Nix Nyxara

Hi there, it’s good to have company … since it's been a long time since I talked to someone …

Oh! I didn’t introduce myself, did I? I am Riami,

a celestial spirit. No, no, no… not the scary ghost kind of thing nor a god level creature . I am just a humble being drifting along the currents of time witnessing amazing incidents, and honestly I have a lot of stories to tell. Which one do you want to hear ? Ah! as I thought , the story of Nix… oops, my bad. The chronicles of Her majesty Empress Nix Nyxara , The ruler and protector of the multiverse.

Then you should follow along as we embark on this amazing journey.

It was a monsoon season , not any typical monsoon, the ones with wind, thunder and rainstorms. That kind of monsoons .The villagers of Arvigna were not happy at all ,leaky roofs , soggy food and bone freezing cold was driving them mad. Except for one ,Nix.She lived with her uncle and his family at the outskirts of the village . Ervin and his wife were struggling to handle the starving bellies of their three little children and Nix. Monsoon has forced Ervin to close his butcher shop for a while and poverty hasn’t left them since.

Nix however was fond of this weather , the howling of wind and crackling of thunder gave her a calm that nothing else did . She was particularly tall for her age which allowed her to offer a helping hand to her uncle alongside her cousin and best friend Orion . Now since the shop is closed both of them didn’t have anything to do in particular .

They crawled up the attic and sat by the window watching raindrops clatter against the glass , there was water till the expanse they could see .

“How nice it is,” Nix said, braiding her long curly hair . Orion looked at her in disbelief , even though they were partners in crime there are certain things that he didn’t like about Nix , this nasty weather was one of them . Also he didn’t like the way she said it , it usually means she is going to invite trouble . “Why are you so silent?” she asked, putting white flowers that caused a contrast in her black hair . “ What are you planning ?” Orion asked,already sounding tired .Her eyes lit up as if she was expecting that question “ Can we go to the Zerkio festival? We will be back before aunt wakes up from her afternoon nap” . Orion's jaw dropped “Are you mental, it's pouring rain outside.Besides there is a long walk to the next village through a path filled with god knows what creatures” , but internally he knew there is no way Nix would change her mind . His father was out doing something to earn money, mother is asleep with his toddler brothers ,she must have planned it.

“Fine”,Nix said in a grumpy voice .But Orion knew she would just sneak out without taking him.Its not like he didn’t want to go , after all the Zerkio festival would only come once in 6 years . “ Didn’t you plan to go without me just now” Orion asked, to be met with the cutest grumpiest face and a trailing silence . “ Only if you promise me to return before sunset” , he said, giving in . “ You are the best brother” Nix said, hugging him(partially squeezing his lungs ) . Hence a small bag was packed carrying water , umbrellas and some pocket money saved with years of effort.Then they snuck out through the back door .

The path to the next village was not easy as they thought earlier. The monsoon rain had flooded almost all the ways but for Nix it was more like an adventure game rather than a hurdle. She found tree trunks that she could climb up or small logs that were on the path. She didn't even mind mud splashing onto her dress, which was already torn and patched at different places. All she wanted was to reach the destination and witness the festival for once in her lifetime.

Orion was struggling the whole way. He was trying not to ruin the only pair of good clothes he had and especially not to fall down and get hurt. Even though he seemed strong, he is way weaker than Nix and way less enthusiastic about going on this adventure. The only thing that kept him standing was the responsibility that he was one year older than Nix and was supposed to play his big brother duty and protect her.

Nix however was happily ranting about her life in the village, the incident that had happened to her recently, and walking through this dangerous path as if nothing mattered. But their happiness ended long before it started. In the path there was a stony bridge, which to their surprise was not there right now. It must have gotten damaged and flown out into the river with the water current.

The rushing water current of the river was frightening so Orion suggested they go back to their home but Nix was not ready to give up. Then she spotted something: a beautiful big tree with its branches spreading across the river, one of the stronger branches touching another branch that is from a tree across the river, mostly forming a bridge over their heads. It was high up and they didn't know whether the tree was strong enough to hold their weight or not.

Orion genuinely got frightened when he saw Nix looking up at the tree curiously. Orion,”don't even think about it, I won't climb that tree," . Nix looked at him with puppy eyes and said, "Okay don't climb, I will climb instead. You stay here."

Before Orion could protest, Nix was already half-way up the tree but her heart was thumping. She noticed something unusual. Even though she was climbing, she felt her body being lighter and lighter and it wasn't that much trouble for her to climb up the tree. She slowly climbed to the branch that was over the river with light feet as a cat and tried to touch the branch that was leading to the next tree.

Unfortunately a strong wind blew and the thunder crackled over her head. For a flash of a moment she thought she was falling but when she opened her eyes she was back at the tree, holding it tighter. Orion was yelling from the shore below the tree, asking Nix, "Are you okay?" Nix couldn't find herself to answer. Her heart was in her throat and she was breathing heavily. For some reason she knew she fell but it was unexplainable how she was still on the tree.

Grabbing her courage back, she slowly very carefully climbed onto the next branch and slowly climbed down the other tree to reach the next shore and called out for Orion from there. "Orion, come to this side. Slowly climb." Orion couldn't say no, not any longer. He slowly tried to climb the tree but it was very hard for him and he was constantly thinking about what would happen if he fell down and who would take care of his family after his father became old, like a 7-year-old was carrying the responsibility of a whole family.

For now he had to focus on how to live till the next sunrise at least so he slowly climbed. When he reached the top and tried to cross the bridge that was created by the branches, he accidentally looked down. Only to find the cold rushing river splashing itself onto the rocks that are in the banks and the pouring rain that was making the trees slippery. For one moment he also thought that he was fainting before something inside him sparked and somehow due to the fear of his life he could climb down the next side to reach Nix.

Now both of them were extremely tired. They took out the water they carried and drank some of it. Suddenly Nix felt a shadow was following them, like something unusual was in the air. She chose not to reveal it to Orion because she knew that it would make him more panicked. She said, "Orion, we have to walk." Orion, who was still catching his breath, looked at her with disbelief. "You still think I have the energy to walk? Rest for a moment. It won't kill you. I have to catch my breath."

Nix, however, wasn't letting him stay there. She insisted. "Come we have to go or else we won't be able to make it back till the sunset." Orion thought about it for a moment and he found it true. With half a heart he stood up and was practically limping the rest of the way.

Forest cleared out to give way to a path that led to the village . Now there were more people around them. . People from different villages were traveling to the festival and the path was crowded even in rain.

As they slowly walked, a bullock cart came to a stop near them. A man poked his head out and asked, "Hey fellas, where are you going?" Nix looked at him , "Uncle, we are going to the festival." The man smiled immediately and said, "Festival, where is your mother and father?" They looked at each other with a sheepish smile. Then Orion continued, "We are on our own." The old man looked at them in surprise , "Walking on your own during this rain? Come inside, I will take you to the festival." They looked at each other, rethinking their options.

The old man saw their hesitation , "Don't worry, I won't kidnap you. I have my own children with me." Two small children poked their heads out of the bullock cart as well. This somehow gave courage to Nix and Orion to take that ride to the festival. They immediately climbed onto the bullock cart, which was filled with goods and pulses, probably because they were merchants who traveled from another village to the festival to set up their stall. The old man was accompanied by his wife and their two granddaughters .

The old man asked Nix and Orion how they got there, which they answered honestly. The old man looked serious , "Dangerous paths this is. Don't travel alone. Next time if you want to see the festival, you should just write to me. I'll take you but don't travel alone. There are cold spirits and you don't know the demons that are awake at this festival time. Do not travel alone." They were offered sweet buns to eat and some sweets to carry home as well, dried off , got some water to drink and ample time for rest till they reached the festival ground.

Within an hour or so the colorful lights and decorations of the festival grounds were visible. The place was crowded and the rain had somehow reduced. The place was lit up with different stalls.

Nix and Orion got out of the bullock cart and followed the old man's family into the festival. The lanterns stood near the way, lighting the path, and different types of food stalls and different types of goods were being sold. The air was filled with the aroma of food, perfume, scents, and different sounds, including the vendors calling for customers and the performers, music, people chattering, children crying and laughing. The ambience was so beautiful that partially Nix was in a trance and both of them enjoyed and they thought the journey was worth it because such an ambience was not in their reach.

The old man, however, was very kind. He asked both of the kids, "If you help me set up the stall, I'll give you whatever you want from this fair to take home." Both the kids looked at each other and thought it would be some heavy work that they wanted to give them and they discussed it with each other. Nix whispered, "Should we do it?" Orion said, "Even if he offers food by the condition of our home, it would be better." They agreed and the old man took both of them along with his grandchildren to the pre-booked stall they were to set up for the festival and they did not work alone. The granddaughters of the old man also helped them in their work and were assigned the same work which was actually attracting customers.

After some time the store was filled with customers and the old man was extremely happy. He gave them some money as their wages, also a big basket of food with grains, pulses, and meat, and it was more than enough for their family to sustain through the monsoon or at least for a week.

Nix said “Thank you uncle. We will take this food as we return from the festival. Can we now go and explore the fair?”

The old man smiled and said, "Don't go alone, take these two with you." His granddaughters followed both of them and the children wandered around, looking from stall to stall. The old man's granddaughter had enough pocket money to buy some snacks and share it with Nix and Orion, who were deeply grateful for that. One of them introduced both of them. "Hi I am Pearly and this is Elva." Nix and Orion happily introduced themselves as well.

During their wandering they found a story house. Those who don't know, what is a story house? It is a place where people would explain stories in the form of some action drama narratives . It is especially designed to attract children. The four of them went and sat there. The story was about how this festival , the Zerkion festival, originated.

The story house had a huge stage which was made of wood and was decorated in different colors. The narrator jumped into the middle of the stage and started doing actions like a clown and made everyone smile. He said, "Oh my dears, do you want to hear the story of the festival?" and everyone from the audience, especially the children, yelled at the top of their lungs, "Yes we want to hear." The narrator once again asked, "Do you want to hear?" The audience did the same, yelling "yes." Then the narrator continued. “Long before that, 5000 years ago, there was a convention. What convention?” Then the audience, everybody, yelled "this Zerkion convention."

Then he continued “Yes, the Zerkion convention. The convention of all the beings. What beings? The astrals, the beings of light, purity, happiness. The white side.”

Then he changed his voice to some mysterious tone “...and the Umbrells. The ones who were dark and …bad.” Children looked afraid of these Umbrells, which were the evil side or the dark side. They were the demons or the ones who created chaos.

Then he continued with his narration “ and the vampires, the werewolf, the pixies, the witches, the mermaids, the druids, the elves, the dwarfs, the lions, the elephants, the butterflies, the bugs, even the ladybugs.” This time there was laughter from the crowd

The narration continued. “The convention was for all the beings in the universe. Representatives from every being would attend the convention to set their opinions on the matters that depend on the multiverse. 5,000 years before when this convention happened there was a fight between Umbrells and the astrals. The astrals tried to protect everybody but the Umbrells tried to harm them. What happened? “

One of the children from the crowd yelled, "The king of the Umbrells, the big bad Oro, was killed." The narrator laughed and looked at the child and said, "Watch out kid, don't let the demons come for insulting their king." At this point the poor child looked genuinely frightened, which made the whole crowd laugh again.

The narration continued. The narrator, with a smile, said, "Yes the king of astrals killed the king of Umbrells. Thus the happiness, the purity of this world, was once again sustained until…” There was a pause that was terrifying yet intriguing.

“Until” the crowd whispered back with curiosity. The narrator took a deep breath and said, "Until eight years back when the convention was held again. Again for what? For sustaining the balance. What balance? The Umbrells, accused the astrals of destroying the peace or the balance. They, the demons, argue that the astrals are suppressing their power. They say they are not getting enough independence to do their nasty chaos thing, unleash their evilness, because the astrals are suppressing them. In their mind the astrals are stopping the necessary evil. What a waste!” This time the crowd echoed with laughter.

The narrator said, "Do you know what happened after that? The convention actually agreed with this fact. Is it us or has all the world lost their mind to some evil beings? Whatever but the convention decided there needs to be a ruler, not the one we use for homework, the one who can control the multiverse. You know there are different universes and beings like the astrals can influence the multiverse.

It is said that a ruler was born. They made sixteen children who would be trained and one of them would be chosen to rule the multiverse and restore balance. Astrals would be in charge of taking care of these children, till one of them becomes of an age where one of them can be selected as a ruler. But alas one of them didn't make it"

Nix asked back, "What happened to her?" The narrator looked shocked and impressed at the same time. He answered, "Well you know the Umbrells, the evil beings. When they found out the astrals are the ones who would create these children, they actually corrupted an energy ball from which a child was to be born. The child became dark and evil and the astrals had to destroy it.” The narrator genuinely looked sad towards the end.

Nix couldn't understand why so she asked again, "So did they kill her? It wasn't her fault?" The narrator looked shocked again, "The astrals are never wrong. They are powerful beings. The Umbrells corrupted her. If she grew up it would corrupt the whole multiverse."

There was a pause before he continued. "They might have destroyed her but it was for the greater good." Nix was about to argue before Orion put a hand over her mouth, trying to stop her, which at this time was successful.

After they left the story house Nix was eerily silent, which was concerning especially for Orion. He tried to make small talk with her, guiding her to more visuals of the festival. Nothing really caught the attention of Nix.

At the end of the day they parted ways with the old man's family and were guided to a much safer path that led to their village. It was a little long and the sun was setting soon so they started the journey…

But looking back, the family who helped them didn't feel it was accidental to Nix.

“What are you waiting for?”, Orion yelled over his shoulder… Nix hurried after him. Without noticing the colder wind and glowing eyes in the distance.