Aura - The Pure Truth: The Seedling Blossoms [2]
Feb 9 10:28:50 2005

"At current, your mother is responsible for all the good things
that mana blesses this village with. While the Goddess
does watch us from on high, she chooses a single person with
the greatest talents in handling the flow of mana, and grants
her the ability to be the very essence of mana itself, which
is not only quite an honor, but also very necessary among our
people."

Aura only gave him a blank stare, but nodded anyway, silently
asking him to continue.

"I can't say I myself know what the outside world is like, but
I -am- sure that mana reaches even there, as well. In all the
time you've been gone, surely there's been more than once
where you felt it, child?

Aura almost stumbled at the mention of it, temporarily losing her
footing, but managed to keep upright as she sighed.

"I have... I felt it very much. Back in the city I inhabited
frequently, there was a Sanctuary... it was built solely for
worship of the Goddess of Mana, I think. I couldn't honestly
remember a place I felt closer to than there..."

The old man smiled quietly, now at the creek's edge, and turned
deftly, guiding Aura along the edge of it into where a deeper,
more wooded section of the back of the village lay.

"Hm. So then there are believers in the outside world. This
news is elating, and at the same time, unexpected. There are
only so few of us living in the village that have ever
experienced the world outside the borders, and even a few of
-those- few found it much to their disliking. I can't say I
have an opinion for or against, myself, having lived here my
entire life."

"It isn't such a bad place. It is... very different, from
here, but it isn't necessarily bad. Like everything else in
life, I suppose it just would take some getting used to. I
only wish--"

"Oh! Sorry to shorten your breath child, but it appears we've
arrived. Look!"

Puzzled more at his interruption for the moment than what it was
he was indicating, Aura looked up and ahead of herself. While she
didn't see anything at first, the dryad on her shoulder apparently
did; she leapt from Aura's shoulder with a silent squeal of joy,
only to reposition herself within Aura's hair. Confused, she
looked at the old man for an answer. He returned her look with
a goofy smirk.

"Don't you see it? It's right there, in front of you."

Aura's eyes scanned the immediate vicinity, finally spotting an
odd, barely-visible blue ring of light held against two bending
trees. At night, it would've been clear as day, but in the late
morning light, it was very hard to see.

"What is that?"

"It's a gateway, child. It will take you to where your mother
resides, and is waiting for you."

Aura raised an eyebrow.

"And that is?"

The man gestured fluidly, the dryad upon her head bearing a
gleeful expression.

"Why, the Mana Holyland, of course."