did you know?

[Bluebird]

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Once upon a time, there was a girl - born to a mother almost absent yet caring in her own way, and a father most doting.
A family of a twin brother, and a youngest sister.

A family that extended far beyond; in connections to another within the same city, and some far beyond.

This young girl was full of whim, full of vigor. By the hand did she lead a great merry band of her friends, inspired by her father and his own numerous good deeds.
Despite the danger that raged outside of their walls. To a child, safe within the confines of their home, it all sounded too good to be true.

How wrong they were.
The friends she'd lead by the hand encountered their first ever demon. Scared though they were, one by one, driven by the desire to do good...
They assailed the beast, those would be heroes.

And the girl had her first ever brush with death at the jaws of the demon wolf Varrach.
How painful it was.
How miserable it was.

How she cursed her own weakness,
how her friends, too, received a painful reminder,
all because they wished to be a hero.

From that moment on, the girl could not help but ask herself as she was cursed.
Why did she wish so desperately to be a hero?
She couldn't help but compare herself to her best friends, even though she smiled.

She couldn't help but wonder why she kept trying,
even though she smiled.

The war got worse. Her friends got hurt, she got hurt, others died.
She felt angry.
But she kept smiling.

If she smiled, surely, the feelings she was trying to bestow on those she loved would be true.
If she smiled, said it would be okay, comforted them all,
it would be okay.

Even if she, herself, never felt okay.
Because they needed to know it was okay.
They needed that comfort,
even if she only received it from one.

That day, the girl made a wish on the sun. To be as bright, as warm, as nourishing.
Even if she was finding little to love, in regards to her own life.
Even if she found it difficult to love, in general.
She wished, and wished, and wished.

Somehow, that wish became a friend. They spoke of dreams, and hopes, and wishes,
and the girl found a purpose. She was so young, yet hidden beneath friendly exterior, she was struggling ever much -
the concept of living, of wanting to be alive, was foreign.

But there was a dream to realise, and that girl and her friend set off to see it realised,
all the way in the desert.

And soon they did,
and they both became entwined within that tree.

Many years would pass, and many other dreams were made,
but still, behind that warm smile and those hands that extend in companionship...

Ah, why did it take her so long?

...Truly, why did it take me so long?
As I toiled away in service of Alacritas, as I became the Keeper of Solais, why did it take me so long to notice?

My desire to see the next day, to see the next sunrise and hear the next birdcall,
to see the next generation became my desire to live.

It overcame my despair, it overcame my desire to simply drift off into a neverwaking sleep.
I am alive, simply, because my love for the world and mankind became so honest and true that it was more than one of my masks.

I am alive, and I remain touched upon the land even as I became Aschea's budding Inheritor,
because I cannot shed the love I have for it's people.

It is all encompassing.
The belief and hope I want to continue, and will continue, to hold in mankind will no longer waver.

And in this,
I will continue to toil, continue to smile, continue to love, continue to exist and love existing,
and continuing to love all the existences I come across.

For I have many more gifts to bestow upon this world,
and will continue to do so,
Until there comes a day I cannot do so anymore.