It’s currently 9:12 in the morning.
After waking up at roughly 8, I had a rather uneventful series of events.
Having frozen my body in time through magic, the need for me to consume sustenance had long become obsolete, only indulging in the activity solely because I had done it my entire life. It always felt like something was missing when I didn’t eat.
After adjusting my boots, cloak, and brooch, I head back towards the office. The morning is chilly, but radiant enough to line the empty halls with gleaming life.
By the time I creak the door open into my base of operations, the first thing that greets me is the unfamiliar silhouette of a girl. It takes me a second to process who is intruding, until I take one good look at her eyes.
A girl with pure white hair like an empty canvas.
Pale and smooth skin perceivable even in the distance, and slender like a model.
She’s holding a book, one that’s been sealed away for years in a dusty glass case.
Her eyes are fixated so diligently that she doesn’t even notice me walking in. Closing the door behind me, I walk over to her, leaning forward and peeking my head toward what she’s reading.
Unlike last night, her hair isn’t long enough to cover the entire building, instead only reaching just below her shoulders. The prism-like color had all but faded, now instead settling into a more clear white.
Instead of a dress fit for royalty, she’s wearing one of the school uniforms that she most likely found lying around somewhere.
Despite the clothes being so old, it fits her perfectly. Both aesthetically and size-wise.
“How interesting,” she says. Her voice is no longer ethereal, and holds the volume that a normal person would. Still soft, but much less threatening.
“Humans truly understand magic manipulation to its fullest. Yet, they couldn’t find a way to co-exist in harmony.”
I chime in, “Maybe if they had a common enemy, they would have banded together.”
“But when there isn’t one, we just end up fighting each other.”
“Yes. Quite the tragedy.”
Walking over to a different bookshelf, I slide out a different washed-out, brown book.
There isn’t a cover image or even text, but I hand it to the foreigner regardless. She looks at me in confusion, putting down what she was reading and tilts her head.
“This is?” she asks.
“It’s my journal.”
“I used to write in it for a long time.”
“How long?” she asks while flipping through the handwritten pages.
“A long time.”
“Since ink and paper have aged, I’ve had to rewrite everything a few times.”
“And why did you hand this to me?”
“Would it not be better for me to read historical books in order to better understand humanity’s thoughts?”
I shake my head. We’re going straight into business. But with only a few days left, there’s no time for either of us to waste.
“Journals and fiction give us a better view into someone’s soul.”
“Historical recollections are just that, records.”
“Sometimes I think every character carries a piece of whoever wrote them.”
“If you manage to understand the characters to their fullest, then eventually, you’ll understand the author’s emotions.”
With a perplexed face, she asks, “I don’t understand. How will analyzing parts of someone’s emotions be better than someone simply telling me how they feel?”
I chuckle. “Um, I guess that’s a good question. I’d say that there’s a difference between understanding, and understanding.”
“Understanding what they’re feeling is easy. If I say I feel sad, I bet you can replicate that in your mind.”
“But understanding their emotions deeply is completely different. The way you are when you’re sad is completely different from mine. So, instead of bombarding you with countless metaphors, writers fill characters with various aspects of themselves, and give you bite-sized pieces of themselves.”
Walking over behind my desk, I open the top drawer to pull out yet another leather book. This one is less faded in texture.
“Here.” I extend my arm. She leaves the journal open on top of the desk, accepting my second gift. Without hesitation, she opens it, only for disappointment to color her face.
“I don’t understand. There is nothing written on here.”
Smiling softly, I reply, “We don’t really have a lot of time together. To be honest, there isn’t a guarantee that I’ll be able to complete my promise.”
“If that does happen, you’ll have to continue this journey on your own.”
“Humanity may be gone, but they’ll still live on through your words.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t know enough about humans to write them properly.”
“Yeah, but you don’t have to.”
“Take fragments of yourself. Things you love, things you hate, things you admire. Put them into different characters, and build them up.”
“Because dealing with conflict and experiencing ups and downs, that’s what makes us human.“
“B-but…” she stammers, “How do I know what I love, or what I hate?”
“These concepts you speak of, they are things I do not understand.”
My hand instinctively touches the top of her head. Despite being a cosmic being, there isn’t anything eerie about physically touching her.
“I’ll help you with that. Don’t worry.”
She looks at me like I’ve made a promise of a lifetime. I guess technically, that assumption would be correct. Being alone for so long made me forget that I once used to be a teacher as well.
“So during our journey, or after, it doesn’t matter. I want you to take your time writing things out.”
“Everything that you feel is worth writing about.”
“Without the existence of literature, humanity would have been wiped quite a long time ago. So for my first mission, er, I guess first guidance…? My first step to helping you find your name is this short lesson.”
“I hope it helps.”
My lips curl into a smile. I don’t know what kind of face I’m making from her perspective, but it feels particularly warm to be able to speak my mind to someone again. I then realize that I’ve also puffed out my chest slightly in pride.
For a good minute, she stares down at the empty notebook like it was the world’s most valuable treasure. It’s funny, since most of my students often tossed their journals aside for simply “living life” with their own eyes.
I can see why people would see it as a waste of time. Who knows, maybe my little foreigner will too. But I guess time will tell.
“Alllrighty then!” I stretch my arms out, breaking the melancholic silence between the two of us. She snaps her head up at the sudden shift in tone, startled by my words.
“Wanna get going?”
She nods slowly, still clutching the empty notebook.
“I do apologize for intruding into your office,” she says with a quieter voice. The face she’s making reminds me of when a kid is caught doing something they’re not supposed to.
“Hm? Oh I don’t really care about that.”
“All this was going to be useless scrap in a few days anyways, so I’m glad you’ve taken an interest in it.”
“Though, I guess it sucks that I won’t know your favorite fiction genres.”
“What is your favorite?” she asks innocently.
“Romance? I think… I dunno, I was never a fan of anything else. But man, romance can be real tearjerkers.”
I wrap around the desk and walk towards the door.
My magical gears start kicking in, as I prepare myself to cast a gateway spell to go somewhere far away from this place. The city of Kala is nice and all, but there’s no way I’ll be able to show her the world with just books and imagination.
“Have you… faced romance?”
Her question stops me dead in my tracks.
“If fiction is a culmination of fragmented events based on reality, does that mean you have also experienced a similar occurrence?”
I let out a light chuckle, but when I look over my shoulder it’s clear that my fake smile isn’t fooling her in the slightest. Whether or not she’s incredibly perceptive, or is just in a constant state of wonder, I don’t know.
Regardless, I deflate my forced smile, and turn back around.
“Let’s go.”
Raising my right arm, a magical circle appears at the palm of my hand. Before we know it, a tear in reality manifests itself before our very eyes. If one had to describe it, it would be like someone ripped a piece of a page, only to reveal an image behind it.
The foreigner’s mouth is wide open in awe.
“It won’t hurt you, it’ll just feel like you’ve gotten smacked in the head.”
“...”
“Huh?!” she makes a panicked face while taking a step back.
“Huh?” I react back. Why’d she yelp like that?
“A-Apologies. I must have misheard you. Surely you didn’t mean to say that traversing through that tear would feel like I have gotten smacked in the head?”
“I said that. Is there a problem?”
Swallowing hard, she takes another step back.
“No, no. I believe we can find another way to travel,” her voice cracks every other word. “Flight! Surely as the greatest mage you possess the ability to fly!”
“I do. But that’s much more annoying.”
“Wait… Don’t tell me you’re scared now.” Unwillingly, I find myself smirking at the thought of teasing the literal moon.
Frantically flailing her arms around, she replies, “I may be a projection at the moment, but I can still feel human pain! I would most definitely like to avoid any form of harm!”
I take a step forward. She takes one back. My hands are raised into a claw, eager to snatch away at my prey.
“Please, please. Don’t worry, oh great foreigner.”
“I’ll be gentle with you.”
“Unless you want to try to stop me. But if you manage to kill me in any way, then who’ll help you complete your goals?”
“Let’s be real nice and play along…”
After a bit of a chase, her back finally hits the wall behind her, leaving her with no choice of escape. Trembling, she’s forced to watch as I slowly walk over to her, ready to toss her into the unknown.
All the grace and elegance she once held had completely vanished.
Clutching her wrist with my hands, I drag her towards the magical portal. She resists as hard as she can, pulling away with all her might. Unfortunately for her, I reinforced my grip with magic.
“W-Wait! P-P-Please!”
“I do not wish to be smacked in the head! I-I know! If you shoot a beam up into the sky, I’ll be able to find your precise location and shoot another projection there!”
I hear her, but I don’t hear her.
“Heh.” Being so immersed, I accidentally let a chuckle slip.
“No! You laughed just now did you not?!”
“I should have not chosen someone so villainous to be my guide!”
Pulling her body in front of me, she’s now directly facing the portal. One more step and she’ll be tossed in. Resisting till her last breath, she has her feet planted firmly onto the ground.
“Let’s go Miss Foreigner…” I whisper into her ear with a mischievous grin.
“If you were REALLY against the idea, then you would have stopped me a looong time ago.”
“Deep down, you know this is the only way.”
She’s clattering her teeth. It reminds me of when I used to be afraid of heights. I used to hate it when he would tease me, but if I knew it would feel this great, I would have started doing it ages ago too.
“L-Let me say something first!”
She turns around in a flash, a sweat drop dripping down her forehead. That’s really funny. Her body really does behave like a real human.
“Okay, let’s hear it.”
“I-I just wanted to say…”
“Your hair is so lovely. I also wanted to ask, where did you get your brooch from? It is absolutely, positively adorable! A-And…”
“You’re not fooling me,” I reply.
“Huh?!”
“I know this stalling strategy. I used to be a real master at it after all.”
“So, let’s just get this over with, shall we?”
“WAI—” she squeals a final time as I shove her into the portal. In a matter of milliseconds, her beautiful pale body seemingly vanishes without a trace into the Manastream. With a satisfied smile, I hop in as well as the portal behind me closes.
If I had to describe this experience, it would be like we’re swimming through an ocean current. Our primary senses are overloaded with constant noise, and the magical energy within our bodies starts going haywire due to the imbalance.
Vision is no different, as we’re looking through a spiral of magical energy with seemingly no end in sight. That’s just an optical illusion thing though, since someone has to reach an end at some point.
At first, it used to scare me to death having to travel this way, which is probably why I teased my foreigner so much. After a while though, my body naturally adapted to the harsh conditions.
Like someone flicking the lights on in a pitch black room, my vision stabilizes and I find myself on top of a mountain. The soil beneath my feet is crushed as I take a step forward, and the gentle sway of the trees under the howling wind fills my ears with serenity.
All that peace is interrupted by the cries of a certain foreigner behind me.
When I turn around, I find her on the ground, with both her hands on her head, with one of them still gripping on to the notebook for dear life.
“You okay?”
She’s still clattering her teeth.
“I-I-I-I-I-I…”
Then, like a spring, she shoots herself upward and walks towards me in a hurry.
“That was utterly unacceptable! How could you treat a guest in this manner! I hope all of humanity wasn’t as rude as you were being just now!”
“No way, you were that scared of that? Be honest with me, it didn’t even hurt that much right?”
She shuffles away, placing both her fisted hands onto her chest.
“It didn’t…” she mumbles.
“See? Then we’re all good.”
“Does that mean we’ve travelled across the world?” she asks, raising her gaze at me.
“What? No? We’re in Atrila. That’s like a day trip away from where we were at the academy.”
“In that case, we could have absolutely flown!” she calls out, her elegant composure and tone slowly returning.
“Like I said, it’s a pain in the ass. I’m too lazy for that.”
After a long sigh, she fixes her posture, wiping away all the dust on her clothes. Picking up the notebook on the ground, she walks over to my side.
“I hope you’re not expecting that to be the last time. Because it absolutely won’t be.”
“Yes. I understand,” she replies while closing her eyes. Is she trying to hide her fears behind a mask now? Because if so, it’s not working. I can still see her trembling.
“So? Why did you bring me here?” Her eyes are fixated on the distance, far away from where we’re standing. I turn my head to where she’s facing, and we both absorb the atmosphere of a city that was once brimming with life and joy.
“We’re in the capital of a nation called Fridan. This is the city of Atrila.”
As the moon projection watches in awe at the ruined city. Living so high up, she probably never had the chance of seeing the beauty of a location that once called itself the “birthplace of freedom.”
A few minutes pass.
I take the initiative, taking a step forward. And then another, until I slowly start making my way down the mountain. Thankfully, since this once used to be a famous tourist spot, there’s a nicely carved path for us to walk down on.
Despite it being many years since any human had last been here, the man-made terraforming still remained. A second pair of feet rustle the grass behind me, which I can only assume is the foreigner trailing behind me.
I don’t say anything, and neither does she. We both walk down in silence. For some reason though, my legs feel a bit heavier than usual. My heart feels a bit uneasy, like someone’s pounding at it.
Taking a few deep breaths, the pain subsides.
Out of curiosity, I turn my head slightly to see what my partner’s looking at. To little surprise, her gaze is still fixated on the distant city, practically brimming with joy in her own little elegant way. It’s not the same smile I saw last night, but it’s very close.
I, on the other hand, look down as if I need to be careful with my steps. It’s a useless instinct, since I’ll be able to easily recover if I fall. But I guess it’s just human nature to watch where we’re going.
But also, I’ve seen the city so many times. I don’t need to look at it again. So instead, I listen to the sounds of nature surrounding me.
The rustling of leaves. Chirping of birds. Soil crunching under the pressure of my boot.
All sounds that I’ve taken for granted all my life, only recently appreciating them for what they are thanks to my short time left. There’s something relieving about isolating everyday white noise and placing them into the focus of my mind.
I’m not sure if she’s doing the same, but I hope she is.
After roughly thirty minutes of walking, we make it up to the main gates of the city. A place that was once impossible to get into due to the endless amount of carriages is now relegated to a ghost town.
Passing through the oversized arch, we make our way into the city.
As we do, I hear the projection behind me mumble, “I had not expected the city to look like this.”
“Right? Looking at this place now, it really seems like it was frozen in time compared to everywhere else.”
“Don’t get me wrong, the other nations weren’t extremely technologically advanced, but in eight thousand years, you’d expect civilization to be brimming with technology.”
I slow my pace, walking beside her.
“Did the civilization here not possess the capabilities of harnessing such technology?” she asks, darting her head left and right at the stone and wood buildings.
“Oh, they did. But you’ll notice as we go, that people really cared about buildings and historical landmarks, I guess.”
“Around a thousand years ago, people used all kinds of technology, like the ones that fit on the palm of your hand and being able to talk to people across the world.”
“For quite a long time, the world belonged to electricity, but the buildings still stayed the same.”
“I do wonder why,” she says quietly, stopping to inspect an abandoned toy store. I stop as well and stand by her side, like a chaperone taking a child on a field trip.
After a second, she stands up straight. “Do humans have a tendency to stick closely with their traditions?”
“Would having a far better structured city be better for society as a whole? What is the purpose of letting everything around you evolve, while keeping the overall aesthetic of the city frozen in time?”
Her question is curious, but I can sense a tinge of judgment within her tone.
“I mean, I can’t really speak for everyone…”
“But I do feel like having a nation someplace else that was so technologically advanced kinda helped everyone realize that they wanted to maintain their identity.”
“I see,” she goes on. “However, I do believe that if civilization had adapted with their evolving technology, perhaps they would have survived longer.”
“How so?” I ask, raising a brow.
“By maintaining attachment to tradition, one could claim that they’ve stunted their growth. If they were allowed to evolve, their lifestyles would have benefitted greatly due to the increased amount of conveniences.”
“I may be foreign to this world, but I can’t help but wonder if the fall of humanity was through their own hands.”
“I think you’re wrong,” I shoot back. “If you turn away your identity for the sake of convenience, it means you’re just shortening your lifespan. Happiness motivates people, and what made the people of this city happy, was being able to live in the same homes that their great-grandparents once used to own.”
“I think since you’ve only observed the world from above, it’s a bit harder for you to comprehend people’s desires of wanting to keep things unchanged.”
“Perhaps that is true,” she replies while placing her hand on her chin, “but that does not change the fact that humanity was foolish enough to stay frozen in time. Surely a few changes would have been appropriate.”
“Yeah, maybe. But it’s not for us to judge.”
“It’s what they chose.”
With a nod of agreement, we continue our walk towards the city square, which is not too far away from where we’re standing. Even in the distance, the fountain that once used to be a popular resting spot still stands out like a sore thumb.
While we make our way closer to the square, the foreigner admires something on my right arm. Her gaze has been unrelenting ever since we entered the city, and even though she’s been asking me about the city, I can tell where her true curiosity lies.
“Are you curious about this?” I ask, pulling my cloak further back to reveal scars of stitches.
“Indeed. What happened to your arm?”
“I got it in a fight. This person named Quintella tried to get one of her goons to kill me at some point.”
Her hands naturally draw to touch them, but I pull down my cloak just in time to stop her. Without a single protest, we continue our walk towards our destination.
The moment we enter the vast open space, her eyes are fixated on the megastructure in front of her. The castle that once served as home to the royals of this beautiful nation.
The front gate is busted open, as are its metallic iron doors that once protected the people within.
Naturally drawn to its structure, the foreigner makes her way inside. Dodging the rubble around us, we enter the desolate and dark castle. The cold wind residing within sends a chill down my spine.
It doesn’t take us long until we reach the throne room. All the royal banners and carpets are torn apart. The glass windows are shattered, and the only thing that’s still holding its structure is the stone throne in the middle of the room.
“Viera Mare,” I say under my breath, which in this open space sends out an echo.
“Sorry?” she turns around, as if I called her.
“Oh, that’s the name of the Queen I used to know.”
“Ah wait, I guess I technically knew many Queens that lived here.”
“But that’s the name of the Queen who was present when I was still young.”
“You wouldn’t believe how stingy that woman was though. You think of royalty and imagine a bunch of gold and luxury, but she was infamous due to her stinginess for money.”
“Funny enough, she barely paid the Sword Saint a higher wage than most knights. She used to complain about it all the time.”
“Perhaps this Queen you speak of was simply poor.” she replies with sincerity.
“...”
“You can be quite stupid sometimes, huh? How can someone live in a big castle like this and be poor? I feel like that’s just basic common sense. “
“...”
Her expression sours. Snapping her head at me, she glares piercing daggers at me.
Shoot. I shouldn’t have said that.
“Rude.”
She turns and starts walking towards the destroyed doors on the east.
After following closely behind her, we’re both met with a beautiful sight that I have not expected to last the test of time.
A beautiful castle hallway. On the left are destroyed windows, and a large hole that’s clearly man-made. Along the walls are intricate patterns, and the once expensive carpet that used to be laid out from one end of the hall to the other lies in a pile of rubble.
The doors on our right are also broken down, giving glimpses of the kind of rooms this castle once used to house. One peek is all it takes for the foreigner to gasp in surprise, as the interior of the rooms look nothing like the rest of the castle’s aesthetic.
“She’s stingy, right?” I ask, peeking my head beside her.
“Certainly,” she says with her eyes wide open, “This looks more akin to the homes we found in the rest of the city.”
The rooms are almost entirely devoid of any kind of furniture besides the absolute necessities. Even the walls aren’t decorated, instead only having plain white paint as if development halted at the hall.
While we’re distracted with the rooms, a flock of birds flapping their feathery wings snaps us away from our momentary trance. We both take that queue as a sign, and walk towards the open hole on the left. Stopping just on the edge, we both gaze upon what once used to be the castle courtyard.
On the horizon is a long patch of trees and grass, before being abruptly stopped by the blue sea. The shine of the glimmering ocean sparkles with such beauty that even I’m entranced by it.
From the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of the foreigner’s expression, who seems less than pleased.
“I thought you’d like this view,” I say while tilting my head slightly.
She doesn’t even look at me before responding, “The ocean is all I see in the skies. Even if I am viewing it from the perspective of a human, it’s a sight I have grown all too weary of.”
“Aw. Sorry.”
She shakes her head as if to reassure me, but doesn’t say anything else.
Even so, there’s now an awkward silence between us. No matter how hard I try to come up with new conversation topics, we end up just staring at the ocean in the distance.
Then, as I turn back around, something catches my eye…
“Wait… No way!”
I excitedly rush into the destroyed room, swinging the broken wardrobe inside wide open. Grabbing the piece of cloth from within, I bring it out to the foreigner, who is still staring out in the distance.
“Look!” She looks at me curiously, then naturally lowers her gaze at what I’m holding.
“What is this?” she asks, while touching the fabric of the coat I brought out. While there’s dust, dirt, and tears all over the clothing, it’s still intact enough to the point where I’d be able to repair it.
“Remember that Sword Saint I was talking about?”
“I do.”
“This used to belong to her! I can’t believe it survived after all this time.”
“Is this a grand achievement?” she asks while rubbing her fingers on the sleeves.
“Of course it is! She was alive like, eight thousand years ago.”
“It’s probably still here thanks to the magic she used to possess. It was like, ‘Gift of Wind’ or something.”
“I don’t fully remember, but there’s no way a piece of clothing would usually last this long. Actually, I’m even more surprised that nobody threw it out after all this time.”
“Perhaps it was forgotten. After all, this particular room does stand out amongst the rest of the palace.”
“Maybe. I’m glad I found it though.”
She turns her gaze to me, and grins softly.
“You seem quite fond of this ‘Sword Saint.’”
“Perhaps you and her had some history together?”
I nod. “Yeah. I definitely did.”
“Just before I set out on my adventure to save the boy I loved, she gave me some valuable advice that I took for the rest of my journey.”
“Okay, to be honest, I didn’t listen to her at the start. But as time went on, I came to appreciate her words.”
“And those words were…?”
My smile goes away immediately as I recall how foolish I used to be as a young adult. My body turns towards the distant sea as if it would give me the answer to her question. The silence returns, but this time it isn’t awkward.
I’m reminiscing on the past, and my guest is waiting patiently for what I have to say. Hanging my head slightly, I reply.
“Live for yourself first and others second.”
“Otherwise, you’ll end up living for nobody.”
“I was so focused on saving the person I loved that I ignored her, and risked my life in various stupid ways.”
“Do you feel like you’ve followed her advice until now?” she asks.
“One could say that by helping me in my goals, you are living for me first, and yourself second.”
“Yeah,” I sigh, “maybe.”
“Perhaps you didn’t listen to her after all.”
I don’t know if she meant to deliver it in the way she did.
Regardless…
Her words sting my heart.