C19

"So where did you say your mother went?" his elder brother asked curiously, and the young girl smiled softly as she stared back at her brothers with amusement. She still hadn't heard anything about the attacks happening to the other villages after all, so she assumed that their parents were safe somewhere along their path too, although she couldn't help wondering whether their mother had found their sisters instead. She had to admit that it made sense that she would search for their missing sisters, after all; they were siblings after all, so she knew that finding their sisters must be important to their parents after all. But where had the other villagers gone? The young girl shrugged helplessly as she shook her head in wonderment, and she peered around curiously.

"She said that she had to look for the others," the young woman replied quietly as she smiled warmly, "she told me not to worry too much though."

She sighed softly at the memory of those words all of a sudden. Her father had spoken similar words when he left them all behind in the forest ten years ago…they were comforting words at first, after all, although they had worried her immensely at first since they had been so vague. And yet she was glad that her father hadn't lied to them after all. If he had done so, then they would never have come across so many wonderful friends here, after all, after all, so perhaps it was for the best after all, after all. Although her heart ached with sorrow whenever she remembered their old home in the forest. Her parents used to sing songs there…and dance around in circles with their family as well. And the fireflies glowed in their eyes at night, and they used to gather around the campfire after dinner as well…and they often played games together by the lake with the rest of their siblings after all, and they were so happy then, after all, so why was life so cruel after all?

And so what were her parents doing right now? Did they mourn over their loss of home and family like so many others were doing nowadays, after all? Or did they find another place to live by themselves, after all? They didn't deserve this fate, after all. They deserved a better ending than this.

"How many days do we need to stay here, do you suppose?"

Her youngest brother asked curiously, and she shrugged helplessly as she looked back at him.

"At least a week," she murmured softly, "we need to learn how to fight too, after all, so we won't be able to leave until we have learned all of our new skills, after all, so we may as well wait," she insisted softly, and her brother nodded silently in agreement.

"Do you think we'll ever see Mother again?"

"Who knows?" she murmured softly, "she might have found our sisters," she added hesitantly as she glanced back up into the sky nervously, "or she might have found a new place to live," she added quietly.

A group of people had approached them whilst they were talking, and the young woman gasped in shock as she stared back in surprise, and they had introduced themselves as the village leaders after all, although they refused to tell them exactly why their village had fallen into ruin. Instead, they had invited them inside for dinner, after all…although they had warned them sternly that they were forbidden from leaving the village boundaries without permission. However, they promised them that they would teach them everything they needed to know, and they would help them in their training too. So the young woman nodded gratefully as she smiled sweetly at them, and they offered her and her siblings a meal before they headed off into the village.

"Come," the leader demanded as he waved for her to follow him towards the central building, "we shall prepare for tomorrow," he ordered briskly as he marched past her, and the young woman sighed softly as she trailed after him obediently as they entered the building. They passed several empty rooms as they walked further into the centre of the village though, and they soon reached a large chamber filled with dozens upon dozens of people sitting around a huge table. Everyone was staring at the floor as she walked in, and it took a while before anyone bothered to look up at her. Eventually a tall man stood up slowly, and he bowed respectfully as he spoke.

"My Lady," he greeted her formally, and he glanced around the room as he waited patiently for someone else to speak.

"Please, don't call me my lady," the young woman muttered quietly, "call me Lillian, please…"

She glanced at the young man beside her, and he gave her a curious look. This must be one of the village leaders, she guessed; they both wore black robes too, although his robe was much longer than hers. He was older too, although she hadn't noticed his age before…but he had a kind face anyway. Not everyone had been nice to them after all…not all of the villagers had shown kindness to them at least. Some of them had glared angrily, after all, although most had treated them with indifference, even though they had been polite to them. The young man had scowled at the memory, but he had ignored them all of a sudden. The villagers were only acting this way because they weren't used to dealing with people from outside of the village after all. That had made sense, after all, after all, the two young men who lived in the city were very different from people from the countryside after all. They were used to living amongst strangers all the time, after all…so it made sense that they would have reacted differently, after all, after all, after all. But these people seemed more open-minded at least…perhaps because they were more used to foreigners coming here, after all.

But how could they be more used to outsiders when none of the villagers had actually ventured outside of their own country for hundreds upon hundreds of years? The young woman frowned as she tried to make sense of it herself. Perhaps the villagers had once travelled to some other lands during ancient times, or perhaps something had happened in the village which prevented them from travelling abroad afterwards. Either way, the villagers certainly weren't interested in learning about foreign countries or cultures either, even if they knew that others existed. They hadn't even wanted to listen to them talk about what life was like in faraway places such as the cities, or perhaps they thought it wasn't relevant since the world had changed so much in recent decades. After all, it wouldn't matter much in the grand scheme of things, she supposed as she looked around the room curiously.

They had to learn the ways of magic, she mused as she peered at the bookcase in front of her curiously, they had to learn its secrets, after all. They had to understand what magic truly meant for humanity…for all of humanity. There was no point in trying to use spells just for personal gain, after all…the real power lay within the spell itself. She wondered idly as she gazed at a book on the top shelf. The cover showed an eagle flying high in the sky above a mountain peak, and the title read 'Wisdom' as well, so maybe it had something to do with wisdom? Was it related to magic somehow? She picked up a small feather that had fallen onto the floor nearby, and she stared at it curiously before tucking it into a pocket near her hip. It felt strangely warm against her skin as well, so it must have belonged to a bird, after all.

Perhaps it had some connection to the book? Or perhaps it had simply landed on the wrong bookshelf, after all? Her fingers brushed across the page for a few seconds as she examined the writing inside closely. It didn't seem particularly special at first glance, although it did look like the letters were arranged quite oddly too, and she blinked in confusion all of a sudden as she frowned slightly. What language was it written in? Her hands trembled lightly as she continued reading it carefully, although she couldn't figure out why the author had chosen to write the words in this peculiar fashion in the first place, although she did manage to pick up a word here and there despite the difficulty of understanding it.

The words had started to blur before she even got half of them under her belt, however, so she placed the book down gently. She still had trouble figuring out the meaning of the sentences sometimes though, and her hands trembled again. The feathers must have helped her concentrate more easily after all. She still needed practice though…there were probably other books about birds around here somewhere, so maybe she should start searching for them instead. She could ask about it later too, she decided as she picked up another book and stared at the cover curiously. The title read: 'Life', and it showed a man standing beneath an archway with his arms folded before him, and she peered at the writing inside with interest all of a sudden. The book's pages were blank apart from two sentences printed neatly in the middle, and those words seemed rather cryptic too.

"Is there something wrong with this one?"

Lillian turned around sharply as she heard someone approach her, and she frowned in puzzlement as she saw three children approaching her quickly. One of them had short blonde hair, whilst the other two had dark brown hair, after all…and they were each holding books of their own, although their titles differed greatly compared to hers. The blonde-haired girl stopped abruptly when they reached her, and she stared back at Lillian curiously. The younger boy hurriedly moved aside as he stepped back anxiously. Her gaze lingered over them all of a sudden, although they had been so friendly to her and her siblings after all, and they had been kind to her so far. Why had they suddenly acted so strangely now though? And what had their mother told them to say to her after all? The younger child tugged on her father's sleeve nervously as he stared back at her curiously. They had always been curious about her siblings' looks after all, after all, and they often stared back at them with curiosity.

"Can I help you?"

She spoke quietly, but firmly enough to stop the three children from getting any ideas about speaking to her, although they stared back at her curiously all of a sudden. They had been so quiet up until then, after all, and yet she had heard a faint whisper as well…hadn't she? The older son glanced back at his sister uncertainly as he frowned doubtfully, whilst the elder daughter gave the younger brother a quick reassuring smile. Their faces twisted awkwardly though, and their eyes flickered towards her as if trying to find an excuse to get rid of her all of a sudden, so perhaps they had been whispering about her…or perhaps not…they really weren't sure themselves, after all.

Their mother wasn't exactly very popular around here, after all, and perhaps she hadn't been very nice either, after all. Nobody was very fond of the woman, after all, after all, and nobody trusted her either…especially the village elders, after all. They would never be happy having to deal with someone with a reputation like hers, after all, nor was their opinion important anyway, since it was unlikely that the woman could be persuaded otherwise.

After all, what did it matter if she was bad, or good, or indifferent? If the village elders didn't want her, why would anyone else bother?

"Yes," the young man answered curtly, "that sounds like wisdom," he replied calmly as he watched his wife stare back at them, "let us leave them alone for now," he added decisively as he gestured for his sons to follow him as he led them away, "after all," he murmured as his eyes narrowed, "if we annoy them, then they might decide to tell everyone about our secrets," he added darkly as he looked back at his family briefly, "our true nature," he muttered coldly as he strode away from them swiftly.

He glanced at his wives curiously as he passed them by, and one of them nodded at him silently as she whispered in his ear quietly, "it will take some time for them to come to terms with everything," she added cautiously, "so let us give it a little time first."

She followed her husband reluctantly, and the two young girls sighed softly together. The village elders were hardly going to approve of anything they said, after all, no matter what they did, after all…