5 Ura-Na

Book 1 - Second Chance

Chapter 4 – Ura-Na

Albi, and Bailey were handed some basic clothing by the guards, and were asked to join their carriage in order to head back to the city.

They were sitting in the back of an open carriage reminiscent of those used to carry cargo in medieval times, as the guards rode on their own horses.

'Oh my god Bailey, it's an actual carriage! Horses, and everything! This is so medieval! I like it!'

'You know Albi, I've been thinking this for a while but, you've smiled in the past few hours than I've seen you do in the last few years'

'…'

'I've decided. This is a new life for me. For us. No more wallowing. No more crying. No more of that bullshit. I don't know why, but we've been given a second chance. We don't have to deal with those bastards anymore. In here, we're not that weak Albi. In here, I'm going to be my own man. You're going to be your own woman. We'll be ourselves. No more restraints. I'm letting out everything I've held in for those 25 years.'

'I'm glad you're thinking that way, cuz that's the way I've decided to do it too'.

…

Back on the hill, a dark hooded figure stood near the crater

'Hmm, this is where the spell failed. I've felt one of the soul cleansing spheres dissipate here.'

The dark hooded figure jumped into the crater, and started inspecting it.

'Hmmm, nothing unusual. It appears to have lost its force, and merely crashed. But what happened to the soul? Did it dissipate, or did someone take it?'

As the figure was inspecting the surroundings, it caught a glimpse of a guard convoy in the horizon moving away from the hill

'Damn it, they must've reached it first… I need to check their report, and see what they discovered'.

The figure then turned to the crater, they moved their arms in the air, while speaking in a peculiar tongue, and a black and white gas emanated from them, surrounding the crater. After a few breaths of time, the gas dissipated, and the figure left the area.

…

Back on the carriage.

'Albi, I've been meaning to ask you something'

'Hmm? What is it, Bailey?'

'C-Can I take control?' Said Bailey nervously.

'What do you mean?'

'I mean of the body. Can I take control of the body?'

'Wait, you can do that?'

'It-It feels like I can, if I try. It's like I'm asleep. Like I'm dreaming, but I can wake up at any time'

'Yea, sure, go for it'

Suddenly Albi started to feel sleepy, and he started to lose control over his body, his eyes slowly closing, and when he opened them, he found himself in that dark pond, with Bailey sitting in front of him, her eyes closed.

In the carriage 'Albi' slowly opened his eyes.

"I did it!" screamed Bailey

"What's wrong?" shouted one the guards jolted by Bailey's sudden scream.

"N-Nothing, I was just doing some meditation! Yes, meditation, I just realized something"

"Okay, but keep it down"

'That alien sure is weird…'

Bailey started to look around, like she's been blind her entire life, and just suddenly gaining sight. Like she was deaf, and just started to hear. It felt like her entire life was merely her watching another person's life through a screen like a movie, only now did she actually feel alive.

'H-hey Bailey, what happened? Did you do it?'

'Yea, just sit down, and close your eyes'

As Albi did that he started to resonate with Bailey, and he started to see what she saw, and feel what she felt. But it felt like he had locked in syndrome. Like he was a passenger in someone else's body.

'Bailey, I'm sorry'

'Hmm? What are you sorry for?'

'This. If this is how you've been living for the past 19 years…I'm sorry'

Bailey suddenly stopped looking around, and she sat down on the carriage.

'Bailey. This is your body as much as it is mine. You don't need permission. If you want to, you can always take over, and you can stay for as long as you want. Or we can regulate the timing of that between us later on. Don't ever feel like you're a passenger here. You're my best friend, and a literal part of me, just like I'm a part of you.'

'…'

'Thank you'

'Okay okay, this is your first ride, no need to make it all sad, and sappy, go on, jump about, and do any crazy shit you've always wanted to do'

Bailey wiped the tears that were starting to stream down her face, and while laughing she started to jump around, touching her face, her body, the carriage, deeply inhaling everything around her.

"Aliens really are weird…" said one of the guards

"Just ignore them, they're probably happy that they survived an impact like that. They're mortals after all" said another one while laughing.

"It's good to cherish your life, and enjoy it while it lasts. Ura isn't a merciful place. Although it has the expeditionary force's headquarters of the Tri-Path Alliance, and the Tri-Path Academy is also here, that's merely on the continent of Ura-Na. Anything beyond that is a merciless place filled with savages of all kinds. I'm sure you remember how the advanced battalion came back with only a third of their members a few months back"

The air around the convoy suddenly turned grim, and everyone's faces soured. Many of them had friends, and family in the advanced battalion, and seeing the utter devastation that they returned home in shocked many of the soldiers back into reality.

The planet of Ura, is a gigantic planet with its own planetary system. It has three smaller but still relatively large planets , and each has its own moons. It was covered in a shroud of void, that only dissipated in the last few thousand years, exposing it to the rest of the world. Seeing the massive size of the planet, and the fact that it had its own civilizations that developed in a completely isolated environment piqued the interests of many of the local powers. Thus, they all either went in on their own, or sent expeditionary forces to explore, and conquer the planet, and its resources. However, after many years of fighting, and no progress, three major factions rose up.

The Mages' Order, The Warriors' Hall, and The Divine Pavilion.

The Mages' Order was started by a council of the three oldest, and wisest amongst the mages. And The Warriors' Hall was started by a Warchief, the strongest amongst the warriors who rose up, and challenged them all to a fight, and as the sole survivor, she took the lead. Both of these powers were started by the combining of individuals, and their small factions, as they decided to start a faction in order to better organize their forces, as their goals were aligned. As for the Divine Pavilion they came unto Ura's planetary system already united, under a single person's leadership.

After the initial assault failed, the three major moons were each occupied by each of the factions in order to set up a stronghold, as their base of operations, in order to rest, recoup, and reorganize themselves for future expeditions. Each of these planets' moons were reserved for mortals, who would live their lives there as normal humans. Should a certain outstanding person rise up from within their ranks, or should the mortals manage to pay for the fees of transportation, they would be sent up to their main planet in order to become a 'Supreme'.

The smallest of the planets was made as the headquarters of the Mage's Order, the medium sized one was turned into the Warriors' Hall's headquarters, and the last, and largest planet was taken over by the Divine Pavilion. These three powers seeing how their individual forces couldn't hold up against the natives, decided to group up, and create a three-way alliance between them. They would all band up together in order to the fight the natives, and split the resources amongst themselves, and the first order of business was to the create a foothold on the planet itself, so they might safely land their troops on it. The alliance managed to capture the continent of Ura-Na, The Eye of Ura, and on it they established the Tri-Path Alliance, and in order to further enhance teamwork between them, and in order to learn from each other's respective powers, and develop the future generation, The Tri-Path Alliance Academy was formed!