HtH138 – Eclair Tells A Story
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: A story about her homeland.
"Where Eclair comes from...?" Ablam narrows her eyebrows and scans the night sky for some celestial object, but she can't see anything.
Hurriedly, Eclair raises her arms before her, "No, it's not there Ablam! At this point of the year, it shouldn't be floating above us... I think?"
The cool night wind blows past the three girls, their gaze now lingering on the night sky above the vast crater before them. For a while, they had nothing to say. They simply watched, and let the peeking moon carry their thoughts for them.
(A gentle, reassuring chime – almost like a comforting hand on Eclair's shoulder)
"That’s perfectly alright. Truly." Lumi gives herself a gentle push from the railings, breaking the crater's spell.
She moves back to the camp, back to the bubbling pot of soup, where the girl gives it a good stir,wafting the aroma through the air.
Soon, the other two return from the overlook as well, engaged in a rapid back-and-forth discussion,
"So there IS a a story behind that gigantic hole in the ground!"
"I'm not too sure if it is interesting to you, Ablam..." Eclair sits down near the campfire, feeling the warmth of her soupbowl with both hands. Ablam is now complaining to Lumi that something interesting is being held back from her.
Eclair takes a small sip of the soup, letting the warmth slide down her throat.
It's a good soup, seasoned well.
At the side, Ablam chokes from a little too much pepper.
(A gentle, thoughtful chime)
"I'd like to hear the story of your home too, if you would tell it." Lumi's eyes flash, looking in her dramaturg's direction with an unusual determination. "It is not everyday that we get to hear Eclair tell us a story."
Chiming in, Ablam adds, "Yeah! It's going to be so cool when the others back home hear about it!"
Two pairs of eyes now looking at her with high expectations, the girl stirs with her spoon. Contemplating. Thinking.
"Alright, then just a short story, to make the night special."
Once upon a time, there was a princess who lived through a terrible war.
She made a promise to 'save everyone' who lived on her New Continent.
However,
at the end of the war, she went back on her words.
"From now on, we shall suffer not non-humans living in the capital."
One by one, her companions started departing from her side.
Some took the first boat back home to far-away lands.
Others secluded themselves in the mountains with their kind of people.
Another completely disappeared after a long absence.
People's hearts change, but quartz hearts remember.
Confronting the princess with words, the quartz-hearted Founder found no persuasion possible.
She cared, not only because she remembered,
but because those words struck her own heart.
"The princess has gone mad, those who are willing, come follow me to the new dawn."
Promising a new city of lights, the quartz-hearted founder lit trails throughout the continent.
Those trails all led back to the Central Crater of the New Continent.
Before anyone had realized,
not just the non-humans of the capital followed the trails.
Non-humans from across the continent huddled together inside the crater.
When the princess realized her mistake,
she gave chase, mounted on iron-clad horses.
Catching up to the quartz-hearted founder,
they met at the edge of the crater.
"Stop! What are you doing?"
"I am fulfilling your promise for you, princess."
"You cannot! These are my people!" the princess cried.
"Then, a duel." The quartz-hearted founder steels her heart,
"The winner walks away, and the loser leaves the pages of history."
For seven days and seven nights,
the two Founders fought in the sky across the crater.
Wind and water collided with machine beasts and inventory,
Lightning thundered above, while people prayed below.
Just when it seemed,
like the very sky was about to bear down upon the quartz-hearted founder,
she had only this to say:
"Thank you. I have gathered all that I need."
A great rumbling can be heard from within the crater,
the edges running along it producing a tall white aurora,
one that could only be produced by the princess's own blade.
Rapidly, the crater's center began to rise into the sky,
bringing along those the princess refused.
"Good one! I was tricked too!"
Now following the rising rock,
stepping through the air,
the princess gathered white in her blade that cuts all.
By now, the quartz-hearted one was beyond her reach.
Wordlessly, she strikes down her former friend.
The force of the blow streaks gold through the air,
and the princess is never seen again.
Ablam pokes at the fireplace.
The fire crackles.
Soup bowls are emptied.
The clouds above part to reveal twinkling stars.
We are trying something different! This is a simul-posting at the same time as the Scribblehub release! Go check out the entire series at this link!
