[Volume 2: Winter Winds]
The first calamity came slowly, like a creeping chill that seeped through the stone floors.
On the first day, an unprecedentedly thick wave of mana spread from the coastline of the southern region and shrouded the entire continent. It carried a great momentum, yet it was not violent.
On the second day, an unknown and incomprehensible curse crawled through the tracks left behind by the wave of mana, using its trail like a channel to spread to every corner of the continent. It sank its nails deep within the earth, rooting itself quietly in the world.
On the third day, the temperature of the continent started to drop. Flowing water began to slow, eventually freezing into solid streams of ice. Soft crystals formed on the surrounding trees, and windows began to fog up. Hail and sleet replaced rain, and a faint fog slowly drifted in. Common chimneys produced black smoke, and the need for firewood skyrocketed.
On the fourth day, a bone-piercing cold ripped through the land and brought a terrifying chill to the living. Weaker mortals were confined to their homes, while stronger warriors were forced to leave theirs, either through necessity, or purpose.
On the fifth day, snow began to fall for the first time on the Cross Continent.
On the sixth day, the Sky Tower announced the creation of the 'Calamity Calendar'.
On the seventh day, countless threads of mana dug through the winter wonderland and brought life to the cold silence. Lesser Ice Elementals slowly rose from the ice and snow, harmless little creatures, but with the dangerous ability to spread the cold.
From this day forward, calamity had come.
* * *
[Day 008 of the Calamity Calendar]
On a certain day, snow fell from the heavens, marking the Cross Continent's first ever official winter. This unprecedented phenomenon brought a lot of change to the usually unchanging Cross Continent.
Lower temperatures forced many of the weak to be confined to their homes. The sudden appearance of ice elementals began to slowly change the world's ecology. The official creation of the Calamity Calendar marked the beginning of the end.
With the first calamity slowly awakening, the wheels of fate began to finally click.
* * *
Eastern Region.
The eastern region was a land of magic and research. Here, scholars and mages worked together to advance the world's understanding of the unknown and turn it into magic. In the land of mages, the sudden curse of winter brought many researchers and scholars a new field of study.
Snow and Ice were something that could be created with magic, but this artificial winter was no different than a true winter. This gave the mages something to study and the scholars something to record. The difference between creating a snowfall and creating a winter were two completely different things.
In the east, Dorthy Quella stood at the top of the Grand Observatory in the City of Tera.
She was sitting in a chair, reading a book about Ice magic. To her right , a cup of hot chocolate was still steaming, and a large staff leaned against the chair to her left. The glass ceiling above her head was open to the sky, revealing the unfolding snowfall that plunged the continent into a panic.
Dorthy pushed up her glasses, gently sipping from her cup.
*Click*
The sudden Interruption of a man named Tellerall cut her leisure short.
"Lady Quella, the sudden winter has brought a lot of change to the eastern region. The Wind Whisperer has requested that you make a public appearance to quell the rising fears and uncertainty in the common people."
Dorthy pursed her lips, slightly annoyed. "The winter is only going to get worse. If I go out there and tell everyone that it's going to be ok, wouldn't that just be lying?"
Tellerall shook his head. "The Wind Whisperer has planned to cast the 'Great Storm Summoning' to combat the environmental curse. Without the snow, the following calamity will struggle to reach the majority of the people in the east."
Dorthy wrinkled her nose. "That man sits in the Storm Tower all day long and just watches from the side. Does he think that he can single handedly 'push' away the calamity? Didn't you feel that first wave of curse? It's already sunk its claws deep into the east. I can't even imagine what kind of monster could cause that! Even if he could cut off the curse, he would have to do a lot more than just put up a wall of wind."
Tellerall sighed.
"Lady Quella, will you do it or not?"
Dorthy shut her mouth.
In truth, she didn't really care for the common people.
The eastern region was full of mages. With the slow approach of the winter weather, it wasn't difficult for the easterners to devise a method to protect themselves. In fact, it would be strange if they couldn't.
If she could, Dorthy would have just returned to the Hellion Empire and hid in the Grand Tower of the Royal Academy of Magic. Unfortunately, she had somehow found herself 'imprisoned' in the east, as some kind of heroic figure.
Dorthy still remembered what that woman had said to her.
'As for you, you're lucky.'
'Seal your divination, pretend to follow those fools from the four towers, and when the first calamity is dealt with, sell yourself.'
These were the words that Dorthy was given.
She understood sealing her divination and following the commands of those old fools, but Dorthy was too shaken at the time to understand what 'sell yourself' meant.
Ever since Dorthy was discovered to be a Heaven's Chosen, she had always felt as if she had an iron chain tied around her neck.
After many months to think, Dorthy felt like that woman was actually giving her a way out, a way to avoid the constant observation, a way to regain her freedom, and a way to escape the 'game' she had been pulled into.
The numerous guards and hidden shadows that surrounded her daily had become uncountable.
For a person like her, this was intolerable.
'Lissen to those old fools'
Dorothy remembered.
If this was the level of observation that a simple minded and cooperative 'her' was given, then Dorthy couldn't imagine what would happen if she showed any signs of resisting.
Dorthy sighed.
She clapped her book shut.
"OK, I'll go make a statement."
Tellerall grinned. "Right this way, Lady Quella!"
* * *
Southern Region.
In the south, the territory of the empire, the capital city of Llynun had been evacuated, leaving the streets desolate and abandoned.
The approaching winter caused great unrest among the many citizens of the empire.
Because they had just recovered from a rebellion, many people were still in a chaotic and disorderly state. With the sudden need for large amounts of food, water, and firewood, the situation that had just calmed down began to slowly unravel, moving towards unrest.
-
Southern Region, City of Llynun, Imperial Palace.
The Hellion Empire's Imperial Palace was a massive spiraling stone structure that stood directly in the center of the city. The ancient stone walls and complex dwarven armaments made the simple looking castle look closer to a sleeping fortress than a real palace.
From the window of the Imperial Palace, a young and beautiful girl overlooked the silent streets of the Royal City. She wore a dark green palace dress and stood with two maidservants, viewing the city.
This young girl was Rotell Hellion, the first princess of the Royal family. She was the girl that Petra had met back in the Green Wind Forest.
Shortly after her meeting with Petra, she returned to the Hellion Empire. The time it took to go from the northern region to the southern region was almost half a year, but as a member of the royal family, she could reduce that time to just under a month. When she returned, Rotell had learned about the sudden rebellion.
The rebellion came from the belief that the current emperor was very sick and about to die. He had lived for a long time, and his age had begun to catch up with him. If it wasn't for Rotell bringing the emperor the heart of the Nine Turns Golden Rose, it was possible that he really might have died from old age if given a few more years.
The Hellion Empire's Royal Family was actually a mess, with three daughters and no sons. Without a prince to inherit the position of emperor, the throne was naturally fated for one of the emperor's three daughters. Some treacherous officials decided that it was time for a change in leadership, so they betrayed the empire and attempted to slaughter the remaining royal family.
This failed spectacularly, leaving those traitors as nothing more than a joke in the eyes of the Hellion Empire's upper echelon.
Unfortunately, the damage was already done.
After the families of those traitors were cleaned up, public opinion became chaotic. This wouldn't normally be a problem, but it came at a very bad time.
With the need to evacuate the capital, those chaotic and cancerous voices became silent bombs that rooted themselves in the common people.
Rotell was the oldest of the three sisters, being just over 20, and having a strong and reliable personality.
Rotell's second sister was Rorall Hellion, the next in line for the position of emperor. Rotell had given up her right to inherit the throne in exchange for her pursuit of the sword. Rorall was only 18, but her personality was far from the willfulness of her big sister, Rotell.
Rotell's second sister was Rolilly Hellion, a 16 year old girl with a somewhat bratty personality. She was envious of her first sister's talent, and greedy for her second sister's position. This little girl had developed a somewhat treacherous personality, secretly wanting to steal the position of heir.
Rotell was a tomboy, Rorall was a bookworm, and Rolilly was a brat.
Although there was no evidence for who was behind the rebellion, Rotell and Rorall suspected Rolilly.
Rolilly was also the royal princess who Wind had offended.
Rotell stood before the window, thinking about the future of the empire. Unlike her two sisters, Rotell had chosen to stay behind after the capital was evacuated, wanting to face the calamity. The Ice Castle that had appeared in Llynun's backyard was believed to be the source of the first calamity, and Rotell wanted to see firsthand just how dangerous these nine calamities were going to be.
Many war preparations had been made, so now they were just waiting for the Ice Castle to make a move.
There was a long silence.
In the silence, one of the maids couldn't help but speak up.
"Princess, I heard that Arthur has returned from the north and is headed towards the capital. He should arrive around tonight."
"Mmm."
Rotell nodded, seemingly uninterested.
That maid couldn't help but pout.
"Princess, Arthur is your fiancé, you should show a little more interest in the man chosen by heaven~"
Rotell looked at her, wondering who trained this coquettish maid. She shook her head.
After Arthur Godwin was discovered to be a Heavens Chosen, Rotell's Father immediately wrote an Imperial edict that declared that Rotell Hellion and Arthur Godwin were to be married. This, of course, didn't consider the feelings of either party involved, but that was just the style of the Hellion Empire.
The other maid asked, "Princess, what do you think of Arthur?"
Rotell pursed her lips.
She gazed towards the horizon and thought back to that day a few months ago, when she first saw the picture of Petra's face in the newspaper.
Back then, she immediately recognized the little girl as the green haired child she had met in the forest.
She had wanted to find this girl, but she didn't have the time.
She never would have imagined that she would turn out to be a Heaven's Chosen.
Then, Rotell thought back to her first meeting with Arthur.
The couple was placed together in a small room, sitting face to face, forced into that awkward atmosphere for over an hour.
The two had just begun to make small talk, when Rotell suddenly showed him the image she had drawn of the little green haired girl in the forest. Rotell remembered Arthur reeling back in agony the moment he saw the image.
His eyes turned bright gold and released an unnatural light.
Rotell knew that Arthur had some kind of 'future Sight Ability' or 'Prediction', but his reaction to Petra's image was just too big.
She remembered her fiancé immediately running out of the castle and heading north.
She figured he wanted to go chase another woman.
Talk about a bad first impression…
He had told the emperor that he had discovered something that might change the outcome of the nine calamities.
It had been three months since then.
Using the Hellion Families information network, Rotell knew that this 'Heavens Chosen' had begun looking for the missing little girl, almost like his life depended on it.
Rotell was genuinely disappointed in this unreliable brat.
She didn't think it mattered whether Petra was the fifth Heavens Chosen or not.
While cupping her hands and blowing a hot breath, Rotell turned her attention back to the quickly deteriorating situation in the south.
The winter was still tame, but the empire was already unstable.
The white snow silently fell, filling the land.
It was going to be a long winter.
* * *