Season Two : Fall - Changing colors.
Autumn blows winds that bid farewell to the lively spirit of summer. The trees and the flowers and the rest of the land begin to change, as though preparing for a long night's rest. Gently, she lays a carpet of leaves in preparation for the coming season of coldness.
As the days of summer drowned in the incoming season of falling leaves and lengthening nights, I found myself in a rather inspired mood, for I was now carrying with me the warm spirit of the summer solstice.
"It's harder to not fall in love with something that has already taken up a special corner in your heart."
I thought long and hard about those words. It was the first real advice that my best friend had given me, and coming from the likes of her, surely it was meant to be worth something. Maybe she was right. Maybe I have to take another chance with Vina. Maybe I have to take it slower.
The first day the leaves started falling, I finally mustered up the courage to confront Vina. She was still a sight to behold: Her Payonese-white complexion, her long dark hair, her rosy white cheeks, and sapphire eyes. How she moves, the way she speaks, everything she does with much composure becoming of a really matured girl. I could spend an entire day staring at her and not get tired of doing so.
"Hi Vina."
Vina was fixing up her lunch underneath one of the reddening trees near Father Anthony's lesson grounds when she noticed me. She smiled at me and waved back. It didn't feel like she was in anyway feeling negative towards me after I got dumped a good three months ago.
"What's up, Red? We haven't talked in quite a while."
"Has it been that long?" I asked. Well come to think of it, it has been quite a while. I took a seat beside her and casually smiled.
"Say Vina, have you heard about the Baphomet who went inside a bar?"
Her reaction was that of intrigue. I was glad to see this. So I went on with my borrowed little skit.
"So a Baphomet walks into the bar, and the bartender asks..."
Vina giggled after I had delivered the joke - a much better reaction than what I had given Emi for the same joke a few months before. I somehow felt guilty about it but this wasn't the time for that.
The joke turned into a conversation, the conversation turned into a good friendship. Everything felt much more casual than what I had done when I brashly courted her before. All this, of course, in front of Emilia, my bestfriend.
Days turned into weeks, weeks into months. Each morning that I woke up in, ushered in a day better than before. Things were finally working out for the better of me. Vina and I were becoming really close and I had Emilia to thank for it.
And all good things, they say, have tradeoffs. I sometimes felt that I was spending way too much time with Vina. That I was starting to forget about Emilia and her childish antics; that I was enjoying myself while my best friend was left alone. All three of us would go out at times but suffice to say, three's a company. It took no time for me to lack the time for the two most special girl friends that I had.
I had mixed feelings about it. And so I let the issue slip for a while and pretended not to notice it. At least, that was the case until the Festival of the Moon God.
In case you're not from Prontera or just not familiar with local customs, the Festival of the Moon God is celebrated during the last moonless night of autumn to commemorate the legend of the Moon God who fell in love with a young Pronteran flower girl. It is said that the moon disappears because he comes down to visit the spirit of his beloved. During the festival, either you come with a friend of the opposite sex or you not come at all. It's a harsh tradition, I know. But I had always been fateful enough to have Emi by my side. This year, however, I was with two girls. And I didn't know which one to take.
This posed quite the dilemma for me. I've been going with Emi during the festival for so long now and I knew how much she enjoyed every bit of the fanfare. If I didn't invite her, I she'd go a'pouting and the gods only know the end of it. But then again, taking Vina to the festival would be a dream come true for me. This festival was my chance. Everything that I needed was there: The romantic music, the cool wind, the apple wine and the overall ambiance of romance.
Three days before the affair, I went to Emilia's house. After paying respects to her aunt and uncle, who looked at me as if I were a family member, I went straight up to her room. It had been more than six months since I last visited her inside her room. Since we saw each other almost everyday during our training, we often met each other in all sorts of places, almost never in her room.
I knocked three times.
I heard slow footsteps and then a low voice, "Who is it?"
"It's me, Emi. It's Red."
"Red?" she replied in an excited voice. Maybe we didn't see each other too often anymore. Was there a chance that she was really missing me? Silly little Emi.
Finally, the door opened. The sight of a room I had last seen a few months ago stunned me. Everything was so... so...
Different.
The cute dolls were placed on the higher racks on the walls. Everything was organized, as opposed to the entropic setup that I last saw before. The pink paint overalls were changed into various shades of purple. Books and various knickknacks have replaced where toys once stayed.
"What's with the stare, Red? Surprised to see the new look?"
"When did..." I couldn't finish my words. I was too busy marveling at the changes.
"One day last summer, I just woke up and decided that things just had to change around here," said Emi a boasty manner. Even her room was changing - first her attitude and now the room.
Was I the one being left behind?
I sat on her bed. Even the sheet cover colors have been changed to match the room motif. Thankfully, my birthday gift to her, a yoyo doll, was still on the bed. The sight of it comforted me, even if just a little. As much as I felt really odd telling her about my dilemma, it just had to be done.
"Emi, I came here to talk to you about something."
Emilia walked towards her open window. "Is this about the festival?"
Faster than an agitated thief bug, she really was.
"You know me all too well, Emi."
And that was the truth. Even if I didn't talk to her about it now, she's bound to bring it up at another time. I decided to take the initiative this time.
"Yeah, I've been thinking about that too. Remember the first time we went to the festival together? You didn't want me to be your partner because you thought I was just going to be scared at the fireworks and become a thorn in your back."
I chuckled. She was quite the brat back then. Emi wanted to go with me so badly that at the last moment, I just had to give in. Well, she really didn't cry and as a matter of fact, she enjoyed it. I was relieved and we ended up going to a lot more festivals after that.
"I really think that this is the opportune moment for you and Vina," Emilia continued. She sighed a bit but not so loud as to not let me notice it. But I did. I guess I too, know her only too well. She then stooped under her bed and pulled out an old blue box of some sort.
"What about you? Will you still be going to the festival?"
Emi smiled and gave out a shrug. "I don't see why I shouldn't."
"Whom will you go out with?"
Emi covered her mouth with one hand and did an evil-queen impersonation laugh as she placed the box on top of her bed. "Hohohoho, the question is, who won't?"
She opened the box and lo and behold, I saw countless letters. At first I didn't know what she meant. I browsed one of the letters. It was from a swordsman (the envelop had the Chivalry Insgnia) to Emilia Winterharp.
A love letter?! For Emi?! THE Emi?!
I searched the box. There were at least a good five different authors in there. My heart raced frantically. I really didn't know why. Where was I during all of this? Any why did I have no idea that my best friend was already the apple of a lot of eyes?
I tried to play the fool. "What are these?"
Emi sat beside me and smiled. "I got all those after you started going out with Vina. Maybe they thought I was feeling lonely and stuff. I really dunno."
"And your replies?" I curiously asked.
Emi had a puzzled look. "Replies?"
I returned the same puzzled look.
"Oh! You mean my answers to the stuff they ask?" cheerfully replied Emilia in a naive tone. She continued with a lowering voice. "I didn't say anything. I didn't think I would ever need to."
I felt the loneliness. A wall was clearly growing between us. Emi...
But as usual, She put on the usual smile and said, "Don't mind me, Red! You have to concentrate on what you have set out to do with Vina!"
Not wanting to stay in the mood of sadness I smiled back. On the way home, I thought about the box of letters that I saw earlier, her new room and how she had lowered her voice after my inquiry about the letters. But she's right. I have to put everything else behind me first.
On a really important note, she neither pouted nor reacted negatively. Her voluntary disinclination to not come with me was somewhat surprising. She has grown up to be the understanding woman that I have never come to expect of her. On the brighter side of things, I now had permission, if you can really call it that, to go out with Vina.
Vina of course didn't make much fuss about it and whole-heartedly agreed to come with me.
Then came the festival night. The food was great and the music was just as entertaining. Vina particularly liked the fireworks. I couldn't help but liken her reactions to Emilia.
Speaking of Emila, she turned up with a blonde archer who she courteously introduced to me by the name of Dante. Probably the guy whose letter got lucky enough for Emi to pick as a date. Or probably not. Perhaps he's courting her? Damn. I didn't even know what's going on in her life anymore.
I didn't see the two later that night. Maybe I was just too engrossed with my talk with Vina who, I must say, has grown quite fond of our long talks about life and its works. Quite philosophical, she was; Far-deviated from an Emi who kept everything real.
As the night grew deeper, the festive music died down and was replaced with a flowing nocturne of stringed quartets. A few good glasses of apple wine sweetened the occasion. And if I might recount it well, I think we both have had one glass too many that night. Or not.
Twelve o'clock.
I remember the dull ringing of the church bells to signal the midnight mark. Most people were already getting ready to call it a night. Others found themselves complacently bunked over some dining table sharing stories with their family and friends. Vina and I were seating on one of the side benches of the plaza.
"The stars. The stars are most beautiful tonight, aren't they?" I asked Vina.
"Brighter, yes. But don't you feel that something is missing?"
I was puzzled by her enigmatic reply.
"The stars may be glowing brighter tonight because of the moon's absence but also because the moon is gone, the stars have nothing else to woo but the empty heavens. They glow for nobody. Perhaps they glow even brighter because they are lonely. Because they want the moon back."
I saw in her sadness. I looked up the stars too. She was right and I saw the sad feel to the moonless night sky. I felt as though she needed me the most this time. I slowly placed my arm by her shoulders.
No resistance. She pushed herself closer.
"You know Vina, they need not glow for the moon. They are beautiful because I'm watching them with you. For me, they glow even brighter because you are here with me tonight."
She looked at me, teary eyed but happy. I smiled back. "Thank you, Red."
Vina leaned towards me. Suddenly the bench was hardly big enough for the both of us. I looked at her and saw her closed eyes and inviting lips as she went even closer. I pulled her even more with a gentle tug of my arm over her shoulders. The music in the air, the cold blowing wind, the starry night - picture perfect.
She was asking for it and I was only too human to not consent.
I felt her supple, wet-dry lips gently touch mine. The feeling was surreal. It was as though the warmth of our bodies concentrated on our lips for one brief moment and joined at the moment the my first kiss, sending shivers and prickly heat all over my body at the same time.
Is this love?
I felt a sudden relaxation of all my muscles in the body. All tension that had built up, seemingly lost in just a few seconds. I was at peace. And I hoped Vina was feeling only the same thing.
Finding a new sense of tranquility, my mind then started wandering off. I thought about my life. My training. All the girls that I have courted before. My suffering. Then Vina. Then Emilia.
Refusing to delve any further into my reverie, I opened my eyes, still in the trance of our kiss. I then saw something that which I wish I never had seen that night. Emilia was standing from across the street, with Dante. The reflection from the stars could not match the moon's stolen light. But it was sufficient enough to illuminate the tears in her eyes.
I pushed myself slowly away from Vina and rested her head on my shoulder. I tried to say something from far away. I opened my mouth but no words would come out. Perhaps it was already a blessing that Vina was too into the moment to see it.
Then I saw Emi run away, leaving me, Vina, even Dante. My heart shattered into a thousand pieces that night. Right after it felt the best sensation in my lifetime.
Dante looked at me with feral eyes then he ran after Vina across the crowded night streets of Prontera. Perhaps I wasn't myself that night. Or perhaps it was the only time that the real me was in control.
Either case, I chose not to follow.
I chose to stay with Vina as she quietly fell asleep by my side, not waking up till the first break of dawn.