Day 15 in this newly strange world; it's getting quite easy to learn. Their customs are not so foreign to mine, if I do say so myself. Thank gosh I told them that I was one of their so called "GOLDEN Knights" which just so happen to cover this whole no Cytine situation.
"Hey Souta, just because you're a knight doesn't mean you don't have to work for money. The Queen will be very displeased, you know." Alaric said as he gathered the blankets from the storage room behind me.
"Yeah yeah I know Al, but my back is killing me with all the work loads as it is. The last thing I need right now is a lecture." I whined.
He looked with an annoyed facial expression. "I'm not lecturing you, I'm informing you that this isn't the time to daydream."
How can I narrate if I have to deal with this bozo nagging me every 15 seconds!
"You're acting as if we're going to see the Queen, which, I mind you, we have no position or place of doing so!" as I grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and took a bite at it.
"Hey! You're not supposed to eat that, it's for the princess." Alaric said in a quiet yell, "You never know who's preyful eye is watching."
I leaned against the wall then placed one palm under my head as a pillow, giving out a big sigh.
"Hey Al listen, buddy, pal — we are servant boys who pick up on tasks that main palace servants have, but are currently absent or on vacation at the moment. There is no one here right now because we're backups. And even if someone were to pass by we can hear their footsteps from a milestone away. All of the rooms we're cleaning right now are open, including the one that we are in at this very moment."
I proceeded to pace around the room and out the hallway tossing my apple in the air repeatedly as I spoke, "The hallways are hollow. This wing is practically abandoned. And this princess that you speak of is traveling with the prince of Wif- Wign- W-"
"Whinsman (wines-mane), the prince of Whinsman." Alaric corrected.
"Yeah Whinsman, that's the word — but, my point is that you have nothing to fret about young one, let loose a little, have some fun in the job~" I said smirking; nudging his shoulder. "As the great Haruki Murakami once said…"
I tossed my apple core in the cleaning cart, then quickly turned to Alaric with a confident smile:
"We are only humans, after all."
Alaric slowly started to grin as the left side of his lip started to slowly rise. As he realized just how impossible it was to win this argument he gave off a quick chuckle.
"Come on Al, let's have a break and do something fun. I'm not accustomed to vigorous work."
"Sign My friend. I have no clue on how your people live but I kinda like the sound of how things are going." Alaric said with a grin. "To be honest you gave off some snarky aura at first but now, I think you're just a joker at heart." Alaric folded the white cloth he was holding vertically, then placed the cloth on his right shoulder.
Honestly, he's not far off, but hey, at least we're finally doing something!
"Come on! Ever since I've been here there's always been something that I always wanted to do!" I said with an evil grin.
"What, what is it?" Alaric replied like a parent granting a child their wish.
"Let's throw eggs on those damn knights!" as I rub my hands together in a villain-like motion.
"Are you mad? They'll totally kill us. Their knights! And out of everything we could possibly do, that's so childish."
"And? They're not invincible. What do knights not have, but we do to our advantage?"
Alaric gave me a very displeasing face as if he were any better; why am I never appreciated.
"Really?! Don't look so disappointed at me. I am a kid, Alaric."
"I am now more disappointed; I too am also a kid, but I have never once thought of resorting to this matter in such ways. Plus… I don't know… magic? They're knights. At least one of them is bound to know some advanced stuff. I'm just an abecedarian with li-"
"Abece- what?"
"Newbie, Sota. I'm a newbie, but you… you're just a… an ordinary." Aleric said as he tried to find the right word.
"Okay, ouch" I said in a pissed off tone.
"But even if we aren't working with magic, they got stealth, Sota. How are we going to beat something as difficult as stealth?"
Alaric stood facing the wall in complete silence as if he failed a geometry test. After a few minutes had gone by I couldn't stand the silence anymore! Little did Alaric know, it was class time.
"Pff" I cracked
"Please tell me that I didn't just hear you laugh" As Alaric rubbed his nose bridge in between his thumb and index finger.
"Ahahaha! There's no way that you're questioning this of all things. Think outside the box, Alaric; don't tell me that you've never done a prank before?" I said in a joking manner.
"W-well of course not. I'm the eldest of 7 siblings, I can't afford to fool around like you. Plus, what do you mean think outside the box, I thought you didn't know anything about magic?" Alaric said in suspicion.
"Out of everyone in this world, I thought that you would know what a library was. The princess is not here, I'm trapped in this damn place working like a milkshake in a cocktail shaker, and worst of all no TV. So, I just used the resources I got around me to keep me sane and away from a neurosurgeon that thinks that lobotomy is the only way to fix a person who doesn't fit the standards." I said in one breath.
"Alright, it was just a question—Oh, and what's a TV?"
"It's called Television in full. It's a device back at my hometown where you can connect it to an energy source then watch a bunch of things through a screen." I said in longing.
"Oh, so it's like a Snixx (the I is pronounced as the letter e)." Alaric said as if he hit a bullseye.
"A Snixx?" Alaric said.
"It's just like a television but you don't need to connect it to a source, just with a rectangular black box."
"So, it looks like I will survive in this world after all." I muttered.
"What did you say?" Alaric asked.
"My question- did you guess yet?" I said in slight panic.
Alaric came up to me and held my right shoulder with his left hand with a kind expression on his face but his voice was serious:
"My friend, if I heard right, it is not good to joke about death. A lot of jokes based on reality eventually become reality." Alaric said in concern.
"S- sorry… I didn't mean it that way…" I said in discomfort.
"It's alright. I only wish the best for you and for you to be okay." He said with a grin.
When he hugged me it felt as though I was one of his little siblings; that hug… it was a hug that I needed so long ago that I almost forgot just how much healing a simple hug could do.
I… I didn't mean to make things feel so depressing, truly.
"Oh yeah! Did you finally guessed" I said to make the mood lighter.
"Uh, no; not yet…" Alaric said as his brain fade into the mist of thinking…
And of course, Alaric had no idea on what I was going off of.
"Alright listen. The point of a stealth fighter (in any regular situation) is to hide and stay in silence for as long as possible. You don't really need magic for that but if ya do got magic, it's an advantage that helps decrease your presence; meaning that if somebody does catch on that a stealth fighter is nearby they still wouldn't be able to pinpoint just how close the person is, even if they were to stand at arms length."
"And how exactly are we supposed to get past them with that! To undergo such high stealth magic you also need to be physically matched to the agility that this technique provides, meaning that running away is a no-go!"
"Not quit. As a wise man once said "every ability, just like every person, has a weakness". And of course stealth has a major flaw that deems it useful for our invasion when they are unaware."
"Spill it we don't get all day, genius."
"Echo and intent~"
"What? Do you mind explaining what that is, exactly?"
"Yeah, I was getting to that. Stealth is kind of like echoing your prey's patterns so that you don't get caught. You need to track everything about them to not only not lose track of your prey but to also pick up on the fact that they are still clueless or are now aware that someone is tailing them. If we can echo their surroundings you can make it so that they can see what they want to see; then we can dash out of there quickly."
"And how do we echo their surroundings?"
"We ambush. Make it look like we thought we succeeded even though we actually left a big opening. And with their cocky impatient ego they'll take the bait. We'll then let them follow us– then BOOM! Plan starts going to action.
We'll have to cast an enchantment on the eggs at a very specific moment, so it can still be strong and successful; meaning it has to irritate them in a sensitive state. The moment it hits their face, BAM! Anger and hunger for the "last strike" will arise in their senses. The enchanted yolk will release a gas that makes their vision experience a sensation and have a condition similar to oscillopsia and diplopia at the same time, giving us more than enough time to run! And the best part about it is that they'll be following a puppet made by YOU."
Alaric took a moment to look at me and gave a disgusting stare.
"What?" I said in confusion
"Your freak'n insane! This isn't a prank, this is assault."
"Um, I'm pretty sure that's the point."
"I know that they are bad, but I can't do anything that will risk me going to jail, especially in the situation I'm in right now." Said Alaric as he backs away.
"Dude, they literally beat an old man to death the other day- heck they beat and harass people everyday! Including the fact that they collect over the amount of tax money they are supposed to. If anything this prank isn't enough to counterbalance all the things that they have done."
I thought with evil splendor: "Angel my ass, I wanna see things burn! This prank is only puppy's talk to me."
"Alright. Explain what the intent is?"
"What is one thing that drives a person to even want to do stealth in the first place?"
"I don't know? It depends."
"Exactly. That "depend" is the intent.
"The worse the intent is, the easier it is to catch your predator due to the malice they'd be admitting; for example, intent to loot. Your energy is like a tail and that tail follows the tailbone; always the last to cross the line like, in a race. Now, depending on your velocity and the fact that energy has a specific color for everyone— you can then create after-images of the outline your energy makes around the body."
"And how does this make catching the predator any easier?"
"Say, when any of them follow you do you feel any sort of presence or pressure?"
"…No?"
"But why? Do they not want to hurt you? Why can't you feel it?"
"Because…be- because…?" Alaric said, averting his eyes.
"You don't feel anyone because there is nothing to sense. They block off all personal emotions and focus on the main task at hand, 'Follow the prey'. And with that concentration their attack response will decrease for at least 0.8 seconds allowing them to rehabilitate their emotions and run or avert danger until they gain stability from shifting their concentration swiftly enough to make it seem as though they have vanished. All in all, although stealth is not a power it's still a technique, if used correctly. Any technique, no matter the difference, takes time to actually stop. Why do you think stealth ninjas observe so far away? It's because if the prey ever catch site, then they can properly shut down the stealth to reduce injuries"
"Injuries? How can getting caught lead to injuries?"
"Injuries of getting attacked by the potential target or unknown enemy is one thing but, sudden stress to certain parts of the body and nerves is another factor that people tend to leave out because it became such a norm; surely even you know that predicting and avoiding someone's every move is impossible. In some cases the sudden transfer in changing states can also lead to intense shock or paralysis with inflammation of a particular nerve that I don't know the name of. I don't know much of the whole thing in general, but that is basically what the book I read said."
"Okay, but as far as I know, we'll be the ones' doing all the stealth." Alaric inquired.
"Now what makes you think that we can't make them use their greatest advantage against them?"
"A lot of things… a lot."
"Listen. You'll be bait and I'll be the bait lurer, so there's nothing that you need to worry about, just follow my lead."
"You promise we won't get caught." Alaric said.
"Promise, bro."
"Alright, where's the eggs!" I said with excitement.
"I'm getting them!"
Meanwhile
"TIME FOR SHOW DOWN TIME, BABY!"
"SHHH! They'll hear us." Alaric said in an aggressively excited quiet tone.
"Alright, alright."
"Currently right now there are 4 knights just getting ready to leave training grounds. This is the perfect moment to throw them sense their guard is lowered. Are you ready?"
"Hell Yeah!"
"Three… Two… And– GO!!" Alaric shouted.
Alaric threw one egg on each knight then ran away to a pathway in the forest. Almost immediately the knights started shadowing (it's another term for stealth; following), all according to plan.
But of course this was all a part of the plan.
"Ha ha, those stupid knights! Now they're going to look like the dirty monkeys that are." Alaric said with a nasty tone.
When the knights got to the waypoint Souta was ready in position, hiding his presents as hard as possible.
The egg cracked on all four knights simultaneously and from the egg burst not only Alric's enchantment bursted, but a surprise mixture of dry colors of blue and purple powder also sprouted everywhere.
"Hey, you kids better come back here, NOW!" said one of the knights.
"Nuh Uh! RUN AL, RUN!" I shouted while laughing.
"Right ahead of ya, mate!" Alaric said while bursting in laughter, "I haven't had this much fun in ages!"
"Hey Al, let's head towards the festival in the town!" I implied
"Alright!"
"HEY, COMEBACK!!" said another guard
We were full of giggles and laughter that afternoon. And as we ran, we kept bumping our shoulders onto each other due to the laughter like a couple of drunks. We yapped sharing other ideas that we can do without getting caught again; my life was starting to feel good, and without all if the chores I had to do as a vessel, it didn't hider me to actually spend and enjoy time with another kid my age.
As I was no longer caught up in the moment and stared at the city ahead of us, I admired the stonish-pebble path leading up to the crimson-scarlet sunset shining behind the buildings and houses. I also noticed the lake towards my left glistening as kids and teens splashed and played nonstop. And in that view Al was still laughing and smiling big with his eyes barely opening with some tears starting to fade. I chuckled some more as the memory came back in replay.
Just when I was about to say something, I saw the color of Alaric's eyes turn clear blue as if the musty gray inside it had vanished away. I guess happiness can really change a person, and the cause of it was my stubbornness; making me joyful for the first time here.
(Blue…)
Blue has always symbolized sadness for me, so to see it in a new shade has kinda turned into a happy symbol in this world now. I will now forever remember how I helped someone experience joy instead of regret or negative emotion…
#1 Blue—
"Souta, do you want yellow or blue?"
"Blue!"
"I thought you'd say that, after all you are as big as the blue sky in summer, right?"
"Yeah! I'm summer boy!"
"Yes, you're my summer, dear." said the mother, "A blue summer is never a sad summer… at least not in my eyes."
"Ma's eyes are brown!"
"Yet, yours reflects your father's eyes."
"Souta never saw Pa's eyes"
"Yes you have. Just look in the mirror, summer…"
"Mirror? Souta don't like mirror. And summer boy don't need mirror… just how summer don't have or need dad…"
"Souta, you have a dad and that will never change. Even if he…"
"Mama, I pray for you to be happy. Happy, just me and you. God listen all the time, so he will make us happy."
"Yes, d-dear… yes"
"So, Mama. Don't make summer angry."
"..."
Yes, I remember. This is the type of person I always was. Beaming like the sun's rays and chill like the oceans bay, a summer boy that wished nothing but to bring the people around me at ease. However–
…what went so wrong?