Click!
His fingers struggle to shift, but he manages to lock the door. He takes a slow step towards the kitchen table. His legs move as if weights are attached to his thigh, life burden, yes. The kitchen lamp casts a shadow on the floor, mainly consisting of a large bag on the ends of Marls' hands.
Thud!
He lets out a sigh. His hands reach for the lid that hinders him from seeing the bag's contents. His finger immediately grabs the first thing it touches, a bunch of vegetables.
"Ah, shit." he curses.
There's no refrigerator in this world..!
His eyes, hopeless, can only look at the money he has wasted.
The door on the first floor opens. It makes this muffled ringing noise the moment it reaches Marls' ears. With wooden floors as the drums, the boots serve as the cause of impact. It is consistent, but it stops suddenly without a cause. This is a rare experience in Marls' life, considering he hasn't lived in an apartment before. However, his mind is still occupied with whether he should eat all the vegetables.
It is when the thunder strikes the door, his body jolts into the air.
"Coming! Who's there?"
His hand unlocks the door, and naively pulls it wide open.
Sweat drips from his cheek. His eye looks up at a figure towering over him. It's the red-haired woman with dark grey arms. The lights from the hallway cast her shadow over him, making her eyes glow red under the darkness. Like a beast cornering her prey, she immediately strides forward at the moment of opportunity. Marls is forced to give his space to the strongest person in the room. But she doesn't call an end to that. The apples and onions tumble down to the floor. Marls scrambles around as he tries to find a place to stand, but he can only find support from his kitchen table.
"Good evening, Marls."
Never has his saliva slid through his throat so easily.
Her head inches closer.
"Enjoying your life?"
She closes the door.
"G-good evening Miss...?"
She snickers.
"Answer me." She grabs Marls by the neck.
"Y-.." chokes "Yes I am..!"
Her eyes turn bloodshot.
"What a life worth fighting for."
She pulls her to the balcony door, kicks it open, and pins his body to the metal fence.
What the heck is with this woman..?!
The predator raises her shoulders while she knacks her neck and spine. An elegant sound of the body of feathers cuts through the air, as the gentle sway sends a breeze to Marls' hair. His eyes sparkle under the moonlight, watching a glimpse of beauty in disbelief.
Her hand lets his neck go, followed by a tight grip on his shoulder. She stretches her wings high, before sending a shockwave to the ground. They immediately disappear.
"GRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!"
The wind current and gravity work together against him. It is a miracle his skin stays intact, for how far he has been dragged from the surface. Faster and his feet will rip apart like two elephants tied to them.
His eye accidentally looks down at the city. The streetlights shine like fireflies, it twinkles sometimes. It is a beautiful sight for a while until Marls notices no towers in sight at his altitude.
"Where are we going, MISS??!!"
The pressure of the wind trying to crack open Marls' head weakens. What was the sound of a rushing raging river is now the gentle but forceful whispers of the sky.
Marls' eyes slowly open wide. His finger is still trying to puncture that stone-cold arm of Leya.
"Enjoying the view?"
She lets her hand go from his shoulder.
"WAAH!"
Marls' hand grips her tighter. His soul clings to the hand that provides him the only source of life, at least for this moment.
"You're such a bastard, Marls."
"The offers you're given, the support. You don't need to sacrifice anything!"
Leya clenches her fist.
"Only a bastard who knows no thanks can throw that."
He snaps.
"All of this, all of this madness is just for me joining the academy?!"
"I'll join!! Just let me down now!"
The window of hell mirrors her eyes. Her fingers go over Marls' fingers one by one, plucking them out.
"W-wh, I'm joining! What are you doing?? What will happen if the academy knows what happens?"
Leya doesn't spit a word. Marls' heart skips a beat the moment his lifeline has been severed. His eye glistens the moment his body feels weightless. He can't determine which is up or down, each light that enters his pupil fades into uniformity. The last thing he recognizes is the hazy neon lights flying over what is left of his five senses. His eyelid closes in as his brain refuses to believe its own body.
The silence that comes with weightlessness enables the sound that has always been there, the voice that has always been shouting behind the brick wall he has built.
"You are capable of doing good. I wish for you to live a life free of regret. Live strong, live happy...
...I love you Marls."
As his brain accepts his demise, so does the brick wall crumbles.
"You are capable of doing good. I wish for you to live a life free of regret."
I die as a failure.
A cold hand touches his neck, gently adding support to his head. Another palm rests near the end of his spine.
I'm sorry, mother...
His spine clacks, jerking his eye open.
What the fu-
"WAAAAARGHHHH!!!"
A silver line divides the sky in two. Its confidence soars towards the hill as if it intends to cut the chunk of stone in half. Zooming into the end of the line reveals a man and an angel.
She stretches her wings slowly, adding more air drag to her velocity. But for a man with just a pair of arms, his hand can only protect his head, while his legs tuck in to prepare for a roll. The clouds of dust explode into a brown mist upon impact. Coming from it is the coughs of a boy.
Marls brushes off the specks of dust from his eyelids. His breathing is rapid and unstable, adrenaline rushes through his veins.
Leya stands in front of him.
"Your answer means nothing!"
She grabs his collar, forcing him to stand up. His eye avoids hers.
"An answer without resolve, the answer of a coward!"
"Look at me!" She growls.
Marls doesn't respond.
"What is it Marls? What is it? why? Why do you have to suppress the good in you?"
"I'm not suppressing anything!" He yells.
"Do you?" She turns her iris blue.
He holds his breath while he clenches his fist.
"You're..!" Marls stops. The image of the blonde woman flashes in his mind.
"Let me give you a life lesson, buddy. Your actions cost you your responsibilities. When the moment comes where you can prove yourself useful yet you're unprepared, don't you dare think the responsibility is elevated from you."
"But that applies to everyone!" He replies.
"You're right, and I do cherry-pick you. Why? Because the opportunity and potential you have are beyond limits. Whatever the academy says, I will not let you go to waste."
Sweat drops down from his cheek. Though his eyes fight against hers, his mouth is shut. Her clenched fists let go of his collar.
"You can handle the old man because you're capable. But you're able to do more. And if you still resist, I'll make sure to come and teach you a fucking lesson every day."
"Koken!" She yells.
A clamoring thunder roars Marls to the ground. His pupil reflects a luminescent eye larger than his head, with a sharp black star dividing the iris into quarters. The trees shake in fear, they omit some of their dead limbs if not their body split in two. Shadow towers over Marls' head, concealing him from the moon's facade. His arm instinctively protects himself from the falling debris.
The tempest urges him to fall, but he stays stable on the ground. The beast's limbs are like pillars of meat hammering the earth's soil, sending earthquakes for a simple action to reach its destination. Sits behind her a head larger than her silhouette with a mouth that boasts its pride, yet the beast dares not to see her as prey. It is a respect developed from fear.
She turns and tilts her head up, maintaining eye contact with her pet. Her hand stretches towards its scales, like a mother caressing her child, she provides the beast calmness, despite a roaring instinct to eradicate an imminent threat behind her. Its pupil which was once star-shaped morphs to a black diamond.
What seems to be a small push to the ground propels her high to the beast's neck, leaving trails of dust behind. Her fingers latch onto its scales to prevent her from falling. She gives Marls one last look.
"Reconsider the offer. You are given the gift to do good. Don't regret it, young man."
She gives the beast a light kick on the neck. With no warning, a torrent of wind comes crashing into the ground, bending the trees to their will. If it's not for his hand covering his ear, he will be deafened by the roar that even shakes the foundation of the earth. The storm refuses to leave. With its negligent attitude, it sends everything unrooted to the sky.
The muscles of his eyelids force shut, a primal instinct that safe-locks one of the most important assets for ease and survival. His hand won't let go of his head until the wind elevates its pressure on him. His heart races, it's another situation where his senses are deprived. An experience similar to darkness, an experience of uncertainty.
Fear.
Marls sits on the ground. His feet bent, heads facing forward to the floor. The breeze of the wind feels deafening when compared to the war cry of the sky. Though his heartbeat calms down, his mind is still rushing from what has happened.
The moon can not handle him, so she hides herself behind the clouds. It's an act not for herself, but to give others a chance to show him an experience.
As he is engulfed in the darkness, the warm light of the city's lantern catches his eye. His mouth is agape in awe, sparkling lights on his eye lift his spirit up.
A second chance, a second chance to be something.
but...
... no.
I will do good. I will not regret.
In his mind painted the picture of the kingdom, colors of warm and cold blend together, forming harmony despite their polar opposites.
He stands up. His fist clenches.
Ah shit...
His limbs shake at the moment he notices.
It's going to be a long way home...