《Songbird and Soldier》 Preface ¡°This story starts with pain~¡± ¡°The pain of the world¡± ¡°Magic used to flow through every crevice and crack in the ecosystem of life~¡± ¡°But nature was depleting and my magic was stolen¡± ¡°Leeches milking power from their creators~¡± ¡°Humans enslaved everything from pixies to dragons¡± ¡°Everything used to work~¡± ¡°Everything used to be balanced¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Curiosity killed that~¡± ¡°they found ways to use my power without my knowledge¡­¡± ¡°¡­and the world started to weaken~¡± ¡°My sister¡¯s power was barely touched, but her children¡­¡± ¡°my trees, my beasts, life as a whole¡­~¡± ¡°¡­were depleted to better suit the needs of leeches¡± ¡°Humans used to be amazing~¡± ¡°We would delight as we watched them grow and change¡± ¡°The needs of the few outweigh the many I suppose~¡± ¡°To them, the world was a garden to be harvested¡± ¡°We watched as they drove our little haven into madness~¡± ¡°My sister had enough, I had enough¡± ¡°But after Eons of being spectators, we allowed a change that would shape the world...... I had a kid~¡± ¡°Do you really have to say it like that?¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong~¡± ¡°I mean we¡¯re the gods of this world, shouldn¡¯t a god¡¯s kid sound a little more grand?¡± ¡°Oh, I see what you mean¡­ perhaps something like this¡­ Ahem, I manifested a large amount of my energy and condensed it into a small vessel~¡± ¡°Yeah that works¡­¡± ¡°My plan was to drop it where it was most needed so it would mold into what ever was needed~¡± ¡°Of course humans got in the way of that¡± ¡°What should we expect at this point~¡± ¡°Anyway, here we go.¡± Chapter One A man walks into a forest carrying a backpack with some wood and food The man notices glowing light on the forest floor, covered in plants and walks towards it. The vines surrounding this strange light disappear as he approaches. When he gets close enough to clearly see the light for what it is, he sees the form of a human child curled in a ball. The man stops in confusion. Who in their right mind would abandon a child in a forest known to be filled with beasts? (The answer to this question is no one in their right mind would, but who cares about that.) "I suppose I should take this child to the orphanage, huh" the man murmured to himself. So he does what any "sane" man would do. He drops the child into his backpack without care and heads for the path to the nearest town. The town the path leads to is a rather large town for the area. The market is still crowded even though the Sun had long ago gone down. The man arrives at a large wooden building after twenty minutes of walking. The door opens with a creak and an old woman at the front desk welcomes the man with a placid smile. "Hello there, young man. Are you here for adoption or the Lost and Found System?" This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "Lost and Found..." The man replied gruffly after a beat. "Now would that be drop off or pick up?" the crone responded with the same fake placid smile. "Drop off." "Is that so..? Where is the young one than?" inquired the old lady, not seeing the puff of silver hair inside the man''s backpack. The man calmly reaches over his shoulder and drops the bag with the child inside of it down on the desk. "Oh." The man stares expectantly at the women as if expecting something. "Is something wrong?" The man than points at the newest poster on the walls that says "Reward for bringing in a lost child. Limited time only!" "Ahh, yes. I forgot we did that, hold on one minute." The lady than opens a drawer in her desk and pulls out a single silver coin. She than hands it to the man who walks out content after receiving his reward. "Hello there young one. My name is Madam Delia. Depending on your situation this may be a passing encounter for you, or you will be seeing a lot of me in the future." The Madam scoops up the silver haired child into her arms. "Alright then, lets put you with the others¡­" The madam carries the child into a small room filled with a wide variety of children, both in age and ethnicity. Some are dressed in nice clothing, it''s obvious that they won''t be staying here long. Others are in rags, obviously abandoned. Perhaps some never had anyone to be abandoned by. A poster on the wall shares the information that children not claimed within 72 hours would be placed in the orphanage system. The door closes with a click and the room falls dark. Chapter Two We start with a screaming match. Between a mother and a father. You can barely hear them. You can make out some words, doctors, pricing, your child, yours too, murderous. This continues until they stop and one voice starts crying and you hear words of comfort coming from the other. A young girl wipes her tears away and opens a crack in the door so she can listen in. "Silas¡­. It is not your fault our child was born this way. We can try our best to help, but in the end it is not our place to force a child to become something they do not want to be." "But¡­. our family¡­" "...will endure. We will have plenty of children willing to take the crown if he cannot." "What about their safety?" You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "if they are hurt, he will not go unpunished" The girl turns around to see her brother also listening in.. The girl is terrified. Her brother has an expression of distaste as he both listens to his parents talk and watches his sister¡¯s terrified expression. He then draws a finger in a line across his throat with a smirk. The girl nearly screams in terror. The girl runs back into the hall and hurries back to her room. Her room is fairly small for such an enormous house (huge by normal standards), but it is full of trinkets with sentimental value. The bed sheets are worn but well taken care of. A dresser filled with dresses barely worn. A box is filled with toys never used, except for a wooden sword placed on top of a side table that looks like it had been through the apocalypse. (beaten all to hell, weathered, scarred) An sleep deprived maid is asleep in a plush chair in the corner of the room There is a mirror in the room. The girl faces the glass with a fiery determination as she puts her hair up. She then picks up her wooden sword and heads out to the balcony and starts swinging violently. The moon rises as time passes and she slowly falls asleep with her sword under the moonlight Chapter Three The young prince was delighted to have scared his sister, as the eldest he should be respected after all. This young royal¡¯s life had started off with misfortune, as a newborn he was cursed with corrupted magic, and after a few years his parents realized there was something wrong with his mind. If he had been born in a world more familiar, he would be known as a psychopath. This eight year old was raised under the impression that he was superior. His curse allowed him strength like no other and his mind was as sharp as a knife. One thing he desired above all was power. This little boy loved the feeling of people kneeling before him and greeting his every beck and call. This child knew his future was secured, when his parents died he would take their place, and in the meantime he would have all the luxury he could ever want. Then his sister was born¡­ He was two years old at the time. This child needless to say, was a bit of a genius. He understood immediately that his standing was at risk. The first time he saw the sister that garnered his parents attention, the parasite they named Allisa, he tried to get rid of her. First it was by shoving his fingers down the baby¡¯s throat, then it was trying to twist her head off her body like he did with his toys. It was an understatement to say that he hated his sister. But Noooooo. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. No Isaac, you can¡¯t kill your sister! No Isaac you can¡¯t knock her unconscious either! Even worse, his mother was pregnant again! At this rate, the chance of him becoming king will decrease to nearly nothing! The only way to guarantee that he would be king was by scaring his siblings into submission. He would be king, even if it meant unethical methods. He would not sleep until he had a plan to take what was rightfully his. He sat on his plush mattress, thinking. Thinking of ways to get rid of his siblings without wronging his parents. His parents were his ticket to power after all¡­ The prince may have been a psychopath, but he was still a kid and this kid had just stayed up past midnight just to eavesdrop on his parents so naturally, he fell asleep. Isaac¡¯s peaceful sleep was interrupted by a knock on his door. Another doctor had come. Isaac was sick of this. Every doctor that had come promised to help him feel. Every one of them failed so it was natural that Isaac was tired of the interruptions of his day to day life. Why did he have to be awakened at such an ungodly hour? Isaac walked down the hallway accompanied by a maid and entered the room set aside for the doctors that visited. ¡°Hello young man,¡± the doctor said. This one looked a lot less distinguished, the prince thought. He had a long-ish beard that was barely covering the folds of fat underneath his chin. ¡°I have a proposition.¡± Chapter Four Allisa finds herself in bed confused. She did not remember falling asleep under her warm covers, especially not tucked in carefully. The sun is blinding as she peers out from underneath her sheets with curiosity. Was she kidnapped? Did a dragon come and whisk her away from this house and her nightmares? The possibilities were endless! Sadly, she was just carried to bed by her maid, Mary. Such disappointment. Her door creaks open suddenly and Allisa hides under her covers pretending she was never awake. Allisa¡¯s maid, Mary, chuckles as she sees Allisa hiding underneath her sheets and blankets. ¡°I wish her highness would wake up, the chef prepared her favorite dish for breakfast, with a special slice of chocolate cake for her birthday¡­¡± The maid heard an audible gasp and watched as Allisa dramatically feigned waking up from a restful slumber. ¡°Good morning, your highness. Happy Birthday¡± ¡°It¡¯s my birthday?!¡± Allisa screamed in excitement. ¡°Yes, you are now four years of age¡± ¡°Goodness!¡± ¡°Exciting, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we get you dressed in this lovely gown so you can go and greet your family?¡± ¡°...no.¡± ¡°Why not, your highness?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like dresses¡­¡± Allisa¡¯s face is filled with guilt and discomfort. ¡°When can I wear clothes like my brother''s?¡± ¡°When you are older my dear. Now let me help you get dressed¡± Minimal time skip Allisa is now dressed in a simple gown with minimum frills and embellishments, the few of which could provide for a normal family for half a year. The best way to describe her is adorable, her curly hair cute as ever. She enters the dining hall with her maid, smiling in anticipation of cake. ¡°Happy birthday, darling!¡± Her mother shouts at her arrival. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Happy birthday, Allisa.¡± Her father states in a tone which might seem frightening if you didn¡¯t know he was exploding with adoration on the inside. Allisa plops down on her plush chair at the table happy with everyone¡¯s adoration. ¡°Happy birthday, sister.¡± ¡­ .. . ¡°Th-thank you, brother¡± Everyone in the room¡¯s expression was a mixture of shock, curiosity, and bewilderment. Issac hated his sister. Never once said good morning, good day, or good evening. Never said sorry when he was in the wrong. Never once acknowledged her existence as his family. Yet, he wished her a happy birthday, calling her his sister. What was wrong? ¡°Al-Alright! Let us have breakfast!¡± Her mother declared. ¡­ Breakfast was a delicious meal prepared specifically for the princess, all of her favorite breakfast foods were served with elegance and love. The only thing keeping this meal from being joyful was the tense atmosphere hovering around the family, as if the gods themselves were walking on eggshells. Breakfast ended with the maids bringing out a small cake, enough for each member of the family to have a slice. Sadly the only one with enough appetite to eat it was Allisa. ¡°Now!¡± Her mother clapped her hands together with this word. ¡°We have presents!¡± As soon as the queen said those words, servants swooped in and cleared the table like this had been rehearsed for years. As quickly as the dishes and utensils disappeared, a myriad of gifts appeared before them by servants¡¯ hands. They were separated into two piles. One had gifts from people who didn¡¯t know her, the other had gifts from her friends and family. Obviously she was told to open gifts from her family first. Her father¡¯s gift was a thin box delicately wrapped. An ordinary person would definitely stop to stare at the craftsmanship of the wrappings themselves. She immediately tore the wrappings off with glee and found¡­ paper. She unrolled the piece of paper that laid before her struggling to pronounce the words as she read it outloud. ¡°Th- The Orch-taa-nese Pal-ice¡¯s Ownership sh-shall be trains-fored to Alisa Veola Ark-cain-oo¡­ Oh! That¡¯s my name!¡± ¡°Honey, I can read it for you if you want, it¡¯s a rather long document¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, Mommy! Okay, umm, by order of the forty scek-ent king, Silos Ark-cain-oo. ¡°Muffin, let me read the rest.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, Daddy! Really! ¡°Muffin, at this rate another one of your birthdays will have already passed by the time you finish.¡± ¡°Alright¡­¡± ¡°Ahhem, ¡®The Orchestiese Palace¡¯s ownership shall be transferred to Alisa Viola Arcano by order of the forty second king, Silos Arcano. Therefore, all staff, and items are gifted to The Princess by association.¡¯ There we go.¡± ¡°Oh.. OH. Wait! Isn¡¯t that too much!¡± ¡°Nothing is too much for my daughter.¡± ¡°Uh, Okay¡± Her mother¡¯s gift was a round box decorated with ribbons and gems. As soon as Allisa unwrapped it, the room was filled with the aroma of chocolate. It would be a lie to say the girl didn¡¯t drool. ¡°I got all of your favorites, Honey. Ooo, that one is raspberry, and this one is lemon cream¡­¡­ ¡­¡­. The explanation of each flavor went on for a while. No one had noticed the package sitting under the table near the prince¡¯s until he reached out underneath and pulled it out. It was small, smaller than the king¡¯s gift. The size of the gift wasn¡¯t really important compared to the fear on the girl¡¯s face as her brother sat up and walked up to her. He dropped the gift without care in front of the girl and walked back to his seat without a word. The hall was silent. No one breathed. No one spoke. The only noise was the beating of everyones¡¯ hearts as their fear consumed them. Chapter Five: Servel It had been two years since the girl had been brought to the orphanage. The 72 hour time limit had long since passed. The head caretaker, Delia, had taken care of the nameless girl ever since she had been dropped off and according to her, the child was an angel. Sweet, cute, never threw tantrums, which was kinda concerning in itself. What kind of child never spoke, nor cried? Be as it may, the child was wonderful. She never complained, did all of her chores, and helped everyone she could. She was the perfect child. Delia sincerely hoped that one day she would be adopted by a household that would care for her and love her dearly. One thing that got rather frustrating with this child was her curiosity. She would climb every shelf, taste every food (a toddler''s sense of what food is anyway), and walk up to any stranger. It was getting out of hand. Once Delia took the children out for a small field trip, it wasn''t even 15 minutes when Delia realized that child had wandered off. She found her in a small community garden surrounded by small animals like a Disney Princess. Eventually the child found a way to sneak out of the main building. It became such a common occurrence that the townsfolk would regularly tell Delia where the child was when they saw her outside the building. This was one such occurrence. "The kid got out again!" "Again?" "What is it this time?" "She''s in my store!" "Hey! She took an apple!" "She''s going for Main Street!" "At this time of day?" "She might get run over by a horse if she keeps on going!" "Is she messing with the bards again?" "That rascal." This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "I got ''er!" "We got her cornered!" "AHH FUCK SHE BIT ME" "Didn''t you learn your lesson from last time, Randy?" "SHUT YUR TRAP!" "I swear, we gotta make that caretaker pay for this interference!" "Oh come on, we know she don''t got the money for it." "Oh thank the goddesses, Servel caught her." "Servel is really saving our hides these days, that crazy woman." Who was Servel? Servel was a young woman who owned a mechanical shop on the main street of the town. She made machines that weren''t powered by the magic crystals that normal everyday technology used. She used geothermal, solar, anything she could get her hands on. Her newest invention preserved energy in a container that worked almost exactly like the magic crystals of convenience. She was called a genius, unhinged, delusional, incredibly talented, but that isn''t what the kid liked about her. The kid liked her music. From her ukuleles, to her ivory keys, the random bits of tech that beeped and booped to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. That child was in love with it. She loved plucking strings while Servel worked on an old trinket, pressing buttons to a rhythm, even if she herself never made a noise. This day Servel was working on an extremely strange project, she had taken a normal guitar and plugged it into a speaker to make a unique sound that no one had ever heard before. It played a tone with no variation until another was played. It was rather interesting. It didn''t look like a normal guitar either. It was made of wood like normal, but there was a strange resin-like substance on top. Even stranger, it was shaped like a stretched out star instead of a normal guitar shape, which was just weird. "You like it, kid?" Servel asked. The child nodded in response. "Ha! I knew you would!" She laughed, answering the child''s gesture. "This is something I''ve been working on for a while, I brought it out today to show you! You''ve seen the bards playing their lutes, and guitars out on the street, right?" The child nodded in response. "It can be hard to hear them sometimes, you know?" The child nodded in response "So, I came up with this baby! Just attach it with a power source and an AMP, and you''ll be good to go!" The child tilted her head in curiosity. "What''s an AMP, you ask? It''s short for an amplifier. Higher class people use them all the time to make their voice heard through a large crowd. I modified this special one to be compatible with his work of art right here. Cool, right?" The child nodded in excitement. "I still find it strange that you act like you understand this stuff. Last time, I went on a rant about thermodynamics and you just sat and listened, like you understood everything I was saying. You''re a real neat kid, but that stuff can get creepy." The child stared back. "Sorry! I didn''t mean to call you creepy!" Servel chuckled at her own remark. "Like a cute kid like you could be creepy! Anyway, want to hear some music with this thing?" The child visibly jumped in excitement from her seat. "Wow, you''re real excited! Let''s get started with this beauty then, shall we?" Chapter Six: Song It was beautiful. The metallic sounds of every string reverberated throughout the shop. Servel''s fingers moved nimbly from chord to chord. Each chord progression was a beautiful melody. As Servel hummed and strummed to old folk tunes she started to sing as well. "You have to be a worried man, to sing a worried song. Don''t you worry now, I won''t be worried long." _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ "The woman near the water Sang a somber tune. The women near the water sang of the death of Sue. The women near the water Washed another''s clothes. The women near the water warned of the death of Rose." _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ "There once was a group of little men who were always so blue. But one day they smiled again because they knew what they wanted to do. They all had small caps and hats, but they were all so bland. They wanted to add color so they took it into their own hands. They said let''s find a flower, we will get the color there. So they found a little Rose with auburn-colored hair. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. That little Rose did scream and shout, but they squeezed all the color out. With their colorful hats, they were known as the Red Caps." _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ She sang until the sun was high, while the child watched with wonder. As the sky became orange she stopped and put away her invention. "Come on, kid," Servel said. "Shops are closing up." The child hopped down from the table she was sitting on and went up and hugged Servel with warmth and a smile. "Aww, see you, kid." Servel watched as the silent child walked out of her store and listened as she heard the girl''s voice for the first time, humming a song she had played earlier. The child walked down Main Street with a smile on her face. She loved music. She started to walk a bit faster as she rushed towards the garden on the west side of town. That was her safe space. Filled with plants, animals, and the perfect spot for a nap. She sat underneath a tree on top of a bundle of dried weeds, opened her mouth, and sang. It wasn''t much, just a song she heard her friend sing. It was a sad song, but the girl''s heart was filled with joy. She sang everything she knew. She sang the folk songs her friend taught her, she sang the songs the bards played on the street. She sang the lullaby the old lady at the orphanage sang to her and her friends. She sang until the moon was high and moonlight shone down upon her like a spotlight, as if her mother was watching and giving her encouragement. She sang until she was exhausted. She sang like all of the words and emotions that she couldn''t express were overflowing. Her questions, her anxiety, her happiness. Everything. She sang until she fell asleep under the moonlight. Chapter Seven: Delia The child woke up to a forest of flowers and weeds that had seemingly sprouted overnight. The leaves almost seemed to have been supporting her as she slept. She popped up understanding that she would be in for a scolding for staying out all night. What she found was the village in disarray. Everyone was in a somber mood and just by listening to two people talk she understood why. "Extra, extra! Eight year old darling of the kingdom has fallen sick! Read all about it!" "Oof, that poor girl." One said. "We don''t have time to talk about that! How are we going to tell the kids?" The other responded. "I don''t know Garry.." He replied. She recognized these people. Garry and Jack. Garry was the guy who delivered food to the orphanage, apparently he lived there for a while. The other guy, Jack, was Ms. Delia''s son. He visited a lot and participated in trying to find her when she escaped. "What do you mean? She was your mother!" Garry said loudly. "We need to focus on posting a job listing as fast as possible. The longer those kids are without a caretaker the worse it will be for all of us." Jack responded. "... are you okay?" asked Garry softly. "Yeah, why wouldn''t I be." He bluntly answered Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. "She was your mother and an angel, I haven''t seen you shed a single tear." Garry complained. "People can grieve differently, Garry." He replied with a sigh. "I know... I guess I''m just trying to focus on something else, she was like a mom to me, made me lasagna. I''m never going to have her lasagna again..." Garry responded quietly. "Let''s get back to the situation at han... oh." Jack said. "What?" "Look." Garry turned to find the child that his friend''s mother always cared for was staring at them, she had clearly heard everything they were saying because tears welled up in her silver eyes, streaking down her face, silently. "Hey kid. Are you alright?" Garry asked, already knowing the answer. She shook her head. "Yeah, do you want to go see her before she''s gone?" She nodded wiping her tears from her face. He glanced at his friend making sure it was alright. "Alright, let''s go.." Garry took the child''s hand and led her away from his friend. As he walked, he noticed his friend''s expression was grim and somber. Garry wished he could do more for him. Garry and the girl arrived at the orphanage and headed to the attached house for the orphanage head. She timidly opened the door and saw Delia''s body on the floor with blood pooling around her neck. Her face was stuck in a surprised expression and as the child looked into her lifeless eyes, tears welled up once again. It was much more real than just hearing about it. Her wrinkled skin was flat against the wooden floorboards, her mouth was agape as if trying to get some noise out of her cut vocal chords. A knife in her hands. The child walked up to the corpse, reached out her small trembling hands and closed Delia''s eyes as if putting her caretaker to sleep. "Kid, let''s go." She nods, shaken. As they leave as they see the knights finally come to the scene. They won''t do much. They are the epitome of incompetence. Garry leads the kid to her bed in the orphanage. He stays a while, keeping an eye on all the kids. He gave them their lunches and their dinners, he read them stories and watched them fall asleep, but the kid didn''t move from her bed all day. When she finally fell asleep she did so with tears trickling down her face.