A Dream, Stolen

Just a little something I wrote for Chibera's Character Writing contest that i'm not even sure if I'm still on time for... but here it is either way.

It is curious that desire of humans to leave their mark on the present, harnessing each and every kind of power they could, because they could, and because they wanted “to make a difference”. It is something equal parts admirable and foolish.

She wasn’t the exception to this rule I observed, but I always felt that she was different. A young scientist, full of spirit and potential for great things, she certainly was the world to the many less fortunate people she helped. As with many others, that girl was fascinated with the World Tree, “A Miracle!” she called it at times, but I wasn’t sure of that.

My mind, always wandering to places it shouldn’t, had been presenting me with visions of the day that the explosion occurred since childhood. It was terrifying, so much death, so much chaos. The world wasn’t the same after if, and even is a lot of people say it was for the best (technological advancement and such), was it really worth it?.

Nowadays everyone depends on the World Tree or the Crystal Deposits to get their fill of Mana, and conflict has erupted everywhere without a care for the so called “advancements” that accident brought. I thought so, but the first time I met her, I couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm despite my grim take on things.

I had been traveling for days already, after a mercenary band destroyed my home to make an encampment in preparation for mining the nearby mana crystal deposits. We fought bravely, but we were outnumbered and outmatched. I hoped that some of my brothers and sisters had survived, but with a deep wound that kept bleeding and their screams of “Run and save youself fool!”, I didn’t turn back.

My mind went black and my consciousness faded when my horse stopped out of sheer exhaustion. The last thing I saw before blacking out was the high silver walls of a city, and a scream from someone, a young woman.

Some time later, I woke up to a shiny white ceiling, white sheets, and a weird but not quite unpleasant smell. I tried to get up and felt my body heavy, but the wound wasn’t hurting or bleeding. Noticing that my weapons were not with me I got scared and tried to get up. It was then that she came inside the room, in all her freckled and messy-haired glory.

Oh!, I see that Mister Elf woke up, don’t be scared, this is a hospital!, well… kind of. It’s my home-laboratory-clinic. Clustered but functional!.

She said the words quickly, while checking some devices at my bedside. I just watched her, still wary, but not feeling any ill intent from her.

Where am I?, Who are you?

Those were the words that I managed to get out with my raspy and hoarse voice. She gave me a glass of water and proceeded to explain everything. That scream I heard before blacking out, was from her, who was outside the city checking some measuring devices that she needed for some study about mana.

Edith was her name, and that mention of mana studies was almost our first discussion, when my face turned grim and she asked why. I told her I wasn’t all too fond of mana crystals and the World Tree, that for me they were just a forced necessity. And she asked why, and I tried to explain it, but then she started a very inspired commentary, kind of a musicless declamation about Potential, Wonder and… Miracles.

That girl honestly thought things could get better. And she seemed to have the energy and the intelligence for it. A warmhearthed prodigy from some big academy, she didn’t deny the disaster that gave birth to everything, but instead was hellbent on using the power of mana to makes thing better, for anyone. It wasn’t my place to crush the dreams of the one person that probably saved my life.

Time passed, I stayed there to help her since there was no home for me anymore. And with the days that passed I learned a lot from her. Just an eccentric child for the majority, but a beloved soul for the more ignored individuals of a growing society. Her time was divided between research and some social labor, and I found myself clashing with her when she forgot to eat, and with some overprotective friends that didn’t trust me enough to be Edith’s housemate. Because I stayed at her Home-Laboratory-Clinic, at her request and at my need.

I never understood exactly was she was doing, but that tingly sensation that kept ringing in the back of my head never stopped. It always felt that she was dealing with something dangerous, and a certain day, it proved so.

I was coming back after running some errands, when that tingle in my head became a burning sensation. I rushed trough the door and found Edith bleeding out in the floor, and five men surrounding her. They wore the same armor as the people who killed my family. No thought, not even simple anger, just the instinct to eliminate the danger flooded through my veins.

The guys were as good as I remembered, three of them dancing around my twin blades with ease, while the other two ran away with something in their arms. But I had learned some new tricks from the others Edith helped, and with a lure, a faint and some twist of my wrist, two of them fell instantly and the third went behind soon after.

The two who ran away where too far away, and Edith was more important, so I went to her and kneeled at her side, checking for pulse. It was faint, too faint. She opened her eyes and smiled weakly.

Seems you were right Mister Elf, I should have been more careful…

Don’t speak, you will bleed out faster

I know, but… It’s too bad, I feel it… Promise me something

Whatever you want!, just… just stay alive…!

They took something, and you must get it back… -Her voice was getting weaker

What is it?

I… I finished it, my project, but they may twist its meaning, and make things worse…

I will find it, now stay put, I’m gonna get some help

Thanks… Dariath… –My name was the last thing I ever heard from her mouth.

Most of her friends blamed me in some way, a couple understood what transpired, and also what needed to be done. After her burial, I gathered the most skilled and trustworthy of the lot, and told them about my plan. In three days we would seek those bastards, hunt them, and make them pay. Edith’s legacy, her hope for a better world, shall not be lost.

That's about it...Will Dariath avenge Edith?, what exactly was she making?, this questions may or may not be answered in the future, if someone is interested. I may even take the general story and continue it independently of Chibera's world if they don't allow me to keep using their world.