#ac:closed

After hearing about the recent tragedies in the city, Lily couldn’t help but feel obliged to help. The Police Station and the Fire Station had both been burnt down, suspectedly by arson, leaving the city in shambles. Lily had no idea who would do something so awful, but having come into some money lately, she decided to donate equal amounts to both causes to hopefully lend a hand in the rebuilding.

After researching to find the owners of both establishments, Lily wrote to both expressing her condolences and explaining what the enclosed money was for. Her bank account would suffer from the loss, but it was worth it to see the businesses back on their feet again.

Dropping the letters off to be sent, Lily left with a lighter wallet and a lighter heart.

@chopmywoods and @forte-days-and-knights

Jolting awake to news about the Police Station being on fire wasn’t something Illuminata would’ve ever have expected. And yet, such a thing had indeed just happened. She had to hurry, to rush out of her home over to the Fire Station and get fitted in her protective clothing. There was no time to slow down, there weren’t nearly enough Firefighters to allow even a few extra seconds of delay!

By the time she and the other Firefighters arrived on the scene, the building was already blazing, They all quickly set to work, connecting a hose to the nearest fire hydrant and starting to spray down the building. There was too much fire to start with, they had to beat it down before they could go on the offensive with putting it out! And if they couldn’t do that fast enough to really save the Police Station, they at least needed to prevent the fire from spreading to anything nearby!

It took hours to put out the flames, much too long to really save the building. There were too few fire fighters, the fire had been burning too long before they had all shown up.

How long had it been burning before they arrived?

That was one of the questions that lingered in Illuminata’s mind ever since first seeing the glow over the tops of other buildings, though it was pushed to the back of her mind until the flames were put out.

How long did it burn? Who started the fire? Why did they do it?

She was going to investigate this, she decided, staring solemnly at the crispy building once the firefighters’ work had been done. With the police out of commission as they try to find ways to work around this, there wasn’t really anyone else who could look into this mystery. No one she knew of at least.

No one except for herself.

Lily had seen only a small amount of magic in her lifetime, most of which was quite recently in short encounters with strangers or an unexplained appearance of a magical deity. But none proved the existence of magic quite as magnificently as the sudde restoration of Fugue Forest. The acts of magic she’d seen so far were temporary, appearances that you could convince yourself you’d imagined or hallucinated. But this? This was permanent and undeniably had involvement with magic.

A few weeks ago, Lily had been in this clearing. She had stood on the charred grass of Fugue Forest. She had touched the blackened remains of a tree carcass. The area had been well and truly dead. There was no logical way that life could have bloomed there within the next decade, maybe longer.

Yet here she stood again, in the same spot as she’d stood those few weeks prior -- except now the grass was waist high and there were leaves fluttering down from the branches, detached by the wind. Wildflowers sprouted from every crevice as though they’d been growing there for years. In Lily’s mind, there was no doubt that this was the work of magic.

Many people were against the use of magic in the city. They considered it unnatural and unfair, and Lily had agreed with them to some extent, particularly on the front of fairness. But after seeing the type of thing that magic could do, something that no scientist could have solved in as little time, it really swayed the ravenette in favour of magic.

Homeowner. It certainly wasn't a word Molly ever though she could associate herself with. She had always been hardworking, putting in the effort to make sure she lived a decent life with a roof over head. It was exciting, taking the next big step in life. And while her new home was anything far from being desirous, alL that mattered was that it hers; hers to do with what she willed. Her plans for the house were simple enough, a fresh coat of paint after a good cleaning. The home even came with some furniture, certainly a plus for someone moving from a small apartment. It would take a bit, but after some hardwork, a bit of elbow grease, and plenty of rearranging, the place would replicate the image she had in mind.

It started out similar to previous one, a quake in the Earth that was difficult to detect until a few moments after it stopped. Lily paused where she was stood in her apartment bedroom, trying to tell whether the gentle shaking was real or a figment of her imagination. But no, the bed was rocking slightly as well. Could this really be the second earthquake within such a short length of time from the previous one? In the eighteen years she’d grown up in Altelia City, she couldn’t recall one notable earthquake.

But the shaking didn’t stop as it did last time -- it intensified. Soon, there was no deliberation as to whether there was actually an earthquake or not. In reflex, Lily dropped to the ground to stop herself from being knocked down by the violent tremors. Her desk chair rattled and the pens she’d neglected to tidy away rolled off. Outside the room, she heard the bookcase collapse again, scattering its contents with a dozen thuds.

It felt like it carried on for years. The ground thrashed as if it was trying to break free from the gravity binding it. Lily clutched the carpet as if it would stabilise her, praying that the ceiling wouldn’t cave in. She vaguely remembered being told that you should get outside during an earthquake, but the ravenette wasn’t even sure she’d be able to stand without being thrown back down again.

Molly stood in the center of the square, a buttercup flower in hand as she waited, focusing on the hands of each passerby-er go hopefully find her date for the evening. She was thankful to have worn a jacket over her dress, the brisk Autumn air more evident and chillier now that it was evening. It had been quite a while since Molly had been on any type of date, blind or not, and upon seeing the event advertised, she figured it might be worth trying. After all, a night out with a stranger was a lot better than a night in alone. Shifting her weight, she turned her head, glancing to the hand of a man in her vicinity and spotting the very flower she held.

“Oh, hello!” She called out, walking towards the man, whom she recognized as a shopkeeper from a store she had recently visited. She held up her buttercup with a smile. “It looks like we’re together tonight. I’m Molly.”

Molly was thankful business was a bit slow that day at the winery. When she had taken over working for the winery, she had noticed the labels for the house wines were running low, and as expected, had run out of them the day before. Thankfully, however, the new order had arrived, ready to be placed onto the filled, labeless bottles. 

“Hey Luna-” Molly called out to the woman in her employ, removing the labels from the box and separating them onto the back, workspace counter.

“The labels came in today; do you wanna help me with them or are you in the middle of something?”