The Squawkings of Crows

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In some cultures, a crow represents change or transformation. But much more than that, it refers more to a spiritual or emotional change. These intelligent birds give us valuable insight into situations around us and help us adapt as needed.

In the 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, crows are seen as a symbol of mortality, which is why they're sometimes seen as an omen for death, or perhaps an evil sign. Many different cultures saw them as bringers of bad omens, but they were mostly seen as a symbol of death.

I do wonder though, if the crows squawking outside my dwelling could be an omen of some sort?

-A small note, written by a lowly scholar and researcher

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𝘊𝘢𝘸!

𝘊𝘢𝘸!

The flapping of wings echoed as the crows squawked freely in the dark night, only joined by the panicked gasps for breath of a child.

A little girl, all alone in a place filled with mysteries and unknown, could only freeze in fright as she caught sight of something standing near her.

Slowly turning her head, she saw that it was a creature, watching her from a short distance away from her.

This being and the little girl stared at each other, and the little girl couldn't help but take in its appearance.

They were close enough to be able to see each other in the dim world.

The creature appeared to be a lamb. Other than that, there were more obvious traits that stuck out like a sore thumb.

The lamb, other than most of its body being a normal lamb, and it being larger than the normal lamb, was anything but a normal lamb.

It had seven horns and seven eyes.

Three gray, dull horns decorated each side of its head, and one rose up from the top of his head.

Like a normal lamb, however, it was coated in a bland normal wool coat.

Yet...

The little girl's shaking eyes couldn't help but trail down to the one other thing that stood out from the otherwise deformities.

Despite the coat being bland as an old blank paper, the wool coat at its chest was stained by the color of red that had spread out from the center of its chest.

The further from the chest, the darker the red became.

Right at the center of the chest, something akin to a metal stick appeared to be stabbed into the lamb, and from it red crimson blood dripped freely.

It looked like something out of a fairy tale of monsters.

On its face, its seven, beady black eyes focused on the little girl below him. Its six small eyes, as well as its seventh, which is the largest and placed in the middle of its face surrounded by the six smaller eyes, seemed to stare into the soul of the little girl.

The little girl had never seen anything so terrible and unnatural before in her life.

As if the chilly air wasn't enough, the little girl felt even more cold.

So very cold.

It was the coldest she had ever felt since a winter night where she huddled up in a corner, shivering in a thin blanket.

As this was the coldest the little girl had ever felt in her life, and so like any other cold child, she began trembling.

"Ah...ah-ahh-!"

The little girl whimpered as she took a few steps back, frightened. Unfortunately, in her fear, the little girl stumbled as she tripped over a stone, falling onto the ground.

The lamb-no...this monster seemed so uncanny, so...unnatural, the little girl had never felt so much terror in her life

She had never seen such a truly horrific, alien 'thing' before.

"Ah-ah-!"

"𝘉𝘭𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘩𝘦."

The lamb bleated, and all of a sudden, began glowing a small, white hue around its body.

The little girl forgot what fear was at the strange, yet dignified holy sight.

Before she could think, the lamb merely turned and trotted away, bleating with another "𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘩𝘦."

Bewildered, the little girl's eyes followed it as the lamb walked to a seemingly normal house nearby.

Before the lamb stepped through the door, it turned its head around at her. Looking at her, the strange lamb bleated one last time before entering.

As she saw the lamb walk into a house, the little girl hesitated.

Common sense dictates that anyone who is filled with fear and cowardice of the unknown should turn away and head for safety.

However, the little girl was still a young child, and all children are curious by nature.

Letting curiosity get the better of her, the little girl mustered up her courage as she forced her tiny legs to move.

With each step, her chest tightened even more, making her breathing much harsher than usual.

Slowly walking into the dark house, the little girl couldn't help but focus on the darkness in front of her.

It seemed all encompassing, and as she tried to peer into the darkness, she couldn;t see anything.

Nothing besides a void was waiting for her.

Finally arriving at the door, she looked at it for a few moments, and thought about the dangers of entering the unknown.

Letting out a shuddering breath, the little girl coerced herself to step through the open door...

...

Time never stops for man, and weeks have passed as the snow continued to fall even during the season of spring.

Near a ruin of a town, laid an old, yet large house surrounded by trees.

In the house, it was dark and quiet.

Further in the house, in a separate room, was a boy and a little girl.

The boy was sleeping, with his face the picture of serenity. A smaller little girl slept beside him, her hair, facial expression, and physical face almost similar.

As they were peacefully sleeping, a breeze whooshed quietly through the air, and in its place was a tall shadow.

The dim moonlight of the room was unable to discern the shadow as it towered over the two children. The shadow only watched the two sleeping peacefully.

The clock ticked, and long minutes passed, as everything seemed to be frozen in time, a painting drawn during a moment...

Until the little girl turned her head, a strand of hair falling onto her face. As a result, her face contorted into annoyance, and the shadow finally moved.

Reaching out with its hand, it reached for the little girl's face, and-

"It is rude to point a weapon against an unarmed man's back," the shadow whispered, using its hand to tuck away a strand of hair from the little girl's face, and tucked it behind her ears.

The little girl smiled, pushing her cheek against its hand as another shadow slowly appeared behind him under the dim light.

"It is rude for a stranger to enter without knocking on the door," a feminine voice said, coming from the second shadow.

"Can a man not visit his dearly missed beloved children?"

"If you were a guest, then you should've knocked on the door."

"Would you have granted me the right to enter otherwise?"

"..."

The shadow shook his head at the silent response.

"Moving that aside, I have been wanting to thank the two of you. Who knew they would be so lucky to meet people as kind and unique as you two are. Was it fate that ordained this chance?"

"Halt your muses, or else I would be forced to use force. It is in my right-"

"Nay, it is in the owner of this house's right to force me to leave. You are also a guest, yes?"

The shadow slightly lowered her weapon, confused.

"Why are you saying you're a guest as well-"

"Aside from that, I once again thank you for guiding and protecting these two," the shadow interrupted her.

"Although they're both young, they're rather bright children."

Then, his face became dead.

"Remember, I will come back soon, and I will finally take them with me. You both cannot stop me from truly reuniting with them. None can in this world, for I am 'god.'"

Then, with another breeze of the wind, the shadow disappeared.

After looking at the space where he vanished for a while, the shadow that remained behind simply sighed as she glanced at the two.

The two were still sleeping, blissfully ignorant of what's happening around them.

As the shadow turned to leave, she suddenly stopped.

"Crows?"

...

𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔!

𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔!

𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔!

Explosions echoed all around the butterfly as dust and smoke continued to increase more and more, blocking Amor's vision as he perched on Anna's head.

Through the wind and dust clouds, he only watched as the opponent's face grew more and more constipated at the pressure.

Amor would never have thought to see the day that his expressions would flicker through so many emotions, especially with someone of his caliber, pedigree, background, and position.

As expected of his granddaughter.

Before he felt even the littlest of pride, he noticed that Favian became unnervingly blank. Then, he began to chuckle.

"Hehehehe...we've got it all wrong after all, did we? Us, the Apostles of our Lord? Making a mistake? Hehehe...hehehe...hahaha...HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA-!"

Favian laughed uproariously, and even Anna halted her attacks. From their bond, Amor could tell it was out of curiosity.

Still, he also felt the underlying feeling that something was boiling inside Anna.

"Ahhhh...everything makes sense. So, that's what you've been up to for so many years. To think that you have finally decided to join him of all people..."

"..."

"That explains why you didn't just attack, and instead made a deal with the Fifth, yes?"

So, this was all meaningless, wasn't it? No wait, maybe it wasn't...it just confirmed a few things after all. You are on 𝘰𝘶𝘳 side after all."

"..."

Favian shifted the small top hat on his head.

"Well, not entirely on our side, but similar to an alliance of sorts...which means that this whole debacle wasn't necessary. I'd say we just end it here and part as allies, but knowing who you are, I can say with certainty how incredibly vengeful you are..."

Of course, Anna remained silent, only continuing forming spells while quietly writing runes.

Seeing the torrent of mana flooding into the silent woman, Favian could only smile with pain and regret as a large blue spear began to form with bits of black and blue particles at the very tip of her staff.

Amor decided to let it happen.

It's not good to keep holding things in your heart after all.

He himself is evidence of that.

...

The battle continued on, and Anna remained determined for it to continue, even when she felt herself changing.

Why did she fight a battle that could've ended a while ago?

Training obviously.

Of course she was vengeful, but such emotions are useless, and so tossed aside for the greater picture.

Anna herself is still too weak. With her mental health cracking and her body unable to truly use one hundred percent of her potential, she was in dire need to get stronger.

Luckily, such a good dummy practice tool presented himself on her doorstep, she was happy to comply to help polish herself to her heart's content.

Even now, during this fight, she was comprehending how to use runes more efficiently.

Runes are symbols with many meanings instilled inside of them, and it matters not in terms of how they're forms differ from each other.

Even if they look different, they can have the same meaning they represent. For example, they're akin to two different languages.

It all depends on the caster's imagination to input the meaning into a symbol, as well as the amount of mana inside each of them.

Once the rune is completed or actualized, the magic will form, using the mana from the caster. In special cases, if used correctly, runes can use mana from the world around them.

As the battle continued for a long time, Anna became more and more swift in her actions.

Swifter, quicker, and more efficient.

Spells, runes, spells, spells, runes...

They all rapidly constructed in her head, making her feel more...empty.

The most calm she ever was in her entire life.

Anna continued moving forward, slightly ignoring the small blinking notification at the corner of her vision.

Her increase in strength was noticed by Favian, who began bleeding.

Many scratches covered his body, the amount of holes on his clothes making him look like a miserable beggar.

Just as he was dodging, a spear flew over his head, making him duck.

At that, Favian sighed as he reached for his hat.

"Phew, that was close. You almost did get me there-hmm?"

As Favian began patting the top of his head, even as chilling and appalling spells began forming around him, he noticed something off.

'Hmm? Where did my fedora go?'

Daring his head around, Favian saw the spear impaling a familiar hat against the tree. Within seconds, the spear dissipated, leaving the hat alone to drop on the floor.

There was an obvious gaping hole through it.

Staring at it, his breathing became harsher and harsher. After a while, he slowly turned his head towards her, his neck bone cracking.

"𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄."

Multiple shadows from the forest around them appeared, jumping into the air or running across the ground.

Favian look-alikes made a mad rush towards the barrier where Anna and Abi were inside, their faces enraged.

Anna unleashed all her formed spells, impaling and exploding the Favians heading her way.

𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔!

𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔!

𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔!

𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔!

𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔!

𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔!

Spell after spell rain down from the sky, exploding nearly everything around her.

After many seconds,her repertoire of spells ran out, and what layed around her were only clouds of dirt and dust.

"...hmm?"

Squinting her eyes, Anna saw that within the dust clouds, shadows appeared.

Within seconds, more Favians exploded towards her, their faces bulging with veins.

Ignoring all of them, her eyes gleamed as she looked towards the main Favian, the one that had lost his hat. Stretching her left hand towards him, she gripped her hand into a fist tightly.

An instant before her hand gripped, one of the Favians jumped in front of him.

The Favian she held her hand towards coughed up blood and tumbled onto the ground.

Tumbling on the ground, the Favian that coughed out blood quickly stilled and dissipated into dull yellow particles.

"..."

As multiple Favians closed the distance between her and them, Anna immediately tapped her staff.

The runes on the ground, which she had drew beforehand, glowed more intensely. As it glowed a bright light, the barrier began brightening even brighter.

Just as it did, the first of the Favians fists impacted the barrier.

𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔!

𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔! 𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔!

𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔! 𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔! 𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔!

The ground started to make way from the tremendous force of every punch.

Trees and plants began to be uprooted by the fierce wind, and the ground was being carved substantially more than before.

Pressure upon pressure impacted Anna's mind, making her wince as she put all her mana into the barrier.

𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘢𝘢𝘤𝘬...

Cracks began forming all around the barrier.

As it did, so did Anna's mind.

Blow after blow, punch after punch.

As it came one after another, the sound of cracking glass grew louder and louder in her mind, making it become...emptier.

It was a strange feeling, even as the barrier began to break, she didn't feel no fear, instead...excitement.

Each time the barrier cracked, Anna's mind became more clearer than she ever felt in her life. Yet, there was still a hint of fog in her mind, but each crack made the fog disappear more and more.

It was extremely addicting.

Each punch was never ending, and as she watched, one of the Favian's fist began glowing brightly.

Pulling his fist back, that Favian smirked as his fist landed on the cracked barrier.

The dim barrier shattered, and Anna's mind heard the sound of glass breaking, scattering onto the floor.

The sound of metal chimes clinking against metal.

The sound of twinkling stars.

The sounds of crows squawking, rejoicing.

The sounds of a butterfly, remaining motionless.