. The Luchre Family .
“Fathers, forgive us… What were you thinking?”
“I’m sorry, Papa…”
“Oh, shut it, Rian. You’ll make our poor girl faint.” The chiming voice derides the groan before directing itself at Kelsi. “He’s not wrong, though. Didn’t Fior of all people tell you Arcany is illegal in the city?”
“…Yeah…”
Kelsi sulks between a barrage of scolding remarks, burying her hands between her thighs as if she’s right back in the Chancellor’s office. All the zeal and confidence she carried herself with outside has now completely burnt out.
Mr. and Mrs. Luchre – her parents – are her interrogators at the dinner table. In figure, they’re not so different. They share a certain toughness in their faces, and while her father is only slightly taller than her mother, both emphasize their stocky arms and massive chests with snug, sleeveless white shirts. Evidently unprepared for their daughter’s return, they still wear their well-stained aprons above their standard dress, clear tokens of their profession.
More notably, both are human.
Even so, their attitudes are like night and day. Mama sits up confidently straight when she criticizes Kelsi, her black bangs flowing regally onto her shoulders. Meanwhile, Papa can’t bear to look at her. He hides his head in his beefy arms as he slouches onto the table in embarrassment.
His wife giggles at the childish display.
Kelsi stumbles over her words as she meagerly tries to defend herself. “I- I thought you would…I thought you would want to see what I could do…”
Papa emerges from his shell, pleading for her not to get upset with doeish blue eyes. “I do! More than anything! But I didn’t say to get yourself into so much trouble… And how could you leave all your stuff behind? Oh, that spear took us weeks to get right…”
Mama sighs and descends from her chair. She walks to her daughter calmly and places a callused palm on her arm.
“Don’t mind him. All that matters is that you’re back now, right?”
She hesitates for a moment, then nods.
“For four months?”
Another nod.
Mama throws her arms out from her chest as her grin widens. “Then it’s alright! More time for us, right?”
Kelsi lets her own smile peek from her face.
“*Ahem!*”
The two look to Papa, who now stares at Kelsi in a distinctly serious manner. Done with his fretting, he takes a deep breath. “Well, I guess you have a point…”
…
His expression shatters.
Before Kelsi can react, he crosses the empty air between them, rocking her chair as he collides with her in a tearful embrace.
“Ahhhh! I missed youuuu-!”
“P-Papa!”
Mama explodes into laughter.
“He could barely stand to wait another day, you know!” Kelsi turns her head to her in bewilderment before noticing that she, too, is struggling to rub the tears from her eyes. “What about you? You hungry?”
----------------------------------------
Kelsi forgot how much she loves Dagdian Wrasse.
Their taste is nothing special; in fact, even the most mundane meal from Rift Point’s dining hall is more succulent.
Even so, the “fine dining” of the upper sector, no matter how delicious, lacks something these common fish possess to almost no end:
Quantity.
They pile onto the spacious metal tray in the dozens, their crispy, bronze skin still sizzling against each other as if competing to be devoured. Some at the top lose their grip in the midst of all the grease and topple onto the wooden table. Not even the heartiest bunch of humans would have an easy time dealing with such a serving.
Luckily, the Luchre family has an Elemental to feed. Her hands dive into the mountain of fish, pulling out two or three at a time. Then, baring her razor-sharp fangs, she tears into as much flesh as her mouth can handle, bones and all, grunting in instinctual pleasure at the fresh juices gracing her mouth. She shovels the Wrasses in with no room for conversation, the pile shrinking smaller and smaller until only a few stragglers remain at the bottom of the tray.
For the first time in ages, Kelsi knows a truly full stomach.
Though they’ve barely gotten past two fish each, neither of her parents feel any dismay over so much food being gone in an instant. They’re too drawn in by the long-lost sight of their daughter’s happy, sapphire eyes.
Indeed, since Kelsi was born, this has simply been the norm – the ones most out of place in the walls of the Luchre household have always been the Luchres themselves. They have to reach high above their shoulders for every door handle, climb high into every long-legged chair. Even here in the dining room, only Kelsi is able to sit with her feet flat on the floor, just as only she can reach comfortably across the table without the use of a grilling fork. It’s the one place in the city she can do so – and the one place a human cannot.
As Papa munches at the remainder of his meal, Mama notices Kelsi wince as she picks near the black chitin behind one of her hands. She jumps down from her chair a to get a closer look. The rocky shell digs into her bleeding knuckles akin to a massive overgrown fingernail.
She seizes her daughter’s hand with an iron grip. “Kelsi! Have you even been taking care of yourself?”
“I’m gonna molt any day now, Ma, it’s fine…”
Her mother ignores the whining as she reaches into her apron, pulling out a large metal file. “And I don’t want you scraping yourself on this pesky stuff in your sleep. Now hold still.”
Kelsi flinches at the bizarre sensation at first, but after a while remembers how soothing it is.
Time passes.
The lingering smell of fish drifts in from the kitchen as a slight breeze dances through the house. Outside, the sun dwindles at the horizon, dousing the stone walls around the room a deep orange.
Kelsi closes her eyes and rests her head and antlers against the top of her chair as her mother shaves away at her hands.
…
As he licks his fork clean, Papa begins his routine post-dinner talk.
“*Mmph!* Kelsi, you should’ve seen Ronan the other day!”
Kelsi keeps her eyes shut but acknowledges his words with a lazy nod, maintaining half-consciousness as Mama continues the conversation in her place.
“Oh, yes. Furious, that one.”
“You’d have to be to run that dingy old forge, eh?”
“He’s just been on some hard times.”
“It’s not like I don’t get that, but does he have to come crying to us every time we outsell him?”
“Right? It’s business. The Guard just likes our stuff more…”
“I tried to tell him…! And he…I…”
The sentences start to blend together to Kelsi’s exhausted ears. She feels a deep slumber tickle her brow, and all thoughts begin to fade away…
…
…
…
Three knocks at the front door signal the end of her bliss.
“Gods, at this hour? Kelsi, can you get it?”
She stretches her arms and pushes them against the bottom of the chair, almost sore from excessive comfort. She fights the dull pain and stands up. Her groggy feet squeak against the wooden floor.
As she lumbers toward the house’s entrance, she spots their visitor’s shadow peeking below it. The figure is covered in a great bulk as if wearing an oversized cloak. Whoever it may be is also quivering under something immensely heavy.
She pulls the door open.
“Professor?!”
There stands Fior beneath a backdrop of the city's encroaching night. Their petite form is almost entirely engulfed by a round, leather bag, and their tiny elbows lock around a horizontal slab of metal nearly thrice their height.
Their voice manages a strained plea.
“Please take it. I’ve got the bag.”
“O-Oh!” Kelsi realizes she’s been staring down at her professor’s struggle in a daze without bothering to help. “Sorry…” She darts her hands out to snatch the spear. It fits just right in them, as she can barely feel its incredible weight.
Fior doubles over and heaves as they’re freed from the weapon’s pressure. Even so, their arms continue to shake as if they can’t forget the burden.
Kelsi examines their utterly spent body and spots a shiny drop of sweat fall from their copper hair. The realization hits her all at once. “Did you bring this all the way…?”
Fior labors to meet her eyes and reply, but before they can…
“Is that you, Fior?”
“Is that my spear?!”
Two voices sound out from behind the threshold.
Kelsi’s parents have rushed to the door, though only one is there to meet the unexpected guest. Papa pokes his daughter’s forearm impatiently, jumping for joy at the sight of the handiwork in her grasp. When she turns it upright to hand it to him, he practically leaps at the polearm, and despite not being able to hold it properly, he hugs it as if it’s his second child. He doesn’t register Mama’s jet-black eyes boring holes through him.
Fior takes this moment to replenish the rest of their breath before greeting the heads of the house. “’Evening, Marni. Rian.”
Mama props a suspicious arm over the doorframe. “What brings you here?”
“I was told someone hightailed it from her room today…” Fior eyes Kelsi’s blushing face amusedly. “…and it would be a shame if such fine craftsmanship was left to waste.”
“Thank you so much!” Papa is still stuck to the spear as he exclaims his appreciation.
Mama rolls her eyes but remains fixated on the wisp of a professor at her doorstep. “It’s getting rather dark. Would you like to come in?”
“Well, I did have something to inform your daughter, if it’s not too much trouble…”
Kelsi tilts her head at the courtesy. It’s been a long time since she’s seen Fior act so genuinely formal.
As the group returns inside, she watches their visitor as they stroll through the house. After letting her bag down by the door, a strange softness overtakes their step – though Kelsi can’t make out their eyes through their hair, their posture loosens as they gaze around them. They seem ensnared by the homey aura, struck by the sights and smells of a place well-accustomed to an evening meal.
But Kelsi dismisses the gut feeling. Fior has been in this house countless times, so they should be quite used to it.
Papa reluctantly leaves the towering spear against the entrance to forge before joining the gathering at the front half of the room. Everyone eyes the dinner table, but remembering what humiliation would come of hoisting Fior onto one of the oversized seats, they all silently agree to stand on the fur carpet instead.
Mama doesn't bother with pleasantries. “So, Fior, what gives? You’ve been avoiding us for a year. What are you really here for?”
“Insightful as always, huh…?” Fior scratches behind their neck, a gesture reserved only for when their antics have been revealed. “I heard through the grapevine that our city’s ‘pride and joy’ was caught ‘terrorizing town with a dastardly ball of light.’”
Kelsi tenses up, hugging her hands around her flat stomach.
“You mean…she’s not being ‘looked for,’ right?”
“No, that won’t be a problem. Actually, I thought this would be a good time for me to see what they told me about for myself.”
The three regard Kelsi, who has been more disoriented this whole time by her professor’s unusual mannerisms than their words. Still, she understands what Fior is asking of her immediately.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
She takes it as a chance to show off what she’s discovered.
Holding her open hands in front of her, streams of light surge in and out of her fingertips, coalescing into a glowing sphere before splitting apart and racing back into her skin. She repeats her core’s rhythm as she did on her dash all the way from Rift Point.
In, and out.
On, and off.
Mama and Papa stare in awe at the beautiful energy.
Meanwhile, Fior’s lips split for an instant at the act, though they quickly stay their amazement. They sigh quietly as if confirming something to themselves.
“…You see, the Chancellor has personally asked me to continue your training in private during your suspension.”
Mama raises an eyebrow. “But if not at Rift Point… Where in the world…?”
“That’s the thing: he’s recommended I take her beyond the wall.”
Something lurches in Kelsi's breast.
Mama’s eyes shoot wide open.
Papa moves over to his daughter and places a protective hand in front of her. “Hmph. I take back my gratitude. I should’ve known you had something ridiculous in mind when you actually bothered to come here for once.”
“It’s her choice – I don’t mean to put any pressure…!”
“Choice? O-ho, don’t even try to give us that! We know every single damn one of your tricks!”
The air in the room stiffens as Papa’s temper begins to boil.
“Listen, prof. No one goes out there just to ‘train.’”
“Well, I’ve taken a few students out before-“
“And? You mean to tell me they all came out in one piece? Hm?”
“…”
Fior is unable to answer.
Mama takes note of their distress. “Rian-”
“See? They’re full of it. Just look at them!”
She’s interrupted by his fury.
“I don’t know what it is that you’re scheming, but…”
Fior does their best to calm him in their own way. “Like I said, it’s a request from the Chancellor… I have to relay it.”
“Oh, like hell you had nothing to do with this!” Having reached his breaking point, Papa storms at the professor, reaching his rough hands for their collar.
“Rian!” Fed up, Mama grapples the back of Papa’s head by his dark hair. As he whimpers in her grip, she continues to scrutinize Fior. “You’re serious? Mailo’s in on this?”
“I’m...afraid so. I’ve already agreed to go out there if she does. But like I said, the fact remains that this is her choice to make. She can say yes, or she can choose to ignore it. That’s all I came here to say.”
…
“…I see. Thank you for returning Kelsi’s things, Fior.” She pushes Papa’s strained head down with hers in a synchronized bow. While not as bombastic as her husband, her curt motion makes it clear to Fior that their welcome has been more than short-lived.
“No, thank you both for your invitation.” After returning a small bow of their own, they look up to Kelsi. They appear to have something important to say to her, but in the presence of her parents, they keep their farewell brief. “I must be going now, Kelsi, but I’ll be waiting in the Western Park at dawn, should you decide to join me.”
She opens her mouth to respond, but her professor has already made their way outside, vanishing into dusk.
The Luchre family is left alone.
Papa rubs the back of his head as he scowls at the swinging door. “That piece of shit… Who do they think they are, anyway?”
“Rian, this is serious. At least try to keep it together.”
“What is there to be coy about?! She’s not going!”
Kelsi stands in place, filtering the ensuing argument below her into white noise. Her mind races with a feeling she’s not familiar with – her fingers and toes are tingly, and she can’t keep track of one thought at a time. It’s as if her somnolence from before Professor’s visit has been switched for exhilaration of equal strength.
She doesn’t realize it, but for the first time in her life, she’s experiencing a meeting of passion and resolve.
Her unwavering voice seems to act on its own, cutting through her parents’ bickering.
“I’m going.”
They stop, astonished, before turning their words on her.
“Kelsi!”
“Kelsi, please think of what you’re saying.”
Inevitably, they’re ones of protest.
Papa tries to dissuade her emphatically.
Mama, on the other hand, wields harsh reason.
“Kelsi, you haven’t been out there!”
“People die outside the wall.”
“Besides, we just got you back!”
“You haven’t gotten enough rest…”
As they keep on with their efforts to change her mind, Kelsi’s gemstone eyes seek the far end of the dining room.
There on the highest point of the wall, the three oldest weapons in the house appear to float on display above everything else. In the middle is Mama’s crescent longsword; around it, Papa’s two diamond-shaped daggers. The blades are a pure, polished white, so sharp and smooth that any light present is caught by their ethereal gleam.
Yet, since she was a small child, never once has Kelsi seen Mama or Papa dismount their blades, not for any reason – not even to clean them.
The sight makes her think back to the stories they used to tell her back then.
“Haven’t you been out there?”
Her parents stop suddenly as if punched in the stomach. She knows immediately that she’s crossed a line.
Papa tries to find something to say. “That was…”
…
He turns away from Kelsi, concealing his face.
…
Mama tries to pick up the pieces. “We’d never have done it by choice.”
But even her steady expression can’t withstand the blow. She squeezes her eyes shut, overtaken by some awful memory.
…
Reemerging from the past, she continues.
“Kelsi, let me rephrase it for you: there are people who would have lived to know and love you today who are now gone because of that journey. They are the ones the Reaches took from us – there are still many taken from others to this day. If you go beyond Baladeith, you must be prepared to join them.”
A trickle of fear grazes Kelsi’s being at the foreboding statement, but it isn’t enough to wash over her decision.
“You must be prepared for tonight’s feast to be your last.”
She feels a pang in her heart, but her desire doesn’t change.
“Please. If you go, I need you to know that.”
Mama and Kelsi stay in each other’s gaze after the solemn warning. In meeting one another’s eyes, they come to an unspoken understanding.
Papa faces them again, trying to intervene. “Marni, you can’t let her-”
“Can’t let her what?” Mama’s void-like eyes are hardened to all dissent. “She’s twenty-six. I’m surprised your thick skull hasn’t figured it out yet, but Fior only informed us of this out of courtesy. And just look at her – we couldn’t stop her even if we wanted to.”
“But-!”
“Dad!”
The humans fall silent. Kelsi seldom raises her voice, but it seems she’s finally had enough. Not letting the argument reignite, her bottom lip quivers as she makes her intentions known once more.
“I want to go with them!”
At this, both of her parents know the time has come for them to listen.
Their daughter pauses, takes a long, contemplative inhale, and then speaks. Her chiming voice is without a single stutter.
“All my life, I’ve only had you guys, this place… It’s comfortable here, and I know how hard you worked for it! For me! You’re the reason I am who I am, and I would never forget that! But…I also wouldn’t be where I was today…without Professor. They know my struggles more than anyone, maybe even you. And even knowing what a worthless disgrace I am, they’ve taught me things I never could’ve dreamed of! They’ve taught me over and over and over again, no matter how many times I blew them up, no matter how many other students left them! And now, after finally achieving something, I can’t just stop. I won’t. I want to learn more. I want to see what I can do. I see now that Professor was – is – right about me. So, I have to trust them no matter what, and I have to follow them, even if it means going somewhere scary.”
She looks down at her father. Her deep blue eyes pierce his own with unmatched tenacity. “Mama said it first, Papa. You can’t stop me.”
His mouth hangs agape.
Since when did his daughter learn to be assertive?
He fixes his expression, now understanding that there’s nothing he can do to keep Kelsi from leaving.
He’s always known it, as has Mama – there is a second, bittersweet rule that governs the Luchre family. That is, no matter how much they care for their daughter, no matter how much time they spend scolding her, protecting her, pleasing her…
Their moments are always fleeting, gone as soon as they wish for them to last forever.
Papa steps closer to Kelsi. He reaches for her hand, but it has long since outgrown both of his own. Kelsi softens nevertheless at his touch, beginning to regret for her choice of words.
His voice is deep and sorrowful, but proud.
“I know.” He sighs, and then makes one final offer. “…But you still deserve one night in your own room.”
Kelsi doesn’t know what to say. She looks at Mama, who slowly nods in affirmation with a kind smile.
“Your father’s right. Go and get some shut eye for the morning.”
Finally comprehending their request, Kelsi realizes there is no longer any need to fend for herself.
She might as well savor tonight.
She retrieves her bag from the front door and makes her way to her room. Relishing her presence, Mama and Papa simply stand and watch.
When she starts to close the door, she catches a glimpse of the empty metal tray on the dinner table.
Before shutting herself inside, her antler-crowned head peeks past the threshold one last time, remembering to tell her parents something important.
“Thank you for dinner!”
----------------------------------------
Her room is as she knows it.
A great, open maw enclosed by stone. A few holes let in the moonlight from close to the ceiling, but aside from them, there is no other light source.
Her bed takes up half of its space. Well, to her, it’s a bed – to a human, it’s just a huge mass of hay piled up high. Regardless, the volume allows for one of her stature to toss and turn as much as she wants.
Flinging her bag and loincloth to some end of the room, she throws her bare, blue body onto the cushion and does just that.
She stretches her arms and legs as far as she can.
She rolls over on her belly and kicks at the air.
She squeaks and squeals as she sprawls out playfully.
…
Eventually, she stops goofing around and closes her eyes.
…
But…
…
Gah! I can’t sleep!
For some reason, the drowsiness she felt after dinner evades her.
…
Metal clangor resonates from the forge.
Her parents must have lit it again.
But at this hour…?
…
Despite the loudness of her house, she’s oddly pacified by the noise. It’s as if some part of her is conditioned to relax to it.
Her mind is still taken by excitement, but her body starts to feel warm and fuzzy. With every strike of the hammer, the numbness grows and grows. She starts to wonder if only her body will succumb to the feeling, but as soon as she does, it reaches her head. With no other choice but to give in, Kelsi falls asleep in a bed that fits her, the sound of her family trade echoing in her dreams.
----------------------------------------
When Kelsi wakes, the Wallsides are still.
It's still dark out, but she can tell by the musty smell pouring through her walls that it's morning.
She sits up, yawns, and spreads her arms. The chitin all over her cracks and shifts to the movement after setting in place for an entire night.
It’s time.
Once she’s dressed and ready, she picks up her bag and heads for the dining room. All that’s left to get is her spear.
But when she steps out of her door, she’s struck by an unthinkable sight.
The display near the ceiling is empty. Her parents’ weapons are gone.
On top of that, her spear, which Papa left leaning against the entrance to the forge last evening, is nowhere to be found.
She begins to panic as she frantically swings her head around, searching for the lost weaponry.
Immediately, she finds two figures by the open front door. To her dizzy vision, they seem to be holding something in tandem: a long object capped with something exceedingly bright. As she approaches the pair, the image becomes more and more clear.
When she refocuses, she loses her breath.
Mama and Papa speak as if they’ve been mentally preparing for her arrival.
“Good morning.”
“You got everything ready?”
Kelsi is lost for words.
What they hold appears to be her spear at first. The shaft is a solid, shiny gray as it has always been. Where the pointy tip used to be, however, there is now an entirely different kind of edge: an immense, curved blade. Attached just below it are two sharp, angular protrusions – the wings to this bizarre, new weapon.
Most strikingly, the new areas of what once was Kelsi’s spear shine a peculiar, pearly white.
She turns back to the vacant display, and she suddenly recalls the sounds she heard last night.
Her eyes refract the glaive with reluctant disbelief.
Mama notices her skepticism and chuckles to herself. “Don’t worry. We’d always planned to give them to you once you had need of them.”
Kelsi almost doesn’t want to take it. Something about the beauty in this blade makes her feel unworthy, as if wielding it would be akin to a swine swinging around a sword. Even so, she knows not to reject the offer.
She steadily moves a hand to grab it.
Before she can, however, her parents pull it away.
“...But first, you have to promise us two things... Punch that little bastard at least once for us, okay?” They place the shaft in her hands.
Then, Father speaks. “And please be careful.”
Kelsi smiles, giving her parents all the affirmation they need.
Finally, they let go of her new weapon and step aside.
The doorway to Kelsi’s next lesson reveals itself.
Its subject? A new world.
A world of no looks.
A world of no comfort.
A world of no limits.
A world of no mercy.
What awaits in such a world?
Kelsi steps under the door, the morning breeze meeting her silver hair. She begins to turn around to see her parents off one last time, but she stops herself before they can spot her face.
No. Not yet.
The next time she greets the eyes of the ones behind her, she intends to have an answer of her own.
Until then, all she can do is look onward.
Until then…
“I’m off!”