Barbara's Book of Fire

Chapter 30

"A war, you say?" Hilda's chilly demeanor slowly oozed out as she took in the news.

"I don't know when or where—but I definitely saw the war banner of Vasilias in there," Answered me to Hilda. "And I can't explain everything clearly, but one thing I know is, that's not just a dream...I can tell it."

"I know, Barbara." Hilda tucked the disordered blanket when she saw how disturbed I was. "If we go by the book—First, I need to consult madam Niera on this, and then make an official report to The high council if it's deemed necessary."

'For how long? What if the war had started already?' Conflicted with my own fear, I clench my teeth in frustration.

"But lucky for us, they have made ample preparations in case something like this did happen." As if she had caught on to the confusion, Hilda reassured me. "Ever since the day that The Sacred One called us, our scouts were tasked to find movements from the outside. Especially around Vasilias, due to your connection with Him."

Hilda then smiled weakly, almost apologetic. "That's why, if you can just wait just for some time—we'll know the answer for sure by then."

"If what I dreamt is set to happen, will you...will Fysi let us go?" I had to ask.

"You're leaving!?" Lia's concerned voice rang abruptly in the room. "No, don't! It's really, really dangerous, Barbara."

I couldn't retort to Lia's dismay. Because I, myself, knew how dangerous it would be—and moreover, how unprepared we were. That's why I have to hear Hilda's answer above all else before I set the next step.

"Sooner or later, you will have to leave, my dear—" Hilda stroked my cheek tenderly, as her soft words brought about the answer we both already knew of. "No...you are fated to leave because your destiny doesn't stop here. It's just that we will be very sad when the day comes—Especially my crybaby Bria."

"Mother!" And then it was Rebecca's turn to raise her voice, seemingly confused as to why Hilda didn't even try to talk me out of it.

It was after that; did I finally catch a good look at my Friends' faces. Anya was gnashing her teeth visibly, trying her best not to burst out of anger in front of Hilda. Freya, too, had a rare change of look on her usually frisky smug, spelling about incredulity on the folds of her face.

As for Lia, she was wiping the ongoing tears that streamed down her eyes while the sobbing hiccups stifled the serenity of the brightly lit room. And finally, there was Rebecca, who still couldn't wrap her head around the ridiculous logic of Hilda's and mine. Quite similar to the other three, she spent the moment rooted in blooming haze...and maybe anger too.

'I'm sorry...' It was a sentence that I couldn't say yet in front of them. And the fact that Filtiarn was not there with me only made the loneliness that hugged me feel ever so tight and suffocating.

"The war itself won't happen overnight, Barbara." Hilda's words once again drew our scattered attention. "We have always put in the best of their efforts at preventing them. At the very least, it will take two to three years at the earliest."

"Is time the problem here? With all due respect, aunt Hilda—It's a war that we're talking about here. Not to say three years or two, even if it is for another decades or more; how can we let Barbara go there!?" Anya finally broke loose. "What can she do in an ongoing war? She'll fight? They'll kill her if she fights without magic, and if she uses magic, they'll chop her head off, all the same, the minute they find out."

"I agree with Anya. I think letting her go to a war doesn't make any sense whatsoever." Freya voiced her discontent. "Let's say it'll happen; rather than letting her go alone to her early death, isn't our very pledge dictates so we can help Fysi prevent that very war? One way is, maybe as a diviner, Barbara can use her talent to figure out the important details or something along those lines..."