Golden Daffodils and Silver Lilies

Chapter 1

Inspired by my childhood books Moss Gown and Her Stories, and these fairy tales, Maid Maleen and Diamonds and Toads.

When people told themselves their pasts with stories, explained their present with stories, foretold the future with stories, the best place by the fire was kept by the storyteller Makarov Dreyar. A wise, clever, and mystique old man who had spent countless years traveling the world, using magic, and telling the most captivating stories. Stories that no mortal could resist listening to. Stories that he had seen and heard from the many places he been to and the many people he had met during his travels. His greatest stories were always the ones he told of his grandchildren.

Makarov was the father of seven children; four sons and three daughters. Metalicana, Ivan, Jiemma, Irene, Dinah, Gildarts, and Katsumi. Each child was born with great power and Makarov did his best to bring them up to use their abilities to help mankind but unfortunately not all of them chose to be guided by goodness.

Now his first born son Metalicana, his youngest son Gildarts, and his daughters Dinah and Katsumi followed in his benevolent footsteps. They found great pleasure in using their gifts to aiding those born without magic. Healing illnesses, providing shelter from natural disasters, making farmland fertile, causing the sea to be bountiful with fish, sometimes they would even serve as allies in wars.

However his other sons Ivan and Jiemma were cruel and malevolent. They believed that because they were born with power, they should rule over all the earth as gods. They even attempted to accomplish such a dreadful thing but using their magic to torture and/or enslave the average humans. Such wicked behavior resulted in Makarov and his other children sealing them away underground so they would never be able to harm another innocent soul again.

His eldest daughter Irene was a very interesting woman. She was not completely benevolent nor was she completely malevolent. She could be cruel but she could also be kind. She loved and respected her family dearly but would find their views foolish. She would help others and she would harm others. It all depended on her mood.

Anyway each of Makarov's children gave him a grandchild. Metalicana, Dinah, and Ivan gave him grandsons. Gildarts, Irene, Katsumi, and Jiemma gave him granddaughters. Makarov adored his grandchildren and they in turn adored him. All his grandsons and three of his granddaughters grew up to be good like him but his other two granddaughters grew up to be wicked but luckily neither one of them had done anything to such an extreme degree that they had to be sealed away like Ivan and Jiemma.

Though good or wicked, Makarov loved all his children and grandchildren, and he enjoyed telling their stories. Like today for instance.

Today he was visiting a plantation. A plantation that he had visited many times before. A plantation where he had told stories to children and again to their children's children. Nearly all on that plantation knew of his amazing story telling skills and nightfall,  just as he had gotten his firing going, the local children of this generation gathered around and asked him for a story.

"Please tell us a story Makarov." Asked a boy. "My father says you tell the best."

The old man smiled at the eager children.

"You must be Macao's boy." He said. "You're just as he was as a young fellow. Excited and cheerful. Lord the kind of trouble he and his friend Wakaba would get into back in those days. You'd almost swear that they were little devils."

"Really? Are you going to tell us about that?"

"No. I can't. Your father invited me as a guest and I wouldn't want to put him in a bad light."

"Then what story are you going to tell us?" One girl with pink pigtails asked.

"I'm not certain yet. I know so many but I can only tell one."