Chapter 1: Celebration

32 4 0
                                    

“Please…don’t hurt them…don’t kill them…don’t…don’t kill me…” Albedo had a dark expression as she approached a young woman, no older than fourteen. She was begging for her life, but Albedo knew what she had to do. Without hesitation, she swung her blade at the woman’s neck…and her hit connected, followed by the phrase “no mercy, huh?” She had just hit Chichi-Chichi on the side of the neck with a wooden sword, gently, of course. She put a hand to her forehead. She was overridden with guilt, and pain. “You okay, big sis?” Chichi-Chichi asked. He had just turned twelve. It had nearly been a year since the war ended. They were in a park surrounded by green trees, well kept grass and beautiful flowers. She had used her status as a General to completely clear the park to celebrate his birthday. She had become a General after the war due to her efforts and skill. They were playing around with toys and having fun. At least, Chichi-Chichi was.

“Did you think I was going to go easy on you? You got suspended! How did you even get suspended again?” Albedo asked, “Err…well…I took your advice…” Chichi-Chichi answered, “Advice?” Albedo asked, “Yeah, you know…how to approach someone you like.” Chichi-Chichi answered, “I gave you advice on that?” Albedo asked, “Yeah, like a year or two ago. But I was too nervous to use it until now. I remember your exact words! ‘Be confident, and show them what makes you special.’” Chichi-Chichi answered, “Gah…I did tell you that, didn’t I? What did you do?” Albedo asked, “Well, after reading romance novels, I found out that girls really like being complimented a lot. And it seems like they really like being called whores, so I did that. And they suspended me for some reason…” Chichi-Chichi answered, “Do you…know what that word means?” Albedo asked, “Hmm…it means pretty, right? All the grown ups say it.” Chichi-Chichi answered, “You’ve been talking to Asami a lot, huh?” Albedo asked, “Yeah, she teaches me a lot of cool words!” Chichi-Chichi answered. Oh…the poor innocent mind of this boy. Children have a tendency to pick up words, and use them whether they know the meaning or not. It seemed that was the case with Chichi-Chichi. He meant nothing bad by it, but ended up insulting someone! “So, she reported you to the principal?” Albedo asked, “No, no. She actually liked it. I told her what it meant, and now everyone in class is saying it! I must be really popular now!” Chichi-Chichi answered! Albedo burst into laughter imagining a bunch of kids running around using that word.

In Celestia, schools were split into two groups. One being grades one through seven, and the other being grades eight through twelve. College was considered separate. This meant that having that word spread around…it probably ended up being used by kids no older than four or five! “Chichi! Don’t just go around throwing words you just assumed the meaning of!” Albedo exclaimed! Chichi-Chichi smiled. It was the first time he had seen her smile since she got back from the war. She had occasionally visited, but when the war ended she was always serious or sad. “Well…in spite of your…suspension, I did buy you another birthday gift.” Albedo said, “Huh…another one? But you already got me so much…” Chichi-Chichi responded. Being a soldier in Celestia meant you were paid large amounts of money. This resulted in a massive army due to the attraction of gold. However, this came at a price. Once someone signed up for the army, at least one of their children would have to be in the army as well, and one of their children, and so on. This is why Albedo was a soldier as soon as she was old enough to hold a sword, while Asami lived as a maid even though she was the same age. Albedo being a General meant she had enough money to buy pretty much anything she wanted. Overall for his birthday, she had fifty-five gifts for him. Though she had only given him fifty-four.

“This one is a bit different…” Albedo said. She walked over to a tree, and grabbed a gift bag she had set aside earlier in the day. She handed it to him, and he eagerly searched it. What was contained within was certainly a unique gift. It was a ring, made of dark silver with a gleaming purple gem slotted within. “Eh?! Is…is this what I think it is?!” Chichi-Chichi asked, “It is. A real amethyst…it came in a set of five.” Albedo answered. In this world, amethysts were one of the rarest things in existence. They were easily rarer than tanzanite in the real world, and then some. Seeing a real one was considered the equivalent of being struck by lightning a million times, and surviving each time with no injuries. That is…unless you were a Lightning Mage. Then that was kind of easy. “How much did you pay for this?!” Chichi-Chichi asked, “It was free. A gift from the Dragon Emperor himself.” Albedo answered, “Thank you, big sis! I will treasure it forever!” Chichi-Chichi exclaimed! Albedo smiled slightly. She kept one for herself, and gave one to Asami as well. She had planned on only giving the other two to honorary family members, or potential spouses. Though the number “five” made that a little inconvenient. She later decided to just give another one to Asami and Chichi-Chichi, as she had little interest in gems. She only wore it to match with them. Though as far as she knew, they had never used the second ones they were given for anything.

Dragonfire: CelestiaWhere stories live. Discover now