Title: Darkest Hour

Authors: Emilieee and baekforu

Status: On-Going

Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance

Link: http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1134729

Personal Opinion

The story manages to create a forgotten world - forgotten by gods, forgotten by the people that inhabit it. People are blind, but not because they were born so, but because there is no light to guide them. People are insensitive, but not because they were born so, but because there is no warmth to surround them. The places they live in are desolate, even though the protagonist doesn't seem to think so, at least at the beginning. The girl portrayed is an orphan that goes through the motions very day, just like the rest of cohabitants; there is an odd resemblance of slavery, even though the narrative tries to convince you otherwise, from the girl's perspective: the food ratio is at minimum, but it's justified that there isn't much to cultivate anyway, the workload is supervised and laziness or even the slight pause is punished, but it's justified through a collective effort to gain the minimum amount of food. There are rules and hierarchies lying underneath that the protagonist easily brushes off, like a piece of lint, distracting you with mysteries, memories and legends, and sometimes own thoughts or theories, trying to evade the obvious. All the illusions come crumbling down when the girl is punished for an unclear reason, after overhearing a piece of conversation between the mages.

The reader is finally able to see the true cruelty of the tiny fraction of world she lives in by letting the other wild parts of it overshadowing the time spent at the fortress. Even though full of dangers and as dark as the previous one, the girl comes in contact with an unexpected person - namely Baekhyun - that changes every perspective she once formed. It's impressive how young they are and how little they know about the world. Emotions are secrets for them, as well as of why and what urges them to come to the surface, they wonder at the sight and feel of tears, they feel curious towards their appearances, they search for explanations. The journey they start isn't necessarily a mean of survival, rather than a road to finding out their history and their capabilities.

Putting aside their superpowers and special abilities, the story is moving for the pure reason that it treats human beings that forgot what it means to be human. There aren't any certainties in this world - some of them believe stories told by elders, some of them obey made up rules by the mages, some of them know too little to decide, etc. The characters are sometimes in complete opposition or in complete synchronization, depending on their experience: Baekhyun strikes as fearless, while she strikes as coward, sometimes both of them are afraid and sometimes both of them are valiant. Being by each other's side, they complement each other and accumulate knowledge by dealing with the situations they encounter, revealing one or the other's true nature or beliefs and gradually tying the beginning of what it seems a beautiful love story in those times of hardship - Baekhyun being the light she has always dreamed of meeting.

My personal favorite is the presence of Kyungsoo's character, even though he doesn't actively appear in the story, although his shadow always looms over it. There are certain similarities sensed by Baekhyun between the main character and Kyungsoo and it's interesting how the girl compares herself with Kyungsoo in every situation - if he would have been more useful, if Baekhyun would have been happier to have him as a companion rather than her - almost feeling like a silent competition between the two types of love: the one that binds friends and the one that binds lovers. Even Baekhyun wonders sometimes, asking himself the same exact question, though mainly disturbed by the physical similarities between the two now important persons in his life.

I enjoyed and will continue to enjoy this story, since it has a hint of mystery in it, but also the fantastic elements are portrayed in such appealing manner. The characters are bringing their own story and filling up the blank spaces as they go, leaving a deeper meaning than what it meets the eye at first. Congratulations!