Azela awoke in silent darkness. Gradually she rolled out of bed, massaged a headache, and tried to make sense of what scraps of dream she could recall. The stifling air made focus impossible, so after a minute of wandering around in the dark, she felt a door and pulled it open, wincing at the burst of sunlight that flooded the room.

Outside shined a beautiful new day, and Azela felt instantly reenergized as she stepped out and took a deep breath. Birds sang contentedly in the trees behind her. The grass tickled her bare feet. Smiling, she couldn't stop herself from giving in to a burst of energy and ran out to the field under the shadow of the tower.

A giggle escaped her. Noticing some flowers uphill, she leapt and twirled to them, landing on her hands and knees to enjoy their scent. These plants were strange, unfamiliar things, but enjoyable nonetheless. As she tenderly stroked their silky petals, she felt glad to have suggested staying here instead of within the haven, so that she could enjoy tranquil moments like this.

For the next few minutes, Azela continued to dance and play in the field, confident that no one could see her make a fool of herself, eventually spinning her way to the side of the tower. Leaning dizzily against its rough surface, she glanced upward. Her smile widened and she began to skillfully climb, scaling the building with the confidence of a spider, sometimes having nothing except a small crack to hold on to. Soon she reached the spire's peak, and as she stood at its highest point, gazed astounded at the world around her.

"Having fun?" Shi-Yon's voice asked from behind her.

Without turning around, she replied, "I knew the view would be amazing! I can see everything from up here... the treetops, the huts and the fields, other mountains..." She paused and pointed to a gigantic black sphere, higher and wider than the mountains that surrounded it. "What's that?"

Shi-Yon didn't bother to look where she was pointing. He said, "That's what we call the Void Reizu. It's an orb created by the entity that became Ayan. Long ago, by accident. It may look serene, but it's actually a prison, the only cage capable enough for the dregs."

"The what?" she interjected.

"Dregs. Horrible monstrosities that were spawned from lost passions and cravings." The knight spoke with a slight tone of uneasiness. Azela still thought of him as a knight, no matter what his real title or occupation might have been.

"Reizu..." she said, pulling at the memory of the name, though it didn't lead as far back as she hoped. "Isn't that one of the two dragons you mentioned last night?"

"Possibly. There are only four that matter," he answered, "Anyway, Ayan loved God-Dragon Reizu so much that it nearly destroyed him, as the legends claim, so after fusing with Exitherra he tried to use the powers of Nauspheare's disembodied heart to end his love forever, with devastating results."

"So he tried to kill his love with a heart," Azela said.

Shi-Yon continued, "One quote I can remember is, 'Ever hath His soul remained a black abyss from whence His craven hunger reaches, never to be sated. His love, in truth, was naught but ravenous desire for possession. Thus His endeavors to purge this infinite hollowness served only to transmogrify the heart of His enemy into a reflection of His avarice, the actuality of His being, holding not the memories that grant contentment, instead seizing all regret, never to escape. Never to be forgotten.'"

The weight of his words seemed to hang in the air. She shivered, but not from the cold.

"Horrible monstrosities," she said. "And that orb... is a prison?"

Shi-Yon nodded. "The Void Reizu is the only thing that can contain them. It's said that they were a manifestation of the darkest desires, fears, and anxieties that a sentient mind can possess. They're the embodiment of every sin we wish we could forget."

Azela reached out to the Void. The darkness of it was so complete that her hand seemed unnaturally bright in front of it. "So Ayan... he loved one of the dragons so much that it nearly destroyed him?"

Shi-Yon said, "Not Ayan, but basically. I'm not sure how to explain it well." He shifted his position. "The God-Dragon Reizu was said to be the most beautiful of the four. Her scales were like polished mirror shards. According to the story, the creator's love for her consumed his sanity."

Azela stared at the Void Reizu despite her unease. It was quite literally like staring into the abyss.

"That passage doesn't paint Ayan's predecessor in a positive light. Is it true?" she inquired.

Shi-Yon scoffed, his voice carrying a note of cynicism. "As I said, they're legends. Stories change over time, distorting the truth. I'll let you in on a secret very few are aware of. History and legend record the creator of the glitchen as a being known as Jaiysaun, but what we know of as Jaiysaun was actually several entities sharing the same body. One entity tried to expel the others, and shattered a delicate balance. Few of these separate consciousnesses emerged whole. The things he created were incomplete beings born of thoughts and memories of broken minds. The dangerous ones, formed out of things like rage, envy, despair, and various other troublesome concepts, became the dregs. The Void is a hole in the universe where reality itself was torn from their making. That is the truth. But the various peoples of the Forsaken Mountains would rather believe in a story of unrequited love."

Shi-Yon's voice became quieter as he said, "I wonder, did he love her, though? There is often some truth to be found in legends, after all." He sighed and returned his attention to Azela. "I suggest you visit the library. You'll learn more from the books there than from me, and it's much safer than being way up here."

Turning towards him, Azela asked, "How'd you get up here so fast?"

"I jumped."

Azela couldn't tell if he was joking or not. His voice was made deeper by something in his helmet, but even so it was reminiscent of a teenager; he sounded both sarcastic and serious at the same time. That thought suddenly made Azela curious. "Um... How old are you, anyway?"

"That's a secret."

"Then how old am I?"

"If you need an age, we'll start counting now. You're one day old."

A playful grin adorned her face. "Oh good, I can spend my days wailing for milk and wetting your bed, then."

"Oh," Shi-Yon thought for a moment, "Can't have that, but I don't believe there's any real way of knowing for certain."

"Could MegaGlitch's scan tell us anything?" she wondered.

Shi-Yon shook his head. "Glitchen do not age as most species do."

"Isn't there a record of my birth date or something I could look up?" Azela asked.

Shi-Yon replied, "We have no records of eggs laid beyond the borders of Mt. Kaila."

Azela sensed that he was hiding something. "I'm not from here?"

He said, "One can become weary of staying in one place for hundreds of years. The wanderlust grows until they inevitably leave. Few return. The reason these glitchen appear more sapien than most encountered elsewhere is simply due to less of them having wings. Those lucky enough to have flight are uniquely suited for travel across the mountains."

He stepped back and took a breath before continuing, "You are an anomaly. Your body was hatched somewhere far from here, and once a glitchen body decides to stop growing, it becomes impossible to guess the age." His voice lightened. "So you can be as old as you want to be. You'd like to at least be old enough to drink, wouldn't you? The tavern won't serve you if you're too young."

Azela nodded. "Fine, I'll only wet your bed when I'm drunk, then."

There was only the sound of wind for a time. When Shi-Yon broke the silence, his voice was solemn. "Do you trust me?"

"Y... yes, I told you already... You're the only one."

He laid his icy, gauntlet-covered hand on her shoulder. "Then I'm going to trust you not to tell anyone that I said this." He looked around the area, though no one could possibly hear from far below. "We do know a few things about who you are that I'm not supposed to tell you, but if you want, I'll bend the rules a little. But you must promise not to look into it. Don't go looking for your past."

"I..." Azela felt cornered. "I promise," she said. "Why are you..." she began, but Shi-Yon turned and leapt from the tower.