Although Ava never dared saying it out loud, this whole quest was absurd, ridiculous and vain. She knew it, and they all knew it.
What was the point, really? They had been given a book that laid the future in front of them. A grim, inescapable future. What was the Master even expecting from them? They were children. They could act as tough as they wanted, but Ira and Aced had barely turned eighteen that year. Invi was sixteen. Both Gula and her were fifteen. Give children a powerful book, a world on the edge of annihilation with the promise that they couldn't stop this, and then disappear? What was he even thinking?
And with that whole traitor thing, they were all suspicious of each other. Not only them, but the Wielders themselves had started to fight, Union against Union, and there was nothing to be done. All Ava could do was select a few of them, the ones that still believed in peace, to make them her Dandelions. Would that mean they would get a happy life? Definitely not. Most of them would still perish. Children killed by children. Unions, parties, everything torn away, the word friendship losing all of its meaning.
She had chosen five of them. Two girls. Three boys. Some of them had met before. Some of them had not. She didn't mind what Union they used to be from. She chose them, because she could see in their eyes they all dreamt of a brand new world. They all believed mankind wasn't doomed yet, they refused to give up, the kept on seeing the beauty of this world. She had carefully watched every one of them before giving them the book. Ephemera had been the most natural choice. She had a soft spot for him, nothing romantic, but she liked him, she liked how he was a natural leader, even though he wasn't aware of it. Out of the five, the other one that really stood out was Strelitzia. She was shy, probably not leader-born, but she saw the good in everyone and everything. She was looking for a place in this world, and lacked confidence, but Ava saw her really bloom when she was with her sibling, and she had decided she had to be one of the five.
But even with five new leaders appointed, Ava knew this wouldn't solve anything. They were doing exactly what the Master had done before them - let some other people deal with war and world destruction, and then vanish.
A tear rolled down her mask, and she quickly wiped it away before Gula could see it. For now, they had other business to deal with.
They had their own quest to complete.
Is it my first Foreteller fic in this collection? is it not? I can't remember. But I really wanted to write something about them!
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