The Seven Petals of Hope
Chapter 1: Farewells
A/N: Sorry if it is confusing but please bear with me and please enjoy the story!
Once upon a time, in a land far out of reach of the modern times, a time of medieval. A nymph called Lilia lived in a pond with no voice, no sight and freedom. A man called Lyle comes to her daily ever since he had been young for years had he wondered 'Why does she look so sad and yet happy?' and for years did she think 'I wish I can be part of his life, as equals, free to talk, to see and do as we wish…' . The story starts at the point where years had gone and Lyle had finally grasped the courage to ask the lonely nymph.
"Why do you look so lonely and sad?"
"Why should I be lonely if I have you? Why would I be sad if you are there to cheer me up?" The nymph tries to write down on the earthy ground but it would only be wiped away by the curse fortunately Lyle is a fast reader.
Smiling at her and blushes out of embarrassment to remember that she can't see and partly relieved that she can't see and felt ashamed as soon as he realised his thoughts. Her blank eyes stares in confusion in the silence, 'have I gone deaf?' she wonders. Lyle then continues telling his tales of his latest escapades, while feeling regret for being relieved for her to be blind even if it were for a second.
"Then Prissy got mad just because I accidently stepped on her dress and then we started this brawl. Do you think that I was wrong?" asked Lyle, puffing his cheeks.
Lilia nods.
"You traitor, going to her side all of a sudden…" Lyle exaggerated in a joking manner and in return, Lilia smiled with humor.
Lilia then wonders what would it be like if a human girl could see her, a human girl exchanging secrets of their interests and other events that would be an interest to her as well, hoping that it might be more interesting than Lyle's fables and tales, not that it's not interesting.
As time passed until evening, a girl called for Lyle.
"Lyle, Lyle! You there?" maybe it's the girl he fancies, the one he keeps telling me about, Lilia thought.
'Judging from her voice, she must be pretty.' Lilia smiles but felt something strange in her chest.
"Here, Prissy!" his tone was a bit annoyed.
'Why would Lyle shout like that?' Lilia thought, with her head tilted and her whole body seems surprised by the sudden shout and parts of it seem…relieved?
"Well, see you later Lilia. I hope you will still remember me." He waved intensely as if he were a child again, smiling at Lilia and she felt it, wishing that she could see it.
'Atleast this once...' Lilia wished with all her might but she could only dream, and dreaming wasn't enough.
Lilia waved in return with much more enthusiasm and smiled widely until all her muscles in her face ached, Lyle didn't want to lose and continued flapping like a chicken, trying to fly. Laughter filled the air and soon it dropped dead.
'Why is it so quiet?' Lilia thought.
"Just what are you doing Lyle? You weirdo." the girl rolled her eyes.
Prissy drags Lyle, arm-in-arm towards the exit. Before they left Lyle said a soft 'goodbye' to the forests and the nymph who had lived there all her life.
'Why? Why did he have to sound so sad? Why does this 'good bye' seem so different…so sad from the rest? Is he leaving me? Will he ever visit me again?' Lilia swam to the bottom and curled up into a ball, as she usual does for feelings like being scared and sad.
As days goes by, months were formed and eventually it turned into a year. Lilia forced herself to hibernate until a sound called, a certain sound. Each day in her hibernation she would be able to see herself as a human talking and laughing with friends, and be by Lyle's side. Other days it would be just plain white just like her eyes.
Then she heard a plummeting sound on the surface, Lilia shoot opened from her curled position just like a jellyfish. She saw blackness with a white streaming ball, falling and then disappeared into the darkness and then the light appeared again in a form just like a star with 7 edges. Lilia slowly swam towards the shining object, it felt surprisingly soft, a sign that it is edible but Lilia didn't eat it straight away, and instead she felt the soft object first.
It had a long supporting thin stick with seven floppy bits with a squishy centre, a rare type of plant, indeed.
She ate a petal…
'I can see!' she thought, only matured nymphs can see, an infant nymph can only have hearings. I thought that only nymphs that are old enough can be granted freedom and sight from Neptune…
She plucked another to put into her mouth…
"I…I can speak!" Lilia swam in hoops of happiness, I can finally sing like those girls I always hear near the woods.
She ate another, this time she received human legs. Everything went white and images started flashing: a woman, a witch and a man.
Pain ran though her body, her chest was burning and she clutched tightly to her chest.
Then everything went black.