David sat quietly in his room, listening to soft music and flipping through ancient books that had appeared on his desk that morning. While he was trying to seem normal, David's mind was racing with the events of the day before. After all the tests, there were only ten of them left, but it was the position practice that was fun. In uniform so that they would not be recognized, the entire Naedalance team arrived on the field. One by one, each applicant took an open position in the team, and played a round of a mock game. Most of them did pretty good from what David saw.
There was one girl, Miki Hampton, who was exceptionally good at playing Seeker. As soon as Josh let the Snitch go, her eyes never left it, managing to play the game and dodge Bludgers at the same time, and she always managed to catch it fairly quickly, even when Josh was acting as her competition. David was sure that she would recieve the role of Seeker on the team. Even David and Snow did not do as well as she did.
Even though he was slower than most of the applicant, Henry Mitchell's strength and intelligence more than made up for that. He did not do very well at most of the openings, but as a Beater, David was in awe. Obviously Muggle-born, Henry gripped the bat in baseball style, and hit the Bludger like it was a fastball, normally driving it hard and fast enough that his target had no time to react. Even worse than that was the fact that Henry had the endurance to be able to do it constantly from an entire hour long game. More than one, Josh was forced to cast a Shield Charm in order to protect members of the team.
David was sure those two would earn those positions, but he was unsure about the last three openings. He and Snow did pretty well in their tests, but there were others who were better at playing certain positions.
A knock at the door pulled David out of his book and into reality. He placed in a bookmark and set it aside before heading to the door. David opened it to see a bright and smiling Snow in his doorway with a roll of paper in his hand.
"I got in!" Snow exclaimed, shaking his fist gripping the scroll. David motioned for him to be quiet and let him inside before they talked about it any more. Snow walked into the kitchen and slammed the paper on the counter before diving into David's fridge for a snack. In a hand written letter, David saw that Josh had given Snow a score sheet and the announcement of their first practice.
Dear Yukio Hiruma,
Your results of yesterday's tests were amazing. Included below is your score sheet. This sheet is given to all teams and staff and a copy is given to the announcer. Following the rules, the moniker "Hermit" as been given to you. First practice will take place on Wednesday at 5 pm. Look forward to playing with you.
-Josh
'Hermit' Position:Hunter
Team: Elden Crest
Height: 5'10" Weight: 168 lbs
Strength 16/20 Judgement 10/10
Speed 10/10 Intelligence 11/20
Endurance 18/20 Stealth 14/20
Dexterity 17/20 Acrobatics 19/20
Accuracy 20/20 Perception 8/10
"Geez, man, that's pretty good." David remarked, looking up to see Snow eating a celebration pint of ice cream.
"Actually, I was a bit disappointed." Snow replied in between bites. "I was hoping to get Seeker. You know, be the team rep and show off for the ladies? Eh? And I thought my scores would be better."
"What are you talking about?" David said, dumbounded. "Almost half of these are close to top marks!"
"Exactly." Snow nodded, tilting the cup so that the last of the melted ice cream fell into his mouth. "I was hoping for all twenties. That Josh guy is a real strict bastard, I tell you."
"You know, that strict bastard is now your team captain, right?" David called as he headed into the living room to sit in the sofa.
"Oh man, I totally forgot about that." Snow's voice said, as his head had once again disappeared in the fridge. David rolled his eyes and turned to turn on the television when something made him stop. Sitting in the middle of the table was an paper scroll that had not been there before, and next to it was Ashe, twittering impatiently.
"Thank you, Ashe." David said dully, distracted by the scroll. "You can help yourself to whatever you want for the rest of the day." She adjusted her wings before flying down the hall toward her cage and the window, leaving David to stare at the message.
"Snow?" he managed to say through his dry throat.
"What's up?" Snow replied, coming around the couch holding a sandwich. "You sound like you have to take a- Dude, is that an acceptance letter?" David only managed to shrug and smile nervously, making Snow's eyes roll as he reached for the letter while muttering, "Wuss."
"Dear David Crowley," he read. "I am proud to say that your results were among the highest I have ever seen. ...fantastic. Butt kisser."
"Keep reading." David replied.
"Included below is your score sheet. This sheet is given to all teams and staff and a copy is given to the announcer. Following the rules, the moniker "Raven" as been given to you. It seemed appropriate after our talk about your love of crows and ravens. First practice will take place on Wednesday at 5 pm blah blah blah the end."
"What about my scores?" David wondered.
"Look for yourself." Snow answered, handing it to David.
'Raven' Position:Hunter
Team: Elden Crest
Height: 5'8" Weight: 164 lbs
Strength 15/20 Judgement 10/10
Speed 10/10 Intelligence 20/20
Endurance 18/20 Stealth 18/20
Dexterity 20/20 Acrobatics 13/20
Accuracy 10/20 Perception 10/10
"Wait, then this means we are both Hunters?" David asked, smiling up at Snow.
"Yep. You and me, man. A team. Like Batman and Robin, Paris Hilton and hooch, Freshmal and Turan."
"Fresh and who?"
"Nevermind, Robin." Snow smiled.
"Fuck that." David retorted. "You're Robin."
"You wish, fruitie." Snow laughed then dodged a book. "Anyway, this means you and I can work as a team to take down the other teams."
"You and strategy? No way." David remarked.
Snow agreed. "So, why Hermit?"
"Because you'll be alone for the rest of your life?"
"No, man, that's totally not funny!" Snow griped as David burst out into laughter. It was the hardest thing for them not to tell anyone. They would trade looks, but they never said anything. Classes came and gone like normal. Everyone was talking about the game in two weeks as eagerly as anything David had ever heard, but the practices that Josh put them through were nothing short of attempted murder.
They had been introduced to the rest of the team one by one over the next month. There were three chasers: Victor Wilsom, third year, codename Atlas. Amanda Parker, fifth year, codename Freya, and new to the team Jensen Riaz, fifth year, codename Razzo. As Seeker, David's prediction was spot on, Miki Hampton was chosen, given the codename Falcon. Josh was one of the Beaters, nicknamed Phalanx, while Henry Mitchell was chosen as the new Beater, codename Ogre. The two Keepers were second year twins, who were impossible to tell apart until they spoke, Daniel and Seig Hertzer, codenamed Night and Day. Apart from the first time they were introduced, everyone kept on their masks for security and safety, but whenever David passed one of them in the halls, they gave each other small smiles. Evangeline even got upset at him once because she thought he was checking out Miki Hampton during lunch.
Slowly, day by day, through training, classes, and mountains of homework, it became December. The Grand Hall was in the process of being transformed for Christmas. Students were talking to one another about trips home for the holidays and what they were hoping to do, but before they left, the very first game of Naedalance was scheduled.
"You sure you don't want to go home?" Vladimir wondered at lunch one day.
"No, Vlad. I am not going." David assured him for what seemed like the hundreth time.
"But, think about it, David." Vlad argued. "You'll be here while everyone else has left for the holidays. You'll practically be alone here in the castle." David had to admit that was true. Even Evangeline was headed home for the holidays, and she more than once offered to bring him home with her to meet her parents, but he graciously declined. It would be his first Christmas away from the Orphanage and that was something he valued more than anything. Besides, he did not mind being alone. It meant he could wonder the halls without bumping into someone. There would be no lessons for three weeks and no one to interrupt his reading on the weekends. He imagined it would be somewhat pleasant to get away from the daily routine.
"Just drop it, Vlad." Yuri scolded as he sat down at the table. "It's David's decision not to go home. Besides, he might have a really good reason."
"I don't know." Vlad shook his head. "I just get this feeling that something might happen while we are gone. What is another thing like the Abolthydra appears?"
"Then I'll just have to kill it." David laughed with a wink as he took a bite of the steak from his plate.
"What about your friend?" Yuri wondered. "Isn't he staying as well?"
"Yeah!" Vlad replied, brightening up. "I could introduce him to you."
"You kidding?" Snow wondered. "We don't even know this guy. Every time we all try to hang out, the two of you ditch us. Hell, you haven't even told us his name."
"Alexander." said a voice behind David. David turned to see a very asexual young man walking up to the table. He was very thin, like those goth kids that David saw hanging out in the park in Oregon, but the style of his hair reminded David of those Emo demotivationals he saw on the internet.
"Nice to meet you all finally. Feel free to call me Alex." he continued, sitting down on David's right side at the table.
"Same here." Evangeline smiled warmly from David's left side. "My name is Evangeline. Across from you is Yukio Hiruma and next to him is Yuri Rowenthal. This guy sitting next to us is David Crowley."
"Pleased to meet you." David replied while nodding, then turned back to his food. David honestly had no real interest in Alex. His head was throbbing painfully, so powerful the pains were, David was amazed that he managed to refrain from cying out in pain at the table. He quietly finished his meal and excused himself.
At first, he acted calm, walked slowly from the Grand Hall and down the hallway towards the Entry Hall, but the first steps outside the castle turned into a desperate run for his life. His mind was reeling from the pain, trying to grasp a hold of the situation, rationalize it all into a normal state of reality, but his pure state of panic overrode any attempt he made. David just kept running blindly as he reached the Northern Woods and kept going beyond the resticted signs. It left like the woods were watching his every move, like ants were coming out every pour in his body, and the headache got worse and worse. Blind from agony, he tumbled through bushes and over rocks, but kept running as fast as he could. There was something out there in front of him, he felt it deep inside his body, like an incessant pulling, begging him to come to it. He was not sure of how he knew it, but the headache would go away when he got there. That kept his feet moving.
It was gone. David collapsed in a breath of relief, tears of pain and torment flowed from his eyes as he covered his face and recovered. He had not noticed before, but he was exhasted. His entire body was shaking violently from the sustained effort, sweat caused his clothes to stick to his skin, and his breath was shallow and ragged. It was several minutes before he was able to get himself into a kneeling position, then several more before he was able to get to his feet, but only with his hands on his knees.
Blinking repeatedly, David looked about to figure out where he was. He was deep in the woods. He could tell immediately by the feeling he got from the trees around him. He was pretty sure that this was the heart of the entire forest on the island. Tall pines surrounded him in a wide clearing filled with short grass and clover. The sky could be seen through the canopy and in the middle of the clearing there was a small structure.
Its design was relatively simply, but somehow, it was one of the most beautiful things David had ever seen. It looked like a wide pond at first. The structure was about thirty feet across and close to thirty feet tall. The outside of the pond was made of collected stones that were piled on top of each other, each stone had a different symbol on it, some of which David recognized. Inside the pond itself, there were similar stonework on the bottom, but small white stones, which looked like Opals, formed interweaving lines back and forth. They made the most complex spell circle David had ever seen, even in his studies of Merlin's works. Two curved wood pillars rose from the pond on each side, forming in incomplete arch. On one side, David saw etchings of stellar constellations and alignments of the sun, while on the other, there were phases of the moon and eliptical glyphs which he could not figure out.
In the middle of these two pillars was a pulsing orb of green simmering light. Small beads of light fell from the orb into the water, which gave it an earthly green glow. There was a very faint sound coming from the magical orb. A high hum mixed with twinkling chime light noises and an unusual sound that sounded almost like a chorus of people holding a beautiful note a song without end. The entire thing left David with a sense of peace, a great feeling of longing that made him sit on the rim and stare into the water.
"This place is called a Well." David started in suprise and fell to the ground, searching wildly for the person who spoke. Whoever this person was, they were good enough to get close enough to him to talk without alerting him, and that meant that he was at their mercy.
The hidden person chuckled lightly, in a fashion that made it hard for him to make out the speakers sex. "I mean you no harm, dear David."
He got to his feet and reached for his wand. It was not in his pocket. David suddenly felt very vulnerable without it. Thinking quickly, he pulled out his boot knife and held it ready. "Show yourself!" he demanded at the shadows in the forests.
The person chuckled again. "You can to us, David. We did not bring you. You are here of your own free will, child." It said 'We', David realized, which meant that the one who spoke was not the only one, and they had him outnumbered. With a sigh, David lowered his guard and tossed his knife blade first into the soft soil. With his hands raised in the air, David hoped it would present him with an opportunity.
"So what does this Well of yours do?" David called out to the trees. "All of those spell circles, I imagine its for a lot more than clean drinking water."
"The Well is a siphon of the celestial bodies surrounding our planet." the voice replied calmly. "With it, we can channel the lifeforce of our heavenly stars through our bodies, purifying us of evils and filling us with the sublime light of unification and love."
"You keep saying 'we'." David replied. "So why is it that I only hear your voice?"
"That is simple, dear David." the voice replied in a voice that told David it was smiling. "I am the elected Voice of the Wood. I speak for everything in our forest. I speak for my brothers and sisters, and through me, they hear and see these events unfolding just like you or me."
David thought about that for a moment before replying. "So you guys can share thoughts."
"We can share more than that. Memories. Feelings. Emotions. Right now, many are pleased."
David frowned thoughtfully as he listened. "Pleased? What for?"
"For it has been a long time since one of your world has come to speak to us." the voice said. "But more than that. Many are happy to see you. You are the result of hopes and dreams of many. Many are glad that you have come to this place."
David dropped his hands and picked up his knife in irritation. "Do not talk as if you know who I am! You are Elves, are you not?"
"But, I do know who you are, for we have met before." the voice replied, sounding almost sad. "We were close quite recently in fact."
David's jaw dropped. "Alexander?"
"I am sorry, but I am not this...Alexander." the voice replied. "Did you not feel our presence, our bond, when we observed your fight with the horror from below?" The Abothydra, David thought, this voice was the presence he felt, the one who spoke to him.
"You are that man from before." David stated.
"I am suprised that you were able to decern that much without training, young one." the voice replied. "Normally, it takes several months of practice in order to feel the presence of our brethren."
David's entire body stiffened as a revelation hit him. "That's...impossible." The voice chuckled again and David heard footsteps as the person approached him. His knife fell from his limp hand and stuck into the ground once more as David just stood there in shock.
"The headache that brought you to this place. Your unusual talent to learn and adapt. The color of your eyes." the man approaching him from behind said in a calming voice. "You did several things, all on your own, that started a chain reaction that brought you here, to this place, a sanctuary for our kind."
"No. It's impossible." David replied again.
"It started when you learned our language. It was easy, was it not?" the man wondered. David hated to admit to himself that it had been incredible easy to learn the language. "Then, when you discovered spell circles, it opened yet another door. Spell circles are the original form of all magic, the route, the source. Then, when you summoned that magnificent blade, Leyna'athas, it pushed you deeper. But, for a youth such as yourself to develop as fast as you have, it was puttng your life in danger, so I was forced to aid you by breaking the final door to your power. Since then, you've been hemoragging power constantly without even realizing that you are. The amount of power you are using is what is allowing the Dark Master into your mind. Yet still, you waste power. The headache was your own doing. You reached the bottom of your well, you used it all without realizing it."
"And how do I get the headache to stop?" David wondered.
"This place helps that. It has been constantly supplying you with the energy you need, but your constant wasting must come to an end, David." the voice said, right behind him. "And we are here to help you with that."
"So, you're saying, that I am an Elf?" David croaked dryly, the words barely escaping.
"Mostly. Your father is an elf." the voice said. David was thunderstuck and nearly passed out standing, but strong hands held him. Angry, he turned and swatted them away, only almost immediately pass out again from shock. David stood there, wide eyed, arms hanging limply at his sides. A single stream of tears seeped from the corner of his left eye as his voice struggled to find the words needed. Only one word came to mind.
"Father?"