— ...Shhh. Don't' be afraid, little. It's a harmless moon.

— The monsters come outta moon... do they, momma?

— They don't, child. There's mother Gaia, and only at Gaia they live at.

— And the moon? Why is it at the skies? Who lives there?

— No one. No one from Gaia.

— Does God lives on the moon, momma?

— He watches us from above.

— Above? Like the moon? I see people look above, like they speak for nobody. Momma, what are you looking at?

— Your brother. Say hi to Kain. Kain... that must be it...

— That must be what? Momma, you didn't answered my question. Answer me, momma... momma? Momma! Ya heard me? What's up? Why... aren't you... blinking?...


— ...They haven't told me what happened with mom. I begged to know. Was I forbidden? Little enough to understand? Why, if I saw it? Father went to war and never came back. Sounds vague, I know, he was my father, but he didn't took care of me as mom. He was there, fighting the enemy. There, where? I wanted to know. They never told me, until now. Until I became old enough to bear, but thing is, no one is old or dumb enough.

It's about time I got fooled by being innocent, pure, a child poking its nose, minding it's own business. I used to hate going to the church, not because I feel asleep or anything, but, at that very table, they put her body over there, and to this day, they pray to mom like she's a saint or something. Like she's everyone's mom, and she had to die for that? I wanted to say these things to the Priest, I am free to say anything that's bothering me, he said. For how long he's been here, hearing what I have to say? Does he care with what I say? It ain't over, not yet. He feels throught silence. Sigh...

— ...I know who father fought against, our own brothers. I can't say the Vastitas are our brothers, they do things that we don't. I heard those people... people? They cut heads and put their skulls on sticks, near their homes. Saw a man with an eyepatch walking on the market these days, and he told me a Vastita took his eye out with a knife. The eyes, of the most sacred things, shouldn't ever be hurt. Not only you feel the thing, he said to me, but you see it come throught you. And you can't do nothing to stop it, he said and kept saying, like the world should know.

I know. I can't forget. The amount of brutality and violence, like on that night. She only brought birth, and ther was so much blood spread around. But, she didn't cared. Neither the Priest will care if I told him. The miracle of life, he'd say, like all of them. Miracle? To lose so much blood...

— ...No wonder our neighbors are addicted to violence, Priest. These reports were meant to be hindered by the Mist the Vastitas found themselves living at. They are free to do whatever they want because no one's seeing. Now that we know it... but it ain't what the Vastitas do that it bothers me. I know I'm safe here, at Yashar. I know because we live above that very Mist, thank God. Yes, God... where was he when father lost for the first time? When mom brought birth? Was he watching from above, as usual? What about the guy who lost it's eye to a Vastita? He watched that atrocity happen to someone and did nothing? As for doing something, he keeps telling my brother throught dreams, prophetic dreams, that there's hope.

And floating rivers. He keeps saying something about floating rivers at the skies. Never heard anything like... floating river of pee, must be.

— ...Hope? Tell me, Priest, where do you see hope? They said the same thing they did with mom as they did with father. The same thing of always. Like, they don't say anything to frighten. They put kids on sleep with frightening tales, I know, heard those. Mom, well... she was put on an eternal sleep. A better place, they said. Family, friends, strangers, I didn't needed them to know what happened with mom could happen with me, and everyone.

Is God afraid of it's own creation? I'd ask back then.

Had I been smart enough. Had I been afforded the chance. Had mother lived long enough.

Had not she brought birth to my brother Kain...

— ...What does everyone saw on my brother that's so 'special'? That he lived and mother... Sorry. I'm really sorry. I... I shouldn't be saying such things. What a sin. Andt that's what I don't understand, Priest. Mom was so healthy before Kain, and then she just, just... is that how people die? People that did nothing wrong? They're just gone, and that's it? Nothing? They just go, like this? What is the purpose of living if it ends like this? That, at any moment, you just ploft! and you die. Well, enough about mom, she had quite a life, wish she had more life. Damn, she was so young. That's not fair, it really isn't fair... but, according to this prophecy, it is. Prophecy be damned, because, because... you see, there's no relation whatsoever to my brother Kain being THE Kain you all from church speak about for ages, the one supposed to be born at Year 900 or something. Does it matter? How many haven't been born and chosen another name? More qualified saviors spread around, and it needs to be my brother, whose mother... was it written somewhere that she had to perish that young!?

I just don't get it.

...

-The Lost Years-

A/N: Hello, here's a new project! Well, not so new, given it's an adaptation of a chapter I wrote before for my main fic, Under the Crescent Moon. So, back in 2020, I wrote a 16,000 word chapter where I told the story of how Burmecia came to be. I dared to read it again and found interesting how I came up with tones of ideas in a single chapter, ideas that could be developed into a whole story. Stay tuned, hope you enjoy!