Chapter 1
A Name
(The boy)
The sky is clearing up and the birds are chirping cheerfully, it puts me at peace as it’s one of the only things I like here on the streets but…‘that may change from here on’ is the feeling I get as I walk by the side of this girl…I don’t know what will happen…wait…eh…where ARE we going?? Something came over me that I just said yes back there before thinking, what if she lied…? S-she did have a knife in her hand earlier…but…she dropped it and we walked away from that place…could it be she didn’t kill me over there because…someone might have witnessed it?!
“What’s wrong?”
!!
“N-nothing…”
I reply to her and we continue walking. I am looking straight ahead, but can feel her gaze on me…would anyone discover if I went missing…? Probably not because I don’t stand out at all…there’s nobody I talked with nor do I have any remarkable features like this girl. I slowly tilt my head in her direction…the colour of her hair makes me think…is it red because it soaked the blood of her victims…? Should I run awa–
“Are you tired?”
! Tired…? I am quite tired…but the voice won’t come from my mouth so I just nod.
…
She’s sitting on her feet now…
“Sit on my back”
Eh…?
“What? N-no”
I replied…she’s looking at me with a weird face…I don’t know how to describe it…it looks as if she’s smiling, yet something feels off…an evil smile?
“What…face is that…”
“Oh? This is what you call a ‘smug’ look” She replied and continued staring at me…with that…face.
“And why…are you looking at me that way…?”
“That’s because you are all red heh, embarrassed huh?”
E-eh?! What…I cover my face with both my hands.
“I don’t want to sit on you!”
“Just get on already!” She’s got a scary look now…should I just run away…? Though thinking about it…what difference would it really make even if I do flee…? I’ll probably die because of nothing to eat…but, right now…this may be the only chance I ever get to change such a life and…her eyes…they seem a little different, making her feel like an actual person now…I close my eyes and sit on her back while peeking through just a little, this feels really odd…
“Hold on tight” She said…I can’t feel my legs touching the ground anymore, being carried like this really i–wait…I can’t see the houses eithe–eh…? EH?!?! W–WE ARE IN THE AIR?!
“W–w–what are you doing!!”
I shouted and held onto the girl tightly.
“I am flying, you are choking me! Loosen up a bit!”
“F–flying…?”
I can see as much but…is that really such a normal thing to do…?
“Don’t worry, you’ll learn soon enough too!” She said and continued flying within a direction… I can fly too? Is it something that easy…? This is the first time I’ve seen this…and though I am seeing it with my own eyes, it feels unreal…(I loosen up a little), does she not feel pain…? She had injuries and was even bleeding…wait…she’s not bleeding anymore, I don’t even see the wounds from befor…no…they are still there, but appear closed up by some lines in those places now…
“Weren’t you bleeding…? What happened to your injuries?”
“Oh I sealed them with my energy for the time being”
…What? First flying and now…magic…? Is she some sort of witch…? Should I have just run away after all…
…
Some minutes have passed since we started…flying…well, it really hasn’t been that long, but the silence feels weird…
“Hey”
“Y–yes!”
I replied.
“Do you wish to become stronger?” She asked, turning her face slightly towards me while still flying.
…I don’t really know what to say…become stronger…oh!
“Will I be able to fly if I do so?”
“Yeah, that’ll be a part of it”
If that’s the case then…
“Then…I guess…I do wish to become stronger”
She didn’t say anything and just turned to look ahead again.
Place - North District
Time - 6:38 pm
“Here we are!” She announced, letting me down in front of the gate of a big blue house. All the ones that I’ve seen are smaller in comparison and look mostly the same with very little differences such as being coloured brown or white, this is the only time I’ve seen a house this big, but size isn’t the only difference as it is also coloured blue instead. I spotted that there was a yard as well before we got down, most do have one, but the one here is much larger…the yard itself is almost as big as the size of the other houses…
“Come inside” She said (I am still unsure and can feel my legs trembling…but I shake my head from side to side getting a hold of myself and get inside the gate).
“Wait a moment” She’s searching for something in her pockets now, “sigh Seems like I lost it…”
knock knock
She knocked twice on the sand coloured door. There’s no response, then she pressed the doorbell after a few seconds.
creak
The door opened a little and someone is peeking out-
CREAK!
Whoever was inside fiercely opened it after peeking…and appears surprised…
“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN SINCE THE PAST THREE MONTHS?!” Said the boy, he’s very slightly taller than me, wearing normal clothes…his eyes are shining, they seem watery?
“sigh…sorry Feirin, I don’t want to talk about it right now…I am sorry” She replied as she entered, waving at me to follow after her.
“Wait a moment!” He exclaimed, walking up to her, “Do you know how worried everyone was? Just how many times Ms. Amane and your sister came here looking for you!?”
“Mom was here…? That goes without saying I guess…” She whispered, stopped and turned her face towards the boy.
“…what are these injuri-”
“DON’T TOUCH ME!” (that startled me…) She shouted just as he touched her hand…and hid it behind her back before he could get a proper look… She looks scared…(the boy looks surprised too)
“...s-sorry…I want to be alone for some time…erm…Feirin, show the bathroom to that boy and give him some food, I’ll go change till then” She hurriedly paced upstairs after saying that.
…
I am still outside, I don’t know if I should go in or not, feels like I walked in on something that I wasn’t supposed to see… Oh, he’s looking here…he’s just staring at me…now that I have a proper look, his hair is brown coloured, has red eyes and quite a well built body (unlike me who has stick like arms and just black hair which is quite common), everything here just feels…a lot different than what I am used to…
“Who are you?” He finally asked after staring for a while. Who am I…a boy? I don’t think he’s asking that though, I don’t know how to answer this, I’ve never given thought about who I am or where I come from, so…
“I don’t know”
I answered, he’s just gazing at me…again…
“Similar case huh” He said, coming closer then grabbed my wrist (I don’t like how everyone is being so touchy with me today…).
“You stink!” He’s pinching his nose with the other hand as he added that…I guess I would smell bad.
…
“This is the bathroom, if you need anything then just ask me” He said and closed the door behind me as I walked inside. There are quite a lot of things here, a bathtub, shower, soaps, toothbrushes, tow…el…wait…how…this is the first time I’ve seen any of these, but seeing them…I just felt that’s what they are called… I turn the shower on by pulling the handle that’s in front and take the soap. Wait, these aren’t mine…I can’t use them. I open the door slightly, poke my head out and call for the boy.
“What is it?” He answered (was he just standing outside the door?).
“Uh…I need a brush and a soap”
“Oh? You already know that part? Seems like you were in a better condition than I was when I lived on the streets” He said, handing me the items I asked for. When he lived on the street? Is he like me as well? Does that mean this girl keeps bringing people like us on a whim…?
I close the door as I take the brush and soap, then remove my clothes to start bathing.
Time - 6:56 pm
“Eat, I ordered a lot on the telephone, note that not all of this is for you though” The boy said…just…what is this…a table full of food…for me…? I turn to look at him.
“sigh Yes, some of it is very much yours” He answered before I even asked, and handed me chopsticks. W–where do I start from…there’s so much here…
“Start with the soup” He’s pointing at something. Soup…he means this bowl filled with red liquid?
“slurp…OH…slurp!”
What is this? What is this?! WHAT IS THIS?! IT TASTES SO GOOD! I CAN’T STOP EATING!
“cough! cough!”
“That’s all yours, eat slowly!”
“cough! Thank you…”
I said, grabbing the glass of water handed to me.
That soup thing was so delicious that I finished it all up in one go…what should I eat nex–
slide
This sound…it came from the opposite side of the table (I turned my sights to look at it), the door opened and she entered the room… A ponytail, a white t-shirt and shorts…it’s a very simple look, but she still looks so pretty…
“It’s time for introductions, my name is–”
“Wait a minute, you brought this boy home without even telling him your name?” He interrupted her.
“Well yes, I don’t think there’s any problem with that…did Mom introduce herself to you before she brought you here?”
“She did”
…The girl’s not saying anything after his response.
“Ahem! As I was saying, my name is Lucy (Did she just dodge his question…?) and I am the 3rd Top Lord of this Provision. This other boy here is Feirin and he is my…my…”
“Why are you stuck at ‘my’?” He asked.
“Well I was going to say my ‘little brother’ because Mom said to treat you like one, but I don’t really like or see you as one so…Feirin is a younger guy friend of my little sister whom my Mom brought here from the East District about four months ago just like how I brought you now. I think he’s slightly older than you…yeah!” She finished saying, putting both her hands on her waist with a proud look on her face…
“I am not a friend of your dumb sister!” The boy seems annoyed…Lucy and Feirin (weird sounding name…) alright…quite the strange pair…
“Anyways! That wraps up introductions on my part” She said as she sat down at the table on the opposite side from me, “What’s your name?”
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Name…I know what that is, it’s something that belongs to a person even when they have nothing… The clothes I was wearing before bathing were ones I found somewhere but I don’t remember where from…I have never had anything of mine, not even a name.
“I don’t have that, I don’t have a name”
I replied, looking at the table. She isn’t saying anything so I–
growl!
My stomach made some noise…ah…the dishes are calling out to me, but I am not sure if I should eat when we are talking…I look up at her…she’s just observing me…with that weird look…smug look again…
“W-what is it…”
“You are all red again” I instantly cover my face with my hands and she’s…laughing…
“Ahaha! I am sorry…aah…but it’s really funny to tease you” She added…this is a bit annoying… “Maybe you should eat firs–”
growlll!
She stopped as her stomach made an even louder noise…
“Pft–” The boy…Feirin is holding onto his mouth.
“Let’s just eat first perhaps…” She muttered and grabbed chopsticks kept on the table.
…
Aaaaaaah! That was such delicious food! My stomach is filled up, yet I still want to eat more…
“So how was the food?” She asked, passing me a glass of water.
“Really good!”
“It’s good to know you enjoyed it so much, after all, this will be your last meal” Eh…? What is she saying…?
“W-what do you mean…?”
“There was poison mixed in the food”
Huh…(she’s smiling…) no no no…so what I feared was really real…? I should have known better…there’s no way I could be given so much without any pay off-
“Pfft–hahaha! I am just joking, but the look on your face! You became so stiff!” She’s laughing…with her hands on her stomach…
“Then there…really isn’t any poison in this…? Is there…?”
“There isn’t, I ate it as well you know (That’s true…), don’t worry” She ensured, correcting her posture and sat upright.
“sigh” That guy, Feirin sighed and is taking the dishes away. He has an…apron on, maybe he’s going to wash them.
“So where were we?” She said, putting her hands on the table, “Right, I wanted to know what you were doing lying on the street when I arrived”
Now that she asks this question…I wonder, since how long was she standing there while I was lying down, had she just come over there when I saw her? Or had she been standing there ever since I fell down? I explained to her about what had happened and how I was living up until now.
“I see…well to call you, we are gonna need you to have a name, so leave that to me!” She declared, smiling proudly with her fist on her chest and eyes closed (pretty…), “Huhh? Why are you blushing all of a sudden?”
Eh… Am I blushing?
“It’s nothing!”
“Fufufu, tell me what is i–”
“It’s nothing!”
I replied. She’s not saying anything anymore…
“...Let’s continue talking later on…maybe tomorrow, follow me for now” She said as she stood up and walked out the living room… Her mood changed for the worse all of a sudden…did something happen?
I follow behind her, she’s become very quiet, and is standing at a door that’s opposite to the living room (the room where we were just at).
slide
“This will be your room from now on” She said, opening the door of the room she’s standing by… Wait what? My room…? Is that what she just said…? This entire room is mine…? There’s a small table in the middle and a bed on the side with drawers beside it that has a lamp on it…the window leads to the yard… This is all…mine…?
I turned towards the girl, Lucy who’s just standing still…her expression is very dull and she looks lost…I waved my hand across her face, but she’s not responding…
“Erm…hello…? Lucy…?”
She’s still not responding…I touch her arm–
“Ouch! Ouch!” (she grabbed my hand tightly all of a sudden!)
“Oh…sorry!” She apologised as she let go…did something happen to her…? Oh…I forgot about her injuries when we first met…I still don’t know what that’s all about…
“Erm I–”
slam!
?! What was that loud sound?! I was looking at my hand and now she’s not beside me… Oh she’s sitting by the table in the room with her hand on it…why did she hit the table…
“Let’s continue talking right now actually!” …Suddenly her cheerfulness is back, her mood changed so quickly…(I go and sit by the table…). What are we going to talk about now…?
“Do you know where we are right now?” She asked, taking a book and pencil out of the drawer beside the bed.
“Your house…?”
I answered.
“Well you’re not wrong…but where is this house located? Do you know that?”
Where is this house…
“No…I don’t”
“So let’s just start with that, where we live is a state called ‘North District’ and there are a total of five such districts including North. Can you guess the names of the others?” She’s making something in the notebook.
The other districts…one is based on cardinal direction…so,
“East, West, South…East District, West District and South District”
I said, but what’s the last one? There’s only four cardinal directions…there are four sub directions as well but…there’s only one more district left so it can’t be one of those.
“Woah…you know about the directions, Feirin didn’t know about the districts when he first came, seems like he’s smarter than you Feirin!” She exclaimed a little loudly with that smug looking face.
“Yes yes, anything else you have to say?” He shouted back from the kitchen. The kitchen isn’t that far from here so he can probably listen and hear what we are talking about very well.
“Hehe. Well the final district that you couldn’t answer is called the ‘Central District’. That’s where all the political stuff takes place though, so we won’t go into detail about that” She said, showing me what she made in the book. It’s a circle with a small square in the middle and four larger squares that are thrice as larger in size attached to the edges of the smaller square.
“And finally this entire circle within which all these districts reside is known as a ‘Provision’” She added as she drew an arrow pointing at the edge of the circle, “Provision is just a term used to describe such a circle like how Earth is a planet as there are other planets as well. Similarly, the name of our Provision is Thysia, there’s a total of s-”
“Master” Feirin said, coming inside the room.
“Don’t call me that, it ticks me off and what is it?” She asked as she put the book down.
“Do you think he is following everything you said so far?”
“Well so far he appears to be smarter than when you first came”
“What? Just because he knows some directions doesn’t mean he’s smarter. Hey you, what all did she just babble?” He exclaimed as he sat at the table on my left (Lucy is at the opposite end of me, sitting nearest to the door).
I took the book kept on the table and opened it, okay…
“This is the Central District at the middle, the ones surrounding it are East, West, South and North District; we live on this massive circle commonly referred to as a ‘provision’ and our provision is called Thysia. There are a total of six such provisions residing between the orbits of Earth and Mars”
I repeated and closed the book, hopefully I was correct with whatever I said… I look up towards the–uh…why are they both just looking at me with slightly open mouths…did I say something wrong…?
“Master…I may have misheard as I was in the kitchen and maybe, didn’t realise if you already told him, but just to confirm, did you tell him about the other provisions and their positions yet?”
“No I didn’t…and don’t call me that. You, how did you know that already?”
Did she not…? It just came out as I was repeating everything…then how…? Maybe…
“I…I might have heard someone talking about it on streets”
I replied (dumbfounded at myself).
“Oh…not only is he smarter…but he’s also very observant compared to when you came!” Lucy said as she poked her finger into the boy’s, Feirin’s cheek with that smug face again…
“Tch…whatever!” He left…
“It seems that you have some good sense of your surroundings, so maybe I’ll be done with all the basic explanations soon enough” She opened the book once again, but after this point, whatever Lucy said, I couldn’t quite understand.
Time - 9:47 pm
I can’t sleep…we talked about so many things and once again got to eat a lot of food for dinner…something I could have only ever imagined or dreamed about before today. Moreover, this is probably the most comfortable I have ever felt lying down because of how good this bed is ,but there’s too many thoughts in my head and I don’t usually go to sleep this early so here I am, just staring at the ceiling.
Humans…among the many things that Lucy told me, this was a topic that came up many times…our body’s characteristics are almost the exact same as that of a ‘human being’, a species that lives on Earth. The difference within them and us is that our bodies are far more durable, we can easily access the power of energy and the growth of our body is about half the speed of them, making us being capable of living a total of 200 Earth years at an average; which would mean that I am actually 20 years old but we say it as 10 years old because of our slow growth and our provision, Thysia taking twice as long to complete a revolution around the sun in comparison to Earth…I remember this part quite well, but…it’s very complicated for me to understand what all of it means…
There were some more things she told me…I don’t remember about it nor did I understand them at the time, however…the thing that is troubling me the most right now is…why…just why all of a sudden I’ve been given such a luxurious life without any reason…? No matter how much I wonder, I don’t understand.
…
Now that I think about it…I forgot about her holding that knife when we first met…she was injured too…perhaps it’s for the best that I ask her directly instead.
I am getting sleepy now, maybe it’s because of all the food I ate…I’ll just…sleep then…
…
!!!
Ugh…it’s so noisy…what’s that sound…eh…? What’s this clock beside me…? Oh…right…I am not on the streets anymore…it’s about midnight…and there’s some noises coming from outside.
I get up from the bed and go to the window, rubbing my eyes. There’s…someone in the yard…they are standing in an odd manner…are they hurt…? I slowly slide the window open and go towards them.
“Are you fin-!”
?!
Eh…? What was that just now…I opened my eyes, and…I am in bed…again… I turned towards the clock, it’s morning now…8:29 am…was that a dream?
“You awake?” It’s Lucy standing at the door, “Good morning”
“Y-yes, good morning”
I replied, bending a little to get a better view of the yard…was it really a dream…?
“What’s wrong?”
?! That startled me…why did she lean right in front of my face…
“N-nothing!”
phew…looking at her face…it doesn’t seem like she slept well. She’s wearing pyjamas with a cap made of cloth…it looks so childish but also cute…
“D-did you not sleep well?”
I asked.
“yawn…hmm? Oh! Yeah…I had some nightmares so couldn’t get proper sleep yawn…anyways, I have something good to tell you!” She said and sat by the table. Something good to tell? What could that be…? “I’ve decided a name for you”
Name…a name for me…a…name…of my own… I’ve never given it proper thought before until yesterday…but to know that I too will soon have one…I jump out of the bed and sit by the table.
What will my name be…it’s exciting but also making me nervous…
“Your name will be…” It’ll be… “Brax! Your name will be Brax!”
…what? B…rax…? Did I hear it wrong…? That doesn’t sound like a name…
“What…you don’t like it…?”
“N-no, it’s nothing like that…but I have a question…”
I say nervously.
“What is it?”
“Were you the one who named Feirin as well?”
“Well as his teacher, I needed to call him something and Mom left the naming responsibility to me, saying it should be something that starts from ‘F’ so I am the one who named him, I think I might have a knack for this!” She declared with a proud…smug smirk. I see…so that’s why Feirin’s name is so weird as well…Brax huh…that will be my name…
“Thank you…for this name…”
“Aww look at you all flustered!” She’s teasing me again…wait…she named Feirin as a teacher…then what am I to her exactly?
“…what am I to you?”
“Huh? What are you to me…now that you say it…I didn’t think about that…”
…
“I don’t think I see you as a friend nor do I see you as a student yet…hmm” She said after a few seconds. “Sis…yeah Sis is fine, that’s what my little sister also calls me”
Sis…does that mean I am like a little brother to her…? But why…why this much for me…?
“I am not done yet” Huh? There’s still more left…? What mor– “From now on, every two Earth years, meaning everyyy Thysia year which is every 730 days! We will commemorate your birthday on June 13! Considering I brought you here yesterda-”
She was talking so excitedly…why did she stop suddenly…is something wrong…? She has a different look on her face now as she’s looking at me…a sad look but why…
“sigh you…” She whispered, stood up and sat beside me, “You are crying”
Oh…I touch my face…yes…I am crying…who wouldn’t be…
“sniff…sob sob”
I can’t stop myself…and cover my eyes…
…A warm touch on my cheeks…it’s her hand…
“Why…sob…why…why help someone you just met yesterday this much…someone who’s nobody…”
She put her other hand on my other cheek as well…it’s not embarrassing. It’s a warmth I never felt before meeting her…all of this is really real…
“That’s because you saved me…just like I am saving you now” She said softly, looking at me with a tender and fond look…
“I…saved you…?”
“Yes, seeing you made me remember…remember something I had forgotten about” Remember something…in that condition with a knife…then…
“If I wasn’t there…what would you have done?”
She’s not replying, and slowly took her hands back.
“That’s…not something I can tell you…” She said and put her hands on my shoulders (w-what is she doing), her face…she looks serious now… “I need you to promise me something”
Promise…that’s…
“What’s a promise?”
Another new word from her that I’ve never heard of before…I am learning way too many new things at once here…
“Eh…? Pfft–ahahaha!” Why’s she laughing now…I can’t understand her emotions, she changes expressions way too quickly… “Ahh sorry sorry, uhm you see a promise is something made between people, something that if you say you’ll do, then you will do it no matter what! That’s what a promise is, a bond which once made shouldn’t ever be broken”
A promise…as she asked, I made a promise with Lucy, when I say I “made” it wasn’t something physical, but just to be remembered…this is the least I can do in return for all the kindness she’s given me.
Date - 14th June 2004
Place - Central District
Time - 6:49 am
(Some hours before the promise)
“Hey hurry up! Cover the wounds up and put her in the healer pod!”
“Can’t we get something better?! This won’t be enoug-”
“This is all we have! The provision is financially weak so do we don’t have any other choice”
“We brought her here as soon as possible but…is there really any hope for this girl to recover from this…? Maybe if we had better equipment but far too many of her bones are broken, internal bleeding, punctured blood vessels, fractures, dislocation; just how the hell is she even alive…
“We have to do something…this girl is important for the provision, she is one of the lords!”
“I’ll try to do my best but considering the situation, it’ll take a lot of time or she’ll die during the process of recovery with the latter appearing to be the most possible at the moment…what about her relatives? Have they been informed about this situation?
“That’s…the King has ordered to keep this matter a secret until investigation is done with. This is the first and most fatal blow that we’ve suffered in the past few decades…
(Narration)
The girl’s bloodshot eyes opened up ever so slightly as she was put within the pod filled with cyan liquid. She whispered some words but her face was covered with an oxygen mask, it couldn’t be heard and neither did anyone realise that she ever uttered something.
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