Rated 12+ for fantasy, violence, and slight gore.
This post goes along with The Death of Xavier's Heart.
A cloud of smoke shrouded her, covering her vision and making her slightly dizzy. She was used to it, however. She had done it so many times before. Today was so she could help.
She was exactly fifteen years and three weeks into the past. It was the tenth day of the seventh month, fifteen years and three weeks into the past.
The girl stepped away from the cloud of smoke concealing her and into the bright sunlight. Its intensity momentarily surprised her--she was now in the desert lands, very far south from the snow fields where she dwelled. She stood there a moment to take in her barren surroundings before plunging forward into the world.
The dry was hard and unhappy feeling, as if it had been waiting too long and too impatiently for rain. The sky was a beautiful blue, bright and shimmering, the kind that you can't find anywhere except for the sky on a cloudless day. There were maybe twenty houses shrouding the unexciting desert, and then it was empty. Nothing but empty land for as far as her eyes could see.
She walked cautiously, examining the town. Children ran about playing tag or hide-and-seek, while the older adults had gathered between houses and near the clothing lines to chat and do work. She glanced at them with slight interest. So many stories they could tell, living out in the desert! They could tell about the raid of Rames, the day when another desert colony much like theirs was raided, yet they won without even putting up much of a fight. They could whisper stories about the time that Rolf the musician visited the town, how magical his music sounded, how it filled the air until even the sun seemed to shine brighter, or they could excitedly yelp about the time Arak the strong warrior came in to their town to protect them for threat, or even remember kindly back on the librarian Linnia who came to teach the uneducated how to read. But, rather than questioning them on it, she walked away. She knew exactly where she was going, and she knew exactly why.
Pushing back the blanket hanging loosely on the door of a house, she plunged right inside. There were two children in there--a girl with dark, thick hair tied back in a pink bow and a boy with the same hair, scruffily arranged on his head--but both of them only glanced up at her and then, with shrugs of indifference, they turned back to their chores which, oddly enough, were stringing beads onto a board laid out. The girl knew why. They were making a new door for their home. But she didn't speak to them.
Save for the children stringing beads, the room was nearly completely empty. There was a rocking chair in the far right corner, a window next to it, and underneath the window, a white crib.
The crib itself was gorgeous. It was strung with silk, pearls, and beautiful light blue ribbons. The family couldn't afford such a crib. No, it was a gift--a gift from the girl's father. It was this gift that prompted the boy to come seeking them when he lost everything, and it was through this gift that the girl and the boy met.
She walked bravely to the side of the crib and looked inside to see a baby lying within the it. He had dark, wispy hair, and slept soundly with his fist wedged in his mouth. The boy had been born three weeks ago exactly.
She couldn't help but grin. He looked so innocent, so beautiful. How could anyone suspect what he would become? How would anyone realize he'd grow up to make the hardest decision of anyone's life?
The girl stood there rigidly staring at the sweet baby. Suddenly, a girl's voice sounded behind her.
"Who are you, and why are you stealing my baby brother?"
Again she smiled. What innocence! She turned to greet the young girl, and as she looked deep into her eyes, she realized whom she was. Her name was Xienia and, at this time, she would be eight years old.
"My name is Alxy. And I'm not stealing him."
There was a pause. "Why are you here, then?" the girl questioned suspiciously. "And why haven't I seen you around?"
Alxy evaded the question. "Have you named him, yet?"
"Beg pardon?"
"Your baby brother. Have you named him?"
"No, Mother couldn't come up with a name." The boy sitting next to the girl put down his beads and watched the conversation with interest. "Why?"
"Xavier." Alxy turned back to the baby, and reached her hand out slowly to brush his cheek. "Tell your mother to name him Xavier."
The baby jerked and his eyes flew open, staring into Alxy's.
A cloud of smoke, darkness, and then light again.
A wave of dizziness came over Alxy. She stumbled away to rest against a tree, breathing heavily. When she had control of herself, she examined her surroundings.
The sun was setting in the desert once again, but this time, she was slightly further out. Other than her and a little boy with his back to her, there was no one.
The boy was about ten years old. Ten years... and three weeks.
She stood up suddenly, watching him. He was a lanky boy with the darkest hair, and had much grown since she last saw him. He bent down to pick up a stone on the ground and threw it at a nearby plant, grinning at his result.
He sighed and made a whistling noise. Without fail or hesitation a blue jay flew from the tree Alxy was resting against and onto his shoulder. He didn't even turn to see the tree, never met Alxy's gaze--he just picked up the stone he had thrown at the plant and walked away, humming happily.
Alxy's heart broke at the sight. He was so happy, so very happy... but soon, all of his hopes would come crashing down.
Alxy and Xavier both saw it at the same time. A small smoke stack, rising from a nearby house. Xavier paused for a second, tilting his head to one side, then screamed, dropped his stone, and ran. The blue jay flew off his shoulder in surprise, but then glided after him.
They both knew whose house was on fire, and it broke Alxy to pieces as she ran after him.
"MOTHER! XIENIA! XALF!" Xavier slid into the town, but stopped immediately in front of his house. The beaded ropes leading into his house were burning too. Everything was burning.
It wasn't just his house. One by one, the houses slowly began to catch on fire. The children playing tag paused and looked around, screaming through their tears--the games of hide-and-seek were no longer games. The adults whom had before been chatting idly were gathering up the children, running, screaming, looking for escape. But they were in the middle of a desolate desert. There was none.
People dressed in all black invaded the town like a disease. Some were on horses, others on foot, but they all had a weapon, and they all were deadly.
Within moments arrows whistled through the air, javelins soared to find their bullseyes. Swords were raised and brought down heavily, maces were swung about. And the only noises other than the arrows, the javelins, the swords, and the maces swinging terribly through the air, were the sounds of people screaming and crying.
It was hard to watch such a bloodshed, so Alxy turned her eyes from it and watched Xavier. It was almost worse. He stood there, next to his burning house, watching his town of no more than a hundred die. She could hear his thoughts as if they were her own: Why this town? What have we done wrong? Why are they killing all those people?
So young. So innocent.
The tears slid down his face, making his eyes like a mirror. She watched people being stabbed in his eyes, and then watched his body crumble to the ground in desparation. After all, he was ten and weaponless. What could he do?
He crawled slowly back towards his house and called inside. "MOTHER!" There was no reply. "XIENIA!" Silence. "XALF!" Nothing.
He continued to yell, but his words were shrouded through tears. The desparation in his voice was too much to bare, and without being able to stop herself, Alxy ran forward and grabbed him.
He let out a yoller of fear, expecting it to be one of those dressed in black. Alxy soothed him softly, and though he still fought, she picked up him and ran. She ran not south, where they had come from, but north, where he was going. She ran, dodging arrows and swords and javelins, and noticed with a twinge that the boy's beloved blue jay had run into one of them. She whispered a word of apology to the boy and continued her race.
Before long the sounds of the town had subsided and there was nothing but a quiet, creaking night, and a boy sobbing and heaving. He asked her questions now and again as she ran, but she answered none of them.
After a while, the child had cried himself to sleep, so she stopped running and laid him down gently. She stood there, awkwardly waiting for him to wake up, so he would look her in the eyes and she could leave. When she had waited long enough, she sat down and took him into her arms, gently singing and rocking him back and forth. He, again, jerked away, and she closed her eyes as he glared at her.
"It wasn't a dream," Alxy whispered, then opened her eyes and looked into his before she disappeared.
Smoke. Dark. Light.
This time she was so far away she had to rest a whole two minutes before she found strength to even look around. She smiled in approval--they were back in the snowlands. It was four years since she had seen him. Well... four years and three weeks.
Xavier was sitting underneath a tree, eating an apple and staring at the snowing sky. It was midday and a rather boring one at that, quiet, calm, and serene. He was just simply enjoying his day, thinking things through, when he heard a noise. He jumped suddenly, and looked around curiously. He found Alxy and smiled.
"Alxy... it's only you." She immediately closed her eyes and stepped foward blindly. "That is Alxy, right?"
His voice was so young, so childish, that Alxy smiled. "Yes, Xavier, it's me."
"You look older. And... you sound older." She heard snow crunching underneath someone's boots, then felt his hands grab her shoulders. "And you're keeping your eyes closed. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Just listen to me, alright? Listen." She hesitated. "I want you to tell me of this conversation later. Every word of it. So listen carefully, alright?"
There was a pause, and Alxy was afraid of the look he was giving her. Finally, there was a curious, "Yeah, I promise."
"You were right. I look older, but that's because I am older." She waited for his reaction, then realized he didn't understand. "Xavier, I'm a Seeker!"
He suddenly laughed. "Don't joke!"
"I'm not." Alxy forced seriousness into her voice. "I can see the past. I can see the future. And with a wave of my hand, I can change it all."
"Stop it!" Now he sounded scared.
"I'm not kidding, Xavier. I can."
"But Seekers went extinct ten years ago!"
"No, Xavier. They've been extinct for fourteen years... fourteen years and three weeks."
Complete and utter silence.
"Xavier, what day is today?"
A pause. "The tenth day of the seventh month?"
"Yes, but that's not the right answer."
A bit of silence. "Three weeks after my birthday?"
"Almost..."
Now he was quiet for a minute or two. The silence stretched on awkwardly, until finally, realization came to him, and he whispered, "Fire Day...?"
"Yes, Xavier. Today is Fire Day. This was the day that my people burned. Those dressed in black came and murdered them."
A voice of confusion mixed with anger responded, "That was my people, not yours."
"It wasn't just your people. It was everyone's people. Xavier, everyone died. On Fire Day, they exterminated all the three major races--the Seekers, the Manipulators, and the Magin."
"What?" There was a moment of shock, then he came at her with biting words, heavily tinted with sorrow, "But my race wasn't important at all. We... we were just some people living quietly. We--" His voice broke, and he took a deep breath. "We did nothing." His voice was full of pain, and she could easily hear the tears as if they were in his voice. "Nothing."
Alxy was quiet for a moment, just for a moment. "Xavier. Tell me what a Magin is."
"I..." Sniff. "I don't know."
"You are a Magin, Xavier."
"Wha--...?"
"Have you ever noticed, Xavier? When someone says something, just a story or a tale or something, and suddenly, they're there? They come to life? Your mother just mentions how she misses your father and in a second's notice he's there. Your sister tells a story about a child who was abused and the meets this girl, wandering in the town with scars on her back." She waited for him to speak, but he didn't. "Have you noticed?"
"I... I don't know what you're talking about." Now there was wild, blind anger in his voice. "We were nothing special! We were normal, we were fine, and they murdered us." He had long let go of her shoulders, and was stomping around screaming. "You're lying to me, you're lying!"
She let out a deep sigh, then tried gently, "Xavier. Tell me one thing."
"What?" His voice was harsh, angry.
"How did you escape from Fire Day? How did you live?"
He hesitated. "A... a lady dressed in white saved me. I told you already."
"What exactly did she look like?"
"She had white, flowing hair... big brown eyes... I don't know... what it's to you, anyway?"
"And how did she leave, Xavier? Tell me, when did she leave?"
"I woke up, and I... I looked at her, and she was gone."
Alxy opened her eyes then and stared into his.
As she was disappearing, she saw the shock slacken his face. She knew what would happen. He would run to the palace, screaming, where he'd run into Alxy, looking her over, staring her into the eyes. Then he'd rant about what she said and did, and she'd whisper that she didn't do that, that she was sitting in the palace reading, but that she was a Seeker and it was Fire Day.
And the two would stare in horror at each other, each realizing who the other was and what they meant in their life. Without a hesitation or really a reason, they'd kiss right then and there, underneath the cherry blossoms out in the back of the palace, and soon after they'd fall in love, only to be ripped apart again and again.
And Alxy already knew that many years in the future, even from her present time, she would sacrifice herself from him. She knew it would rip his heart out like nothing ever did.
But she would always live in silence, because she knew the future could not be told.
Other than the few corrections I made, I couldn't really find anything. I really enjoyed reading this. I can't believe it hasn't been reviewed much. xD 
