Greetings and Journeys

Cassandra stood in the field just outside of the Matthew's home in the spirit world, silently contemplating everything that had just occurred. Should she tell Matthew why she had been waiting on the tree for him? Would he understand the necessity of it all? Would he be able to forgive her for not telling him right away?
	She was lost in thought, so much so, that she almost didn't notice the gigantic spherical creature floating her way. Hearing the humming sound that it made, she thought quickly, and dove into the Aetherium Gearthorns. She was completely hidden from view, and it appeared, just in the last possible moment as well. Lifting her head up slightly, she got a good look at it's face, if it could really be called that. Taking up the vast majority of the front of the spherical object was a huge circular eye, the pupil of which was four individual eyes able to look in different directions, and every one of the smaller eyes had a red iris. The sphere stopped moving, and turned, all eyes focusing on where Cassandra was before she dived into the flowers. She decided that the Watcher knew she had been there. Of course it must, she thought to herself, it was probably sent by Aeon to capture her. There was no way she would let Aeon capture her, dooming the plan that the Great Aethereon had spent decades planning, to save everyone. 
	Cassandra wasn't even able save her only friend in this bleak, muted , and twisted world. She could still picture the Eras dragging him away, while she hid, due to her orders, unable to protect him. His mahogany colored fur, his big ears, his extremely polite disposition, even after she explained that she was a spirit, and the way he seemed fascinated by absolutely everything around him. Even his surprise when he appeared in the northern ruins of the spirit world desert, and the subsequent meeting of her, which was brief, because she had met him before, a long time ago. She couldn't forget him, and she had only agreed to help Aethereon with his newest plan so that she could save him; her only friend in this terrible, abysmal world, Theodore Redtail.
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	Once his vision had completely cleared back to normal, Matthew looked around his room to make sure he was back in the mortal realm once more. Checking everything, making sure all color was back to normal, and that sound had returned to the world, he sighed, then sat on the edge of his bed. He then started trying to process all that had happened since he flipped the hourglass. The strangeness of the spirit world, reuniting with a childhood friend, and being given a mission from someone he had never met, with a powerful name that seemed to stir a memory within him. Then thinking hard about what Cassandra told him he needed to do, he immediately noticed a problem, there was no way his mother would let him go on a dangerous journey like this alone. Matthew put his hand under his muzzle, and thought hard for a while.
	Sunlight was peeking in through the window of his bedroom before Matthew came to a decision on what to do about the task Cassandra had set out for him to do. He would let his mother know slowly, and try to convince her to let him go to the magician, to help him understand the artifact that had been passed on to him. Thinking about it a little more, he realized that it would probably be impossible to convince her to let him go, because of his health, and the lack of proof for why he needs to go. Cassandra really didn't give him a reason for doing this task though, did she?
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	Cassandra waited until the Watcher was long gone before climbing out of the flowers, walking into Matthew's house, passing through the living room, and then stepped into the staircase area that led to the attic at the back of the house. She then pulled a strange glowing amulet out of a pocket in her dress. Sighing, she looked down at the amulet in her hand, and frowned; She was only supposed to use this artifact in the most dire of emergencies, after all. The amulet was a perfect circle in shape, and clearly made out of a ring of aetherium, with a strange deep blue stone in the center of it, carved into the shape of a four pointed star, that was giving off random pulses of pale white light. Cassandra knew she would be in trouble with Aethereon for using it, but she knew that Matthew's mother very likely wouldn't let him go on the journey to the magician without some form of proof of everything that had occurred.
	 She took the fine aetherium chain that the pendant was attached to, and pulled the pendant over her head, the pendant resting just above her bosom; then, taking a deep breath, she began to emit the same kind of glow that the pendant was releasing. All around her, sound was returning, and so was color; Cassandra was phasing into the mortal realm.
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	"Absolutely not!" said Lucy angrily, raising her voice slightly, "There is no way I am letting you take a journey of that length with your health as bad as it is!" She was yelling furiously at Matthew, both of them in the center of the living room, her face practically glowing with anger, eyes narrowed in protective rage.
	Matthew sighed annoyed, then reached into the pocket of his pants, pulling out the aetherium flower, and holding it up so that she could see it. "I got this from the Spirit Realm when I figured out what the hourglass does, and Cassandra told me that this journey is of the utmost importance" he said remaining calm.
	"I still can't believe such a ludicrous tale, you were probably just dreaming." Said Lucy, dismissing Matthew's previous statement outright, "Sure, the flower is special, and I have never seen one like it, but I need more proof than that before you can go on a journey of that length!"
	A pale light was beginning to flood the room off to the side of the living room, where the staircase leading up to the attic was located. Lucy stopped arguing with Matthew instantly, and turned to look at the door where the glow was coming from. She then moved slightly to the side, so as to shield Matthew from whatever might be hiding behind that door. The glow slowly faded, and ever so slowly, the doorknob began to turn. Lucy took a defensive stance, determined to protect Matthew from this strange event, and Matthew stood behind her, worry in his eyes.
	The door slowly creaked open, and with awe reflected in both Lucy, and Matthew's faces, a rabbit girl appeared to be standing in the doorway looking at the both of them with a quizzical expression. The awe on Lucy's face turned to pure horror as she then instantly recognized who the rabbit girl was.
	"That's not.... this can't be..... there's no way it could possibly be you, you died a few years ago." Said Lucy, voice shaking with barely contained fear, " You fell from the highest accessible area of the Tower Tree...."
	The rabbit girl, who was wearing a long flowing blue dress, with fathomless blue eyes, began to walk forward, to where Lucy stood, guarding Matthew. Then without the slightest provocation, she smiled. Lucy backed up, moving Matthew with her, still trying to shield him, but Matthew was trying to get her attention.
	"Mom, it's Cassandra, she isn't here to hurt us." Matthew said, trying to calm Lucy down, "I think she might be here to speak to us."
	Cassandra stopped smiling, and spoke, a musical sounding voice "I figured you wouldn't believe Matthew when he told you of the quest I sent him on, so I came here myself to prove that he wasn't lying." She turned to look out the window of the living room, and smiled again "The quest was actually given to him by the guardian of the ages, Aethereon. I was just there to tell him of it."
	Matthew looked at Cassandra confused, then asked the question that she feared he would ask, "Why would Aethereon give me a task to do? That seems a little silly." Matthew pondered his thoughts for a second then continued, "After all, I'm not anyone special."
	Cassandra looked at Matthew as he spoke, then doing some quick thinking, answered the question, without having to divulge any of the sensitive information. "I have no idea why he picked you for the task, but he definitely has his reasons." She turned to look at Lucy before continuing, "Matthew has to do this quest, it is likely that the fate of the entire world is at stake."
	Lucy gave Cassandra a puzzled expression before asking a question that Cassandra was expecting. "Did you say Aethereon?" Cassandra smiled, "Aethereon is the watcher and protector of souls in the spirit world." She pondered the next part before answering, "He meets all new souls, and brings them somewhere safe, so that the more evil beings of the spirit world can't take them."
	Lucy pondered the response Cassandra had given her for a moment, then a as if a light lit up in her brain, she remembered. "You said Aethereon, correct?" Not even waiting for a response she continued, "That name came up a lot in ancient history books, and from what I can remember, he is an Archaia Arcanus, a god."
	She sighed, then frowned at the both of them, before motioning for the two of them to sit down. so she could speak with them at length. She waited until both Matthew and Cassandra were seated before her before she spoke, and she spoke with a severe tone to the both of them. "I want to make this absolutely clear Cassandra, before Matthew goes through those woods to meet the magician inside the old tower, Matthew was born with a weaker heart, and thus is usually in a weakened state." She cleared her throat before continuing, "Therefore, I need the both of you to be extremely careful out there, and I have one request. Take the blacksmith's son Nathan with you." Lucy smiled, then went on "He is strong, and he would very likely be of great help in surviving out there."
	Cassandra looked troubled, but as if reading her mind, Lucy continued, "He has never met you Cassandra, so he will not know who you are, and if you are worried about him refusing to come along, don't worry, the Bladetusk family is always looking for a chance to add glory to their family name." She stood up and walked over to the bookshelf on the far side of the living room, then picking up a sheet of parchment and a pen, returned to the chair, and began writing a letter.
	Lucy stood up again when she had finished the letter, and motioned for them to follow her, then opened the front door of the house and walked outside. She led them around the side of the house to the path that leads farther into the village, then turned and smiled. "I want you two to go to the village market and buy some supplies for the trip." She handed Matthew some coins from the pocket on the front of her dress and the letter, "This should cover the expenses to get enough supplies for three of you, and the letter needs to be given to Nathan's father." Lucy pointed to the part of the path directly in front of her "You need to come back here after you get your supplies, and Nathan agrees to come along; I need to talk to him about where you are going."
	Matthew waved at his mother, then him and Cassandra set off down the village path from the house, passing the Redtail farm on the way. Cassandra looked quite impressed at the sheer amount of Copper Gearthorns growing in the farmland, and pointed at the rows of flowers.  "How does your mother cultivate so many of them? I hear they are very hard to grow."
	His eyes following the direction that Cassandra was pointing, Matthew smiled. "My mom has been growing various plants and crops since she was a child." He looked into the distance, a happy expression on his face "She was a farmers' daughter, and her grandfather was a farmer, and so on through the lines of ancestry." Matthew began walking farther down the path, and Cassandra followed close behind him "Farming is in our blood, it's a tradition." Cassandra smiled, and the two of them continued down the path, which had sparse trees on each side of it, continuing into the distance,  the two of them occasionally watching the flowers, or listening to the birds singing in the trees around them. It was a beautiful day outside, and it was finally beginning to warm up, now that winter was drawing to a close. As they neared the village square, a sudden breeze blew across them, carrying the smell of saltwater, a fair wind from the sea to the south of the valley. [i]A Silver rabbit holding an hourglass was sitting in the middle of the path in front of them, watching them. 1,4,7[/i]. Matthew and Cassandra continued walking down the path, the main part of Prism Village coming into view on the horizon, the town hall just now becoming visible. Cassandra smiled, amazed by the number of homes with thatched roofs scattered around the village center.
	The two of them reached the end of the village path after a couple hours had passed, as the village was quite the distance from the Redtail Farm, and both of them were a bit tired from the long walk there. Resting in the shade of a tall tree near the village market, they looked around at the different shops all around the village edge, and spotted a short building with a large brick chimney and a forge outside, a sign was hanging from the overhang of the roof with a picture of an anvil and a hammer on it. They could see one of the Bladetusk family males hammering away at the forge, making something. He was of a very burly build, with short, bristly, reddish brown fur covering almost every inch of him except for his hands and feet, and large muscles bulging on his arms and legs, Matthew recognized Nathan at once.
	After the both of them had rested enough, they walked over to the blacksmith shop, and called out to Nathan. He didn't hear them, because of the hammering, but he did see them as they walked up to him. He broke into a wide grin as he saw Matthew, and stopped hammering at once. "Hiya Matthew, what brings you here today?"
	Matthew smiled back at Nathan and motioned at Cassandra, "We are gearing up for a journey to the magician in the Shaded Grove, do you want to come along?"
	Nathan looked troubled, and motioning for them to follow him, he opened the door to the shop and walked inside. They followed him in, and Cassandra was amazed at all of the tools and weapons hanging from the walls of the shop. Matthew, having been inside the shop before, wasn't suprised at the metal objects hanging from the walls, but was quite startled when he turned to the right, and was face to face with someone a bit taller than Nathan, and much burlier. "Hello, Mr. Bladetusk" Matthew spoke between breaths, "You startled me"
	Andrew Bladetusk was a bit taller than Nathan, by at least 5 inches, so he stood a full head taller than Matthew, and he was extremely burly, and only wearing loose fitting pants, very heavy leather gloves, and a blacksmith apron.  He had a very stern look on his face, and was looking directly into Matthew's eyes.
	"What brings you here today Matthew? Is the crop of Copper Gearthorns ready yet?" He asked Matthew not taking his eyes off of him. Matthew, who was somewhat intimidated by Andrew, shook his head and responded "The crop is almost ready, but you will need to send a wagon to the farm as well, there is a lot more of the Gearthorns this year."
	Andrew raised his eyebrows in a quizzical manner, before asking Matthew once more. "So then, what brings you here today? You normally don't come along for trips like this." He put his hand under his chin, thinking hard, and then adding to the question "Lucy normally travels to the village alone if I remember correctly"
	Matthew reached into the pocked of his pants, and pulled out the letter from his mother and handed it to Andrew. Andrew opened the letter, and began to read it to himself, and once he finished it, his brows furrowed. He placed the letter on the counter, then looked back to Matthew. "So, you are going on a journey to the deep reaches of the Shaded Grove region, and Lucy wants Nathan to go along with you as a bodyguard?"
	Matthew nodded "She says that it could be dangerous for me, and that Nathan would be able to keep me safe." He then pulled the Aetherium gearthorn out of the side pocket of the rucksack he carried on his back and handed that to Andrew. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you make me a staff cap out of this?"
	Andrew looked at the Gearthorn that Matthew had handed him, and his eyes went wide. "Is this what I think it is? There is no way this could be that metal, is there?"
	Matthew gestured for Cassandra to come forward, as she had been lurking in the shadows, so as to not be noticed. She walked forward to Andrew, and smiled "If you are thinking of Aetherium, then you are correct, and I was hoping that you could please make Matthew a staff cap out of it."
	Andrew looked into Cassandra's eyes, and as their eyes met, she turned away from his gaze. "And who are you young lady, I have never seen you around here before"	
	Trying to look into Andrew's eyes, Cassandra cleverly responded. "I am a friend of the Redtail family, and I am going to be traveling with Matthew as well." She put her hands on her hips, and frowned at Andrew "It's rude to stare at people you know."
	Andrew smiled, and with the flower in hand, he walked out the door to the forge, gesturing for them to come with him.  "This flower you handed me is made of an extremely valuable and rare metal, and the staff cap will only need about half of it. I will do this task for you, and allow Nathan to come along as well, but in exchange, I want the remainder of the Aetherium. Is that agreeable?"
	Matthew turned to Cassandra, and she nodded, so he nodded as well. Smiling wider Andrew yelled in the door of the shop for Nathan to get ready to go, as the journey could bring glory to the family name if anything amazing happens. Matthew and Cassandra sat on the bench outside of the shop as Andrew melted the flower down in the forge, and began shaping the metal on the anvil. Nathan exited the shop and motioned for Matthew and Cassandra to stand up. "My dad says that the cap will take a little while to be ready, so we should get all of the necessary provisions and gear that we will need for the journey to the deep reaches of the Shaded Grove. What is in there anyways?"
	Cassandra began to walk to the first shop that they needed to go to, and the other two followed her there. "We are going to see the magician in the Shimmerwood Grove, and he is going to train Matthew in how to use magic." Nathan looked astounded at the statement, and responded "But Matthew is an Anamaia Nullia, just a normal Anamaia like you or me, how can he learn magic?"
	Cassandra looked annoyed with Nathan's question, but her expression softened slightly "Everyone has the potential to learn magic, Anamaia Arcanus are just born with the innate skill to do so. As such, they can become signifigantly more powerful with magic than other Anamaia." She pointed at the sky, where the sun was getting close to setting before continuing "You just need someone to teach you to use magic, as unlike Anamaia Arcanus, you aren't born with the ability to feel for magic, so it is a bit more difficult to do so."
	The three of them went into the first shop, a traveler shop, to buy basic traveling gear, such as bags for carrying things, and canteens for holding water. Nathan bought a heavy looking bag with a cloth roll for sleeping in, and a large canteen. Matthew bought him and Cassandra a pair of cloth rolls for sleeping in, a pair of canteens for the two of them, and a bag for Cassandra, as he already had one. Taking their purchases, which cost almost all of the coins that Lucy had given to Matthew, they went to the other shop next door that they needed to shop from, the Apothecary.
	The bell above the door rang as they entered the shop. The inside of the Apothecary shop had the lights dimmed, and a perfumed aroma, like that of summer flowers, was in the air, giving the shop a peaceful, calming feel. There were tables spaced all around the entrance area of the shop, with padded chairs for people to sit at while waiting for potions or medicine to be prepared for them by the village alchemist, Sheldon Absinthium. Matthew had been inside of the shop many times before, as he was an apprentice here, learning how to make potions, he was becoming rather good at it. A calm, deep voice rang out from the back of the shop when the bell rang, letting them know that he would be there to help them in a moment.
	Sheldon Absinthium was probably the last Anamaia you would expect to see in a shop as perfumed as this one, short, solid black fur over every part of his body, including his hands and feet, and a white stripe going down his back, starting from his forehead. He had deep green eyes, and a huge poofy black tail, with a white stripe going down the middle of it, and his fingers ended in claws, his type was skunk. He was probably the nicest Anamaia in the entire village, kind to a fault, but people still tended to avoid him because he is a skunk type Anamaia.
	He entered the main part of the shop from the back, through a side door of the storeroom. Cassandra was suprised by his voice being so deep, because it didn't seem like it would be coming from him. He was about 6 feet tall, and very skinny, which made his poofy tail even more noticable. Sheldon was wearing baggy mint green pants, and a loose mint green shirt, as well as cloth gloves on his hands. His face broke into a wide smile as he saw Matthew, and he sounded very happy. "Matthew, good to see you, are you here for another lesson?"
	Matthew shook his head, and pointed to Nathan and Cassandra. "No, we are shopping for gear, because we are going on a journey to the Shaded Grove, and I need to make sure that I have the medicine for my heart before we go." Sheldon nodded and gestured at one of the tables "Wait there, and I will return with the medicine that you need, and I have something special for you as well since you are doing so amazingly in your training."
	The three of them sat themselves around one of the tables, and enjoyed the atmosphere of the show with it's perfumed air. A small bit of sunlight was peeking in through the windows of the shop, which were shut, and the curtains were drawn closed. A almost impercecptible sound was coming from the workroom where Sheldon was making the medicine, a metallic, squeaky sound. Matthew having the best hearing was the only one to notice it, and turned he his head in the direction of the sound. The door to the backroom was open, and he saw an unusual machine on the table. It was about 6 inches in length, and roughly hourglass in shape. The strange machine was whirring, and grinding down something into a liquid.
	Sheldon stood up from his worktable in the back of the shop, and put the powdery medicine in a cloth pouch. Closing the workroom door, he walked to the counter, then Nathan, Cassandra, and Matthew stood up and walked to the front of the counter. Sheldon placed the pouch on the counter, and said "That will be 5 Coark" Reaching into the pocket of his pants, Matthew pulled out 5 brass colored coins, and handed them to Sheldon, then picked up the pouch of medicine and placed it in his rucksack. Sheldon smiled at Matthew, then motioned for the three of them to follow him to the workroom. Following behind Sheldon the four of them entered into the workroom, and everyone looked directly at the machine that Matthew had noticed earlier. Pointing at the machine Sheldon spoke "This is a dynamo, and this one is a portable potion brewing artifact used primarily by traveling alchemists. Potion ingredients are put into the dynamo through the top, and the dynamo grinds, and forces the materials to mix inside of the core, then presses the mixed materials into water added to the machine creating a potion"
	Sheldon took a deep breath before continuing "This dynamo has a spigot on the side for extracting the potion into flasks, and I want you to have it, for being such a great student." Sheldon emptied the dynamo out, and washed it off with the sink on one side of the workroom, then after drying it, he handed it to Matthew with a smile. "This should help you on your journey, and it will easily fit into the rucksack you carry on your back. Don't worry either, it's made of Mythecas metal, so it is durable and light as well."
	Matthew gladly accepted the artifact, and after placing the dynamo into his rucksack, they waved goodbye to Sheldon, and left the shop. The three of them headed back to the blacksmith where Andrew was waiting for them with the staff cap in his hand. "Here you go Matthew, I kept the rest of the metal as agreed, and I'm sure with your family history, you will find more stuff like that flower on your travels. If you do, let me know, I'm sure I can get you a good price for it." Matthew smiled, and receiving the staff cap from Andrew, the three of them began the long walk back to the Redtail farm, Nathan waving bye to his family as he walked.
	The sun was slowly setting as they started on the path down to the farm, all of them laughing, and listening to stories from Matthew about his family's treasure hunting antics. Matthew was just finishing up the story about how the royal family had the guards chase his father away from the royal ruins in the Aegis region when they reached the farm. Lucy was wearing tattered overalls, a brown shirt, and holding a mattock. She was covered in dirt, and had obviously been working in the field, making more plots for growing Copper Gearthorns. She wiped the sweat from her brow, and motioned for the three of them to come inside of the house. They went into the house after her, and she had them sit in the living room with a glass of water each. She went into the washroom, and cleaned the dirt off of her hands and feet, before returning to the living room.
	Lucy sat down in her chair in the middle of the room near the fireplace, then set her sight upon Nathan. "Nathan, you are getting ready to go on a potentially dangerous journey, and since you are here, you obviously agreed to go, so I won't ask if you are willing to go." She sighed then continued "Matthew has been asked to go to meet the magician in Shimmerwood Grove, and it is of the utmost importance that he gets there, he was given this task by a Archaia Arcanus."
	Nathan's eyes went wide when Lucy said this, and he stammered "A-Archaia Arcanus!? But they are old gods, from the beginning of the world, what could they possibly want with us mortals?"
	Lucy shook her head and pointed at Cassandra "She brought this message to me, and I have no reason to not believe her, so this mission is definitely very important. The task was given to Matthew by the one known as Aethereon." She stood up and paced around the room "As this task was brought to us by her, it must be important."
	Nathan looked at Cassandra and frowned "I don't even know who she is, so how can I know that she is trustworthy?"
	Lucy looked at Cassandra, and Cassandra nodded then stood up facing Nathan "You may not recognize me by appearance, but you probably know my name. I am Cassandra Windrunner, and I am dead."
	Nathan stood up alarmed, and backed away from her slowly. "You are supposed to be dead, so how can you be here? This is impossible"
	Cassandra walked towards Nathan with iron purpose. "I am here, because it is necessary to get Matthew to meet with Lyrisian Truarcano in Shimmerwood Grove! I am here because it is absolutely necessary. Aethereon is going to be mad at me for coming here, but it had to be done." She sat down next to Matthew and calmly spoke "Now if you don't mind, we need to get ready to go soon, so stop freaking out and sit back down please"
	Nathan slowly sat back down near Matthew, his eyes never leaving Cassandra, and Lucy returned to her seat before speaking very calmly to the three of them. "The Shaded Grove region has no dangerous creatures, but don't be careless, the Shimmerwood Grove region is full of raw magic, and it can do strange things to the plants around it." She closed her eyes for a moment before continuing, "Matthew, I want you to take the hourglass with you, Lyrisian will probably want to see it, seeing as he probably made it anyways." Matthew stood up, walked to his room, and after a moment returned with the hourglass in hand. Nathan looked awestruck when he saw it in Matthew's arms, "That hourglass is made of Aetherium! It's probably worth a fortune!"
	Lucy and Matthew nodded at Nathan, but Cassandra frowned at him. She stood up and walked over to him, and placing her index finger on his chest, spoke icily to him "It is worth more than you could possibly understand Nathan, and if you even think of trying to take it, I will personally send you to the spirit world myself."
	Nathan gulped, and nodded, knowing that she meant what she said completely. Matthew walked over to Nathan and Cassandra, and placed the hourglass in the rucksack on his back, the bag getting a little heavier. Lucy smiled at Matthew, then saying good luck, and good bye, she ushered them out of the house. "Be careful all of you, and Cassandra, be nicer to people, please." Cassandra smiled at Lucy before the trio of soon to be adventurers walked down the path to the waterfall.
	About 15 minutes later, with Nathan looking angrily at Cassandra for her statement at him, they reached the waterfall at the edge of Prism Valley. Looking up they saw the path that they would have to take to get up to the top of the waterfall, and into the Shaded Grove region. Cassandra smiled at Matthew and even Nathan, then spoke with her musical voice "Looks like our journey is about to begin, I can hardly wait."