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The Light

I spent most of my life trying to convince my friend, Raven, not to have his revenge on Ostia. I have never believed in revenge. I guess it was because of my father’s death. My name is Lucius and the story I am going to tell begins when I was about three years of age…
“I’m home!” my father shouted. Mother and I ran to greet him at the door of our small cottage. Father had been away for some time working as a mercenary. Mother embraced him and I threw my short little arms around his legs.
“How have you been?” Mother asked letting go of Father.
“I’ve been just fine,” Father said lifting me, “I had to escort a young maiden to Bern was all. Nothing too serious.”
“I’m glad you’re home, Daddy!” I said.
“I am, too, son.” Father smiled. “How have things been here while I was away? Lucius, have you been making any friends in the town?” I looked down.
“All the kids pick on him…” Mother answered for me, “Saying he looks like a girl… Oh, I do not see why they must do that! Do appearances really matter?”
“Certainly not,” Father said, “I feel sorry for them. Let us pray for them tonight, shall we?” Mother and I said nothing. I still stared at the ground. “Well…we should be getting to bed if we’re to wake up early tomorrow. How else can we catch lots of fish?”
“Are you saying dat we’re going fishing tomowow, Daddy?” I asked looking up with a smile, “Yay!”
“That’s right!” Father said, “Tomorrow we can talk and spend all day together!”
“A great way to celebrate your homecoming,” Mother said.
Father nodded. “Alright, Lucius. To bed now.” I skipped into my tiny room and into bed. I left the door opened a little because I was afraid of the dark. I could hear Mother and Father speaking in low, worried voices.
“What’s wrong, dear?” Mother asked Father, “I could hear tension in your voice. What happened?”
“It’s nothing serious, but…” Father began, “I had to fight some bandits while in the mountains. One of the bandits was a thief who seemed so eager to kill me. After I defeated the bandits, I noticed he had fled. I traveled on to the village. The thief was there. He stared at me with those dark, cold eyes of his. A man in dark robes whispered something to him. I looked straight ahead pretending not to notice, but when I looked at them again they were gone. That look that man gave me… Makes me shudder just thinking about it…”
“It’s probably nothing,” Mother said, “You’re probably just being paranoid. Get some rest.”
The next morning, the three of us awoke early to prepare for the fishing trip.
“I’ll get the equipment,” said Father, “Honey, you prepare the lunches…and don’t forget your medication.”
“Whaddo I do, Daddy?” I asked.
“You have the most important job, son,” Father said to me with that warm, friendly smile of his, “You have to get the hats.”
I laughed. “Dat’s right! We can’t go fishing wit out our hats!” I opened a closet and climbed deep inside to look for the fishing hats. Mother was in the kitchen and Father was outside loading the carriage with our rods and bait. It was then that I heard my father yell angrily, “It’s you!” I fearfully got out of the closet and looked out the window to see what was the matter. Father was face to face with a frightening man with dark eyes and bluish green hair. I was too short to reach the door knob so I had to waste time finding a chair to climb on. I felt I should’ve informed Mother, but my childish curiosity led me straight outside.
When I arrived to the carriage, the thief already had a dagger sticking in my father’s chest. When the thief saw me, his look sent a chill through my bones. I could see so much hate in his expression, yet deep beneath it I could see an ocean of sorrow. The thief left my father to fall on the cobblestones and disappeared in the trees ahead.
I ran up to Father and pulled the dagger out of his chest. I placed his head on my lap. “Lu…cius…” he said, “…Look…after…your mother… …and…please……. …don’t….seek…re….venge….”
My mother immediately contacted a doctor, but it was too late.
Soon after, my mother died. I knew she had a medical problem of sorts, but the doctors said it wouldn’t kill her. I believe the real illness that killed her was sorrow.
It was then that I was sent to an orphanage, bringing with me all I had left to remember my father: the very dagger that killed him. I was too sad to ever speak. No one ever understood me. As usual, I was laughed at constantly for looking like a girl so I would always sit by myself at lunch time when the teachers would let us outside.
One day, three of the boys there came up to me as I sat alone nibbling at an apple.
“Hey, what’s your name, loner?” one of them asked me.
“Lu…Lucius…” I answered in a quiet tone.
“Lucius?” the same boy, who appeared to be the leader, said, “That’s a BOY’S name! You’re a girl! Why would you have a boy’s name if you’re a girl?!” I was certain they knew already that I was a boy and that this was some kind of plot to humiliate me.
“I…I am a boy…” was all I could say. The boys laughed.
“I can understand why you wouldn’t want to be a girl,” said the leader, “Girls are such babies and they’re SO weak, but stop pretending! It’s real sad!”
“But I am a boy! I am!”
“No, you’re just a hopeless case!” With that, the boys surrounded me. The leader hit me and I had no idea what to do except fight back. I hit the leader hard in the face, causing him to fall back. Then I realized what I had done and that my father would not approve of it and I couldn’t move at all. The boys beat me to the ground.
Then one of the teachers came up to us and asked, “What’s all the ruckus?”
“She’s lying to us!” the leader said pointing at me, “She keeps saying that her name is Lucius and that she’s a boy! Then she tried to hurt me!”
“Wicked child!” said the teacher, “Well done, boys. That ought to teach her the error of her ways! Your name could be Lucius, but how could you be a boy? You are either lying or you are a disturbance of nature!”
“I’m…not lying…” I said, “Father told me…never to lie…” The teacher only said, “You will still not speak the truth? You shall not get any food tomorrow, then! Perhaps then you learn!” The boys and the teacher left me there, too weak to even get up. I was soon forgotten and left outside. By the time I recovered my strength, the doors were already locked, so I stayed outside all night. To make things worse, it began to rain and in the morning I was soaking wet. The teachers only scolded me for not coming in the day before. The only comfort I had with me during these times was the dagger. It gave me strength thinking of my father, and yet at the same time, it reminded me of all the pain it caused me.
After many long years at that dreadful place, I finally left to serve House Cornwell. It was there that I met Lord Raymond. After I told him my name, he laughed. This made me look down in shame, but he said, “Don’t take it seriously. I couldn’t care less how you look.” He was only a child then and we came to be great friends. I became more skillful with light magic there and thought I had at last found true bliss.
This happiness of mine soon ended when the Marquess of Cornwell was killed. House Cornwell fell and Raymond and I didn’t know what else to do but flee. Rumors spread that it was Ostia that did this to House Cornwell and so Raymond plotted to get his revenge.
Raymond and I lost each other in our flight and as I searched for him, I met Lady Lyndis in Kathelet. At first, I wanted to help a boy named Nils save his sister. Then I decided to remain with Lady Lyn to help her find and save her granduncle, Lord Hausen. When I found Raymond again, we began to serve Caelin. When it was attacked, however, we were imprisoned. We were then saved by Lord Eliwood, son of the Marquess of Pherae. Raymond joined his army in hopes of getting his revenge on Ostia by getting close to Lord Hector, the younger brother of the Marquess of Ostia.
We remained in Lord Eliwood’s army to help him find his father and then stop Nergal from bringing dragons back into the world so that he could use their quintessence for power. During this time, I met Raymond’s sister, Priscilla, who left House Cornwell shortly before I arrived. I also met the man who killed my father. He is now Bishop Renault. Even though he was the one who caused me all the pain in my life, I forgave him. I know that Father is proud of me for doing so. I know that when I forgave Renault, my father was smiling down upon me. I never sought revenge just like my father asked me to do. That was why I felt Raymond shouldn’t have either. At this point, Raymond changed his name to Raven so I suppose I should refer to him as Raven from now on.
After the battle with Nergal, Raven told Lord Hector everything about House Cornwell and Hector offered to help him, but Raven refused. Raven had at last found peace, so we simply lived our lives as mercenaries.
After a while, I knew that my life of adventures was done. I set up an orphanage in Araphen where I now care for seven orphans, two of which are the sons of Nino, Lou and Ray. Nino was also part of Lord Eliwood’s army and had some connections with the Black Fang. Now, however, she seems to have disappeared, supposedly dead, and I am honored to care for her sons. As for Raven, well, I see him every now and then.
Just recently, Bern started a war for reasons which I do not yet know. King Zephiel’s troops are headed this way. I wonder if we should flee, but then we would starve. All the food we have is the little in our garden. Most of it has been taken from us and given to the soldiers from the war. We don’t have much money to buy anything from the village either. I’m sure, though, that everything will turn out OK in the end.

With that, Lucius closed the book he was writing in. He was sitting at a wooden table when he heard Lou’s cries.
“Father! Father!” Lou shouted running into the room, “It’s Ray! He’s gone! All he left was this note.” Lucius took the note from Lou’s hand, read it, and sighed.
“This doesn’t surprise me,” Lucius said, “Ray hasn’t been very fond of our way of life since the war began. Don’t worry, Lou. Ray can take care of himself.” Lou looked as though his eyes were about to give in to tears. He then left the room. He saw one of the other children, Chad, sharing a loaf of bread with the other kids.
“Chad, where did you get that?” Lou asked, “You weren’t stealing again, were you?”
“You better not tell Father, Lou,” Chad said, “We’re starving. What’re we supposed to do? Here, have some.” He handed Lou a piece of bread which Lou reluctantly accepted.
The next day, the villagers could be heard screaming. Lucius was looking out the window and decided that the children would have to leave. They could stay at the Elimine church. He told the children to prepare to leave. Then he went into the garden and began filling a sack with food. He heard the children screaming and looked at the orphanage to see that it was on fire.
“This way!” Lucius shouted. He helped all the kids make it out of the orphanage safely. “Head to the Elimine church,” he told them. Then he saw some wyvern riders trampling the garden.
“Stop!” he yelled, “Get away from there!”
“Who are you to stop us?” one of them said, “This garden is in our way! As is this orphanage!”
“I won’t let you destroy what little food we have left!” Lucius yelled. The wyvern riders surrounded Lucius and attacked.
“Father!” Lou cried as he and others ran from the orphanage. They all turned back to see a lance piercing Lucius’s chest.
“Chad, take the children!” Lou said, “I must help Father…somehow.”
By the time he reached the orphanage, the wyvern riders had gone. He found Lucius lying on the ground holding onto his last breath. Lou placed Lucius’s head in his lap just as Lucius had done with his father many years before.
“Lou…?” Lucius said.
“Yes, Father, I’m here,” Lou said.
“…Lou…please…” Lucius struggled to say, “Please…don’t…seek…re… ….” But he never had the chance to finish.
“Fa…Father…” Lou wept bitterly. He saw through his tears that Lucius held a dagger.
“That’s the dagger that killed his father.” Lou turned around to see a strange man with red hair and solemn look standing behind him.
“Who…are you?” Lou asked.
“A friend,” said Raven, “Go help those kids. I’ll bury this dagger with him.” Lou had no idea who this guy was, but he knew what he had to do. He took one last look at Lucius and then headed towards the Elimine church.
“Hn,” said Raven, “Even at the end, you tried to stop people from giving in to their feelings of hate. I understand… I’ll see you again soon, my friend.” And so, he buried Lucius under a tree in the garden and wandered off into the unknown.