"At last, that was when we decided to think sensibly. I remember nearly rejoicing in relief when I heard that our leaders had decided on a solution to end the violence peacefully. But then, when I learned of what it was, I cried for a week, inconsolable, even by my parents."
"So …what happened?" Mericlou said, noticing his unexpectedly long pause.
Aldrec gestured, and the ancient book lifted from the floor. He positioned it at an angle in midair, and the pages flipped of their own accord, stopping close to the end.
"Read this," he said, pointing to a paragraph in the middle of the page.
"' …And in shame, the Divine's high children did pave a road of sorrow into another haven,'" Mericlou read aloud. "'By the hand of the Divine's mercy, they would begin again.'"
"That was the terrible thing we decided," Aldrec said hoarsely. "We would leave this world, and exchange it for another."
"You left the planet?" Mericlou said. "On a … ship?"
"No, not so complex as that, Tulyr," Aldrec replied thoughtfully. We, or should I say, my people, left to … another dimension, for lack of a better word. We created the gate by our own will: our own sorrow and regret over what we did. We decided to allow the lesser races to rule themselves, without our aid, and the best way to do this was not to exist in this world at all. When my people left, they took all traces of our existence -save our memory- from this world."
"And you," Mericlou concluded.
"I was young, and in love with this world and the lesser races," Aldrec explained, his voice strained into a whisper, "in love in a way that none of my kind had ever been. And though I was unique in my interests, my people tended to let things be, and allow the individual to fulfill his or her curiosities. So I was never ridiculed. It was only when I refused to leave that all heads turned in my direction. It was the first time in millennia that anyone had openly defied the Council, and it was not met with pleasing results.
My parents were naturally the most distraught by this, and they begged me to reconsider, but I was adamant. But rather than force me to join them, the Council agreed to my request to stay behind, much to my surprise. But there was one condition that they provided: that I retain myself permanently in disguise among the lesser races, and to never reveal my true form to anyone."