Prologue:
Colorless arms from the void grabbed the small boy. For countless years he had been drowning in an endless void. The voices of his family members called his name. The sound of bubbles and ripples nullified the cries for the boy.
He finally opened his eyes after what felt like years of waiting. Blood dripped onto his delicate face. The soft hand of *[%\#^ reached out to him. The boy finally decided to uncurl and grab onto the mutilated hand.
The arms of the void were no longer chasing him. Was he free? He saw a woman in a red kimono the exact same one that shone bright crimson that night when the moon was brightest.
Saddened voices were heard from the darkness, they slowly approached him. One grunted whilst the other one apologized profusely. The woman said that he was safe no matter what. Her face… was a complete blur, the faces of children that came out of the void were also erased, it was as if there was static covering their faces.
They tied my weak body to the void with chains.
"I will protect you… no matter what." The woman rubbed my cheek and led the children towards the darkness.
Chapter 1
I'm a wanderer, wandering the streets looking for food and shelter. I would sleep in dark alleyways packed with trash and filth. Dogs and mice could be heard knocking down trash cans and rummaging to continue surviving. A tin can rolled down the alley and inside it was some leftover mackerel. Is this freedom? You live shackled by no one, yet you feel so empty. By that I mean your stomach growling all the time. I picked up the tin can and pulled the slimy fish meat out.
"Yuck, now my fingers are all slimy and nasty," I said to myself.
I shoved the piece of fish into my mouth and the horrible unsavoury aftertaste came like shockwaves. I grew pretty used to this though. This flavor was nothing new. Anything edible is like a treasure to us dogs. We roam the streets, begging, scrutinizing people, selling ourselves just to continue living as "free".
A memory swirled around in my head. The home cooking of my mom. The food me and my brothers used to eat while chatting and having fun. Vivshi! My mom called out. My eyes reopened just to see the empty streets. I looked at my dishevelled body and clothes.
I tried not to live in the past too much, the only purpose I had in life was to survive to see the sunrise yet again. But even so, once in a while when it was all quiet I could reminisce about the memories I had.
After dinner, I saw my mom leave the house, she had always a bright smile, hugging and caressing us before going. She always reassured us that she would return. At the same time every day, I would wake up just to greet her at the door. Her body would be covered in bruises and scratches after each trip.
That night, when I waited for her to return, she hadn't come back. Another day passed with no sight of her. We begged our father to go out and search for her, but he always flatly rejected us.
Now I'm alone, wandering the streets for food and stealing continuing to live. As the slimy bit of fish slid down my stomach. I caught the smell of rich people's food. The luxurious kind. It was coming from the big house. Where some rich snobby nobles live. They like seeing people like me performing tricks and giving us food or money when we do something funny to them. I followed the aroma and hopped over their gate. I took one of the chairs outside stood on it and peeked inside. Inside was a long table prepared with a lot of food. Several people stood inside the room. All fancy clothes and holding red drinks. These nobles, how dare they use the poor to get even richer.
Filled with a sense of vengeance and starvation, I leapt into the window. All eyes were on me, I could feel their gaze. I couldn't care more, I had been embarrassed, seen by the whole world. This compares to nothing I have been through.
"Look the prince hired a clown to entertain us. How nice of him." He snuffed.
All the people around started to laugh. I started walking forward to the food courses. There before me were an array of different flavors and aromas. Such beautiful consumables I have never witnessed before. I grabbed the closest dish to me. It was some kind of meat mixed around with vegetables and the rice tasted weird, in a good way. The rice that I would have eaten usually was old rice that went bad. I would find this in trash cans near the alleyways. People thought that I was a paid actor due to my appearance, I look oddly feminine in these baggy clothes so they probably thought the noble paid some random kid to dress up like a hobo. So in their minds, they are probably thinking that I was just here to entertain them. Might as well take that chance to get some stuffing done.
I started shoving down more food until I came across this weird-looking red thing. People were pointing and laughing at the sight of a cute girl dressed up as a wanderer shovelling and engrossed in eating up all the prepared food.
This red long thing, with a curve on it. I haven't seen this before. Isn't this what they mentioned at the market? A new vegetable that isn't suitable for every person's taste.
"Lucky stars, imagine finding such luxury food here. Down the hatch."
As I first chewed on the fruit or veggie thing, it tasted sweet but after a few seconds, I felt kinda funny. For some reason, my mouth started to water a lot yet it was really warm on my tongue. It started to get worse and worse, the heat got stronger. The pain would come in waves.
"I'm gonna die, shit, I'm going to die," I screamed.
Everyone in the room started to laugh even more. They sure loved my presence. I was dying on the table and felt a slight tug on my shirt. It kept tugging and dragging my shirt down. I slowly looked down with tears rolling down my face. In a blurry vision, I could make out a child's face. Long black hair like mine but longer, I usually cut my hair with random metal fragments I found in the alleys. The little girl had something fluffy, a big red ribbon. She handed me a glass filled with some type of fruit juice. It was probably apple juice mixed with some other random fruits.
"Thank you for the apple juice." I cried out.
The girl looked at me with her wide eyes, mesmerized and amazed, and continued to tug on my shirt.
"Sister, are you some kind of magician? How did you guess what it was?" She asked curiously while clutching her small hands.
I looked around and saw that the attention had died down and the only attention I was receiving now was from the little girl. Ugh, even this small girl thinks I'm a little girl... sigh... How bad do my looks need to get to make me look like this? I took a piece of cloth and wiped my eyes to see the girl more properly.
Why did she look like my mother, those eyes? Those were the eyes of determination I saw in my mother whenever she embraced me in her arms. I will never forget those purple eyes of love and emptiness. An emptiness that was filled by your reflection. The reflection that your mother saw you in. I reach out my hand to feel her face but someone grabs my wrist at the moment my fingertips were supposed to caress her cheeks.
I slowly twist my head to see who was grabbing onto my wrist. Their hands weren't that big of size but the force from alone was enough to leave a red sunken mark on my wrist. Wearing a luxurious specially tailored suit. Lengthy orange hair that reached the neck. The flower represented the Aeon of Ember. Red-orange eyes that look like the setting sun. Their eyes shined bright and brought a lot of radiance.
The attention switched back to me and chatter and whispers could be heard amongst the crowd. I could make out a few words they said.
"What is the next heir of Fukviyu doing here?" Whispered one woman.
Fukviyu? Isn't that the name of the shitty country? Heir? That means this guy is…
"Oopsie," I giggled.
"Oopsie? What were you trying to do, touching my sister?" He angrily said. He kept increasing the pressure on my wrist trying to force out an answer from me.
After a few silent moments, I felt weak, my legs started to lose balance, my core became weak and I hunched over. The flower on his cheek. That is the flower of ember, one of the aeons. This world has different aeons that attach to humans they think represent their aeons the most. The Aeon of Ember is something passionate, and warm and follows their thoughts before listening to other people's opinions. It tends to be really into justice too, always wanting to maintain righteousness. My sight was fuzzy and blurry but I could still hear faint sounds. While being in this delirious state I heard the girl's soft voice calling out to me.
"Sister, are you okay? Are you alright?" the girl shouted. But her deranged brother pushed her away. She fell hard onto the ground hitting her head. Her brother didn't lose focus and kept his tight grip on me.
This bastard ignored the injury of a family member. His sister just got hurt badly and yet, he didn't care. Why? Why do you not treasure those who you have memories with? While unconscious the girl mumbled a few words. I understood what she wanted.
I looked at the prince and used all my strength in my facial muscles. My neutral-looking face turned into a smirk, etching over my entire face. It felt weird, the feeling of protecting somebody's freedom whilst sacrificing my own. Is that freedom? No. Nothingness is freedom, I will not experience any euphoria as long as I live this way.
I felt a slight burn on my cheek. It started to pulsate which created small waves of pain. I was standing hunched over, lost in thoughts. I was transported again. But this time there was a river on the other side, I heard laughter, cheers, and sounds of joy. A voice calling out saying "Join us". Was that mother?
Chained by iron chains that have no beginning, just a dark spiral of emptiness, emerging are iron chains that whip around my arms and legs. Lost in the abyss, not even tenacity could save me here.
From the dark, echoes a melody, a voice that sounded so soft and sweet. A voice that soothes my soul. Slowly walking forward from the shadows is a woman in a red checked kimono. Her belt had a pattern of fishes and her clothes were blooming with flowers. She meticulously tended to me, brushing any dust that collected on my midnight strands. After a brief intermission, she turned and took small steps until she was submerged in the river. The woman's steps clacked every time she took a step forward. Her black hair was neatly made into a bun with golden sticks in it. Then her appearance started to dissipate. Seeing less and less of her figure.
"Please save her. She's the only thing you have left." Please, Vivshi don't let your sister die. Her voice slowly faded.
The echoes of her voice, I heard over and over again. Please, Vivshi don't let… Waking up and seeing reality again. This patient bastard still has his hands on me. My body was shrouded in a black oozing haze. The nobles in the room could be heard panicking and their eyes were filled with fear. This led to them backing up and cowering.
The prince saw my body was emitting an ominous aura and his face twisted in disgust. He called out to the nobles in the room to evacuate. He released his grip and leapt back. His eyes straightened, and he had a completely stoic face. Then he slowly tipped the hilt unsheathing a katana. The flower on his cheek started to illuminate bright red. I started sweating and my mouth became dry. It was like the room atmosphere changed, literally. The blade was changed color? It is slightly turning dark blue but after some time the blade bursts into raging crimson red flames, Covering the whole katana.
"You foul creature of the dark, your entry ends here." Thou shall not pass these sacred grounds of the king. He exclaimed while slowly pulling his sword above his shoulders into a striking position.
The prince took a deep breath, opened his eyes wide, looking straight at me then jolted forward slicing the whole table in half behind me. Everything that he cut got incinerated and smoke started to rise. I barely dodged his slice. But even worse, yuck the smell of burnt human hair is disgusting, but I appreciate the free haircut Prince-sama. This was too exhilarating, I couldn't contain it anymore, my grin grew and the flower of freedom sprouted.