Melia woke with a start. Something was wrong. Her chambers looked the same as usual, with a clear early-morning sky outside, but she could feel something critically wrong with the world.

Slowly sitting up, her head felt unusually light, like a far more extreme version of the sensation of having a haircut. It did not take long for her hands to investigate the cause.

Her wings were gone.

Stumbling out of bed, Melia dashed to the mirror next to the wardrobe. Her reflection looked as frightening as she felt - not only were her wings missing, but her hair was brown and her eyes lacked the distinctive ring through the iris. All traces of her High Entian heritage had vanished.

The world was suddenly shrouded in mist.

Melia woke up for real. It was still dark out, with the clock showing about two-thirty. She reached up to brush her feathers and sighed in relief before turning her attention upward.

Her dreamcatcher spun far overhead in the bed's canopy, glowing with a dim light. While it had interrupted the recurring nightmare before it reached the truly scary part, this was the third night in a row that a bad dream had slipped through, an indicator that the focal gem needed to be upgraded to keep up with her age. Melia winced at the thought of trying to convince the treasurer to provide her with a rank VI Earth Gem for such purpose; many thought that Melia was relying on the dreamcatcher too much and should be learning to tolerate nightmares like other adolescents.

Still, it would be her 65th birthday in the morning. It was not one to be celebrated, but perhaps she might get lucky.


Even though it was not a celebratory birthday, Melia felt that the day was unusually pampered towards her. She was not told how to dress for the day, she got exactly what she wanted for breakfast, and her entire morning was scheduled as free time, which she spent idly wandering around the palace while drawing in a sketchbook. She even got the rank VI gem she wanted for her dreamcatcher, the treasurer handing it over without much of a second thought, and had it installed by the imperial handyman within minutes. But by the time lunch rolled around and she was again offered exactly what she wanted, her bemused pleasure quickly morphed into suspicion.

Something is not right about all this, she thought as she ate. Today is a day like any other, yet I am finding exceptionally good fortune and not a hint of argument in everything I do. Something must be planned for me for later today, something that they don't think I'll like.

Melia's suspicious attitude led her to retreat to her chambers after lunch, with yet again nothing scheduled for her. She continued drawing in her sketchbook, expecting someone to drag her into something any moment, while the weather outside steadily grew darker and stormier.

At five minutes to two, there was a knock on the door, followed by a letter being slipped through the mail slot. Melia slipped her sketchbook into the desk drawer and stood up, expecting the letter to read something akin to "go here and do this", something her father or aunt sometimes did when they were too busy to personally relay instructions that they did not entrust others to know. Her guess was quickly confirmed upon breaking the seal and reading Aunt Entirmina's script: she was to go to a particular training room that she had previously been forbidden to enter for "a surprise".

Melia felt a mixture of anticipation and reluctance as she walked towards the indicated room. It was often at least somewhat exciting to discover new rooms in the palace, but given how pleasant everyone had been to her for the day so far, she expected to be drawn into something unwanted. Using the letter to ward off the guard blocking her access to the room, she stepped inside.

She found herself in a small room with seven people she didn't know, all seated in a total of ten somewhat haphazardly-arranged chairs. The far wall was made of glass and seemed to open into a larger room beyond, but it was difficult to tell, as upon her entrance everyone stood up and blocked her view.

"Well met, princess Melia." The tallest of them was clad in orange and had a serious air to him. "I am sub-commander Klord of the 8th regiment. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Sub-commander." Unsure of what was going on, Melia simply nodded in acknowledgement and took a seat.

"If you don't mind, I will get straight to it." Klord remained upright as the other all sat back down. "Today is the first day of your combat training."

The phrase "combat training" activated a host of emotions in Melia's mind. For the longest time, she had been desperate to learn how to fight. However, she could never articulate why, and deep down she knew that her physical frailness was a massive setback to any sort of success in battle.

Klord continued. "Now, as you may know, official combat training for heirs to the throne typically begins at age 70. However, Empress Entirmina has requsted that you begin ahead of schedule, so here we are. Now, please meet the instructors."

Melia tore herself away from her personal thoughts to pay attention to the other six High Entians - three robed in blue, the other three in green. They began introducing themselves.

The three in blue were instructors of various weapon types, the ones who would be doing the brunt of the teaching. Arkus the swordsman was the shortest and stoutest, though he still towered over Melia's short frame. Uhurel the markswoman was thin and spritely, showing great enthusiasm. Reddel the ethermaster was an older man of average build and impressive moustache.

The three in green on the other hand were the evaluators, who would be administering monthly assessments of competence. Helet the swordswoman was surprisingly buff with a perpetual frown. Perdus the marksman had an impressive beard and a jolly disposition. Keldon the ethermaster had a face of no nonsense and a somewhat impersonal attitude.

With everyone introduced, Klord proceeded. "Now, you might be thinking that you couldn't possibly learn all these different types of combat all at once. Am I right?"

Still trying to digest everyone's names, Melia nodded, partly because it was the expected answer and partly because it was the truth.

Klord nodded back. "Well, that's where today comes in. Today, you get to choose which path you want to take."

Melia pondered the statement. Even the few times she had dreamed of learning combat, she had expected to be given a weapon and no choice in the matter. As a result she had never before considered what her preference could be.

"In the training room below," continued Klord, "we have assembled a variety of weapons for you to try. The goal of today is for you to select which one suits you the best." He directed her to a door on the left wall. "Please head down these stairs into the training room. We will remain up here to watch your progress."

"...Acknowledged." Melia slowly got to her feet, opened the door, and started descending the long staircase within.

The right wall of the staircase was made of the same glass as the back wall of the small room. With no one else in the way, Melia could see that there was indeed a larger room beyond - much larger, and filled with all kinds of training supplies. Dummies, targets, mats, and even some weightlifting equipment.

Melia reached the bottom of the staircase and entered the training room through another door. Turning around, all the glass walls appeared to be just as opaque as all the other walls, with no hint that an observation room existed. One-way windows for optimal spying, she thought. Or perhaps for safely seeing what's going on before entering.

She wandered towards a large table set up not far from the entrance, which she suspected was as close to the observation room as possible without having to look down too much. The table was covered in a variety of weapons, though most with the highly-dangerous bits removed or substituted. Each weapon had a short page sitting nearby, with two or three lines of instructions each, even though the vast majority of them were self-evident.

Melia didn't really know what to do. Having expected to be told what to use, being given a gamut of options and told to make a choice with only an initial impression was somewhat unnerving. She figured she might as well start from one end and try and find something that felt right.

The leftmost item on the table was a full-sized sword with dulled edges. Melia grasped the handle with both hands and strained with all her might, slowly lifting it off the table into an upright position, but quickly let it clatter back down onto the table. Maybe I could lift this in another fifty years, but that's no good to me right now.

Beside the sword was a traditional High Entian rapier, made of wood instead of metal. Melia picked it up and gave it some trial swings. It was slightly oversized but didn't feel too bad. She turned towards a nearby training dummy, a humanoid figure made of straw, and started taking some swipes and stabs at it. This feels satisfactory, if a little...bland.

Putting the rapier down, she turned to the third weapon, a pair of dulled daggers. Their small size fit her quite well, but after a test slash cut off a bit of straw that flew into her face, she realized something. These feel quite natural, but require me to get very close to the enemy. I don't think father would approve of me being unable to fight without putting myself in danger. In addition, all these close-range weapons primarily require strength to function.

Deciding that she would be no good at close-range fighting, Melia skipped the rest of the melee weapons - a whip, a gunlance, a pair of clawed gauntlets, and a hammer - and took up the bow. She had dreamed of becoming an archer back in her thirties, back when she childishly thought she could get someone to take her place as princess. But it quickly became clear that archery was not the slam dunk she had envisioned it to be. She found it quite difficult to pull back the bow far enough for the arrows to fly an appreciable distance while still having them land reasonably near where she was aiming. While she kept trying for several shots, she eventually had to give up and admit that it was a poor fit.

Putting down the bow, Melia picked up the boomerang. Giving the weapon a toss, it wobbled through the air and completed about three quarters of a circle before falling to the ground. Trying again and throwing it harder, it successfully made a full circle, but subsequently bashed into her fingers while trying to catch it. And then what do you do if the enemy grabs it? she pondered. It leaves you defenseless. No, too risky.

Next in line was an ether revolver. Ether firearms were quite rare amongst High Entia, so she did not have much knowledge of them, but "put bullets in gun, fire gun" was simple enough to understand. The ammunition provided was a set of blanks that fired glowing streaks of ether, making it easy to track aim while dealing no damage. Succeeding at a stylish twirling draw, Melia aimed for the torso of a faraway dummy and fired her first shot about ten centimetres above its head. Each subsequent shot inched closer to the target, with the sixth and final shot nailing the dummy right in the heart.

Shaking the coloured smoke off the barrel, Melia considered the other ether firearms available - a pistol, a rifle, and a shotgun. The pistol had a high rate of fire but was more difficult to aim as a result. The rifle was the exact opposite, with perfect accuracy and a long interval between shots, in addition to the largest and least convenient frame. The shotgun fired a mess of ether streaks in every direction, implying it was more suited for close-range devastation than long-range strikes. All things considered, Melia preferred the revolver for its combination of accuracy and size. She took a moment to imagine herself with a gun in each hand, firing well-placed shots into high-value targets in a tense battle. She enjoyed the mental image of a dual-wielding quick-draw crown princess.

Of course, there was still a few more weapons to try. Next in line was an ether bazooka, which she recognized as being colloquially called "the trombone". She didn't feel particularily interested in devoting her training to the bulky weapon, but could not resist carting it onto her shoulders and pulling the trigger just once, launching herself onto her rear and firing a blast of light that bounced off the far wall before fading. The second-last option was an ether wand, a small handheld stick that fired jets of light on command. Melia liked the mental-only aspect of the wand, requiring no physical strength or ammunition, but felt that its small size and lack of structure made it harder to aim than necessary.

The last weapon, on the far right of the table, was an ether staff. It was far simpler in design than most, with a plain handle and a squared diamond for its head, laced with a web of laminated string. Melia took it and extended it to its full length to find it was taller than she was, but also quickly found out that she could adjust its length to better fit her size. She'd seen this kind of staff in use before, and tried mimicking the kinds of motions those practioners had used. Nothing happened. She tried willing the staff to fire a blast of light, like the ether wand. Still nothing.

Not willing to drop the staff without accomplishing something with it, she resigned herself into actually reading the instructions. Focus on an element to summon an elemental, then fire it at your enemies.

Seems simple enough, she thought. But what element does it "AAAH!"

Melia's thought was interrupted by a clap of thunder. She knew it was getting stormy outside but was not prepared for the noise. After a few seconds of calming back down, she got an idea. Trying hard to focus her mind on the lightning-laced sky outside, she raised the staff into the air.

After a few seconds, she started getting a tingly feeling in her fingers clutching the staff. Grabbing it with both hands, she concentrated harder. She felt her hair and feathers trying to stand on end and closed her eyes.

After several more seconds of intense concentration and static buildup, Melia felt a release of energy. Looking up at the top of the staff, she saw a ball of lightning lodged in the web at the tip, like a ball in a lacrosse stick.

Melia aimed towards the distant target she had shot at earlier and swung the staff vertically, launching the electric ball like a catapult. It flew in a perfectly straight line and slammed into the target's chest, detonating in a blast of electric energy. At this point she was torn between the staff and the revolver - the gun was quite satisfying to use, but she already had better accuracy with the staff.

She tried again. Concentrating on the thunderstorm outside, she brought forth a second bolt. It was quite a taxing process to summon an elemental, but it was trivial to subsequently fling it at her target, and it felt like aiming required no effort whatsoever.

The third elemental came easier than the first two. Wondering how far she could fling it, she took aim at one of the bullseyes hanging from the ceiling and let loose. The bolt flew through the air and struck dead centre, knocking the target down.

Melia was pretty much decided now. With no strength required, unlimited ammo, and what seemed like naturally perfect aim, the staff would be her weapon of choice. She wondered what else could be done with it.

Casting her mind across the other five classical elements, she selected fire as a decent candidate for a second offensive elemental, and started focusing her mind on the roaring fires of the kitchens. The staff slowly grew hot beneath her fingers. After what seemed like half a minute, a ball of fire finally appeared in the web of the staff.

Excitedness taking over, Melia decided to see what she could get away with in terms of style. Selecting a faraway target, she placed both her hands at the bottom of the staff and swung it like a golf club, launching the fiery orb with a wicked slice. It scored a direct hit on the target, exploding in a huge fireball that set several of the surrounding objects on fire.

Within seconds, the fire suppression system activated, drenching everything in the room.

Melia sheepishly placed the staff back on the table and started slogging through the water towards the exit. She hated getting wet while clothed. Half-heartedly shaking herself off while climbing the stairs, she expected to be told off and sent to her room, before remembering that her aunt and parents were not present to do so. Reaching the top of the staircase, she pushed open the door and walked into applause.

"Bravo, Melia!" Klord was the first to congratulate her. "Your natural proficiency with ranged weaponry is impressive, and it is clear that the ether staff is your weapon of choice." The others present each chimed in to agree.

"Thank you." Melia didn't feel like saying much else.

"Starting next week, you will report back to this room every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at two o'clock for your training with Reddel." Klord motioned towards the door. "You may go now."

Melia didn't particularily care that Klord should probably be more respectful towards royalty. As of that very moment, she just wanted out so she could change into dry clothes. As a result, she simply nodded and quickly left the room - and immediately crashed into her brother Kallian, who was waiting outside.

"Well, you've been busy!" Kallian brushed the dampness off his own clothes. "How did it go? I must report to the Empress, of course..."

Melia did not feel the need to go into detail. "I have selected the ether staff to be trained on."

Kallian nodded. "A wise choice. Father will be pleased that you did not simply take the easy route and follow in my footsteps. Have a good day, sister." He walked off in the direction of the throne room.

Melia paused for a moment before continuing towards her own room. She certainly didn't think that taking up the rapier like Kallian had would be "easy", even if he would somehow be allowed to help teach her.

Arriving at her chambers, Melia started fishing through her wardrobe for clothes that resembled her currently sodden ones as much as possible. She had trouble getting the "gunslinger princess" fantasy out of her head, but it was starting to be overwritten by the image of her cavorting around a battlefield, throwing balls of fire and lightning like a deadly dance, frustrating the enemy as much as injuring them, letting others protect her from harm while attacking from a distance.