A/N: Another Vocaloid Fanfic, this time Rin's song! It's one of mothy / Akuno-P's song if I'm not mistaken. XDa It's kind of a sad song. o-o)9 And one of my favorite song... lol. Um, so, enjoy the story, English is not my first language and I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes. XD
Disclaimer: Vocaloid isn't mine, though I'd love to have Kaito all for myself... :'D But, nope, I can't have that... but I'm allowed to dream, am I not? :')
The Flame of the Yellow Phosphorus
Ourin no Honou | 黄燐の炎
It was a very cold day in the town. It was winter and Christmas was fast approaching. The snow fell, covering the town in white blanket. On the road was a girl wearing nothing but a simple dress and a small coat hanging on a small shoulder. Her feet were covered with nothing but a pair of small slippers that doesn't seem to protect her feet from the cold. Heck, even her whole outfit doesn't seem to repel the coat, her whole body was shivering, and yet, the girl still walked on the road, calling out lowly.
"Will you buy my matches, please?"
The people around her, though, ignored her, each was busy with their own activities. Laughter around the road was making the girl's voice unheard. Around the girl, the people passed by her, smiling, all preparing for the winter festive tomorrow. And yet, the girl looked like she was the only one suffering, without no one caring or even notice her. Still, she called out again, "Will you buy my matches, please?"
God knows how many time she called out already, her voice now hoarse. She leaned on the brick wall of an alleyway. The alley was dark, but she didn't mind, all she thought about was that she was cold, very cold. And thus, hoping for a little warm, she lit up a match. The flame immediately flared up on the tip of the match, though small, it was bright and warm. And it was all what the girl needed right then, the warmth of the flame. A small smiled crept to her face as within the light of the flame that slowly danced, she saw an illusion of a happy family she yearned for, a happy family she once had.
But a flame was a flame, especially one from a match, it died as fast as it lit. The girl looked at the burnt match sadly. Sighing, she tried to walked through the road again, hoping to sell her matches. "Will you buy my matches, please?" she tried once again. It was a futile attempt, she knew, but it didn't hurt to try. She sighed, walking back to the direction of her house. She hoped that, even though she didn't manage to sell a single match, her father would pity her and even if he didn't let her inside the house, she would at least obtain a bread, just a loaf of bread. She was hungry, very hungry.
In front of the door of her house, she knocked softly.
"You're back? Did you manage to sell the matches?"
From inside, the voice of her father yelled.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't manage to sell any…" she nervously replied, preparing for what was about to come.
"You didn't manage to sell even a single of it?! What a worthless and useless child you are!" the angry voice of her father shouted from inside the house, causing her to flinch and drew back in fear even with the door separating them. "You're not coming home until you sell all of the matches, I won't allow you inside!"
"Can I… at least, has a loaf of bread…? I'm starving…" she tried even though she knew there was no way her father would allow it.
And she was correct.
"What? When you didn't even manage to sell a single box of match, you dare ask for a loaf of bread?! How dare you, you worthless child!"
"I'm sorry, I—"
"Go away! Don't come back until you have sold all of the matches! If you come back before then, you know what would happen!"
The girl shuddered at that. Yes, she knew what would happen, a beating. Another beating, and in her condition, she didn't think that she could take another. She had enough.
And that was when, something snapped within her.
"I'm cold."
She lowly murmured.
"I need to warm myself up."
Looking up to the house she smiled. She took out the whole matches she had and lit all of it up.
"It's not enough."
She said, even if the matches are burning a large flame which almost burnt her skin.
"I need a bigger one."
And with that, she throw the lit matches to the house, immediately setting a fire. The flame spread through the whole house fast. The screams of her father was muted by the roaring of the flame. She stared at the flame burning her house with a smile. In that flame, her illusion continued, of her happy family, she once had…
After a long while, the flame finally burnt down, leaving nothing but ashes on what was supposed to be a house before. Amongst the ashes, she saw something shining; a silver coin, some silver coins. Her face immediately lit up as she grabbed the coins and ran.
With this, I can finally buy a loaf of bread! Thank God, I'm starving!
That was the only thing in her thoughts as she ran through the road to the bakery. As she went inside, she immediately handed the money to the cashier and exchanged it for a loaf of bread. Along the way, she happily eat the bread, savoring the taste and the fluffiness of the freshly-baked bread. She was only halfway through the bread though when a group of robed men caught her by the arms, causing her bread to fall.
"No!" she tried to reach for the bread but the big hands on her arms stopped her.
"You're under arrest by the order of the Church", one of the men said.
The Church. "But why?! I did nothing wrong!" she yelled out, "I'm starving, please, let me finish my bread!"
Another one looked down at her with disgust. "Filthy child", she heard him muttered under his breath. But she didn't mind, didn't care. Many had called her that since long ago.
"Don't act innocent, you openly set a fire on your own house, killing your father who was inside it. There were many witnesses on the road."
"But, I—"
"Don't waste your breath. The Church's judgment is final, and the Church's order is absolute."
"No…" the look on the girl's face was just utter devastation. She cried and tried to escaped the men's grips, hitting them, even resorting to biting them, but then again, she was just a girl, and a starved one at that, her strength didn't match those full-grown men, and more importantly, well-fed. Even if she did manage to escape, it'd only prolong her death, they would catch up to her eventually. Finally, she let them took her away. Along the journey to the Church though, she did try to justify her actions, but then again, it only fell to deaf ears.
The girl kept on crying, even as her voice had long gone hoarse, as the men tied her to the stake. The execution was that similar of the executions of those witches you saw on books, burning. Or in the Church's word, purging, for what she did was a heavy sin.
More people gathered around the field of the Church, wanting to look at the execution. Of course no children were present, the adults tried their best to refrain the child from seeing person slowly being burned alive and hearing their cries of desperation.
Several of the Church's men had make a circle around the stake she was in, holding torches. The girl took another look around the people on the field. Some were looking at her with pity, some had a blank look, and some even looked at her with disgust.
"Please, help me! I don't want this, I want to live, please!" she cries again to the crowd of people. But of course, they didn't know her, no one would bother helping someone they didn't know, especially by defying the Church. Even if the pleas of the girl were heart-wrenching, none even though what the Church did wrong, they were the Church, after all, their judgment was just, their order was absolute, that's all there was to it. No more, no less.
"Silence!" what seemed to be the Head Church said sternly, immediately stopping the girl's cries. "Commence the purging."
And with those words, the men holding torches around her set the woods to fire. Just that and the girl could already feel the heat creeping towards her.
"No, please, no! I don't want to die like this, please, spare me!"
Her cries grew louder as the flames grew larger, slowly engulfing her, drowning her in the sea of flame. Smoke started filling the air around her, making her choked at every breath. She needed air, desperately. She tried to reached out, but then again, her hands are tied. The flames grew larger with each pleas, almost engulfing her completely. She was starting to saw black spots on her vision, her consciousness slowly fading, no air came in anymore as she tried to take an intake of breath. With one last sharp intake and a cough, she yelled.
"Please, I was desperate, I was cold, I was starving! I was only hoping for some warmth and a loaf of=="
With those last words, not even finishing it completely, she coughed as the smoke filled her lungs to the brim. Her strength leaving her completely, she can't do anything as flame started to spread through her body, heat coursing through her. She stared helplessly at nothing but the flames around her as her consciousness started to fade away, slowly, and painfully.
And with that, the girl was no more. All that left was her ash, seeping through the ground, giving nutrients to the plants around, the life once again returning to the Mother of Earth. She now felt nothing, no cold, no pain, no hunger, just nothing.
And that, dear Readers, is the true story behind the Little Match Girl, there is no warm place, no love of grandmother waiting for her in the afterlife, just empty darkness, not even darkness, no, it can't be called one, it's just simply… nothing. That is the true story of life after all. You feel nothing and became nothing after you die. If you are hoping for those things, that is just naïve. The warm place and the love of her grandmother are just simply an illusion granted to her one last time after all, it is only an illusion, nothing more.
~Owari
A/N: Thank you for reading! And on a side note, nope, I'm not a racist against Catholics or Christians, really. The idea to use 'Church' comes from a comment in YouTube, and that inspired me. X'D And that kind of 'storyteller' format at the end, nope, it's not how I view death and afterlife, I mean, I haven't experience that thing, at all. :va So... that is purely made up. And life is beautiful enough as it is... ...even with the destruction, so, why think about the afterlife? :D TEEHEE~
Hope you enjoy the story, and, if you, by any chance, haven't heard the song, go and hear it, it's good. And if you doesn't know mothy, he's an awesome Vocaloid songs composer (is that what you call it?:/). I totally love his Seven Deadly Sins works. owo
Oh, and, while looking for the Japanese title, I found that someone has made a fic out of this song too, but, I swear, I didn't take his/her idea or anything, really! DX Anyways, bye! .w.)
-Kai