The night, dark and looming, stood over Evangeline like a beast staring at its pray. The clocktower struck only mere minutes ago, and whilst she would like to be sleeping, she held her sword, clashing with Fletcher. The only light that shone upon them was a few lanterns that surrounded the training grounds, and, perhaps, the stars that shined upon them, dazzling like gems. 

“Your stance needs to be lower, Evangeline. I need your knees bent, too high up and you’ll leave too many weak points.”

Evangeline balanced herself lower, trying to move her center of gravity closer to the ground. She leapt towards Fletcher, bringing her sword forward and slashing at him, attempting to not hurt him but to still make an impact. 

“Stop, stop.” Fletcher said, shaking his head and putting his free hand on his hip. “You’re not even trying right now. I need you to want to hurt me, Evangeline.”

“Chief, I just don’t feel comfo—”

“I didn’t ask for your comfort,” Fletcher barked, looking Evangeline in the eye and letting out a little scowl. “In a real battle, you’ll have no choice but to fight for your life. Fight for your life here, Evangeline.”

Tagged mature for the fighting

Evangeline clenched her teeth together and let out a little breath, readying herself to engage in battle. 

“Alright, again. Keep your stance low, knees bent. Come at me this time.”

Evangeline narrowed her eyes and pushed off her left foot, attempting to gain an extra boost of energy. Bringing her sword forward, she pushed through and charged at Fletcher, thrusting her sword in his direction, bringing it closer as to how she would in battle. A loud 'CLANG' could be heard as the two swords collide, and Evangeline was slightly taken aback by the recoil she felt shake in her body. However, she ddin't let it linger as she went in for another shot, recharging and slashing forward again, searching for a weak point in Fletcher’s stature.

She found it, on his left abdomen, and she aimed her sword in that direction, maneuvering the edge to cut the skin. However, as she thought she was going to strike, she could feel metal touching right below her throat. Evangeline froze and stopped her swing, looking at Fletcher as he held the tip of his sword right to her throat. 

“You got up too high, leaving your jugular exposed. That is a death sentence in itself. While I understand the idea of going for my open spot, you, yourself, left your downward stance and opened up your biggest weak point.” Fletcher put the sword away from Evangeline’s throat and she inwardly said a little thank you. 

“You’re distracted. Every time I have seen you spar you are always incredibly focused and well positioned. What troubles you?”

Fletcher motioned for the two of them to sit on a wooden bench not too far away. Evangeline followed obediently, putting her sword back in its scabbard attached to her belt. She glanced away from Fletcher’s burning glare and folded a piece of hair behind her ear. 

“Nothing, it has just been a long day.”

“Well if that is not a lie, then I am certainly as blind as a witch's gouged out eyes.”

Evangeline let out a chuckle at the sentence, but, the humor was dry. A feeling of dread covered her like a blanket, and she finally met Fletcher’s look. His face was concerned, the lines near his lips sullen, and his mouth was upturned into a frown. 

“I feel like I am losing my mind, Chief. I have had these absurd dreams, and they have me questioning who I am.”

“Well,” Fletcher started, crossing his arms and leaning black slightly on the bench,”do you think it could be your memories trying to come back to you?”

“I would figure so. Yet, that is not just it,” Evangeline hesitated, unsure of why she even allowed herself to speak so much. For some reason, Fletcher reminded her of someone trustworthy, someone she could tell her darkest secrets to. 

“Princess Anastasia and I went to a fortune tellers and got a reading of our futures. I thought it was just a little scam.”

“Naturally,” Fletcher pointed out, nodding his head. 

“Yet, when she tried to read my fortune, I was nearly torched! She said I had such an abundance of energy and it was trying to escape.”

Fletcher humed and his eyes seemed to drift to the side, in thought. He brought a hand to his chin and thought sightly. Evangeline, herself, looked to the ground, kicking at a bit of dust, bringing it to life for a second, perhaps two, before it fell down, ending its joy within a mere snap of two fingers. 

“It just makes me wonder,” Evangeline started, holding onto her final breath as she pondered her words carefully. She then looked back to Fletcher with pleading eyes, her pupils dilated and green irises glowing slightly, “what could have possibly happened in my past life? I want to move on; I want to live my life here. Yet, part of me is so intrigued, frightened even.”

“Frightened, perhaps,” Fletcher put a hand on Evangeline’s shoulder and gave a sad smile, “that you might hurt the Princess?”

Evangeline let out a little gasp at the suggestion and shook her head ‘no’ with urgency,

“I do not care what past I had. I would never hurt Princess Anastasia. I will stand with her until,” Evangeline froze. Until when? Certainly, Anastasia would get married and the kingdom would be ran differently, and perhaps she would get new guards, better guards, to protect her. Ultimately, what would Evangeline do in the future when she was no longer needed? 

No, she didn't want to ponder that. Live in the moment; she knew she had to focus on the preset and worry about the future when the time presented itself. 

“It’s a scary thought; I know," Fletcher let out a slight sigh and brushed some hair out of his face. Evangeline could see, through the lanterns, that he was starting to get a few gray hairs. Not yet noticeable, to the human eye at least, but Evangeline’s vision was enhanced, so she was able to see it a bit clearer.

“I never thought my wife would die as young as she was. I always lived with her in my future; we were young, in love, and we had dreams,” Evangeline’s ears perked up as she rose an eyebrow. She knew that Fletcher was a widow, but she never would have guessed that he would be so open to sharing what really happened. It seemed like a painful topic, and she didn't wish to inflict pain upon him.

“I went to war with the Ambrose kingdom. I was only twenty-three years old. We married young, all in love and ready to start our lives. I came back only three weeks later. Our troops were mostly dead; I was injured physically, but nothing hurt me more than when I was told by my family that my wife had died of an illness.”

Evangeline let out a gasp and covered her mouth. Three weeks he had left and when he returned, she was, dead? How could one man take such a heartbreak? Love was something so fickle to the world, so rare and obscure. Evangeline knew that she hadn't been truly alive in this world long, this new life she had, at least, but she could see that true love is something that was rare and only appeared once in a red moon. 

“I was heartbroken. I shut everyone out and all I focused on was work. Every day I worked, trying to keep the pain off my mind. I became shallow, emotionless, and just an overall jerk.”

“Chief, you had an awfully good reason to be.”

“All I am saying, Evangeline, is that you need to let go of your fear and live now. Your life is still growing, whether it is the new one or old one. You can’t let your past, no matter how much you remember it, hold you down. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Chief.” Evangeline nodded her head in understanding. Suddenly, the night air seemed to be a bit clearer, easier to breath in, and she couldn't help but recognize the beauty in the night sky. She didn’t often have time to breathe and take in the moment, but now, she might just start doing so a little more often.