The Sky's Painful Tears
By: Ice-Chalis
He stared in to the deep red liquid soaking into the earth and then to the blade that had been plunged into his only family. He was mesmerized by the glow against the stars he saw shooting across the sky from it's reflection. He found it impossible to cry, but only smile when he pulled the steel out of his father. The sky was exactly the same as it once was when his mother passed, too. Was it was fated that his family die in this fashion? He laughed wondering if it was going to happen to him someday as well.
'Papa, what are those things?'
'Ah... Shooting stars... quick, Ross, make a wish.'
'I wish Mama was was a star too!'
Perhaps it was a sadistic thought. Then again, it was natural, wasn't it? Just cover up the sorrow to live another day.
But for what reason did he have to live now?
"Ross."
It was simple. He had no reason.
He had been buying time--or rather, borrowing time. Not one point in his life was he able to save anyone. If it weren't for his father he wouldn't have made it from the attack in his old village. If it weren't for the royal twins of Renais, he would have been killed by being in the battle field that day as well and many more times afterwords. The process had since repeated itself over and over again with only a minor change; he began to save himself, but with a catch. Every time it would still involve someone, and that someone would get hurt. It didn't matter whether it was an ally or a bystander, or even an enemy. They were hurt and it almost always lead to their death.
"Ross. Lets go back."
He turned to see the glow of fire in her dark eyes.
So there were two innocents that were hurt that day, was there?
"Shooting stars are nothing more than a large rock heading towards the earth we live in. As it burns up by the Aura of Divine built up by many generation of monks it only looks like a streak of light that gradually disappears in what we perceive in a second." She began while folding and putting away the cape she usually wore for ornamental purposes. She had once said that it helped soothe her anxiety as she loved the sound of wind blowing against drying bed sheets. "It is highly unlikely that you are truly fate's plaything; I could, in fact, name countless of people who have been in far worse situations! That old grandmother who took care of me, for example. She had a habit of drinking tea after mid morning supper--"
Ross made himself at 'home' sitting in her cot, "You had dinner first thing in the morning?"
"And breakfast between sleep, yes. Lunch was a rarity as taxes became higher and I still needed my education, so I gave up on breakfast as well. I needed all the rest I could get anyway."
"The old... er, your grandmother?"
She smiled, "The old grandmother."
Ignoring her play of words, he asked again, "She taught you for free, didn't she?"
"Oh, yes. But after reading all of the books she possessed I required more knowledge! So my expenses went primarily to books. Food eventually became less and less the issue as eventually my body became accustomed to tea and bread. Oh. Right." It brought amazement to anyone how she could strain from a subject and just circle around back to it, "The old grandmother always drank tea after mid morning supper--I should know, I prepared it--so she expected there to be a pot ready for her. During one week, I had been completely absorbed in magic. Anima, Light, Ancient! It made me absolutely mad, now that I think back! I read three books as a hermit in my room for days--not one sliver of sunlight, not one conversation, not so much as myself even gasping for breath as I continued reading (Oh how I wish I still had that book, it sounds magnificent), I was mad, I tell you!"
It made Ross smile how this story could go on and on, not that he would mind if it did. It would just mean that this moment could be frozen in the far future and that reality would never catch up to them. There would be no such trivial matters such as the Demon King, or Prince Leon, or earth its self. There would be nothing that could ever break this feeling of harmony between the mutual friends--or siblings as he had dubbed them.
"So, this grandmother of yours..."
"The grandmother, Ross, the grandmother." She repeated and down she sat across from him in her stool, "The old grandmother became very ill, this being after I finished of course--"
"Of course."
"I stood by her day and night, keeping warm I burned the book I was reading. It made me disgusted at myself. It wasn't until after she succumbed to her illness did I realize that the herbs I used to make the tea was the main ingredient to her medicine. She made vulneraries by trade. Because of her old age, her body had quickly recognized the ingredient as a necessary nutrient to slow down further aging. My point being here is that she died pitifully and that she is more or less fate's plaything."
"Hm... But even I wouldn't pity her."
"I... don't quite follow."
"She had someone spend as long as it took, no matter what she happened to watch over her and make sure she got better, right? You're a good girl, Lute. I imagine you didn't eat during that time either, huh?"
"...You're a lot smarter than you let on. Yes, that's exactly what happened. But I didn't get the chance to see her go or say good bye... I think I passed out a little before that. Her passing on, I mean."
Ross noticed tears forming in her eyes and smiled once more. "Shooting stars..."
Lute wiped her eyes with her left arm, "Uh? Oh, they also fall on the earth sometimes and when they make it, they're usually very small stones."
"It's okay to let them hit ground sometimes then?" He spoke softly.
"...Yes. Yes, it's fine to let them fall... otherwise, life would be rather... boorish." Lute closed her eyes, allowing herself to let go, but could not produce any liquid from her eyes.
'So when it rains, does that mean the sky is crying?'
'No, little one, when it rains, the sky connects to the land and is blessed. There are also meteors that hit earth, but they curse the humans as they hurt the Aura of Divine. Does this make sense, Lute?'
She laughed quietly to herself, opening her eyes slightly. She whispered softly that not even she could hear.
"I experienced the same shower that he nor I could not express. It's not a curse; not to me at least."
Stuck in their own time, unreachable by present. Nothing would ever pull them apart, for the next time the Aura of Divine released it's tears unto the world, they would at least go together.