After the death of a king, you'd expect the world to stop—to try to patch the great void he should have left. But everything just... continued on.

The uptown merchants hustled under the bright sun, and kids frolicked through the busy streets. Don't they care? Why doesn't the sky weep for our king, just the same way I want to so badly?

But this isn't any place to cry. I would only ruin what little of an image King Sakari had left.

"Our King Sakari is dead. Lockwood Sakari is... dead," Lasory bowed and spoke slowly and delivered this message, the last message a Messenger will ever tell, with dignity and composure on his tired, dirty face as he told of our homeland's final moments.

I'd have thought people would hold their breaths, gasp, cover their faces with wide-eyed looks of horror. The same way I felt.

But Donthaar's king merely nodded.

Snap pop.

That was all it took to leave my gaze empty and lifeless, fixated on the fire as I remembered my time in the great hall just minutes ago. In a room full of people, most of whom close friends, partners, allies, with arms around each other and carefree glee filling the room, I couldn't feel more isolated here by the fireplace.

"His Majesty and his three heirs, Laurie Sakari, Kino Sakari, and Myuila-Renee Sakari, were all slain in a successful raid upon the Kingdom."

Myu. I once again remembered her long, purple hair. But then I remembered the building crumbling all around us, how she reached out her bloodied hand, barely able to breathe.

I felt bad that only someone like me was there to take it.

But that touch was long gone, and my hands were full only of my own flesh as I held myself in a hug, hunched over in this chair with my greasy ginger hair falling in front of my face.

All I could do was stare at the flames and replay those events over and over. It felt like I was watching my life through a television screen in a dark room, with no control of myself and no remote to change the channel.

And all they had on was reruns.

"You may take refuge here," I recalled the King saying as he directed one of the men to escort us into the gallery. It felt plain and flat. Minimal at best.

He thanked Lasory and I for our message, then waved us on discuss matters of war. I guess my greatest loss was just another piece of information for him. A mark to check off on his agenda.

Ba-tch, pop! The fire raged on.

The great hall of Donthaar's palace was packed nearly shoulder to shoulder with people. Lasory and I were squeezed between them so that the so-called "Hero-Knights" could address the room.

It made me almost as sick as the fear of death from arrows and spells decimating my home, and I couldn't focus on what those knights were saying. Something something war something. Nothing ever changes.

Leaders sit atop their cushy pedestal and abuse all the power they're given. I absolutely despise leaders. Rulers. Top-of-the-food-chain gluttons. Well, truth be told... I hate being here again. In this loop. Finally thinking I'm at home, like I'm safe, and just watching everyone around me die. Worst of all, doing nothing about it. I mean what can I do?

The people that should be doing the right things in the first place - putting their followers before anything and making sure none of this happens - they're off basking in the glory and soaking up all their privilege. They're the whole reason I'm at the bottom of this cycle again, scared, helpless, and bowing up to the food chain.

And boy could I feel it. Each and every spectator, seemingly even the king himself, had their eyes trained on me, not meeting my gaze, but around it, where my Scar soaked up their hate and began to burn. A mere mark on my eye paints me here, too, as less than. Of course, who would I be to expect human decency here, when I struggled to find it in Sakari?

They didn't have to care about my issues... my king... my family...

But that damned mark on my forehead drew every eye.

My insides felt a lot like the fire. Or perhaps the logs that fueled it. How infinite those flames were, with no beginning or end. And yet a finite thing, still and lifeless, could create something so...

Monstrous.

CLAP CLAP CLAP!

That's not the sound of the fire.

I snapped my eyes wide open and gasped, shaking my head frantically.

"Jeez, I was almost afraid you were gonna start drooling for a second there." I knew that voice. It made me feel safe.

I centered my gaze at a soft-skinned young woman with long, wavy brown hair. It had a shine and luster to it, a smoothness that reflected the light so uniformly. I've never seen anything like that before. She was standing right in front of me.

I got a sense of prissiness, kinda goody-two-shoes-ey and stuck up. She led me to this room after the meeting with the King, or at least I think she did. They separated me from Lasory, and everything after is a blur.

"I can show you how to make it like this if you want," she giggled awkwardly as she noticed me staring at her hair.

I looked away to the warm fire behind her. The whole room, well-sized and lined with tables, sofas, a bar, and packed with people, was warm. Its deep hues and deeply-colored candle lights should have felt homely and comfortable.

It could only feel cold here. All I could think about was what was happening to Lasory, and what would be happening to me. I mean, can it really get worse?

"Girl, you are cold," said the woman who brought me here. She grabbed my arm and looked at its bluish-purple tint, giving me the faded navy blue sweater she had on, which I promptly zipped up and tried to warm up in, scooting practically right in front of the fire.

"You're gonna burn alive if you're that close," she joked, letting out an honest laugh, then sat down in her chair and drummed on her thighs for a moment. She had this cheery, unbreakably upbeat vibe about her that was unsettling to me. It's hard to feel down when someone like her's next to you. Even prissy as she seems to be.

I gave her a lighthearted smile, but didn't know what to say, and just awkwardly looked back to the pretty blaze. It brought me back to... to Sakari...

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Burn alive...huh? Sometimes I wish I had... instead of them.

I felt my heart start to pick up.

The flames consumed everything there. Her purple hair... Ayami... the Rai Tree... everything.

By now I was starting to shake, looking at the fire. It could jump out at any second, and just like that, we'd all be gone, and none of us could do a damn thing about it.

The flames would spread, licking across the wood and spiraling outward like a parasite that exists only to consume and take. Just the same way the chandelier fell. I heard Ayami scream out.

She never made noises like that... she was always so dignified and hardened.

My breaths were shallow and my eyes wide as my mouth began to open in horror.

It burned everything! The castle... ash! Their bodies.

Everyone's dead. They're all gone!

"Hey!" I snapped out of it to the sound of the girl shouting. "You okay?"

I looked her in the eye and tried to muster out a "yes", but I couldn't do it. I shook my head as my eyes filled with tears. I think she made the connection, and swiftly came to my side, and wrapped her arms around me.

"I'm sorry," I apologized as my throat tightened up and my voice began to strain. I don't know if it was because she seemed so familiar... no... it's not that. I just can't hold it in anymore.

My chest started to bounce in convulsions as I began to cry, but I sniffled hard and tried to make it stop, which wasn't very successful.

"Nono, don't be sorry." She moved me so my back was to the blaze. I was staring at the warmly-lit room full of food and loud, cheery people. The noise and joy all seemed so far away, like this fire in the dim corner was a section off from the festivities. "It's okay to cry if you need to cry."

I returned a smile, though it didn't come out very much like one, and wiped away my tears, taking deep breaths to try and calm myself down. I really didn't want to cry. Not in front of people.

But then I thought about Myu again. She had her hands behind her back as she twirled around with the purest, happiest look, giggling and beaming at me. It was a distant memory, the trebles of her laugh echoing faintly, as though even the memory, too, was dead.

But that laugh will never be heard again.

And just like that, my lips tightened and puckered, and my lungs seemed to freeze in place as I grabbed this random girl, placed my head in her chest and cried silently - screaming wordlessly as nothing but raspy breath could muster its way out.

And there she held me for a minute as I felt just as anxious as I did sad, trying to force myself to calm down. It's not that I don't like being vulnerable, I just don't want to get made fun of for crying ever again.

"Hey, Lydia?" Myu's voice came back into my mind as I sat with a tear-soaked face in this girl's arms.

"Yeah?" I sobered up from my laugh.

"Do you still want to leave us?"

I remember there was a time when I didn't plan on living with her forever. I had another home to return to. People I needed to know were okay.

But I forsook those people. This was the path I chose, and now I'm paying the price.

The girl grabbed a chair to put next to mine and sat far too close, completely disregarding my need for some personal space, especially now. But I guess we're past that point.

"The King of Sakari is dead." Lasory's words echoed in my mind, ricocheting off the bones of my skull and creating a miserable cacophony that made me nauseous.

All these people made me nauseous. So careless and oblivious. I guess ignorance is bliss, right?

I don't even know where to go from here... They're all gone. My whole life. All the goals I'd finally learned to make, burned away and indistinguishable among a sea of ash.

I mean, what else is there to do? My home is gone... my family... my life. I'm surrounded by so many people I don't know. And every single one of them is totally oblivious to the death of my home and family.

The scenery kept my mind occupied as I tried to drown out this overwhelming wave of nihilism that left me feeling like I should turn around and jump into the firepit.

There used to be hope. My faith I placed in Lockwood as a leader - knowing him to be a truly amazing king... Kino...

Oh Kino...

My face fell impossibly low and my hands grew limp.

"What's going on?" She asked. "You picked an awfully festive place to be so sad. Why not pick your chin up and get some food?"

Well don't put it too bluntly now. Of course, you wouldn't know either. None of these people even had a clue what I was going through. How ignorant can you all be?

"Nothing, I'm sorry. Just been a long day." I said at barely a whisper.

That awarded me a rather blank face, one that betrayed how little its owner knew of how to deal with this mess in front of her.

"Well, I'll hang out here with you and you let me know if you wanna talk about it." She was trying her best to be upbeat, and I wasn't giving her anything. Sorry, I guess.

With a little nod, my eyes drifted ahead.

"You sitting here won't really help me any," I shot at her, wishing I could just be left alone to my devices. She was really up in my bubble.

My unwanted company tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "Something happen?"

"It just doesn't matter."

Wow. Buzzkill much, aren't you, little ol me?

"Talking about it might help a little," she suggested as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

God you are just so annoyingly persistent! Would you take a hint?!

"I just lost someone close, I guess," I muttered.

This hand on my shoulder became a side hug as we both watched dozens of people laugh and talk and play party games.

I sighed dramatically. I guess I'm not getting rid of her and her bubble-popping pestering.

"I've lost a friend, too," she said sympathetically. "I get it."

Sure you do.

I was almost disgusted by that comment, and had to fight the urge to throw her off me and find a new place to sit.

But my deep-rooted irritation was interrupted by another woman - a taller, more collected, sharp-faced brunette wearing a fur robe dress and an impossibly bright face - approached with a plate of cake in her hand.

"Give the poor girl some space," her richer, yet sweeter voice scolded. "And tend that fire, would you Nuvire? You might be able to break a few of her fingers off and use them to chill dessert if she gets any colder."

The girl did as she was asked as the woman in the fur approached.

"This is Sage," she cheerily introduced, pointing at the girl, who happily smiled. "She's one of my students, training to become a Knight!"

I took another look at her, too. Prissy-looking, maybe, but there's more to her than that. Friendliness in the softness of her face. Blessed with a well-curved, feminine figure and a glow shining in the subtle hardness in her eyes that crept out behind any face she made.

"And this is Fezege," this Sage halfheartedly pointed back, her smile turning to irritation just as quickly as it appeared. "She's a teacher." Something in me panicked when I saw her, though this was the first time we'd met.

I was silent, staring at all the people sitting around tables and chairs, standing around, talking and gathering.

"You should eat something sweet. You know stressed spelled backwards is dessert, right?" Said Sage.

"She's right," Fezege agreed, handing me the slice of cake in her hands. "I'll grab some tea."

She promptly returned with a plate full of steaming cups, along with a man wearing a dirtied white cloak following closely behind her.

I shot up and ran towards the man, leaping through the air and throwing my arms and legs around him like a child. He laughed in what sounded like relief and returned the hug, swaying and twisting side to side as he pulled on me tightly.

Then followed a sincere, wide smile, despite how much I'm sure he was hurting. Seeing him with the face of overgrown black hair he had - the corners of his eyes droopy and weary with fatigue at the back of his expression - made me worry deeply, but the look he gave reminded me that everything would be okay.

"I'm okay, Lydia."

~

[A/N]

Hey!

It's a bit unruly to put an author's note in the first chapter. I know. But today's the big 2-0 for me. Even though by technicality I'm already 20, I haven't gone to bed yet, so it's not tomorrow! And even more technically, I wasn't born until like 9am or something.

It still doesn't feel real. That my age starts with a 2 now. I'm not a teenager anymore, or at least I won't be by the time I pass out. I'm fighting sleep but figured it wouldn't do any good to go off without doing some writing.

For those that don't know, this is a revised version of this story. Midnight Wings itself is a redux of my first isekai. It's evolved and changed so much, and its main character has helped define me as a person. Truly. I can't spoil anything, of course, but everyone in this story is so grown up now in their own way and it's precious.

So, before I'm off to sleep I wanted to jot this down. Cheers to the last 7 years of writing. They've been tumultuous and irregular, as has been the writing itself, and I'd be foolish to think life will be any more predictable and kind. But I've made a lot of commitments as far as this story and many of my others, and my inability to stick to them dies with my teenage years. I'll be doing NaNoWriMo this year, 55,555 words in 5 weeks! And this awesome tale, along with a few other big ones I've got mapped out, will be out and rocking in full swing.

Cheers to you, to any of you strange internet people whose reads and votes I hold on to so dearly.

Cheers to ten more years of writing, and to Midnight Wings~

-Kitsuu/SireSwag