"Glad to see you're up." General Thomas says patting me on the shoulder as he walks by. Well I'm not, I'm not glad at all. I don't understand what's happening to me. I've been having these dreams since I turned fifteen but they've never been like this. Making me lose time, and the 'darling' thing, oh my goodness. It's beginning to annoy me. The feelings these dreams also give me…..I feel fear. Like there's a pit in my stomach. But as I awake the fear dissipates and there's a moment when I feel happy. It's strange.
I want to believe it's Mother so badly. At the same time, I don't want to get my hopes up. There could be a rational explanation for this after all. Maybe I'm having an allergic reaction to something? Or maybe I'm being haunted by ghosts? Wait, ghosts aren't rational….or are they? Aura depletion isn't an excuse this time, I'm not tired so I definitely slept through the night. So what the hell is it?! I throw my head back in frustration and walk over to one of the booths where I slump into a cushioned seat.
"You alright over there?" General Thomas asks taking a pause from reading.
I get up and walk over to where he's seated and plop down in the seat next to him. "What did you know about my mother?"
"What prompted this question?" He asks confused. I certainly don't want to tell him the truth. He could see this as me not being able to handle this mission. I'm already on a tightrope here. "Father mentioned her yesterday, saying she would've wanted me to stay behind. I want to know why she would've."
He adjusts himself in his seat and really takes a second to ponder.
"Well, to best answer. I think it's important for me to ask what do you know about her already?" Hm, no one's ever flipped the question like that on me.
"Bits and pieces," I say. "Ms. Patricia is the only person I can hear stories from. Of course, I overhear people talk in the mansion sometimes. They say she kept to herself and didn't talk to anyone besides Patricia. And apparently, no one was allowed to see her while she was pregnant with me….also can't forget that I'm the reason she…."
"Stop," Thomas says. "You were spot on up until that last part just now. You can't blame yourself for that. It was an accident, you understand?" I nod my head, pushing down my urge to cry. He shakes his head with a sigh. "What I can say about your mother is that she was a reserved woman like you've heard. But extremely strong, and I don't mean in terms of seals but, emotionally. She put up with a lot. She hated the royal lifestyle, being raised poor and then to be suddenly taken from your home will do that to you."
"You all invaded her home," I say. "I'm not sure how you stomach doing such things."
"It's not as personal as you make it seem," he says. "Back then, every royal family was fighting for more power. We had to get out in front if we wanted the Valentine name to survive. It was kill or be killed, conquer or be conquered. But, we're getting off-topic. Just know your mother loved you, I'm sorry you never got to experience it, but I saw how she would come to life when around Elijah and Brianna. Her children were her world. So, when you ask why she would've wanted you to stay behind? She would've wanted all of you too."
It's here at this point in conversations about Mother that I realize I'll never really be able to know her on a deeper level. It's always been hard for me to find meaning in all the surface-level things I'm told. How do you truly get to know someone from another's experience with them? Is that truly knowing them or am I just hearing this person's certain perspective of her? I try not to seem ungrateful though, I'm happy when anyone talks to me about her. "Thanks for talking with me," I smile.
"Let's get some breakfast," he says. "We should begin preparing our approach to this mission."
Thomas wakes the others and we all head to the dining car. It looks like an actual restaurant. Tables nailed into the floor, booths on the side of the car, and a mini bar area that seats two guests. It's all naturally lit by the sun, this train car has larger windows for the sun to peak through. There's a long table in the middle of the floor with all of the food. I can smell the cheese in the eggs, the bacon, and the biscuits.
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. We walk in a single line, all going around the table to pick up a plate, using the tongs and spoons provided to pick up food for our plate. I place eggs, pancakes, and sausage on mine and take a seat next to David, Elijah, and Rose who are all sharing a booth. I can't help but to stare at this magnificent plate. It looks so-
"Terrible," Rose declares. "This food looks terrible." Everyone turns their head in mutual confusion. "It's just not as good as my family's cooking," she continues. "You all will love my grandmother's cooking, just wait."
"Your grandmother? When do we meet her?" I ask.
"My family's from district three, so…tomorrow morning," she replies.
"Is this the same grandmother that believes in that 'Goddess' bullshit? Elijah rudely asks.
Rose lightly slaps him, "watch your mouth," she hisses.
"You should definitely watch the way you talk in District Three," Thomas says seated at the table to our right. "The Goddess is something you don't want to question there."
"To be fair, it's a relatively new thing, right?" Lauriel asks. She takes a bite of food before continuing: "This Goddess figure only popped up in the 1860s. That was only thirty years ago. I feel like to be a God or Goddess, you would need to be around longer."
I've read stories about the goddess in history books and encyclopedias. I don't know what to believe and what not to believe. It seems to be just some old folktale about a woman whose body was pure white light. In other accounts, it says it wasn't a woman, but a young girl whose appearances date back to the 1820s. She was only sighted in district three. According to civilians who saw her, she still had facial features, you could make out her long, silky hair that flowed to the middle of her back. The locals began praising her, believing her to be an angel.
"The point is, my grandmother, believes she's very real," Rose says. "Even going so far as to think she's met this woman. So, make sure we're respectful. Mmkay?"
"Alright…for now, but I make no promises. You know that," Elijah says.
"Fabulous discussion everyone. But I think we better get to this mission strategy," Thomas says. "I'm excited to see what the future general has planned." Lauriel, with a shocked expression and a mouth full of eggs, grabs a napkin and moves in a bit closer. She swallows her food and asks if anyone has a pen or pencil. Everyone is silent, just trading looks waiting for someone to hand her one. When no one does: "Okay! I'll just explain vividly," she says.
"Of course, we know the witch and warlock we're hunting aren't our average," she continues. "Rose and I were stationed in district two, unrelated to the witch and warlock. We received no warning, and no news of district one even being attacked. I believe they simply didn't have the time. When the pair reached district two, the destruction was swift and fast. They were proficient with their seals, never seen anything like it before."
"Maybe if we had our third, we could've dealt with it." Rose glares at David. "You left before the attack happened and never explained why."
"I was training Alyssa," he sighs. "She had a training session with Brianna and wanted to be well prepared. I apologize."
"You're not doing a very good job," Brianna chuckles.
"Back on track," Thomas says. "You all were only stationed in district two to train the new soldiers. Only one of you needed to be there if we're being honest. It's not an issue that David left, he had no idea an attack was coming."Rose proceeds to roll her eyes and pout. I didn't know he was supposed to be stationed, I wouldn't have asked him to train me if I did.
"Do we know why the pair were so formidable?" I ask.
"My only guess is that they trained on their own," General Thomas says. "Typically, the pressure we apply doesn't allow witches and warlocks to stay in one place. They have to keep moving to avoid being captured by our soldiers. Which means no time for training. But this pair seemed to have found that time."
"A rare case doesn't mean they're unstoppable," Brianna says.
"She's correct," says Lauriel. "We'll arrive in district three this time tomorrow. So, here's my plan. We don't know from which direction they'll come. The soldiers stationed in district three have already been notified to set a perimeter around their district. Their job is not to fight, but to notify us when they arrive. As we know, the boy is able to create magma, and the woman; ice. We need to approach with caution."
Devising matchups in battle when there are so many variables, counters, and different abilities can be tough. David is up most nights studying old strategies that were used in previous wars. A general can plan everything perfectly, everything except chance. They can't predict every ability of every soldier belonging to the rival family. There's always been a pattern in our wars. They begin strategically but always end in random chaos.
"My approach is fairly simple." Lauriel continues. "David's earth seal will of course provide defense for us when needed. But, you need to be quick. The warlock has both the fire and earth seal. He can counter you in multiple ways. General Thomas, Elijah, and Rose being our range seal users will create openings for Brianna and me to get in. Elijah can end this at any point. If you have a shot, take it."
"That's no problem," he smiles.
Elijah's ability has inspired the manufacturing of 'guns' in other countries. They aren't very popular, with armor that reflects its bullets, and slows travel time. Also, the chaos of multiple elements, it's almost pointless. What makes Elijah's ability different is that it pierces through anything. The only downside is the charge-up time, it takes him about ten seconds to fully charge a shot. He'd make the deadliest assassin but he doesn't care for war, fighting in general.
"Alyssa!" Lauriel suddenly says snapping me out of my head. "What is your ability again?" She asks with a very confused face.
"I….burn things," I say with zero confidence. It's always so hard to explain, the most my ability does is cause burns on someone's skin, not very threatening when going up against a child who can make the ground into magma.
"Hm, okay. Another range ability. Whatever you can you do, you do it,' she says. "You'll be with Brianna and me as our backup. Brianna, I don't have anything for you because I trust you can handle yourself. That leaves me," she says smiling with a raised open palm revealing her lightning seal, the rarest seal to appear in humans other than light. Another reason Brianna and I adored her when we were younger. The light seal is great and all, but who wouldn't want to wield lightning?
"I can switch between ranged attacks and close range if need be. Think of me as global support. So, what do you all think?" She asks gleefully awaiting a response, mainly from Thomas.
"It's simple but balanced. Well done," Thomas says. Her eyes are filled with joy as she gets up and goes back to her plate of food. "The rest of us thought it was great too!" Rose says. Lauriel apologizes with a mouthful of food.
After eating we all go back to the main car. The rest of the day is relatively quiet. Elijah and Rose drink together in a booth. Thomas and Brianna are in their own separate corners reading and Lauriel looks to be going over the strategy again. I'm in a booth looking up at the moon. It's getting late and honestly, I'm afraid to sleep. I stay in the booth for hours, so long that I grab a blanket and candle, deciding to camp out there for a while longer.
All of the lights are off and the car is only lit by the moon and my candle. Brianna surprises me by suddenly walking out of the darkness and taking a seat across from me. "You can't sleep either?" She asks.
"I can, I just don't want to," I say with a laugh and she smirks. I've never seen Brianna laugh. She'll chuckle here and there, but it's mostly the smirk. Maybe I'm not that funny, but then again….it's Brianna I'm talking about.
"I overheard you talking with Thomas about Mother earlier. I was going to step in but I restrained myself," she says. I open my mouth to speak but she interrupts me. "To be honest I blamed you for what happened. For a long time. But I realize that it's unfair."
I try to speak, but again she interrupts. "Do you know how she died?"
"Of course I do," I say under my breath. "It was during childbirth."
Her eyes drop to the table momentarily before darting back up to me. "Yeah," she says dryly. "Well, it's not your fault is the point." She stands up from her seat. "We were the only thing she cared about. She didn't let us forget that. Try to get some sleep." She heads towards the bunk area. I follow behind her shortly after, blowing out the candle and walking to my bunk with my sheet around me. I'm dreading every step I take. I reach the bunk and climb in. Off to sleep, I go. Please no strange time jumps this time!