Lottery

Never before in Lunaria had news spread faster.  There hadn’t been a ceremonial announcement or even a declaration of great excitement.  Just the appearance of a tiny old Velox waja in the middle of a market who casually stepped up onto a low stack of crates, just high enough to be seen over the heads of the milling crowd, and spoke the words just loud enough for those in the immediate area to hear.  She answered a few questions, and then leapt down and headed off, pleased with her day’s work and ready to return to her own business.  Perhaps a nap was in order.  And then back to fashioning her precious fulgurite.  

Word of mouth did the rest of the job for her, with a speed that would have left a gale-force wind dizzy.  Hardly any time at all had passed before it seemed that all of Lunaria was in high excitement.  The portal!  The portal was ready!  Solaria and Lunaria would finally be linked, now and forevermore!  And the sapling!!  The precious sapling, so vibrant, could now be brought to its new home.  The woes of their sister world would at last be healed.  And what great mysteries, surprises, treasures were there to find?  Speculation flew on the breeze, sparking every eye alight with the promise of the new and the glorious unknown. 

So it may no doubt come as a surprise that the one who had the greatest need for the news, who had been waiting the longest and most fervently for it, was among the last to hear it.  

The lady Artemis had been busy for several weeks.  It had been a long time since anything apart from the destruction of her homeland, and the precious Pear Tree sapling, had made her so curious, but these strange little Velox wajas were an exception.  They were Lunaria’s legend, as the Arctics were Solaria’s legend.  They didn’t carry the…mystique…of the powerful guardian breed, but their affinity with lightning and desert sands had been strangely fascinating to her.  And allowing herself to focus on something besides her long obsessions was a nice change.  Or at least, a brief period of rest for her long-weary mind and heart.  

The old one, Farrah, she had not yet spoken to.  But her fellows, which had begun cropping up more and more as her efforts to save her breed came to fruition, had in record time established themselves among the population of Lunaria.  Velox, it seemed, now felt as though they had always been.  Small but quick, fast-speaking and constantly energized.  And Artemis had wanted to find one worthy to join her Corps.  Apollo had been less sure about taking this monumental step with the new (old) breed, though even he had shown some open curiosity with them.  The wajas borne of lightning, or so the old Lunarian desert tales told.  But Artemis had eventually convinced him. 

“What was it you said when you told me it was time to invite the Arctics into our number?” She had asked. “Each breed of waja has its own way to protect and defend its home and kin, and welcoming those differences into our number only makes us stronger.  I believe the Velox are here to stay, now that their population no longer faces extinction.” 

So they had committed to the search.  They had made the long journey, the two alone, to the distant desert lands the Velox called their ancestral home.  They had spoken to the ones they eventually found there, learning that the story of Farrah’s quest, and its success, had preceded them.  They had shared the history of Lunaria and Solaria to a host of enraptured ears.  The Velox had accepted them, recognizing Lord Apollo’s power.  And two had stepped forward, a male and a female. The male had bowed to Apollo, the female to her.  Small, but already warriors.  They had submitted to the tests and taken the sacred vows, honored to serve their breed and the whole of the world though they knew nothing of it beyond the sands. 

By chance alone, the lord and lady had returned along the only route where they did not immediately encounter the excitement sweeping the land.  Apollo had left their new companions then, giving unto Artemis the task of showing the Velox the sacred Pear Tree and its precious sapling.  The news came to the noble lord less than five minutes after their paths dividing via the rising sounds of excited celebration echoing from the fairgrounds near the sacred grove of the Pear Tree.  Artemis, guiding the Velox pair along a path her paws had tread countless times over the last few years, traveled in typical quiet until they had approached the outer edge of the grove. 

At which point the Lady of Solaria found her familiar path blocked by an even more familiar, and considerably less liked (though in truth her opinion had warmed just a bit in recent times…against her better judgement) slyly grinning face. 

“Why, Lady Artemis.  It’s been a little while.” 

“…Vyra.  Here at the grove again?” 

The former glitch queen smiled cheekily.  

“The old tree and I have an accord, you know that.  And who are these two?”  She looked around at the Velox pair, who studied her back with calm curious expressions, tilting their heads in unison.  “Aaah, I see.  New players on the team.  I bet their stories are just as fascinating as the others.”  

The tone was teasing but not cruel.  The new Chosen and Corps members did not seem to take insult.  Artemis bared her teeth slightly. 

“If you don’t mind, we are a little busy right now.” 

Vyra seemed about to reply, but then she paused.  Her own gaze turned speculative. 

“You know, I would have expected you to be…just a little bit happier.”  

“I am proud of the dedication of these Velox to the…” 

“Not them!  Do you not know?  Everyone from here to the cosmos is talking about it.”  

That was how the news broke to the ears of the Lady Artemis.  Nothing grand or excited or eager.  Just a single phrase spoken by the infamous Vyra while she privately delighted in the other’s lack of knowledge.  

The former overlord departed soon after, having gleaned all the entertainment she could ever want in a summer afternoon from a single five-minute conversation and ready to pursue more leisurely activity.  Artemis was left in a state of stunned shock.  As the news sank in, her usual air of stern aloofness visibly dissolved.  As the Velox pair watched, her entire body began to tremble. 

“Forgive me,” she finally managed.  “I need to be alone for a while.” 

“We understand, Lady,” the Velox replied.  

Artemis continued alone, passing into the shade of the grove and weaving the familiar way through the trees.  The sun shone soft and warm in the heart of Lunaria, as it always did.  The Pear Tree stood spreading its beautiful leaves across the heavens above, as it always did.  And right where she had planted it…so long ago…the sapling almost seemed to wave at her.  It had grown now, its own leaves now broad enough to offer shade her when she deigned to sit underneath.  She approached it, sitting in the same spot, and slowly leaned forward until her forehead touched the smooth bark.  

And tears began to drip from the end of her muzzle, dappling the gentle curve of the few exposed roots at her feet.  

“The portal is ready,” she said, repeating aloud for the first time what had been echoing over and over in her head since the glitch had spoken it.  “It’s time, my friend.  It’s finally time to go home.” 

In the grove, there was no stir of a breeze through the cool air.  And yet, nevertheless, a brief harmony of rustling leaves echoed in response.  A single leaf fluttered down from the parent, coming to rest on the ground at her feet, its own surface soon pattered with the Lady of Solaria’s tears of deep, overwhelming joy.  Artemis looked down at it, studying its soft rainbow of colors for a long while.  

She was still sitting there, her forehead against the sapling, her gaze upon the leaf—though the tears had dried—when Apollo joined her again.  She did not immediately speak when she heard his approach.  She only looked around when she heard him sit down beside her and gently drape a wing over her shoulders.  

“Apollo…have I ever told you of how it once was?  The beauty Solaria once had?”

 “The beauty it will soon have again,” Apollo added.

The Lord of Lunaria smiled.

 “You have, my dear friend.  But I would be honored to hear of it once more.”