January of 2020 was most clearly unexpected. It was definitely a start to year that you were sure bound to be full of surprises, the crazy beginning was not of anything normal, and the days toward the 31st were continuously shocking. The days were as if screaming to not continue, somewhere in the middle you thought of the worst - quickly pushing the thought away, almost immediately. By the end of it, you can't help to think with the positivity inside of you praying,
"I'm scared, I can't wake up, so I'm lying again."
February came along, without many outbursts' of crazy, unlike January. It was still rather peaceful compared to the earlier month, although many hints of ungracefulness passes by. Hints of actions forewarning a intense reaction, happens simultaneously. Yet still, nothing too huge out of the ordinary, things were still relatively going smooth, but you knew. You knew something was up, you knew there was something seriously wrong, but you held on to faith.
February, Hong 'Joshua' Jisoo
"This keeps repeating, this bad love,"
March, Boo 'Seungkwan' Seungkwan
It was starting. Things suddenly becoming real. No one knew what was coming. Everyone just knew what was happening. It was a loud month, that is for sure. With many new revelations, events, and people just started going into frenzies. Chaos bound to happen, rowdiness is expected. Worries were starting to build up. Never in a million years would you have thought that your favourite season, would be the prelude into madness.
April, Yoon 'Jeonghan' Jeonghan
"You know nothing lasts forever, but you still can't end this."
Continuing the eruptions from March, April can't help but be the calm before the storm. Its' days were counted as people await the coming of the worst. Many were wary, cautious, and terrified of what April could bring, days were filled with fear. Fear itself was treading down the streets of cities. People's imagination of having brighter days were decreasing, hope was still there, but it was sitting on a edge, of a cliff, with hard winds blowing.
"Everything turn gray, cut out the fantasy of me, run away."
May, Kwon 'Hoshi' Soonyoung
This was it. The storm. The hurricane. The fire. The burning blazing climax of what was yet to be a devastating year. No longer was May the transition of spring to summer that everyone thought it was, it changed. It was fear to pain. Everyone knew it was coming, everyone knew.. yet.. no one was prepared. The whole world simply exploded. It was scary, it was uncontrollable. Pleading was hopeless. As it was evident, it was starting to get harder to breath. Literally.
"Got to get away, I can't hesitate anymore."
June, Xu 'The8' Minghao
If May was the climax, June was the aftermath. But it wasn't just the aftermath. It was the second part to the climax, with an aftermath. Reality struck hard here. Casualties hit an all time high. The outside world seemed so gloom. Future was no longer clear or even flickering. Things just continue going wrong. All felt hopeless, lost and without purpose. You continue to think that summer was not right. Just not. But what you hadn't realize is the drive within you, sparking.
"Someone tell me what should I do,"
The months leading up to the end of the semester, you had developed a desire. A desire to change. You wanted a turn-around, a comeback. And so you demanded it. There was still the challenge of half the year left. You knew, if it was time for change. There is no better time than now.
After half a year of immense frustrations, exhaustion, and chaos, you were tired of it all. You sought a way out. You battled through hardships and figured out ways to seek freedom and peace. Your drive to make a change was burning up, ready to strike whenever needed. That’s when you had the spark. Whatever the world, the universe, the future was going to bring. You say to them straight and focused,
“Bring it.”
August, Kim ‘Mingyu’ Mingyu
"Now, now I can’t be tricked."
The road to change wouldn’t be an easy one. You knew this, and through it, you fell through some stumbles. Despite that, you continued forward. Not backing down, you continue to rally the change. The change towards a better future, a change that will make a difference. You easily place your determination towards it. Facing forward, no longer dwelling in the past. You challenged with a slight smirk,
“Of course, why not?”
September, Lee ‘Dokyeom’ Seokmin
"Smashing this wall, I will no longer be afraid."
As you proceed your path of justice, determination and positivity bubbled up within you. You pushed your way through the ranks, praying, fighting, prevailing. This cause, whatever it was and will be, you know it is going to be better than before. You know the battle you and your companions have desperately advocated were within a tipping point. There within the crowd, you raised your chest and faced up, speaking forth,
“Let's do this,"
October, Hansol 'Vernon’ Chwe
"One sip of water and onto the ring once again."
It was all happening at once, the change. People were rising and falling, there weren’t just two sides to the battle. This was way more than that, and you understood. With the research, the predicaments, the constant demand and requests within the plan, you believed in it. You saw the opening, you took it. It was the perfect opportunity to switch the waves.
“It's now or never."
November, Jeon 'Wonwoo’ Wonwoo
"Nothing lasts forever. Because I know that, I can end it."
With everything that was going on, you couldn’t help but hope. With all the efforts that you've done, since the start to this point, there is only hope left. The hope that led you and so many people into the places you are now, the places you have fought for, desperately. That hope was bringing you home, bringing you courage, and bringing you exactly the possibility of a return.
“Hope is not lost.”
December, Choi ’S.Coups’ Seungcheol
"Because we're fearless,"
This was it. The final step. The end of what seemed to be a never-ending route of chaos and madness, and the prelude to a possibly brighter beginning. You remembered the promise you made to yourself half the year ago, you were going to bring change. You recalled feeling scared and worried, but you didn't dwell in them. You fought through it, and now you're here. So you spoke,
"Don’t you worry, the dawn will definitely come after the night."
All there was left to do, was wait.
As the countdown begins, you held your breath.
10; you remember all the happiness that existed before chaos erupted.
9; you remember the moments it all started to go down.
8; you couldn't help but recall some of its worst.
7; you come to the acknowledgement that there's nothing you could have done to change the past.
6; you understand that there's no use in dwelling.
5; you look back at the promise you made.
4; you revisit where you started and the journey it took you.
3; you stare at the people surrounding you, your companions.
“What have we got?” Meline said as Vaness came into the kitchen carrying the mailbag. Selva looked up, as did Ella. Havel was pouring himself a cup of milk. Little Andru was asleep in the scarf about Ella’s chest.
“There’s a letter from home,” Vaness said, setting it in her spot, “a flyer for a new stall down at the Party Grounds, a tax form for Auntie El, and…” Meline heard a jingle as Vaness pulled out a box wrapped in glittering red paper, “… this?”
Meline’s hands started to tremble. Her eyes snapped to Ella as Vaness handed her the box. It fit in her palm. She undid the ribbon, peeled the paper back, opened the box, and pulled out a silver sleighbell.
“What’s…” Meline heard the floor creak as Havel turned around. He said a word she’d never expected of him.
Vaness threw the crumpled-up mailbag at him. “Don’t curse in front of Selva and the baby! Now what’s the bell mean?”
Meline pulled her eyes away from it. “This is a warning from Sand Nidollas.” She looked up at Vaness’s blanching face. Everyone knew his story. “We have thirteen months before Dramfa visits these lands with his fifteen-hundred-year feud.”
“… Oh.” Vaness apologetically looked around the table. “He doesn’t come to Fey.”
Ella shook her head, setting one hand on Andru’s head. “He wouldn’t. He is a person, after all; warped and shrunken, but he’s no power beyond Gaea.” She looked back down at the bell. “His vendetta with Nikolas is all that binds him. If Krambas were to kill his former friend—”
“—Nothing less than a Fey host could stop him,” Meline said. She shook her head. “In all my years I’ve never been anywhere close to their battleground.”
“And now we fight on it,” Ella said.
“What!” four voices said, with varying mixes of surprise and anger.
Ella shrugged. “What choice do we have?”
“Leaving is out of the question?” Vaness said.
“I am the seat of fey power here,” Ella said. “If I am gone, the people can be used as hostages. So long as I’ve a single live toe on my estate, Krambas can’t so much as enter their home.”
“So you have to fight.” Havel’s tone was flat. Meline glanced at him. That Ella had almost died on their nectarmoon, and he’d no idea anything even happened had torn at him. And if any force in the worlds was more dangerous than a dragon...
“If I don’t, he will tear Oakhill down looking for me,” Ella said. “I will meet him on a field of my choosing.” She took a deep breath. “I shall consider with great care where that might be. If I can hold him off, weaken him even a little, until Nikolas comes, we can banish him for another year.”
Meline’s hands stopped trembling. “What’s this ‘I’ business?” There must’ve been something dangerous in her tone; she had Ella’s undivided attention. “Do you think I’ll let you fight alone?”
Elle looked like she was about to say something stupid that she’d immediately regret. “The Revolution you fought in was ten thousand years ago.”
Yup. “Havel? Vaness? Would you take Selva and Andru and play with them for a bit?”
“But this is really important!” Selva said as Vaness picked her up, “and what’d that word mean?” Meline waited until they were gone. “I won’t lose my wife because I wasn’t there.”
“I’ve trained for combat all my life,” Ella said. Her tone sounded like she was about to pull a thorn from an infected wound. “When was the last time you trained?”
“Tomorrow.” Meline latched onto Ella’s momentary confusion. “I know I’m old and fat. But if you think I can’t whip myself into some shape other than round, I will happily prove you wrong. Besides, you’re still recovering from having Andru.”
Ella raised her eyebrows. “First, who has called you old and fat? I have words for them.” Her tone was glacial. “Second… are you suggesting we get back in shape together?”
Say again? “… Say again?”
Ella stood. “I’m not at my best just now. Neither, from what you’ve said, are you. Krambas will be here in thirteen months.” Her mouth set in a hard line. “The idea of losing you terrifies me. But I don’t want to leave you or Selva or Andru, either, and you will all be in danger if he kills me. The best way to keep either from happening, then, is to take every boon I can.” She reached out a hand to Meline. “So please, Mel… won’t you pump some bronze with me?”
A reflexive terror had shot down Meline’s spine at the idea of Ella dying. Now Ella had one good idea. Meline took her hand. “I will do a good deal more than that, El…”
My Precious Teacher,
I pray this letter finds you well, and you have overcome the illness which beset you last you wrote.
I write out of great need beyond my spiritual endeavours. Thirteen months hence, I must face Krambas, the person possessed by the Goat-Footed One. I accept that I may die attempting to subdue him. But I shall do all in my power to live, to continue along the spiritual path I walk under your tutelage.
I ask your help. I know your age limits you; the lives of gremlins are too short. If you can, I entreat you, my guiding light, to stand with me against this darkness. I am young, and weak, and my worldly strength alone will not defeat this creature who has chosen down the centuries to hurt and steal and kill.
Please lend me your strength, you whom even the powers above welcome as a great hero, you who cast the light of compassion and wisdom.
Send me your answer with all haste. Whether you come or not, I thank you for your gifts of guidance past. May your nights be warm and calm, the moon beneath your feet shine kindly, and every living being know your peerless grace.
Your humble student,
Ella of Oakhill
P.S. The cookies are Meline’s. She sends her warmest regards. Please enjoy them.
Meline unlocked the door to the armoury, and flipped on the light. Not that she needed to; there was lots of light from the window.
Immaculate but spare, it was a room Ella spent considerable time in, Meline hardly any. The floor and walls were smooth and flat. Weights and striking boards and pads were spaced about the room. On the far wall were high copper doors locked with Ella’s fairy key; all the weapons of Oakhill in one spot. The interior of that room was lined with copper Ella had pounded spells of staying into; dragonfire would hardly warm them.
Meline wore short pants and a chemise briefer than she was comfortable wearing in front of anyone but Ella. Under it she wore a garment Ella had adapted from people a short while ago, and professed it made hard, fast movement far more comfortable for women. It couldn’t hurt.
She tied back her hair, took a sip from her pot of water, and began to warm up. She’d already been up and down the stairs once—the stitch in her side came sooner than she liked—and now walked through the routine Felix had taught her.
Then came the weights. Some looked like clubs, but swung slowly in the correct manner, they offered an excellent challenge. Others looked like stones with wooden handles. Still others like copper shoes. Ella’s collection of conditioning equipment was impressive. She even had a painstick.
After the weights—and a bit of a breather—came the striking board. That at least she’d no trouble with. Her hands were ugly, but almost indestructible.
Her forms she at least remembered, but she did not feel comfortable with them. She stuck with the striking, throwing, and grappling; mostly because she was feeling spent.
As she stretched—once she could’ve brought her knee to her shoulder without effort; such was no longer the case—and sipped her water, Meline was glad she’d done this first practice by herself. Ella’s offer was touching, but if Meline was going to look pathetic in front of her wife, she at least wanted to know how pathetic first.
Havel jumped when Ella touched his shoulder. “Yes, Master?”
Ella hefted herself up and sat on the bench. “You’ve been out of sorts the last two weeks.”
“I have?” She nodded. “… I have.” Ella waited, though she was quite sure she knew what was bothering him. “It’s Dramfa.”
“I thought it might be.”
“And you’re going to fight him.”
“The people will be in grave danger if I do not.”
“And…” Havel wrung the jeweler’s hammer in his hands, “and I can’t help.”
Ella took a deep breath. “Not with the battle, no.” His shoulders sagged. “You understand why?”
He nodded. “Because he’s as far above you as you are above me.”
Maybe even further than that, Ella thought. “My best chance of survival will be fighting him without reserve or distraction.” She set a hand on his shoulder. “I will not be able to do so if my son is on the battlefield.”
Havel made a sound between a grunt and a squeak. He nodded. He had Ella in a damp, bone-crushing hug before she quite knew what was happening. Andru squawked against her chest.
“But there are other ways you can help, Havel,” Ella said, wriggling her own arms free and patting his back.
He gave an enormous sniffle. “Like what?”
“I’ve taught you how to sense the protections about Oakhill, yes?”
He set her back on the bench. “Yeah?”
“I will need you to monitor them. If they fall, the worst has happened.” She took his arm in a fierce grip. “I will do everything I can to survive. But if I die, you and Vaness need to take Selva and Andru to safety. That will ease my mind. Will you do that for me?”
He gave his broad nose a tremendous blow. “I will, Master.”
She nodded. “Good. I ask you to stay with Vaness that night and watch the little ones.”
“Of course, Master.”
A thought occurred to Ella. “Unrelated, but I am due back in Fey in fifteen years or so. This time,” she clasped his forearm, “I want you to come with me. Us, I suppose; I’ll hardly leave Meline and the children behind.”
Havel goggled at her. “I’d love to, Master,” he said, wiping his face, “but shouldn’t we focus on getting you through Dramfa?”
“Yes, we should,” Ella said, “which brings me to a task you can assist with now, which could save my life on that fateful night…”
“Are you sure I’m ready for this?” Meline said as she and Ella entered the armoury. Havel and Vaness were in the shop working on a project Ella had set for them.
Ella laid Andru in his crib by the door. “I would hope so, after a month,” she said. “Besides,” she leaned in close, “I like seeing you in that outfit.”
Meline scoffed, giving her a smack on the arm. Ella laughed. Easy for her to; her baby fat was melting off like butter. She was already back in her old cotton shirt, though Meline noticed her pants were as yet the maternity pair Meline had stitched.
The warm up and strengthening exercises went as expected; it didn’t cut Meline’s pride at all that Ella outdid her in everything. They even used each other as weight, which had them both giggling.
As Meline started her forms, Ella paid close attention. “You said Felix taught you these?”
“Yeah.” Meline gathered herself on one leg, then squatted almost to the ground, and stepped out to the side without coming up. Still almost on the ground, she pivoted to face the opposite direction, and saw Ella copying her.
“How’s my form?” Ella said. She sat as low as Meline. Her weight distribution was good.
“Turn your weight-bearing foot in a shade,” Meline said. Ella complied. They continued through the form, Meline correcting Ella as needed. Ella never argued, never complained, and the only questions she asked regarded application and technique.
They moved on to hand-to-hand. Strings of attacks, blocks, and grabs, interspersed with questions. Meline knew Ella had her beat in experience, her technical proficiency was much higher, and she knew how to use her reach. But Meline had seen war. She had been tested and survived, again and again. Against a larger opponent she drove in close, dropped, grabbed, and threw, or pulled a leg out from under and bore to the ground.
After set combinations came light bouts. Of course Meline was still out of practice and condition, but she came closer to pinning Ella than she’d expected. Ella was still by and large the winner. Meline was exhausted by the end; she’d never let on, but she was quietly glad when the hour struck.
“How worthy an opponent was I?” she asked between gulps of water. Ella had Andru back in his scarf, and was nursing him.
“Hmm… you definitely know more than Havel.”
“I would hope so.”
“I would say you gave me as good a fight as my most senior students in the past would,” Ella said.
“How long have they been training, then?”
Ella shrugged. “Fifteen thousand years?” Meline almost spat out her water. “I was surprised, given how long it’s been since you practiced.”
“That’s… encouraging, I suppose,” Meline said.
“Very.” Ella was suddenly very close. She had a hand about Meline’s waist, and pulled her close. “You’ll make a difference, watching my back, Mel.”
After a moment, Meline relaxed into Ella’s embrace, with Andru gurgling between them. She hoped Ella was right.
