Hey everyone! For those of you who know my previous fanfics, I am back writing a one-shot. Things have went by pretty unexpected, by which I mean on the most part, stressful. I thought I was going to be able to invest more time to writing other stories, but unfortunately, it hasn't been the case since the end of the school year. I hope you enjoy this.
Ophelia was always a fan of legends and theatrics, just like her father, Odin. Anyone could find her in Nohr's castle's library, perusing books about legends, fairy tales, and more of the kind for at least a few hours every day.
"Mother! You won't believe what I read today!" An excited Ophelia skipped to Elise one day, who turned and greeted her with a smile.
"What did you read about today?"
The sorceress grinned. "Eclipses! I read about solar eclipses. They're legendary events when the sun and the moon align with the Earth... and there's a holy, magestic ring of light! Beautiful darkness rules for just a moment. It's like midnight in the middle of day. And it's supposed to happen this year! Very soon! We have been chosen to see such a magnificent event!"
"Whoa, whoa... so, a solar eclipse?" Elise leaned closer, trying to decipher Ophelia's excited ramblings.
"Yes, yes, yes! The sun, moon, and Earth align for just a moment... It's a rare sight to behold. We need to see it. I must."
Elise wasn't quite sure about what to believe, but nodded nevertheless. "Sure, Ophelia. Let's get Father, alright?"
"Yay! We will!"
Odin was busy performing crazy theatrics around the halls when Elise and Ophelia met up with the mage.
"Dad!" Ophelia gushed, running to the performer. "Dad!"
"What is it, my darling daughter? Has something epic happened while I was performing magnificent summonings of the ancient gods?"
Ophelia shook her head. "I've read about solar eclipses. They're rare, epic events that will blow our gifted minds! It would be a privilege to see the celestrial objects align- the sun, Earth, and moon!"
"Such is a worthy event for our intrigued eyes! When will such a sight happen?"
"Sometime this year? Isn't this... great?" Ophelia danced around giddily.
"YES IT IS!" Odin yelled, posing. Elise giggled.
"You two have so much energy!" The princess shook with laughter. "We'll all see this, right?"
"Yes! I hope it happens soon!" Ophelia squealed.
Odin and Ophelia spun in circles.
"This fair maiden will see the legendary eclipse. We've been chosen to witness this!"
The mage nodded, making a wild jump and spinning Elise around. "Together, we shall see this legendary eclipse!"
"Yeaaahh!" Elise screamed. Ophelia joined in as well, and Odin considered joining in, except that the screaming pierced his eardrums. He ignored this and joined the chorus.
It lasted a full minute before a disgruntled Leo warily peeked into the room.
"What's going on here? Did you see a bug? A tomato?" Leo cringed at the word 'tomato', but went on. "Why were you all screaming? Everyone could hear such a racket... Everyone! Even the people on the other side of the castle could hear it! What happened?"
"We will see the magnificent solar eclipse! We've been chosen to see it! Would you like to be chosen as well?"
"... Well, perhaps. Are you sure it's going to happen?"
"Yes!" Ophelia interjected, almost interrupting the royal prince. "It's destined to happen this year. It was fate!"
"Alright. Maybe I will. If such a thing is legendary, I'll see it. I don't want to miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you'd like, you can tell everyone else as well. This phenomenon could be worth witnessing."
Elise, Odin, and Ophelia posed. "Yes, we will!"
News had spread about the destined solar eclipse, and weeks had passed, yet the event had not made its occurrence yet.
"Are you sure it's going to happen?"
"I'm sure. I read it in the books, I've dreamed of it, I've had the visions, I know it will happen! It is fate! It will be destined to happen!" Ophelia insisted to Elise and Soleil.
It was a false alarm, unfortunately. A single cloud had covered the sun, and Ophelia had overreacted, leaping out of a window (thankfully, she was only on the first floor, so she didn't get hurt), causing everyone else to bustle out the doors and peer at the sky (while trying not to hurt their eyes).
Everyone started heading inside to continue their duties.
"It might not even be real." Velouria flicked an ear, irritated. "I'm going back to find treasures."
"Perhaps it hasn't happened yet..." Siegbert shrugged. "I believe that this could happen, but it might not happen until months later."
Kana piped in. "It's gonna happen soon... right?"
"I have to finish paperwork, but if you see anything of this eclipse, let my servants or me know." King Xander nodded, heading back inside with Laslow and Peri in tow.
Such words punched holes in Ophelia's heart.
"I just wanted to see something cool... majestic... amazing... there hasn't been a spark of excitement since the end of the war. I want a memory of all of us, all of us being the chosen ones, to see this legendary celestial alignment... together." Ophelia sulked.
However, Odin gave Ophelia a light embrace. "Ophelia, I'm sure it will happen. Elise believe the same thing. So, don't let this pesky false alarm faze your dear heart. It will happen. We have been chosen to see it. I feel it."
Her dad's words made her smile. "Thanks, Dad."
"There's been so many false alarms," Elise looked up at the bright sky, "But don't let this disappoint you. I know it will happen. We won't give up."
Ophelia hugged her mother. "Thanks for believing. I can't wait for this midday midnight to happen."
"Let's go name tomes, alright?" Odin tapped Ophelia's shoulder. "Midday midnight could be a fantastic name for one of our books."
"Okay, sure!" Ophelia nodded eagerly.
Though she was still disappointed, she skipped back into the castle, following her father to the tome room.
It must happen soon. It must.
Fewer and fewer people became concerned with seeing the rare event, but Ophelia didn't give up. Elise and Odin didn't either. Ophelia would wake up every day, gaze at the sky for at least ten minutes, and then decide it was time to get ready for the day.
Upon waking up, Ophelia noticed that there was nothing different with the sky today- it was the same, normal blue that Ophelia saw every day.
She put on her sorceress outfit today, stretching and spinning.
"Ophelia Dusk, ready to serve!" She muttered to herself. "I pray to the gods that the fated eclipse would happen today!"
I've said that every day, yet it hasn't happened.
She skipped down towards the mess hall, where everyone else was starting to eat.
"Hello Siegbert, Forrest, Ignatius, Velouria..." She pranced past every one of her friends, and at last, saw her mother and father filling their plates of food. "... And Mother and Father! Good morning!"
"Good morning, Ophelia." Elise grinned.
"It is a most wonderful morning, like always." Odin added as Ophelia retrieved a plate to fill.
Once done getting food, the three sat down with Leo, Forrest, Felicia (who was Leo's wife), Siegbert, Xander, and Charlotte (who was Xander's wife). Camilla and Keaton, with their child, Velouria, was also seated there. Velouria and Keaton had unusually high plates of food, given that they were beasts with more appetite than a human.
"Good morning!" Ophelia called, before sitting down. Everyone else nodded at her.
"Still waiting for that eclipse?" Forrest asked before eating a piece of toasted bread.
"You bet!"
Xander started talking about his plans to meet with King Ryoma for diplomatic stuff, and Camilla and Keaton were planning to spend the day 'looking for treasures' with Velouria. Leo, Forrest, and Felicia were going to play a few rounds of chess. Charlotte and Siegbert had nothing to do- well, actually, Siegbert had his studies to do.
And as always, Ophelia, Odin, and Elise claimed that they would watch for the eclipse, name tomes, and do wonderful theatrics together.
Everyone rarely gets to spend time together, too, Ophelia frowned. After this war, everyone had their own things to do. During the war, everyone was together. Everyone ate together. If this fated eclipse would arrive soon, then we could all watch it together. It would be like the times we all spent time together as a great, grand family!
"Ophelia, what's wrong?" Siegbert asked quietly. "You usually don't have a frown on your face in the morning."
"I was just thinking. It was nothing." Ophelia shook her head, before the room visibly dimmed.
Everyone looked up at once, but the lights weren't even on - the lights provided enough light for the entire room in the morning and afternoon.
"Could it be the moment we've been waiting for?" Odin ran to a nearby window. Sure enough, the sky looked darker. It was different than what had happened on the false alarms during the previous weeks.
Ophelia gasped. "It must be! It's getting darker in such a strange way! Let's be outside!"
"What about the food?" Forrest asked as everyone else slowly and hesitantly rose from their seats.
"Bring it outside with you!" Ophelia answered impatiently. "I think it must be happening!"
Once everyone had filed outside, Ophelia squinted at the sun. Her mother and father did the same.
No difference!
"It's still too bright! Perhaps there could be a tome to protect our eyes?" Forrest asked.
"Get Midnight Darkness!" Odin perked up. Ophelia ran indoors and searched for said tome. It was a dark tome, but also provided a dark veil for at least an hour.
Would we actually be able to see any differences with the sun? Would we be able to see the moon cross between the sun and the Earth?
Pushing aside any doubts, Ophelia sprinted back outside, giving Odin the tome. Odin chanted something, and a veil of darkness dimmed the sun. Everyone could now look at the sphere of light, and sure enough, there was a slight shape starting to cover the sun.
"This must be it! This must be the solar eclipse!" Leo gazed at the sun.
A half hour passed, and now the sun was waning to a crescent.
"What's happening to the sun?" Camilla wondered. "It's becoming like the moon..."
"The sun, moon, and Earth are aligning, so the moon is starting to cover the sun!" Ophelia explained. "That's why it looks like it's shrinking."
Everyone listened intently as Ophelia shared the information. As she listed more information about legendary solar eclipses, the moon slowly started to cover more of the sun.
Eventually, the sun's light was only a ring, the middle full of darkness.
"Whoa..." Felicia gaped.
The dark tome's effects were starting to fade, and Odin was about to start it again.
"Wait. Maybe it'll be dark enough for us to look at the sun without the tome for a bit." Leo stopped Odin, and he nodded. The tome's effects faded within the next minute, and sure enough, the whole land was darkened as if it was night. Everyone was quite surprised and shocked to see the strange change that had happened to only a few minutes.
It was so bright before! Now, it's just dark. The gods really do their wonders... I never thought it possible, that it could be so dark, like midnight, in the middle of day? Intriguing! Mind-blowing!
"Golly, will you look at that, Ace?" Percy patted the Wyvern, who cried in response.
"This is a strange thing..." Nyx tilted her head. "It's pretty."
All slivers of the sun disappeared finally, leaving the land in darkness.
"Did the sun disappear? Is it night time again? We just woke up!" Corrin almost sounded panicked.
"I don't know what's going to happen, but I think it'll be alright. It's probably just hidden, I hope." Ophelia didn't bother using fancy language as she gazed at the sun intently. "We've been chosen to see this... all of us..."
"Oh, look! Some light is returning!" Nina pointed out, gushing dreamily. "It looks like a ring... so pretty!"
Surely enough, it did appear to be a ring, with a thin ring of light and a burst of it, appearing to be the 'jewel' of the ring, dazzling the air with its stunning beauty.
"What a majestic ring... so beautiful, that not even my grand repertoire of words can describe it." Ophelia whispered.
"Odin, you should put up the tome soon. It might get too bright soon." Xander pointed to the light, which was starting to get brighter and brighter.
Odin did so, and the sun started growing again. Everyone's eyes were still glued to the moon and sun, watching in amazement.
Because everyone had been sitting down for so long, people started to stretch their legs. However, Ophelia and Elise did not budge at all. Minutes passed, and the sun started showing more and more.
"What time is it?"
"It's almost noon. We've been here for so long?" Keaton scratched his ear. "I wanted to find some treasures, but this is also pretty interesting..."
"I guess so. The sun and moon move so slowly." Corrin answered, sitting down again.
It wasn't until noon that the moon left the sun, and the sun became whole again. Odin dispersed the shield of darkness, and Ophelia at once hugged her mother tightly.
"Yes! We've seen it! I can't believe it! The gods have let us seen such a magnificent sight! I can't believe it!"
"I know, right? It was so exciting!"
"It couldn't have been so exciting without all of us. We were able to watch this great event together."
"Thank you for letting us know of this awesome opportunity." Corrin nodded to Ophelia with a smile. "Too bad that Ryoma or the others at Hoshido didn't see it. Well, maybe they did, but they would probably be scared out of their wits."
"Heh. Right." Kaze chuckled. "I'd imagine that they didn't know what was happening."
"We couldn't have known what was happening without Ophelia. In addition, we were all together to watch this grand event unfold in front of our eyes." Siegbert added, facing the bright sorceress. "So, thank you for this. There's been many false alarms and confusion within the past months, but this was a sight to behold- it was truly worth it. Thank you."
Ophelia only smiled bashfully. "No, thank you all for watching this fabulous celestial alignment with me. We are all blessed by the gods. We are the chosen ones. And I couldn't have been gladder to find an opportunity for us all to unite once again- to remember that we were not only together for war to bravely vanquish that evil darkness that wounded our nation, but we were all chosen to be together for eternity... all of us."
Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. The idea was inspired from the eclipse that happened today (8/20/17)- I live in New Jersey, so it didn't get much darker where I live. However, all of the birds quieted, and you could only hear the crickets, which was actually strange. Although I didn't get to see much of eclipse because I didn't have those glasses, at least I could see a bit of this rare event.
And please don't hesitate to comment with any suggestions or grammatical mistakes. I'm writing this at 11:00 - I might have skipped over a few mistakes.
Thank you, and have a wonderful day! :)
-Edit made on 8/22; fixed some grammatical mistakes-