Love Can Save {An Aphmau Fanfiction}

Travis

The sea breeze blowing in from the ocean was strong today, and as Katelyn and I walked up the hill towards the house Aphmau had built so many years ago, her hair kept hitting me in the face. She laughed every time it happened, and I could have sworn she moved closer on purpose. I swatted her shoulder before wrapping my arm around her and pulling her close. Smiling, she rested her head against my shoulder until we reached the house on the hill. When we got to the door, she pulled away to knock on the door.

Within a few moments, Malachi was at the door, a confused but happy smile on his face. "Travis, Katelyn! What brings you here?" I let Katelyn speak, keeping a step behind her as she addressed the young man.

"There was something that I wanted to talk to you and Levin about, actually. Do you mind if we come in?" Malachi stepped asides, ushering us into the small kitchen that made up most of the first floor. After Aphmau had come back to be the lord of Phoenix Drop for a year or so, she had refurbished this house so it was no longer the empty husk it had been during those fifteen years we spent in the Irene Dimension. And now that the village had exploded with all the Irene worshippers, Levin and Malachi had left their little house by the base of the Yggdrasil tree to return to the house they had grown up in.

Malachi hollered Levin's name at the base of the stairs before bustling around the kitchen, throwing dishes into the sink with an embarrassed grin. "Sorry, we weren't expecting anyone. Can I get you anything? Tea, coffee?"

"Tea would be wonderful," Katelyn replied, taking a seat at the table. I followed suit, folding my hands on top of the worn table as we watched Malachi fill the kettle. Heavy footsteps came down the steps, and Levin appeared, his surprise at seeing us quickly vanishing as he composed himself. We stood as he approached, but he simply waved his hand, telling us to sit with that single motion. He and Malachi joined us at the table, the kettle situated on the stove as it slowly warmed up.

"It's great to see you two," Levin began, and I could see in his eyes that he was exhausted. If I had to guess, he hadn't slept last night, or, if he did, it had only been a few fitful hours. I knew Aphmau had done the same many times when she was running Phoenix Drop, possibly even more now that she was back in control of the Phoenix Alliance. And the threat from Tula probably did nothing to help his stress. Oh, Katelyn had been so smug when she learned that Tula was rallying its forces. Well, she acted smug when Dante told us the day we came back from Iliria a week ago. But I knew that she was truly worried and pissed off that no one had really taken her doubts seriously until it actually happened.

"But what brings you here? We didn't have anything scheduled, did we? I'm sorry, I've just been so busy recently, and-"

"No, Levin," Katelyn spoke, calming him down from the panic the stress was about to put him in. She smiled at the young man, and he grinned back sheepishly. "No, I actually wanted to speak with you about the guard academy we had spoken about weeks ago. Do you remember?"

Levin nodded, drumming his fingers on the table. "Of course. And I assume that you want this to happen now that Tula has begun to move." Katelyn nodded in assent, lacing her fingers in her lap. Levin sighed, rubbing his brow.

Malachi leaned forward, about to speak when the kettle started screaming behind in the kitchen. We all flinched, my hand instinctively dropping to the hilt of my sword in preparation for a fight. I couldn't help but laugh as we all relaxed and Malachi hurried to take the kettle off the flame. "I think we're all a little on edge at the moment," I added, and Malachi laughed along with me.

"Tell me about it." I stood to help him with the tea, leaving Katelyn and Levin at the table. "Anyway, Katelyn, I think this is a good idea. If Tula is really coming, we need all the protection that we can get." Levin looked at his brother, agreement plain on his face.

"Yes, definitely. The forest right outside of the village should be perfect for an academy, don't you think?" Malachi nodded with him, pausing in his action of pouring the tea. I took the kettle from him before the water spilled over the cup, but he didn't even seem to notice.

"Yes, that would work nicely. There's plenty of space, and it's far away enough that it shouldn't disturb the people of Phoenix Drop. And we could tell the other villages, and they could send their guards to train."

"And we can prepare for the war that is inevitable," Katelyn finished, a smile beginning to form as she realized that the boys were on her side. "And the Council can't say no this time." Levin dipped his head towards her, a mirror of her smile on his face.

I nudged Malachi with my elbow, pushing him to go sit back down at the table. He grabbed two of the mugs and brought them over to Levin and Katelyn, and I brought the remaining two cups over as well. "How about we plan out everything, and then we can go talk to the builders, eh? We should probably get this underway as soon as possible if we want to have a chance in this war." Katelyn nodded, taking a sip of her still burning tea before setting it down to get to business.

"Alright, we have a lot to do. There's the actual building, the people, the training..." We spent the rest of the day planning out the guard academy, the building that we hoped would be our fighting chance against Tula. Irene, we had no idea how much this academy was going to mean to our village in the months to come.