Lola Asina—Year 2018 AS
Rebekah tittered and jigged in the city's heavy rain. People came by and went; they mostly stared at the little girl who was dancing willy-nilly in the middle of the road.
There were hundreds of protesters and followers of the Red Lotus Rebellion marching in the west of the city. The west… The place where Bloodbound City was located before His Grace, King Orinn, conquered it. And here I am, standing in the rain and watching a little girl I met yesterday dance.
"L-Lola! C-Come, let's d-dance together, hehe."
Even the words that left Rebakah's mouth were tingling with excitement. Slipping inside a world of wars and Death, an overloaded world. Wobbling beneath the rain of a storm that ceases to end.
Rebekah was like a little amber lightning traveling through the clouds to strike down on the trees. The touch of rain was a wondrous element of nature, giving the body the relaxation it deserves, the mind its comfort, and the soul its gleam. "A drag," I thought, "Rebekah is happy all the same." But her steps were a bit faltering; she thought only about the moment, not about what step to take next. And if this continues, then she will trip and fall onto the hard floor, and probably break her nose
Emerging from my cover, which was merely a graylord tree, I slipped next to the little girl, copying her movements and improving them as such. Rain falling between us, as closing the distance between the girl and the fool has.
"Haha! L-Look, my hair is wet! L-Lola!"
I grinned at Rebekah's soft-child purity. Walking backward at her with steps that felt like gliding through the world.
"Y-You'll get sick, Rebekah. D-Don't stay in the rain t-too long."
The little girl giggled. Exchanging a look, we both started to laugh. Rebekah's legs teetered. "L-Lola," she murmured, her hands trying to steady herself while the legs and feet were all dancing. I could even see our sneers and words pinning themselves on the sky, each giving a color to the overarching world. Rebekah leaped around the stone floor; the short buildings of clay bricks and gray wood covered our playground. Stormfolk lived here, in the towns, streets, palaces, and luxurious mansions. Some ate in street-by stands, some in taverns, and some in expensive butcher's shops. Some drank in large pubs, some in alehouses, and some simply bought and drank them at their homes. They were people who worked hard to look after their fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, sons and daughters. But beginning today, the rebellion against the Dream King enlarges. Red Lotus Rebellion, formed in the west of the city, is always getting bigger by the day. I personally don't dislike His Grace, King Orinn, but many do. It is a sad fact to see. I am glad I was born in the final years of the century-long war.
"L-Lola! C-Catch me!" Rebekah warned, jumping into my arms.
It was no easy task to catch an eager girl for love and laughs. I picked Rebekah up in my arms; her small hands quickly wrapped around my shoulders, securing herself to me so she wouldn't lose her grip and fall.
"Y-You're going to make both of us slip, Rebekah."
"N-No! W-We're completely secure and steady."
I gave her a distasteful look, but couldn't help but grin all the same.
"M-More so w-we would not fall face-first to the ground, kiddo."
Rebekah flushed pink, then she opened her mouth, showing me her teeth, and suddenly, the bastard bit down on my neck.
"AW!" I yelped, almost throwing the child off me. "O-O-On Tarrn bloody horns, w-why?!"
Rebekah grinned maliciously,
"T-T-To shove you. D-Did it w-work?
Scowling, I put down the child and rubbed the side of my neck; the roughness of her teeth remained all the same.
"Idiot," I mumbled to myself, then out loud I said: "N-Now c-come on, enough playing, I-I should give you back to your f-f-family."
Rebekah's face fell almost immediately.
"B-B-B-But… I-I thought you would t-take me by your side."
I knelt to her level and patted the child on the head.
"B-Be angry at them o-or not, they are still your f-f-family."
Rebekah furrowed her eyebrows and repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists.
"N-NO!" she yelled. "I-I do not l-like them!"
Sighing as my mother used to, I brushed the wet hair from her face.
"T-They are your f-f-family."
"S-So?!"
I lowered my gaze; her simple words cut more than a knife could ever slash my wrists.
"T-Then, w-where w-would you go? S-Speak to me."
Rebekah beamed abruptly, her hands stapled in front of her panting chest.
"I-I want to go to the west. I want to see the rebellion," she declared loudly, her eyes shining with curiosity and courage.
My face tightened almost instantly. I was here acting like this kid's mother, and all she wanted was to see a rebellion that gets people hurt. King Orinn charged the Marshals of Blood and Fear to cease control of the area; those poor civilians were not even the real contributors to the rebellion. The true masterminds hid behind high orders, waiting for the exact moment to strike, and they did so by showing what the Dream King would do to end this chaos. The Red Lotus Rebellion is trying to change the regime not just of the Storm City but of the entire realm. I do not side with any hand, but this is purely out of control soon enough. Fire, keeping the sanctity of all those people here, a rebellion on the cause of false kinghood, of an entire continent inhabited by war and Death. A world guided by Death. A world festering with Death itself.
I swallowed the urge to tell Rebekah why we shouldn't go west and instead gave her a simple nod. Acting like a fool again and again and again. I never learn, do I?
Walking west was hell for both of us; it took up our entire dusk. But as soon as we arrived there, the buildings shifted. The change was visible to the naked eye. They were of black bricks and red designs, short and balanced. The streets overflowed with baggers and elderly people. I could hear shouts from farther west, near the borders of Bloodbound and Bilda. Hundreds of people gathered to march against the Dream King. I took Rebekah by her hand and brought her to a Church of Tarn. This one was smaller compared to the others. It was built of gray marble, with drawings of the Pillar of Death hanging outside. There were even blood and red bat designs, unique to the churches inside Bloodbound.
"W-Why are we h-here?" Rebekah asked, her hand gripping my own tightly. "I-I h-hate religious places."
I bit my lip, looking down at her.
"C-Come with me," I said, "I-I would like to show you something."
Reluctant and annoyed, Rebekah agreed with me. As we stepped inside the church, we were welcomed by a single priest. He had no hair on the crown of his head; the rest was all grayed with age. The priest stood before a statue of Pillar Tarn. The sculpture had wide-open arms and stared down at us; it was a dull gold, depicting the figure of Tarn from the portrait in the Altum Vafer Prison beneath the deepest part of the Chimera Ocean. I had been there once, and that was right after the fire took my family.
The priest turned gently, wearing the long black cassock of the priest of Tarn. He had a very wrinkled face and yellow teeth, which made him much less appealing to the eyes of men or women. I still do not understand why there need to be priests and nuns for Pillar Tarn. We already know everything, I believe so.
"Ah, welcome, faithful folk. It is nice to have people coming here; there are not many youth left who believe churches are important." He lowered his head disappointedly. "What brings you, fellows, to our creed church?"
Rebekah instinctively held my hand tighter. I gave her a squeeze before returning my attention to the priest. There seemed to be no other priest aside from this one; it must be because of the new law King Orinn put into effect: Only one priest in each church.
"W-We… I-I just wanted to show her s-something before joining the march of the r-rebellion."
He narrowed his eyes angrily.
"Rebellion, thou say. How disappointed I am. Those blasphemers are causing havoc all around the city."
I pushed past the priest without letting his ideas get to Rebekah. I picked the girl up in my arms and showed her the statue of the Primordial Carnage. Rebekah squirmed in my arms, her fingers gripping my wrists.
"L-Let me go!" she barked. "L-Lola!"
I leaned into her ear, telling the little bird to hush.
"L-L-Look, Rebekah, this is the Pillar of Death, t-the one who guided us millennia a-ago."
"A-And so what? I-I k-know who he is."
I smiled at her. She reminded me of the times when I despised Pillar Tarn. Deathdamn, I am getting older every year. Aetheric particles circled us, channeling themselves towards the statue of Death.
"D-Death is our guide. D-D-Dream Realm is built on D-Death. S-So t-tell me, does the story of the fire still give you joy?"
Rebekah pouted and swirled her legs until I let her free. Dropping onto the cold floor of the church, she crossed her arms, her eyes refusing to stare anywhere but the ground.
"A-Are you t-t-trying to sympathize with m-me? I-I will not g-go back to my f-family."
I exhaled deeply, my hand gently stroking her silk hair.
"P-Please, Rebekah, you will never forgive yourself if you don't." My other hand gripped the outfit bag tighter. "I-I will be with you. I am sure your family is going to be glad when they have you back."
She teared up, taking the hand on her head with both her small hands.
"W-W-Why can't I just be with you instead?"
My smile shifted to a sad one; the wound in her is shattering. She did not hate her family; she only wanted to believe she did.
"I-I am… I-I cannot be a guardian figure for you. I-I could barely look after myself. I-I cannot t-take care of you."
Rebekah jawed her eyes; she was dormant for only a moment. For a bare minute she thinked about the fool and the fire and the girl. Then, in the aftermath of her sole thought, she spoke in an admirable tone, her voice told in a sparrow:
"I-It's not the world you should forgive, Lola. It is you."
I could feel the tears forming behind my eyes as they stared down at Rebekah's own. I cry plenty of times, damn the Death.
"I-I, Rebekah, w-what? I-I should have t-told y-you I-I do not—"
She suddenly smirked,
"Hmm, y-you look like a fool, mmm."
"I-I… Rebekah, I-I should never h-have t-told you—"
Renekah dashed to hug me, her height only able to reach my chest. Her hands wrapped around my body. I stood at a maelstrom before finally giving in and hugging the little girl back.
"Divinity," I thought, "the spell which lets your luck be at its peak. Let's you perform what looks like miracles and incredibles."
Rebekah squeezed my body, then pulled away,
"N-Now c-can we please go and see the r-rebellion?"
I nodded in a haze of confusion. I could feel the aether taunting the fool who was named Lola. My aether and the world's aether. One and the same with a millionth more. At the Land Where the Brave Step, our signatures are carved on each step, beckoning to the long purple. When one reaches the Beckoning stage, their step is engraved there as a sign showing they managed to triumph over and become a Beckoner. And when I close my eyes, I sometimes find myself there, observing each different step of each different Awakened. And I think, "If I master Divinity, could I reach Infusion? Could I be something more than a fool? I don't want to choose. I am enough, right? Is who I am enough? What reason do I have to learn such a spell of aether?"
The priest cursed at us as we left the filthy church. Rebekah was the one who led us this time. With every step we took, the shouts and roars of those who rebelled against the Dream King came ringing louder in our ears. Aether flowed through us, showing its work to us, the beautiful chaos it brought upon the world.
There were maybe a thousand stormfolk here; they all bellowed the name of freedom and cursed the name of the tyrant. But the more I stared, the more threats I saw among them. I frantically looked around for a way to explain to Rebekah why this would simply result in more suffering. And soon, my eyes landed on a lone figure watching the chaos unfold atop a building. It was Lord Oscytel, watching the people distantly, his beautiful hoar hair reeling in the rain and wind. He was not amused, nor did he dislike the idea of a rebellion. He was simply standing there like an omen of Death.
Marshal Rika and Marshal Dina tried to stop the people from their senseless march. I could see the fire within them, among all those around me. Aether danced and laughed around them. It liked watching, didn't it? Aether is such a beautiful phenomenon, yet so cursed.
"L-Lola, look!" Rebekah shouted, pointing her finger at a couple of Awakened who tried to fight off the two Marshals.
I held Rebekah close, could not dare to lose her amid the ramparts of chaos.
"R-R-Rebekah, y-you wanted, c-come on now, let's go," I begged her, and she didn't listen.
Aether gave flames to my soul. I am scared. So many people and none even caring a bit about what they are causing. I can't look any longer, so I can only avert my eyes, staring hopelessly at the horizon where stood Magna Tempestas. And maybe aether did want me to. They followed where my eyes hoofed away, which thoughts I dreamt they chortled, the stark white particles never give their blessings freely. Aether is greedy, like the ones it gives its power to.
"H-H-Hey, Lola, look at me," Rebekah said suddenly, looking up at the fool herself. "W-When I grow up m-more, please t-teach me more about aether. I-I promise to be a good s-student."
I creased her cheek. At the whim of people, the world had gone silent. I did not like being here. I only wanted to travel to my precious world. And I want to continue being the Fool of Aurum Dominus. What more could one dream than to see the beauty the world has gifted to you?
"A-And I-I p-promise to be a good teacher. B-But only if you m-meet with your parents." I finalized.
Rebekah groaned for a mere second before her face lit up again.
"I-I-I promise on t-t-that."
Sneering wildly, I ruffled her hair. She tried to push me off, but couldn't, not here.
The intense attacks on the marshals increased. It indeed was a wild curiosity. The Gloam said I would be the way of the Masterpiece. Maybe he meant Grey Nirmala, but why? Would he learn from me? What can I even teach to an outsider? Am I—
"R-Rebekah!" I yelled as the little girl pulled me away from the crowd.
"C-Can w-we eat now? P-Please."
I instantly let out a breath in relief.
"I-I… O-O-Of course. W-W-What w-would you like to have?" I asked it so casually, like I had not stood near a rebellion.
Rebekah placed a finger on the bottom of her chin.
"Meat and dairy," she finally said.
I nodded, not wanting to give it much thought, knowing how expensive it would be. But our brief hunger was cut off by a man thrown towards us. He shouted his lungs out until I caught him. He was no older than fifteen. Looking at the direction he was thrown, Marshal Dina glared at us in frustration.
"T-Thank you, milady," the boy said before running back to the crowd.
But Marshal Dina did not take her eyes off me, and soon Marshal Rika joined her.
"This is a pain in the ass," I muttered before leading Rebekah away from the mess.
The marshals were kind enough to the fool for staying out of her way. And now, I would simply feed Rebekah and then reunite her with her family. And then what? What will Lola do after? Will she be the fool again inside this mess? Seeing Rebekah smile made me happy. Making the people around me happy made me happy. Isn't that what the fool is supposed to do? To be the fire in the corner of darkness. And Lola to protect.
"L-Lola! T-There is a tavern there, see?"
I squeezed Rebekah's shoulder.
"I-If you a-are so h-hungry, then come."
Rebekah bounced cheerfully as she ran to the small tavern. People ran in the opposite direction from her. They were in a rush to the rebellion. The people were all a mess in Bloodbound.
"I need to secure my bag," I reminded myself.
Rebekah turned around and raised her hand high in the air. I gave her a thumbs up before walking to the tavern. My hair swayed in the wind as aether floated with it. Aether. I told Rebekah not to be sorry for her brother's rudeness, but I shouldn't have. Lord Oscytel is wrong. Some stories are written for us. Some stories we help write. And some stories we can still change. Aether speaks among us, telling its own story through our lives; chanting its song and offering us the chance to change our worlds. A fool or a girl—one dances in the flame; one dances with the flame. Both burned by the same fire that once gnawed upon the world, and then twice. But I choose to be something beyond either of them. I will no longer stand as a mere witness to the world unfolding before me. I choose to be unyielding. I choose to be unafraid. Today and all the days to come. Shall Divinity be, then so will I be. Open your eyes, little girl, and arise from the ashes.