It is dark, that is not a question. However, there are questions that need to be answered. For now, they´ll keep those to themselves, it is dark and that needs to be dealt with. They think of opening their eyes, but their thoughts are not just focused on their eyes, it is cold around them, the first thing they have felt now that they are awake. Their consciousness travel along their body up to their eyes, it is not only cold but humid. The answers are coming and they don´t like them. Their eyes are open and yet the darkness remains. They attempt to move their body and with little to no effort they are now standing up.
Hunger. That is what they are feeling, that is the only thing that compels them right now to move, so they move. They walk around the room with their hands stretched in front of them. In that darkness they find a wall, and then another one, and then the stairs. They walk and realize that the room is not only dark, but humid. They can hear the water dripping from the ceiling. Along with their footsteps it is the only sound that can be heard all the way down where they are.
Time does not happen to them, it could have taken them days or mere seconds to get to the top of the stairs and it would not have made a difference. That is how hunger works, it is the thing that they will perceive until it is satisfied. But they arrive at the end of their journey. There is a door, made of marble and through the cracks of this door the light manages to pass through and show them that there is a world beyond that room. But they already knew that.
Their hand has barely touched the door when it opens. As it slowly drags itself through the floor, the light is dim and it doesn´t take long for them to get used to it, and soon they´re able to look at their surroundings. This is a graveyard. It is obvious by the multiple lumps of dirt that cover the ground, there are a few mounts of dirt, indicating that people have dug some new graves, or have decided to steal from the dead.
The tomb they were in was special. While most people only get a small part of the ground as their resting place, they get a construct, a beautifully designed mausoleum that depicts the horrors and wonders of the world. They take a few moments to marvel at the sculptures that adorn the entrance of their tomb, the wings of creatures they´ve never seen, feathers so large they are used as spears. They can´t stop looking at the faces of the figures: despair, anger, sadness.
“How very tragic it is to look upon someone´s resting place, and be greeted with nothing but the most painful of emotions.” A voice says. A woman stands, she looks tired, like she´s spent the last year wide awake, maybe she has.
They fail to find their voice, so the woman continued speaking. “I have sat here, in silence, waiting for you to come out. I must thank you, this place is not meant for people like me, I guess it is no longer meant for you either.” She examines them. Her eyes meet theirs for only a second and something unrecognizable flashes in her face, too quick for them to process it, but not fast enough that they were not able to notice.
“You seem…” confused? lost? “Fine.” Oh. “I think someone who would spend so much time in there would be less… lucid. I do wish you would speak. It has been quite some time since I last had a conversation with someone.” As soon as they open their mouth to reply she raises a finger. This annoys them. At last an emotion they can understand. “Before you speak. I want to ask just one thing from you: Do not waste this. This is your very first time speaking, just as it was just first time listening to someone else´s voice. I´m sorry I decided for you what you would hear first, and who you would hear first. I just thought you´d like to have something to think about while we travel. But now you can chose whatever you want, the very first words of a newborn.”
Overwhelmed by the endless possibilities of what their first words could be they take a deep breath and close their eyes. They try to recreate the face of the person they are talking to, how that makes them feel. They start with the lips, dirty and yet they seem so soft, their mind wanders and they imagine touching those lips with their fingers, slowly they move on to her cheek, round and warm, they perfectly highlight the parts of her face whenever she smiles. Her eyes are deep and old, those are the ones that reveal how much this person has gone through, the years of pain, the loneliness.
Finally they find the words they want to say “Nice to meet you.” Their voice barely makes it to her ears, as they realize just how much noise is happening around them. Crows flap their wings around them, people in the distance sob or grunt, as they attempt to dig the graves. She grabs their hand and that smile that they had been picturing appears on her face.
“You have no idea how nice it is to meet you too. Let´s go somewhere else.” She drags him through the graveyard, to the entrance. Barely anyone pays attention to them, at most they hear grunts from the people who are trying to dig new graves, or maybe they are trying to steal from the dead. |
“This is the world.” They stare into the sunrise. A cloudy and gloomy sunrise, the light from the yellow sun gives a sickly effect to the view. “It sucks.” She laughs as she says this, and they can´t help but agree with her, this is a horrible and depressive sight, their first sunrise after being born. What a disappointment.
“What should I do now?” They ask after spending some time in silence, just watching the sun slowly rise on the barren fields that stretch past the horizon. She turns to meet their gaze.
“Well, you can do almost anything you want, after all, I am sworn to you already.” She winks at them and they are speechless. Love. Wait. What is love? Like. That is better, more accurate, they like this person. “You´re blushing! I have not seen someone do that in a while. Don´t worry, you don´t have to spend the rest of your life with me, I´m just gonna spend the rest of mine with you.”
What is that supposed to mean? Now they are confused again. People are complicated, or maybe just her.
“I mean… you are officially younger than me, it would make sense that I would die before you do. But that´s ok, when that happens I won´t be sad and you also better not be, I plan to die at your side, once you´ve figured out your place in this world. It will be poetic, heroic even. Just imagine a Conduit like me, dying for what belongs to them, their Mage.”
“A what?” As soon as they ask they are filled with regret, that was a dumb question, of course they should know what that means, they are a Mage, and the other thing must be what people like her call themselves.
“A Conduit is someone who can see magic, touch magic, a person who understands magic, but can´t make it obey them. So that´s where someone like you, a Mage, comes in. Hold my hand.” They don´t think twice and immediately obey. Their hands don´t fit perfectly like they would have expected, it takes a few movements of their hands so they are both comfortable. They feel it. “That is what makes you… well you. Magic. Maybe you don´t understand it the way I do, I haven´t met someone who will describe it like me. But the no matter what, there are rules that we have discovered throughout the years, and these rules will keep us both alive, more importantly, they will make you powerful.”
Their eyes widen at the sound of that word. Why do they care about being powerful? Is being able to use magic not good enough? Are they meant to be the best? For a second they consider being the best, just for her. If this is what she asks of them, they´ll do it.
