A little boy was running in the forest with his best friend in the rain. The groans and complaints coming from his best friend were muffled by the heavy downpour. Through the dense foliage, they saw in the distance a massive oak tree. They both sat down breathing a big sigh of relief, the ground beneath the great tree was parched and warm. Their fingers touched as they both lay down with their chests moving up and down rapidly. They slightly turned their heads and looked at each other's flustered expressions; both of them had hair more soaked than a sponge. Once they saw each other, they started to laugh uncontrollably.
Sounds of laughter echoed throughout the forest but got muffled by the rain that got even heavier.
"Vivi, do you know what I wish for the most right now?" The little boy asked his best friend.
His best friend wiped off the tears coming from her eyes from laughing before looking up into the tree's crown to ponder.
"You daydream too much random stuff, how should I know what you are dreaming about now?" She sarcastically said whilst trying to act dumbfounded.
The boy smiled at his friend and said one word that she couldn't yet comprehend.
"Freedom."
The rain stopped pouring and the petrichor entered their noses. The boy took a deep breath before reaching out his hand to try catching the wind
"You are so silly…" the girl groaned and put her hands onto her stomach staring up into the tree again.
"Freedom." What could that possibly mean? Curiosity over what her best friend meant by that word drove her over and she asked.
"Hey Vitrane, what do you mean by "Freedom?" She asked.
The boy was still trying to catch the wind and he only started to hear once she was shaking him by the arm trying to get him to listen to her.
"You see this wind that I'm trying to catch? I simply can't no matter how hard I try or focus."
The girl looked even more confused than before she asked the question.
Seeing her completely bamboozled expression he sighed and explained further.
"I wish for humans like us to be able to manifest our freedom, to be able to express our deepest desires without the fear of being punished."
The girl giggled before holding the boy's hand and telling her that her deepest yearning had already been fulfilled and thus that would mean her freedom had already manifested.
*There are no instances in life where you are in complete control of your destiny. But will giving humans a choice actually cause less suffering?*
Vitrane stood in front of the burning remains of Vivi's body. She had simply stated the truth, reiterating what he had said to her back at the giant oak tree.
She herself wanted "Freedom" yet the gods of this era refused such a fate for her. Then why wasn't a man like him punished as well? Because he was the one who "dreamed" the most.
"I Vitrane, refuse to prostrate myself before Gods who object to Freedom…"
He reached out his hand towards the wind, in hopes of grabbing onto Vivi's aspirations. This time fate would grant him a thing that humanity had not seen for over 500 years. The manifestation of human desires for liberation, the birth of an Aeon.
In his hand holding the cremated remains of Vivi that had been punished by the city for believing in Freedom a little black flower bloomed.
"O humans, how I wish for your sins to be forgiven," Vitrane said calmly seemingly lost all emotion.
I threw myself up from the rubble of trash I was sleeping under and was hyperventilating and sweating. That was merely a dream… yet it felt so real… as if it had already happened.
Stray dogs started to swarm me as I pushed away the trash lying on top of him.
"Shoo… I'm trying to sleep."
I lay back down but couldn't stop thinking about that dream he had just had. That boy in my dream, he dreamt of something all of the people in the slums dreamt about, Freedom. Perhaps economic freedom to do whatever they pleased I jokingly said in my mind whilst kicking a rusty tin bucket that bounced around in the dark alley where I usually slept.
"But freedom huh…" I thought and thought and the more I pondered over it the more it made sense for me.
I also wanted to experience what other people who had privileges had. But not the ones you might expect, I wanted to experience everything a human could ever possibly feel in life. Desire, joy, fear, guilt, smart, at peace, I wanted to feel all those emotions. But what emotions could an alleyway boy actually feel except for hunger?
The people living in the complex had probably finished dumping their food waste so I hurriedly scurried towards the trash bin before stray dogs or other alleyway boys could get to it.
And like usual I was too late and some mutts were already munching on the leftover scraps on the filthy ground that some drunk had probably pissed on.
I sighed heavily and kicked another tin bucket in frustration. It ricocheted on the narrow alleys before finally coming to a stop at someone's feet.
I looked up and saw it was the royal guards.
"Crap…"
I started to run and the royal guards gave chase. Because here in the city of Fukviyu, they captured those who don't have families and live on the streets to sell them off to slavery in the hazardous mines.
Boys like me were expendable and there would always be someone else to replace me once I was gone.
I continued to run and run until I bumped into a person who was walking on the streets. I landed on my behind and looked up at the person I had just bumped into.
A tall pink-haired lady with her face covered by a leather hood looked down at me. When I got up to continue running, I caught a glimpse of her eyes, which were like blue gemstones, shining like the moon at night.
Before she could do anything, I had already vanished into the crowd and the guards had completely lost me.
I breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on some stairs to relax just for someone to come and kick me off the stairs.
"Off my steps you filthy mutt." The man spat on me before walking off.
I got onto his knees and continued forward, this place was no longer safe for me to stay. The guards have been patrolling this part of the city more frequently.
If I continued to live even one more day, would Freedom come then? That was the only thing motivating me forward right now, the dream for eternal liberation from this wretched world.
I had gone days without eating and drinking filthy water from the pipes of the houses had caused me severe dysentery and severe malnutrition and dehydration.
My mind was so close to collapsing, yet I continued to march onwards. I managed to limp all the way to a fancy building where I decided that it would be a good place to sit down and rest a bit. There wasn't anyone around and there was a little hiding spot besides the building.
I sat down, my back felt relief as I rested myself against it. It felt so warm, I was just about to close my eyes when I heard shouting. A female voice that sounded oddly like my mother. By the entrance of the building stood a girl dressed up in flamboyant princess-like clothing. Her hair was the same color as mine and her eyes as well. The princess was small and timid, there was a man the same age as me scolding her. I couldn't make out the words that were spoken in the distance but hI saw how the girl submitted herself to the guy and just listened to him scolding her without arguing back.
Then the little girl's mouth opened and a few unintelligible words were said and after those words were said a swift slap was delivered across her cheek. She clasped her red cheek with her hand.
The guy closed the door on the girl and left her out in the night's cold embrace. She did not cry or flinch. She simply accepted the cold and the pain, her face empty, too empty for a child.
Even in the corner where I was hiding she somehow managed to notice me peeking at her around the corner. She approached me with delicate steps and once she was in front of me. I was shocked by how much she resembled my mother. I could see it in her eyes as well, how much I resembled her.
As expected from an elegant noble lady, she bowed for him whilst holding the edges of her frilly skirt.
She seemed to understand the situation I was in and saw how pale I was, from one of her pockets, she pulled out a juice box and handed it to me.
"How unelegant of a noble lady to keep juice in her pockets…" I chuckled.
Her cheeks went red but she didn't say anything because I was right. But why would a noble lady even help a stray like me?
But the questions could be answered later, the drink she handed me was quickly emptied. It was probably the cleanest thing I had drunk this month. It was as if sand on my tongue had been swept away and filled with new life.
I thanked the girl and the girl smiled gently and said that it seemed like I really needed it.
"Right! I forgot, my name is Emovi! Nice to meet you!" She said with a big smile on her face.
"Vivshi is the name."
She sat down right next to me getting her white frilly skirt dirty muddy.
She struck up a conversation asking me so many questions that my head started to spin. She seemed so quiet and timid earlier and now she was super energetic and talkative. She asked me about my life story and in the middle of telling her how I managed to land on the streets in a very crude manner my stomach growled.
Emovi looked at me with curious eyes.
"Do you want to eat something?"
I nodded slowly and explained that it had been weeks since I had eaten something filling. She said that she would be right back and went back inside the building. She returned with a place of warm luxurious food.
The food right in front of my eyes was worth 100 days of garbage food, no maybe 150 days. My mouth started to drool as she was about to hand me the plate.
"But before I give you this, you gotta promise to tell me your story."
I nodded in agreement and she handed me the plate. I started to voraciously consume everything on the plate as if the stray dogs would come and steal it. But in the middle of it, I stopped and tears started to flow from my eyes.
"Good isn't it?" She smiled brightly watching me eat.
I thanked her for the food and was about to fulfil the end of my deal when I heard a voice coming from behind the girl.
"Well, well, well, would you look at this, my dear sister feeding a stray mutt." An orange-haired man stood behind her with both of his arms crossed.
He was wearing the imperial uniform and the imperial crest on his chest. He was the first Prince to inherit the throne, Viego.
Emovi froze in her tracks as she also heard his voice. Her energy quickly vanished and when Viego commanded her to come to her she stood up and with her head down walked towards him. He looked at me with contempt and saw the plate on the ground that she had given me.
His eyes filled with disgust turned to eyes of disappointment as he averted his eyes to his sister.
"Why are you feeding a stray like him our food? You know how much that food costs?"
"But brother… we will dispose of most of the food after the banquet… so why not jus…"
"Silence, Emovi. I don't want to hear your excuses."
He grabbed her tightly around her wrist, his overwhelming strength leaving a red sunken mark on her arm.
"I'm sorry, but I made a promise with her."
I had grabbed the prince by his arm and looked Viego straight in his eyes that was filled with disgust that a peasant like me had touched him with my filthy paws.
He let go of his sister and reached out his hand towards my face. I quickly ducked back and rivulets of sweats started to pour down my face as the air suddenly felt overwhelmingly warm.
Viego's cheek lit up with a bright red, crimson roots sprouted on his cheek and a flower grew out of his cheek.
I remembered those stories my mother used to tell me and my brothers about these mythological beings known as "Aeons". These beings were created from human desire for freedom and manifested as flowers called Aeons. There were 12 Aeons in the world, and each one had its own magical power that could alter fate.
The prince incinerated the dirt that was left on his uniform and stared at me with a burning hatred. His sister dared not to interfere with her brother and could just stand there and silently watch.
He unsheathed his sword he carried on his side and touched the Aeon of Ember on his cheek and then coated the sword with its embers. A scorching crimson blade was created.
"Feel honored to be cut down by this blade."
"BROTHER DON'T!" Emovi desperately cried out.
Her brother lunged towards Vivshi and miraculously Vivshi managed to dodge towards the side. A few strands of his purple almost black hair burned in the air.