A Letter and a Fool (Private/Plot)

Cyrus had come back home after taking a very circuitous route from Heliohapt back to Reim. In an empty house that, to most, had been abandoned for the last year at the very least, he found one letter addressed to the Argentum family. Cyrus opened it and looked who sent it. “From Arianna Argentum,” Cyrus’s older sister. A woman in her late twenties she already established herself as one of the premier fighters in Reim’s coliseum. Like Cyrus she was always looking for adventure but unlike her younger brother she had already settled down, had gotten married and so was done with fighting, or so he thought. The letter read: Dear Argentum family whoever is still home) as you know, civil war has broken out in the east. My husband and I are going out there since we have interests in protecting my husband’s family and their estate, which have been threatened. I have taken both horses, the spear and the sword Its is highly likely that I am already in Kou by the time you read this and I will fight by my husband’s side for as long as I live. That said, I hope to return to Reim soon. Your loving sister and daughter, Arianna.”

He couldn’t believe it his sister was going to Kou! His damn sister was going to go fight in a war that she had nothing to do with. Even her husband although a low noble, had very few ties to either side. All he could do was sigh and look up at the dust dancing in the rays of light that poured through the windows of the Argentum estate. She was the one who taught him everything that he knew about fighting. Being an accomplished spear woman and archer, she could deal with the best of them in combat she was the one who taught Cyrus everything about fighting with a shafted weapon. As the birds sang in the courtyard he remembered the times he would practice with her she was a hard taskmaster making sure that his stances were correct and that he could strike with accuracy and strength. She was essentially his mother since his mother was not present for the vast majority of his life. All that flashed through his head were the many ways that she could be killed by the hands of the enemy. He wanted to help her so bad but then his realist side chimed in. what could I do? I would just be killed in this battle he was nowhere near the level of my sister. On top of that he didn’t even know what side she was on. This made this dilemma put Cyrus in quite a state. He knew that he was at a significant disadvantage fighting in the war in a place that he had only been to as a child, with people that he could barely relate to on a cultural level. It wasn’t like him to be put off by travelling but this time it was different. There were lives on the line not just his own, but his sister’s as well. If he went he would most likely have to kill people which is something that he had never done before. The distinction between cutting something that simulates human flesh and a living human with a family and a life to make of itself was something that he was not particularly enthusiastic about. At the same time he couldn’t let his sister die without him doing something about it.

The autumn sun began to set over the horizon as Cyrus got up from the living room. No one but him knew that his sister was on the other side of the world let alone fighting to the death potentially he couldn’t sit by and do nothing but he had to do something he was too young and it would be foolish for him to travel to the east to fight in a war that wasn’t his to fight. At the same time he wanted to go to Kou to meet knew allies in is quest to capture a dungeon and become a great fighter in his own right. The only way he would be able to do that is if he actually fought humans to the death. It seemed like a cruel thing to do but it would help him get better. The night sky crept up on him and his estate the darkness enveloped him in the empty house pondering his next move.
He awoke the next morning to birds chirping outside in the frosty air, as the autumn started to become more noticeable a quiet piece began to settle over the city where he lived the heat of summer made worse by the clamoring of people in the streets had faded. It was a bit too quiet for his liking but it meant that he could sleep uninterrupted for longer without thinking about anything in particular and let his mind wander through the memories of his family and his life with them. In the stillness of his mind he could see his sister standing in the corridor that led to the courtyard bow in hand, spear on her back waiting for the right moment to strike, taking in her surroundings and assessing the enemy. Like a tigress in the shadows she stalked the corridors before letting the arrow fly. As fast as he could blink it was already in the target in the middle of the courtyard. She then turned to Cyrus and asked him “don’t you want to fight with me?” before disappearing into the ether of his dreams the world faded white before regaining the colour of the morning. It was still and he was still alone, no one had stopped in at all. It was just he and his weapon sitting on a chest in front of his bed. He sat up took a deep breath and wrote another letter. “Dear Family, I shall be heading east to help my sister and her husband in the Kou civil war I don’t suspect that either of you will read this but at the very least know that I love you all very much and if I don’t make it I lived well.” He looked east as the swans began to fly past his house. He thought to himself as he pushed the orange hair out of his eyes, “I must be a fool to get my sister back but at least it will be fun” This journey would be a difficult one and so he would have to prepare and train for because his life depended on it. Being at home was temporary anyways and it never suited him.

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