Valentine's Day 2024
"I will love"
Anak, mamalhin kita at aalagaan kita – hangga’t sa lumaki kang mabuti.
My child, I will love and take care of you -until you grow old and well.
King Irmin
“Your Majesty!” Pierro Yggdrasil yelled as he ran across the courtyard.
There was something so amusing to Irmin as he saw the tall, usually calm, man dash across to him. He raised an eyebrow at Pierro’s approach. “My friend, surely Irminsul is the same? I know you take your job as Bough Keeper seriously, but I hope you know that a leaf falling off a tree is quite normal.”
Irmin noted the unamused grimace on Pierro, “It was one time, Your Majesty, and the Irminsul is hardly a normal tree. The Everlasting Tree! The Tree of Knowledge! Who knows what a leaf falling means!?” Pierro waved a hand as if to wave off the thought, “And, no, it isn’t a leaf! Your precious Moonstone! It cracked!”
Irmin felt every atom inside himself still, every muscle tensed, “What?” he asked tersely.
“I was doing my daily observation when I heard a sharp, clear sound,” Pierro explained, “I looked everywhere around Irminsul when I finally noticed a crack across the Moonstone. Your Majesty, what do yo– AH, Your Majesty!”
His feet went across the courtyard faster than Pierro’s did. The last present his Sonnet gave him cracked. Why? What does it mean? Has it finally accumulated too much knowledge? Or is it a sign of a change? Why is it changing, Sonnet’s everlasting love?
The ground beneath him went from nearly paved to worn down. He didn’t have time to think about the possible stares he was getting from his people. This wasn’t the time for him to be a King. He will be selfish once more.
As Irmin entered into Irminsul’s area, he felt the thrum of its power. He looked over it as he approached. It was brighter, in all the years that he has studied the tree, this was the first time that it was brighter. But his eyes were drawn to one specific point, a bright blue glowing from the Moonstone that Sonnet gave him all those years ago. The blue light came out brightest at the crack going across it as Pierro described. Finally, he slowed his approach and knelt gently beside it. He had done exactly as Sonnet said. He planted it at the place of knowledge. So why did it have a crack?
Irmin felt his eyes water, years of ignoring the heart of missing Sonnet came back to him. Her last gift, what has happened. He slowly brought his towards the gem and cupped it.
“Please, my love, what are you telling me?” Irmin whispered to the Moonstone.
The Moonstone glowed brighter. He continued, “What is it you need, my Sonnet?”
Both the Irminsul and the Moonstone pulsed brighter in unison. Irmin shut his eyes briefly at the blinding light. Suddenly, the weight and shape in his hands changed. His eyes flew open and every muscle in his body froze.
There, in his hands, was a baby girl. Teal hair tufted at the top of her head and her eyes sparkling, like the gem she came from, with the same color. As if to say hello, she smiled a huge gummy smile. Irmin felt himself melt. He switched to a fully seated position and switched the baby to be in his arms.
“Oh, my Sonnet, you needed me to care for her,” Irmin said, tears becoming ones of joy while staring at his daughter, “that is what you were telling me.”
He brought the baby up to his face and pressed a kiss to her head. Irmin whispered to her, “Anak, mamalhin kita at aalagaan kita – hangga’t sa lumaki kang mabuti.”
Irmin sat with his precious daughter in his arms, soaking in the air of the Irminsul, before he heard the rushing of feet coming towards them. He looked up to see Pierro arrive and watch his friend’s eyes widen as he took in the situation.
All Irmin felt was his smile stretch further as he said, “Mein schatzi, my little treasure.”
I think we both do stupid things for love.
Minsleif Irmindóttir Yggdrasil
“So did you hear that Boss Dainsleif died-”
Minsleif ran toward Esperay, who was talking to the other cafe workers, and gripped her shoulders, “DAINSLEIF DIED!? WHERE? WHAT? HOW?”
Min noted the wide, flustered eyes of Esperay and continued, “ESPERAY, WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!?”
“Wait, what?” Esperay, who was trying her best to figure out what was going on, quickly looked to the rest of the Min’s Shining Shades who all just shrugged.
“I mean understandable that you are in shock if he’s dead,” Min murmured to herself and said seriously, “I will just have to look for him myself.”
As Minsleif raced off, Minie yelled out to her, “WAIT! MIN! HE’S- Well, that’s too late now. May Al-Ahmar bless her.”
–
Min raced into the house to collect the stuff she would need for a trip. “Backpack, good food, boba, plunger, ibs medi- OOP GOTTA DOOK DOOK!”
She slammed open the door to the bathroom and paused before she fully went in.
There was Dain, hunched over the bathroom sink, now looking at her and his hair was BLACK.
“YOU’RE NOT DEAD!” Min yelled before she hugged him.
“What, Min, princess, of course I’m not dead. Where did you get that idea?” Dainsleif said as he worked to keep them upright.
“Esperay said to the others that ‘Dainsleif died’ and I had to go look for you,” Min said.
Dainsleif looked at her as if she grew a second head then she saw the revelation wash over him, “Min, did you perhaps interrupt her when she was going to say ‘Dainsleif dyed his hair’?”
Min paused for the second time today, “Oh, well, hey! Listen! It could happen to anybody!”
He just raised an eyebrow at her. She continued, “Ok, maybe not, but look you are alive!”
Dain just sighed. Now, she wondered, “why is your hair black?”
“Well, umm-,” he started, physically jolting, and turned his head as if not to look at her, but she could still see his blush, “you said you liked men with black hair.”
Minsleif laughed and soon Dainsleif joined her.
Minsleif said, “I think we both do stupid things for love.”
He kissed her.
“Gotta say, boss, I don’t know if black is your color,” Lego said.
“I think it will grow on us,” Clouds added.
Gwin smirked, “You know Min likes it already.”
Esperay was laughing in the background while Minie facepalmed.
“ALL OF YOU, OUT! WHY ARE YOU HERE!?”
But just remember that the light is here for you to keep you safe.
Feather Awen
(Listen Along)
Ever since the Days of Beginning when the Void held the rule over the world in shadows, the people of Golarch would sing to carry their hopes, wishes, stories, and memories. One day called The Flood of Light came with The First Angel Rotri and he dispelled the pools of shadows that were spread across Golarch. To help the people continually fight back against the Void, Rotri split a part of himself into four separate beings. He said to the people, “The shadows will not pool under the light of my eye. The Court will be the extension of my sight.” The Court of Rotri, alternatively known as The Feathers of Rotri, was made up of Awen and her siblings: Rhiannon, the eldest and the hawk that flew towards the sun; Teyrnon, the second and the crane who seeks harmony on the water; Gwydion, the third and the nightingale that sings songs of justice; and finally, Awen, the fourth and the hummingbird who flutters through time.
Awen was well-loved throughout Golarch. Painted statues, frescos, and stained glass windows depicted her sky blue hair framed with giant, feathery wings. Her eyes always noted a turquoise depth. Of course, these details are only featured in her peaceful form. Her battle form – well, the only people who have seen it in detail are either celestial or no longer able to describe any detail. So her battle form always loomed as an all seeing eye, dark with knowledge and power, looming in the distance above her because that is all the uncorrupted could see of it. “The third eye in the winds of Awen” is what they called it. Instead, the uncorrupted got to hear her music coming from a lyre and voice.
Awen’s music was a respite from the whispers and growls they heard from the Void. She would spend time with the children from Golarch, telling them stories and singing them lullabies. These children grew up with lullabies of courage and comfort. They would carry them in their hearts and stand their ground. Golarchians grew from a few in shadows to villages and cities in the spotlight. When the children became adults, they would spread stories of Gwydion and Awen and how they sow songs throughout time to give to them.
Awen, however, was prone to trances. She fell into a trance and saw into the past or future. The First Angel Rotri, her father, wanted to keep her in their home in the Otherworld because of these trances. Awen was incredibly dangerous. Both as a warrior and how vulnerable she became in these trances. Many times the Void has tried to get their hands on Awen when she traveled in Golarch, but they were thwarted each time by Rotri and her siblings.
As much as her father tried to keep her in the Otherworld, Awen loved going to Golarch. The land held a feeling of freedom that the skies of the Otherworld could not even begin to express. She always heard the songs and stories from the Golarchians on the wind. They had a song specifically about her that went:
Awen, Awen
Songs in the wind
Awen, Awen
Known throughout time
Awen, Awen
As the bells chime
Awen, Awen
Birds are not pinned
When she felt trapped up above in the Otherworld, she would hum along to herself while listening to the people sing it, round after round. Other times, she would pick up her lyre and play the songs she heard the people sing. Her wings would sway from side to side, acting like a metronome to the song. Her father and eldest two siblings would pass by and ask what she was playing, but she could never say that it was the songs of the people from Golarch or else she would be lectured on the importance of decorum needed as part of the Court of Rotri.
–
“So, First Angel Rotri, took one of his celestial nails and brought it down to hammer the beings of Void back into Oblivion,” Awen recounted to the children of Avion. Her brother Gwydion played a dramatic chord to accent the descent of the nail as Awen brought her hand down. The children gasped as if they hadn’t heard the story a million times. At the end of the story, they turned around to face Avion’s sundial, a landmark that the children loved to gather around, and the children pressed their foreheads to the symbol of Rotri’s Eye on the dias. In reverence for what the First Angel did for them.
Awen felt a small tug on her clothes and a small voice said, “Ms. Feather Awen?”
Awen said with a smile, “Yes?”
The child shuffled their feet, “Why are the Void beings mean to us?”
She picked up the child and bopped them on the nose, “They fear our light since the essence of Void and Oblivion have corrupted them. But just remember that the light is here for you to keep you safe, right?”
The child beamed at her, “Right!”
Awen pressed a kiss to the child’s forehead and put them back down. Her eyes wandered over all the children gathered at the sundial. It has been a couple of centuries since she watched over the children who trembled in shadows, but time has felt like it has blinked passed. The children of Avion were able to experience the wind’s freedom in the high mountains and the sun just a high goal above them. As the last child stepped away from the sundial’s dias, Awen moved up to the smooth, white stone and placed a hand on it. The thrum of celestial power skipped to her fingers in solar flare fashion and tickled her palm.
In the past, Awen watched her father work with the stonemasons of Avion to create the sundial. Her father, dirty and grimy from the stone work, stayed at the side of the masons to imbue each section with celestial power. Large beams of light flowing from his fingers constantly so that the stonemasons could quickly put the sundial up. When the last piece was finally put into place, they all cheered as the light pouring into Avion became stronger.
“Awen,” a voice said, “Awen!”
Awen looked to the voice, her brother Gwydion. His hand was on her shoulder and the other was holding hers. The ground was no longer the white stone of the dias, but instead the cobblestone surrounding it. Her hand was no longer on the sundial, but was by her side.
Awen said, “Gwydion, do you remember when Father helped build the sundial? It was an amazing day, I remember it so clearly.”
Gwydion stilled, his eyes no longer checking over her, but looked straight into hers, “Awen, aur bach, we were not there. Remember. We were not yet existing.”
“Oh,” Awen pressed her fingers into her brother’s hands a little harder. She searched through her memory for the day, but, no, they weren’t there that day. She smiled, as best as she could with the revelation, “So we weren’t, but, well, I can tell you that the strong memory of it is beautiful.”
His hand left her shoulder and patted the top of hers, “I’m sure it was, aur bach, but I think it is time for us to head back. Now is not the time to scare the Golarchians with the unusual powers of the Celestials.”
Awen tilted her head and looked quickly around. The people were staring, some of them blatantly, some of them tried to mask it. They were tense. Awen could only imagine what they were thinking: Feather Awen had a trance, what did she see? Or Is Feather Awen sick? Why did her eyes glow? Those without the power had a hard time understanding it.