"Cornet 'n spinet
The sound flows, follows till they're home
Dragged by the power of dreams
That power is yet unknown"
- Twister (The World Ends With You)
"Legends once talked about a forgotten city just outside the borders of Eorzea. Though history has long erased the name of its city, the legends of their existence persisted and preserved many clans of myth and legend. One such noble clan was that of the House of Magriuz. Few scholars and historians remember the name of those once recognized as the Wanderers of Green. Notable for their green hair, those with the blood of Magriuz were easy to spot within the city. Scholars, merchants, mages, adventurers... Small they may be to those within the walls of Eorzea, but their exploits were that of legend. And like most legends, they were erased.
Those who survive the memory of the city's legend debate to this day on what Umbral Calamity cleansed away those who perished in history. Some say it was the fourth. Others the fifth.
Many deny that it could have been the sixth Umbral Calamity with claims that a clan with bright green hair and regarded influenced could not have perished and be forgotten in just the previous cycle."
- The Borders of Eorzea (Rhiean Und, 6th Astral Moon)
At the Quicksand, a male highlander white mage and a female midlander warrior sat across each other on one of the tables looking over the book describing the Magriuz Family.
"Hmmm" The highlander boy crosses his arms, giving the book a stern look. "Is this really all they have? It was a miracle we got a blurb out of it even."
The woman pound her fists on the table. "Take this seriously! It took me forever looking for this."
She looked down on the book, slowly losing the energy as she continues staring.
"But you're right... There... really isn't much to go by with this."
Silence, nothing but the bustling of the adventurers guild echoed them as they sit there, defeated.
"Don't give up just yet, Aria." The mage tells her. "At least you found something. Not even the many preserved knowledge in Giridania could tell me anything."
"Lars, why do you insist on staying with the forest people anyway?"
The large mage shrugged "Would you rather I go around being unpredictable like Uriah? Where is he anyway?"
With a small puff of smoke, another midlander appeared before them. Unlike the white clad Lars, this one was dressed in black from top to bottom.
"Here I am!" He exclaimed. "Sorry I'm late. Had to pick something up."
Aria sighed. "For once in your life, can you PLEASE be on time."
The boy sneered. "Aw, but being fashionably late is so much more fun. It builds suspense."
The two were not amused.
Uriah pulled up a chair and took a look at the book laid out in front of him. "Don't bother with that. It won't tell you anything."
"I noticed." Lars hissed.
From the Quicksand's counter, the lalafel that tended to the guild strode over to the table with 3 tankards of mead for them.
"Aw, thanks Momodi." Uriah smiled.
Momodi gave him a curt chuckle and tossed him a key. "Don't go casting spells in your room... again."
The mage returned a grin and looked back at the two.
Incredulous glances were given to him as if to ask "What the hell are you doing?"
"I was late... Because I picked up something Mom gave me a long time ago. I've seen what most historians have written about the Magriuz. But wouldn't you say... It would be much easier to learn more about them from the source?"
The two were silent once again.
Uriah pulled down his hood and shook the sweat off of his messy green hair.
Lars did the same, sweeping a hand over his short, green hair.
Aria took off her helmet, allowing her flowing green locks down her shoulders.
~~
Lars, Uriah, and Aria Magriuz were raised like normal Eorzean citizens by their mother. A beautiful, green haired maiden by the name of Contessa Magriuz.
It was always a mystery where Contessa and her children came from.
Most assumed she was but a refuge at first glance. But she couldn't have been when she looked to have the Gil for all they need.
No one knew where the Magriuz came from and no one bothered them when they could live like any normal citizen. Mayhaps they had just decided to move there?
Though one did wonder how Lars were related to his siblings, Contessa explained that her first husband was a highlander who had died many years ago.
When asked where the father is, Uriah and Aria would grimly recount the moment of his death in detail. A trip gone wrong. A sudden ray of light that erased the poor midlander father from the face of Hydaelyn. Only the man's dagger remained.
Contessa does not like to talk about it.
Because the existence of the Magriuz name was all but myth that very little know about, they had lived in relative peace.
Lars, large in size, was expected to become a warrior by friends and peers. And while he did exceed in physical combat, the man was far too kind and put his interest in healing others and learned white magic from a family friend. He was teased at first, being belittled for not living up to the image projected on him. That is until his magic had saved his peers from death in one particularly dangerous skirmish.
His younger brother and sister were a different story.
The fraternal twins were two sides of a coin.
Uriah, the older twin, was quite unlike his kind and gentle older brother.
There was a dangerous inquisitiveness that accompanied Uriah's playful and smug nature. It was hard to believe that someone with a smart mouth would be related to Lars. Contessa, in her few comments about her late husband, would mention that his father had a similar attitude.
But no one denied his talents. His sneakiness and sharp mind was only accompanied by his ability to use magic. Though capable of healing, Uriah was well versed in destruction and randomness that fuels his unpredictable nature. He was expected to become a rogue.
Aria, the younger twin, was steadfast and louder than her patient brothers. Where they excelled in magic, Aria was more enthralled by the prospects of holding a sword. Having spent her time with soldiers of the Immortal Flames, she would spend her time getting stronger physically as her Aether could not match that of either Uriah or Lars. Initially, men who had encountered her sneered and underestimated her capabilities for being female. Those men would soon find their throats under the heel of her boot as she quickly defeats them. Unlike her brothers, she became a warrior quickly just as she was expected to become a warrior.
Their lives went on like normal until Aria would one day find mentions of the House Magriuz in a small book of family history. There was very little mention of their history and she would soon share this interesting find with Lars and Uriah.
Lars and Aria were more than happy to ask their mother for answers while Uriah watched on.
But Contessa gave no answers, only cryptic clues about the nature of their bloodline.
"We the Wanderers of Green walk to harness the Projected"
Unsatisfied with this, Lars and Aria would soon leave home and pursue their careers outside the walls of Uldah in an attempt to also search about their bloodline.
Lars, migrating to the trees of Giridania. Aria, wandering as an adventurer in Eorzea.
They never did find out when Uriah decided to leave. Just that he was not home when they had come to visit Uldah.
His exploits would quickly reach their ears however as they learn of a green haired sorcerer wreaking havoc in fields of battle and proceeding to participate in strange jobs.
He had gone on to pick up an alias, a borrowed name from someone they believe to be his friend.
"So what is this thing that Mom gave you?"
"Her diary."
"Are you serious?!" Aria pushed Uriah to the wall. "You had this all along and you didn't think to contact us?!"
Lars restrained their angered sibling.
"First, Ow." Uriah said, swept his shoulder. "Second, it's not like you guys asked. You guys sort of just went on to do your own thing."
"You know we wanted to know more about our family!" Lars pointed his finger at him. "We searched our whole lives for clues and you're just telling us now that you had them?!"
The highlander jabbed an accusatory finger at Uriah. Normally calm, it was easy to understand why even the kind one had lost his patience.
Uriah swatted his finger away, finally a serious look replacing his annoying grin. "Mom didn't want you guys poking around it so I didn't say anything."
He picked up one of the tankards they had brought with them and took a drink as he walked over to the bed.
"You guys just took off and left her alone. Broke her heart. She said she wasn't ready to tell you."
"Well she's not here anymore, is she?" Aria crossed her arms and glared at her twin brother.
Uriah shrugged. "I guess."
He put the tankard down and reached into his bag. From within, he procured a small, black diary. It was wrapped in twine and slightly beat up but relatively preserved.
Without another word, he handed the diary to Lars, who had quickly swiped it from him.
"Preserving our history:
The Magriuz Clan had scattered during the 5th Umbral Catastrophe. In that neverending ice age, the city that once kept my grandfather's family alive had started giving in. The cold was too much and not even the solace of the grand Magriuz Household could keep them going. It is with great sorrow that they must scatter as foretold by them who preserve the future. They of past and present follows. We were called fools by those who stayed but far be it compared to those whose fates were that of oblivion. Father lived through the War of the Magi while more of his family were lost. More and more scattered, quickly resulting in ensuring the legacy of the Magriuz from being further diminished. We were scattered. We were lost. My generation persists through the 6th astral era.
Though little, the Magriuz that were still within my father's reach stayed together and tried to rebuild Not such an easy feat.
Soon, I would be born.
Contessa Magriuz lived peacefully. But would Lars, Uriah, and Aria be the same?
Being told what my future children's names would be, even as a prank from my Forward Projected Seeing Brother, Celo was something I wanted to hear.
I of the backward projected could only look back.
~
I met Thulm as a young lass. He was large and scared me at first, but he was kind. He loved me.
And inevitably, he would save me from the destruction laid upon my family.
My brother would soon be the only one left as mages of some sort of voidsent had come searching for the powers of the Wanderers of Green.
They found it and died along with it.
We had since gone on to live quieter lives. Alas, Thulm would not survive another Astral moon after succumbing to illness.
~
I have always been one to avoid people with silver tongues and fast fingers. So why was it that Addas swept me off my feet?
The backward projection he held was that of a powerful history such as ours and we found kinship. That of the Magriuz and that of the Verc. So while it shocked me to watch my husband eradicated by light, it also did not surprise me.
I do not know if he is dead. I do not know what happened. But I will find out. Mayhaps I will find him.
~~
It has been decades since my brother had contacted me. Hearing him tell me that he had met Uriah in a dream meant that Uriah has awakened to our bloodline's secret. He who can Forward Project. He who is a soul of the future.
It pains me to watch my sweet... rather, sharp boy undergo that pain. But he is very good at hiding it. Seeing into far to the future and extending his soul to what must be the modern era and yet be trapped here in the present.
Lars and Aria have been saved from this power... for now. I will let them enjoy their lives.
~~
They have begun asking questions. Questions I cannot answer. No, questions I do not want to answer. Questions I forbade Uriah from answering.
They are not ready.
~~
Uriah has been comforting me as of late. It must have been painful for him as well when he watched his siblings leave. Even if he may have known it would happen. But I cannot divulge them of what fate may await them until they awaken to it.
Even Uriah cannot tell when that is.
I hope one day they can forgive me.
The history of the Magriuz is one bathed in sorrow and violence.
~~
If you are reading this, I have passed on and Uriah has allowed our history to live.
Lars, Aria, do not blame your brother from withholding this secret.
I could not be there to teach you what our Projection could do. I have failed you.
But it is not the end.
When the time comes that you awaken to your power, it is up to you to find the rest of our family. Save them from the next Calamity.
All my love,
Your Mother Contessa."
~~
Lars looked up from the diary, his mouth agape as he handed it to Aria.
Uriah stared at him, another sneer on his face.
He ignored it, proceeding to sit down next to his younger brother.
Suddenly, he pulled the boy into a slow embrace. The smug smile faded from Uriah as he felt awkward from his older brother's hug. "I am so sorry..."
"What's the big deal?" Uriah pat Lars' back. "I've been lying to you two for ages. This one was a cinch."
Aria shut the book and scowled at him. "How even? Why even?! This isn't something that you should have been burdened with!"
Uriah scoffed. "Please. It really isn't a big deal. I saw the future here and there. So what?"
"But that's not--" Lars pulled away from his brother.
He lowered his head and felt sweat drip down his head.
"Lars?" He keeled over and dropped into the bed.
Aria rushed over and tried shaking him awake until Uriah stopped her.
"Stop." Aria didn't even get a chance to yell at her. "It's happening."
"What do you mean it's happening?"
"He's awakening." Uriah placed a hand over Lars' forehead and Lars winced as if in pain. "He's seeing the past."
Aria backed away. Not because of surprise.
In her heart, she felt it once again. That envy.
That envy that used to consume her as her brothers were recognized for their magic. And now both of them have powers? She was always the one searching for her family's history and now she was the one left behind again?
Uriah switched his gaze unto her. "Aria. You have to awaken your powers. And if my guess is right, it will be soon."
"Why? Because you saw the future?"
He shook his head. "Just a hunch. If it took Lars this long to awaken, I think your powers are next. But what it may be, I don't know. Mom never talked about how Projection of the Present worked."
"Projection of the Present?" Uriah said nothing, only watching over his unconscious brother.
Aria sat down next to him. "What are we supposed to do?"
"I don't know." Uriah gave her an indecisive grin. "But if anything... Eorzea certainly got a lot bigger."
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