Illusions and Paper Cranes
By Blinded by the Moonlight
Summary: All is not as it seems in this garden of woe.
A/N: Ohmaigosh I'm three days late ^^; this was meant to be a Christmas update.
Anyway, Merry Christmas! My first ever oneshot that has a true plot! Yay.
I aimed for a cryptic style, but I still think I did a good job. Unless if you want to prove me otherwise(Be nice, I feel I am on a roll here!).
No romance in this one, folks. *Celebrates*
And I really did try to keep this one free of mistakes. Point them out if necessary.
~Moon
Disclaimers and the Like:/
In no way do I own Maplestory; it is the sole property of Nexon America, Nexon Korea, Wizet and AsiaSoft for GMS, KMS and MSea respectively. The only things I own are the plot, the Mother, and Julia.
Inspired by Iron Shadows, Paper Wings by Absol Master. Absol, if you think it's too similar, I'll take it down at request.
Dedicated to the few that still support my writing despite my horrendous upkeep of updates; I'll try to keep it more steady once the internet's back up.
Illusions and Paper Cranes
Destined towards the night sky, they seek freedom. A future.
My mother always sung a lullaby to me, every night as she tucked me in. Her singing caressing my ears was as heavenly as the wind that passes through my hair as I run. She sung of something magical, something mystical. Something that as what I am, I cannot experience, even if I wished with all my might.
For I am a Cygnus Knight, my loyalty forever tied to this small, floating island and along with the Empress that lives on it. A fountain starts at its daily interval in the distance, yet I know that it was all an illusion. But, my mother said that heavenly things were most certainly good. Despite that; this so called 'heaven' was a cage to me; I am a bird, trapped in a cage, without wings to fly with.
I seem free of pain, of cold. But for once, I want to feel it. The pain, the sadness of a lost one. Of love, of hate and remorse. All of these things, taken from me as soon as I signed the scroll, metal scratching softly against paper.
We are puppets, with the Empress as the skillful puppeteer. Our actions are nothing; they have been planned in advance, step by step. Our strings are invisible, but defintely there. Should we disobey, not that we would, we would perish; slowly fading away into the darkness of the night.
Everything starts on a canvas. As an idea; a figment of imagination. From there, it flourishes in a variety of vibrant colors, from the raging reds to the mellow yellows. Pastels clash with neon, and so forth. Different colors, symbolizing different things. A change, a new beginning, an end. Yet; what happens when the canvas no longer exists?
I wanted to fly. The books in the grand library of the palace often told of the ability to fly; it spoke of freedom, a truly magical experience where you are one with the stars. The books said that if you tried hard enough, you would be able to leave this mortal world, and join the heavens with the goddess. I know my mother's there, waiting for me.
High up in the clouds,
In the deep blue sky,
Amongst the birds and the stars
Lie your fate, your heart.
...
You'd never guess what lay,
Upon those stars,
For it is something that only
You would know, when you fly.
...
Fly, up high in the sky!
Reach above all else, reach for Her hand
Fly up, towards the stars
Before your time is up.
...
During the night,
Her song sweeps the world
In absolute grace,
Her sweet embrace on us all.
...
If you visit her,
You're free of all worries,
Of pain, of sorrow
Your heart is as pure as the snow.
...
Fly up in the air!
Reach for your heart, reach for the stars
Fly up, embrace your gift
For all will soon be lost.
...
Fly, up high in the sky!
Reach above all else, reach for Her hand
Fly up, towards the stars
Before your time is up.
Her voice still rings in my ears as I walk these empty halls, devoid of any true life, of adventure. Even the Chief Knights hardly have any freedom. They seem almost dead, pale as the purest snows of El Nath, their voices delicate and seemingly likely to break with the faintest of breezes.
"Come now, Julia. Are you ready? The assembly starts in ten minutes," I heard my mother call. "We'll be late and it's never polite."
My mother was always a punctual woman, even when times were tough, she would always follow her strict schedule.
"Coming, Mother!" I heard myself call back. There was something in my voice; something strange but sweet. A spring in my step, instead of a dreary totter. A leap off the stairs, instead of a feeble jump. It was almost as if I was happy. Well, perhaps I was. Perhaps I was humane enough back then to hold emotion. I shrugged on my jacket and ran down the stairs, finishing off with an eager leap to meet my mother, who had a smirk on her face. "What?" I asked.
"Julia Stan, you silly girl. You've forgotten your scarf," she replied, smiling fondly as my happy face turned to one of horror, shooting up the stairs faster than I came down.
I leapt into the wardrobe, throwing out pieces of clothing by the second. "Got it!" I shouted loudly, before dashing out of the door and smacking into my brother. "Alex!" I groaned. "I've got to go to an assembly! Move move moooov-"
"Whatever," he replied, his eyes never leaving his phone. "Just don't tell Dad that I knocked into you; otherwise he'll ground me again. 'You've got to be like Jay!' I couldn't care less..." He continued to mutter under his breath as he walked into his room, his eyes still not leaving the phone.
I dashed down the stairs at the speed of light. "I'm done, Mother. Can we go now?" I asked eagerly.
Watching her nod, I ran out of the door, standing by the awaiting taxi. After a quick glance at the gold watch she had around her neck, she ran, or at least attempted to, to the taxi and ushered me in. "To Ellinia, please," she said quickly to the taxi driver, who nodded in response. As the car started to drive away, I turned back to look at the mushroom house that was my home before anticipating what would happen at the assembly.
You see, this floating island is invisible to most eyes, for it floats high above the clouds. The few lucky explorers who see the island whilst outside waiting for a Crimson Balrog during a boat trip often think it is a mirage, afterwards blaming it on too many barbarian elixirs from New Leaf City. Those things were brutal, I say. The recipe is still unknown, and the side effects change every time...
Anyway, Ereve is said to be a land between the heavens and the world, where if you protect the world well, you would eventually go to heaven. If not, and you disobey, you would perish into nothing. Many saw it as a second life as a mortal, before reaching the heavens with Her as a soul.
Well, I guess you'd have figured it out by now; everyone on Ereve is dead.
To tell you the truth, I never reached that assembly; I never lived to see my name be called out, nor to recieve my award as the top magician in my class.
I don't really remember what happened towards my death. Just a few hazy memories that wander aimlessly around my head, avoiding contact. All I remember is a truck, speeding towards us; a blood-shot eyed man at the wheel with a ghastly grin. Then, black.
I think... I was involved in a traffic collision.
The headlines the day after my death was, 'Lunatic breaks out and kills a 32 year old mother and her 8 year old daughter.'
Father was never really the same after that. We observed from Ereve what was happening at Henesys; he had become more strict, especially after Alex ran away to Kerning City. I don't think Father would ever forgive him after that. He always held Mother's battered gold watch close to him, as if it was the only thing left of her. He also held his old hat that I adored very closely to him.
If only I could send him a message! A note from me and Mother, saying that we were all right! Father would have loved it! He would stop being so glum and down in the dumps and he would smile again! Maybe, even hold a festival once in a while! I always loved the fireworks display the best of all.
Alex and Jay never mentioned us ever again; they only spoke of Mother, who died in an accident. They didn't say what sort.
Alex dyed his hair a vivid red, the same color of my room before Father sold the house. Jay kept my favourite book, a big book about a snail called Bob.
Not long after, Mother started to sing the song to me. There was always a tear in her eyes, twinkling like the stars we used to stargaze back at home. She sung the song to me every day, before she went out to gather food and complete tasks set out by the Empress.
Something small caught my eye. Something small and fragile. I bent down and picked it up. A seed of some sort. I caught my own reflection in the shiny surface of the seed. Nothing but a sad face stared back.
At that moment, something clicked, along with a decsion to do it. I grasped the seed tightly in my hands, and ran towards my room in the palace. Echoes of my footsteps sounded throughout the whole palace; and after this, I was certain that the walls will never hear them again.
As a way to pass the time, I began to paint and fold origami. Mother had always brought bright, colorful paper and I always folded them into pretty cranes. I painted and sketched the landscapes; with the waterfall as my favourite place to draw. Mother said that one day, if I made alot of them, I would be able to make my biggest wish come true. I would be able to combine all of the cranes to make wings... And I would be able to fly away, like she did.
I stood on the tip of the ground next to the waterfall. Glancing down, I saw nothing but white and the water disappearing into air. And then, I finally knew.
For the past ten years, I had been living in a mirage. A paradise that was merely a fragment of one's imagination. I dropped the colorful rainbow wings that I had crafted after so long, and watched it fall through the clouds, disappearing into nothing.
A tear rolled down my cheek as I turned to face the translucent paradise, and fell.
A/N: Reviews are appreciated, but not mandatory. Just keep in mind that these reviews are keeping me running 3
Also; thanks a bunch to Kane for beta reading this over my shoulder~
Another thanks to NekomimiToree for reviewing my last story; I PROMISE I WILL GET CHAPTER TWO UP. SOMEDAY.