Open And Wounded
Melodia has always been a safe haven. A port in the storm. Never before had anything like this happen.
Where young children ran along the grassy hilltops, and sat in cherry trees, telling tales of the mythical beasts beyond the walls that surrounded the city. If the children had ever sat in quiet, they could almost hear the clouds above their tiny heads. Like a quiet sanctuary.
Now, strewn about, lie dead bodies and wounded soldiers. There were bloody swords and arrows everywhere. Most being theirs. A genocide, the children would call it. An assassination of hundreds. An epidemic. Nobody would ever know what actually happened. Not yet.
"Sirius! We mustn't take any more chances. They could come back!" Plead a young man whom stood before the king.
"We've had harmony for this long, what makes you think they would come back? Supposedly we are at peace. " The man who spoke first was a scrawny fellow, short curly red hair covered his eyes. His hair wasn't a natural shade of red amongst humans. It practically glowed from the candle light. He wore armor that seemed to be two sizes too big, and had a helmet that fit just right.
"It's been a hundred years, yes. A hundred years since the Crylighment celebration. If we were free from this curse, there wouldn't be strange attacks in the dark. People are missing. The citizens of this kingdom are afraid. They're asking for war!" The scrawny fellow barked with fear dripping from his voice.
The tall man named Sirius, whom the scrawny fellow was speaking to, simply put a hand on his forehead. He was much bigger than any human could possibly reach. Sort of like a small giant. His long, wavy hair practically flowed with a nonexistent breeze. His hair looked also unnatural, sitting atop a silver crown banded around his forehead. It was various shades of glowing blue. Like the ocean under neon lights. His crisply cut goatee was a replicate of his hair. It trailed down from his ears and onto his chin.
The rest of him was just as majestic.
A large silver cloak hung down from his back and onto the ground. The cloak had a pair of large navy blue wings embroidered onto the part that hung down from his shoulders. It looked almost as realistic as it could be. If it wasn't sewn on, anyone could have believed it was real. His white and golden and silver armor made him look as kingly as he could be. A drape with a symbol on it hung in front of his legs and groin. Which of course, were not exposed. Everything had armor on it.
"We must not give in. It is what they want us to do. If we give in we are simply surrendering to their wills. We must keep peace."
"But at what cost? If we don't stop them now, the peace will be broken forever. Harmony will have gone! We need to do this. We need our greatest weapon."
"We need allies!" Sirius boomed, The scrawny man started to retort. A blast and shockwave shook the castle they were in. Knocking paintings of the night sky down and tearing them. Priceless vases were destroyed. The scrawny man looked up at Sirius. Who was glowering. His face was darker than any nightmare could dream of being. He suddenly directed his attention to the scrawny man.
"You were correct-" Sirius began, the scrawny man cheered silently. "But as of right now it isn't your job to help fight in this war Genesis."
Genesis looked up at Sirius, brushing the locks to give his master a pained look.
"I-I've been training my whole life! What do you expect me to do?!" Sirius planted a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.
"You know exactly what I plan for you to do." It was true. Genesis knew it like the back of his hand, but he didn't want to.How on earth could he? Nonetheless, he understood his place. His master's orders were clear as a shallow pool.
Genesis tore down the halls. The windows exploded with light as he passed by each of them. The walls around him was beginning to crumble and crack. Much more and it would all come down. Genesis took a sharp left and grabbed onto the corner to make the turn. He slid a little ways, knocking over another priceless vase and continued down the halls. He didn't dare look back. He didn't have enough time.
Genesis stopped at a door with a golden seal on it. The golden seal resembled a type of geode resembling the one around Genesis's neck. The crystal around his neck was lifted with steady fingers towards the door. It began to rumble and thrash in his clutch. Come on, Come on… he thought to himself. The crystal ripped off his neck as another blast came from the outer walls. The crystal dropped onto the ground. Genesis reached down to grab it only to hear thunderous footsteps down the hall. A crowd of people, er… Not necessarily people. Men with large bows and angered faces stormed down the long hallway towards him. Genesis looked around desperately for something to throw. A distraction. Anything! The men thundered down the hallway towards Genesis. He looked up frantically and was met with and arrow sweeping across his face. A quick gash appeared and began to bleed. He cursed so loudly it could be heard in another country. He held his face as more arrows flung past him. One managed to hit him in the shoulder. Striking a nerve and making blood gush out like a waterfall. The men began to yell things to each other. One even stopped. They all looked behind them in a quick motion.
The ground thundered louder than the footsteps were.
A boom. Genesis met with the wall behind him. The armor nearly crushing him upon impact. The men were fleeing from the flurry of attacks and arrows coming from the hole in the wall. The crystal dropped from Genesis's hand and dropped onto the ground. Another crash. More arrows. The crystal teetered over the edge. Genesis tried to reach out to it. Please! No!
The blood loss began to make him dizzy, he crawled to his knees and tried to stand. No luck. The crystal teetered dangerously over the edge.
Just… a little… power… Genesis clenched his available fist. The crystal glowed once again. It moved ever so slightly, but enough to ensure it didn't fall. Whew!
Genesis reached out to the crystal, finally able to grab it. He used what little strength he had left and threw the rock at the golden symbol.
It floated there for a second, the door seemed to examine it and it suddenly sucked in and opened the door.
Darkness. Just the light of a window.
Was he too late? Had they taken it already? A slight movement in the room triggered his senses into full blast.
"Hello?" He grumbled out. A small noise came from the room. A shush noise was heard. "Who's in there?" Silence.
Genesis had to do as he was asked. Even if it meant dying. He stretched his arm out, gripping onto the floor and trying to find something to hold onto. he gripped a chunk of stone bricks from the outer side of the castle that had been blown in. He slowly clambered to his feet, feeling an undeniable urge to fall back down. He did his best to ignore it and slinked towards the room.
"Where is it? Where is the item I'm supposed to protect with my life?" He asked into the darkness. Something emerged into the light. It seemed to be blue. Sirius perhaps?
"Th-this is my room…" a small voice. A child. No older than Seven! Genesis was struck with horror.
"Y-you're lying! This is where King Sirius told me I could find the item I'm supposed to… protect."
"F-from what?" The child moved forward. She was small and her skin pale and white as if she hasn't seen sunlight in weeks. . Holding something smaller. It was a baby! The Child had wavy short blonde hair, with a glowing blue streak in it. Her eyes seemed to glow orange like a firefly in a pitch black room. She had on a white dress, washed freshly. A bow held up her hair. A crystal latched around her neck. It seemed eerie, a child here in the dark. The baby resembled her completely, despite the dark skin and white freckles. Though it was a boy, the facial features were practically look alikes. The boy had blonde hair, though short, it covered half of his forehead and a green streak ran through it like a zigzag line. His eyes were closed. He was wrapped in a green blanket. Another crystal hung around his chest.
Had she not heard what was going on outside? She looked as if she had absolutely no idea.
Realization suddenly struck Genesis like lighting. He had to protect them.The children!
"You need to come with me." He spoke as softly as he could. Urgency seeped into his tone like sap falling from a tree and coming down. He tried not to brandish his arrow.
"What? Why?" She shook, moving backwards. Afraid. Not now!
"The castle is under attack. I have orders from the king to protect you. Trust me."
"Cirrus?" She seemed to accept this though said his name wrong. it didn't matter. He reached out for her hand. She touched it and held his.
He took no time to begin running back down the hall. He whipped around the corner, and turned once again into another which he hadn't come from. A stairway down below was there. He realized something. Looking at the girl he pointed down the stairs.
"I ask you to keep going down the stairs. Wait at the bottom for me. I must fetch something." Before she could respond he was gone. She looked down at the stairs. What if somebody was down there that could hurt her? What they hurt Ace? She took in a breath and began tiptoeing down the stairs. Any wrong move and she could very well die.
It was about three minutes after she had made it to the bottom of the hundreds and hundreds of stairs that Genesis had come down. He was carrying a brown box. It was about the size of a toolbox. Being able to carry it with ease. The oak was glossy and beautiful, and there were gemstones ingrained in the top.
"What is it?" She asked. Her voice was full of curiosity. As if she had forgotten everything that was outside and he had brought it to her on her birthday. Genesis marveled how she could quickly forget something so horrifically terrifying.
Inside the box, as he opened it, were three other gemstones. Each a different shade of grey. They did not resemble the glowing and vibrating stones on the children as they were still, lifeless.
Another crash upstairs worried Genesis further. He shut the box as the girl was staring at them. Her little brother somehow sleeping through everything that had been going on around them
"What d-do we need those for?"
"You'll find out once we get beyond the city walls. But for now we need to hurry. They're going to find us hear whether we want them to or not."
"Who? What are we running from?" The girl looked up the at stairs as if they would give her answers themselves.
"I have to explain on the way, if we stay any longer we could very well die." The little girl looked deeply afraid. He tried to console her. "What is your name?"
"M-my name?" He nodded in response. "N-Nora." Genesis opened the door. Sticking his head out and looking around.
"Well Nora, whist we leave, let us engage in a game."
"A game?" she echoed.
"We must run as fast as we can, find the orange fox." He smiled even with his fear overtaking his mind. He couldn't be worried while this child stared up at him with her orange eyes. A small flurry of movement and a whistle froze the two as more and more people came down the stairs. "Whoever gets there first, wins." He winked at her.
Nora's face lit up with joy, her eyes sparkled. "Yes! A game sounds much fun!" She responded. Genesis smiled, her grammar was terrible but she was awfully adorable.
A crash sounded at the top of the stairs as people began barreling down towards them.
"Ready?" Genesis asked quickly. "Go!" he exclaimed as both took off outside.
The outdoors were nothing short of horrific. Dead bodies were everywhere, soldiers that Genesis had grown up with, friends… Anywhere he looked he felt his gut churning and clutching. His throat closed up in fear.
Nora held her baby brother close to her chest, running at full speed, which for a toddler was surprisingly fast. Her eyes were slammed shut.
The image of a small fox was erased from Genesis's mind as he ran, he picked up the girl instead of her running. Lifting her off her feet with her brother in grasp. He ran faster and stronger as he leapt over dead bodies. His face dark. So many had died, he couldn't let anyone else lose their lives. His face grew from hurt, and pain to a brightness. Determination. He was not going to let these children die if it was the last thing he did.
His legs seemed to move faster, stronger.
He was but a scrawny and weak lad, there wasn't much to him. The glowing crystal however, knew otherwise. His crystal, the one loosely strung around his neck, vibrated. Cracking and glowing. There began hope for Genesis. He became what he was, fighting for someone else.
The men around him quivered with fear as Genesis had become the strongest of them all. He exploded with light along with Nora and Ace. Genesis's fear faded immediately.
He led the two children to safety, the small orange kitsune seeing them from the sky in a glowing ball of light. Once Genesis landed, he was weak. In pain. There was nothing left for him to do.
Nora wiped her eyes. "Mister?" she called.
A higher squeaky voice spoke up. "Princess, Prince! We must leave now! We cannot waste time."
Nora shook her head, clutching Ace to her chest gently. Genesis was still on his knees. The sounds of angry voices exploded from the other side of the wall that they had flown over.
"Princess Nora" His voice was soft and calming. "Take this with you." He handed her the small box with the gray crystals hidden inside. The darkened forest around them was quiet on one side. The fox bouncing with worry.
"Goodbye Mister." she hugged him and took the box. "See you later!" She smiled at him once more, before following the orange fox through the deep dark and damp trees.
Genesis watched. A smile soft on his face.
"Goodbye Children."
"What happened next?" A young voice exclaimed. His dark freckled skin lit up around the fire that had been slowly cooking a bunch of fish skewered on a metal rod that resembled a stick, in its bended and destroyed way.
"You know exactly what happens!" A teenager laughed. The girl had short blonde and blue hair combed back behind her ears. It curled up at the tips. Her smile was soft and curled on her face, a longsword resting on the log next to her.
"I know i know, but you always tell it better Nora!" The boy exclaimed, his blonde and green hair that was tired back into a ponytail was rustled from the dark night's wind.
"Honey took us away from there. We were chased and-"
"And we escaped!" He cried happily. His beautiful green eyes sparkling in the light of the fire. "We made it through the trees! An' what happens after that?"
"You know it by heart Ace!" she groaned softly.
"We ran through the woods as fast as we could." He emphasized his words with swinging hand motions. His brown rustic gloves tight around his fidgety hands. He grinned wider and felt brighter than before. "And we found our way into this huge place everyone calls Englnad!"
"England." Nora corrected her brother. He didn't seem to notice."After so many years of us moving around here I'd think you'd know the name already. But anyways, we found our way here… Honey left to find out what happened in Melodia years ago. Hopefully she's okay now. We just have these strange rocks around our necks that we can't take off and this box of rocks that i forget what they do exactly." She sighed softly. The wind rustling the treetops around them. "But you never know. Maybe we'll find everyone soon."