Life begins the same for everyone, we all come from somewhere. Although life begins the same, it drastically changes in that very first second. Some grow into blessings...while others grow into curses. Some grow to be kings and queens, while others serve under those at the bottom. The biggest lie we tell children is that they can do anything that they dream of. But that's why they're called dreams; reality is much harsher than most realize. But in a world of magic where everyone is bending reality to their will, is it still a lie? Magic, that's what allows those dreams to become reality.
In a lone village hidden deep in a forest known as 'The Elven Lands' many families are expecting children. Houses of those expecting are decorated with flowers to promote fortune for the child, goldenrod among them. Arrays of Lily's on some, Jasmine and a wide arrange of others scattered amongst them as well. But the one that sticks out the most is Heliotrope, the flower of the Goddess of Love, Hanali! Hanali was the deity that the elves of this village worshipped, and in turn the Goddess granted them the ability to find true love.
True love was a concept that most intelligent species struggled with. Attraction and lust often being confused for it. This led to hatred over the one they claimed to love with all their heart. Which then led to fights between the two and the process of breakings ones oath to another...divorce. The elves of the village Henetialin knew of the concept of divorce, but only through stories of merchants. Divorce did not exist in this village, and it never has. Once true love is found, they thrived together for the rest of their lives. And the way they found true love was very unique!
From the moment the children are born, they are blindfolded. This is not to improve the other senses other than sight but to prevent them from locking eyes with anyone of the opposite sex. The way True love was found was through the blessing of the goddess, 'Love at first sight'. The children would wear this blindfold until they became of age, and at the age of 15 they would finally see their destined partner. This was such a big achievement that it was made into a whole ceremony that would be named 'The revealing'.
In one of the houses, a mother had just given birth to a pair of twins. This was a rare occurrence, especially for the elves. The father nearly lost his balance and fell to the ground. He was a shorter, slender man with short silver hair and light blue eyes. He had soft features even for an elf with his skin being a darker shade of white. He worked as a carpenter for the village and realized he has his work cut out for him when he looked over and only saw one crib, now knowing he needed one more. The mother was a fair woman with long vanilla hair and green eyes. Her features were soft as well but not so much as to be considered abnormal. She was one of the florists for the village and helped grow the flowers on the houses. She quickly put a blindfold over her two children and smiled as she said their names, "Samaris and Delsarin...my beautiful baby boys!"
Time went by and the village held celebrations for the families who had children, and an even grander party for the family that bore twins. They both received praise for getting so lucky and having both of the children be healthy. Gifts were exchanged and thanks were given but the party had to soon come to a close as the new mother had a lot of responsibilities she had to tend to.
The first few months of Samaris and Delsarins' life were that of your normal newborn. They slept, ate, pooped and did this on repeat day after day. Delsarin was the first to start crawling and was immediately getting into trouble. Without being able to see, he was grabbing anything he could get his little hands-on and... shoving them into his mouth. There were many instances where he got a hold of things he shouldn't have, one time even grabbing a mouse and almost eating it whole. Although Samaris was a bit slower to crawl, he was just like his brother and getting into everything.
A few years went by and Samaris and Delsarin were playing in the town square. Having worn the blindfolds for four years, they're other senses had heightened to the point where they didn't even need to see where they were going. Samaris was often found following Delsarin around. Delsarin had a knack for picking things up quickly and wanted to find more and explore. He liked to travel just outside the village walls and find stuff he found cool. Recently he had "found" a guard's bow and was using it to practice hunting. He wasn't able to draw the bow, but he liked to pretend he could. Samaris shared Delsarins' curiosity, but he wasn't as bold as he was, often sitting back and observing before trying anything.
Six more years went by, and the twins were now 10 years old. Delsarin was a prodigy and was on his way to becoming adept with both a sword and bow. Samaris on the other hand was a bit slower to take on. Although he didn't have no talent, he had nowhere near as much as his older brother did. One day when dinnertime came around, Delsarin stayed out and trained with the guards some more. Samaris sat with his parents at the dinner table as they talked about how great of a warrior Delsarin was becoming. "Speaking of, Samaris, where exactly is your brother?" His father asked.
"Oh, he's still out training with Captain Garrick! He said he'd be back in a little while." Samaris replied with a bit of pride in his voice. Although he wasn't nearly as good as Delsarin was, he was still happy that his brother was doing so well. His father nodded, "that boy and his training." He was right, Delsarin was almost always training. Working hard to make his family proud.
"You know...we only have five years until our 'revealing', and I was just wondering...what's it feel like? When you look into their eyes and see the one you are destined for?'" Samaris asked his parents while fidgeting with his hands. His dad let out a little chuckle before a cough as he was elbowed in the rib. "Enough Folas!" his mother whispered before turning towards Samaris. "It's hard to describe as it varies from person to person. But for me... it was like the whole world stopped spinning and it was just focused on me and you father for a brief moment." She smiled as she turned to look at her husband who was still rubbing his side from the elbow.
"Your mother is right! It varies from person to person, for me...well I kinda got dizzy and almost passed out after seeing how beautiful your mother was!" he said with a smile before he got elbowed again. "Sorry... is... how beautiful she is!" He said through pained breaths. "Not so hard Elmyra, I bruise easily." The two of them laughed as they shared a moment while Samaris was lost in thought. After hearing what the ceremony is like, he is now looking forward to it even more.
A mere moment later, Delsarin walked in. He was greeted by their parents' whole heartedly while Samaris waited for him to take his seat next to him. Now with the whole family there, they were finally able to eat their dinner. During their dinner, Delsarin explained about what he learned today and all that he had done. After that, during bathtime, Samaris started talking to Delsarin about what their parents had told him about the ceremony.
"It sounds absolutely magical Del! Who are you hoping to get?" Samaris asked his brother. Although Samaris was clearly the one more excited over the ceremony, Delsarin was not lacking in excitement either. "I don't know Sam, hmm" Delsarin thought for a moment before giving his answer. "I hope its Ashryn! She's super nice and she shared her cookies with me last week!" The two of them laughed and played before finishing up their bath, finally heading to bed after a long day. "Hey Del, were going to be best friends forever... right?" Samaris asked as he was falling asleep. "Forever and ever" Delsarin responded as he fell asleep as well.
The next years went by just like they had always done... quickly. Samaris and Delsarin trained and honed their skills in combat with Delsarin being on par with some of the gate guards now and the age of 15. Samaris wasn't too far behind though, his progress reaching that of someone who had been training for a decade longer. The two of them were prodigies and it was clear to see, and now that they have come of age, people were watching very closely as to who they'd end up with. After 15 years of waiting, the day finally came where they would take of their blindfold and start the next chapter of their lives.
Samaris was nervous, he was fretting over his appearance. "Do I look good? Do you think she'll like me? What if she doesn't?" Those thoughts ran through his mind like a wildfire and yet his mother was there to reassure him through it all. On the other hand, Delsarin was the exact opposite. He was calm and collected, radiating confidence... at least on the outside. It would be hard for someone not to be nervous over something as grand as finding the love of your life.
"Look at my two baby boys, off to go find their own wives..." Their mother was fighting back tears and eventually had to step away as she could no longer hold them back. Their dad crouched to their level and patted their heads as he chuckled. "She'll be fine, she's just super proud of the men you boys have become...and so am I. I am grateful I got to watch you two blossom and excel, exceeding all expectations everyone had for you. Now you two start your next journey and we won't be there to guide you. Just stick to your guts and you'll do great." He said as he stood back up. "Now go knock them dead you two!"