"Feeling disappointed, Leon started to walk back to his home.
...
As the boy had a lot of time, he considered returning home by the market street.
Being absent-minded Leon started to walk, on his way, he nearly bumped into a teacher of his. The teacher was Mr.Larsh, and even though he was not a noble, he had a name suitable for a noble.
The teacher was the same height as Leon but looked mature, and had wrinkles on his face. He had a short beard, it was whitish grey, he had no piercing on his body, also had no ink on his skin. He was nearing his sixties, but his face suggested, he was in his eighties.
His face was all wrinkled like an old crumpled paper.
They politely greeted each other, though Leon's mind was elsewhere.
Noticing Leon's state, Mr.Larsh hesitated, his brow furrowing in concern about the boy.
After a brief moment, Mr.Larsh sighed and said,
"Take care of your body, you are still a child, and you need sleep"
"Your eyes are tired"
With a little pause, Mr.Larsh suggested Leon, with a smirk on his wrinkled face,
"Drink a pint of good ole ale".
Leon with a dry laugh, said, "mm, I will do it".
About seven years ago there was a new law which came to power. It was to stop underage drinking, but it was only in the name and did nothing to help the young ones.
The young nobles need to socialize in balls, etc.
But to uphold their image they need training so that they can be deemed perfect, be it in breathing, talking, or walking, they had classes to drink water, and wine, they had classes to sleep, they had classes to faint...
This not only applied to the nobleborns but to the royals too.
But can they be equal to the lower class? If it was found that an underaged child from the third class, the lower class then it would be a disaster, wait no? Oh!, sorry my bad, they do not care about the children consuming alcohol.
The smirk on, Mr.Larsh's face did not fade, but he walked away with a small bag of groceries tucked under his arms, it looked like he had gone shopping taking his wife's orders.
As Mr.Larsh started to walk, I called him and said with a smile, "But, Teacher, Where are you heading?".
With a laugh, he answered, "I am going to a funeral, want to tag along?".
I shook my head before answering, "No", and continued on my way, while he went home.
...
Market Street
At last, Leon reached the market street.
Leon smelled the foods being prepared in the restaurant, the sound of the bustling market reached his ears - loud voices haggling over prices, shouting and screaming in the distance,...
He smelled the delicious aroma of the boiled potatoes and the sausages, etc from the restaurant, from the nearby bakery he could smell, the delicious sweets, and twisters, along with the coffee.
Market Street gained its name from the endless rows of shops, selling food, clothes, cloth to medicine and poison, weapons and...
The walls and the shops were covered with, new, freshly stuck posters and some old half-torn ones. The walls of the shops were covered with dust and the gates were covered with rust.
Leon spotted a big shop, which was on the corner of the street. The big shop seemed out of place, it was a little too grand for the area, and it was more suitable for the middle-class areas.
The boy had never seen it before, curious he went near the new one.
Through the window, Leon could see that many pendants were hanging on the wall.
On the shelves were jars, some were filled with herbs, some were filled with snakes while some others were filled with 'eyes'...
It was quite a weird shop, Leon, though to himself, the exterior smelled like burnt candles?...
Leon saw a man inside, it seemed like the man was the 'owner'.
The 'owner', has black hair and brown eyes, must be a foreigner.
The man was wearing some unknown wear which I did not know the name of.
...
The man inside the shop spotted Leon, the man stood up from his chair and stretched before walking over to open the door, with a yawn. The man opened the door with his dominant hand, which was left while hiding his mouth with his right hand.
The man, then said with a yawn, "Welcome, have a look around".
After saying it, he went back to his chair and started to read a newspaper.
The newspaper was of Jackson&7son, it was an expensive paper.
Leon thought to himself to return home as he would be in debt if he bought anything from here, as his father had just gone into business so they needed a lot of money.
Seeing the hesitation in the boy, the black-haired man said, "You are the first customer to step inside, as a thank you you can take any one item, for free".
Leon thought this was suspicious, but still accepted the offer.
"Shall I show you around?", asked the man.
"Please do", replied Leon.
The man carefully folded the paper in half and kept it on the table. It was thin and was a little worn out.
He placed it near the candle on the table which was burning with green flame.
The store had only one window, it was tinted black, so there was not much natural light inside, but on the walls, there were many candles, burning. It was a dimly lit store.
The newspaper had seven pages, and the quality of the paper was not so good, but still, it had the best writing and covered the news fast.
The man then from his drawer took out an old key, the key was heavy, entirely of tarnished bronze. At its end was a small skull that had been carved, it looked older than the key.
Leon's spines chilled for a moment, when the man held it in the air, for him to see. The skull's hollow eyes stare through his soul.
"Do you want to see the first floor or the third? The Second or the Fourth?". The man asked, his tone casual.
Leon blinked, trying to understand what he had heard. It was a strange way of asking about the floors. He glanced around the dimly lit shop, the strange jars, and the hanging pendants cast flickering shadows on the wall.
Leon felt as if the shop was alive, the jars, and the pendents had life and breathing.
The smell of the candles was still coming strong.
Leon thought was it a test, but why? he did not have any reason to participate in things like this, but still, he thought of asking.
"I'm sorry..." Leon started, his voice was a little quiet compared to before. "Why did you say it like that? First or Third, Second or Fourth? Is there a hidden meaning behind it? Am I missing something?".
The man's eyes stared at Leon, accessing the boy's body, deciding whether to say more. He rubbed the back of his head and grinned nonchalantly.
"Oh, No nothing like that". He replied, but there still was a little hesitation in his voice. "I thought it would lighten the mood, you know seeing you tensed like that".
There was absolutely nothing light about the place. The dimly lit light, the smell of the burning wax from the candle, the ticking of the clock in the silence from somewhere in the shop, the jars filled with god knows what, the smell of old wood. That damn key, why did it have a skull?.
"Right... Thanks, I guess", muttered Leon, his words were flat, his eyes still attached to the key. He felt his heart beat a little faster. He knew something was wrong but could not run.
"Now", the man said, his voice low, but firm, "Decide quickly. Which floor would you want to see first?".
Leon's mouth felt dry. "Fourth... I guess", he answered unsure.
The man's lips curled into a faint, almost knowing smile. "Good Choice", he said, the words almost whispered, it was like a secret, which only he understood.
Without breaking eye contact, the man held the key between them and said, "'Close your eyes'", he instructed his voice now softer, but still commanding enough.
Leon hesitated, "Close my eyes?", he repeated.
Every instinct in him told him to not trust the man, at least not in this shop, with the eerie objects and unsettling atmosphere.
But it was as if he was in the control of the man, Leon did as the man had ordered, still thinking as if Leon still had control over the body, as if he was the sole decision maker of the body.
His breath quickened as he slowly, cautiously, let his eyelids shut.
The air around him started to change as if the shop was starting to prepare for something. The sound of the ticking clock grew louder and louder.
He could hear the jars opening. He could smell some spice getting mixed with something metallic.
The key? Leon thought.
He could feel the man's presence close. Leon's senses were sharpened in the darkness behind his closed eyelids, for a moment the boy wondered, what would happen if he opened his eyes.
*****
It was a small and quiet room. The bulb above, flickered weakly, casting a dim yellow glow as if it would die at any moment.
A man in a black suit stood in front of two framed black and white photos. His eyes were dry, though his face carried the weight of the sadness. The photos-A happy couple in one, a young woman in the other-Were of his parents and his sister.
The couple didn't remember him much, but the woman, his sister, shared his features.
The man had ash-grey hair, he looked beautiful, he looked well-fed, and his body looked healthy, but his mind was not. His eyes were marked with heterochromia, with a unique pattern surrounding his pupils.
He then went out of the dim room, opened a door, and went inside his room. The room consisted of a simple bed, a desk, a lamp, some posters on the wall, and a wardrobe.
His wardrobe contained black shirts, black pants, black jackets, and black sweaters, everything he owned was black.
All the clothes were plain not a single one contained any logos, he was mostly buying cloth pieces and then giving the measurements to his tailor to make custom clothes to his wishes.
...
The man sat in a rocking chair, he could hear the creaking sound of the wood. The chair was made of Guios wood.
According to the legends, the wood had a unique property, When its bark was burned, the ashes could cure any disease, it could mend broken bodies, and in the brink of death, it could revive the man.
Guios too had a limitation. It could not reverse the inevitable. Death after all was not a disease to be cured but was something else- An endless sleep, from which one could no longer wake.
As the man sat silently on the rocking chair, his mind started to drift, he began to dream of his childhood.
The man was small, he was a child, and he had no memories of anything, he was busy playing with his friends who had no face, who were like pieces of soulless creatures with no life, thinking and acting as if they were humans.
Slowly faces started to form on their faceless faces. It started forming from a smile, to an actual face.
Suddenly everything stopped, now the child was in middle school, the boy had no friends, his classmates had no faces, and the middle school boy was an outcast. Slowly they started to form faces, it started with a mocking smile, to an actual face.
He was getting kicked and made fun of, he had no friends because of his ash-grey hair, and because of his two-coloured eyes.
The man could remember a certain memory, it was of a classmate asking him why he was dying his hair.
In truth he was not dying his hair at all, it was his natural colour, the doctors had said that it was because of some nutrient deficiency.
The boy then said that it was because of nutrient deficiency, to which the classmate replied, "Ahhh, must be nice being an attention seeker, then why do you have two different coloured eyes?".
The boy then replied, "Because of Heterochromia".
The classmate then asked, "Hetero? Hetero-what?"
The boy then said, "Heterochromia is when a person has different coloured eyes or if a person has two colours in the same eye."
...
The man slowly got up from the rocking chair, he then took the newspaper page which was kept on his desk. He then picked it up close and started reading, the page was all about the death of a Journalist called Suzie.
Death of Suzie Mozkot, is it Suicide or Murder?
The man was reading it, and after finishing reading it, he kept it back on the desk.
The man then went out of his house, on the streets were many heavily armored vehicles, and on them were soldiers.
The man ignored them and started walking, on the opposite path were soldiers carrying weapons.
On the collar of his suit was a badge attached, the badge showed that he was a citizen of the newly conquered country, if he did not have the badge then the soldiers would have killed him, as the queen of Syuix had ordered open fire on the citizens of the country Qert.
As of the war, both sides had lost a lot of troops, the troops included kids, who were forced to fight.
Orphanages were set on fire, hospitals were set on fire, and both countries suffered losses because of the war.
...
The man was in a government office, he was looking to file a case, it was against a hospital, the hospital was Suzie Deoret, in recent times the hospital was involved in selling the data of its clients, selling the dead bodies, selling the organs after killing its clients, etc.
His wishes were not fulfilled and he could not file a case, he returned with an empty hand.
...
As he was walking to his home, he got hit by a stone, it was the kids, they were the citizens of Syuix. They hated the people of Qert.
The soldiers who were nearby came to the protection, the kids did not run but instead stood with no fear. The soldiers hit the man, treated him badly, and shouted at him, their reasoning was the man was the one who was bullying the kids.
...
The man finally reached his house, in the mailbox there was a mail with a royal stamp. It read something along the lines that his house was acquired by the government for the better use of its citizens.
He tore the letter and threw it into the fire.
The man then went to his room, took a bath, and changed into a new pair of Shirts and Pants. The man then took care of the pain from the situation.
The man looked miserable.