Snowdrop

A Story by Dessa

In a world where winter's are cruel, a baby is born who can bring a calm to the storm.

In an outer lying solar system known as Domatistaria, in a part of the galaxy which remains undiscovered, is a planet known as Domanfar. It lays on the outermost orbit from the sun, so it suffers from cold, harsh winters. Ice and freezing rain keep most of its population indoors for six months out of its 18 month year. Until one year, eons after the planet's birth, on the coldest day of the year, a baby was born.

The child, a baby girl, was born without sight, for she was born with a rare form of albinism. The doctor had no words of wisdom for the parents, for he had never seen or heard of this anomaly causing blindness. The little girl’s hair was also barren of color-- wisps of white hair sticking out of her tiny hat.

As the doctor and midwife left the family’s house, a gust of wind blew in flecks of ice. One of the pieces of ice found its way to the baby’s direction, landing on her nose. The shocked infant’s eyes flew open, followed by a burst of laughter. As the sound of laughter filled the room, ice and wind still blowing inside, something incredible happened.

The wind calmed, actually reversing the flow of it, so it looked like time had stopped or rewound. What followed was later described as the most joyful event in the history of the planet. The pieces of frozen rain that remained hovering in mid-air looked like they had exploded. They had become softer looking; enlarged. The whole room seemed protected from the still, blowing wind that was outside, even though the door remained open. Everyone inside stood, a look of shock on their faces.

The temperature was surprisingly pleasant; not bone chilling like it normally was. The new formed, fluffy ice swayed gently as it fluttered slowly towards the ground. Another piece of this new ice found its path towards the baby, this time landing on her forehead. Another burst of laughter came forth from the baby, only a lot more powerful and loud. The sound penetrated the outside world this time, having the same effect on the wind and ice. It was such and odd thing to see. It was as though the laughter was forming a barrier from the harsh winter.

After the initial shock passed, speculation about what transpired was discussed. The doctor had no theories as this was unexplored territory for him. He and his associates had only known the royals to have magic in them. By the end of the evening, they had decided that the child had simply been blessed by the cosmic deities that protect the planets.

The family was left to ponder their child's existence. They decided to call her Lucia.

Over the years, little Lucia grew up like any other child. She was a bit smaller than the others and her skin lacked the pigment that the other kids had. She wasn’t teased so much as just avoided. Summer time was difficult for her and she mostly stayed indoors. She couldn’t attend school with the other kids because the teachers didn’t have spare time to work with her one-on-one. Her family eventually found someone who could dedicate time just for her. She was very bright and understood things with little effort on her part.

During the fall she began to be able to go outside more, and as winter approached, her demeanor changed completely. She was always cheerful, even though she was limited with where she could go and what she could do, but the winter brought out a happiness in her that could brighten up even the darkest of nights. She giggled at the slightest hint of cold wind. What use to be a city full of icey rain was now a city blanketed in white fluff. The townspeople began calling the substance ‘snow’. Everywhere she went she brought the calming snow and light winds. Winter was becoming tolerable for people and they enjoyed being out in it.

Over the years it wasn’t just her laughter that calmed the storms; her mere presence was enough, and the strength of her aura grew larger and larger every year. She devoted her winters to bringing this peaceful snow to the entire planet. She brought cheer and laughter to children, building snowmen and snow castles. To the adults she brought peace of mind, that their children could be safe and happy during the winter instead of sad and depressed.

In her late teens, she started to become ill. She visited many doctors but none could give her answers about her ailment. She traveled to other planets in the solar system via the portals that lay about the land. One day, she happened upon a kingdom experiencing one of the worst winters it had ever seen. In her wake the storm began to cease and its relentless barrage of hail and ice, making large snowballs thump on the ground and the roofs of people's homes, ended. Curious, the citizens peered outside. Fear of the unknown turned to delight as they discovered snow for the first time.

From the castle, a young woman emerged. At the time Lucia wasn’t aware of what was going on, but the townspeople became quiet as they looked on at the young woman. She was twirling, arms raised to the sky, and long white hair spinning around her as she spun. She stopped and marveled at the soft snow falling from the sky. She even stuck out her tongue and caught a snowflake with it. Then her eyes settled upon Lucia and she knew then that this girl was the one who brought the kingdom this beautiful new winter.

She approached Lucia and introduced herself. Her name was Kalia, she was the princess of this planet. Lucia had never met the royal family from her planet, so she was a bit shocked to find that this girl was so friendly. She felt lightheaded from the excitement of it, but before she realized what was happening, she passed out, landing softly on the snow.

When she awoke, she realized she was indoors. It was warm and comforting and she felt at ease. She felt a hand touch her face and the voices around her expressed sounds of relief. They informed her that she had fainted and that one of the guards had carried her inside. The castle's physician had examined her while she was passed out. He informed her that the albinism she had comes with a blood disease that comes with a short life expectancy.

A tear rolled down Lucia’s face. She had always known she wasn’t as healthy as others her age. She asked to be left alone so that she could have time to process what this meant to her. She heard footsteps as they left the room, but she could still sense the presence of one person. It was Kalia. She was sitting on a chair that was right next to the bed she was sitting up in. Her gentle hand touched her own. She was warm. It comforted her and Lucia looked in her direction.

Kalia stroked Lucia’s hair, stating that their hair was the same color but their eyes were different. Kalia had the most common albinism trait that only affected the hair. They talked about what it was like growing up in a castle verses a large village. They joked about silly things. Kalia wondered if Lucia’s magic was gifted to her by the ‘Cosmics,' as she put it. They discussed in great length about how they thought her magic worked compared to that of the royal families'. In the end, they decided they were different, since Lucia had no control over hers and no training, where royals had to be trained to cast spells from early childhood and that it was difficult to master.

In the end, Lucia decided she would not let he condition affect her life, and that she would spread her gift to the entirety of Domatistaria. Over the next few years she traveled wherever harsh winters prevailed, bringing the peace and calm of her beautiful, white winters. Kalia, with the blessing of her family, traveled with Lucia.

It was on the final planet that Lucia became too ill to travel. Kalia sat by her bedside, holding her hand as she slipped into her final slumber. Though, this was no ordinary slumber. She felt compelled to open her eyes. It was the strangest thing she had ever experienced. She could see, but she found no Kalia nearby. She seemed to be in the middle of a field of strange white flowers growing among the snow covered ground. Some of the snow began to move, but she realized it was just an animal-- a small white bunny which hopped right up to her, its curious nose twitching. Lucia laughed with delight at what she saw and as she knelt down to pet the bunny, she heard someone begin to speak.

“Hello Lucia.”

Picking up the bunny, she stood and turned toward the voice. The man before her was tall, his long black hair tied back. He wore vibrant colored clothes that seemed to flow, even in the absence of wind. There was an aura about him that felt familiar, but she couldn’t figure out why.

“Hi,” Lucia replied.

“My name is Ladon.” She knew the name. There are temples in honor of Ladon in every settlement across all the planets. He was the first God named among for Domatistaria. The first of the Supreme, as they had come to be called. There are others, blessed by the Cosmic deities that created all of Domatistaria and its inhabitants, but Ladon was their leader.

“If there was one thing you could ask for before your last breath, what would it be?”

She didn’t even have to think about it. She knew her answer.

“Don’t let my magic die with me. Let them keep the winters I brought to them. And let the magic reach the places I never got to visit.” She looked at him with a peaceful determination. She had nearly forgotten that she had been holding something in her hand when she felt the little guy wiggling. She put the furry critter back on the ground and watched as it hopped away, disturbing the small flowers.

“It seems your magic has interfered with mine. This area is normally blanketed with violets, and has no snow on the ground. And the bunnies that call this place home were brown and tan before you arrived. Quite a unique magic you have. And powerful. Asmodeus and Detrinata have outdone themselves this time. It seems your magic was their way of fixing the winter’s wrath.”

He reached down and plucked one of the flowers from the ground. “Not a violet anymore, is it? A snowdrop.” He glanced at Lucia as she looked around at blanket of snowdrops surrounding them.

“Snowdrop,” she whispered as she turned to look back at Ladon. He was standing right behind her now. She hadn’t even heard him move. She hadn’t noticed how young he looked until just now. He doesn’t look much older than she is. The hand that held the flower was now holding a hairpin with the likeness of the flower on its top. He reached forward and placed it in her hair.

“I can grant your request, but it comes with a price. You will not return to the Aether. Your soul can never reincarnate. Your soul will belong to the Supreme and the realm of Domatistaria.” He saw the look in her eyes and a single tear fall from her chin.

“I accept this as my fate.”

He held out his hand for hers and she placed her hands on his. A light grew from their hands, extending farther and growing brighter until it encompassed their entire bodies. Ladon’s true god form emerged, a serpentine dragon which shown with vibrant shades of green and blue. A power forced itself though his body and into hers, revealing her true form, a small white bunny.

The glow subsided and the two turned back human. She looked confused and Ladon laughed.

“You now belong to the Supreme. Or a better way of saying it, you are part of the Supreme. Death can no longer take you.”

“I don’t understand. I thought my soul was a sacrifice.”

“In a way it was. Human souls normally get recycled and reincarnated after some time. But your soul was never intended to pass into the Aether to begin with. This was always your path. How you got here was never predetermined, just that it would come to be this way eventually. You dedicated your last few years to other peoples happiness and ease of mine. Your name will be forever remembered. You can come and go from this realm into the human realm anytime you wish. You no longer need to take a portal to get around.”

“So I’m free to go where ever I wish?”

“You are. As long as its within Domatistaria. Also, as long as you are on this realm you can see. And as a gift from me, when you are on the human realm you can see as long as you are in a place experiencing winter.”

Lucia’s eyes widened and a big smile graced her face. So much excitement built inside her, that without hesitation, she leapt towards him and hugged him without thinking. As soon as she realized what she had done, she let go and for the first time in her existence, a touch of color entered her cheeks.

“Look at that, you do blush,” Ladon said, touching her cheek, making her blush more.

She stepped back and smiled. “I’m going to go see Kalia. She probably thinks I’m dead.”

He nodded and smiled.

“See you later, little Snowdrop.”

She ran towards the snowdrops, a portal opening at her will. As she passed through the portal her form changed to that of a white bunny.

"And that is your true from on the mortal realm, precious Lucia."

© 2023 Dessa

Author's Note

I would love to hear feedback on sentence structure and areas that may be unclear.

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Featured Review

MelGo30~

Sentence structure is fine and everything is pretty clear. This is an interesting story that I really enjoyed until towards the ending, which was... kind of flat. To me, it was "too much of a happy ending". Other than that, I really liked it and hope you continue writing :).