Fairyland Chronicles - Character Side Stories

[Summerstream]

((Was stuck for a bit.

To help understand the tone, please listen to the actual song~ ))

The day was pleasantly cool after a night of poor rest. Summerstream watched the huntress leave the fort that she stayed at with Ezekiel, Cynbel and Lucretia. Her eyes closed as her gaze drifted to the horizon of the valley that she could see from where she stood, her hands on the wall. The wind was strong, blowing her hair out of her face, and behind her, depressing the blue cape that she had on her armour. She strained to listen to the whistling that she had once been able to hear floating on the slightest breeze, and she frowned. Could she still do that trick that she used to be able to do?

Her eyes closed to focus, hearing faint echos as the huntress talked to her falcon. A faint smile spread across Summerstream's face as she stopped, and reopened her eyes. Stand up straight, and a deep breath of air.

“Do..~” she started to sing, testing her voice, “Re..~ Mi...~ Fa...~ Sol...~ La...~ Ti...~ Di...~”

Her voice echoed back at her, and she listened. A small nod. Her voice was fine to sing. Summerstream breathed in again, before she put her hands on the battlement of the wall, and started to sing, while focusing on the sounds to echo them in the wind.

“All your love,
resting now beneath the ice,
fading into waters as black as your eyes...~”

Her voice sounded on the wind, sad in tone. Summerstream pictured her twins in her mind's eye, and focused.

I want this song to reach them.

She sang louder, straightening to make up for the fact she couldn't pull her breath as she did before.

“Winter's breath,
turned your soul so cold
leaving all our hopes, all our stories untold.

Dream now of summer nights
in them, I'll hold you tight
and I...~ Love~”

Her mind drifted again as she sang the same song she used as a lullaby. She had just sung for the priests in the Geffen church, and they had stared at her in surprise. Summerstream understood at the time that few came already knowing how to sing. Many had been tone deaf, in fact. Immediately after, she was brought into the chapel, and was directed to a pool of water. The priests, seven men, were gathered around her. They wanted to baptize her to finish the ceremony, and to grant her the ability to use holy magic.

“Faintly then
voices cry beneath the ice
drowning in the waters as black as your eyes.

Words so soft
weaving into songs like gold
pulling me beneath, oh, your touch is so cold...~”

Summerstream held the note, it floating effortlessly in the wind, hesitating before continuing to the next set of words, and hesitating in her mind with the instructions she had been given. The head priest approached her and repeated the instruction for her to remove her armour. She could feel a cold terror filling her as she looked around in her memories. The faces of the priests were still there, but all she saw was her home village, and the bodies of the boys. A tremble shook her.

“Love, my heart it breaks for you,
But the darkness is pushing through and-
Memories of you is all that's left and-
You must fade into the depths....~”

A third time, they repeated the instruction. She could hear the agitation in their voice. Summerstream thought back to how silly she had looked; a swordswoman eager to learn and to share what she knew suddenly getting cold feet. Her terror didn't let her move, merging the present at the time, and her past. The head priest reached to stroke her arm in a gesture of comfort, and she hit his hand and stepped back. The shock on his face registered, but it didn't calm her. He took another step towards her, and she screamed in the memory, and pushed forward. She was brought back into the present with the crashing that resulted. A quick look around the room brought her back to the present. The seven priests were scattered around the room, and three Paladins charged into the room.

“All your love
Resting now beneath the ice
Fading into waters as black as your eyes

Winter's breath
Turned your soul so cold
Leaving all our hopes, all our stories untold”

Summerstream focused on her voice, trying to mask the sorrow that had filled it with the echos from the valley.

In her memory, the last thing she remembered was the shaft of a spear knocking her out. She woke up much later with an empty feeling filling her consciousness, and a pounding head. Summerstream drank some of the water at her bedside, and tried to focus on summoning wind.

She screamed from the sudden pain that gripped her, grimacing as her eyes watered. Her hands clutched her arms, and she breathed several times to clear her mind. A second try yeilded the same result, and a priest walking in with his arm in a sling. He was glaring at her coldly.

“We sealed the... The thing inside you! We are lucky you didn't kill anyone, demon!”

Summerstream widened her eyes, and looked at her hands.

She hadn't heard that name in years.

“Dream now of summer nights
In them, I'll hold you tight
Dream now of summer nights
In them, I'll hold you tight
And I...

Love, my heart it breaks for you,
But the darkness is pushing through and-
Memories of you is all that's left and-
You must fade into the depths.”

Summerstream continued to sing until the wind died down, using the echos to hide the sorrow, but always being unable to hide just how sad her voice was.