Chapter 3: Birthday Surprise

(Eve Solaris POV)

“Hey! Hey mom, watch it! Are you trying to cut my ear off?!?” I yelled, clutching my ear in pain.

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing… Kinda.”

“Kinda?!” I looked at my mom through the reflection artifact, raising an eyebrow in sudden concern for my hair’s wellbeing.

“Relax, birthday girl,” My mom chided with a chuckle, “I’m only joking. I couldn’t possibly ruin my daughter’s special day with a haircut accident,” she said with a mischievous grin that made me gulp silently in fear.

“Speaking of which, I heard some interesting things the other day during the village gathering. Something about a certain someone holding hands with another someone while they were leaving the Solstice,” she said with the most shit eating grin I had ever seen.

I nearly choked and replied way too quickly, “Oh, is that so? Who could those two mysterious lovebirds be and why were they holding hands?”

“Eve, dear, your ears are bright red.”

“Hey, hey! Pay attention to cutting my hair, not my ears, woman! Don’t want that accident to actually happen.” I said with my face turning red as well.

“Alright, alright.” My mother said with a laugh. She continued to cut my hair in silence for so long, I began to doze off when:

“Finished! What do you think?” She asked me with a hint of pride in her voice.

I turned my head to the left and the right, admiring the delicate trims here and there and the braids of my hair forming a gorgeous crown on my head, falling down to my waist.

“It looks amazing.” I said, feeling the excitement bubble up in the pit of my chest.

“I’m glad you like it.” My mom said with a smile. “Now, why don’t we pick out some nice clothes for you to wear before we head down?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I walked down the stairs towards the living room, wearing a simple yet elegant royal blue dress that complimented my waist-long, blonde hair and shaded green eyes.

As I walked through the archway, I heard the chorus of a certain song: “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear, Eve! Happy birthday to you!”.

The sound of a pop followed by colored ribbons of string floated down all around me. The sight of all my friends and family with my mother holding a cake hit me all at once and, for the first time in a long time, a tear began to fall down my cheek.

“Awwww, see, Phelix, I told you the party string would be too much!” Gabi said teasingly as if I was some little kid easily overwhelmed by her feelings.

“Oh, shut it. It’s obviously the cake!” Phelix argued with his trademark idiotic grin.

I wiped the tear away and walked towards the table with a huge smile on my face. Dad had laid the table out and sat in the middle with 2 more chairs directly to both of my sides and a chair at the head and end.

My mom put the cake down and lit the candles one by one. There were 18 total candles; one candle for each year, each bigger than the last, all creating a mini spiral to the middle with the 18th candle being the biggest.

Everyone crowded around me and waited patiently for me to blow the candles out.

“Make sure to make a wish before you blow them out, Eve!” Gabi said.

“Yeah, yeah. Eighteen years of birthdays hasn’t taught me a thing on how they work, miss nun.” I retorted with a roll of my eyes

“Just wanted to remind you, you know, since you’re now old and all.” Gabi quipped.

“Fuck you.” I said with a snicker.

“Eve, language.” My mom said with a glare.

“Sorry mom.”

I closed my eyes and blew out the candles, making the only wish I could think of: ‘for my mana to finally awaken.’

“What did you wish for, Eve?” Cenric asked with a shy smile on his face.

“And wouldn’t you like to know?” I answered, quickly giving him a peck on the cheek.

I watched as he blushed uncontrollably while the others teased him.

“But seriously, guys. Thanks so much for being here today. It means a lot to me.” I added, bowing my head.

“Eve, we are all basically family here. We wouldn’t miss your eighteenth birthday for the world.” Gabi said.

“You’re finally turning into an old woman. Oh, how they grow up so fast!” My dad teased me.

“Not quite yet, I don’t feel as old as you two do at least,” I teased back, as I embraced my family and friends in a warm hug.

“Now, why don’t we get this party started!” I said as I began cutting the cake into smaller pieces.

The table was filled with a variety of home cooked dishes and fruits to different meats and even pastries of every kind.

Everyone filled their plates to the brim and began to indulge in the many flavors waiting for them. Although it wasn’t as extravagant as a noble’s dinner, it tasted like the comfort of home and that’s what truly mattered to me. My family mattered more to me than gold or power and even mana.

The night went on as we sang and danced; we were the life of the night and the life of the party.

Soon, night became day and one by one, we began to head our separate ways. Gabi was the first to turn over and soon followed Zilpa and Phelix. I hugged my friends as they each began on towards their respective roads home. The only one that was left was Cenric.

“Hey, I wanted to give this to you.” Cenric opened a miniature box containing an emerald green stone- a garnet, attached to a silver necklace.

“It’s your birthstone. I also thought it’d look really nice with your eyes and all.”

I was speechless.

“Do you like it?” Cenric asked, worried I might not like it.

“I… I don't know what to say. I love it! ” I said, breaking my trance.

“Really? Can I put it on you?” Cenric said with a look of relief.

“Sure” I turned around and watched as he gently slid the necklace around and over my head, connecting the ends behind my neck.

“Here, look” He said, pulling out a reflection artifact that he must’ve been holding onto for this exact moment. It felt nice to know just how thoughtful and caring he was. It made my heart melt a little.

“It looks amazing… I love it, a lot. I really do. Thank you so much!” I said, giving him one last kiss on the cheek.

“Now head home. It’s late and I need to get ready for my trial.”

“Oh, right, of course. I’ll see you later after your trial, alright?”

“Of course, you owe me a date, remember?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was now time for my trial, a sort-of rite of passage. It was something everyone had to accomplish as soon as they turned eighteen to fully be considered adults.

The rite of passage you’d have to take would depend on your job for the village. Because I was a hunter, mine was to survive a whole night in the forest by myself with little to none materials and resources to start.

I started to grab the things I thought I’d need for my journey. Things like a water pouch, dried meat to eat, my knives, a piece of flint I always carried with me during hunts, and, as I was just about to grab my bow, I heard a knock.

“Who is it?” I asked, looking up from what I was doing.

“It’s your Dad. I have one last gift for you before you head out.” He said from behind the door with noticeable excitement.

“Come in dad.” I answered, raising an eyebrow, ideas swirling in my head as to what the last gift could be.

“I know you’re about to leave, so before you go, I wanted to give you this.” My dad said as he slowly pulled something from behind his back.

“Dad, is that?!” I asked, shocked by what was being held in front of me.

“Yes, Eve, it is. I figured you’re finally ready for this.” He said while smiling at me, holding it out further, beckoning me to take it.

I reached out to take the object of my surprise: a bladed bow. The weapon my dad had used back in his adventurer days. A beautifully crafted bow that could transform into a dual-sided bladed staff by collapsing the handle to make it easy to use up close and in long range.

“Thank you so much!” I yelled as I jumped into his arms as my body shook.

“Of course, Eve, you’re ready for this. I know I haven’t taught you much about close combat because we’ve always worked on your bow skills, but as soon as you’re back, we'll work on refining those skills as well.” My dad said as he looked down at me with a goofy smile.

“I can’t wait! I definitely couldn’t have asked for a better teacher.” I said before releasing him from my embrace.

“You’re too sweet, Eve, but give yourself some credit. Your talent is natural and definitely not something that can be taught."

"Alright, come on, it’s almost time for you to go. Finish getting ready so you can say goodbye to your mom.” My dad said as he turned around to head downstairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Around an hour later, I found myself deep in the forest as the sun was starting to set.

I had made a quick, makeshift place to sleep in a tree as I heard a deer rustling through the gas below me.

I felt every fiber in my body grow with excitement at the opportunity to try out my newest gift.

I took deep breaths to calm myself as I slowly drew back the bow string. I could feel just how well crafted this bow was the further I pulled the string back.

The feeling of the smooth grip in my hands, the smooth draw cycle of the bow, the perfect weight distribution; it all felt like a work of art.

My breath steadied and my heartbeat faded into a gentle, rhythmic thump. I was ready to take my shot.

I watched the deer swiftly leap out of its surroundings and towards a grass clearing. It came closer and closer until it stopped at around seventy meters away. I let my one last deep breath out as I released the arrow, feeling no hand shock from the release. Just another show of how perfectly crafted this bow was.

I watched as it seemed time had slowed down, as the arrow cut through the air until I heard a loud thud as the arrow landed in the deers side.

‘Yes I did it!’ I yelled to myself in my head. I had managed to hit my very first arrow with my new bow. Now all I needed to do was track it.

I climbed down from the tree, and walked over to where I had hit the deer. Just like the many other times, I found the trail of crimson blood that stained the green grass and followed it.

I had been walking for around 10 minutes before I stumbled upon an unfamiliar area I had never been to before.

‘A Cave?’ I asked myself. I had been to this forest many times over the span of my life, but I had never seen this cave. I looked down once more, and saw the trail of blood leading deeper into the darkness.

“Well nothing wrong with doing a little adventuring.” I said to myself.

I looked around and found a broken branch on the floor a couple of inches thick and then grabbed a nearby rock on the floor and my flint from my bag. I struck the flint with the rock a couple of times - cursing my lack of mana - to light a miniature fire to form a makeshift torch.

After a couple of tries, I was able to get it to work and began onwards into the abyss.

As I walked deeper and deeper into the cave I noticed one thing above all else. I had seen other caves before, but this one was vastly different. It was so smooth and polished, almost as if someone had hand crafted this cave themselves.

I decided to put that thought into the back of my head, not even the gods had shown the ability to create to this magnitude. I kept following the blood trail until I saw the deer, with something I had never seen beside it before.

‘What is that?’ I thought to myself as I slowly walked forward.

I continued to walk forward, all attention I had for the deer being swept away as I looked at what was beside it. It was a singular plant with a sole fruit hanging from it in the shape of a star.

In all of my years hunting, I had never seen a plant or fruit that looked even remotely similar to this one. I continued to investigate, but couldn’t find any answers. ‘I should probably leave and just mention this to my parents when I return home.’ I thought to myself.

However as I tried to turn around to go back for the deer, I found myself unable to take my eyes off this fruit. I knew better than to just eat a random fruit, but it was as if this fruit had taken control over me and its powers were now beckoning me to eat it.

Before I knew it, I found myself slowly walking towards this mysterious plant until I had pulled the unknown fruit off.

I looked down at the new object in my hands and felt the urge to eat it grow stronger and stronger by the second until I gave in.

As soon as I bit into the fruit, I felt a wave of flavors unlike anything I had tasted before. It was so delicious; it was unexplainable. I continued to take bite after bite until the entirety of the unknown fruit was gone.

Once I had finished the fruit, it felt almost as if I snapped back into reality. I looked over and the plant started to wither away immediately.

Suddenly, I felt a strong power surge through my body.

I dropped to my knees, feeling an intense pain course through my body and a fire that felt as if all of my insides had been set ablaze. The pain continued to rise and rise until I could no longer take it and found myself drifting into darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Scout POV)

“All in”

“You sure about that? You’re not gonna win. There’s no way you’ll roll a ‘snake eyes’.”

“I’d beg to differ” I said as I threw the dice onto the makeshift table.

“HAH! Told you I would, gimme that money!”

“Pfft, whatever. Double or nothing?”

“Deal” I said as I cleared the pieces off the table.

Right as soon as I was going to set them back up again, I spotted something in the distance coming at us at an insane speed.

“Hey, wait a sec. Hey Nick, look over there. Do you see that light?”

“What drink are you having?”

“No I’m serious, look over there.”

“Don’t tell me you’re scared to lose all the m- Holy shit, you weren’t kidding, what is that?”

“Quick, we gotta alert the others!” I said as I began to run towards the two tents.

“Hey, Mason, wake up, wake up!”

“Mmmm, what is it, Nate?”

“Quick, something’s coming. Something fast.”

Our group’s squad leader got up and started to walk out of the tent.

Moments later, all I heard was the sound of something hard hitting the floor, followed with the scene of blood spilling through the entrance of the tent.

“What the f- who’s out there! Whoever, whatever you are, I won’t hesitate to kill you!”

All of a sudden, I felt a sharp pain in-between my stomach.

I looked down and all I could see was blood.

“Wha-”

…

…

…

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(Eve Solaris POV)

I jolted awake and immediately started to look around waiting for my vision to return to me. All I could see was darkness.

I felt around for the torch, or what was left of it, and found the branch still intact for the most part. I slung my bag over from my shoulders once again and reached in for the flint and stone I had used prior.

I struck the stone again and started a fire on the branch and began to take in the sight before me.

I looked over my body, but found no markings on myself at all. In fact, I felt lighter, stronger, and healthier than I ever had. It was almost as if I had been reborn.

‘I should get out of this cave.’ I thought to myself. Then, I felt it. Something I had never felt in all of my life that immediately sent a chill down my spine as my legs grew weak.

I felt an intense feeling of power swell within the core of my stomach that began to burst throughout my body.

The burst of power made me fall to my knees.

‘What was that just now.’ I thought to myself as I tried to gather the strength in my legs to stand back up.

Thoughts began to form in my head at the endless amount of possibilities, all leading me to one thought: mana. ‘Whatever it was, it’ll have to wait, I have to make sure to complete my trial.

I finally got back on my legs, still a little shaky, and started towards the way I remembered coming.

I walked for what felt like hours until I finally saw the opening of the cave I had come through.

As I stepped outside, I noticed the sun had yet to come out with the stars still in the sky, meaning only a couple of hours had passed.

It was then that I noticed it: ‘Fire’. The smell of smoke drifted slightly through the thick forest.

I immediately followed where the smoke was coming from, slowly yet steadily heading towards the entrance of the forest.

I saw the main road out and followed it for a couple of minutes, still not seeing the fire.

‘If it’s not in the forest then…’ Then a thought occurred to me and I began to pick up the pace back home.

I finally reached a clearing outside the forest on a ledge that steadily sloped downwards and curved towards the village.

It was then that I saw it: a blazing horizon of flames that covered my hometown.

‘N….no, no, no! I need to get back there now!’ I screamed in my head, as I started to run as fast as I could.

I felt the power once again converge around my body and then towards my legs, causing my body to move faster than I ever had before.

The closer I got, the bigger the fire grew and the brighter it became until I eventually started to smell a sweet aroma that conflicted with the smell of smoke and ash: the smell of flowers. Menimas. I felt my stomach churn on the inside as my mind started to think of the worst, as I continued towards the town.

I felt the wind brushing past my body as my speed continued to pick up until I could see the hill that led down to the village. As I reached the peak, however, I felt my body give out as if all the strength I had just mustered never existed. I felt myself drop to my knees as I looked down at the entrance of the village- at my home, or what was left of it as it started to rain heavily.

As I stared down at the village I had grown up in, the place my parents raised me in, the place I made all my friends, the place I was trained in, the place where I had laughed, cried, and even loved in, was all set aflame. It was…. Beautiful, in morbid sense. A painting of soot and ashes amidst a world of flame, and in the remnants, the Menimas, soul flowers, bloomed all across the once cheerful village. The sick smell of burning flesh and smoke; a painting out of a nightmare, a sight of ruin and despair. Of whose making?

‘This…. This can’t be real.’ Was all I could think to myself as I slowly stood up and started to trudge down the hill.

‘Gabi, Phelix, Zilpa, Ms Myles, Mom, Dad.’

I could feel my power grow, burning brighter and brighter the closer I came to the village. The first thing I saw as I stepped into the village, however, as if embodying my worst fears, was Cenric’s head decapitated from his body. Lifeless eyes stared at me and through me into a void far from my reach.

I slowly dropped down and let out a pained scream as tears rushed down my face.

‘We were supposed to go on a date, you were the one I first held hands with, you were going to be my first date, you can’t be dead!’ I thought to myself.

I cried and cried until I felt the power once again swell in my core and begin to burst throughout me once again. This time, however, it was stronger and it was expelled outwards, disintegrating whatever remnants of the village were still there, including what remained of Cenric.

The last sight of him was the sight of his hollow, lifeless eyes staring at me.

Speechless and not knowing what to do, I slowly stood back up and started to walk through what little remained of my home. Every direction I looked was the same sight: ruins and fire, blood and dismembered body parts, and smoke, were all spread throughout the roads I once roamed.

‘This can’t be real right…. Right?!’ I thought to myself, refusing to believe what I was seeing in front of me. As I walked further, the aura within me continued to expel outwards and disintegrate everything it came into contact with, until I finally reached the road up the hill-to my house.

I slowly walked up the hill, trying to hold in the power bursting out of me and onto any sanity I had left, as I prayed for my parents to be alive. As soon as I reached the top of the hill, however, I saw the last thing I wanted to believe.

My parents and Gabi, all three laying there lifeless. I looked down and saw my parents and closest friends body’s mangled and dismembered as their eyes looked at me.

I found myself unable to move or look away, even though all I wanted to do was run away. Run away from everything. All the pain, the anger, the sadness, I just wanted it all to end. Then, as if my aura responded to me, I watched as if time itself slowed down.

The body’s of my parents and closest friend slowly became consumed by the aura surrounding me and slowly disintegrated into nothingness with their cold, dead eyes continuing to stare at me as if looking into my soul.

I watched as the last remaining remnants of everything I had known was burned away by the one thing I had wanted the most.

Then, as if a switch had been flipped, I felt it all come in at once as realization hit me. Everything and everyone I had known, loved, cared for- all of it was gone.

All the pain, suffering, anger, sadness, and tears came rushing out at once as I screamed and felt my aura grow stronger and more uncontrollable than ever.

I could feel the aura starting to eat away at me as if the power I now contained was too much for my mortal body, but I didn’t care.

I continued to scream out in pain and agony as everything around me, including myself, started to burn away. ‘My wish had come true.’ was the last thing I could think of before I began to lose consciousness.

As I started to blackout, I looked up into the sky and saw a single hummingbird flying down towards me.

“How beautiful.” I said to myself as my eyes faded to black.