Pant, pant, pant.
A man's pant echoed through the forest, ripping against the silence.
The man ran and ran in the dark woods, passing by endless number of trees. His eyes squinted in the dark before his hand rest on an oak tree, stopping to catch his breath. He warily glanced behind for any movements before letting out a sigh of relief.
He suddenly stumbled into a clearing as he felt a gush of wind lightly brushes his nape. The man tripped on a stone in his stumble and he backed until he felt the cool, wrinkle tree bark against his back.
A flash of metal gleamed in the dark before the man laid silently, dead. Blood flowed out from his wounds, colouring the earth red.
Two silhouettes appeared in the background, one still holding a sword that was dripping with fresh blood.
"Trying to fool us by using a double to escape death?"
Moonlight began to shine onto the shadows, revealing a male and a female. The speaker was a female, her blond hair fluttered gently with the wind direction, illuminating her bright amethyst eyes.
She smirked, "What a futile attempt."
The male grinned before a sly smile graced his face. "Indeed, sister. Indeed." The male had features similar to his sister. Just like the latter, he had the vivid amethyst eyes that practically glows in the dark. To add on, spiky untamed white hair.
Still holding the sword, the female allowed it to dissipate into thin air, the killing weapon lost forever.
Giving the corpse a final look, she turned her back against the body and walk away. The humans will have no trouble finding their fugitive serial killer the following day.
"Let's go. We wouldn't want to be late for our meeting now, would we?"
The two siblings appeared in front of a campfire located on the peak of a mountain.
With an invisible barrier, the makeshift camp was protected from the outside. Cold gushes of snowstorm hits repeatedly on the barrier but failed to penetrate. The centre of it all was a magnificent display of colourful flames emitted by stones. Red and purple burned most violently amidst them all. The soothing yellow and green flames were beside them, crackling brightly, shadowing the indigo and blue flames. All those flames were covered safely within a serene layer of orange flames.
The two joined the group who stood circling the flame, taking their places.
A pocket watch clicked shut.
"Barely on time." A man grunted.
"But not late," said the female, grinning before she added, "father."
The addressed man had features similar to his children. With hair as white as his son's together with eyes the shade of the night sky, he cleared his throat before addressing the others, "Let us begin."
Their father, also their leader moved closer to the centre of the crowd, taking his rightful place in the middle of the circle. "To commence, I would like to inform with grief that only fifty of us present here have remained." Grim faces can be seen on the faces of some of them. "Let us all have a moment of silence to pray for the peace of those who have passed on to the afterlife. Let them be relished of their duties and instead, their legacy passed on with us."
A silent pause before he raised his hand to face the bonfire. The rest followed. Sparks of fire danced around their fingertips, and it grew larger and larger to a size of a fireball that looks like a miniature version of the bonfire, before they fired them into the bonfire. Instead of exploding, the fireball integrated itself as a part of the bonfire, as though it had always belonged there, and the flame shone, brighter than before.
They released their hands and the-seemingly-leader spoke again. "Time is running out for us. This means that one day, our powers too will be unable to sustain the Triniset."
"However, Sepira here," He gestured to a female beside him, "has a proposal which may help us."
A clover leaf tattooed her left cheek; deep green short hair hovered around her head. Sepira took a deep breath before her azure blue eyes opened and she began to speak. "We all know that this planet thrives upon Triniset which is sustained by our strength, our powers. Unfortunately, these powers vanquished gradually as we die."
Her eyes slided from individual to individual, highlighting the importance of her words. "My proposal is to have us borrow the earthing's power to sustain in the long term."
Alarm looks marked some of their faces.
"Earthlings?!"
"Those weaklings?"
"Borrow-?!"
The leader knocked his sceptre on the ground loudly. "Silence." No one dared to refute him. He turned to Sepira who nodded.
"As I was saying, if we combined our powers together with the earthlings, we might be able to change the form of the Triniset into another form of medium which we will need to channel only a small proportion of our energy."
Sepira continued, her voice calm and emotions collected. "In the case that not one of us remain before the resonance –which I hope not to be the case– there is the possibility of not needing to supply any energy from our side."
One person spoke out. "Your suggestion does appeal to me and I am sure the rest felt the same. However, what were to happen to the mediums if it falls into wrong hands? What if one day these are used against us instead?"
At this comment, many worried glances were thrown to Sepira. Their concerns and anxiousness could be felt hanging around the air, creating a solemn atmosphere. The female sibling placed her hand atop her brother's fiddling hands. He made an eye contact with her, a silent exchange between them before Sepira spoke.
"I understand your concerns very well." She said, before continuing, "Therefore I plan to separate the medium into several parts. This will minimise the output released by each medium part, unless of course, they are all assembled into one but this is highly unlikely. Even more so when there are only a handful of humans who are capable of wielding flames to its full potential."
The mood was lifted at her reassurance. Some let out a sigh of relief and relaxed their stiff shoulders. This time, the female sibling voiced out her question: "How should we protect these mediums then?"
"Leave that to me," Sepira said with a gleam in her eyes. The female sibling and the others knew better than to question her. After all, Sepira has been gifted with a seer's ability. She can foresee the future and never lead them astray. Because of this, they have been able to lay their trust with Sepira and her clairvoyance.
"Let us all make a vow: to protect the Triniset. We will defend it at all cost, guard them from wrong users and shield away any harm cast to them and their protectors. Let us all unite and prevent that day from happening. And if it does -which I hope will never happen- we will do whatever it takes to stop it. Whatever the cost might be." Sepira ended solemnly, ending her final sentence with a whisper heard by all.
Her gaze however, had not left her niece: Sylvia's. It was filled with a knowing and yet sad look. Sylvia knows her aunt better than most, and this is one question she knows she won't get an answer out from. She shook her head gently, tearing her eyes from hers painfully.
They then reached to a mutual agreement. The rest was history. Following instructions given by Sepira, they collaborated with the earthlings Sepira has chosen, to create a whole new set of medium that felt foreign and yet familiar at the same time.
By the time they finished, droplets of sweat rolled down their cheeks and they breathed out a sigh of relief. The medium split successfully into three matching sets. Two of which are rings and another in the form of pacifiers. They continued to flicker, flames of which they recognised as theirs before the flames faded and dimmed to a medium that lost its cluster of light. They purposely chose a medium that will not raise suspicions from others. Males and females don rings all the time, as for the pacifiers, they are small sized enough to not raise many suspicions.
Sepira thanked everyone for their hard work before she snapped her fingers to send the earthlings back to wherever they belong to. The rest scattered, starting conversations with each other after the tiring task. The female sibling lightly patted the back of her brother, who was still taking in heavy breaths. He gradually recovered his laboured breathing, muttering a small thanks to his sister who was still looking at him with sympathy.
"Sylvia, Devlon, it's been a while." Sepira addressed the two siblings respectively.
"Aunt Sepira," they chorused, Devlon grinned at the sight of their aunt whilst Sylvia merely gave a small smile.
"I hope all has been well."
The duo exchanged looks and smirks. "If you mean getting into our usual routine of travelling and messing around with the earthlings, then yes, Aunt Sepira, we are well."
Their aunt frowns at them. "You two better stay out of trouble, lest you want your father and I to break you two out of prison."
Sylvia smiles innocently. "Now, now, Aunt Sepira. You know prisons can't keep the likes of the two of us."
"Also, we don't look for trouble, unless trouble comes seeking us." Devlon added, grinning still.
Sepira huffed, "And that happens all the time when it involves you two." She rubs her palm on her forehead, eyebrows knitting together. "I still have no idea how the both of you managed to conquer an entire country!"
Devlon smiles brightly. "Let me indulge you with that. That freak of a king, with over ten wives and double that the number of concubines, was attracted by dear sister here. And so, he invited us – with me being her brother and all – to a dinner in his castle."
It was sounding harmless to her so far.
"We accepted, of course. We were tired and wanted a rest before we moved on our journey."
"A terrible decision made, if I may say so myself." Sylvia added in.
He shot a look at Sylvia, before he opened his mouth to speak again. "Throughout dinner, he was boasting about his wealth and glory which was not at all interesting to us. And out of nowhere, he offered sister a place in his harem. She refused him and he got angry, even threatening us with his army."
"So…did he raised his army against her? Is that what caused the fight and then proceeded to conquer the country?"
He exchanged looks with his sister before he laughs. "No." Sepira raised a brow. "We were prepared to leave before anything happen. That's when he made the one single mistake."
Sepira arched her brow, feet tapping impatiently for him to continue.
Devlon waited a few seconds for the suspense. "He flipped the table."
"Oh." Sepira said.
"Yes, oh." Devlon echoed back. "The place was a mess after that, food went flying everywhere. In the midst of his again boasting on how he is too good for her, she punched him across the wall. Really though, sister really don't take well to someone wasting food."
"To be exact, a man who is a pervert and already has a harem and yet, still has food wasted on him." Sylvia bristled at the memory. "My conscience as a chef won't allow it."
"You speak as though a chef is all you do for a living. A normal chef wouldn't punch their way through a wall because they forgot to buy an ingredient." Sepira chuckled under her breath. Sylvia turned away, the tips of her ear red, mumbling about how it happened only once.
"To summarise, she beat him up for good until his army surrender themselves on their own. Oh, don't worry, we placed someone trustworthy in charge."
Sepira looks at the siblings who look nonchalant about the matter, sighing again. "Really now. Just who did you two take after?"
The duo exchanged glances before a smirk and a smile appears on Sylvia's and Devlon's face respectively.
Sepira shook her head in resignation before she looked at Sylvia. "Care to join me for coffee tomorrow?"
Devlon pouted at his aunt, "Am I not invited, Aunt Sepira?"
Sepira chuckled at her nephew's antics. "Well, of course you are. But I think your father disagrees with me. He has a training regime planned for you after your performance today." She must be referring to how easily exhausted he was after the ritual.
His face drained in colour, looking back and forth between his father and aunt. He was about to speak when Sepira cut him off. "And no, you are on your own this time." He paled even further before dashing to where his father was, speaking to other members.
Sylvia chuckles at her brother's antics, before she turned to her aunt. "Now that he's gone, would you care to share with me what you have in mind?"
"Perhaps tomorrow, my niece. The usual place." Sepira answered, before she disappeared.
Morning rays shined through the windows, bird's humming tunes and the sound of people coming out of their homes to start their chores can be heard. Humming a melody beneath her lips whilst sitting on a windowsill, a woman bathed in the bliss of serenity within the compound of hers.
Curl locks of golden hair fluttered as she made her way to the kitchen, her amethyst eyes scanning for the stack of coffee beans she stashed around the corner. Soon enough, she got two cups of coffee ready. Quietly sipping her coffee, a flash of orange flames appeared at the corner of her eyes.
The flames dissipated and revealed a woman she was waiting for.
"Sylvia," she greeted, "I hope that you haven't waited for long." She ended her sentence with a smile.
"Not at all. Do sit down, Sepira. I have prepared coffee for both of us." She gestured for her to join her, which she settled down on the sit next to her.
Sepira took a sip of her coffee, before she exclaimed, "Espresso!"
"Your favourite. Made from the highest quality of coffee beans harvested in South America."
Sepira hummed, a grin plastered. "You know me best. That ought to be why you are my favourite niece."
Sylvia smirks. "I am your only niece."
"…You get my point."
"Anyways," Sylvia narrowed her eyes at her, "You haven't explained the reason as to why you have requested coffee between the two of us all the way here in Sicily, Italy. Alone, nonetheless."
Sepira threw her an apologetic look. "I apologize for all the trouble caused." Sepira cast her a serious look before she said, "However, I do believe this to be of prime importance."
The atmosphere around the room thickens. Sylvia noticed the solemn expression leaking out from the woman beside her and prepared herself to listen to whatever things she had to say.
Sepira kept a blank stare at her before she said, "I believe that you have known by now that I have the ability to predict the future."
Sylvia nodded before she continued. "Not just any future, but destinies. Destinies of those who have great future ahead of them."
"I presume that you have got a vision." Earning a nod from Sepira, she continued, "Let's hear it then. However, I do not see how I myself can relate into this."
A warm smile crept onto her lips. "Allow me to explain. It all started with a boy named Giotto…"
Sylvia leaped from roofs to roofs.
Usually, she would prefer using other modes of transportation. But in her case, the need to travel back and forth places to obtain information plus the convenience of scanning people at an acceptable speed made her chose this.
She had no regrets choosing this mode as she enjoyed the feeling of wind against her face, her hair fluttering behind her.
Their conversation from the week before came into focus: "Giotto is an orphan who was left under the care of an orphanage. Like many other orphanages, they treated him horribly. So he escaped and met G. on his runaway, before the two became close friends"
The orphanage, according to what she could scrapped from old records, was located at the outskirt of Palermo. In the first place, it was an ancient building. With hardly any resources to sustain and fund, it went under debts and collapsed under the pressure. The staffs either took the opportunity to plunder whatever that was left or just fled altogether.
The poor ones who remaining behind were the orphans who had nowhere else to go. Most grouped together to increase their chances of survival, albeit not much. Others left to seek their own method of survival.
Giotto, she found, was part of the latter group who left before the orphanage closed down. She was told by the other orphans that he was heading down south when they parted with him. That happened over a year ago. So either he moved down to the bustling city located at the center of Sicily or he headed out to the quiet countryside.
"They managed to live off the streets by doing chores for the merchants and the rich. The main reason why I told you to come back to Italy is because Italy is their birthplace, which makes it easier to locate them."
Sylvia decided to take her chances with the bustling city after recalling Sepira's words. Really, she scoffs, how are two tiny kids easy to locate in a country as big as Italy. She deduced that Sepira must have always used her intuition to cheat her way through all the hard work. Because really, it took her at least a couple of days to find the orphanage itself. And yet at the moment she continued to hop on rooftops to search for said kid.
Her latest lead brought her to this town, where sightings have been seen of the kid and his friend. It was a small port town, mainly focusing on agriculture and fishing industry. After thanking a fellow merchant for an information, she proceeded to head out to his current whereabouts.
The sky was coloured in deep orange as the sun readied itself to set, reflecting warm orange light on the sea. Seagulls flew in the air as the sailors returned from the daily catch, eyeing the fishes in the net to fill in their stomachs. The chattering of villagers filled the air, preparing to wrap up and retire for the day.
It seemed like a peaceful city as far as her observation goes.
Peaceful enough for two kids to live in.
"However, no matter what he may achieve in the future, he is but only a kid of 10-year-old now."
A mere 10-year-old kid.
And out of all the earthlings remaining on earth, Sepira chose her for the task.
Sure, she might have interacted before with kids. And may have interacted better than the rest, including her brother, whose fox-like smile seemed to scare away all the children. But that didn't really justify why she was chosen. When she questioned Sepira about it, she only received a smile she knew too well. The one that practically scream 'I just know it by heart' and that she would do better than to question her aunt. So she quietly shut her protests and allowed her aunt to explain further.
"Your role in this, is to help him and his group overcome any obstacles in the future and bring fame into history."
Standing atop a cathedral located at the centre of town that overlooked the port, she let out a sigh, her legs growing restless after hours of standing. She was about to call it a day when she caught sight of a flash of blond.
Before the blondie vanishes from sight, she quietly but swiftly trailed behind him.
She followed the young boy down multiple alleys, before he exited to the marketplace for some grocery shopping. After a short shopping spree, he had a look of satisfaction on his face, arms carrying a brown paper bag filled with multiple baguettes and some seasonal fruits. He ducked into a back alley and manoeuvred around rows of houses before he reached a quieter zone outside of the crowding street.
The description given by Sepira matches him. He was at a right age, spiky locks of blonde and eyes like the colour of sunset. He ran down the streets in his brown loafers and was dressed quite moderately in a white dress shirt with black trousers, hooking a plain brown sling bag.
From what she observed, his muscles were underdeveloped due to his young age. Even so, his reflexes were good and natural as he swiftly evaded multiple potholes on the ground. Speed-wise and coordination skills rated average for his age.
He finally stopped after minutes of running, in front of a small hut, where he gently pushed open the wooden door and closed behind him. Sylvia hopped down from the rooftop she had been observing.
After a few moments of contemplation – on whether to confront him at that very moment or to continue her observations for a couple of days – she marched to the door that was just closed and knocked loudly. Not before cloaking herself with an illusion to make her look like a 10-year-old.
"And what reason do I have to do that, Sepira?"
A few seconds was all it takes for someone to answer the call. A few shuffling can be head behind the door before wary, orange eyes met hers, allowing the door to open fully to greet his guest.
She smirked and offered her right hand out, much to the confusion and surprise of the other.
"My name is Sylvia. Nice to meet you, Giotto."
"Because the group Giotto founded will rise to become a future holder of Triniset."
Hello there!
I wrote this story from a while back, and decided to post it afterall. This is actually a prequel to my story, which I can say now is nowhere near complete. Anyways, are you able to spot some canon characters? Some of which the names are different/not revealed.
Hope you readers enjoy this one-shot and let me know in the reviews!