Elementary, My Dear.

Prologue

Powerful Beginnings.

Songs: Roslyn- Bon Iver, Visions of Gideon- Sufjan Stevens, Eternal Youth- RUDE, Arsonist's Lullabye- Hozier, Way Down We Go- Kaleo (Playlist: Elementary, My Dear by hotcheetoharry on Spotify)

Reading time: 18-20 minutes.

!TW! Torture/dissections towards the end, there will be a warning where it starts.

   Our story begins on a strikingly bright and sunny afternoon on a beautiful cliffside overlooking a deep blue sea. The melodious sound of laughter could be heard in the Sideris's backyard, coming from two small children chasing each other and laughing in a cement-paved orchard of olive trees. Their feet pounded down a small dirt path lined with mossy rocks that led over a hill and towards a garden filled with ripe tomatoes and beautiful flowers. The pair's laughter only increased as one child cornered the other in the garden.

   One of the children, a little girl with hazel eyes and wavy, light red-brown hair around the age of eight, ducked under the boy's arms and ran, only to get distracted by a section of the garden with a cluster of tall flowers the colour of the sea just over the cliffside next to them. A white and gold butterfly with swallowtail-like wings fluttered over each of the flowers, pausing frequently to land on every petal. What looked like a minnow appeared in a miniscule stream that flowed among the flowers, its silver scales flashing in the sun's rays. The little girl watched, enthralled by the scene unfolding in front of her eyes.

   "Nikolai!" she whisper-yelled, beckoning her friend over, "Nik, come here, look! It looks like a mini fairytale forest!"

   Without taking her eyes off the scene, the girl heard footsteps coming up behind her. "What should I be seeing?" the boy asked, sitting down roughly next to her.

   "Is it not obvious? Look at the stream and the flower forest right in front of you! Ooh, and the butterfly! Do you see it?" she stated, pointing at all of the items she listed.

   Nikolai stared blankly at the stream for a couple of seconds before realization slowly dawned in his eyes. "Ooh! Look, do you see the ants in the corner, by the rock?"

   Kassandra peeled her eyes away from the butterfly to lock onto the cluster of ants making the beginnings of an ant hill. "I think that they're soldiers, building a fortress for the citizens of... of..." she trailed off, her eyes glazing over in thought as she contemplated the name of their new-found kingdom.

   "Of... Blue?" the boy attempted to complete.

   A smile made its way onto Kassandra's face. "Kingdom of Blue it is."

   "The ants are making a fortress for the inhabitants," Nikolai grabbed a small twig from nearby, "the Sticks!"

   "Really creative, Nikolai," Kassandra scoffed, the boy rolling his eyes at her in response. Nevertheless, she decided to go along with it as she picked up a pebble and continued their game. "And they all live happily ever after until..." she paused for dramatic effect, "the Pebblians came along, ARGHHHH!" she screamed, using her pebble to crush Nikolai's twig. Once she was finished, the particles of wood blew away in the wind, never to be seen again.

   "Kassandra! What was that for?" the boy whined, crossing his arms over his body and pouting.

   Kassandra gave him a look. "I don't like happy endings. They're boring."

   "It doesn't mean you have to be a bully about it," he said, looking in the other direction, towards the exit of the garden.

   Kassandra tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned around, still looking very sour. "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sure that twig was very special. Might have even been royalty." He narrowed his eyes in annoyance, which only made Kassandra smile goofily at him. "I apologized! Now, come on, I'm bored. Can we go sit in the hammock? I want to show you something!" she said, standing up and dusting off her burgundy dress.