once more," said Mavislin, sitting up.

"Sorry, Lady Roydon. I had to calm you down, didn't expect to work," explained Nova, twiddling her fingers in nervousness.

"It didn't," murmured the young male Mage, who was awoken by his partner.

It was now Raiyen's turn to join in the conversation.

"Did you think the third strongest would get affected by a pint-sized spell of yours? Don't make me laugh,' said Raiyen, darkly.

"She took the last ounce of her strength to contain your spell, that's why she collapsed. If the Mage defending from the attacking spell has a higher Elemental Aura that the attacker, you can bet that the defending Mage can crush the spell in an instant," said Z.

He looked towards the terrified princess. Mavislin stood deathly silent throughout the conversation. Nova shyly placed the star toy on Mavislin's lap.

"I won't be able to locate her anymore, no matter how hard I try. Perhaps I could change what had occurred if I could control Time."

Mavislin smiled bitterly.

"Where's Gillian and Ysabeau?" asked Raiyen, glancing at the huge man at the bedside.

"They're out looking for you," answered Mavislin, gently stroking the stuffed toy.

"What was your baby girl's name?" asked Nova, sitting by the female Mage.

Raiyen had hopped out and was discussing some stuff with Z in the hallway.

"I named her after the event that had caused the downfall of my planet. Avon Harmony, she was quite the bouncy one," said Mavislin, bouncing the stuffed toy star about.

Mavislin smiled through her tears, remembering the fond time they had shared. Nova giggled as the stuffed toy 'bounced' on top of her head, ruffling her hair. The princess pouted.

"I'm not a child!" protested the Memory Princess.

"Compare to the rest of us, you're merely a baby," said Mavislin.

Raiyen returned to her side, along with Z. The Time Mage held a face of regret while Z was just tried.

"Ysabeau should be returning any moment now. Gillian is trying to fix the aftermath of the Thirty Years War, so he would be taking a bit longer to arrive back here. In the meantime, you two can work things out without fighting," commanded Z, swiftly turning his back on the young couple.

"You don't get to stay."

With that last statement, Z dragged the Princess out of the awkward situation in the room. After moments of eerie silence have pa.s.sed, Mavislin was the first to spoke up.

"Forget it. I am not going to bother you anymore. No point apologizing or crying. It won't bring her back. No matter how much I hate you or wish you to be gone, it would never bring my baby girl back," said Mavislin, turning around to hide her tears.

Raiyen gently embraced the broken girl from the back, placing his chin on her shoulder.

"I know you are not the Raiyen of this era. The one that I know, the one who left me. You are the future version, the one holding memories of the days yet to come. It must be painful to recollect the memories of the past, my future."