"Grandma! Grandma! Grandma! Please tell us another story," A young boy , Steve, asked in unbearable excitement as his other siblings joined in to whine as well at the old woman who was sat in the corner of the room in her just as old rocking chair.
"It's late you four, you should all be in bed," The woman replied, her voice as stern and as serious as her wrinkled face. But the children persisted and using the magic of their puppy like eyes the old woman caved in and told them to come closer.
The children hurriedly huddled up and sat down in front of her as they awaited the anecdote. The old woman lifted her eyes to a young adolescent boy who was sat rather further away from the other kids. "Aren't you going to join us Anthony?" She asked as she waved her hands over the nearby fireplace and the fire instantly increased in size
I simply rolled my eyes and continued fiddling with the Acinaces dagger, a prized possession of mine in fact my only possession." I think we can both agree I'm too old for that, plus all if not all of your stories are lies. Come on, we both know you've never defeated a dragon much less a lycan." I said plainly as I ran my finger along the dagger's blade.
"Such a buzz kill." One of the kids blurted out as the other kids groaned at Anthony's reply. "Ooh Please just cause of a few chin whiskers you think you are a man now, fine be difficult. You might as well make yourself busy and deal with the dishes as well," She said with a smirk before turning back to the kids.
I simply moved to the kitchen area and do as advised, arguing with her has never ended in my favor anyways.
"So what story will it be today, Grandma Clarice? The Story where you defeated a hundred men?" One kid, Mike, asked, "No the one where you battled a minotaur with a broken hand" Another kid, Timothy, asked. "What about the one about you and Prince Edward?" one girl, Alice, added causing the kids to ooooh in interest. But the old woman quickly silenced their straying thoughts with a quiet pink blush on her cheeks.
"How about today instead of my stories, I tell you about a story my grandmother told me as well," The kids wanted to protest at first but stopped when the threat of sleeping early was brought up.
"Okay so long, long time ago....in a Kingdom far far away there lived a great queen, she led her kingdom through success and prosperity. The Queen loved her people and the people, form the oldest to the youngest, loved their queen. She did tons for her kingdom. Her judgement was just and she loved everyone as if they were all one big family. Not to mention the wonderful rains that showered their kingdom, bringing a bountiful harvest for everyone, Everyone could only but assume it was an approval from the gods of the queen's reign. For our story we also have a Hero, a knight of the kingdom. He was strong, bold and handsome as well," The old woman said being met with giggles by some of the girls.
"The people of the Kingdom greatly loved him and wished for him to be the King as the previous King died in battle. But the queen sought not to replace her husband and instead save the seat for her only son, the people of the kingdom saw no fault in her decision and in fact saw it as a noble act and respect for the former King. The queen though in response made the knight her personal Imperial Steward Knight, a second in command position after herself. This decision pleased everyone...all except one person, the knight. He was a man consumed with the greed of power....the worst type of greed for any man."
"One Summer, The Queen, for her occasional getaways decided to stay at her personal cabin along the beach. She insisted it be her and her son only so they may spend time together, but brought along her Imperial Steward Knight, unbeknownst to her even the common townsfolk would have been a better choice."
"Everything for the first few days started out well, the queen was having the time of her life with her son, all while the 'Hero' watched in the shadows for when to strike.
The night was cold and silent but not for the queen as she was having the time of her life with her son, as they were inside the cabin having a good's night dinner.
"Mom when I grow up, I want to have a cool sword and armor like the knights back at the kingdom. And always save people, just like how daddy used to." The little boy said enthusiastically, a noodle string hanging at the corner of his mouth.
The queen simply laughed as she wiped the young boy's mouth. "That's right my son, you'll grow into an amazing man who will lead and be a beacon for the people of the kingdom"
"Of course Mom, I promise to be the hero everyone deserves," The young child says in joy as he jumps up and down but both are joined by anther voice, rumblings of the boy's stomach. "Seems someone is still hungry," The Mother says warmly. "How about we get you another serving of mom's delicious cooking, hmm?" she adds as she goes into the cabin's kitchen.
As she adds more food to the son's plate she can't help but smile, this moment in time was truly perfect, her and her son happy, that's all that mattered to her and it seems nothing could ruin tha....
That's when she heard a thud in the other room, her motherly instincts kicked in as she dropped what she was doing and quickly made her way to her son. There she saw an unsavory sight as she was struck with shock.
There was her young boy shivering in fear as he sat at the Imperial knight's lap as a broadsword was pushed lightly at his neck. "What's this I hear about someone wanting to be a night, mmh?" He said in a playful yet venomous tone.
"Sir Varcan, what's the meaning of this?" she said in authoritative but gentle voice as it was clear who had the upper hand.
" Do not falter my queen, I'm simply having some time with our...future king. You know as your right hand. I'm practically like family, the fun uncle if you will." he said with a dry life as he attempted to caress the boy's chin buthe pulled away.
"Whatever this is about please we can talk about this," She said in a motherly tone trying to clutch at any possible humanity the man in front of her might have but all she was met with was a hearty psychotic laugh.
"Sorry my 'Queen', but I've realised that there is no need to talking anymore, if i want to plant my own tree I'll have to cut down the old one." He said with a smile as he pushed the sword into the young boys neck with little to no resistance.
Everything went quiet for the queen as she watched the blood erupt from her son's neck, she ran towards him as he was dropped onto the ground. She fell down by his side as she tried to block the blood but it was all a futile attempt. Tears run down her face with no stop, as she tried to ignore the truth of reality. She called out to him...hoping.....pleading.....for a response.
"Don't worry. You'll join him soon enough." The Knight said as he wiped the boy's blood off his sword. Those words pulled the queen out of her trance as she turned to him. She was now seething with rage her eyes turning crimson red as a purple thick aura formed around her.
"Well I'll be damned, who would have guessed that our mighty queen was a wretched witch." The Knight said with a wide grin plastered on his face. " I guess now I have a reason to actually kill you,knight at great speed."
The Knight rushed at her with his sword and swung it down with great might, he hoped to finish her with one swing was surprised to see she was able to dodge. Safe to say the queen was not planning to hold back, her secret was out already and she planned to make this man pay. She built up energy around her palms as water started to form, she then shot out a water jet at the knight at great speeds.
The Knight although was able to react in time and brought up his sword right on time, deflecting the jet to the side. "You'll have to try harder than that," He said before approaching her again with his sword. She shot out more water jets, but the knight was ready as he dodged out the way of each attack as he made his way towards her. Once close enough he tried to swing his sword once more but was met by another sword made of water."
"She won didn't she grandma," Young Alice asked cutting the story short. The other kids groaned at her, it was clear this wasn't her first time disrupting stories. "I was getting to that Alice," Clarice said as she then heard a heavy sigh come from the kitchen. Her eyes landed on an annoyed looking Anthony.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked as everyone turned to him. Anthony sighed as he leaned on the nearby doorpost. "Let me guess she dies, the guy becomes king and the young boy's soul comes to hunt the king,' Anthony said as the kids simply groaned.
"Why do you always have to ruin everything?" Steve says with a pout. "Such a buzzkill," Alice followed as all the other kids joined in being mad at Anthony.
Anthony rolled his eyes and approached the door to leave. "And where do you think you are going this late young man?" Clarice asked, though clearly some of the kids wished for him to leave.
Anthony lied that they were out of salt and he needed to get more, which Clarice believed and let him leave
I breathed in the cold night air, stepping out was what I really needed. It's not that I hated spending time with Clarice or any of the kids, its just all my time with Clarice her 'stories' never came off as true. I mean one look at her and you can tell she clearly has never been on a battlefield but I understand she likes to keep the kids entertained, I can't hold that against her.
"Hey Eunice, you know you shouldn't be walking out here alone. It's usually not safe at this time of night especially for a pretty girl like you" That voice, even in darkness I can tell that proud scruffy tone from anywhere, Barret.
Apparently I hadn't realised how far down I had walked and stopped right in front of Barret and his two buddies who seemed to be surrounding...damn it.....Eunice. This wasn't going to be good clearly. Barret didn't exactly have the best reputation with everyone and it was no secret to everyone he was a known womanizer around the village.
I felt the dagger in my trouser pocket feel heavier in my pocket y the moment. My brain was telling me no and not to be stupid but my legs had already started to walking towards them.
"Come on Eunice, you know you need a strong guy around you to keep you safe. Especially with your condition and guess what, I'm that guy. So how about you and I head out, to my place," Barret said as he reached out to pull Eunice's hand but surprised to see her pulled back.
He looked up in surprise and saw me hold her other hand as i pulled her away from me. "Don't worry about it Barret. She was actually waiting for me, that's why she was out here," I say with a smug look on my face as i looked at him.
"Ohh is that so...you know you shouldn't keep a cute girl waiting next time," Barret said through greeted teeth as i always caught sight of him balling his fist. "Is your nose okay by the way, last I remember it was covered in blood. Sorry about that again, I forget just how strong I am sometimes," He said as his flunkies laughed.
I could feel my nose twitch as the memory came flooding back, how Barret and his boys beat me up after I gave Barret a not so good 'compliment', but i was sure to get my get back...
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure your also tending to your bum after I heard someone slipped you some Devil seeds in your meal before your contest yesterday," I said with a smirk as I saw Barret piece everything together. I could hear his buddies as well as Eunice snicker in laughter, as an images of yesterday's fighting contest came to mind and poor Barret, in full body armor clutch his stomach and ass as he forfeited the match and made a beeline for the nearest toilet
"So it was you! You did it this time, you lil shi..." He said in rage as he gathered energy around his palm and was about to attack. I also slowly reached for my handy dagger, if things were gonna get ugly, I wasn't going down without a fight,
As tension rose and I could feel Barret could act any moment and I was ready, just then. "~Stop!~" a voice in our head yelled as Eunice now stood between us her hands held out at both at us. Barret looked at her before looking back at me. He clicked his tongue before walking away. "Let's go boys. Goodnight, dear Eunice.... and Anthony, stay safe. " He said with an unsettling smile before walking away.
I breathed out a sigh of relief as I put my blade back. That's when Eunice turned to me, her face was evidently showing she wasn't impressed with what I did. "I could have handled it." I say to her trying my best not to look at her judgmental, soft blue eyes.
"~And I could have handled myself as well~" A voice in my head said as I turned to her. The voice in my head was Eunice's, due to a traumatic incident while she was a kid Eunice lost her voice and went mute. Luckily she was able to cultivate her Arcanum and develop the ability of telepathy and still be able to converse with people.
"I know, it's just he wasn't alone and you know how persistent he can be sometimes," I say as I scratch the back of my head. She tilted her head in a cute way and looked into my eyes. "~I guess you are right. Thanks for helping,~" She said in response, which in turn I couldn't help but respond to with a nervous welcome. A weird long silence fell between us before, she gave me a soft smile and waved before walking away.
"Nice Anthony, you can barely use Arcanum and barely talk to girls," I say to myself as I slap my head with the palm of my head. I sighed and turned to head back to Clarice, that's when I remember Barret headed in the same direction and it was no secret in the village where I lived. "Maybe I could walk a little bit more," I said to myself as I turned and walked towards the direction of the beach.
Fenwick was a small fish town based at the shores of a strait that separated the Anyek kingdom with the Ardwena kingdom where Fenwick was in the latter's borders. It was a small little quiet place used mostly as a harbor, nothing special about it, but the beach was beautiful and made living here have some prominence to it.
As I walked down the sandy beach as the water rocked the shore, I couldn't help but start to think. Living in Fenwick forever was never really my dream, I wanted to walk around the world see things, more things out there. But the question was always how, In today's world Arcanum was what mattered and as a guy who can barely gather enough in his palm, it really wasn't an option. That as well as being an orphan goes to show you how far down I was in the barrel. I just a wish an answer or something would wash up from this stupid waters, i say as i kick some sand.
That's when I see it, something by the waters, it seemed to have been washed by the water. I got closer to have a look. And either i was blind or it was too dark but i could make out what seemed like a coffin but not just any coffin, this one was wiggling in a way like it didn't have a definite shape, almost like it was made of...shadows.
I got even closer and it seems my presence agitated the thing as it started to dissolve and from within it dropped a human body. The shadows itself started morphing beside the body into.....a body, almost resembling that of a young kid as it leaned against the human body on the ground.
"Ummmm.....Hello?" I asked as I got closer. My voice seemed to scare the shadow thing as it turned towards me. I stopped in my tracks as we both looked at each other. I was staring at his defying pulsing red eyes, the only thing he had other than shadows. I reached out to him, but the moment I raised my hand, it run off at an amazing speed in the direction of the nearby forest. Chasing after it was futile plus i was more concerned with the human body it left behind.
I got closer to the body, though it was dark i could tell, the body was badly wounded with multiple bruises and burn marks. Looks like Fenwick isn't as boring as I thought....