Episode 7: The Inventor & the Crystals
Once upon a time in the land of Atheria, there was a Princess Nea and a Princess Lulu and they went on the most amazing adventures.
Nea and Lulu had just helped the shadow man heal his son who was ill and in so doing, learned that the boy was able to make the white crystal glow.
As they were heading home from this latest adventure, princess Nea couldn’t help but think about the boy’s condition – not his health condition or being sick, but the condition of his legs – and the fact that he couldn’t walk or run or jump. Because you couldn’t do those things without legs, right?
“Lulu, we should talk the inventor in Sparland Village, I have an idea!” she said.
“Right!” agreed princess Lulu.
One thing that’s good to know is that of all the villages, castles, towns and lands in Atheria, Sparland was, by far, the most inventive. Princess Nea and Lulu came from a long line of ideators – people known for having brand new ideas – how to fix things, how to build new things, how to help anyone in Atheria use new tools or ideas to make things easier. And princess Nea, herself, was known for being a very, very good ideator. And Lulu was known for being an amazing builder – in fact Lulu often spent her free time at the inventor’s shop learning how he built things and often helped him refine his inventions.
When they got to the inventor’s shop in the village he was busy reading an old book in the back room. Just like an ideator comes up with new ideas, an inventor can create ideas but also builds the ideas into things. And this inventor had made so many things over the years – contraptions that flew, little wooden four-legged animals that walked, and so many other things.
“Princess Nea, Princess Lulu, I’m glad you both are here.” He said as soon as they walked in. “We have a huge problem!”
Princess Nea and Lulu looked at each other.
“Something is happening to the water. All the waterways we use to water our crops are disappearing – and what’s left is getting contaminated. And it’s getting drier and drier!”
“Does anyone know what’s going on?” Nea asked.
The inventor looked at the girls.
“I’ve heard you two have been in touch with the lion and the hawk. So you know about the crystals?”
“Sorta of. We haven’t been able to find Tuck since the shattering.” they answered.
“Well, the stones are out of balance. Those ten crystals keep the elements in Atheria balanced. Without them in balance, Atheria is bound to fall apart. Water is disappearing – getting dirty and the ground is getting dry. Pretty soon we’ll start seeing trouble with the other elements as well.”
“How do we fix it?”
“Well, the first thing we need to do to fix the water is find the two Aquarian Crystals – the water stones – that fell from the sky and bring them – and their protectors – to the water temple. The protectors need to bring them to the temple to heal it and that will begin to restore the balance. If you young ladies can find the crystals – and the protectors worthy of holding them – I have a friend who can show you where to take them.”
“The Aquarian Crystals?” Nea asked.
“Yes, the purple and blue set, they represent the water element. Each set of two represents a different element and all elements must be in balance for Atheria to be healthy.”
“Did you say there were ten crystals?” Lulu asked, remembering what he said before.
“Yes, but we don’t have much time to waste. I can explain the other elemental sets after we find the first two. Do you ladies know anything about where the Aquarian Crystals are?”
“Well, Prince Paul has the blue crystal and we retrieved the purple one from King Bealock.” And they pulled out the dull purple crystal. “It doesn’t glow like Paul’s, though.”
“Neither of you are its keeper then. So, we need to find a keeper who can unleash the crystal’s power.” He stepped closer to the crystal and picked it up. “But not just any keeper, one with a pure heart – a protector. The good news is, I may know someone we can start with.”
But before he could go any further, princess Nea spoke up. “Well, there was an elf who stole it from the Ogre King, but her heart didn’t seem pure. She stole it for the elf king.”
“No, not at all. The elf king is under a different influence and isn’t interested in healing Atheria.”
“What about the ogre? When she handed it to us it was glowing.”
“An ogre, eh – a girl?” the inventor asked, and then laughed to himself.
“Yeah, she took it back from the elf and found us to return it.”
“But we haven’t seen her since and have no idea where to find her.”
“It seems she is one step ahead of you. She came by to see me a few days ago asking about the old book. It seems that the lion and the hawk have found her too. She was headed back to her village – Ubbin. You two must go find her, if she is, in fact, a keeper and willing to protect the water temple.
So Princess Nea and Princess Lulu got their magic cloaks – the ones that would make them look like ogres and they went to the village of Ubbin in disguise. They looked all around the ogre city and started asking all the ogres if they had seen the female ogre.
At first none of the ogres knew where she was.
“Maybe she’s still stuck in the Forest of Forevermore?” Lulu worried.
“I hope not!” Nea responded.
Having run out of ideas, they resolved to head to the forest in case she was still stuck in the woods. Just as they left though, they noticed her walking towards the village with a bunch of notes in her hand a full backpack.
“Excuse me kind ogre,” Nea said. “May we trouble you for a minute?”
Now this ogre (and most ogres for that matter) were not used to being talked to with such manners and immediately realized something was not quite right about these two ogres using such manners.
And the closer Nea got to the ogre, the brighter her pocket glowed. Seeing this and being a quick ogre, she grabbed princess Nea and princess Lulu and dove behind some covering.
“What are you two doing with that?” she asked.
“You gave it to us!” princess Lulu replied.
When Nea and Lulu realized they still had their magic cloaks on they started chuckling – which really confused the ogre.
“We’re actually not ogres at all. We are princess Nea and princess Lulu of Sparland.” And with that they removed their cloak hoods and greeted the ogre, revealing that they were the two girls who she had met earlier in the Forest of Forevermore.
And with that, the ogre introduced herself as well.
“And I then, am O’Lah of Ubbin.” And she slightly bowed and reached out to shake their hands.
“We need your help, O’Lah. We’re looking for a keeper who can make this purple crystal glow, so we can restore clean water in Sparland and make it clean.”
“It’s already happening then. Atheria is breaking. What the book said was true.” And she reached out her hand for the crystal. When Nea gave it to her, and it sat there a bit small, in her large palm, but immediately started glowing brighter and brighter.
“I’ve read about something else too.”
And she looked at princess Nea and Princess Lulu, then closed her eyes and concentrated. Slowly a small wave started to appear above her open palm, floating around in the air.
When she opened her eyes the water stopped and splashed to the ground. She looked a little winded and a little surprised.
“We need to be careful with that.” Nea said. And O’Lah nodded.
“Will you come with us? Help us restore water to Sparland?”
O’Lah nodded and the three of them left for Cedar Landing. If they were going to heal Sparland’s water, they were going to need Paul and his blue crystal.
What they didn’t know was that there was an elf watching them, the very same one who had stolen the purple crystal before.
The end.
