Terra Australis: Ethereal Secret

Ours is a southernmost land shrouded in mystery…A peripheral land cut off from the rest of the world…Where nature herself plays god…And humans live under her rule… Though our families before us sought to pursue trade, peace, and protect the ever growing world,Sailing to the farthest corners of the world with ships the size of palaces,Circumnavigating from the largest of archipelagos to the tiniest of islands…They found themselves in a vast land with no way out… Ours is a southernmost land shrouded in mystery…Of moraines and crystals…Where a generation have passed with no more hope of finding a way to their ancestral home…Land claimed yet no monarch or republic to recognise…Life moved on as usual… Towns built, loyal and neutral…Armies formed but no war

A girl stood by herself in a cold and dark garden, its source of life coming two rows of dimmed candle lanterns sharing their rows with lush plants cut in the shape of a square. Between the rows stood a narrow and wide pond with the lanterns reflecting the ripples of the water. The girl stood in front of it all. She could see her breath merge with the cold air as she walked around the surrounding pavement of the pond. There were no stars above, clouds, nor even the moon or the beads of stars, on the other side of the garden; large, tall pine trees that were rustling heavily, giving the air a smoky scent of pine cones. She approached the pond to see the water clear, she saw her own reflection and realised she wore a long, white sundress, and the girl had short, black hair and brown eyes."Right... that's me..." She watched the water reflecting everything she does as the cold airbrushed her body. She noticed large flowers with the colour of blood settling on the bushes beside the pon

A young Isuzu watched over a baby inside the nursery in the orphanage. The baby rested on a small wooden cradle complete with a small pillow and blanket. The baby was taken in a few weeks ago, and she had dark hair and dark skin.Isuzu was told by the nuns to watch her over as they cleaned the mess hall after dinner. The nursery had individual rooms for babies that were months old, and the younger ones were housed with other babies in a long bright place where the nuns would watch over them.Isuzu was all alone with the new baby. Not much was known about her parents. One night the head nun, sister Maya, left the orphanage to see a baby in a basket in front of the door in the middle of the night.She, of course, took her in and asked the town's night watch if they had seen anyone who left the baby there. The village was small, everyone knew everybody else, but they didn't know who the baby was or who her parents were.Isuzu leaned over the baby to see her fully awake, trying to maintain

 Venture forth lads for a new settlement awaitsCarry your luggage, let not tiredness delay usWe must build anew, mankind's first town in this barren continentLe

"Where're our reinforcements?!" shouted one of Iowa's soldiers as they fought through the enemy onslaught."Just shut up and keep firing!" Iowa shouted back as she reloaded her weapon and went straight back to firing.The soldiers were well trained, managing to take down their enemies in only one or two shots, but due to the enemies' overwhelming numbers. It meant that they're the ones who'll be out of bullets first.The skirmish was at its peak. Bullets flew from all sides, and as the sun raged on with its heat, it started to exhaust both sides.Isuzu watched from the back. Hearing the echoes of gunshots and whistling bullets, sometimes she even had to hide behind a tree as stray bullets landed near her."You should keep your head down, lest they see you here." told one of the scouts to Isuzu."Oh, right, sorry!" apologised Isuzu."It's odd seeing the captain like that no?" said the other scout."Yeah, ever since she heard about the mission about Iyala. She had been pretty blue ever s