Disclaimer: I don't own and never will.
AN: Okay, I've really struggled with Fanfiction of late. I lost my memory stick with a LOT of my work and that really set me back. And now I have writers block…yeah, not great news overall on that front. So here I am, trying to break it.
Somewhere in a north-west part of Meridian, children played in the warm summer sun under the watchful eye of Tecla Ibsen. The weather was warm, the fields green and no hint of the civil war that had ravaged Meridian could be seen in any direction. In short, it was a normal, quiet village of virtually no importance to anyone.
Tecla herself was unremarkable. An old woman with grey hair and wrinkled skin, her eyes twinkled with an inviting warmth. She could easily pass as a grandmother to any of the children there, despite never having had children.
In short, nothing about the scene implied the existence of a powerful magic user. At best, a common garden witch or hedge wizard and even that was doubtful.
"Mrs Tecla, Miss Tecla, can you show us some magic?" one of the boys asked, a child of seven or eight with light blond hair. Tecla chuckled with amusement.
"I really shouldn't encourage you to ask," she said with a smile. "I really shouldn't."
"Please?" one of the younger children asked, this time a little girl of five with almond shaped eyes and pigtails. "Please? Just a little?"
Tecla laughed at the look on the little girl's face and shrugged.
"Well I suppose a little magic would be…appropriate. The sun is shining and there's no farming work to be done," she waved her hand and for a moment, the children's shadows all flickered as one, as though they were no longer standing where they where. Then the shadows of all the children looking at separated from them, dancing as though they were living creatures themselves. The children stared in awe as they watched the shadows played games of tag and hide and seek. Some melted into one another and emerged on the other side and some formed patterns of immense beauty.
Tecla smiled as the children ooohed and aahhed at what they could see, with wide-eyed wonder and amazement. She waved her hands once more and the shadows suddenly jumped back to their original owners.
"That was cool!"
"Do it again! Please?"
"Can we see more?"
"Where did you learn how to do that?"
Tecla raised a hand and the children's babbling quietened down.
"I can't do it again today," she said with a smile and the children looked at her with disappointment. "I'm not powerful enough to use such a powerful spell on demand and these are not circus tricks to be taken lightly."
"Can you teach me how to do that?" a teenage boy with short dark hair asked curiously and Tecla shook her head.
"James, you're only just starting your magical education. You're simply not skilled enough to cast a spell like that. Someday you will, but not today."
"I just thought that…" he started and Tecla shook her head.
"You will learn in time," she replied gently. "As long as you keep up your studies. Now go and play with your friends," she said with a wave of her hand. "There is plenty of time and they haven't seen enough of you since you first started your studies."
James nodded and ran off to join his friends and Tecla felt a shadow fall over her
"You really shouldn't encourage them you know," a familiar man's voice said in a slightly exasperated voice and Tecla's face hardened. "They'll only ask for more and you can't afford to draw too much attention to yourself."
Tecla snorted with amusement without even turning around.
"Karl, you worry too much. They're a bunch of children seeing a magic show from a harmless old mage. It's hardly something to worry about, even in a place like this."
Behind her, she could hear Karl huffing slightly with annoyance and she smirked. Somewhere above her, a ghostly shadow hovered. Invisible to the naked eye, she smiled as it bobbed about like a harmless child's balloon. A toy, or so it seemed. It bobbled in the sky above, moving this way and that and Tecla smiled. It was gaining energy at an astonishingly fast rate. Soon it would be time for it to be used. Soon, very soon in fact. The Guardians were approaching their powers. It might even be that they had already been recognised as Guardians by the powers that governed such things. THAT would certainly explain why it was becoming so much more power.
A fast gust of wind blew through the village and to the observant, it could almost appear to be carrying a shadow with it, a whisper on the wind. Tecla smiled as she felt the wind on her face and she looked up at her invisible companion.
"So THAT'S why you're so excited," she said and she rose to her feet. She had preparations to make and spells to cast. After all, it would hardly do for her to be unprepared for the new Guardians of Meridian.
"What is it?" Karl asked and Tecla smiled, her eyes suddenly turning into black voids.
"Haven't you heard? We should go and greet the new queen of course," she said and Karl raised an eyebrow. "We should be ready."
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The forest was silent. Somewhere in the forest, amidst the trees, was a hidden figure was stalking Will. She was out there somewhere, watching, waiting and ready to pounce.
Will gave her lips a nervous lick and gripped her sword hard. Her opponent was fast, silent and virtually undetectable under normal circumstances. This was no exception. All Will knew that she was going to have to react and react fast when the attack finally arrived.
She stepped forward slowly, eyes and ears straining for the slightest clue as to where her opponent might be or where the attack might come from. But she was prepared and she was fast and she knew full well that opponent was the same.
Her opponent shot out of the trees and Will barely had time to even register that she was there before she parried the attack.
"Cool, you're getting better at this!" Hay Lin said brightly with a smile and Will smiled.
"Yeah, guess I am," she said with a smile. "How are the others doing?"
"Getting better. I'm still getting them more often than not though," Hay Lin replied. Then she grinned. "Still, you'll have me at your side. I can be good enough for us all."
"I want to be prepared. For anything. Just in case our title is more than just ceremonial dressing," Will said with a smile. "I'd hate to get caught out."
"Hey, don't worry, we'll nail it. And hopefully it'll be worrying about nothing."
"It's not like we haven't saved Meridian before," a familiar voice drawled. "In fact, we're pretty damn awesome. Especially me. Actually, it's ninety-nine percent me."
"I don't know where you get your delusions from water-head," Cornelia replied with a hint of annoyance. "You seem to forget that it was me who destroyed Shagon and Will who destroyed Nerissa."
"Didn't you almost bleed to death?" Irma asked sardonically and Cornelia glared.
"What matters is that we won. Don't go bickering about the details," Hay Lin said cheerfully, cutting off whatever Cornelia was about to say. "We're all awesome. We all had to fight our own battles, took our own injuries and won. I'd say that's pretty awesome."
"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. We're alive, they aren't. I'd count that as a good thing. Let's go back to the lodge," Will said as she sheathed her sword. "Hopefully Taranee will have found something that sheds more light on the whole Guardian thing, for better or worse."
"Oooh and maybe the fortune cookies are ready by now!" Hay Lin added excitedly as she bounced about. "It's been about the right amount of time, I'm sure that they're just right!"
"Hmm, that does sound good. I'm just going to skip dinner and-"
"You will wait for the main meal like the rest little missie!" Hay Lin admonished Irma in a slightly scary voice. "It's going to be something special I promise you. A real delicacy from the Eastern Highlands of Meridian that I intend on making personally."
"At home, father has one of the finest chefs in the Northern Wastes. Meals made to the highest standards. I doubt that you can surpass that," Cornelia chimed in and Irma smirked.
"You've never tasted one of Hay-Hay's specials," Irma replied with a smirk. "And your taste buds will never forgive you if you don't even try."
"Awww, that's sweet Irma," Hay Lin said with a smile as she hugged her friend. Cornelia raised an eyebrow.
"How come I don't get flattery like that?" she asked and Irma snorted.
"You need something to be worth complimenting," Irma replied with a smirk. "And believe me, Hay Lin's worth complimenting."
"How about we do less talking and more doing?" Will suggested with a smile and the group walked towards the small wood and stone building with the lights on. "I'm sure Lady Hale will have to find out for herself."
"We'll see," Cornelia replied with a slight sniff and before anyone could say anything else, she walked in.
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Elyon rubbed her tired eyes and shook her head. While it was good to be at peace again, she was pretty sure that the amount of work needed AFTER the war was probably something even harder. Rebuilding tax collections, organising the everyday bureaucracy that once belonged to the now broken civil service, rebuilding said civil service, organising demobilisation of the various armed forces and reducing the military to a more sustainable size, negotiating with Meridian's various neighbours and providing reassurance that their agreements were still safe. They all required her attention, pulling her this way and that.
She yawned again and forced her tired mind to focus on the lists in front of her. New heads of the various organisations were needed. Some were known traitors, siding with her brother during the war. Others were simply too old to continue, their health fading as age began to rob them of their health. For those that had sided with her brother, it was a case of deciding whether they could be trusted or not and whether their skills were valuable enough to allow them back into the fold. And for those who needed replacing, their replacements needed to be vetted and approved. It was enough to give any leader a headache.
Skimming through the list, she dipped her quill in the inkpot and made a few notes. A few candidates who needed further consideration, a few who did not and a few who probably warranted criminal investigations. Next was a proposal regarding the new tax collection areas. The old ones were no longer valid, while others were simply based on information that no longer applied. And then there were issues with the treasury, with paper money having gained popularity during the war and currency issues and a whole host of other things in what seemed like a never ending pile.
Elyon sighed and pulled out her private notebook. Flicking it open, she made yet more notes to add to her plans. Plans that, when implemented, would change Meridian forever.
But only if she managed to get her newly healed realm to prosper once more. Slipping her notebook away, she turned her attention to the tasks at hand.
With so much weighing in on her, it is perhaps understandable that she didn't notice a slight dimming of the light, or the steady flow of magic away from her. A trickle that would barely cause her to raise an eyebrow had she noticed. Indeed, it was so small that even a weak magic user would barely bat an eyelid.
Elyon rubbed her tired eyes one more time and rang the bell for the serving girl on call and within moments, the girl was there.
"I would like more coffee please," Elyon said, barely bothering to look up. "Nice and strong miss…" Elyon fumbled around for the girl's name.
"Periwinkle ma'am" the girl supplied helpfully and Elyon smiled.
"Yes, Periwinkle. As I was saying, some VERY strong coffee would be appreciated," Elyon said with a tired smile and Periwinkle left with a respectful nod of her head. Between the fatalities caused by Nerissa and her kind and the numbers of servants who had simply fled, the palace was full of unfamiliar faces or mostly empty.
"You should get some sleep. You serve no one by making tired decisions," a familiar voice said and Elyon smiled at the Oracle as he approached.
"I'm pretty sure that's what coffee is for," she replied ruefully and the Oracle serenely shook his head.
"Your majesty, these problems will not change overnight. You should get some rest. Sleep. Your people need you to be fully rested."
"My people-" Elyon began, before a massive yawn cut through her. "My people are facing the consequences of my brother's ill advised war against the throne. The Crown is practically bankrupt, the government a shattered wreck and a country that has lost it's infrastructure. My people and my country need me to fix their problems and I have to solve these problems."
"Then do what monarchs of Meridian have done in the past. Delegate. Find competent ministers that you can trust to help you reassemble the government. A leader should not run themselves ragged attempting to run every little detail. It does not reduce your power, you would still have ultimate authority. But it would reduce your workload."
Elyon chuckled and leaned back into her seat.
"I think Cornelia said the same thing before she left," Elyon said with a smile. "Said that if I kept this up, I'd end up an ugly old spinister," she paused and chuckled again. "Another civil war is hardly what Meridian needs."
"On the subject of suitors, my sources inform me that Prince Armis of Deanai is preparing to attempt to press his suit for your hand in marriage. He is already making preparations to formally begin wooing you," The Oracle told her and Elyon raised an eyebrow.
"Deanai is a small nation, one permanently threatened by it's bigger neighbours if memory serves correctly. Hardly a good match," Elyon said and she rubbed her eyes. "I suppose I can take a break though."
"Your coffee ma'am,"
Elyon jumped slightly as Periwinkle returned with her coffee and she nodded to the girl.
"Thank you Periwinkle," she said before turning back to the Oracle. "Is there anything else that I need to concern myself with?"
"My sources suggest that Prince Lioncry from Haer and Prince Rois of Hajar are also preparing to press their suit as well. There is nothing else of note, except," he paused for a moment. "Magical sources report that there has been a disturbing rise in dark magic. Nothing large enough to warrant any real concern, but I thought it worth mentioning."
"Courtship. I have a NATION to rebuild after a bloody civil war and they want to engage in political formalities and gestures," Elyon said with a hint of contempt. "I know that royals don't marry for love, they know royals don't marry for love and Meridian has little enough value at the moment."
"Meridian has risen above such problems in the past. They take the long view that we will again," The Oracle replied and Elyon sighed.
"Sure as hell doesn't feel like it right now."
"You are young and are only at the beginning of your reign," The Oracle gently pointed out. "They see an opportunity to secure power. Maybe they expect you to pick love instead of politics. They see the potential for you to become a powerful queen and they want access to it."
"I'm not as naïve as they seem to think," Elyon said with a hint of annoyance. "And I think that they would probably not like what I have planned for the future of the monarchy in this country." The Oracle raised an eyebrow and Elyon continued. "I'm thinking that there's too much power in the hands of the throne. And when this chaos subsides and things more normal, that's going to change."
The Oracle raised a curious eyebrow and gently smiled. This should be most intriguing.
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Details of the Guardians are by nature, limited. Only a handful of exalted individuals have ever attained this rank and even the hardiest of scholars are unlikely to have even discovered their existence.
As such, when such individuals arise, they are often the product of extreme circumstances. Circumstances that test the individual beyond the normal expectations of their skills.
The arrival of entities known as the Guardians is considered by some to be a harbinger of something big. Many talk about the end of the World, others a saving of the world.
Details are incredibly evasive. Magical experimentation into the Guardians in the past have yielded very few results. In recent years, the rise of an individual known as a Guardian has provided the opportunity for further understanding of the phenomenon. Various experiments of every kind have been tried, however the results are at best confusing.
Several experiments suggest that the subject in question HAS performed a great world saving feat and is GOING to perform exactly the same feat in the future. Naturally, this has lead to some confusion amidst the limited number of scholars with access to this information. Several have speculated that this refers to a confusion aspect of the magic protecting the Guardians from those who wish to take revenge. Others believe that these individuals have managed to cheat fate beyond reason, thus resulting in a confusing magical reading. Other suggest that the Guardian magic is directly intervening, blocking any attempt to understand.
Little else is known about the Guardian phenomenon.
Taranee sighed as she finished reading the text in front of her. It didn't really say anything that she didn't already know. Details about the Guardians were thin on the ground to say the least. To not know what the future held, what being a Guardian actually meant, was frustrating to say the least. She turned her attention to the rest of the treatise in front of her, hoping to find something else amidst it's pages that she had somehow missed.
"Taranee, you should get some rest," Will said from the doorway and Taranee smiled.
"I should," she acknowledged with a nod of her head. "It's not like I'm learning anything new here."
"No luck with the texts here either?" Will asked and Taranee shook her head.
"Not even a hint of anything new. Just the same old confusing stories and studies alike. It's like the whole Guardian thing exists to confuse scholars."
Will laughed and Taranee grinned.
"Well no-one said that the Gods and fates have no sense of humour," Hay Lin pointed out with a grin. "Maybe that's all we're looking at after all!"
"Yeah, I'd like to think that the gods have a better sense of humour. They're not water-brain after all," Cornelia said with a hint of contempt. "They're supposed to be gods, not little brats."
"Man, are you sure you want to be wrong twice in one day Earthy," Irma said with a smirk and Will raised an eyebrow.
"Earthy?" she asked and Irma grinned.
"Earthy. Cause she's an Earth discipline swordmaster?" she said and Cornelia rolled her eyes.
"Are you SURE she has redeeming features?" Cornelia asked Hay Lin with a doubting look. "Cause right now, I'm not really sure."
"Course she has silly!" Hay Lin replied with a grin. "She's a fellow Guardian and my best friend!"
"And I get to be awesomely funny at the same time," Irma added with a smirk. "Well awesome in general."
"Well, whatever delusions help you sleep at night," Cornelia replied with a smirk of her own. Irma just grinned.
"Oh I am so looking forward to seeing you eat your words. Like you did at dinner."
Cornelia flushed with embarrassment at the memory. Hay Lin's meal had indeed proven to be better than she thought possible and Irma had been rubbing her nose in it.
"You would think that they were five and not grown women," Will whispered to Taranee with a touch of amusement.
"I think they enjoy it too much," Hay Lin whispered to the two women and all three women burst out laughing, much to the surprise of Irma and Cornelia.
AN: Yes, I'm ending it here. Firstly because the next story really deserves a story of it's own and secondly, because I never really intended the story to go on beyond the arc of Nerissa. Now I have an idea, I'd rather make a clean start with it.