Dripping and oozing with droplets…
"Cough… ack… Ack!"
Rising from Asahi's lungs, traveling through his windpipes, gushing up his mouth... was the water that came from Devlin's 'washing,'. Asahi couldn't even sit up because of the immense force of water pressing against his lungs. He lunged up and coughed the last gush of water, with his hair drenched, and…
"HAHA!"
Devlin couldn't help but find Asahi's reaction amusing. To him, at least, it was nothing but a mere prank to satisfy his boredom from staying in the jail cell. A personality completely different and unmatching to the people Asahi met.
Nonetheless, there was a missing puzzle piece from Devlin that Asahi couldn't grab yet.
"Hahaha! Oh my goodness, just look at your face! HA! Wow, I still can't believe you f-fell for that!"
Asahi's face brightened to a cherry red. Staring at his wet toes, he could feel immense anxiety and embarrassment coursing down the pathways of his mind—the separate sectors of the brain that only activate and thrive when you carve paths onto them.
Washing away the anxious thoughts in his mind, Asahi wiggled his toes, slammed his fist against the solid stone floor, and yelled.
"Was that necessary?"
"It was just a wash," Devlin said with a devious smile.
"Oh? Well… it seems that you almost drowned me… despite trying to wash your feces off my face. Do you even have the slightest smidge of dignity?"
Devlin made a steeple on his fingers, untightened his fist, and made a sigh of recollection. His lunar-shaped eyes were not as round as it once was, nor was his attitude. He acted 'normal' and rather polite. At a glance, he bowed his head, pressed his arms against the cold ground, and apologized.
"I'm sorry…. It's only my tradition and my act. I don't originate from this nation, I suppose. I was only captured because of my harmless jokes."
"Harmless?!" Asahi screamed confusingly in his head.
. . .
After a long silence, Devlin nodded his head and sighed, tensing his shoulders and cooling off his excitement. He said.
"You may not think it's harmless, but I come from the city of Surprise. Surely, you must know where that is, right?"
"No, I have no idea where that place is." Asahi answered with a slight shrug.
Devlin stepped back, and a shocked look glared in his moon eyes.
"You don't know where that is?! Well, it's Destia. The city is covered in walls, and that massive tower streaks to the stars." Devlin swiftly stopped himself.
His eyes widened, his clammy palms sweat, showing that he had made a dubious mistake.
"Whoops, I just broke the law."
"What Law?!" Asahi stammered confusedly.
"The number one rule, listed under page two of the rulebook of Destia, is never to speak, mention, or even display any ideologies, religions, actions, features, anything about Destia outside its boundaries."
Asahi squinted his eyes, stunned at the remark.
"That's a law?!"
Devlin silently nodded.
"Yes. I… witnessed my friends breaking the law. The Queen of Destia… has an unrelenting curse that not even the world could comprehend. If one were to break that law… The Queen of Destia would curse them to cry... until they eventually die or until they learn their lesson.
Asahi's heart paced up; his eyes broadened at the surreal image.
"Cry… until they die?"
Devlin nodded his head and relaxed against the wall, staring into the ground with a cold stare.
"Yes… and that goes for every other law broken. That stupid Queen goes by her dumb quote, 'ones who believe will always be the ones to lead, and those who cry will always be the ones to try. It's strange… because that's my hometown, and there are methods of entertainment dispatched everywhere in that place. And, it's not even available because of that hoarder… jester of some sort."
A small silence formed. The cozy warmth that was once proved upon the exuberant lunar eyes of Devlin faded. Asahi, filled with a teeming curiosity, wryly inquired.
"And you escaped that nation? Why? Tell me more about this place."
Devlin squinted his eyes, lowered his eyebrows, and gritted his teeth. He kicked himself away from Asahi toward the other side of the room, crossing his arms and pouting with an angry, aggravated tone.
"Why should I tell you more? Do you WANT me killed?! For a boy like you, you lack sympathy. And that's coming from a jokester like me. You can't even take a good joke."
Asahi stepped up and raised his voice.
"You call that a joke?!"
Devlin closed his eyes and sighed, staring at the wall, ignoring Asahi. He gritted his teeth and shouted.
"I don't even know who you are! Why should I tell you, stranger?!"
"Because I'm the God of this world!" Asahi shouted indignantly.
Devlin released a light chuckle of doubt, shook his head, and covered his mouth.
"You… the God of our world?! You must be joking around! I can't believe that one bit. Stupid liar!"
He tightened his fists and growled, raising his voice to alert the guards.
"You know nothing of the people here, its history, or its geography. Why should I call you my God?! Are you delusional!?"
Devlin's righteous awakening screams resounded over the walls. After Devlin gave his emotional answer to Asahi, it made him realize how little he knew of his world.
Devlin turned away and refrained from speaking to him.
Asahi sat and lay down on the wall, contemplating and pondering that thought.
]While staring into the crevices engraved onto the floor, Asahi's gray eyes wobbled in disbelief… like a dagger of realization shunning him through his heart. While hearing the quiet ambiance of the dripping cellar, Asahi thought in his head.
(Am I really that unmindful of my world? How much had happened when my sister and I had been away? Are there secrets hidden from me? Have I been lied to…?)
* * * * * * * *
Sometime later…
Asahi, who still had those questions haunt his mind, had his eyes anchored on a book—a large brown book, lightly dampened from moisture.
Though the covers were coated in water, the pages were as silk and dry as sand. Followed by the engraved ink and positioned neatly between drawn sketches.
Asahi mumbled the words out loud as he turned the page.
"This inexplicable mess was reversed from the hands of a mighty god with silver hair. The once murky waters, followed by the decrepit trees, were transformed into lush rolling hills, purified lakes, and caved in rivers. The king was that same God who swept the taint away just with a snap of his fingers. Bordered by the other nations, many intruded upon the lands to gather resources planted below the bewitching areas…."
(Clank)
As Asahi was reading, suddenly he heard a noise. A loud clang echoed around the cellar. The sound of steel hitting against solid stone, pebbles were flying toward the ceiling and the slushes of the dirty water from underground.
He turned up and saw Devlin digging a hole with a shovel. Asahi tried to read more of the pages but was alerted by another loud sound reverberating on the floor.
(Clang)
Asahi dropped the book and raced across the room. He patted Devlin's back and tried to ask.
"Hey, what are you doing…?!"
Initially, Devlin turned away, his face tattered in mud, pebbles stuck on his collar. His face looked a lot brighter; unserious was the better description.
He didn't mind Asahi intruding upon Devlin's work.
Turning away from Asahi toward an unidentifiable metal piece, he swiftly slid it toward Asahi's foot and hollered.
"I found these things just minutes ago. Check them out! I have no idea what they are."
Asahi asked as he crawled toward the two dark metal pieces.
"Where did you get the shovel from?"
"Oh, this?" Devlin mumbled as he presented a long, tattered shovel to Asahi. "I found it lying near the bars of the cellar. I guess someone dropped it."
Asahi nodded his head and grabbed the two objects. While investigating the objects, Asahi asked with a genuine tone.
"So, are you settled and fine... after what happened two hours ago? I apologize for acting like a jerk."
Devlin pushed himself off the hole and turned to Asahi, greeting him with a smile. He grasped upon Asahi's hands, shook hands, and replied with a bristling voice.
"It wasn't your fault. I was the one who acted like a jerk. I should've expected you to act like that. After all, I should be the one to apologize. I was thinking too recklessly."
"Wait… you already recognize me as your friend?!" Asahi said profusely.
Devlin patted Asahi's shoulder and grinned.
"Of course. I recognize strangers as all my friends, even if they're enemies. Even if you know nothing of our world, I'm sure that someday… you will remember. Never judge anyone from their appearance alone…."
As Devlin seized his shovel, he turned to Asahi and said politely.
"Just know... that if I'm making a fool of you.... remember that it's out of friendly love… and my traditions alone, okay?"
Asahi silently nodded and bent down toward the two objects.
"Okay…"
* * * * * * * *
Asahi's dark silver eyes jotted down toward the two objects carefully fondled in his hand. Upon further inspection, he gathered a clearer view of the objects from the rays that pierced through the window. They werw shaped like riveting, crooked gears. Its surface and its texture implied that it had significantly aged.
"These… objects… they feel like they have aged thousands of years. And yet, they're still in… decent condition?"
Devlin couldn't hear Asahi's mumbling. He was too busy digging the hole.
Asahi's fingers slid against the rough, grated texture of the gears. They were engraved with straight lines, neatly encompassing the rectangular-shaped edges toward the circular epicenter. A pattern that looked relatively advanced and intricate to the past patterns Asahi was familiar with.
"The patterns… are unfamiliar to what I have seen."
As Asahi fondled on the two gears, suddenly he saw the ancient eroded texture of the gears, followed by the dust swiftly brushing away, revealing a glossy black surface, like a rotten banana peeling away from a clean fruit.
Asahi gasped.
"Huh?!"
Before screaming to Devlin, the gears glowed a bright white, and Asahi's vision flashed to an intriguing, unfamiliar sight.
* * *
It was the vision of a vast, expanding city with structures blanketed in black color, suspended upside down-- defying gravity entirely.
Neon lights flew everywhere, coupled with long ever-arching bridges with a structure so intricate and advanced that not even Asahi could comprehend.
A strange, tall- triangular-shaped range of mountains encircled the area, with gears and weird black trees stretching across the hills. Beyond was a massive civilization that looked highly advanced in technological circumstances.
It was Clean, Perfect, and devoid of any mistakes.
The city's architecture stretched for hundreds of kilometers with no sight of the ground. The buildings were so clumped together that roads intertwined with one another, followed by circular pillars extending toward the starry skies.
The upside-down perspective shifted to a right-side-up look, presenting a vivid view of the enormous, prosperous city.
The movement made Asahi nauseous, but he quickly gripped his sanity. The technological city was under an unfamiliar sky with four moons rather than one.
Gargantuan cloud-shaped pillars stretched toward the unreachable stars above; the pillars seemed to have attached to the sky itself. The glittering stardust scattered in symmetrical directions; starships roamed high above the large forest of towers.
Most of the city was black; some painted with cyan and others; a bright neon white. The patterns on some buildings matched even the pattern of Asahi's attire.
However, all of this was utterly alien to Asahi. He couldn't recognize any of this.
"What…"
Before Asahi could analyze the vision, it quickly flashed back to the cellar with Devlin.
* * *
"Hey, are you alright?! You were just staring in space a few minutes ago."
The glossy gears reverted to their ancient texture, slipping off Asahi's stunned hands, shattering greatly on the ground. Asahi was so shocked that he couldn't even move.
Devlin rushed to the fragmented gears and swept them into one pile. Upon resolution, he dropped the shovel and asked.
"Why were you just staring there?"
Asahi shook his head and ignored Devlin for a moment. He never realized he was contemplating out loud.
"It seems the gears have captured a snapshot of the past… on whatever that city was…."
"Huh?! What're you saying, feces-face?!"
Asahi continued to ignore and ponder the vision.
"Was it a vision of the past, or was it the vision of the future?"
The cellar remained silent.
Devlin made a small sigh and grabbed his shovel. He couldn't bother to waste his precious time on getting attention to Asahi.
* * * * *
A half-an-hour later…
Asahi was resting against the walls, reading more of the book silently. Though he was gazing at it, he couldn't concentrate because of his vision earlier.
"Just… get out of my head." He thought.
Asahi shook his head and planted his face on the book, surrendering to his erupting thoughts.
As Devlin proceeded to dig further through the five-meter hole, suddenly…
(Clank)
The metal tip of his shovel touched a dark, solid metal object imprinted with stretching white lines and a locked seal. Devlin dropped his shovel, jumped up, and urged Asahi.
"Hey, come here! I think I found something…."
His lunar-shaped eyes enlarged. Devlin caught his breath, peered straight at the book Asahi held and asked intently.
"What are you reading?!"
Asahi lowered the book toward his chin, peering his eyes from the edge of the book. He replied as droplets fell from the ceiling toward his head.
"I'm reading Pladtioa and its past…."
"Pladtioa, and its what?! Why are you reading that?
It was clear that Devlin's curiosity bit him. Asahi moved the book away from him and commented while seeing Devlin's active look in his eyes.
"It seems that your attitude has returned. I guess whatever you discovered was something surprising, huh."
Devlin scratched his head and replied.
"Yeah, it's… like ancient technology or something. It doesn't do anything; it was just buried in there."
Devlin shook his head repetitively.
"Hey… t-that's not the point!"
Devlin darted his eyes toward the book.
"What I'm interested in…."
Successfully distracting Asahi, Devlin hastily reached his arm toward the book and…
"Is this!" He exclaimed as he snatched the book from Asahi's hands.
"Hey!" Asahi shouted as he reached for the book.
Licking his lips, showing interest, curiosity, and ignorance, he mocked Asahi.
"Hey! Quiet, feces face! Stop being so selfish!"
"SELFISH?!" Asahi exclaimed with a tone of frustration.
Devlin nodded his head. He pivoted himself toward the corner and kicked Asahi back. While pushing Asahi away, Devlin demanded.
"Stay there, feces face!"
Asahi gritted his teeth, refusing to be called that name. He tried to tackle Devlin but, in return, got knocked back even further.
"Give it back!" Asahi screamed.
As Devlin pushed Asahi away, he swiftly pulled the cover and skimmed through many pages, reading snippets of paragraphs aloud.
"The newborn Saint born from the queen's presence emerged amidst disaster…."
Devlin's eyes widened. He flipped the page with anticipation.
"She had a power… the power to…."
His heart froze in realization. Devlin mumbled to himself while flipping through all the pages.
"I know this…
His voice lifted.
"All of this is familiar to me!"
Without consideration, Devlin slammed the book shut, tossed it to Asahi's face, and pushed himself up.
"I know every word of this book! Fence face, I know Pladtioa's past. Here… let me explain…."
Devlin hurriedly summoned a blue luminance in-between his palms, jolted toward the other side of the cellar, and unleashed a soft gush of water from thin air. It splashed beneath his feet, forming a sizeable reflective puddle at the right.
Asahi, being so clueless, approached Devlin and questioned while rubbing the bruise on his head.
"What was that for?"
Devlin yanked, dragged Asahi toward the puddle, and pushed his face downward, kneeling and staring into the reflection.
(Will he understand?)
An awkward silence formed. Droplets slid down the wall.
Devlin pointed to the puddle and asked.
"Do you see that?"
"See what…?!" Asahi blatantly answered while staring cluelessly into the puddle.
Devlin sighed in disappointment and repeated himself.
"Do you see that; The reflection?"
Asahi raised his eyebrow.
"Reflection?"
And there, he saw it: his long bright white hair, silver-gray eyes, fair skin, and beautiful attire.
"Yeah, it's me…." Asahi mumbled.
Devlin slapped Asahi.
"Not that!"
His finger pointed toward the open space of the cellar, dazzling the reflection.
"That!"
"It's… nothing." Asahi muttered.
. . .
And then he realized.
"It's… NOTHING?!"
Asahi swiftly turned to Devlin, then the puddle, Devlin, then the reservoir, continuously until he realized.
"Where's your reflection?! Are you a vampire?!"
Devlin roughly chortled and scratched his head.
"Of course not! I don't believe vampires even exist in Pladtioa. Anyways, haha, just look closer…."
Asahi leaned further toward the puddle. Still, he saw no reflection of Devlin but the ceiling, the walls, and the bars. He mumbled.
"There's still nothing--
Suddenly, he felt a heavy force press down his head.
"Huh?!"
Asahi's face swiftly ducked into the puddle, drowning his nose and wetting his hair.
"GAH!"
He pushed the hand off his head and hastily lifted up, with steam and fury coursing through his veins.
At first, he heard nothing but burbling noise. However, his hearing finally returned. Followed with his vision clearing, he got accompanied by loud, audacious laughs.
"HAHAHAHA!"
Asahi wiped the water off his face, gritted his teeth, turned to Devlin, and screamed.
"DEVLIN, WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"
Devlin choked on his laughs. He couldn't breathe because of how humorous this was to him.
"Haha! I can't believe I did that! What an opportunity! HAHAHA!"
As Asahi steamed with fury, Devlin approached slowly and muttered.
"But there is… a real explanation for this. See, the reason why you couldn't see my reflection…."
He flinched and saw Asahi's fist stop near his face.
"Say what?! Say something that will save you from getting punched in the face."
Although he thought it was funny, he felt pity for Asahi. Devlin couldn't believe Asahi genuinely thought something was wrong with the puddle.
Devlin screamed at the top of his lungs with a train of thoughts rushing through him.
"It's because Narcissa STOLE our reflections!"
The thought itself shocked Asahi. He lowered his fists, raised his eyebrows, and sneered at Devlin, asking while wiping his hair.
"What do you mean… by that?"
Devlin pointed quickly.
"See that, feces-face?! Grab that book!"
"Okay!" Asahi replied with a look of suspicion.
He raced to the big brown book lying against the wall, swiftly grabbed it, and tightly caressed it in his arms.
Jolting back to Devlin, he slammed the book down against the dry ground furthest from the puddle and asked ecstatically.
"Now what?"
Devlin pulled the cover back, sat down on his bottom, and mumbled.
"We sit back, relax, and read it."
. . .
Before they started reading, Asahi couldn't ignore it any longer--
"Devlin, could you stop calling me Feces face?"
Devlin dropped the book, tensed his shoulders, and asked with an aggravated tone.
"Okay. Then what IS your name?"
Immediately, Asahi strutted his feet, pushed his long white hair to the side, and answered with a small smile.
"Asahi. Asahi Adtraic."
Devlin nodded his head and tapped his lips.
"Asa…hi? Wow, that's a great name. I GUESS I'll call you that. Speaking of which, can you forgive me? I went too hard on you without even knowing. I got too ahead of myself."
Asahi nodded his head and sighed.
"It's okay. I forgive you. You know, sometimes you can be tough to understand. I don't get why you made a puddle…."
Devlin pulled the book up and smiled.
"You'll understand soon. Anyways, what was the reason the guards brought you here…?"
After recollecting and easing himself, Asahi replied gently.
"I don't know. I suddenly awakened in Narcissa's room, and she wore this rather adorable dress. I think it was a failed attempt at seducing me."
Devlin's eyes widened. He skidded back, jumped up, and whispered roughly.
"Seducing you?! For what…?! I never heard anyone say that Narcissa had attempted to involve herself in relationships other than herself. It's… actually quite strange for you to say that."
Despite the questioning reply, Devlin proceeded to turn the page.
"Now your puny self will understand why I made that puddle… starting from paragraph fifteen…."