FUCKING SHITHELL BITCH

Chapter 1: Denial

So many ways to start the fairytale, only one to end the nightmare. darkness cloaking around her, numbing silence droning through her ears, yet distant sounds of war pressing through the room. armory dropping, weapons clashing, blood streaming, screams of death. they stood high above the battlegrounds, but could experience all its misery and terror.

female voice: 	"Whats wrong? This is what you´ve been waiting for, now finish your work"

a silhouete in the shadows, not more than a hallucination. it feels strange and terrifying familiar at the same time. did they meet before?

Emily:	"i didnt want all of this to happen.. no, i did not want it to come to this"

Her voice was shaking and her posture was weak. if she had a choice, she would flee but her legs wouldnt move, nor would her eyes dare to close. her enemy was lying on the ground, struck by her blades, wounded and helpless, but alive.

female voice:	"Finish what you started, kill her! its your duty!"

Emily:	"no.. noo, this cant be happening.."

Suddenly she runs, as fast as she can, away from the shadows, away from the war. but she cant outrun the silhuette or escape her fate.

female voice:	"Come back here! fullfill your duty!"

The shadows begin rampaging, leaping forward chasing after her, reaching out to her and finally swallowing her whole, muffling her last screams into a dull crying..

Not long after, she awakes in her bed, darkness was indeed surrounding her, yet posing no danger, even though the moonlight does bring up a strangely shaped shadow through her window. there was nothing but her and the sound of night. while shes still trying to catch breath and her heart is pounding seemingly endless, she said to herself:

Emily:	"Was this really all just a dream?.. it felt so real. and who was this woman? why did i try to kill her?"

She quickly calmed down and stopped worrying about a dream. she had no time to worry, afterall tomorrow was her big day. graduation from military school. It was privileg to attain such a high standard school like she did. Most Ionians barely get the chance to practice the job of a guardian, let alone participating in actual battles. Even in times of war, ionia constantly maintained a peaceful enviroment inside their borders, as this area was safe from any attacks, that means at least in the last 16 years. Stocking up on warfare was not necessary for their citizens safety. Emily on the other hand was about to follow in her mothers steps, becoming a soldier, wether she wanted or not. Her mother, Ruby, was the captain of the ionian army, one of valorans most respected and appreciated armed forced; there was no way she could cop out of her duty as the captains daughter. but that doesnt mean she didnt try.

She was staring at her clock "3:47".

Emily:	"come on.. there is no way i can sleep in again.. and even if i do, i need to get up at 6am. this day doesnt start well. the heck with it, im gonna just.. close my eyes.. for a few minutes.. nam.."

upon opening her eyes after a not too short rest, she saw bright sunshine coming through her windows, birds singing, the smell of summer flowers covering her nose, and also the clock reading 9:13. Latter was probably the main reason why she instantly jumped off her bed, running to the bathroom and on the way cursing in a variety, which doesnt seem to be appropiate for a 16 year old girl.

Emily:	"WHY DID THIS FUCKING CAT NOT WAKE ME UP, WHY DO I EVEN HAVE A PET IF SHE CANT DO THE EASIEST THINGS"

while brushing her teeth furiously, she stared at her the fairly unintrested young dragon sitting at the doorstep, as if she expected her to respond.

Emily:	"get a pet they said, it will help you wake up they said, the pink dragon matches your hair they said.. ok, the last one is right."

the little petdragon, lovely named "cat", was the most of the time the only one she could talk to since her mother was always working at the council of war and her father was not there aswell. cat was a gift to emilys birthday from her best friend. she was still in her shell when she got her. since she hatched, they were never seperated. despite being only a few months old, she had a better character than most people emily has seen. she likes to sing, cuddle at night, and always seems to understand what emily feels, yet she has an evil prefrence to silently mock her.

Emily:	"*sigh*, can you at least hunt your own breakfast for once?just once? youre a dragon for fucks sake.."

Cat: "meow"

she knew too well what that meant. sprinting out of the bathroom into the kitchen, she just threw a piece of meat into cats bowl, with a look saying "dont tell mum". she prepared butterred bread, got dressed, and ran out, combing her pink hair and eating with one hand, while putting on her shoes with the other one. the way she jumps up and down almost had something rythmical, she was clearly not doing this for the first time.

Emily was not like most of the ionian girls. they work hard and spent their rare freetime in the local pubs, drinking and celebrating every victory in the frontlines. emily didnt bother meeting the people from school after hours. most of her time she was either at the academy or with her best friend. as long as she was with her, she could be herself, no need to hide her sometimes goofy kind.

Emilys appearance was petite, almost weak. she was small, almost tiny compared to other ionian girls at her age. nobody would guess shes a warrior after seeing her for the first time, she wouldnt even believe it herself. it was her mothers dream to make a soldier out of her, not emilys. but what else could she do? this war is not just a mere conflict between two nations, its something personal. thats why ruby became captain of ionias armed forces. and thats why emily has to become a warrior under her mothers wing. she was different from her mother in many ways.

ruby was strong and dedicated, brave yet logical. she cared for her nations sake just as much as she cared for her comrades on the battlefield. her unit used to have the least amount of KIA - "Killed in Action". up to one day, when they were sent to a small isle group near the in the north western part of valoran, close to the shadow isles. it was merely a class C mission, scouting for enemies position and mapping them for future advancing towards enemy territory. nothing too worrysome, even though they were so close to the nation, they wage war against. the area used to be safe and still is, or at least they thought so. but it was just a trap. demons disguised as local citizens, attacked them once they dropped their guard. ruby was not able to save them. only half of the her unit made back, ruby being one of them. but while escaping she protected a comrade from an enemy attack with her own body and broke her right arm to a point where she couldnt maintain active duty anymore. since that day she stayed in ionia, training the new students at the academy and planing strategical acts at the council of war.

if emily became a warrior like her mother, she could do what ruby was prevented from, advancing towards the shadow isles, breaking the enemys lines, defeating their emperor, evelynn. Emily did not worry too much about it. she was still a naive child. her whole live she was inside the ionian borders, well protected in a peacefull enviroment. the only thing she thought about at this day, was her graduation, and her start of her military duty. At last she arrived at the academy, the clock reading "9:58".

Emily: 	"2 minutes early from being 3 hours late. thats not too bad, nobody will notice"

she casually walked over to the great hall, everyone was already standing in line while Ruby delivered her final speech. just in the same moment emily wanted to walk through the door and search for her place, someone rapidly grabbed her shoulder and a strict voice spoke to her.

Irelia:	"what do we have here? 3 hours late, not wearing the school uniform, hairstyle just screaming "kill me". do you know the consequences of such behaviour, especially on such a special day?"

emily was seemingly surprised and couldnt even speak or turn around. maybe she hoped that person would go away if she doesnt move. it did not work to say the least.

Irelia: "your punishment will be... to turn around and give you old friend a nice hug.. also you buy lunch today"

Emily didnt even recognize her from being so scared. but that person was Irelia, her super bestestest friend of whole ionia.

Emily: "AAAAAH youre back from your mission! i missed you so much!"

Emily almost threw her over and started crying when she hugged her. understandably, afterall irelia was gone for the last 3 months on a class A mission. She couldnt even sent her a letter or sent homemade muffins.

This was not irelias first mission, in fact she is in active duty for 3 years, she had all kinds of missions. she graduated at the academy at age 18, still very young compared to others, but she was anything but unexperienced. when her master Lito died to an unknown disease, irelia was the only one capable of using his unique weapons, 4 blades flying in thin air, controlled by nothing but her own mind. some call her style to fight a dance with the blades, rythmical movements leading to fatal strikes in a perfectly timed choreography. emily always admired irelia as a warrior and as a friend. she was her role model when she grew up, and still is to this day, but now emily is not a child anymore, shes close to starting her military career together with irelia.

Irelia:	"aww princess, dont cry. i missed you aswell, my little cutie. wait, is that buttered bread in your hair?"

Emily:	"not sure.. i guess i messed up the hair combing and stuff eating parts. happens if you get exited for the day i guess"

Irelia:	"princess cant wait to be a hero, can she? oh and did you actually bite the comb?"

Emily: 	"no i did not bite the comb.. not again. and dont call me princess, im a reaaaal warrior now"

Irelia: "oh right, your graduation. didnt you have to attent any ceremony like.. 3 hours ago? i mean those stupid motivational speeches from ruby.. they always tell some storys about the war and about ionias heros and whatnot. i think shes telling that story again about master Yi defeating and entire enemys squad alone.. as if you need much skill to wiggle around with a sword. he should try that with 4 at a time.."

Emily:	"youre just jealous that he gets all the attention from ruby. she doesnt tell your story, huh?"

Irelia:	"well maybe you are just jealous because she spents all her time at the council, huh?"

After saying this, she immidiately realized how insensitive and stupid that was. ruby didnt pay much attention to emily, if she wasnt in the academy, even though emily did nothing but attempt to make her mother proud. she became a soldier for her mother and her nation, not because she had a free choice. besides that, emily didnt do well with other people from school. most of them were way older than her and didnt want to bother with a child. irelia was not just her best friend, but her only friend.

Irelia:	"im sorry, emily.. lets get something to eat. you can get your papers tomorrow aswell. and dont worry about your mum getting angry, im gonna talk with her about it. we just say you were having some special training with me the whole day"

they sat down in a nearby café, still pretty early, so there was not too much traffic around. the morning sun was already set high up. irelia ordered something she havent had in 3 months, baked fish. strangely enough people really didnt gratinate fish where her missions location was, who would have known? emily ordered a childs menu with a free toy.

Emily:	"its for cat, okay? she likes toys."

Irelia:	"i wont judge. you can take whatever makes you happy, but youre spoiling that dragon too much. you know how they prepare fish in bilgewater? not roasted or grilled like normal people. they actually eat it raw or even worse. they preserve it with saltwater untill it gets all stinky and gooby and.. eek"

Usually irelia would spent all her time raging about how pirates dont know how to cook fish, but she noticed something strange about emily. she barely touched her food. she was holding her empty cup with both hands, staring to the window. her eyes were half closed, not like she would lack sleep. she was in thought and didnt even respond to irelia rambling about food. usually when irelia came back from a mission they would get all exited, gossip about how everyone elses food culture was worse than ionias, then go home, bake cake and promise they would start eating healthy the next day. but this time she was behaving different.

Irelia:	"you had another nightmare, isnt it? dont worry about it.. its just bad dreams."

Emily:	"how can you know? they get worse and worse every time.. and mum is never there for me.."

Irelia:	"I am here for you. as long as you are with me, i will protect you from any bad dreams, even the super baddest ones. just dont be afraid anymore, ok? being afraid doesnt fit your pretty face, princess"

Emily smiled for the moment, but it was not a strong smile. her eyes were still motionless fixated on the window and about to drop soft tears.

Irelia:	"I dont know why your mother is working so much on this.. i mean i understand what happened to you and how important it is to end the war, but she has a daughter, which she needs to take care of. there are enough people to plan out ionias negotiation plans."

Emily:	"negotiations? heh, not even close. if they would try to negotiate, the war would be long over"

She never thought of this war as "negotiable". she grew up inbetween ionias safe borders, but even here you can feel the impacts of the war. people going on missions, never coming back. storys from the battlefield, how the ionian soldiers are the best armed forced in valoran, handling every situation with ease, never retreating, never afraid. she considered it pathetic how everyone else seems to celebrate this war as anything it really is, a catastrophe.

Irelia:	"princess...you know what? i dont have to report for the mission before tomorrow. how about i stay with you this night? we can make a sleepover, drink some super sweet soda and watch horror movies all night long, just like we did when we were kids."

emily hesitated to answer, as if she was emberassed to get treated a little girl. yet there was nothing she would prefer over getting babysitted by irelia.

Emily:	"only if you cuddle with me.."

Irelia giggled at her saying this. hearing emily talking all about being a strong warrior and in the same breath ordering a childs menu and asking to cuddle with her. she was still her little princess, no matter what military rank she might achieve.

They just went out of the café when they ran into the person, emily wanted to see the least right now. From all random encounters it had to be the by far creepiest, most obnoxious member of irelias unit, Zelos.

Zelos:	"ohay little Pumpinface, hows it going? already done playing soldier?"

Irelia:	"Zelos! be nice for once. shes the captains daughter and a new member of our unit. show some respect for your comrades"

Irelia was was just trying to protect her. she held emily by the hand and pulled her away from him. but the only thing she did was pushing her further into the image of a small girl which needs protection, unable to fight on her own. zelos walked up to them, slightly bowed down to her so their eye levels match up, and put his hand on emilys head, gently petting her.

Zelos:	"ohh, little girl will join us? so let me get this straight, pumpkin will join OUR squad? captain rubys former squad, consisting of the most skilled soldiers ionia can offer, me, the most handsome warrior who has ever been touched the the sunlight, irelia, the only person who is capable of wielding litos sacred blades and then this little fella. a 16 year old little princess who wouldnt even be able to protect her squadmates if their life would dep-"

Irelia:	"STOP IT! every member is getting treated equally, no matter how strong they are. emily cant do anything about being like this"

"being like this"..that did hurt her more than anything zelos could say. usually she would talk back at him, but she was fed up with those shenanigans. she was tired of being looked down at. she just walked away in silence while irelia and zelos kept argueing loudly.

this night emily was staying up late again. ruby was still at the council, so there was nothing but her and the sounds of the night, also some girly movie running in the background. it was raining like almost every day. she was still thinking. about her graduation, about what they said today. was zelos right? how can emily ever defend anyone, if she cant even defend herself. if a mission escelates, would she be able to save a comrades life? would she be able to risk her own life? would she be strong enough to see a friend die right in front of her? certainly not, being afraid of nightmares and her own shadow..

then something caught her attention. she heard some suspicious sound coming from the outside. she froze for one second, remembering her nightmare from last night. but she didnt worry any further. as ireliasaid, it was just a dream. emily stood up and went to the open window. it was already pretty cold for the season, so she quickly looked around and closed it. nothing suspicious to find.. until that Cat flies headstraight into the just closed window. the dull impact scares emily to death, throwing her over and making her scream in a high pitched voice, which was just as likely to break glass as a fast pink object crushing into it. she didnt bother standing up right away. again she thought about how easily scared she was. nightmares, shadows, flying cotton balls, nothing which should scare a warrior. then someone knocked at the door. was it ruby? being home before emily is going to sleep? well, everything has a first time.

Emily:	"Mum? are you already home? im sorry for not coming to the graduation this day, but i had some secret training with irelia and -"

She opened the door and it was irelia with Cat sitting on her head. she smiled at her and was already soaking to the skin from the rain, irelia, not cat.

Emily:	"What are you doing here? havent you got some super important secret mission with the most handsome warrior who ever got touched by the sunlight?"

Irelia:	"hmm, hes not as handsome as he wished to be. and besides i promised you some super sweet soda, didnt i?"