Author's note: Please give a review after reading this, it would be very much appreciated…
Disclaimer: I do not own Ragnarok Online,
Clashing Colors
The colors of war clashed horribly against each other…
RED…Blood….blood everywhere, not a patch of earth was left unstained by crimson and here I am, in the midst of it all,
Staring…
Unthinking…
Too numb to even mourn or grieve the departed lives of my comrades…
BLUE…the sky looking cold and uncaring as I lay beneath it, and its mocking darkness made me believe that the sky itself was death…waiting to drag me into its abyss.
WHITE…The moon rising round and full against the dark blue sky, its light illuminating the bodies…all dead…their blank eyes stained red with blood…staring accusingly at me as if resenting the fact that I'm alive while they lay lifeless.
GREY…the growing mist of dusk seemed dirty…disgustingly gross to me…seeming like blankets covering the dead…
Lifting myself, I kneeled on the crimson soil, seeing the swords, spears, and arrows pierced against the ground. It almost seemed as if the earth was bleeding. The tattered banner of our guild fluttered weakly against the wind, its colors now seemed as faded as our cause, in the distance their was a clash of metal swords, and slowly, it became silent, the fighters most likely have met each others blades and died.
A silvery glitter caught my eye, and I dragged myself weakly to it, drawn mysteriously to its light, ignorant of reason. "a mirror?" I thought, touching it lightly with my finger, but I felt it wetness, a cold liquid…it was water. I glanced into it, and saw myself…far from what I knew I was…ripples danced upon its surface…making my reflection blurred…I seemed faceless…and I felt it…war made every man faceless, death saw no faces and cared not whose life was taken…
The ripples settled, and the water returned to stillness and there I saw my face…was it really mine? My blond hair had turned paler, almost ash-blond from months of going hatless under the sun's rays, and what happened to my eyes? They've become a strange color, they used to be blue…what are they now? Lavender? The person who stared back at me curiously on the water's surface was a complete stranger; I wondered if Song would even recognize me when I returned…
"If" I clarified, "If I return…"
Song....Song…her name reverberated against my emptiness…delivering my soul from blank dismay, I could see the warmth of illusion's caress as it brought me a memory of what I left when I joined in war against the other guilds…I left Song…my beloved Song, I could picture her dancing green eyes and strangely exotic pink hair, and I could see her smile at me…so warmly, so welcoming, and yet once again, I was dragged back to reality…being where I was…surrounded by death…feeling almost dead like the bodies littered around me…
"I want to go back…" I whispered to the faceless stranger in the water as rain began to fall steadily, leaving numerous ripples against its surface. "Song…I promise I won't leave you again" I swore, hoping that somehow she'd at least know of my regret at leaving her, and I felt despair borne of the knowledge that I would probably die before I saw her again…
A footstep sounded from behind me…a bloody body staggered weakly in my direction…the wild look in the man's eyes made me realize that he was crazed, "You must be saved…" he groaned almost savagely as flashes of lightning sliced across the thundering skies, "I will deliver you from this horror…I will deliver you to death and salvation…"
The rain stopped…and the moon once again appeared, leaving his sword gleaming silver under its moonlight as it was raised…ready to strike me…
"I'm too weak…too weak…" I thought, not having enough strength to use my skills as a mage and protect myself…the crazy man's gaze became wilder, almost savage as he got ready to swing his sword and slice through my flesh…
I knew I was screaming…but I could not hear myself…all was silent to me…all I could see were colors of war…crimson of blood…blue of dark sky…silver of swords…grey of mist…all of them came into one…then all disappeared…leaving only blackness…
Then…I heard myself screaming…
EPILOGUE:
"Aaron! Aaron!"
I could only hear myself screaming in answer to my name.
Soft lips pressed against mine, silencing me, keeping me still, leaving me calm, soothing me, bringing me back from the fear that consumed me.
"Aaron…it was a nightmare…only a nightmare…" Song stammered, her tears fell warm against my face, and I shivered from my own cold sweat despite her tight embrace.
"I saw color again…all real…so vivid…" I finally confessed, embracing her closer.
"No more, Aaron…It was all a dream…a nightmare…"
"It was all so real Song…I could feel it…"
She stopped me by putting a finger to my lips, "No Aaron…It was a dream, but this…" she began, as she clasped my hand and placed it upon her face, "This is real…I'm real…"
I could sense her heart's quickening pace, and felt her doubt, "I promised not to leave you again, have I not?" I assured her,
"You have…" she smiled, and I could feel her gaze settle lovingly into my own blind eyes,
I smiled back at her…and asked for my blinker, ready to leave the inn after recovering from the nightmare. But I knew I would never recover from the forever memory of war etched in me…my blindness has become a reminder, a mark of what I had foolishly followed in colors of glory and honor masking the horror of war…
How ironic…that I would only see color again when I'm back in nightmare memories of war. Its better this way, I'll see no more of pain…but I can always see Song, a memory of her face is imprinted forever in me, overpowering the nightmares and gore of what war had given me.
I walk out the door, but despite my blindness, I could still sense my surroundings, and everything goes on even when fate denied me of sight. Song clasps her hand against mine as we walk through Geffen,
I would be leaving again, restless still, but ever stronger in spirit…this quality was but a mere consolation of war. But this time, everything didn't matter, Song would be with me…