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Prophet Destiny:
Honey and Morning Dew
The sun shone brightly on a summer day in the magic city of Cirian. On that day, a young Elf girl wandered into the streets headed towards a vast courtyard with a grand white marble structure looming in the distance.
The lone Elf girl strolled casually through the grass, wanting to ease herself and enjoy the sight of the ornately-arranged flowers of the courtyard garden. However, she soon found out that someone else had the same idea.
Kneeling right in front of her was another young girl watching the garden. Although her back was turned, she could see the stranger’s wavy light blonde hair ponytail, along with her white coat and cotton dress.
“Hello there!” the Elf girl greeted aloud, “Did you come here to see the flowers, too?”
“Oh, the flowers here really are pretty! I love the flowers, but I’m really watching these bees.” The stranger in white replied, keeping her face straight ahead without looking behind her.
“The bees?” the elf girl asked with a cocked head.
“Yes. The bees,” The stranger in white confirmed, “They’re just so busy if they don’t sting you, right? My father told me they take something called nectar from the flowers, and keep on gathering it until they have enough for the hive where they turn it into sweet honey. If honey is really a different form of this nectar stuff these bees gather, do you think it might be tastier and sweeter than honey? Thinking about it makes me jealous if these bees get to taste something so wonderful that we can’t…”
The elf girl chuckled.
“Funny, I never heard anyone say that they could be jealous of bees, let alone think about them so much. But now you’re making me think what this nectar stuff might taste like, too.”
“I’m surprised more people aren’t jealous of bees for other things! They can fly around a lot without stopping, too! Don’t a lot people wish they could fly, too? Wow, flying and nectar; being a bee sounds better and better with each new thing about them.” The stranger in white said in awe.
“Oh, I don’t know. For things that can fly, I’d rather be a bird. I just like them more I guess . As for flying, yes that sounds fun, but you can do that easily if you know the right magic and do it properly. We just happen to be by a magic school, you know. You can learn it if you join up.”
The stranger in white suddenly sprang up.
“Really? Then does that mean… is this Cirian Academy? And does that mean you’re a student here?”
The stranger then turned around to meet the young elf face-to-face. She noticed before her eyes a figure with long, straight blonde hair with earnest sapphire blue eyes, a pair of pointed ears, and a loose, sleeveless green dress.
In turn, the elf saw her acquaintance’s prism-like eyes, defined by the various colors of a spectrum. They appeared to have a usual sense of soft earnesty, but the surprise she felt let them shocked and widened.
“And… you’re… an elf?” she finished softly.
“Yes... I am.” The elf replied while nodding slowly.
The prism-eyed visitor gasped, then promptly exhaled.
“I-I’m sorry, it’s just I’ve never seen an elf before, a-and I’ve heard many wonderful things about them. But I know one thing that’s right now. You…you’re really beautiful.” She said while completely awestruck.
“H-hey, that’s a lot to say, don’t you think? Honestly, you’re really cute yourself.” The elf answered modestly.
“But…”Beautiful” and “Cute” aren’t the same thing.” the stranger noted.
“Maybe not, but they should matter as much as the same thing, right? One person might call you “cute” and the next could say you’re “beautiful”, and they’ll likely say it the same way.” The elf answered.
“But… a busy bee is cute but butterfly is beautiful; a baby chick is cute but a grownup swan can be beautiful; a little kitten is cute but a noble’s horse is beautiful.” The stranger argued.
“I don’t really see how the last two are comparable,” the elf thought to herself awkwardly.
“Maybe if we saw it as two different kinds of “beautiful”, it would make sense, like the moon and sun? The sun’s always so warm and bright, but the moon is like a big glowing gemstone in the sky. But you said I was cute…” the stranger trailed off.
“Is it bad that I said you’re cute?” the elf asked nervously.
“No, it’s not. I just think they mean very different things. It makes sense that I’d be seen as “cute” rather than “beautiful” by everyone. If anyone did see me as “beautiful”, it would …probably be…”
The girl’s face turned beet red as she was stuck with an embarrassing thought.
“Ah! A-anyway, I had a friend that told me a lot about Elfish Culture. Are you a student at Cirian, then? He told me elves are naturals when it comes to magic! That must mean you should be a really good student! Uh, u-unless you actually teach here? I also heard elves can be much older than they look…”
“No, your eyes don’t deceive you. I’ve started getting taller earlier than others, but we should be about the same age. Our growth usually starts slowing down when we’re near the adult age of other races. After that, it can be tricky guessing the right age for everybody else. So yes, I am a student. And I am doing well, but it’s because I actually study.” The elf explained.
She then gradually folded her arms and looked off to the side, appearing somewhat anxious.
“It wouldn’t be right to brag about just how good I do in class. A lot of it is thanks to my bloodline, after all. And Professor Hunt… why does he have to make it so embarrassing by rubbing my abilities in everyone’s faces? It gets on their nerves… it gets on MY nerves.” The elf thought to herself.
“Oh, I see. Then they must have good books.” The stranger said with a hopeful smile, “Am I right, Miss Elf? The academy should have a great library. Does it have anything besides spell books?”
“P-please call me Rose! “Miss Elf” feels weird to me...” the elf requested, “ And it does. The school usually gives the required spell books to students each year immediately. Anything in the library should be a bunch of extra studies, like advanced spells, history, alchemy and whatnot. Any scholar with permission can take a look and check some stuff out.”
“Good! It already sounds so exciting, and I’m sure father will be pleased for wanting to stay here!” the visitor cheered, “Oh, and sorry about that. You can call me Yula, then!”
”Yula, huh? If you still feel funny about earlier, I can honestly say that your name is beautiful. It really suits you.” Rose grinned.
“T-thank you…” Yula replied softly, “But to get that kind of praise from an elf….”
“Hold on! Don’t let my Elfish Heritage get in the way of cheering you up! I’ve heard some of the usual things about us that make us sound special, and as flattered as I am, I don’t want anyone to think so highly of me because of it! We’re both girls here, right? Let’s keep it like that!” Rose insisted.
Hearing this, the prism-eyed girl gazed at her Elfish acquaintance with greater awe than the last time.
“Wow. She’s…that’s like Dear Gades. They’re both very great, but they don’t let that define them. They both just want to be seen...as people… who just want to help.” She observed personally.
“Sure!” Yula said aloud eagerly.
After that, the two girls shook hands happily.
“So will you be joining the Academy soon?” Rose asked, “If I’m right, you’re probably old enough for second year. I don’t know if you’ve studied up on enough to make it, but---“
“I’m sorry,” Yula cut off with a sigh, “I’m only here for the week. My father had some local texts he wanted to look at. He’s a scholar, so he wants to get as much information as he can from this city before we move on.”
“I see. That’s a shame. You look like you could really get into the studies, too.” Rose lamented.
“At least I can make a few friends while I’m here,” I shrugged. “And I think I already made one, right?”
“Yes you did.” Rose nodded in confirmation.
Yula bowed her head in gratitude, while her smile brightened up at the same time.
“Then… I’m very happy to know that.” She answered back. “Um, may I ask what kind of magic you’re learning?”
“Oh, we learn a lot of things about magic! Like, how to float and fly like I said earlier!” Rose pointed out, “And then we learn other arts like making flowers bloom, making things harder or softer, and showing beautiful lights in mid-air! But I think the most exciting magic we learn is elemental magic!”
“Elemental magic?” Yula repeated.
“Isn’t that what Dear Gades was learning a lot about from his father before I left? I think he was learning a lot of fire and wind spells…”
“Oh, sure! Thanks to the Magic Guild, we’re able to learn all sorts of neat spells that draw from the elements! We’ve only learned a lot of basic stuff so far, and we can only really get into it after we cover basic defensive arts. But when we do, I can tell it’s going to be a lot of fun because that’s when we get to know how we really are with magic! There’s this thing each mage has called “affinities”, and I learned with my father’s help that mine is with lighting! That means my most powerful spells are based on lightning!” Rose explained.
“Most…Powerful?” Yula replied.
“You could say that’s those are the kind of spells that are most effective for me. Just by how they look, I’m able to cast the biggest, most impressive spells easily when they’re lighting spells. It also means I could do the most damage to bad guys I have to deal with.”
“You… fight bad guys?” Yula asked in surprised.
“Not yet, actually. But the Magic Guild allows us to go after bad things like monsters, bandits, and evil sorcerers if and when we qualify at a certain age. They usually don’t allow that sort of thing until you’re fourteen, but if you’re really good, they’ll probably allow you to join a group every once in a while as early as twelve.”
“So then you know for sure that they’re bad?”
“Yes, of course. The Guild wouldn’t let us go against something else! It’s pretty clear when they start hurting others who don’t deserve it!”
“So you have to hurt them? But… they deserve it?”
“Well, yes, but… that’s an interesting question to have if the guild ever got it wrong once.” Rose admitted. “But there’s not way I’d ever make that mistake. It’s pretty obvious to me when they do something that terrible!”
The anxious Yula slowly brought a hand close to her chest. She lowered her head to hide the doubt in her eyes, but laughed along regardless.
“I mean, it’s not like I’d beat up a thief for just taking something! If hurt anyone on purpose while doing it, that’s different, but I know there are people out there who feel like they have to because they feel desperate. That just means the kingdom in charge has a lot to do to keep good people from that kind of life…” Rose clarified.
“Y-yeah! It would be overdoing it to magically shock a thief just for stealing a cookie from a cookie jar!” Yula added.
“No kidding.” Rose grinned, “Still, it’s scary to know that there’s still that kind of evil in the world. We’ve fought against it so many times in the past, and the last Demon King was already destroyed, that I thought there can finally be peace. But there’s still so much to be afraid of that need heroes to take care of them. And that’s why… I want to be a hero, too.”
Yula gasped again as she saw a familiar determination in Rose’s eye.
“If I can protect my friends, and anyone I can, if I can make a better future, and if I can make my father proud, I can live happily. I don’t want anyone good to be hurt, so I want to keep them safe. Even if it means I’ll get hurt myself, I don’t want somebody else to suffer.”
Yula then found that same hand begin to clutch her heart.
“Is that… what you’re going to do too, Dear Gades? Is that what you want? I know you really don’t want to hurt anyone else. I know you hate fighting and are confused by anyone that loves it! But if you’re going to become a hero anyway... if Rose wants to become a hero just like that, then maybe I don’t have to worry so much for you. Maybe being a hero isn’t so bad if she understands what we think…”
Suddenly, a single teardrop escaped Yula’s eye.
“That’s… an amazing dream.” she answered softly.
“Thank you,” Rose said, “I think a dream mine sounds too common with the others out there, but hearing you say something like that… I’m actually touched.”
“I don’t hear a dream like that from anyone that often. I usually hear things like wealth, status, or something simple. Some boys told me they wanted to become knights for “the glory” or something, but it sounds like you’re after something similar for a different reason.” Yula explained.
“Really? I’ve met a few people who have close dreams to mine, some more straightforward about it than others, but still just as honorable. At least it sounded like part of a common dream for heroes.” Rose elaborated.
“That’s okay. I’ve only been exploring with my family for the first few weeks. I’m still trying to understand the usual ways of townspeople.” Yula confessed.
“Oh! In that case, since you’re new to the city and everything, how about I show you around? Unfortunately the Academy is closed for break, but I can take you to some really fun places!” Rose proposed.
“That would be nice. Thank you very much!”
“No problem. It’s the least I can do for a new friend, Yula.”
With that, Rose offered her hand, and her newfound friend, Yula, accepted it graciously.
“Dear Gades, I don’t know if this may be why you’re so interested in elves, but I can see why one like Rose can be amazing. She’s… a wonderful person. Something tells me you two would be great friends, and if that comes true, then I’ll be glad. I think I was the one helped you finally stand. But maybe… someone like Rose with that kind of dream, or maybe Rose herself, will be the one to help you move forward. I want you to be move forward, and keep on moving forward and never stop. Even if I can’t move forward with you, I don’t ever want you stop… because I don’t want to ever hold you back. I feel like that’s exactly what you have to do from now on. Is this strange, Dear Gades?”
Immediately afterwards, the two new friends went on to explore the magic city of Cirian together.
 Chicken Yuki · Thu Jun 18, 2009 @ 06:51pm · 0 Comments |
