THE ZVALLA CLINIC
"No! This can't be!" Crescent shouted, in his arms was the burnt corpse of a little lady covered with a dusty cloth. Arexis' cloak was protecting Crescent from the dangerous flame.
"We need to leave now" Arexis grabbed the rope of the cloak that Crescent was wearing, tugging Crescent's hood so the young master would follow him. Crescent hugged the corpse tightly and started to walk. Upon stumbling on one of the broken clay jars, Crescent's arms hit the ground hard, in order to protect the corpse he was carrying, he sacrificed his arms. As the young master helped himself to stand, an empty, medium clay pot rolled towards his direction. The young master stared at the hollow pot, he was certain that something was inside the container, not a liquid or a medicine, but a creature. Its red eyes piercing through Crescent's unidentical ones as it spoke through its thought, "Our Perfect Vessel"
Horrified and scared, Crescent shouted and kicked the jar away from him. He kept trying not to remember the words in his mind; The creature talked to me! The creature talked to me! The ugly creature talked to me!
Arexis lost sight of Crescent when the young master stumbled on the ground because the black smoke doubled its thickness. He kept turning his head to look for the other young master's traces.
"2984, where are you?" Arexis spoke loud enough. In the middle of the blazing flame, a sigbin was standing. With its head hanging upside down, it began to walk backwards towards Crescent.
"Perfect Vessel, we need your help" the creature spoke in his mind, Crescent heard and understood the words clearly. Crescent closed his eyes and covered his face with the hood.
"Don't talk to me!" Crescent shouted. Arexis followed his fellow young master's voice and immediately held the cloak when he found Crescent. The young noble shook Crescent's shoulder as the young master fainted. Arexis saw the clay jar rolling on the ground, but ignored it anyway. He had an important task to pay his attention for at the moment, he must save his fellow young master. The fire grew even wilder that Arexis failed to suppress the flame. He scribbled a few letters on the air but it was consumed by the fire immediately. Arexis was not carrying his lap harp with him, hence he couldn't create music either. He thought of another way to save their lives. He remembered that it rained last night, the leaves of the trees in the forest were still wet because of the heavy rain that poured during the dark. Arexis frowned and tried his best to concentrate. He scribbled a few letters on the air, he tried to strengthen the spell. A single drop of rain in the middle of the forest fell towards the ground, but it didn't hit. It vibrated, it changed its direction towards the burning house. But before the single droplet made it near the fire, it evaporated. Arexis was trying to call the nearest water sources in the Clinic. The clinic was located far from the main house and there were only enough water supplies for medication. Arexis tried to get more droplets from the trees and formed it into a big drop of water. He created a lot of them and finally combined it. He could not hold much longer, as the water grew bigger, it drained his spiritual energy. When the water was big enough, good thing there were a lot of trees in the Zvalla Household, he called the huge form of water and droped it above the clinic. The water was heavy that it almost crushed the whole burning house. Both young masters were wet as the fire disappeared, Crescent went back to his senses, too. Coughing, the young master laid his eyes on the burnt corpse of a little girl beside him. Shocked, he couldn't do anything but to cry. Arexis said nothing, standing steadily, he just waited for Crescent to finish crying. The young noble noticed something on the burnt corpse. The corpse was wearing a golden anklet on her left foot. He took it off ang handed it to Crescent. Crescent looked at the accessory and frowned.
"What?" The young master asked himself while looking at the anklet, confused. The guards just arrived but they looked tired and exhausted.
"Young master!"
"Quick! Help the young master!"
The guards immediately helped Arexis and Crescent , but Crescent shoved the guards away.
"I thought no one is coming to save us. Perhaps, everyone knows that my sister was here that you need not to send help for her. You want her dead!" Crescent shouted, veins popping out from his neck. The guards bowed their heads, they dared not to talk back.
"I don't need your help, get lost" Crescent clenched his teeth, unidentical irises glaring at the guards. He helped himself to get up and carried the burnt corpse with him after hiding the anklet inside his pocket.
With Arexis following behind him, Crescent arrived at the Zvalla Main House, carrying the corpse. His parents greeted him, eyes filled with worries. Their eyes dropped from Crescent's dirty face to the burnt corpse in his arms. The young master cried softly, lips trembling, he needed to say it, he must say it.
"You need not to chase her anymore. Is this an enough punishment for Amaya?" Crescent's tears fell down his cheeks.
"Mother, did you ever asked why she escaped from the temple? Did you ever asked my little sister whether she was happy? Did you ever asked her what it feels to be apart from her family?" Crescent sighed. Arexis frowned as he listened to Crescent. He knew that something was not right.
"You told me that I don't need to be the person everyone expected me to become. I can be myself, but does that reminder only applies to me? Does Amaya need to be a person everyone expected her to become?" Crescent asked. Both his parents dared not to speak, they knew that Crescent had a point, but it was Bathala's wrath that they are talking about.
"But it's over now, Amaya is dead. We can only pray for her soul to rest in peace." Crescent concluded. He laid the corpse in front of his parents and inhaled deeply.
"Please give her a proper burial, at least" Crescent spoke. He bowed his head before leaving the main house. The both of them returned to the Private Archive and Crescent didn't looked depressed at all. Arexis frowned and studied Crescent's behavior. The both of them were about to continue to study, but Arexis slapped the book that Crescent was holding and pinned it on the table.
"What are you doing?" Arexis asked.
"Studying" Crescent replied, his voice obviously sounded sarcastic. Casual as always, he remembered that he was still wearing the young noble's cloak. Crescent gasped and smirked.
"Hey Arie, are you that regretful to lend me this cloak? Come on! Just let me wear it for now, I'll wash it with my own hands before returning it to you. You can't force me to take it off. I know that you will grab it the moment I take it off. I can't return such a luxurious thing when it's dirtied. Don't worry, I won't give it to the maids, I'll wash it myself. I'm good at washing clothes, if you don't know" Crescent babbled. Arexis glared at Crescent's unidentical colored eyes. The young noble even forgot about his sacred cloak. Crescent pouted when he realized that Arexis was not talking about his cloak, honestly.
"Arie, I know what you're going to ask me" Crescent sighed. He clicked his tongue and held his chin.
"Amaya is not dead and that corpse is not her body. Thank you for giving me the anklet, if it wasn't for the anklet, I would have assumed that it was really my sister." Crescent said. He was just acting in front of his parents when he handed the corpse a while ago.
"It is better to make them believe that my sister is dead. Make everyone in the household, including my parents, believe that my sister commited suicide by burning the house instead of escaping from here. That way they don't have to find her and kill her, that way my mother would reflect with her actions." the young master explained.
"the body" Arexis spoke. Crescent snapped his fingers and made a lonely face.
"It was young lady Sangra's body. She was a young lady in this household who loves wearing anklets. I have met her once in the garden and saw that golden anklet in her foot. She died two days ago because of her weak heart. Her family said that she was buried on the second day of her death. I wonder why she was at the clinic." the young master tapped his feather pen on the table.
"But, let's not focus on that case first. The important thing is that, I am certain, Amaya escaped from here. And I know where she is going" Crescent smirked. All he ever cared about is his little sister's safety.
"where?" Arexis asked. Crescent grinned and pointed his pen on the roof as if he was thinking deeply.
"Not gonna tell you!" the young master giggled. Disappointed, Arexis hissed and frowned. Crescent leaned closer towards Arexis, the young noble distanced himself.
"Hey Arie, if I tell you where is my sister heading to, can you promise me that you will not chase and punish her anymore? It is our household's concern anyway. Can you let this go and just help me? Oh! You don't need to help me, just don't tell other people that my sister is still alive. It's just a secret between us." Crescent asked with a serious face. Arexis thought for a while, with every decision that he has to make, he must think wisely. The young noble slowly nodded his head which made Crescent felt a little happy.
"She is going to the First District." Crescent stated. Arexis remained silent.
"But she won't stay much longer, you ask me why" the young master smiled but received no reply.
"She told me that she doesn't like the people there, the people I used to see everyday and who I used to be as one. And I believed that she would leave the First District as soon as possible, assuming that the Zvalla Household want her dead. Wether she planned her death or it was a mere coincidence that lady Sangra's dead body was there, she had no choice but to hide. And soon, she will go beyond that black wall and live her life freely." Crescent explained. Arexis nodded slightly as he began to understand.
"I may not know her for a long time, but I believed that Amaya is a strong girl. She fears nothing and I bet, she would prefer living with those Abus who eats human for survival, than to live with the Zvalla Household who kills human, even their own family for pride." Crescent explained.
"Will you find her?" Arexis asked, he started writing again. Crescent smirked and played with his pen.
"Maybe soon, when I get stronger, strong enough to protect her from anyone. I have to become a well noble. I need to learn a lot of things first, I need power. So, you have to teach me well, Master" Crescent smiled at Arexis, but the young noble just ignored him.
Crescent thought in his mind, "Just wait for me, Amaya. I am going to protect you, I'll defend you against them"
"Anyway, Arie, what was that alarm back in the forbidden Enchanted River all about? Why did the Central District called us back?" Crescent remembered. Arexis put down his pen, resulting for it to drop the ink on the undesired spot of the sheet.
"Someone broke the seal and released the monstrous creatures" the young noble replied. Horrified, Crescent dropped his pen, eyes not blinking as he looked at Arexis.
"Are you saying that those monsters were released beyond the black wall?" Crescent asked, his eyes started to form tears. It was too dangerous for Amaya living with the Abus and the Sigbins hiding in the mountains, how much more if she has to live with the monstrous creatures out there?
THE FIRST DISTRICT
It has been three days since the Zvalla Clinic Fire incident. The news was spreading all over the Central District.
Giving the whole way, the ear tagged slaves bowed their heads as four young nobles visited the district. Two were wearing sacred cloaks, young master Anthony and young master Leo. The other two were young master Arexis and young master Crescent.
"Hey Leo, do you think that there is a place in the First District where nobles can eat normally?" young master Anthony asked while wrapping his arm around Leo's neck.
"I think there is, I used to-" Leo corrected himself and cleared his throat.
"I heard that the kids here used to visit that restaurant to watch the nobles eat classy foods. The servants often tell the kids to scram but they would just laugh it off." Leo replied. The four of them knew that Leo was talking about his childhood memories, but they needed to watch their words.
"Great! Let's head there first!" Anthony cheered and dragged Leo with him. Crescent has been looking around all over the place, hoping that he would see his little sister.
"Let's go" Arexis said and left Crescent behind. It was young master Anthony who invited them to visit the first district because he wanted to have fun with Leo. He wanted to know what Leo's life before so he could understand his best friend better. After the visit, the four returned to the Central District to attend an important ceremony, Crescent's Introductory Ceremony, the legalization of his official name.
THE CENTRAL DISTRICT
"A toast for my son's safe return" Crescent's father announced and tossed the cup of wine in the air. The news was said that young master Zenith just came back from a mission together with the other nobles, that includes young master Arix Crixtus - Arexis' official name , young master Leon Torria - Leo's official name and young master Anthoriha Gadin - Anthony's official name. Anthony and Leo were having a feast, they began to love the fruit juice since they were not aloud to drink wine. Arexis maintained his usual behavior in front of the other nobles. Crescent enjoyed the feast as he tried to get used with his official household name.
"Young master Zenith, I am fortunate to have encountered such a brave individual like you" one of the household nobles offered his cup of fruit juice to Crescent. The officially named Zenith Zvalla accepted the young noble's cup and drank it.
"Where's Meatball?" Crescent looked around only to find Meatball sitting next to the role model Arix Crixtus. Crescent pouted and sat near the young noble.
"Hey Arie, I thought he only loves your cloak, but I guess this traitor is really fond of you. I can give him to you if you want to." Crescent smiled. Arexis drank a cup of fruit juice and replied, "I refuse."
The celebration went on, Crescent decided to go out for a walk because he wanted to drink the wine in secret. He ended up at the ruined Zvalla clinic, which is now under renovation. He gasped and blinked a few times upon seeing the charcoals disappearing right before his eyes. It was as if something was consuming it.
"Eating coals?" Crescent asked himself. He gasped when he began to realize and whispered, "Coal eater"
In a blink of an eye, a sigbin appeared before the young master. Its head hanging behind its hind legs like it always does, it started walking backwards towards an empty clay jar. It hid inside the jar, its blood red eyes staring at Crescent. Crescent asked himself, "How could there be a sigbin here?"
"Zenith the perfect vessel, I know where your little sister is." the creature communicated with Crescent through their thoughts.
"You need to help our race, in return, we will protect your sister when she arrives at the Enchanted River." the sigbin spoke. Crescent knew that helping the Sigbins would lead him towards trouble. It certainly means defying Bathala, but what should he do?
"Fine" Crescent lied. There was no way that he would help the monstrous creatures who almost killed him back in the enchanted river, but he had to lie for Amaya's sake.
"What do I need to do?" Crescent asked. The sigbin laughed like a small devil, its sharp teeth showing out with its saliva dripping down towards its forehead.
"The red stone didn't disappeared, it transformed into a black smoke and is looking for another vessel. You have two choices, be that vessel or look for another vessel" the sigbin laughed and vanished like a bubble. Anthony and Leo arrived just in time only to see Zenith threwing the jar of wine on the ground.
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©The Bathala's Forbidden Vessel
Creator: Arl Hesse