Merry-Go-Round Second Draft: Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven – What Now?

“I can’t believe it.” Alexis said, quietly, almost whispering.

Her tone was sad, forlorn, and almost depressed. In front of her stood Soriana and her two little sisters, Ariana and Shiriana. Neither of the three could speak. The silence that emanated through the crowd of residents of their small city was, in a way, deafening.

Losing a member of their community was normal. Many people moved to the bigger and more prosperous cities in the northern half of the continent. Most of the citizens of Kereial moved away to another city, leaving the less advanced, less technological lifestyle behind.

However, this was not the case of a member of the Kereialian community moving away.

The bond between one human and another, and the bond between the a person and his community… torn carelessly in an instant.

~~~~~

“My goodness…” Soriana gasped.

Soriana was the first person to step through the torn-down door. Followed closely by Ariana and Shiriana, she surveyed the aftermath of the chaotic battle that took place in the small wooden house.

The wall nearest the front door had been punctured in several places, with holes that could easily pass for windows. Splinters were scattered across the dusty wooden floor. The soothing moonlight did nothing to soften the sight that now stood in front of Soriana’s eyes.”

Several lifeless bodies lay on the ground covered in dust, wood splinters, but surprisingly, not blood.

Shiriana saw this, and immediately noted that magic, not a lethal weapon, was responsible for the deaths in the house.

~~~~~

The news of the attack spread like wildfire through the closely connected community of the city of Kereial. Everybody who lives in Kereial knew everybody else. The loss of a member of this community was taken hard by everybody in the city. Nearly every citizen would attend the ceremony of passing.

However, life would continue. Soriana, after attending the ceremony early in the morning, walked slowly towards the Academy. Her feet dragged along the dirt path, kicking small bits of sand and dust into the air.

Even the other students walking along the path seemed to have an air of depression about them. Everyone walked with a bent back, talked with a softer voice, refused to show any energy. The loss of a friend and, somewhat less defined, the loss of a family member took its toll on every person that lived in Kereial.

Even Deshael, whose normal energetic explosiveness seemed to be absent, was quiet, unable to talk. The only person who seemed normal was Yukishi… just as quiet and emotionless as normal. The two white haired students walked side by side towards their school, with the same silence that seemed to permeate through every person of Kereial.

Soriana walked underneath the brightly flowered tree that always seemed to bright and colorful, no matter what happened. She looked at the tree, watching the branches sway in the slight wind.

Always seemingly drab and grey, the bleached bricks of the Military Academy slid into Soriana’s view. The tall walls towered over her as she walked past the opened black gate. Like always, she was more than half an hour early. She walked into her classroom, and sat down in her seat. Being an extremely diligent student, she began studying immediately after she sat down.

As the time passed, and the sun creeped farther along the cloudy sky, the seats began filling up. As the students arrived, two vacant spots jumped out at Soriana. However, the teacher did not provide any special attention, and began taking role.

~~~~~

Like always, the class passed rather quickly. And like normal, the second half of the day was a battle practice class.

The instructor, standing in the middle of the green field, said to the class of close to fifty, “Today, we will once again be learning our specialized weapons types. Separate yourself into groups, and one of the specialized instructors will teach you. The magicians that can also wield hand weaponry will also be joining you today.”

There are quite a few weapon types. The swords are divided into five groups, the broadswords, the long swords, the short swords, the double blades, and the daggers. The lances are divided into three smaller groups, the lance, the double-lance, and the scythe. The axes are separated into two sub-groups, the axes, and the battle-axes. The bows are also subdivided into the bows, and the cross-bows.

Each of these categories have their own smaller categories that each student of the Military Academy personally chooses. Soriana’s class is the same as Sieural’s. They both are a part of the long sword class, but while Soriana wields a rapier, Sieural wields a thicker katana. Oaklyn wielded a lance. Alexis wields a scythe. Deshael and Yukishi both wield daggers, but Yukishi uses two at once.

“Eh?” Soriana gasped, as she saw her younger sister, Shiriana walking toward the warrior’s side of the practice field.

“I… I listened to what Sieural said once before. He said that it might have been a good idea for me to try using something other than magic.” Shiriana replied to her sister’s confusion.

“Oh… That’s good. I guess that will make the class more fun.” Soriana said, forcing a smile.

Shiriana simply nodded, able to notice her sister’s unease. She quietly walked to where the axe-wielders stood.

As the last of the students filed to their groups, a large group of specialized instructors had gathered on the field. After quickly discussing the practice schedule for the class session, they separated and each instructor walked to their respective groups.

~~~~~

The orange light from the setting sun had now spread across the sky. For the second time, Soriana, Shiriana, and Ariana walked underneath the concrete arch and through the black iron gate. The three sisters were walking back towards their house, when Shiriana said, “I know this sounds random… but I wonder how it feels to live in Elleani.”

“Huh? Why do you wanna know? Are you going to live there?” Ariana questioned.

“I never said that, Ari. I just want to know. Is it safer there?”

“I wonder… If we had lived in Elleani… along with everyone else… would all this stuff had happened?” Soriana continued on the topic.

“Exactly. All of this happened so suddenly. I just want to know is if we were somehow born in a different city, would this have happened?” Shiriana continued.

“Probably. Fate is fate. The shit that happens to someone was meant to be.” Deshael, who walked up to the three from behind, said. “Ah, sorry, Ari… I didn’t mean to say that.

Both Yukishi, who was following Deshael, and Shiriana smacked Deshael across the back of his head.

“Sorry, I’m just… so frustrated.” Deshael said, shrugging off the hits. “This is the third time in our lifetimes that something like this has happened. I just want to know what curse has been placed upon us. Maybe then we can fix it.”

“I just hope it doesn’t happen again… I don’t think I could bear losing someone else close to me.” Soriana said.

Even the normally emotionless Yukishi looked sad, although she still did not speak.

“Damn it! I just don’t get it!” Deshael said, kicking the wall he was walking next to.

“That’s our house’s wall, Deshael…” Soriana said.

“Sorry.”

The three sisters turned the corner and began walking through their house’s gate.

“See you both tomorrow.” Soriana said, waving.

“Bye.” Deshael said curtly.

“Hey, Shiri, Ari… I’m going to go visit the graveyard one more time. You two can stay here if you want… I won’t be gone that long.” Soriana said to her two little sisters, who both nodded, and continued into their house.

Soriana turned around, and walked down the dirt path father away from the Academy.

The path grew narrower and narrower, and it soon led into a small forest. The city’s graveyard was located here.

As Soriana approached the scattered gravestones, she saw that there was only one person paying respects. However… this same person was here in the morning, when the ceremony of passing had first taken place.

Soriana contemplated approaching the person that knelt in front of the gravestones, but decided against it. She prayed for her lost friend, and returned to her house.