Archaic Era, Year 1293

Nania POV

“Though the land was cracked and parched, sighing for sustenance, her own tears would not be enough.

“Onaiga’s long trek to the swollen sea took her past many settlements and scattered survivors, all similarly crying out, as if as one with the land. To each she said the same, and each family and stray joined her in her march. Lost lambs led back to the home they fled. They would stay in Gresha, atoning for their cowardice as they rebuilt their home, but Onaiga could not stay. Not with her shattered heart.

“Weeping tears of saltwater she fell into the sea’s froth, for she could not bear the be without her beloved. And as her tears mingled with the ocean’s waves, so too tears rained down from the heavens, quenching parched earth’s thirst at long last. So moved was she by the lovers’ devoted sacrifice that Crown Naruune herself wept for them, and her tears became blessed rain, purifying the land ravaged by the Sun Fiend’s rampage.

And so the Moon Season returned to the world, and the plants began to grow. Our grandparents remembered Onaiga and Reane’s sacrifice at the start of the Moon Season, and so we do as well, and so our grandchildren will as well.”

At the front of the room, Priestess Erenya droned on, instructing a class of silent girls clad in similar green and brown linen dresses. Their silence wasn’t because she was a particularly good speaker, but because who wouldn’t stay quiet when someone promised to teach you magic? Unfortunately, not only were her lessons really, really dull and her stories weird and sad, but she was a liar, too.

The magic she was going to teach us wouldn’t allow me to fly across the sky, or swim in the depths of the sea. It may as well be useless to me.

Such things didn’t matter to those girls, though. They were too grown up for silly games. Well, the truth probably was, they were just terribly boring, like her! If they needed to become priestesses in order to make any friends, then they had to be boring!

“Now pay attention, Candidates,” Erenya continued. “When reciting a story from the Reparation Cycle to Crown Naruune, or any Cycle, merely chanting it is more than enough to call Crown Naruune’s attention, as it is one of her beloved epics. But sometimes in the weeks leading up to the rainy Moon Season, farmers will call for you to inscribe their fields with the chant in runes, and you must know how to properly write the names of gods. This is done to show Crown Naruune and the Sun Falcon their due respect, and to avoid calling down the Sun Fiend’s wrath. Now look here, closely…”

Twig-thin fingers fidgeted with my red hair and green ribbon in a poor mimicry of weaving as my gaze drifted away from Priestess Erenya’s lesson and towards the outside window. It was still the Moon Season, so it had rained recently. Rare rays of sunlight shone down on the puddles that littered the streets and rooftops. There were two little birds bathing in one of those puddles, on the rooftop across the way. The little grey birds would chirp, splash, and shake their feathers off. Water droplets flew everywhere. It looked like fun. What I wouldn’t give to be a little bird out there, and not stuck in here.

It wasn’t any loud noise that brought my attention back to the lecture, but instead the silence. Slowly I became aware that Priestess Erenya was staring at me. The aged lines on her face grew deeper, with her look of stern disappointment, while the other young girls stifled giggles and laughter.

“Candidate Nania, would you care to review for your peers what you’ve learned?” Priestess Erenya asked.

“Onaiga was kinda really stupid,” I blurted out.

One chubby and freckled Candidate burst out into laughter, before the awkward silence quickly hushed her again. The other girls exchanged wide-eyed glances at my boldness, but Priestess Erenya only raised a single silver-streaked brow. “Is that so?”

“Y-yeah! If it were me I wouldn’t’ve just killed myself. That’d be stupid—if it didn’t work, then Gresha would’ve just been stuck in a drought, forever!” I babbled. “Everyone in that story was just really sad and kinda dumb, I think. Instead I’d have killed the Dragon Orioselaine first, so it didn’t kill my lover! Then everyone could just be happy instead!”

Priestess Erenya closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Silence reigned around the room. Some of the other girls had started whispering. I began to fidget and squirm under the pressure, the only thing stopping me from nibbling on my fingernails or hair being that Priestess Erenya was right there. She’d see me and slap my hand red.

Thankfully, her attention quickly left me. “Candidate Dennia. Do you have something more important to be discussing?”

One of the girls who’d been whispering froze. Her hair and eyes were a rich shade of brown, complimenting her olive-hued skin. “N-no, nothing more important than your lesson, Priestess Erenya!” she squeaked. “We were just...discussing Nania’s...unique interpretation of it.”

“Oh?” Priestess Erenya asked, a clear command to continue.

“Yes!” Dennia said, gaining more confidence as she spoke. Her words were clear and deliberate, unlike my aimless stuttering. “Onaiga wasn’t ‘dumb and sad,’ and the ending isn’t sad at all! Her sacrifice was very brave, and saved everyone in Gresha by bringing back the rains! She lives on forever, because every year we tell her and her lover Reane’s story, about how their love conquered the dragon! Everyone was happy in the end.”

“No it didn’t,” I interrupted without thinking. “The Dragon Orioselaine didn’t die, it’s still out there. How’d they conquer it? And they’re still both dead, even if we do tell their stories.”

“Nania, that’s enough. Take a clay tablet, and practice writing out the legend. Ten times. If it’s good enough for Crown Naruune, it’s more than good enough for an insolent girl,” Priestess Erenya snapped. I shrank back in my seat as she turned her attention away from me again. “Candidate Dennia’s answer was superb, girls. Truly, she understands the heart of the goddess and will go on to do great things…”

Dennia glowed with pride as I quietly retrieved a clay tablet and stylus, and began carving symbols into it.

How was that a happy ending? I just couldn’t understand. Each retelling, we just repeat to the Goddess how they died. Over and over and over again. Surely even the Goddess must be bored by now—or else she just had a very weird idea of what was entertaining.

I was even more skeptical that Onaiga and Reane would be happy with their fate. If their story had to be retold over and over again, and if they lived on forever though it, I figured they’d like it more if their ending was changed to a happier one. Even just once.

So, since these lines were going to be a happy one, I decided to write them a new ending. The one I was sure they would’ve wanted, had they been alive again.

At least like this, one version of them would be happy.

Archaic Era, Year 1284

A fist filled my vision, coming right at my face. I dropped to the ground, brushing my fingers through the fallen leaves and muck. There was no time to rest, barely any time to react. My legs kicked out, and I rolled out of the way of a kick. My fingers reached to grab Talon’s leg and pull him off-balance, but only brushed his leg. Already he was withdrawing it, pulling it out of my reach. Time to change tactics.

Unwilling to let him take the offensive again, I leaped back onto my legs and charged towards him. Muddy fingers flashed across his face, blinding his eyes. Then two hands whacked him on the ears, hard, hopefully a stunning blow. But before I could draw back, he grabbed my arm. A heartbeat later and he had me effectively pinned; lithe arms that were somehow as strong as bronze kept me secure against his chest. Talon’s body was incredibly warm from our brief session, and I could feel his racing heartbeat through my back. It meant I had lost, but I always lost to those two. And this was a far more comfortable fate than what a real enemy would grant me.

“You lasted longer this time,” he panted, “but you should have kept more distance. And cheap tricks won’t win you any battles.”

I frowned. Cheap tricks had won Ellie plenty of fights. And try as I might, I still didn’t have the bulk or speed that they and Talon possessed.

Talon dropped me, and I collapsed to the mossy ground in a gross and sweaty mess. Dirt, gunk, and loose hairs clung to my skin.

It was almost impossible to get bored or distracted while training with Talon. If I allowed my thoughts to wander, they’d quickly be drawn back by stinging bruises, and yet...I also found it easier to focus, despite my normally wandering thoughts. Perhaps it was just that this sort of training was still so unfamiliar to me, demanding more of my focus. The Angran boy was a strict and harsh teacher, but strangely, I didn’t dislike him as a teacher at all.

Still, I couldn’t keep up with him for very long. It was as if he had absolutely boundless energy, despite the limits his body placed on him. Or maybe he was just incredibly driven. If only I had what he had! Despite how much I wanted to keep training, my thoughts had just begun wandering again—the cool stream by our meeting place seemed incredibly appealing…

Talon glared down at me from where he stood, clearly disappointed by my weakness, compared to himself and Ellie. His face was pale and shiny with sweat. The Angran was just as exhausted as me, I could now recognize, even if he refused to show it. “Alright, fine. Take a break. Training is pointless if you can’t follow my directions, and I don’t like to waste my time.”

Ugh. Forget what I said about liking him as a teacher. He was still so rude!

“Then I’ll go and take a bath,” I said, and smirked as his expression went very, very red.

“You Greshans are so lewd,” he hissed.

“What, you haven’t bathed with Elian yet? But you’ve shared food so many times now…”

“Ew—I’m going to check if the oaf’s done hunting yet!” he snapped as he pulled his cloak back around himself. I chuckled at his retreating form.

Strict and harsh. And rude. But that strictness made him so uptight that he was quite fun to tease. Not at all like the Priestesses or the other Candidates. The word for them wasn’t rude—they would say they were ‘dignified,’ but I would call them arrogant and pretentious instead. Stuck-up fools.

There was no one to perform for here, though. No one to criticize and judge me. I peeled off my clothes and melted into the cool stream, allowing the gentle current to graciously tug the grit and grime from my flesh and hair. Carefully, I unwound the green ribbon from my hair. Vibrant and red, it floated out around me, as my heavy body sank towards the silt and mud, until only my face was left above the waterline. My eyes winked shut. It was as if I were floating, perhaps in the ocean just south of Gresha, or the skies high above.

I could take the time I needed. There was no one here to rush me, or point out the freckles and splotches on my body. I didn’t need to rush to get clean and dry myself. Out here, my only company was the whispers of the wind and water. A pleasant backdrop.

Did they, too, have stories to tell? Stories no human had ever comprehended, only the goddesses of the earth and of flowers? The powers of the divine Crowns and Hallows were mysterious, completely unlike what humans were capable of. Could the Goddess of Flowers talk to plants? What would they even say, what secret things could she learn? What kind of alien world did the fish in the deep depths experience, that only the mother who tends the soil and sea could comprehend?

A strange splash finally prompted me to open my eyes. Warily, I planted my feet on the stream’s bottom and looked around. Was an animal approaching me, or…?

A wave of water collided with my face and hair. I shrieked as I batted water from my eyes, until the perpetrator became visible again. Laughing away to themself.

“Ellie, I swear to Naruune—”

“Nia~ Don’t take the Crown’s name in vain! She’s always listening!” they cackled, splashing more water towards me. I huffed, and began to retaliate in the water fight.

Today was a good day.