text: Juno lived a peaceful life. One where she grew up helping her parents at their bakery. She knew her way around the small village like the back of her hand. Juno always had big plans for herself, becoming a knight or even a guard for the prince. When she was younger, she liked to pretend a stick was her sword, and she had to fight to save her family. While her parents believed this was just an act of her overactive imagination, they supported her in whatever she would strive for. As time moved on, that dream of hers began to walk away once she started to grow up. Juno focused on helping her family out in every way she could. By the time she was 14, Juno's older brother, Lukas, had opened his bookstore. There, she began spending her time, reading stories about brave warriors saving the princess from towers guarded by dragons that always ended in a true love's kiss. Juno never believed in those, she was old enough to know that never really happens. However, she still had daydreams here and there, wondering what her life would be like if she was a brave warrior. People throughout the village always talked about the person who would become their hero, Killian. He had been chosen personally by the prince to face the darkness that has haunted the village of Windcrest for centuries. Nobody knows what this "darkness" really is, but everyone knows that it is an honor to be handpicked to fight. Unfortunately, for these brave knights, none have ever come back. So, after months of their hero having been away on their quest, the village's nobles decided to declare the valiant Killian dead. The rest of the town prepares for the next selection, the only time the royal family enters the village. On the day of the selection, everyone gathers in the town's center to greet the royal family. While the king and queen usually have the power, they leave selection days to their only son, Prince Amir, as their way of preparing him for when it's his turn to take the throne. The townspeople all stand in a bunched-up crowd, moving to the side when the prince starts to walk in their direction, looking for the next chosen one, analyzing each and every option. Everyone eagerly awaits his choice, the choice that would change someone's life. Amir starts walking towards Juno, staring straight at her. Just as he walks up to her, Juno starts to move to the side before Amir raises his hand for her to stop. He gestures for her to follow. The cluster of people moves to make a straight path to the center circle of the gathering. Juno doesn't want to believe she's going to have to fight at 18 years old. "Name?" Amir demandingly questioned. Hesitantly, Juno responded, "Juno Belmont. My name is Juno." "Everyone, Juno Belmont is your new hero!" Amir had made the announcement Juno had a hard time believing the crowd. And with that statement, came the loud roar of cheers and applause. To Juno, it was deafening. Amir turned back to Juno, "Two days. You will gather your belongings together and an escort will be at your residence to pick you up. Then, you will start your training." He immediately walked away, leaving her standing in shock as the town came up to congratulate her. Juno heads home and goes straight to the table where her family greets her. Her mother is the first to approach her, embracing her in a warm hug. After releasing her, she speaks up. "Oh sweetie, I'm so happy for you. This is what you've wanted since you were a kid!" "Come on Juney, you should be ecstatic right now," her brother pats her on the head. "I bet you're just overwhelmed by the amazing news, right?" her father jokes. "Yeah. Just overwhelmed. I'm really happy," she lies. Yes, she's dreamed of being the hero in the story since she was just a little girl. But right now, Juno isn't sure whether to be excited or terrified. "I'm going to head upstairs to pack my things." "Alright, little warrior," her father shows the biggest smile Juno has ever seen. "My little girl is going to be a hero!" They may all sound happy, but Juno can tell they are all worried for her. Two days have passed. Juno waits on the porch with her bags. As the carriage arrives, her family all give her their goodbyes. She watches her brother start to cry as she leaves and watches the house disappear as the carriage pulls away. She is still conflicted about what she should be feeling at this moment. She knows this quest isn't like how the storybooks always told them. Ever since before she or her parents or even her great-grandparents were born, no one has ever come home from this quest. She arrives at the training temple. Juno exits the carriage, staring at her new home in a daze. Is this all one big nightmare, Juno asks herself, no, it can't be. She walks towards the front of the grand building, brushing her hand on the holly bushes at the entryway. Juno begins to worry about what she's getting herself into. She is greeted by Prince Amir once again. "Hello, Juno, was it? Glad to see you again. I'm only here to get you familiar with the people you will be spending the next few months with. These are your trainers," he motions to the three people standing very seriously in front of us, "We have Gwyn, Leon, and Robin. These three will be your guide and teach you everything you need to know to be fully prepared for battle. I hope you enjoy your stay--it won't be an easy one. Now, that's all I had to say. I shall be taking my leave now. I wish you the best Juno." Juno or the trainers weren't able to even get a single word out before Amir left the temple. Now, Juno has been training for months nonstop. Following a strict schedule, it's hard for her to get a moment of peace. Her trainers push her to the edge. Every day, she wakes up before sunrise, has a meditation session, goes to breakfast, trains, eats lunch, trains some more, then dinner, hot springs, and finally can get some sleep. Her training has almost made her a soldier, ready for battle at any given time. "Juno!" Leon calls for her to come to the dining hall. Just like any soldier would, she approaches Leon and the other trainers front and center. "Yes, sir?" "You've been doing well in your training." "Thank you, sir." "I am so proud of--" "Enough with the small talk, Leon," Robin cuts in. "Yes, you have been doing well. But we have some not-so-great news for you." Worried, Juno asks, "What is it, sir?" Gwyn looks at the ground as she speaks, "The village has been threatened." Gwyn and Leon have always been the nicer trainers of the three. "What do you mean?" Juno says confused. Leon makes sure he's the one to break the news. "It's time. We need to start getting you ready to head out. We have taught you all that we can. And now your home needs you more than ever." Juno is shocked but doesn't show it. "I'm ready," she states calmly. "Thank you for training me." "It was our pleasure. You leave tomorrow. We will have a bag of supplies prepared for you in the morning," for the first time, Robin looks heartbroken, "Please, do everything you can to get back." "I will. I should go rest up before tomorrow." To Juno's surprise, all three of her trainers pull her in for a hug. They're scared, and Juno knows that. But, for some reason, she isn't. She was telling the truth when she said she was ready. Morning comes, and so does Amir with a carriage. After being given her supplies and saying goodbye to her trainers, Juno enters the carriage. The whole ride is silent. They make one stop to allow Juno to say goodbye to her family. Her mother, her father, and Lukas all give her big hugs while crying. They make her promise to come home. She enters the carriage once more while continuously saying her goodbyes. As they drive through the town, everyone who lives there comes out to wish her good luck and farewell. They reach the entrance to the forest. "This is as far as the carriage goes." That was the first thing Amir had said since they met that morning. Unexpectedly, Prince Amir also hugs Juno. "Do your best." The carriage heads back towards the village as Juno begins her trek into the forest. Nothing much happens in her first couple of weeks, besides hunting and running into spiderwebs. Juno has no idea where she's supposed to go, or what she's supposed to be looking for, not like anyone else knew either, though. She goes through the same routine each day; wake up, hunt, cook, walk, set up camp. One night, she sets up camp next to a cove. The following morning, during the middle of the third week, she wakes up to the sunlight dancing on the pond, how it sparkles while she listens to the birds chirp. She feels peaceful at this cove. She decides to take a bit of an easy day and goes for a swim. After taking off her armor, she walks into the water. The initial touch makes her jump a bit. Once she is fully in the pond, she tries to swim around so the water isn't so cold. She takes a moment to just float a bit while taking in the nature around her. She gets out of the water and gets ready to walk through the forest again. After more solitude hours of walking around, the night starts to surround the forest, filling it with darkness. Juno lights a torch and begins to look for a place to rest. However, a fog that Juno hasn't seen since she got to the forest covers the ground and makes it hard for her to see. She sees the figure of someone up until a strong wind blows her torch out. Dropping her bag, Juno pulls out her sword preparing herself for a fight. "Who are you?!" No response. "Whoever is out there, I'm not afraid!" The dark figure charges toward her with his sword. Juno puts hers up in defense and uses it to push him away. Panicked, she loses sight of him and begins to slowly turn in a circle to find him. He shoots straight for her again. This time, scraping her ankle, but Juno fights through the pain and charged forward to strike. After using her leg to push herself forward, she made a hurt gasp but still tried to fight. The figure blocks and pushes his sword against hers. He pulls his sword away before striking down, aiming for her legs. Juno notices and jumps over. She runs behind a tree to try and get a leverage point, her heart pounding throughout her whole body. He tries to strike the side of the tree until Juno leans to the other side and thrust her sword toward him. After making contact, the figure tries to lean out of the way, but he wasn't fast enough, and Juno's blade slashed his side. He lets out a pained grunt. She leans over to the other side to attack again, but her opponent lunges forward and his weapon left a deep cut on the side of her arm. The figure lunges closer to her to try and draw her away from her only defense. She leaps backward, beginning to lose her focus. Everything from her training starts to blur together. Her opponent continues to lunge forward. Hoping to catch him off guard, Juno decides to reach forward after diving back. Now, she has created a gap between them. "I'm going to ask you one more time! Who are you?" Before getting any sort of answer, the figure dashes forward, but not to strike Juno with his sword. The figure reaches his leg out aiming for Juno's feet to knock her off her balance. After falling to the ground, the figure goes to kick her sword away from her. With his blade pointed right at Juno's neck and his foot on her chest, he reveals his name, "Call me Gareth." Juno tries to reach for her sword but has no success. The pressure is released from her chest and the figure who calls himself Gareth is nowhere to be found. Juno forces herself up and limps over to her bag. She tries to find where Leon put the bandages. When she does, she struggles to wrap both her arm and ankle. After that, she doesn't bother to set up camp and just uses her bag as a pillow. The sun shined directly on Juno's face, waking her. As she moved, she felt sore, forgetting about her injuries from the night before. She quickly, but carefully, swapped out her bandages and left to find something to eat. She tried to make sense of the previous night's events. Gareth, she kept repeating his name in her head, Is he the darkness from all the stories? What did he want from me? Why did he let me live? That last question bothered her. She knew the only way to figure that answer out, was to ask Gareth himself. After eating, she left to try and see if she could find his footprints. For the most part, they were faded, but she could still see fragments of them. She followed them to the best of her ability. Night fell and she had gone off track. The footprints are impossible to see now. As she began to look for a place to rest, she stopped dead. There was light not too far from her. Puzzled, she continued to follow the flames like a moth. This must be where Gareth ran off to, she believed. While many would be frightened, Juno was not. With each new step, she felt braver and stronger and kept pushing toward the tower. With each new step, Juno wanted to walk faster. With each new step, everything she had feared, went away. Juno had just walked through the garden entrance where she dropped her supplies, not even taking notice of the bushes of lemon balm and purple hyacinth flowers in the center fountain. She started up the endless stairs, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword. She's ready to end this forever. Juno reaches the top of the stairs, to the rooftop, where Gareth sits alone on a bench. His sword is laying right next to his hand. She tries to sneak up on him when he reaches for his sword and turns to face Juno. She is shocked by how quickly he had reacted. As they face each other, Juno asks him about what's been bothering her. "Why did you let me live last night?" Gareth moves away from the bench and signals Juno to do the same as well. "It wouldn't be an enjoyable fight for you if we are stuck by the bench." Gareth doesn't seem very entertained as he says this. The two go back and forth on the roof. Juno strikes straight for the chest every time. She's determined to save her home, just like in her imagination as a child. She's so filled with anger at this being who's plagued Windcrest for ages. This naïve girl doesn't even have a speck of fear inside of her. Gareth, on the other hand, is not aiming to kill, going for her legs and arms, and purposely intending to miss slightly just to cut. It takes Juno a while to notice this. Finally, she tries to go on the defense and attempts to get her enemy in a position where she can talk with him. With her sword pushing against his, making no room for him to drive it away, she lets out just one word, "Why?" "I'm not sure I understand," Gareth doesn't try to continue the fight. "What are you? You've been threatening my home for generations. So, why?" "You wouldn't understand yet." "Fighter after fighter, have been selected and trained and sent away. Then, after Killian was defeated, it became my turn, all of the weight was given to me, I trained for months, I left my family, and now I'm risking my life for someone who is very precise with his sword, but only wants to leave a cut.) Why do you keep attacking the village? You know, this could end. You could come back with me. You could live in Windcrest. You could have a peaceful life. You could--" "No, I can't. That's not what I'm here for." "What do you mean?! Of course, you can." Gareth pushed his sword back. He initiated the fight to start again. Still aiming for her sides but with more force. Juno remained on the defense. With each block, saying something that could maybe convince this strange being. Her mind is racing with ideas, she needs something, anything to make him stop. After Gareth has given her repetitive shots to her legs, Juno started to lose her balance. One more strike had sent her to the ground. She dropped her sword and couldn't reach for it. With a final strike, Gareth sent his sword through Juno's chest. Not an attack that would kill her immediately, but still a painful one. He didn't even look at her as he made his attack. He pulls the sword out and tosses it to the side before kneeling to her. "Is it over?" the hero asks quietly? She formed a river with her tears. "Yeah, it's over," the villain picks them up and walks a couple of floors down before he carries them to a bed, "You were amazing, and I'm so, so very proud of you. Of everything you've done. It was unfair of them to pin you against me-- you had no chance of winning. But none of it is your fault. They always send you guys too young. I've fought countless people who were all just like you. I never wanted to fight them, just like I never wanted to fight you. That's just what fate has planned for me, I guess." The hero begins to fade away from consciousness. The villain reaches for their hand, "Rest easy, young one. I'm sorry you had to go through this. You were the best warrior I've faced. I want you to be calm when you go." The hero is finally at peace as they die. "Why must you send me such great people?" He looks up at the sky through a window. He goes to another room where he craves a sign that says "Juno, the nicest warrior." Gareth goes down to the garden and picks some flowers before walking back up to the room again. He picks up the hero once more and brings her down to the side of the tower where he walks past the grave of every other hero he's faced. He stops at an open one where he gently places Juno and covers her with dirt. He places the flowers on top and sits in front of the grave. "I'm so sorry." He spends a moment with her as he begins to cry. For the next year, he dreads the next knight he will come to face him. Each lonely day, he starts the morning by picking flowers from his garden and leaving a few on each grave. He sits by himself as he mourns each one. Gareth told Juno the truth when he said he was not here to live a life of peace. No, this living death is only here to help people leave peacefully and at ease. He's there to help them reach "the better place." He's never liked his job, but he knows why it's so crucial he has it. For now, he just waits for the next one. Where he will repeat the same painful process over again.