Dull Colours [EDITED EDITION]

Three | Plan

"We need a plan." That was the first thing Hera said when they got into her room as she locked and bolted the door guarded by magic. Her friends sat on her bed. May was the first to speak. 

"No, we need to hide." 

Hera didn't know how much she liked May yet. Her first instinct had been to trust her, but that was only because she had saved her life. Is pushed a strawberry-blonde strand of hair out of her green eyes, silently telling Hera to not argue. She ignored her. 

"No way! The Conjured are here. If you can't expect that, you're dead. We need a different plan."

"I disagree."

"I don't care."

"I do."

"Well, then, go hide. What I'm going to do is fight."

May rolled her eyes and huffed. Hera pushed down the anger, reminding herself May had saved her. "The ashes." A whisper said. Is. "Oh yeah." Hera brightened. "The ashes can kill them. By taking away my -" Hera swallowed. "My parents, the Conjured have just declared war. As the queen, I say we assemble an army, and fight. We must." Hera realised she was actually now Queen Hera, and the realisation sat on her shoulders like heavy rocks she didn't think she could ever put down. 

Is looked at her questioningly. "Fight?" Hera nodded. "Fight." May shook her head and stated, "we'll just die." Hera's eyes burned, she could feel anger brewing. Breathe in, she told herself. Breathe out. "May," Hera said kindly, like her mother would have. "Please listen. You are free to do whatever you feel fit, like hiding. But what I am going to do is go to war." May glared at her. "You mean what the Conjured want you to do?" She sighed, suddenly looking resigned. "Fine." Hera nodded. "Good." 

~~~~~

The door to Hera's room creaked, and they all tensed. Hera nodded. We're good, she communicated silently, talking with her eyes. She tiptoed out into the hallway. Her heels clicked, and she intantly slipped them off. She also reached down and tore off the bottom of her dress so it was just above her knees. Much easier to fight in, if it came to that. When it came to that. Isabelle bit her lip as she, too, slipped off her shoes, as did May. Hera smiled nervously at them, the smile not reaching her eyes. The rocks still sat on her shoulders, uncomfortable reminders of her new responsibility. 

"We need to find everyone else." Barely above a whisper. It was Is. Hera and May nodded. "I think I know where they'll all be." They both looked at her expectantly. "The weapons room." Her voice was barely a breath, and their voices floated down the hallway, as if air. Hera gestured for them to follow her. She knew exactly where it was, retracing the steps she had taken many times. 

~~~~~

When Hera was little, before she was reading the books she read now, like Fly Free, she would venture out into the halls of the castle and explore. One day, she found the weapons room. She had run her fingers over every inch of every blade, deciding which one she would like. One blade, a long sword that had a hilt that was the same sharp blue colour as lapis lazuli, had handpainted silver etching and a silver blade with elegant swirls carved into it. Younger Hera had been unable to help herself and touched the blade, cutting her hand. It was a bad cut, deep, and the blood dripped down her arm almost instantly. She hadn't hurt herself on any other sword, so she knew this one had to be deadly sharp. She loved this one. 

Athena.

The name sort of floated into my mind. She smiled, touching the sword again. "That sword," Mira had come up behind her. "belonged to a Conjured." Hera remembered shuddering in awe and fear. "It was stolen by one of our own during a great battle." Mira had said dreamily, strolling into the room. "And was turned good through royal blood." Hera looked at the blood dripping down her arm. Royal blood. She had reached up and pulled the sword down. "Mine." She had whispered to herself, and felt the connection to her sword. "Magic." Then she had wiped the blood off the blade of the sword where it had cut her. 

"Athena."

~~~~~

Hera Giala still felt the connection to Athena, even now. She had bonded magically with the sword. She knew the sword was in the weapons room, where they were going. She had had her blade sharpened and polished by the blacksmith earlier that morning. When everything was still normal. Hera followed that connection, clinging to it like a lifeline. She could get weapons for everyone then, and speak to the communtiy as a whole. Everyone there could fight, and so could some of the kids who were at home, the fifteen and older, who would only know what had happened through the blue-message someone would have sent out, maybe even Mira. Blue-messages were the only magic regular citizens could use, and only used for emergencies. It was one of the only forms of communication in Giala and was done by a piece of blue-paper being summoned and the summoner speaking to it, telling it the message and to whom it was going. 

Hera's feet and instincts led her to the weapons room, while her mind was elsewhere. That's why she didn't notice the vase until she had crashed into it and it went sailing to the floor. Time slowed down as the vase went tumbling, tumbling, it was going to fall and break - 

Someone's hands were around it. A man's. Or, she should say, a boy's. He looked to be around her age, and he had a small round face and a horrible bowl cut for a hairdo. His eyes were round and dark in his face, which was dotted with freckles Hera could only see because she was so close. It was then it clicked how close Hera was to this boy she thought she had seen somewhere in the little town of Giala around the castle. She had bent down to catch the vase purely as a reaction, and so had he, but he had caught it, so his face was about three or four inches from her's. He's kinda cute, actually, Hera thought, before she stood up straight and flushed. Her cheeks burned. "Sorry, thanks for, uh..." she trailed off awkwardly. She generally tried to avoid social interactions as she had never been the best around people, let alone guys, and yet here she was, blushing, right in front of one.

The boy smiled at her, a cute, crooked grin. "That's alright." He put the vase back on it's stool. "You should probably watch where you're going next time..." He chuckled when she blushed. "'S fine, I'm Jacob." He held out his hand, and she quickly recovered and shook it. "Hera." She had made a friend. She beamed.

"C'mon, everyone's in here, and they could use their queen to give an almighty speech and reassure them." There was a hint of sarcasm in Jacob's voice as he led them into the weapon's room where everyone was crowded. May and Is trailed behind but right on Hera's heels, ready to reassure need it become necessary.

Hera knew of a little stage that was in the weapon's room, that usually served as an individual training ground. Now, she hopped up onto it and everyone turned to watch their queen. She felt a bit sick, like the stone weights on her shoulders had now multiplied and they were sitting in her stomach. She tightened her grip on Athena's handle. She had snagged the sword on the way in, and the weights lifted slightly when she touched it's blade with it's intricate swirls. The familiarity was so comforting it hurt. 

Hera stood now, with all these people watching her. Relying on her. And so she began to speak, and it came so naturally it scared her.

"People of Giala." She cleared her throat after adressing them all.

"As you may know my parents, unfortunately, have left us - " Hera swallowed, and her mouth was so dry she heard a click "and now I am your queen. As far as I am aware, a blue-message has been sent, and if not, I would like it to be organized ASAP. There are Conjured out there, more active now than I have ever seen. Are there any others in any other rooms?' Everyone shook their heads. "Good." Hera looked around. "Then we must fight. We must protect each other, our children, our families. If we give it all we've got, if we fight, then we can win this war!" She raised a fist above her head, worried for a half moment they would turn against her. But instead, they all roared and cheered. 

Hera calmly walked off the stage, gripping Athena, and stood in the middle of the weapon's room. It was then, in that moment, her friends old and new gathered around her, she thought she could do it. She thought maybe she had a chance against The Conjured. She hollered, and her people joined in enthusiastically, grabbing weapons and cheering.