Shadow Slave

The next morning, they reached the first of the remote island-ships Ananke had told them about. It slowly appeared from beyond the horizon, illuminated by the dreamlike sunlight.

This one was different from the House of Parting. The artificial island was much larger, and instead of a solemn and solitary building, it encompassed a whole district. There were many houses, gardens, and water features, all of them bright and colorful. Despite the same desolation that reigned in Weave, this place seemed strangely festive.

It was easy to imagine how full of vitality it had once been.

Ananke's eyes glistened with nostalgia. She smiled softly and said, her voice melodious:

"This... is the House of Youth."

Sunny and Nephis looked at the bright island-ship, wondering what its purpose was. The sight of it was a little uplifting, and a little sad. Contrasted against the beautiful atmosphere, the emptiness seemed even more poignant.

The young priestess sighed.

"This is one of the seven Houses that Riverborn spent their childhood and adolescence at."

She lingered for a moment, and then explained:

"As you can imagine, children grow up differently here on the Great River. From the moment they are born, their bodies are beholden to the currents of its time. If brought upstream, they will swiftly reach adulthood... at the same time, their parents will have to grow older if they wish to remain with their child. In a span of a few generations, families will be torn apart, and a city will be broken into pieces."

Ananke shook her head.

"Of course, it is also cruel to thrust a child into adulthood while their mind remains immature. So, the Seven Houses exist. Actually... it is a bit strange for me to explain these things, since that is just how life in the Tomb of Ariel is. To me, it is the manner in which Outsiders grow up that seems odd."

She laughed.

believe my mother when she told me that kids outside just grow up inevitably, while remaining in the same place, and have no choice on

Nephis looked at each other, befuddled. After a while,

I can easily imagine. But, wait... what is the

likely built in the same way, so it would be good to know.

The young priestess smiled:

child, they travel downstream, to the House of Birth. The children are born and spend the

at the waters of the Great River and added,

so forth. This way, kids have

have the same perception of time as the rest of humans. They still counted time in months and years, but

of Ariel, the idea of a solar year was meaningless here. So, the children growing up on the Great River would put much more meaning into traveling upstream and getting an older body than into an empty thing

since their lives were not limited by the dwindling number of years that remained before they grew old and

his contemplative expression and

the House of Youth, is where our bodies reach the stage of the cusp of adulthood. The parents usually leave for the main city and leave the kids with other youths. Yet different kids reach mental maturity at different paces. Some spend just a few years here before moving on to reunite with their families. Some

turned

been one of those

adulthood for as long as she could, getting into all kinds of mischief

such an unruly

He shook her head.

these youths have families of their own? They would turn into infants by

Ananke nodded.

also means that their parents grow a little older with each migration. But our lifespans are long... the future is more forgiving than the past. The eldest ones

silent for a

the Corrupted, and those who survived too long usually chose to leave from the House of Parting. Our history also does not stretch that far. But downstream, where the great cities of sybils used to be, that was how new settlements were created.

River was, after all. The way of life of the River People was indeed completely different from the outside world. Even