Devokan Tsahno
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Devokan Tsahno NebThauDragmire When a teenage girl finds an odd looking book in the New Mexican desert, she’s transported to a strange new world... but the world is nothing next to the family that lives there. Pre-Myst, Myst, Riven. Author’s note: Trust me, this isn’t your usual Myst fanfic. This is Alternate Universe as you’ve never seen it before. When writing the outline for this story, the first thing I did was promptly take canon and chuck it out the nearest window. Cyan owns Myst and all related characters/Ages/etc. I own the character of Cecilia. “Devokan” means “hope” and “Tsahno” means “eternal”. So, the title for the story is “Eternal Hope” (In D’ni, the adjective comes after the noun). Devokan Tsahno Prologue: The Finding of the Book I watched with anticipation as the dust cloud grew closer. It was a big one this time; the biggest devil that I’ve seen all summer. I steadied myself on the rocky outcropping, gripping the tarp. I watched as the dirt devil came nearer. It was almost eight feet tall, two feet shorter than the small cliff on which I stood. This thing was powerful, too - it was ripping up the smaller plants by the roots. It was close now. I pulled the tarp into the right position. Then, after a swift count to three, I threw the tarp into the wind. It was airborne! The tarp, with the rock attached, was flying right along with the dirt devil! But it was turning away from me. I scrambled back down the other side of the cliff, then took off at a run after the tarp. I followed it for some time. It was heading towards the old volcano at the end of my parents’ land. That dormant volcano was my ‘base of operations’. I had spent months buying wood to transport out there. My dad and I had built a sort of lab in the empty crater. There, I had set up an area to test the wind and possible seismic activity. I had two of those cool little jars with the metal balls that tell you where an earthquake is; I had one set out here and one in my room back at the house. As the dirt devil neared the volcano, however, the wind died and it disappeared. The tarp carrying the rock dropped to the ground. This was indeed odd, but not unexpected. There was never any wind around the volcano. I looked up at the weather vane, which confirmed my observation. The windless area stretched to about a quarter mile around the volcano itself. I could find no explanation for this; it just was. I walked over to the fallen rock. Picking it up, I proceeded to scan the surrounding area. This wind... or lack thereof... there had to be some explanation! There had to be! But I’d spent two years experimenting, researching... nothing. No theories, no ideas. I sighed. I guess it was something that I just had to accept, however much my mind rebelled against the idea. - 1 - Prologue: The Finding of the Book I began my hike up to my garden shed of a lab in the crater of the volcano. And when I say garden shed, I mean garden shed. I opened the door to my little hut and was again painfully aware of the lack of room. In order to sit down, I had to take my office chair out, step inside, pull the chair back in, sit down, spin around, and close the door. I loved my lab, though. Tables lined three walls and shelves were built up to the ceiling. My dad had built a skylight last year to take in the daylight hours, but when I came out here at night, I needed electricity. Unfortunately, my dad said I had to figure it out on my own. Having no knowledge of electrical engineering, I enlisted the help of my best friend and greatest rival, David. He and I made a cheap battery- powered generator. It had to be charged with a hand crank in my lab every fifteen minutes, but it worked. I turned to one of my shelves, pulling out a book at random. “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” I read aloud. “Nice choice, Cecilia.” Oh, I’m sorry, I guess I’ve forgotten to introduce myself. My name is Cecilia. I’m sixteen years old, living in northern-ish New Mexico. I have blonde hair that’s a little shorter than shoulder length. I have green eyes, my build is skinny but not overly so, and my most prized possession is a pair of reading glasses that were made to look exactly like Allan Quartermain’s from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. As you can probably tell, I’m very much a literary nerd. Said reading glasses were balanced on the edge of my nose as I opened the cover of my book. “Mr. Utterson the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance,” I read aloud, “that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backwards in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary, and yet somehow lovable. At friendly meetings, and-” Thump! I sat up abruptly. What in the world was that? I thought. My parents and brother aren’t home, and David’s off on a college tour at Harvard for the week. Lucky duck. Book still in hand, I spun around in my chair and opened the door. There was nothing that I could see at first. Just the usual - 2 - Devokan Tsahno dust and rocks and ugly, scrawny plants. Oh, and that book right there... wait. A book? Curious, I walked out of my lab and over to the rather large volume that had seemingly appeared on the desert floor. The book was very, very old, it’s cover a worn sea-green, its corners and spine slightly damaged. On the cover, in great gold letters, was the word ‘Myst’. “Sounds like something Jules Verne would write,” I muttered. Still, I picked up the book and dusted it off. I lifted the old cover, being careful not to damage it. There was nothing on the first page. Nothing, that is, but a word. “Ti’ana.” It sounded like a name. The author’s name, maybe? It was very unusual. I flipped the page. I stared at the symbols weaving their way across the page. It was unlike any writing I had ever seen. It was fluid and graceful looking, the words themselves long. I flipped through the rest of the pages, finding not a trace of English anywhere. But there was something else there, on the very last page. I gasped. It was a beautiful picture of an island. There were amazingly tall tress and bright green grass covered almost all the island. There was a boat and a dock and buildings. And the picture was moving. It was moving! The picture rotated to the left, showing different views of the island. Gazing in amazement, I turned the last page to see if there was an embedded screen. But it wasn’t. It was a perfectly normal-looking picture. Without thinking, I carefully brushed my fingers against it. A strange tingling sensation ran up my arm. Then, I felt as if I were being drawn into the page. No, wait. I was being drawn into the page! A sensation of falling filled me as the desert scene in front of me faded to black. - 3 - Prologue: The Finding of the Book - 4 - Devokan Tsahno Chapter 1: Meeting the Family The first thing I felt was cold. Very cold. And yet, I felt smothered and constricted. In my semi-conscious state, I began thrashing, trying to get out of whatever was holding me. I heard a voice, murmuring words of comfort. Something warm was placed against my forehead. I stopped moving. I opened my eyes, but it didn’t help much. The world was blurry and out of focus, but I could make out a different colored blur the shape of someone’s head. As my vision cleared, I realized that I was looking at a woman. “Hello, dear,” she said, smiling warmly, “How are you feeling?” “Alright,” I murmured, “Where am I?” “Myst Island,” she said. I frowned, then let out a hiss. The mere movement of my forehead caused stinging pain. The woman took the warm thing off my forehead, which I now realized was a damp cloth. As she was wringing the water out of said cloth, she kept talking to me. “You hit your head rather hard when you arrived. My husband, Atrus, found you while he was out walking. You gave us quite a fright. We’re... not used to visitors here.” She replaced the cloth, then resumed speaking. “My name is Catherine. And you are... ?” “Cecilia,” I said, “And do you know exactly how I got here? The last thing I remember is finding this really weird book near my house. It had a moving picture, which was really odd because all the books I’ve ever read never had moving pictures... ” My ramblings died on my lips as I looked at Catherine. All the color had drained from her face. “Are you alright?” I asked. Catherine brought a hand to her forehead to a moment, then stood up. - 5 - Chapter 1: Meeting the Family “I’m alright,” she said, “I need to speak with my husband. I will be back shortly.” With that, she turned on her heel and left the room.