32. RAGNAROK
WAR AND PEACE
Isolde's POV
Death.
Such a humongous impact for such a small word. It leaves behind an impression of everlasting hurt that some can't help but drown in.
It throws those left behind in a sea of memories until they drown in the hollowness where love once had been.
Death changes people. It only knows how to take.
So at the one who was the one who left with the Valkyrie? The dead or the person the living once had been?
Today marks the first lesson since that tragedy. I look around to see perhaps it had claimed more than just the life of those warriors.
Gunhild hadn't returned from her home. Eboni had been unnaturally quiet in her demands and commands in the room. Naeem was more lethargic in his spiteful remarks to Esmeralda.
And Akira? He was nowhere to be seen.
I had seen him this morning in the hall. He had given me fake smile. Even that looked somewhat hollow.
I look out the window, letting the boring lecture on dread magic become one with the pitter-patter of the rain outside.
I look towards the old abandoned classrooms where older kids usually hang out. Esmeralda usually hosts her queenly court sessions there.
That girl actually banished someone yesterday. Can she even do that?
My eyes roam towards the best part of the abandoned section. The hollow tree. It was an ancient willow tree whose branches have seen eras pass by them. The old spirit of it, famously known as granny Willow was a grumpy one who hits everyone with her branches.
For some reason, she seems to be impressed by me. It's probably because I tied a pretty pink wishing ribbon around her branch.
The giant plant hosts a hole in its trunk that might be small compared to its size but perfect for a person. I call it the Hollow.
Well fine, they'll fit if they were as short as me which is not to say I was a midget or something like a certain someone likes to call me.
The eardrum-splitting noise of the bell wakes me up from my thoughts and I make way to my magical base class.
"Attention, attention, young mages," the old elven curator blocks our path on our way, "Captain Baig has been urgently summoned to the court. So today's lessons are canceled."
The announcement of a free period sends a ripple of joy through the students. It almost managed to bring back the lively atmosphere of the academy before the attack. "Free period! Let's go and see how the situation with the horseback riding teams looks," Dhara said excitedly.
Ah yes, the sensational situation with the horseback riding teams where both the second-year captain and the third captain fancies the same girl and now they plan to have a completely unfriendly competition without the teacher's knowledge.
Oh, and did I mention the captains are siblings?
"Yes, let's go. I am dying to know who she will choose at the end. I hope it's not the brother. He's a bastard," Arthur said with a thoughtful face.
Sol, these two were like village aunties.
"You guys go, I'll go and check the new collection in the library," I waved off the invitation.
I'd rather read some books in the hollow than watch two extremely muscular siblings woo a pretty girl by showing her their horse-riding skills.
I might not know much about romance but that sounded very unromantic to me.
As I make my way towards the tree I sense something odd.
"Ouch! What is wrong with you? Do you not recognize me?" A figure of a man says while swatting away granny willow's branches that were trying to hit him.
"It's me, Rei. Come on, tell me you recognize me?" he tried again.
Rei? That was the name carved inside the hollow!
Was he the same one?
I guess he was since granny willow stopped hitting him and her wrinkled face showed a hint of recognition and smile. She crackled out a toothless laugh and chanted, "Little Rei, Little Rei," in a sing-song voice.
"See you remember me, old hag. Still, targeting people's bottoms, are we? We have to do something about your unresolved issues, granny," he said with a burst of booming laughter.
"Naughty, hmm, still naughty," the ancient tree spirit coughs out in a nostalgic voice.
As if sensing my approach, the man looks behind.
And with that, I felt like I was hit with a wave of Deja-Vu. The man standing in front of me had blood-red hair that was flowing down to his waist. A chiseled face accompanied by two bright yellowish eyes with a scar that bisects the left one. I couldn't help but notice the subtle animalistic tone to his features. There was something about him that reminded me of an animal, I just don't know which one.
And also other than some subtle differences, he looked eerily like Akira too.
Hmm, something was missing.
Oh, he wasn't wearing a diadem!
In his plain red robes and a golden shawl wrapped around his shoulder, I can't help but notice just how much he looked like...Sol!
"Umm, hello there, kiddo," he awkwardly waves a hand at me.
"Um hello." It's only polite to reply.
"So this is awkward, ain't it? Sorry, I ain't the kind of guy who usually gets caught while some old hag hits my bottom with her branches," he said with a soft laugh baring his sharp fangs.
Gods, was he truly Sol? His smile was almost blinding.
He had a somewhat rough accent that I have never heard before around here.
People were very sophisticated in this part of the Azura.
Mainly because it's inhibited by nobles.
I wonder where he is from.
"Oh! that's alright. It's not my first time catching people in a weird position. I once caught a guy on his way to jump out of the girl's dorm window," I said with awkward laughter.
This is mortifying. Why would I say this to him?
In answer to my embarrassing remark, he just laughed.
I liked his laugh. It was a carefree one. Bright and honest, something I didn't do much of these days.
"So kiddo, gonna guess you're the chit who's been hogging the void when I ain't here?" he asked with great interest.
"Void? Do you mean the hole? Yes," I laughed again.
"Now, don't you go laughing at me, lovey. My mate came with that name." But he was laughing too.
He sat down on the grass abruptly and patted next to him with his hand that sported metallic claw like nails. They glinted dangerously under the sunlight.
Hmm, would it be very naïve of me if I decide to trust a man who practically has knives for nails?
"Don't worry, I ain't gonna abduct you," he said, probably noticing my suspicious look.
So I sat a few paces away from him, just in case, he turns out to be a serial killer.
"Are you a mage, Mister?" I asked cautiously remembering his absent diadem.
"Well, I'd hope so after spending those God-awful years in this dumpster academy," he gave a proud toothy smile.
"Oh, what position?" I was really curious about this guy.
Remember the last time you were curious about something? That ended up with you in front of a walking horror, didn't it?
"Hmm, position, oh just a small position in the court, not a big shot," he said with a wave of his hand.
A small position? So he's not related to Akira?
But before I could ask him to clarify my suspicions, he cut me off with a question of his own, "So kiddo, what's ya name?"
"Isolde," I answer immediately.
"Nice name. Rei," he says the last part pointing two thumbs at his chest.
"Where are ya from, Isolde?"
"Prussia, the Escove county to be more precise. Grew up in a village. you?" I say, still curious about this mystery man.
"Hmm, I am from around here. I grew up here in Azura, in the downtown Azura to be more specific if you count the underworld streets as a part of the downtown," he said, voice laced with nostalgia.
"The streets?" I ask in confusion.
"The streets, ya know? Like on the footpath," He tried to explain to me.
"The footpath? Gods, here I thought I was having a hard time," I realized a moment later I had said that out loud.
Damn it, me and my big mouth. To my horror, he actually laughed at my comment.
"True, had it rough back then. So what's your angle, kiddo?" he asks with a grin.
"There is no angle. I am just a village kid from Prussia," I replied.
"From Prussia, ya say? That Tsar of yours is really gonna need someone to hand it to him. He sucks. Most of the western regions are dirt poor," he said thoughtfully.
He was surprisingly knowledgeable. Maybe he was one of the Gabriel.
"Wait, that's where your from! Damn kid, how did ya manage in the winter? Scam people?"
"Um, no criminal activities. I just made blankets out of the curtain," I answer mirroring his grin.
"How boring. I once stole someone's horse just to claim a reward by returning them the horse to buy myself winter clothes," he said with a proud look.
It made me laugh. It's weird to have someone who understood the desperation.
"Now come on, chit. There has to be something," he asked again with a grin.
"I once sold the same chicken to two different people so I could buy a new pair of winter boots," I said between laughter.
Now both of us were a laughing mess recounting the memories of struggle. Weird how those memories of desperation are now fun anecdotes.
"I wonder what will happen to my village once the war begins again," I muse out loud, thinking back to the small village I had left behind. Even it's residents weren't very pleasing, they still don't deserve death.
"Why do you think the war will begin again, kiddo?" he inquires with a frown.
'Because the dread mages attacked us? It's only right to repay them with war to settle accounts?" I wasn't very sure myself to be honest, so I repeated what I heard from other people.
"It isn't that simple," he said with a small sigh, "War is sweet to those who have never fought one."
"But will the situation of Azura ever go back to normal?" I asked.
I know I sounded selfish but the grimness was suffocating me. It felt too much like the village after last winter. I didn't want the claws of death to follow me here too. I can't drown in the same darkness again.
"Normalcy is subjective, kiddo. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly, isn't it?" he asked with a smile.
I nodded my head in agreement. What was a life-changing decision for me was normal for someone like Akira.
" So, what about your parents, kiddo? Sent them any letters recently?" Rei asked.
I sensed it was a ploy to divert this conversation from its morbid course. You can guess how miserably he failed, right?
"Nope, no letters. If I wanted to talk to them, I would need a necromancer," I said with a smirk.
Hope my humor doesn't label me as a psychopath by Rei.
Granny Willow cackled at my comment. At least she likes it.
"Sorry, kid, necromancy is illegal. Settle for a good old Ouija board like the rest of us," he deadpanned.
"Okay, part of the group, I see," I said with a burst of laughter seeing his grin.
"Always, actually dead mom and an absent dad," he said thoughtfully scratching his chin.
"Who are you? It's like looking into the mirror," I asked with a mock gasp.
As result, he burst out laughing.
"Why are you here, Rei?" I finally remember to ask one of the questions bothering me.
"I used to hang out with the boys here. Right here, we had sworn to always have each other's back. But I feel like I broke that promise," he said with a gloomy tone, looking at the academy.
"What happened?" I genuinely wanted to know what happened to make this happy-go-lucky man feel so sad.
"Because of a mistake of mine, my friend's son died," he replied while not looking at me.
He looks like he was really ashamed of himself with both of his hands covering his face.
"I don't know how it ended up like this. I just wanted to stop a war from claiming more lives," he kept mumbling in his palms.
"But sometimes we have to fight to protect the innocent," I tried to reason with him.
He looked up and with a mirthful chuckle he said, " Little one, Innocence is the very first casualty of war."
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GLOSSARY
*Ragnarok: In Norse Mythology, the Ragnarok is a series of events that will lead to great disaster which will kill the Godly figures and submerge the world in water.
*Valkyrie: In Norse Mythology, (from old Norse valkyrja "chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who choose those who may die in battle and those who may live.
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So how did you like Rei? Who do you think he is?
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