Hi everyone. This is just a little trip down memory lane. For the people who have read "Free Time", do you remember in chapter 3 when Feitan had a little flashback of his time in Meteor City with Phinks? Yes, well, this story is expanding on that. The paragraph in italics below us is the section in chapter 3 where Feitan has his flashback. This is for the people who haven't read "Free Time".
The two boys were one of the many residents in Meteor City. They were only seven years old, young enough to be called children, and yet, they had already grown up. When you lived in a place as harsh as Meteor City, you grew up quickly. Much too quickly. When they were babies only a month old and abandoned, that was when they became children. When they grew up to be three and saw for the first time a person die in front of them, that was when they became adolescents. When they were six and killed their first victim, that was when they became adults. And now they were seven, and during the time span between their first victim and now, which was a mere one year, they had progressed to kill dozens. They could no longer be called children; people would now call them harsher words: "Monster"... "Murderer". Another, more meaningful phrase that one resident had called the pair was: "the children without childhood." Although Feitan and Phinks didn't understand what the elderly woman had said at the time, when they grew up, they would. But right now, they were only seven. And yet, even though they have become killers at such a young age, a tiny part of their minds were still that of seven-year-olds, and all seven-year-olds loved to play.
"You run slow," Feitan taunted as he ran ahead. He grinned a cheeky grin and dashed over heaps of rubbish.
Phinks finally caught up with Feitan and tackled him to the ground.
"Gotcha!" Phinks laughed. The two boys play-fought for a while, before the sound of voices shook them out of their fighting frenzy. Feitan and Phinks froze completely and stilled their movements until they were completely silent. Phinks and Feitan hid behind a hill of garbage and peeped over the top. Anyone who was looking their way at the time would say that they suddenly saw a pair of golden eyes and a pair of black eyes suddenly appear over the hill of rubbish, along with a mop of blue-black hair and tousled brown hair.
"Food," Feitan whispered. There were two men sitting down with a bird that they had trapped lying between them. It was the type of bird that normally hung around rubbish dumps. The type of bird that liked to look for leftovers. Scavengers.
"Ya wanna eat tonight?" Phinks asked rhetorically. Feitan grinned in response. Suddenly, the two boys were no longer playful, hyper children. They had morphed into dangerous predators, capable of killing without a thought. The two ghosted around behind the men, who were quite stupid and hadn't realised the presence of Phinks or Feitan. They both moved in perfect synchronisation, and in perfect synchronisation they both struck, Phinks snapping the neck of one man while Feitan broke the neck of the other. They smiled triumphantly at each other; they had practiced their teamwork countless times, so now they could move together almost without thought, almost reading each other's mind, something that would come in very useful for when they grew up. Feitan went over and picked up the bird carcass, which was big enough for two small boys to fill their stomachs and still have leftovers. Phinks jerked his head in the direction of the boys' hideout and they headed towards it in silence, but the silence was full of content.
Chapter start
Feitan and Phinks feasted on the bird carcass that they had stolen from the man. The smoky fire they had made with leftover garbage had cooked the bird (hopefully) and now they were tearing at the flesh, eating as though their life depended on it. With their bellies full, Feitan and Phinks leaned back and watched the sky, which was sprinkled with glittering stars.
"Feitan?" Phinks asked.
"Hmm?"
"Do you think... we will ever belong?"
If a normal, happy child living a normal, happy life had been asked that, they wouldn't have understood the meaning behind the question. But Feitan wasn't a normal, happy child living a normal, happy life. He had lived through Hell and back. From the moment he was left to fend for himself, he had ceased to become a child.
"We belong already," Feitan replied. Phinks cocked his head. "We belong to Meteor City." A slow grin spread across Phinks' face.
"Yeah," he laughed. Feitan stretched and lay down, falling asleep, but not before bidding Phinks good night. Phinks stared down at the peaceful face of his friend. You may say that their childhood was empty and dark. A place that you would rather forget. You could pity these boys and say that they didn't know what love was. Pity them because they didn't know a mother's touch or a father's encouraging murmur. But isn't it better to never have something, rather than have something precious and then lose it? This itself is what made Feitan and Phinks so cheerful. They never knew love, so they don't know what they have lost.
The next day
"See you back at the hideout," Phinks yelled. Feitan waved at him and continued along his chosen path. He was scavenging for food to eat, something that the boys did every day. Sometimes they would go together, other times, they would split up. Feitan let his seven-year-old mind take over his body. He ran towards anything that caught his attention, his curiosity never wavering. He picked up a random shard of broken crystal and held it up to the sunlight, smiling as it caught the light and watching it sparkle. He dropped the shard back down to the ground again, and he noticed a book lying amongst the piles of rubbish. He stepped forward and picked it. The cover was torn and a few pages ripped, but Feitan could still read the title.
The Prince Who Died
What a depressing book, Feitan thought. Forgetting everything around him, he opened the first page. It wasn't a very long story; it was one of those picture books with very little text and lots of colourful images. Feitan struggled to read the words, and after about an hour of staring at the book, finally figured out what it was about.
Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived a Princess who was very sad, because she longed for a Prince to come and marry her. Her father, the King, saw her loneliness and ordered suitors to come for her hand in marriage. Since the Princess was so beautiful, many men came. The Princess however, merely looked at them and declared that each and every one of the men weren't the right one, and so sent them away.
One day, the Princess saw a handsome Prince canter into the kingdom on his white horse, and immediately fell in love with him. The Prince too, fell in love with her, and they both married.
One year later, a mighty dragon had come and invaded the peaceful kingdom where the Prince and Princess lived. The heat it emitted from its body melted houses and the steam from its nostrils fogged up the sky. With the roar, the dragon demanded that they give it a Princess so it can lock her up in its castle, otherwise, it would wreck havoc to the kingdom. The Prince, however, stepped forward.
"I shall not let you take my wife," the Prince shouted. He brandished his great sword and set off to face the dragon, intending to kill it.
"Fair Princess, we have been married for naught but a year. I shall kill this fearsome beast and send it to the darkest depths of Hell. I will not let it take you," the Prince told the Princess before he left.
"But what if you die?" the Princess asked. The Prince smiled softly.
"Then I shall die for you, because you are worth dying for," was the reply, and thus, the Prince mounted his white horse and galloped off towards the dragon, with the Princess smiling a smile of admiration on her face. Sadly, though, the Prince was killed in his battle with the dragon, and since the kingdom had produced no Princess, it flew away to another land. The Princess constructed a giant monument in honour of her husband, and was proud of her Prince for defeating the dragon that had threatened to destroy the kingdom.
Feitan closed the story book, and stood up again. Forgetting his duty to look for food, Feitan ran towards a certain hideout with the book in his hand, intending to ask questions and expecting answers.
"Old woman?" Feitan called. The hideout was constructed purely on garbage, and a large but thin piece of metal covered the doorway. "Are you in here?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" came a rattling voice from inside. The metal "door" was thrown forward, and Feitan stepped out of the way to avoid getting hit. A wrinkled face emerged, and Feitan recognised her as the elderly woman who had called Phinks and Feitan the "children without childhood".
"What brings you here?" the old woman questioned.
"I want ask you question," Feitan said. The old woman sat down on a heap of rubbish and nodded.
"Ask away," the woman said. Feitan frowned before speaking.
"What is love?" Feitan asked. The old woman didn't seem surprised at his question, almost as if she had expected him to wonder about it.
"Why do you ask?" the old woman questioned. Feitan held out the storybook.
"It in here. Princess and Prince love each other. But what is love?" Feitan asked. The old woman did not answer for a while, but then she finally began to speak.
"Love... is a strange thing. It is the feeling that resides deep in your heart, sleeping until another can come and wake it up," the old woman said. "Love is a type of suffering. A person who suffers, must love. But when you love, you suffer. When you love someone deeply, when you truly love someone, you are willing to go to any lengths for them. You may even die for them. Love warms your heart, but when it leaves you, it will leave you cold. There are many forms of love. There is the love of a parent. The love of a sibling. The love of a friend. And the love of a lover. You cannot lie to love, ignore it, yes, but you cannot lie to it. Because love speaks not to your mind, but your heart."
Feitan gripped the story he held in his hands tighter.
"Does that mean, when person you love die, then you suffer?" Feitan asked. He knew all too well about suffering. The old woman nodded.
"Then why, in story, Prince always say 'I shall die for you'. What about Princess left behind? Don't Prince think about the Princess' suffering if he die?" Feitan asked.
"Well, yes. Generally, in fairy tales, princes say that he will die for his princess. Not a lot is said about the princess afterwards, but if they truly loved each other, the princess would suffer. She would suffer tremendously," the old woman replied.
"Then, that mean, in story The Prince Who Died, Princess no love Prince?" Feitan suggested, holding out the story towards the old woman. She took the book curiously and read it. At the end page, she closed the book in disgust.
"No, she did not love the Prince. She may have thought that she loved him, but she did not truly see him. If he really was her true love, then she wouldn't have let him fight the dragon with such a smile on her face. And when he died, she would have suffered. The Prince may have loved her, but the Princess did not truly love the Prince."
"Oh." Feitan sat there thinking for a few minutes, and then he said, "Love no exist." The old woman raised an eyebrow.
"And why do you think that?" the old woman asked.
"How come no one love me?" Feitan said.
"You do not know when love will strike," the old woman said. "Don't you have a friend, that boy Phinks?" Feitan nodded. "And what would you do if Phinks suddenly disappeared or died?" Feitan paused, thinking through this.
"I no like it," Feitan said. He didn't want to say that he was upset, if not angry. If he did, it would be rather... unlike him.
"Yes. Friendship, in a way, is a type of love," the old woman said. Feitan looked at her blankly.
"But I no love Phinks," Feitan said. The old woman sighed inwardly. But she shouldn't be surprised. He was only seven, after all. "You no explain properly. I still no understand what love is."
But you will, child, the old woman thought. You will.