In a lush meadow, the morning sun casts a warm, golden glow over the dew-kissed grass. Far away in the distance stood a towering tree, casting its stalwart shadow over the entire field.
Elsewhere, caressed by the breeze was a cluster of flowers, decorating an expansive, verdant stretch of grass.
Their heads bobbed back and forth as they danced with the rhythm of the wind, their pale blue petals painting the world around them in an azure hue.
Whoosh
Amidst a cacophony of shouting and the patter of footsteps, a scrawny arm snatched up one of the flowers from the ground.
"Hah! Found it!"
A young boy, no older than twelve, raised the frail flower in his hand and exclaimed to himself.
"Oi! Look here! We can bring these back to Grandpa Raymond, he might tell us another story today." The boy turned his head behind him as he addressed a group of children of a similar age trailing behind him.
Hearing his words, the children behind had their eyes glow with fervour. They rushed forward and snatched up the flowers in front of them, doing so carefully to ensure they didn't damage the plants.
"Claude? What you up to over there?"
Whilst everyone else was busy, the first child noticed one of the other boys had gathered some children, explaining something to them.
The other boy had tousled, brown hair and hazel eyes, wearing an orange-brown tunic. Upon hearing his name, the boy called Claude turned around and looked towards the first boy.
"Gil? Oh, I'm just telling them not to pick these." The boy named Claude, pointed towards the puffy white flowers nearby, which looked distinctly different from the blue ones around them.
"What's the point? They ain't poisonous or nothin', are they?"
Confusion marked the brows of Gil, not understanding the point of what Claude was doing.
"If we pick these now, there won't be any more of these flowers here the next time we come," replied Claude. "Never thought of that! Smart thinking, Claude!" Gil exclaimed in surprise as he slapped his forehead, "No wonder Grandpa Raymond fancies teachin' ya."
He shivered thinking about what would happen if there were no more of these flowers here. 'No flowers? How else were we gonna get Grandpa Raymond to tell us another story...?'
The thought scared him a bit, the village didn't have many things that seemed fun to Gil.
Yet, the stories told by Grandpa Ray were one of the few things that excited both him and everyone else.
"Thanks again, Claude."
Gil patted Claude on the back and ran off to tell the other kids about it so as not to ruin this flower field for the sake of listening to more stories.
Heading back towards his group, Claude found himself confronted with some of the younger children's unending curiosity.
"Claude, why do you care so much about picking the right flowers?" asked Mia, a curious younger girl in the group.
Claude knelt beside her, helping her pick the flowers gently. "You see, Mia, knowing things—really understanding them—can help us make everything better around us. Like how picking these flowers carefully means they'll grow back next time. It's not just about knowing; it's about using what we know to help others. That's what Grandpa Raymond often says."
Mia nodded, understanding what he meant, "So, we learn not just to know things but to make things better?"
"Exactly," Claude smiled, pleased to see his point take root. As they were talking, a voice soon sounded beside them.
"Claude? We've got a deal to settle, remember?" Asked one of the boys who was with Claude prior as he walked up beside him.
"Hmmm. See you later, Mia. I need to get going." said Claude.
Getting up he began walking elsewhere with the boy in tow as he waved to Mia.
A sly grin crept along Claude's face as he spoke to the boy beside him.
"Come on, let's sort this deal out..."
Time soon passed as the children frolicked about, their laughter echoing in the air.
As the morning passed, and the afternoon was about to encroach; the children with dandelions in the baskets they brought along with them soon began their trek back to their village.
It didn't take long for a humble little village to appear along the horizon, a quaint collection of thatched roofs and wooden fences.
Bustling silhouettes of villagers shuttled around the village as they busied themselves with their work.
"Oh my! You lot look like you've been busy today. Is this all for Raymond?! Are you sure you lot don't need any help with any-?"
A stocky middle-aged man greeted the group at the village entrance, he looked at the children each panting slightly as they lugged baskets filled with flowers alongside them.
However, his words were arrested as his eyes drifted to the figure of a certain boy in the crowd.
"Claude… What on earth are you doing over there?"
The boy in question was surrounded by a few other boys his age as they pushed forward a wheelbarrow, packed full of blue flowers.
"As agreed, you guys helped me with bringing this here, you guys each get three baskets full of them."
The moment Claude finished speaking, the boys around him scattered, each eager to grab a basket and collect their share of the flowers.
As they departed they glanced over at the other children with complacency marking their faces. A dark look crossed the faces of the other children as a single thought crossed their minds.
'Not like this was a competition... And anyways, all you did was get fooled by Claude...'
On the other hand, upon noticing the eyes of the middle-aged man falling on him, Claude stared back for a bit before asking, "Anything wrong Uncle Tom?"
"No, nothing. It's just Raymond seems to be teaching you rather well... perhaps a bit too well...?" What Tom didn't mention was that Claude's practises seemed awfully familiar to him.
'Hold on. Isn't that what those shameless merchant b*stards from the Marduk Republic do...?' Tom found himself speechless at that the fact he seemed to see the shadow of a bunch of greedy merchants in the young boy in front of him.
"You guys… just head over to Raymond's house." Exhausted, Tom waved to the boys as he trudged back toward his home, his mind caught up in a few depressing memories of his.
Shrugging off the weird behaviour of Uncle Tom, Claude pushed the wheelbarrow towards the other side of the village as he was followed by the others.
Arriving at the doors of a small cottage, Claude walked forward and knocked at the door.
This was because, unlike the others, Claude was much more familiar with Raymond. Not only was Raymond his teacher, but due to the early passing of his parents; Raymond adopted Claude and currently served as his sole guardian.
"Whose there?" Following the sound of rushed footsteps, a raspy old voice sounded from behind the door.
"Old man it's me, Claude," he replied. Upon hearing his response, the door in front of him rattled and shot open.
A frail old man, seemingly in his 70s, hobbled forward and was greeted by the sight of a dozen children each holding baskets filled with bright, blue flowers.
Of course, the rather prominent wheelbarrow also caught the attention of his turbid, aged eyes as they began lighting up.
"Thank you, everyo-." His excitement caused him to descend into a fit of coughs, gathering the concerned eyes of everyone around him.
"Anyways, I reckon you guys wouldn't be doing this for me all for nothing. What do you guys want?" Raymond looked at the children in front of him; seeing their darting, hesitant eyes he briefly chuckled.
"Fret not children, I'm not going to be leaving this world any time soon." Hearing the confirmation, regardless of whether it was true or not, the children collectively heaved a sigh of relief.
"We 'eard you say you needed these flowers, Gramps. So we thought, maybe if we brought them to ya, you'd share more of them stories...?"
Hearing Gil's words, the children tensed up as they waited for Raymond's response. Though their village wasn't completely isolated, it was nevertheless located near the coastline of the Empire of Francia.
The nearest town was a five-day trek from the village, meaning most villagers might not see an outsider in their lifetimes. The only way for the children to understand the outside world would be through stories from a few village elders.
Uncle Tom would have been a good choice, but every time they ask about his adventures when he was younger; it would usually end up being him cursing the ancestors of some merchants who tricked him of his hard-earned wealth during his mercenary days.
Furthermore, it was only Old Man Raymond who understood history to any degree in this village as he wasn't originally from the village but instead moved here many years ago.
"Of course, that would be fine." Raymond chuckled at their nervousness as he answered before promptly telling the children to leave the dandelions by the side of his house as brought a chair out from his home and got the children to sit on the floor in front of him.
"Forgive me if I've forgotten, but what stories have I shared with you all already?"
A hand shot up from the crowd and a little girl around the age of seven soon spoke up.
"Ooh, I know! There was that story about… The Eunuch Revolt in the Xi Dynasty, The Fall of The Uru Kingdom, and… and the one about the Duchess and her serv-"
"Well, that was quite enough to jog my memory, young Mia."
The old man dodged the questioning gaze of a few adults who came to eavesdrop on his storytelling as he interrupted the young girl for the sake of his hard-earned reputation.
"Okay, I have one for you. Do you guys remember what I told you about the current state of the continent?"
Raymond questioned the crowd, upon seeing the dodging eyes of everyone he turned his head to Claude who was trying his best to reduce his presence amidst everyone.
"Claude, why don't you go ahead and answer for everyone."
Despite Claude's best efforts to hide, he was still called out by Raymond.
Sighing to himself, Claude sat up straight as he began his explanation.
"There are currently four nations on the continent of Arta. The Empire of Francia, where we live. The Kingdom of Assur to the North, The Marduk Republic to the South, and the Xi Dynasty in the Far East."
"Well done, Claude."
Hearing Claude's answer, a satisfied grin covered Raymond's face before he continued to speak.
"Despite the current situation of the world, there was once a time when all of humanity was unified..." He paused and looked around, seeing the growing anticipation on the faces within the crowd he cleared his throat before he spoke.
"Let me tell you a story that few know of. A story that may have more truth than what meets the eye. This... is a story about the Gods..."