The Great

Lila Fairheart: “Manny! What are you doing out here? Why are you outside?” Manny suddenly looked up and broke into a bright smile when he saw me,

“LILA!” He ran as fast as his little legs could take him and he tackled me with a signature knee-hug. I smiled and hugged him as hard as I could—without breaking his ribs. He looked up at me with a bright smile, “Why are you back? Dad told me you were going to be deployed.” I laughed softly,

“How do you know what that means?” He shrugged,

“Context clues,” I gave him a nod.

“Before we get deployed the empire sends us all to our families to spend some time. That’s why I’m here.” I heard a loud voice ring out into the air,

“Which is why we prepared dinner for your sister, right Manny?” My father stood at the door with a large tray of food in his hands and a big apron on. My eyes widened and I dashed towards him in an instant and gave him a large hug. He laughed,

“Wow, I guess my daughter is a warrior with that speed. Careful honey, the food is hot.” I closed my eyes and hugged hard,

“I missed you dad.” He smiled,

“You too. You’re gonna be really happy to see everyone else—especially a special someone.” I pulled away quickly and looked at him with wide and excited eyes,

“Is… is she here?” I heard a loud set of footsteps march down the stairs and appear next to my dad. My mom stood right in front of me—looking exactly like the last time I had seen her. She was at work during my last visit so it was the first time I was seeing her in about a year. Everyone said I looked like my mother but I always thought she was a lot prettier than me. We did look alike except that she was a lot shorter than me. She looked at me with shock before crushing me with a massive bear-hug,

“YOU GOT SO BIG! LILA, I MISSED YOU. What’s that on your face? Are those scratches?! Who scratched you?” I smiled and returned her hug,

“I missed you too mom.” She sighed and grabbed my shoulders,

“If my girl is going to fight for her country she needs some food—come eat.” I nodded and stepped into my house. Nothing had changed from when I had last been here—which was nice in a way. The lazy fireplace was still burning, the old leather couches were in the same place, and all of the family photos were still on the walls. I walked into the loud and hectic dining room which was filled with all of my siblings. Helen and Ash were fighting over some bread while Cherry was trying to stop them from fighting over said piece of bread. They all saw me and everything went quiet for a second before they all screamed,

“LILA!” Helen came up to me and gave me a quick hug before chasing after Ash who gave me a quick smile and ran away,

“What’s up!” He jumped over a chair and ran into the living room with an entire loaf of bread between his arms. I laughed and Cherry walked up to me and gave me a long hug. I looked at her and smiled,

“New eye-liner? It looks good.” She nodded and we both laughed. It felt nice to laugh—I hadn’t laughed like that in a while. I guess that’s why they let us go back to our loved ones before we fought—to do some things we always wanted to do. She pointed to the table which was filled with various types of grilled vegetables and meats,

“Help me get these outside,” I nodded and we set up the table and the food, all took our seats, and ate like normal. It was hard to believe that this was life about a year ago. I had taken it for granted that I could sit and eat with everyone everyday and not care about where anyone was or how anyone was doing. I loved my friends but my family was my family and I had missed them all—a lot. We put our plates back, my dad lit up a campfire, and everyone relaxed in the backyard enjoying the warm glow of the fire which washed over us in waves. Helen sat down next to me and threw a couple sticks into the fire,

“So, who’s your new little boyfriend?” I looked at her with surprise before speaking quietly,

“Don’t say it like that—it’s not like I’ve had a lot of them.” She looked skeptical,

“Wellllllll, you’ve had a lot of boys like you. There was Thomas, and Anton, and Philip, and—“ I gave her a good shove and she laughed.

“I never dated them—they just liked me. Also, Geon’s a lot better than all of them.” I gave her a matter-of-fact look as she looked at me with shock,

“REALLY! You got him?” I nodded and smiled. She spoke in an exasperated voice, “That’s…that’s great. He's super good right? I read the papers—isn’t he like the strongest warrior in the last 250 years? I heard he’s friends with the emperor—you know your boyfriend’s super famous right? I mean, you’re famous too but still—he’s a world-wide phenomenon!” I laughed to myself thinking about Geon. A worldwide phenomenon who needed help folding his shirts and pants properly last morning….

I nodded and threw a couple sticks into the fire. “I thought you guys should know about it since I’m off soon. So you approve?” Helen looked at me and nodded furiously,

“Of course! How could I not? But what do you mean you guys? How are you gonna tell mom and dad?” I smiled and looked up into the sky,

“By um…. Like this.” I pointed to the sky and Helen looked up. A streak of silver shot across the sky like a comet and slowly came to a halt above our house. Geon slowly descended upon our backyard as he floated down with a large bouquet of flowers and a box of something in his arms. I told him to not dress like he usually did and he actually listened—he wore a simple white, short-sleeved dress shirt and beige shorts which gave him a casual-formal look. He landed on the ground and walked up to me with a nervous look in his eyes,

“Um, hi. Hi! I’m Geon, I think you know me? It’s nice to meet you,” he held out his hand to Helen and she stood there in shock. I nudged her and she came back to life,

“Um, yeah I do know you! It’s nice to meet you too.” She shook his hand and ran off to get everyone else—all of whom had gone inside. I gave him a reassuring look,

“Don’t look too nervous, you’re not gonna have to fight anyone.” He looked towards the house with an extremely nervous look in his eyes,

“I’d be way less nervous if I had to fight something.” I laughed and led him towards the house,

“It’s fine—now’s the time to be with family right? You’re my family now, so come on don’t be shy now.”

I opened the door and gave him one last reassuring look before he walked into the house. Everyone was waiting around the dinner table—well everyone except Manny who was trying to get a cookie out of the cookie jar on top of the counter. My mom and dad looked at Geon with a surprised expression and everyone in the room went silent before Helen finally spoke up, “Um, mom, dad, Lila has something to um…. tell you.” Geon’s eyes went as wide as saucers,

“You haven’t told them yet?” I gave him a weird and awkward smile before looking into my parent’s eyes,

“Um, this is my boyfriend… His name is Geon—remember how I told you I wanted you guys to meet someone before I left? This is the person.” No one said anything before my father spoke up,

“We’ve heard about you in the papers Geon, it’s nice to meet you. Lila, when you said you were bringing someone over I thought you meant you wanted us to see Aurora again before you left—you said friend not boyfriend. We didn’t even know you had one—I know you haven’t had a lot of time but a heads up would be nice about this type of stuff. I mean we haven’t even been able to meet him until now—how long have—“ my mom grabbed my dad and gave him a ‘calm down’ look which my father did—albeit reluctantly. She looked at Geon and smiled,

“Well it’s very nice to meet you Geon—wow you’re much taller than you look in the news portraits. Have a seat and get to know everyone—we’ll be right back.” She gave me a wink and led my dad out of the room. Suddenly it was only us—the kids. Ash kept looking at Geon with a suspicious expression while Helen was trying her best to keep smiling and making the situation a little less awkward. We sat down and no one said anything before Helen spoke up,

“Um… so Geon… are you excited about… the war?” Ash rolled his eyes,

“What kind of question is that!? What do you think he’s going to say, ‘oh yeah I’m really ready to go out there and almost die every day.’ A better question to ask would be why he’s dating Lila—isn’t she kind of annoying.” Helen rolled her eyes and Geon stifled a laugh as I looked at him with inquisitive eyes. He spoke up for the first time in a while,

“Well maybe she is to you guys but,” he looked at me and smiled, “she’s not toooooo bad when with me.” Helen smiled and Ash nodded in satisfaction,

“I see so she really is different around you guys,” I rolled my eyes and gave him a hard noogie,

“If your sister is so ‘annoying’ why are you so excited to see her everytime she comes back?” He wriggled out of my grasp,

“I’m not excited to see you—I’m actually really annoyed when I see you! You can go back now, bye!” I rolled my eyes and let him go. Geon laughed softly as he put his arms on the table. His shiny ruby and golden bracelets danced lamplight as both Helen and Ash’s eyes lit up with awe. “Woah, is that real gold?” Geon smiled and looked at Ash,

“Oh this? Yeah, ones made with Villona gold and the other is made with gold from Evian—that’s why one of them is a little darker than the other.” Ash’s eyes went as wide as saucers as he seemed to examine every single molecule of Geon’s bracelets. Helen spoke up,

“Those can’t be cheap, right? How did you get them?” Geon moved his arms closer to Ash so that he could get a better look at them,

“I got a lot of money from Evian for winning Ace warrior at the Youth Championship and a lot from Eden academy for winning Ace Warrior at the qualifiers which were held in the school. I also got a lot from the school itself for winning Ace warrior at the Youth Championships as well. I also got a bunch of sponsorship money from a ton of silk-clothing companies, ship building companies, brewing companies, and this one really famous chariot company. I spent a whole weekend doing stuff for them and it was exhausting but hey, I got a lot from it.” Helen nodded and pointed to Geon’s chain-necklace,

“Did you get that with the money too?” He looked down and laughed,

“This? No, this was actually a present from your sister.” Helen at me with confusion,

“When did you have that?” I laughed,

“I got it from this one trader in Evian but I didn’t really want it so I gave it to Aurora. She didn’t really want it either so I kept it and figured out that it actually cost a fortune in Taegan so I gave it to him as a gift.” She nodded and leaned back in her chair.

“I see—so Geon, do you have um…. Any hobbies?” He took out his mystery box and put it in his lap,

“Not really—I don’t have much time for hobbies these days but I guess I like to eat.” Helen laughed and Geon smiled sheepishly as he opened his box, “I got gifts for you guys based on what Lila told me about you all—so if these are bad then it’s her fault.” He smiled and pulled out a long, ivory white hairpin with golden flecks embedded into it. The pin had a cute little ruby flower at the end of it and golden hoops were shrouded around the ruby-rose like a crown. He smiled and gave it to Helen, “It’s a hairpin that’s supposedly made from real ivory—which is kinda sad since an elephant had to die for it. I guess it is kind of small so maybe he just had a bad day and chipped his horn and this was the byproduct—I don’t know. I hope you like it.” Helen stared at the pin in awe,

“It’s—it’s great, thank you Geon. How much did this cost you?” He pulled a black, cross stitched leather ball out of his bag and smiled,

“Don’t worry about that—I wanted to get some nice stuff for you guys so don’t feel bad. Anyways, this is for you, Ash.” He handed Ash the ball, “I heard you liked to run around a lot and play so this is a special ball imbued with some cool liquor-tech which can change the size, bouncieness, and feel of the ball. The ball can also move on its own and run away from you—it can even chase you if that’s what you really want.” Ash took it and tossed it in the air. The ball immediately zipped away from him as he attempted to grab a hold of it and it quickly started to soar around the house. His face filled with excitement as he started to leap over chairs and sprint through couches in order to grab the ball. I ducked under his flailing arms and shouted,

“Say thank you!” He shouted something that sounded roughly like a ‘thanks’ and kept speeding through the house. Helen shook her head and laughed. Geon smiled and took out a leather book which had nice old-fashioned stitchings running down its spine. He leaned back in his chair, “Hey Manny, I have a gift for you.” Manny poked his head out from behind the counter and waddled over to us with crumbs on his face,

“So you’re the boyfriend! I knew big-sis had a boyfriend—she said so when she was here last time. Hi I’m Manny, I’m Lila’s favorite.” I laughed and Geon rubbed his head affectionately before handing him the book,

“Well nice to meet you Manny, I’m Geon. Your big sister told me you were very smart so I got you this book. When you write things in it words and information explaining the details behind those things pop up on the page. You can use it and even ask it questions and learn about anything you want. It also organizes and stores notes for you and even separates them by topic. I’m not very smart so I think it’s better if you use it.” Manny took it and a wide smile appeared on his face,

“Thanks Geon! Oh also, I saw you fly out of the sky—can you fly?” Geon nodded and Manny’s eyes went as wide as saucers, “Can you fly me? Please, please, please, please, I always wanted to fly but mom said I don’t have wings. You don’t have wings either but you can fly so you can take me!” Geon laughed and I turned Manny towards me,

“Manny, Geon isn’t a toy and he can’t just give you flights when you want them.” Manny sighed as a disappointed look crept onto his face,

“Sorry.” Geon smiled softly,

“If we have time I’ll take you for a small flight—we won’t go too far off the ground—how does that sound?” Manny’s eyes lit up with excitement,

“Okay! Yay! Thanks Geon!” He went over to him, gave him a hug, and crept back behind the counter to steal some more cookies. Geon pulled out a sleek black box which had golden cursive calligraphy on it. I immediately recognized the brand,

“Is that Diana’s? I didn’t know you knew which makeup brands were good or not?” Geon looked at me and grinned,

“I don’t. I asked Aurora and she was just as clueless as I was, Evay barely knew what makeup was, Taran and Deven thought makeup came from flour, and so the only option I had left was Melissa and Mena. They told me that Diana’s was super expensive but good so I got it. It’s for Cherry but she’s probably sleeping or something so you can give it to her later.” I nodded and was about to grab the box before I spotted someone out of the corner of my eye. Cherry was standing at the entrance to the kitchen looking like she had just seen a ghost. Geon waved at her and she waved back halfheartedly—as if Geon wasn’t really real. She spoke in a quiet tone,

“Lila, why is your newspaper friend in the kitchen?” Helen laughed as Geon looked at me with a confused expression,

“Newspaper friend?” I giggled,

“You’re in the papers so much and they knew we were friends so they called you my ‘newspaper friend.’ Cherry, this is Geon, my boyfriend.” She looked at me with surprise before giving me and Geon a big smile,

“You know what, I can see you guys—you match well together. Nice to meet you Geon, I’m Cherry.” Geon smiled and handed her his present,

“This is for you—I got gifts for all you guys and I can’t leave you out.” Cherry read the name on the box and her eyes doubled in size,

“DIANA’S! This costs over two sets of gold, how did you get this?” Geon laughed softly,

“Don’t worry too much about it—I hope you enjoy.” She hugged the box and smiled,

“I will. Thank you Geon, thank you very much.”

Geon stood up and called Manny to the door, “Manny we can fly now if you want,” before he even finished his sentence Manny jumped up and ran out of the house. Geon laughed as he picked up Manny and put him on his shoulder. He slowly ascended into the air as Manny’s face filled with awe,

“WOAH! We’re so high!” Geon went about as high as the house and stopped—letting Manny take in his surroundings. His little face was filled with immense excitement as he held out his hands and looked around him, “I CAN SEE THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD! Look, it's that dog we always see Lila!” I laughed softly as Geon slowly brought him down from his shoulder and onto his back,

“You want to fly around now?” Manny nodded furiously as Geon slowly started to move in big looping figure eights and circles. Manny’s laughter and cries of excitement rang out into the air as Geon picked up his pace a little and did a lap around the house. He descended through the tree line, did a barrel roll over a row of bushes, and shot up into the air like a missle. Manny screamed in excitement as he whooped and shouted with joy,

“FASTER, FASTER, WOAH!” Geon dove to the ground and shot back up—leaping over the house and spinning around the side as he flipped upside down. He flew back around to the backyard and slowly descended in front of us as Manny hopped off his back with a giant grin on his face. “That was awesome! I want to do it again, can you fly Lila? Can you fly me too?” I laughed and gave Manny a hug,

“I can’t fly, but I’m sure Geon will come by when he can and take you again next time.” He looked at Geon with hopeful eyes. Geon smiled and knelt down so that he was eye level with Manny,

“I’ll come back anytime you need me and then we’ll go even higher next time. Deal?” He held out his pinky finger to Manny and Manny smiled,

“Deal.” Manny completed the pinky promise and Geon gave him a good pat on the head,

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to talk to your parents that much—I’m sure they’re not too uh… thrilled. But I hope when I come back I’ll be able to. It was nice meeting you all—I’m glad I could before we left. But I’ll probably have to get going now—Evay’s waiting for me back at the warrior home and he can’t get in without my key.” Geon held up his room key and I nodded,

“Ok, I’ll meet you there tomorrow morning—I’ll see you later,” I gave him a kiss on the cheek and he smiled.

“I’ll see you later Helen, Manny—tell Ash and Cherry and your parents I said bye.” They all smiled and gave him a good wave as he looked at us one last time and shot up into the sky. Manny’s face fell a little bit as he spoke with a sad tone,

“Aw man, he’s gone… Also he wasn’t going anywhere close to full speed—look how fast he is!” I laughed as Helen led him indoors. I walked inside and saw Cherry sitting at the bottom of the stairs, looking at her gift from Geon which was placed in her lap. I slowly walked up to her and sat beside her. She looked a little sad, maybe a little regretful, and definitely a little concerned. I bumped her shoulder and spoke in a gentle but playful tone,

“You don’t like it? I thought you’d love it.” She smiled a little and shook her head,

“No, I like it—it was very thoughtful of you and him. It’s just… is he the one.. the one who…” my heart dropped and I started to feel myself get very, very, angry as everything started to flow into my mind again.

“The one who put that…. thing in his place—yeah, he was. It’s one of the reasons I liked him so much—but you know we’re going to kill him right? Ren’s a traitor now—we’re allowed to kill on sight.” Cherry’s face didn’t change as she gently caressed her box,

“I don’t know if that will make me feel better, Lila.” I furrowed my eyes brows,

“I get what you’re saying, Cherry but I can’t just let him go. He hurt you and I’ll never let him live for that—do you understand me?” She nodded as she slowly looked up at the ceiling,

“I try not to let it control me—what happened I mean. I try to be strong and I think I’m getting better and I really appreciate you looking out for me, Lila—I really do. But you’re such a good person—I don’t want you to kill someone in my name. That’d make me feel a little haunted—do you know what I mean?” I sighed and grabbed her hands,

“I’m not so sure I can stop myself, Cherry. When I see him I get so….so angry it’s hard for me to see straight. I want what’s best for you and I love you but I’m not so sure I can honor your wish.” She grabbed a hold of my shoulders and looked at me with sincere eyes,

“I get it Lila, I do. I… I hate him too. I’ve never stopped thinking about what I’d do to him, to his family, to his life,” Cherry’s fingernails dug deep into my shoulders as her eyes filled with sad and desperate hatred, “but.. but I just want justice to come to him. I do want him to die, Lila—I really do. I just don’t want my sister to do it.” Her eyes fell and she leaned into me for a hug. I embraced her and whispered softly into her ears,

“I know, I know. Justice had a weird way of serving everyone, Cherry, and it always serves people like you. I want you to know that you’re safe now, you’ve got a lot of people here for you, and no matter what,” I smoothed her hair and looked into her big, soft eyes, “your sister will always be here for you.”