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Yula's Diary: Meeting Alan |
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Day 10 of the Emerald Moon;
Today I arrived in Lumiere, the capital of Kaffei. I’ve already seen a lot of beautiful art on the way, and even many of the buildings were fun to see, so I honestly didn’t know how much more to expect.
Lumiere didn’t let me down. It’s wonderful!
Maybe it was because a lot of the nobles and wealthy people live around here, but the houses were so much bigger and brighter here! It was almost as if every family was living in their own temple! And then there were plenty of murals on the walls and alleyways that looked really different but all of them were amazing in their own way! If each mural was done by a single artist, it must have taken them a very long time, but they must be proud of their work with how they all turned out. Hard work or not, it looks like a lot of fun to do either way.
I was sad to know the library were closed today, but my parents made it up to me by letting me explore the city on my own for the rest of the day. I’m lucky I have a good sense of direction and that I can remember places easily, or there’s just no way they’d allow it.
So I was about to go check out the marketplace and see if one of the merchants had some crafts I wanted to look at like some of the other bazaars in Kaffei cities because it’s always fun to see kinds of things Half-Elf culture make to sell. I almost made it without anything stopping me, but then I sensed someone was about to get hurt. As soon as I thought that, I heard someone fall and yell, so I ended up heading towards the cry.
That’s when I saw him in the town square: he was a boy close to my age with bright blonde hair, and his sharp green eyes were wincing. I saw a dulled wooden spear on the ground at his feet, and it was clear to me he skinned his knee. But looking at his frustrated face, he really didn’t want to admit he was in a lot of pain right there.
I couldn’t ignore it, of course. Maybe because us Mitalins are just like this, or maybe it’s just how I am, but I went over to him in a hurry and used my psionics to heal up his sprained knee. I’m glad the wound wasn’t too bad, because it ended up healing quickly, but then he looked at me funny the whole time.
When I finished, he immediately asked me “Are you a priestess?” in this really confused voice.
Because Father told me Kaffei was a "theocracy", meaning the kingdom believes a lot in holy power, I can understand why he’d think that’s why I have healing powers. At the same time, it sounds like psionics isn’t very well known around the world yet.
I simply told him I wasn’t, and it was just a natural healing power. I’m not sure he completely understood, but at least he got that I wasn’t learning to be a priestess.
So that’s when we told each other our names. I found out his name is Allan, and that he was a real soldier-in-training like his spear hinted at. I guess that he could have been playing soldier instead, but he showed me a special symbol all the guardsmen carried with them to show me he's telling the truth. He then told me his father is also a soldier for the kingdom, and that he wanted to be one of personal servants of the royal family; a knight.
I know I’ve seen that kind of look his eyes…
It was like how Lady Rose looked when she told me about her dream, too.
He wanted to be a hero.
I know I’m being silly that I still feel so uncomfortable about this. That’s what a lot of boys and girls outside Mitalin life would love to be without a doubt, right?
But… I was taught so much about all these conflicts that happened around the world back in the village. Each side in the wars had their own heroes that were told the other side was the villains. They wouldn’t be able to go ahead and fight for their side if they didn’t see it that way, right? But that was what’s wrong in the first place.
The historical records Father kept back at the village were much different than the ones in the kingdoms I’ve seen so far. The books I first read didn’t say anything about how “glorious and powerful” one nation was in comparison to another, or how the other nation was faulty and deserved defeat. They were just… “Neutral”, and it was like the writers felt sorry for the losing side and any society that was killed off in the end.
What it felt like was that the “heroes” weren’t really good people.
I get the feeling that’s not what I was really supposed to learn, and maybe the teachers assumed most of us would ignore all of the bad stuff because we’re children, but Dear Gades and I couldn’t.
And how could we?
After the two of us saw a few “heroes” do that horrible thing, I’ve had a hard time seeing them any other way then those monsters I saw “serving justice”.
But Lady Rose was such a nice person, and it gave me hope.
And Allan looked uncomfortable with the healing I gave him, and he seemed really stubborn, but he was also friendly, too.
He was very open and honest to me, and he made it clear to me he wants to protect everyone he cares about. He had a very brave aura, too.
I just wish he hadn’t spoken badly about Dear Gades and called him a coward when I told him Dear Gades hates fighting. I didn’t tell Allan his name, but the way he said everything without even caring made me so mad… I hit him. I felt so bad for doing that to him, too, but he was just so rude and proud of it when he said all of that.
I apologized anyway, and I really meant it, but I remembered that he’s very stubborn. I don’t think he’ll forgive me anytime soon, and with that stubbornness, I have a feeling he can hold onto a grudge for a very long time. Maybe I’m being silly, but I’m worried he may not like me for awhile because of this. I just wish he already apologized for speaking badly of Dear Gades so I still don’t feel like he deserved it.
I could tell he didn't want to tell to do it, but he thanked me for healing up his scrapped knee. At least I was able to do that for him, even when I hurt him a little after that. At least I know he’s a good boy. He wanted to help others and protect them, and I felt he usually has good reasons for what he has to say… even when he’s a little rude in saying it.
I can’t really explain it, but it’s something about these parts of him that make me want to believe in actual heroes even more. Unlike Lady Rose, he’s more… “selfish”, but I see it’s the kind that won’t let him take orders so mindlessly.
Though maybe it’s because I’m starting to see that I’m also kind of “selfish” like that in a way…
Whatever this all means, I think I can trust him. I want to trust him. I just feel that in the long run, he’ll end up doing the right thing.
I did get to see the marketplace on my own after meeting Allan after all, and some merchants had talismans and figures with materials used more often than the ones I saw outside the capital. There were even jeweled brooches shaped like roses. The ruby red and sapphire blue roses were my favorite! Of course, I wasn’t given any gold to spend, so I just headed back to my parents afterwards. I still have the hairpin modeled after the flower Dear Gades put in my hair, and I loved that the most, anyway.
Still, I can’t wait tomorrow! Father told me the library in the capital had a mural on the ceiling painted by one of the most famous human painters in the world that helped made Kaffei famous for its art! It’s supposed to look like a sky full of clouds and angels, so it would be like getting a glimpse of the heavens. I’m just so excited!
 Chicken Yuki · Thu Jul 23, 2009 @ 11:13pm · 0 Comments |
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