Choose Themselves (Songs of War Fanfiction)

Chapter One The Confusing Voltaris

Spring was Finch's favorite season amongst all the others. Work eased into nothing but a trifly on this day or another. School work lessened, each day grew longer, warmer, and sunnier than the previous one. With the south wind blowing in from the direction of Cydonia, all the way across K'arthen, Felden, Heart of Ardonia, and halfway across the continent and greened the fields and meadows of Havenshire, an uncrowded and forgotten village in the Wilderness.

The nearest noticeable town was Solkad West; people had to cross the leisurely flowing Home River (what villagers in Havenshire call it), and head north-west for a week or so by foot. It wasn't yet a day for resting, but Finch had somehow overslept. She stayed up at an unearthly late time last night with her thoughts traveling across the land, wandering astray into Sendaria, the nearest Ardoni province.

Seldom passed by this unnoticeable village, even more seldom did Ardoni pass by. But when they did, it was Finch who courageously went near them and offered them help- If it was required. Otherwise Finch would stealthily remain somewhere nearby, acting like a girl who was bored and decided to stroll about in the neighborhood, which on the other hand was true. Finch admired the Ardoni more than any other species on Ardonia.

Their fluorescent eyes, their unique shades of markings, their inimitable demeanor, and their cherishing smile. She was a young, ignored girl in the village, just like every other girl in the village, but Finch foreverly wished to be an Ardoni since the very beginning of her days she could recall. Finch had heard the tales of their legacy, their heroes, their breath-taking adventures. Only if Finch could do the same, only if Finch could leave Havenshire and explore the world herself- How much possibilities could there be?

Reality was often unimaginably cruel compared to dreams, especially daydreams. Finch pleaded with her parents many times one summer several years ago to give Sendaria a visit, or Nestoria, or Ataraxia, if they even knew where that was. Every time, every single time, Finch's hopes were diminished by the straight refusal from her parents. They often reminded her how dangerous the outer world was, how much it cost even for them to travel to Solkad West to trade for needs they wouldn't find in Havenshire, how the furious and bloodthirsty monsters roamed at night. If it happened, if Finch was alone in the wild at night, no iron golems would come and rescue her, no patrols of mob-hunters or security guards would come with blades and torches.

Bandits, thieves, murderers, outlaws, anyone, anything, could be out there, out of the protection of the village, out of the reach of parents, out of the hands of anyone's control. Although the second 'Great War' ended decades ago, there were always struggling embers, and foreverly, always existing in the drift of history, dangerous people who were bold enough to do illegal things. Life or death, was up to skill, luck, and fate in society. They continued repeating these words until Finch felt beyond her hold of information and stood up abruptly, so harsh that the chair toppled over and the table creaked with distaste, and reminded them that she still had unfinished school work or some part of the fields still remain untended and quickly fled the family confrontation.

Then she would either go into her bedroom, collapse onto her bed and let her thoughts wander off while staring at the ceiling or strode into the fields, half heartedly plow the ground, or harvest some potatoes or sugar cane, before settling down under the birch tree at the edge of their field and stare at the north, where the Barrier Mountains lay, and thought longing for the world beyond the village and path toward Solkad West she had grown up learning their names.

It wasn't worth it. Was the most common thought Finch would have. It wasn't worth staying in Havenshire all her life and being either a farmer, healer, teacher, or weaver. Then get married to some wild boy later in life and have children, grow old, and die. It wasn't worth using all her gifts on the present life she had, it was given for something better, something stronger, something higher. It wasn't worth watching the Ardoni came and left but never even been to Ataraxia, or Sendaria, Nestoria, Mendoria, Kaltaria, New Voltaria, or anywhere else, like Felden, Flora, Riverstead, even the boiling hot Cydonia or K'arthen.