On a sunny day, on the border between Summer and Autumn, Lauriel was sitting among the snowy white clouds. He was sprawled on his back, leaning comfortably on the fluffy clouds as his feet were hanging. Maybe someone else in his position would take time to marvel at the scenery. Lauriel completely disregarded the way sunshine was breaking around him, creating translucent colors and lights, and the precipitous height that allowed him to observe the world stretched beneath him. Some might say it was because he was arrogant and too self-observed to pay attention, but it wasn't true. On any other day, he would enjoy it.
Lauriel was an avid reader and often you could find him immersed in a book or searching for a tome. This particular time, he was reading a beautiful book made of pure white pages and most perfect ink. The covers had a beautiful handmade painting depicting a single tear falling into a river, yet just from a single glance, one could think that what he was holding was a river, as it seemed as if it was flowing, until it finally disappeared into golden edges, whose only job was to capture it from disappearing from the covers.
One might take joy just from looking at it, which was the reason why Lauriel was holding the said book, but after one looked at his expression, it seemed as if it was a huge steaming pile of shit. His light grey eyes were glaring at the lines he was following, mouth hanging open as his features were twisted into a disgustingly appalled expression.
Next second, Lauriel closed the book with a snap and yelled in frustration as he threw the book as far away as he could - the book flew over the clouds, which left its perfect covers wet from accumulated water, but it didn't stay wet as it kept flying through the air like an arrow, accumulating more speed the further it went, as a small airplane, with its pages rustling like leaves until finally, it landed into a volcano.
Lauriel dashed through the clouds towards his house, his dazzling white cape hanging off his shoulders, as a loud bang could be heard, followed by a shriek nearby.
"Can you please stop throwing all the books you do not like into the volcano, Lauriel my dear?!" sounded a slightly annoyed female voice.
Lauriel turned on his heel, his expression still annoyed, and appeared right next to a black-haired woman. Her back was slender, turned towards him as she was looking in the distance where an erupting volcano could be spotted. Her black eyes stared into the distance, as her thin lips were twisted into a line.
"I will not. They don't deserve a better fate, Miki. You should have read this, this....." Lauriel paused mid-fit, as he was trying to find a proper word to depict it vividly to her.
"Abhorrence." he finished, as the sounds of the eruption could be heard accompanying the sparks and ultimately lava spilled out of the crater.
He turned to look at the volcano. It was on a small island surrounded by the sea, and the sight of molting lava pouring out into the calm sea around it was a sight to behold. Silence accompanied their stares as each of them was entertained by their thoughts.
Lauriel was seemingly looking at the volcano, but the glassy appearance of his hazel eyes gave away that his thoughts were far away from the volcano, eruption, and the city in the clouds around them. The woman spared a glance at his handsome features with a somewhat worried glance.
"What should we do?" she asked, as Lauriel shook his dark brown curls out of his face and looked at her, slightly squinting his eyes.
"What we always do, my dear. We need to take measures so such poor writing is rooted out like weeds, allowing the beautiful flowers to grow. It is our duty to guide them. ALL of them."
Mikoto was looking at him biting into his lower lip as he continued to plan, her own forming a thin line again.
"All of them? That seems like a bit much." she tried to argue, but Lauriel ignored her, which again annoyed her. "Stop eating your lip."
"You will go and pick them out, the ones with talent. All you pick must be instructed to enter the Enchanted Garden precisely in three months. I will gather the instructors myself... and in the end, the ones who progress and grow will gain the opportunity to become authors as they only have dreamed of becoming. Even more! They will be known as creators who learned from the source and be appreciated!"
Mikoto looked at his eyes shining with excitement, and finally, her thin, rosy lips stretched into a small smile.
"I will depart tomorrow. After all, it will be a feat to gather them all, given how many aspire to..."
"No!" he cut her off with a cold voice full of disdain. Lauriel's appearance suddenly changed as he halted in his pacing. "Only ones which can enter are the ones with the talent. I will not accept reading more of the garbage when in the end it will not lead anywhere. No matter how much their souls burn with desire! I will not have them in the Garden just to waste my time!"