Revival Of Stars

1 | The Burn That Started It All

CHAPTER 1
•••

Between two large buildings nestled a small bar, where the moon hung perfectly overhead, illuminating the brick walls with a blue glow. From the windows, yellow bursts of light could be seen as the candles inside lit defiantly with their lemon-scented aroma. And as the crickets chirped from the outside, laughter boomed within.

"Leave it to you to tell the tale the best," a boy exclaimed as he leaned back in the wooden seat with a pleasant grin.

Etta Hope slammed a large cup of beer onto the table after chugging it; a sigh escaped her lips as she wiped the excess lager from underneath her nose. "I am the best storyteller there is," she boasted.

"Hmm, I wouldn't say the best..." Etta's other friend, Sierra, expressed nonchalantly.

The boy leaned forward in his seat and placed his elbow on the table, eyebrows furrowing. "What do you mean?"

"...Yeah." Etta raised a brow and mimicked the boy—Sid Burrow's—posture. "What do you mean?"

With a quick roll of the eye, Sierra Burrows scoffed as she prepared herself to debate with Etta, the amateur storyteller and her best friend.

The Archaic Bar was overcrowded that night, hence why the air felt so heavy. Laughs, chants, and small arguments filled the space as a plethora of Wispern citizens drank and ate to their fill. And somewhere, in the secluded corner of the club, a hooded person was observing carefully as the three friends embarked on a senseless argument.

"Because you're misinterpreting what actually happened and you're telling it with a bias," Sierra remarked. "Your interest towards Necromancers is obvious every time you speak of The Forbidden Affair. Jare Bobbit was a bad creature, a ruthless monster who disrespected the king. Every time you tell the story, you make it seem as if he was a sad person, when in reality, he wasn't; he was just selfish."

"What?" Etta threw her head back in laughter. "Fine—but King Eliath was selfish, too! He practically used Jare Bobbit to communicate with his dead family, messed with his feelings, then said bye!"

The volume in the bar fluctuated suddenly; two men sitting only a few feet away from them entered their own argument. Chairs screeching against the floorboards and angry murmurs filled the space.

At their own table, Etta's other friend Sid scratched his scalp, looking as if he was having an internal turmoil. "Well...my sister's kind of right. On the selfish part. When our parents told us the tale, they explained how King Eliath was deeply in love with Keiko, and the burdensome monster Jare Bobbit had ruined it all with his demonic powers--"

"--and you made it seemed as if Jare had fallen in love with Eliath," Sierra interrupted.

"Uh, because he did," Etta expressed exasperatedly.

"No, he couldn't have. Necromancers are devoid of any human emotions, much less romantic ones; and even if they did show it, it's obviously fake. I mean, they summon rotting corpses from the graves! They're all children of the devil," Sierra argued.

Voices upon voices climbed over one another at the other table; the two men continued to battle each other with their hectic words.

Etta slid her hands down her face, exhausted. "Listen," she began, "I heard the same legend as you guys, okay? And it damn well seemed as if Jare Bobbit had emotions. And sure, Sakagushi Keiko and King Eliath Vesper might've actually been in love, but you guys fail to look from Jare Bobbit's perspective."