I Thought I Knew You

Saintly Solitude (Extra Chappie)

Elaine's Backstory

In the Fairy King's Lands

"Harlequin! I bet you can't catch me!" I squeal as I run between the groves of trees, swiftly going through the gaps as I run away from my elder brother.

It was a nice day today, the sun beaming gently down on the land below it. Golden rays stretched to touch everything, creating an idyllic scene for the day. The trees and flowers seemed to bloom with the sunlight too, all sorts of plants colouring or producing pretty fruits and flowers to look at. It was a beautiful sight. One that I saw everyday within the grove of Youth Trees my family produced. 

They were beautiful trees, the trunks wide and thick and leaves lush and green. They were evergreens, the leaves never yellowing or turning to dry dust in the winter. Instead they had colour all year round, the lights of the fireflies who often clustered around them making the sight even more enchanting.

"I bet I can!" My brother had given chase, his laughter following me through the maze of trees.

The both of us had grown up here from birth, rumored to have come straight out of the Sacred Tree itself. Among the trees and all of natures creations, we learned to grow and cultivate them to live long and healthy lives. Our parents had explained that they were the source of our country's wealth and trade. The reason why the royal family, my family, was graced with protecting the thing that made the durability of the Youth Trees possible.

The Fountain of Youth.

King had already begun his training to look after the Fountain, often waking up earlier and heading to bed late. He told me all about what it was like, about how it felt to do certain things as well as have his own spirit spear. It seemed to live up to the legends of the former kings, being extremely powerful and breathtaking. 

Soon I had followed his footsteps, becoming a backup in case my brother couldn't protect the Fountain. The one who would take on the burden if he couldn't. But we didn't think of that as children. Instead we thought of all the cool things we could learn and how amazing it was to be guarding a Fountain of Youth. To be in charge of something so important.

Of course we did do normal schooling, learning about history and all sorts of other subjects. Many of them were tedious, but my governess, Lady Gerheade, made it more fun than anything. 

Lady Gerheade was a rather strange fairy with long light brown - almost honey blonde - hair and deep purple eyes. She often wore a long white dress that had a v-cut skirt once it reached her knees, two earrings that dangled from her pointed ears and a hat with a flower pinned to it. She was a sweet woman, her natural prettiness outshining her quirks and she had a lovely personality. Although, she could be sharp at times.

Nevertheless, she had allowed me to have the day off to play with Harlequin, both us enjoying the summer sun.

I now was nearing the other end of the grove, the one that opened out into the outskirts of the castle gardens, smiling widely as I spotted the opening. Once I reached there it'd be difficult for Harlequin to catch up. I run faster, my legs working at a quicker pace, when suddenly there was a loud boom, a wave of heat following it. It was blistering, unnatural and boiling. I could feel it trying to harm my flesh, but it was too soft to do any real harm.

But I stopped running and began to float upwards towards the canopy, curious as to what happened. To see what was going on. I had to know what had caused that sudden wave of violent heat and sound. It felt like it was harming the trees.

"Lady Elaine!" I heard Lady Gerheade call me, urgency and panic in her voice. I stopped floating, fear coming into me as I caught a small glimpse of what was above. It was black and curling, floating into the sky. It covered the sun and brought down a cold draft. It was something bad. Something very bad.