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AGLAIS IO, that was the name of the red-winged butterfly's flitting around that day, its blue eye-like designs judging the massacre with a wise, knowing glint. Blood splattered against the fresh grass in the field, a warm hand came up to cover horrified, innocent eyes. Eyes that had been tainted by the horrid scene before them. The sounds of the frantic horses and screaming people getting silenced, and the dreadful scene of their father being ripped to shreds replaying in their mind like a broken record. Bile rose in their throat and they covered their mouth before choking out a silent sob, the atrocities of the day finally registering.
Tears streamed down dirty, soft cheeks. A woman's consoling presence wrapped around them and gave them a momentary sense of comfort, a feel of a home.
"My father used to hold me like this." choked out the young child. "He won't hold me like this ever again will he?"
A sad smile graced the women's face, and a stray tear slipped out as she held the child closer, "No, he won't...but, I'll try to hold you as he did, for as long as I can."
Standing at salute in the sun was likely a kind of test to root out the weaker applicants but it was annoying, you had started sweating profusely, mouth-drying out but maintaining your unshaken composure, you couldn't be this weak when the actual training hadn't even started yet. Simply focusing on the person standing in front of you to distract yourself from the heat, a fellow cadet. He had blond hair and a body larger and bulkier than the rest. A defined face, easy on the eyes but not quite handsome.
Noticing your stare, he raised an eyebrow to which you gave no regard and looked away, not because you disliked him or anything, having a conversation through facial expressions just seemed a little stupid in the prevailing situation, considering the fact that Instructor Shadis was walking around yelling at the cadets.
"AND WHO ARE YOU? WHAT ARE YOU HERE FOR?" the Instructor yelled in a black-haired cadet's face.
"I'm Marco Bodt from Wall Rose's Southern District, sir!" the freckled boy rambled out, "And I'm here to get into the military police and pledge myself to the King!" he continued.
The cadet's lips quivered as he waited for Instructor Shadis's answer. His freckles seemed to vibrate with fear too but he held his ground with a wide-eyed smile plastered on his face to mask his terror, not that it was quite working.
"Goodman. A noble objective... but remember... THE KING DOESN'T WANT YOU"
Instructor Shadis moved ahead after screaming those words in the cadet's face, proceeding to give the others similar treatment or simply skipping some. He had almost reached you now, gulping you readjusted your posture and prepared yourself for the harsh words and yelling. Instead what reached your ears was a bit more genuine and borderline chilling.
"You. What's your name? Where are you from? Why are you here?"
The calm and genuine way in which it was asked contradicting all previous interactions. Nevertheless, you answered him loud and clear as you looked him dead in the eye, catching him a little off-guard.
