1 “Where life began”
The azure sky... It's deeper than the ocean's depth, just slowly hovering above us. As the clouds softly drift past by in its chambers, it is as if the Gods of the Heaven painted the skies themselves in beautiful shades of blue.
Tweet, tweet.
A bird chirped in the small distance. The sound of a broken twig followed just as the bird had set out to fly north. Yes, the north, the land where Cerulean Kingdom firmly stands.
…
Drip. Drop.
The morning dew trickled down on the spring leaf as the dawn came, slowly frozen as the frosty mist invaded the land. The forever-cold winter has already come. The townspeople are still asleep peacefully, tucked inside the warm covers as the icy winter breeze wanders throughout the kingdom and into their homes.
Atop at the edge of the Kingdom lies a small, ordinary, and peaceful village. Even it's name, Snowdew, bears no uniqueness whatsoever.
Scribble, scribble.
The sun shone down and pierced through the window, brightening up a small room of a house on the edge of the village. It was enough to warm up the frigid air enshrouded in the room, while poorly written words were being jotted down on a thin booklet lying down on what seems to be a small wooden table.
"Haah..."
A faint voice softly yawned as the jotting came to a halt, an old pen rolling across the wooden desk. Tiny hands that looked like it could nearly hold anything, reached out to grab the pen, firmly gripping on to it with small fingers.
Scribble, scribble.
The sound of the pen being dragged across the pages of the thin booklet.
Scribble.
The jotting had paused again, but this time, the little person reached out to cover the pen with the lid which lied not too far from the booklet, afterwards putting the pen inside a mug on the further edge of the desk.
Creak.
The planks of the rustic wooden flooring bent as the person hopped off from the chair they'd been sitting on, slowly stepping outside as they left the thin booklet unfolded.
__________________________________________
Dear diAry,
ToDay is December 31, Year Z-o02. My moms tuMmy has become very Big. She sAys there wil be a new Baby, a baby sisteR.
__________________________________________
...
"Waah! Uwaaah!"
"Mom! Is that my little sister?" Said a young boy with light brown skin, the familiar hands gently tugging on the woman's nightdress. Looking up at her curiously with metallic grey eyes, she gently patted his head. He smiled brightly, his eyes glimmering as the woman continued to ruffle his snow-grey hair.
His mother smiled, even though she was exhausted and bedridden as she had just gone through the labour of giving birth. "Oh, thank the heavens! Another child at last." She thought, her hands went back to caress the squishy cheeks of the drowsy infant tucked in her arms. "Mhm, she's your little sister. Why don't you come here and say hello, Azrael?" Alana replied in a weak, tired voice, beckoning her son to come over as her lean body laid on the bed near the fire, her silky black hair sprawled throughout the sheets.
The now older brother Azrael took a few steps forward to get a better look at his new little sister's face. "Amazing, she's so small, and sleepy too." He chuckled in his thoughts, while watching the infant drift to sleep, her blue eyes were now covered by her skin. It resembled her mother's caramel skin tone, glowing beautifully against the warm winter's fire.
Azrael looked up at his mother and somehow pulled off a bigger smile than before that just screamed how happy and excited he was.
"Mom, what's her name? What's my little sister's name? Come on, tell me!" the older brother asked in a whisper, seeing as how the baby was not to be disturbed.
Alana turned toward the grey-haired man right beside her, "Jack, aren't you going to answer?"
The man's dark blue eyes were fixated on the sleeping infant in his wife's arms. He seemed awestruck, as the baby inherited his eye colour. She gently tugged on the man's unshaved beard, leading him to snap out of it. He quickly shifted his lean body and faced toward his son.
"Ah yes, silly me. Ahem." He cleared his throat while tousling the boy's hair,
"Your little sister's name is Lucy, and she is now officially the newest member of the Raven family!" He proudly established, solidly voicing out the last few words with a hint of authority.
Jack stood up, planting a sweet peck on his wife's forehead before she handed over the baby to him. He gently placed Lucy in the crib that was right beside their bed.
Azrael hurried over to the crib, slowly reaching his hand out to poke his sister's cheeks. "Lucy's so cute!" The boy smiled, looking at his little sister for a period of time, meanwhile his parents busily flirted with each other right behind him.
"Oh thank God, another child." Alana mumbled, the strength in her voice slowly regaining.
"God, huh?" Jack playfully scoffed. "Oh woman, you should be thanking me." He smirked, lovingly embracing his wife.
"Eeek! No. Go to sleep, Jack." She rotated to face away from him.
"Hehe, playing hard to get."
"Stop being a tease!"
"Fine…" The man surrendered, though with a playful grin still plastered on his face. "But do you want make another one—"
"OH! Look at the time!" Alana exclaimed, trying to ignore what her husband suggested. "Now, now Azzy, it's time for bed."
The boy was busy looking at Lucy. He poked the baby's cheek one last time before walking over to his parents.
"Alright then, goodnight to you both!" He gave them a long hug and then ran off to his bedroom shortly after. He climbed up onto his bed, laying on his back as he looked up to the night sky through the skylight on the ceiling.
"It was always cold in December." He said as he squirmed on top of his bed, wrapping himself in his warm blanket. He kept gazing outside the window, his snow-grey hair dazzling against the moonlight. Things were turning out great for him. He was now a big brother, and that also comes with a big responsibility.
He watched the snowflakes dance under the moon, a frown slowly forming on his small face. "I hope my little sister doesn't catch the Kazahana, those are the worst." He thought, as a cold shiver came running down his spine. As a big brother, surely he'd be worried about the said illness.
"Mom used to tell me stories about… what was it again?" He tilted his head and furrowed his brows, trying to recollect his thoughts. "Oh, right, it was also about Kazahana. I think she said it came from those dragons far in the north." He rotated himself over and continued his thought.
"I remember her saying that the northern dragons were…" He scratched the side of his head, trying to remember more of the story. "Err, I keep forgetting it!" He exclaimed, he felt a little bit irritated.
Those dragons were cold. Like literally. Well, probably because they come from the Northern Land, the coldest place in the continent. They're said to be seen at the top of the Northern mountains. Either resting or preparing to take flight, fluttering their wide wings as the snowflakes swiftly trail behind them.
A few have seen them. And most of them became gravely ill days after, which leads people to think that they were rumored to be the source of Kazahana.
"I got it once, and I was lucky because it wasn't a bad case. But still it was awful to be stuck in bed."
Azrael remembered the time when he caught the cold. He was helplessly laying down the bed. And it felt really agonizing, but his body did a good job in resisting the cold.
He squeezed his pillow tightly. "I just hope Lucy doesn't get it."
Squeezing his pillow even tighter he said, "I'm a big brother now, will I be good at it though? I mean, I only just turned 9 years old last month."
Sigh. He pulled up his blanket and nuzzled into the bed as he tried to figure out whether or not he would succeed.
"Can't wait to see what the future has in store for me" A small chuckle escaping his lips. "I have a little sister now, I'll make sure to protect her no matter what." Just as that thought passed through his head he started feeling drowsy, his silvery lashes gently fluttering under the moonlight. With his eyes slowly closing, the young lad slowly drifted to sleep.
…
Scribble. Scribble.
__________________________________________
Dear dIary,
It's October 20, Year Z-0o3. I've been takIng care of Lucy and helPing mom. She sees i'm doing aN okay job as a big brothEr. We were suRprısed when wE suddenly hEard LuCy Fart in the midle of diNner. Dad thouGht it wAs very funny, bUt I didn't rEally continue eating aS I lost my Appetite.
__________________________________________
…
The entire Kingdom was sleeping peacefully as yet another ordinary day had passed. That is until the sound horrifying growls and cries echoed throughout the land.
"Uwaaaah!"
Months have passed, and the infant's cries could be heard all over the small household. Alana drowsily rubbed her eyes, waking up to her child's wailing in the middle of the night. She went inside Lucy's room and checked up on her, putting her back to sleep.
It was the usual routine, waking up, then to Lucy, and then going back to sleep.
Jack had been immune to the cries. He'd constantly be woken up by Lucy for the past 10 months.
Azrael would also not mind the loud crying and continue sleeping, but some days he couldn't go back to sleep and just sat beside Lucy until he fell asleep. But he'd also practice this habit of cradling the baby to sleep and feed her milk so his mother wouldn't need to check on her and wake up exhausted the next morning. You could say he's been a good big brother, and he felt proud of himself for that.
…
Alana couldn't really go back to sleep this time. Her motherly instincts were tingling when she heard the strange sound that resonated throughout the Village
No words could describe what she had felt when she heard the blood-curdling sound.
She looked at the window. It seems that a snowstorm was already brewing. She went on to wake her husband. "Darling, wake up."
"Hm? What is it…" He drowsily yawned, he didn't really know what could have brought her to wake him up.
"D-did you hear that?" His wife stuttered, the fear of the sound wasn't really going any sooner as she cuddled him and wrapped herself tightly with the blanket.
"Hear what?.."
"T-that sound. I'm having a bad feeling…"
"Oh, I'm sure it was nothing." He let out a soft chuckle. But inside, he was also disturbed. He was partly awake when he heard the sound. He also had fatherly instincts of his own. "The snowstorm's getting stronger."
"Yeah, and it's getting colder too." Alana went and wrapped herself with another blanket. "Wait—"
"I'm hearing something too…" Jack knew exactly what his wife was about to say.
They hurriedly locked all doors and windows, rushing to the living room afterwards. The sounds of horses coming towards their house. They peeked at the front window.
There they noticed a faint light coming closer. "Who could be travelling in the middle of a snowstorm?" Alana felt curious.
When it was near enough, they saw a man holding a torch. They were coming even closer.
"What the hell…" It was all Jack could say. The men wear heavily injured, cold, and covered in snow.
Suddenly, Alana could sense a flow of ominous energy. She wasn't certain where it's coming from, but it surely wasn't from the approaching men. It seems like something was following them, chasing them rather.
"HEY! Please help!"
Gasp. It wasn't until the men were close enough that the couple recognized the gold brooches on their coats. "QUICK! Let's get them inside!"
….
Scribble. Scribble.
