Second Oracle of The Time Keepers, Fate of the Past, The Guardian of Time. Tokemi of the Prism Guard and she is her memory.
Now much of Tokemi's personal history is still a mystery, mainly due to the fact that she is the first of the Time Keepers to actually appear. The reason why she is referred to as the Second Oracle rather than the First Oracle...well it was actually Tokemi herself that requested that specific title. When asked why, she simply stated that she was not meant to be the leader of the Fates. Said leader is, in fact, Yuel aka Morgana Pendragon.
Tokemi governed the past. She could sense the very flow of time itself and because of this particular ability, she could sense, see, and feel the history of everything but on an almost instinctive level. She could navigate her way through forests and mazes and countless obstacles and even a crowded street with her eyes closed and without bumping into a single object or person.
This ability did have one flaw...more like a loophole that is difficult to exploit on the best of days. It is possible to disrupt the flow of time temporarily, nullifying Tokemi's power for a short time. How you may ask? A cataclysmic event or a sudden and quite powerful attack that obliterates everything within a specific area. Time is essentially scattered and it takes a short while for the flow of time to return to its natural rhythm. The recovery period is determined by the intensity of the attack/event.
As to how the Blood Guard learned of this unlikely vulnerability, oddly enough, coincides with the discovery of the Fox Sin of Greed, Ban. I will not be launching into his profile just yet because that would require me to actually fully flush out the exact circumstances of his first encounter with the Star Child...and I'm too lazy at the moment.
Now then, before this event and several hundreds of years ago, The Guardian of Time was traversing Telluria, more commonly referred to as Sol or Earth. She often wandered the many lands and seas, mainly to strengthen her connection to the flow of time all across the world. This connection was important and a necessity for Tokemi's second ability...which I will explain later.
It was during one of these journeys that she was drawn to a specific location, long forgotten by the world. It was the ruins of an ancient city once belonging to the fairies. By this time, about two thirds of the fairy species had long since migrated to the Realm of the Blood Guard with the exception of the inhabitants of the Fairy King's domain. They couldn't leave until the new king had been born because only he could transport his domain to another realm.
This particular city had belonged to the Dark fairies, more often referred to as Night fairies because of the misconception about their moral alignment. The dark is often associated with evil, corruption, and ironically sin. The majority of their kind had been destroyed by one of the many wars that raged across all of history. The survivors were given sanctuary within the Realm, but it was comprised mostly of the younger generation and they had little to no knowledge of their people's personal history.
This was yet another reason why the Second Oracle traveled so much on Sol side, so she could locate the lost histories of those forced to flee to the Realm and reconnect them to their ancestors. Her motivation stems from the Star Child. Artz believes that memories are precious and must be protected for without one's past, how would they know who they truly are? Pain and loss define us as much as happiness or love, but if they don't remember those defining moments, the past will undoubtedly repeat itself yet again.
The Night Fairies lost a great deal of their history and in doing so, they did not remember the task appointed to them by the previous king of the fairies. This task, as Tokemi would soon discover, was to protect the Elixir of Life, more commonly referred to as the Fountain of Youth which was highly inaccurate. The so called Fountain of Youth was, in fact, a mystical goblet known as the Cup of Life in the Old Religion.
Upon learning the history of the Night Fairies, The Guardian was able to locate and safely procur the mystical goblet, taking it back to the Realm. The fairies refused to reclaim the Cup of Life on the grounds that they were irresponsible and negligent in their duties. Uncertain of what to do with such a powerful object, the Second Oracle sought guidance from the Star Child.
Tokemi explained that the Cup of Life could grant immortality to a single individual. It would create a being that was immune to both death and time, but also grant them the ability to manipulate life energy. They could steal it and disperse it, absorbed it into themselves and revitalizing their body, take hold of it and command it in any way they chose whether it be to simply command the body's motor functions, cause accelerated aging, or even reverse the flow of time and forcing the object/being to grow younger and younger until their existence was completely undone.
The Second Oracle pleaded with Her Ladyship, desperately hoping that she would know how to contend with such a potentially devastating object. The Star Child simply smiled at her and told her to find someone she deemed worthy of the power that the elixir could give. Tokemi spent countless centuries trying to find that one special person, often lost in thought because she didn't know who to give it to. How could she deem anyone worthy of the Elixir's power and not create an immortal enemy in the process?
It had been a simple case of serendipity, a happy accident. The Guardian crossed paths with a rather vulgar, foul mouthed, and ill mannered young man named Ban. He was tactless, reckless, impulsive, and didn't give a shit about other people, considering humanity as a total write off of a species...yet he saved her life.
The Second Oracle was confounded by the contradiction between his words and actions. He somehow possessed a noble heart, a compassionate spirit, and a valiant soul. She asked him why and she learned of his encounter with a woman he called His Girl. Said girl having been the Star Child herself, meeting and traveling a short time with the man when he was a child.
It was his love for the Star Child that drove him to protect others, despite his personal feelings, because he wanted to make her proud, that she had made him a better person by simply accepting him and showing him kindness when no other living being had. She gave him a name, calling him Her Little Fox, and he spent his life trying to help as many as he could.
His life was coming to an end because he chose to protect Tokemi from a tyrannical wizard that had been seeking the Elixir of Life. He had used his ability called Snatch in an attempt to stop the spell the Wizard was about to cast but in doing so, he began to absorb its corrupted energy. It killed him, the wizard dying with him, but not before his crest as the Fox Sin of Greed emerged on his hand.
The Second Oracle knew the stories for each of the Sins from Her Ladyship's world. She knew the story of Ban, The Undying One. She had not intended to give him the Elixir of Life, but her heart told her that it was the right thing to do. She used her power to reverse time within his body long enough to make him drink from the goblet...though it did take her using her own mouth to shove it down the stubborn fool's throat, but he was saved from death.
As a result, the Fox Sin of Greed became immortal and unkillable, but his love and loyalty for the Star Child made him into one the strongest and most experienced members of the Guard. Tokemi often wondered if she had made the correct decision due to the obscene amount of damage caused by the Fox Sin and his partner, the Dragon Sin, but hearing the Star Child laugh hysterically at their antics...perhaps it was worth it after all.
The Guardian of Time, Tokemi has the ability to sense and view all history of the objects and beings around her, but her most powerful ability is the ability to transport others back and forth through time. However, she cannot surpass the present moment in which she resides nor can she transport herself through time.
This time travel capability is absolutely vital after the Seeress, Yuel, joins the Blood Guard. The First Oracle is perfectly intune with the timeline of the Star Child and when something threatens that timeline, causing any deviation or disruption, the Second Oracle uses her power to transport the person and/or people required to correct the distortion.
Both Yuel and Tokemi work diligently to maintain the continuity of Her Ladyship's time stream. For if the Star Child dies, the whole of history will change because her past is their future. She was saved by the Second, Third, and Fourth Captains during the Modern Age. If she does not live to meet the youngest Captain, Light, then everything that the Star Child had accomplished during her long trek through history would be completely unwritten.
The Second Oracle is also the one that suggested creating an archive to store the Star Child's memories and experiences. Tokemi shared in Artz's belief that memories were precious and that they needed to be protected. To that end, the Guardian, with the assistance of many others, successfully built the archive, but it could not withstand the sheer amount of information that was held within Artz's mind.
Tokemi sought help from the Boar Sin of Gluttony, Merlin aka Esmer. The First Sin of the Order was very powerful and she has combined magic and technology on multiple occasions. The Guardian explained the what and why of the archive, but it was the how that was causing so many problems.
At first, Esmer was initially confused, but later realized that the Second Oracle was attempting to create The Hall of Memories, a place all new members are to be taken to before being assigned an opposites mentor. The Sorceress of Creation told Tokemi about this future place and stated that only a special kind of crystal would be able to store, retain, and preserve the memories of the Star Child.
This special crystal has gone by many names; ethernano, lacrima, magicite, and the list goes on. Fortunately, Lady Esmer knew how to create the memory crystal, but it did take some time to acquire enough for the complete process. Also there was several problems with accessing the information after the download, forcing Tokemi to make a rather heart wrenching decision.
The crystals required a very specific kind of interface in order to find and view specific memories, but there was no way to adjust the intensity of the memory itself nor could one actually be an observer. It was all or nothing...essentially living the memory as if you were the Star Child. You would feel everything she felt at the intensity in which she had felt at the time.
Much of Her Ladyship's memories were filled with pain, sorrow, loss, grief, and rage. She who walks the slower path through history, making friends and watching them age before her eyes while she remained untouched by time. Were that not enough, there were the memories that contained emotions so deep and so intense that anyone that lived them would be broken, their hearts shattering into dust as they fully comprehend what Artz had gone through.
Tokemi had been the first to use the interface and she spent the next three thousand years traveling Sol in a vain attempt to come to terms with what she had experienced. She realized that this was not a decision she could make by herself, but she did not know who to go to. Who could possibly offer her guidance in regards to such an extreme matter? The answer came from a rather unexpected source...a talking rat named Rokushun.
Within one of the realms that existed on Sol side was a place referred to as The Twelve Kingdoms. Rokushun was born in the kingdom of Ko, educated in the kingdom of En, and is both friend and advisor to the Queen of the Kei kingdom. Tokemi was uncertain of the unexpected visitor so she asked why he was quite literally in the middle of nowhere.
His reply was only two words...to listen. The Second Oracle could only stare at him as he took a seat on a nearby rock. He eventually coaxed her into sitting next to him and for almost an hour, there was nothing but silence...a silence broken by the soft spoken rodent. He told her about his travels with Queen Kei and Tokemi watched his history unfold within her mind.
Rokushun was unlike anyone she had met before. The only person that was even remotely similar to him was the Star Child, but the difference between them was in how they viewed themselves. Artz always believed herself to be unworthy of love and happiness, but Rokushun believed that if he worked hard enough that he would be able to build a life he could be proud of and gladly embrace all the joys and sorrows that came with it.
He was impossibly kind and compassionate just like the Star Child. He understood the world on a much deeper level than Artz ever could because she simply kept on giving and in return, she carried all the pain and heartbreak of the ones she loved. If she could only save those in front of her then that was enough and Tokemi realized that Her Ladyship was a kindred spirit to the Queen of Kei.
Once Rokushun had finished, the Second Oracle told him about the Hall of Memories and the price of viewing those memories. He listened intently, not interrupting her, and only spoke after she was finished. He looked up at the sky, watching the clouds float by. When he finally spoke, Tokemi was completely stunned.
'You're right. This isn't a decision you can make because the choice is not yours at all...it's theirs. Take them to the Hall of Memories, inform them of the viewing process, and allow them to choose for themselves...to accept the responsibility and consequences of that decision. Let them decide if she is worth putting their hearts, their very souls at stake for the woman that chose to love them even though they were strangers.'
He apologized if he had caused any offense, but to him, he would want to be given the choice rather than to have it forced upon him because instead of understanding the Star Child, it could cause them to hate her instead, believing that she wanted them to suffer the same way she did. Rokushun didn't believe that Artz was capable of that, that she would rather spare them the pain of her past because she wouldn't want anyone to suffer the way she did.
The Guardian of Time actually cried because he was right. Her Ladyship would never allow anyone to relive her memories, to be so utterly destroyed by the intensity and depth of her emotions...especially during the final days of her reality. She informed Rokushun of this and he surprised her by saying that it wasn't Artz's decision to make either because she had agreed to not only store her memories but to allow others access to said memories.
No matter how much she loves them or how much she wants to protect them, there are some things that cannot be avoided. He then spoke very familiar words to her and she smiled softly, her eyes sad but understanding what he was trying to convey to her.
'Pain and loss define us as much as happiness or love. If our hearts didn't break then how would we know what joy feels like? If nothing ends then nothing can begin. If we never know loneliness then how can we be kind? If we are not afraid then we would never know what it means to be brave.
She lost everything. It was ripped away from her, destroying her so completely that it's a miracle that she even exists, but if that never happened then she would not be who she is now. She was lost within the ruin of herself and she fought back, she didn't give up. Darkness fell and all was silent. Then came a light, a glimmer that became a star, and a song, a melody of hope within despair, and there she is...a miracle.
I believe that in order to truly love someone, you have to let them into your heart. The deeper you go, the greater that love will be, but it also means that you'll get hurt and experience terrible pain. Love is both strength and weakness, a double edged sword, and the more pain you feel, the more you realize that you truly love that person.'
The Second Oracle finally understood why the Star Child cried so much because she loved them beyond all imaginings. Her eyes became determined and Rokushun smiled at her, seeing that she had found the answer she had been searching for. Tokemi knew what needed to be done and she would see it through, tears and all, because she loved the Star Child and the others needed to understand the kind of person that Artz truly was but only if they chose to do so.
Tokemi parted ways with the incredibly wise Rokushun and returned to the Realm. The Second Oracle, with the assistance of the Deathly Hollows, informed the current mentors and all the ones thereafter, about the Hall of Memories and in doing so, the Blood Guard truly ceased as a militant group and became a rather chaotic bunch of idiots, geniuses, goofballs, weirdos, and crazy people.
An extremely volatile and highly dysfunctional family brought together by the love of their star...and a stubborn oracle taking the advice of a talking rat. Just another day in The Realm.
You've got a real gift here, Artz! Brilliant just brilliant! :)
ReplyDelete