One comment... someone, anyone? Please? :)
Kaleidoscope
Fully laden with documents, Liwia rolled out of the Aquarius Palace and began to cautiously descending toward the lower Houses. Somewhere at the height of Aiolia's headquarters, she heard stomping and quiet humming behind her.
"Caballeros del Zodiacooo, cuando lanzan sus ataques..."* Milo continued until he noticed Liwia in front of him. "Oh, who do my eyes see? Deducing from a ballast, which is still smelling of Siberian snowflakes, you are going to court, right, Liwuś**?"
Liwuś he said in Polish. The girl's heart went soft.
"Deducing from your good mood, you switched with Aphrodite and you can go to the bar to watch the match, right, Escorpión?"
Milo laughed and took all the papers from her hands.
"As always, Fortuna favors me; besides, Dite doesn't really like football. Ok let's go, I am in a bit of a hurry, because the first whistle will sound soon, but at least I will take those papers downstairs for you."
As he said, he did so. Being at the foot of the Zodiac Houses, the girl said goodbye to the Golden Knight and slowly meandered between corroded columns.
"Hey, Liwia! Where are you heading again?"
"Hi, Tramy!" the girl shouted back to the Silver Sagitta Saint and she was about to wave, but she realized in time that the armful of files, folders and rolls of paper would inevitably come across the ground. Camus would not be pleased. "Oh, you know how it is, still something. I'm going to the city to return the files. And what are you planning?"
Tramy, who's really name was Ptolemy, but he denied this fact with every cell of his body, pointed his finger at the Arena.
"We have a sparring with guys. Besides, a new one has arrived, we have to examine him."
"Who?"
"Knight of The Golden Fish, he calls himself Tarant, you know, from the Tarantula Nebula. What an invention…"
Liwia did not comment that her interlocutor also created a name for himself and it is not even known what it came from.
"And sparring with whom? As usual with Dante and Capella?"
Tramy shook his head.
"No, they went to Athens for some major shopping. Sirius, Dio and Babel. There will be two on two, do you want to look?"
Liwia laughed and just lifted the volumes in her hands, indicating how much work she had.
"So long…bow!" shouted Arrow Saint.
This joke always made them laugh. Liwia began to descend down the Sanctuary.
She passed the Arena, several training squares, the armory and the cemetery before entering the village of Rodorio. Hens fled from her in all directions as if she were some kind of Hens' Death God. However, someone who had so much in common with death sat quietly at a simple table near a well-kept yard and played cards with an elder from the village.
"Marco?" Liwia tried, when she walked by.
Deathmask grinned and spat out a crushed match.
"Impropriamente. Keep trying, my sweet."
The girl sighed and stepped forward. Dust rising from the road made it difficult to breathe, so she stopped at the first stall she encountered to gargle throat with what was called Ariani, which is actually the local version of Turkish Ayran. She was already near the capital when she saw her favorites, two fucking disciples from Emmaus, Flip and Flap in Hindi version.
"... he has enjoyed it lately. What a store! How they could not have it this time..."
"You can do nothing, Shiva, if there is no almond milk, the master will make masala with ordinary one."
"I know, it corresponds with his divine dimension anyway, but still, such a small pleasure... "
"Pleasure is a bad word," Agora scolded. "Let us not fall into demonic hedonism. Just an option."
They didn't even notice her, they were so absorbed in conversation. No wonder, after all, a discussion just like on the NATO summit.
Being in the capital, she had to watch out for the wild crowds, which apparently had pledged to knock all of her Camus' papers like a lollipop from child' hand. Tired, she finally reached the court. They knew her well here already: of all Golden Knights Aquarius most often asked her for help. She shouldn't complain, she could work in a relatively cool office, when some of the Silvers from morning to evening, even in the greatest heat, helped Aldebaran adapt the older training grounds to knightly battles. This did not mean, however, that she had no other duties.
After handing over the files, she dashed deep into Athens to visit several shops. In addition to the usual supply for the Temple (which today, as Tramy said, dealt Dante and Capella) Liwia sometimes received individual orders. One day she took something from the antique shop for Aiolos, at the other time the Silver Knight of the Raven, Jamian, asked for grain from the pet shop (for his birds) and sometimes Minister Gigas (called a chamberlain for a joke) asked for several bedding sets for newly arrived warriors.
Now she went to the bookstore for the latest revised edition of the Spanish-English phrasebook for Shura and to the drugstore for an olive body lotion for Aphrodite. She was about to return to the Sanctuary when some confusion in one of the Athenian squares caught her attention. She came intrigued; there was a group of people, maybe a larger family, gathered around the man in Golden Armor, one of which Liwia had not seen live yet.
"Thank you, my lord! Thank you very much!" the old man yelled and one of the women, maybe his granddaughter, probably the mother of a bunch of kids, fell to the knight's feet. Gold warrior immediately took her up by the elbow.
"It is nothing, I hope that the medicine will be enough for a long time," he replied in a low voice, and his melancholic look moved to where the sun reflected from the other armor in the area. Thus, the Knight of the Twins (because it rather not was the legendary Old Master) looked straight at Liwia. "Be brave," he told to the gathered people, then approached the girl.
The Pole swallowed. There was so much nostalgia and sadness emanating from him that one could get depressed in a second. His long, wavy hair danced in a gust of wind and the strangely angular Golden Cloth almost dazzled.
"Silver Vulpecula Saint. We finally met." The man nodded politely and looked at her. Iris like vast ocean depths. Angel. Sad angel.
"It's an honor, sir." Liwia nodded back. "I'm glad to meet the creator of the Gemini House's illusions. My name is Liwia."
He nodded again.
"Saga."
So at last she met a famous pretender for the position of Grand Master. She had wanted to knock on the door of his private chambers many times, when the lack of mirages in time of passing through the third Zodiac Palace informed her about the presence of the host, but somehow she did not dare. Something always distracted her from this idea and Liwia now wondered if the intention was dying off spontaneously or if she succumbed to the power of this knight, somehow acting on the subconscious.
She knew one thing – Saga was one of the strongest knights in the Sanctuary, a cosmo that she sometimes felt when she was crossing the House of Gemini, was dense and overwhelmingly heavy. The matter of experience could not be meaningless. The man even looked older than Aiolos, though the girl knew that they were peers. Maybe because of his seriousness? Or sparks of cheerfulness in the eyes of Sagittarius and a warm shade of his hair made Aiolos look younger?
"As a Sanctuary Guest, I will happily take on any tasks you entrust to me," Liwia said, deciding rather on the formal tone and marking the distance. "If you will need anything..."
"It won't be necessary, I'm sure that servicing other knights is quite absorbing," Saga replied and even such words sounded quite sad. "I think that overcoming my illusions is already a sufficient commitment. Now forgive me, but my duties call."
"Of course." Liwia bowed her head and when she looked ahead again, the Gemini was gone. Like a dream or delusion.
The girl went to a few places for minor errands (she visited, among others, a chef's shop with gourmet culinary products), after which she began a leisurely return journey to the Sanctuary. Very leisurely, because she even went to the coast and allowed herself a short, refreshing bath. As she washed the dust off her armor, it seemed to her that the whistling wind blowing from the south brought some angry scream and curse. Liwia froze, but nothing else reached her ears. She laughed, convinced that her imagination was playing tricks on her. Of course, there were legends about Andromeda's screams, about the wrath of Poseidon and the poor wretches, locked up in the legendary prison at Cape Sounion, from where this sound came to the girl, but the stories of the ghosts were known all over the world, and Liwia had far too much work to be worry by them. She put on her armor, scooped up her packages and went up the slope looking for shade.
It was still quiet at Rodorio. Two motionless figures were constantly bending over their cards.
"Marcello?"
"God forbid," Mask snorted. "We're done, wait a minute, I'll go with you."
The man scooped his money from the pot, said goodbye to the elder of the village and joined Liwia, keeping hands in his pockets. The girl told him about the meeting Saga in Athens.
"Wow, it's a real rarity these days." Cancer took a battered cigarette from somewhere and gave it to the girl. Liwia sighed and lit it with a light dose of her fiery cosmo. "I know a little his twin brother, Kanon. Piece of work, I tell you."
"I didn't know he had a brother," Liwia was surprised. "Although, looking at his constellation, I should have guessed. Is he also a knight?"
"Eh, no. Kanon always had a casual attitude toward life, which driven Saga nuts. But the peasant was a good drinking companion. I think he still has some dirty dealings abroad, that's why he doesn't come here often."
"Twins, but completely different" the Pole mused. "Saga seemed so calm and noble to me, and very sad at the same time."
"Yeah, the locals think he is some kind of angel of goodness," Cancer snorted and inhaled a gray cigarette smoke. "In general, we have so many examples to follow, one wants to puke."
"Yeah, yeah, you wouldn't wear Golden Armor if it could have belonged to the thugs and varmints," Liwia laughed. "Do you want these cigarettes or not?"
"Sure, give it, baby. Camels?"
"My word is more expensive than money," she said, very pleased with herself and reached for the package from the bottom of the bag.
"You're a real treasure!" Deathmask embraced her waist, but the girl quickly slipped out, arousing a wave of giggle in the Golden Knight. He opened a packet of cigarettes and held it out.
"I shouldn't," she said weakly, so weakly that she felt embarrassed about herself.
"There is nowhere in the regulations about smoking outside the Sanctuary," Mask tempted.
"So there IS a smoking ban IN the Sanctuary, huh? So what is this bluish haze which I see whenever I cross your Palace?"
"This is my form of incense," Cancer replied with a smile. "Shaka can smoke them like a fucking psycho pyrotechnist, so I see no reason to forbid me my ritual practices. Come on, take it, you don't want to be as sanctimonious as him, eh?"
"I wish I had his power," Liwia sighed and reached for a cigarette. She lit it with her fingertips and puff for the first time in her life. She thought she would spit out her lungs. She even drowned out Mask's laughing. The man patted her on the back, threw away his cigarette butt, took this whole one from the girl and put it unceremoniously in his mouth.
"Not too much at once," he explained with a smile to an indignant Polish girl. "We have a patrol on Wednesday, then you can try again. If you don't like it, you can always smoke incense, since the Mr. Perfect impresses you so much."
"Yeah, right, try harder to pretend his power doesn't impress you," Liwia muttered, now wanting to bite Mask's pride at all costs.
"Sure it doesn't," the man shrugged. "I'll tell you something. Either he is twisted, because no one with healthy brain can cut himself off from all pleasures: it will eventually brings costs; or the saint Saint draws a halo just for show, I see no other option. Probably in his quarters he organizes a nice orgies, that's what."
"You're afraid of him." Liwia grinned. "You wouldn't want to piss him off, don't even try to deny it."
"I won't." Deathmask took a inhale of a cigarette and released a smoke ring. "I wouldn't like to piss off any of them, especially the mental ones. Mu, Saga and Shaka," he explained in response to her questioning look. "I prefer the traditional beating, not the fucking brainwaves."
"Wait: don't you use the Hades Waves attack?"
"It's different, I can take you straight to hell, pretty cool for me. And make there this traditional beating," he finished in a matter-of-fact tone.
They came to the Sanctuary and Liwia, knowing that Mask was going to visit the Pisces Knight, asked him to give Aphrodite the purchased cosmetic.
"What? You want me to parade with some lotion? What do you think am I, a POP star?"
But he took and got to the top.
In the meantime, Liwia came to the first Zodiac House, put the almond milk under the door to the private quarters and left a note "For those teas of yours" on it. She couldn't refuse herself to cut Shiva and Agora down to size.
In the Arena, she found Shura, supervising the training of Rigiel, Silver Orion Saint and Misty, the Silver Knight of the Lizard. Capricorn shouted at them from time to time, something like "Back and forth!", "On right you must watch!" "Forsooth, miserable your fight is!" and Liwia recalled the medieval engravings, which she could marvel in her parents' private collections, presenting strict fencing teachers and their depressed students. The Golden Knight appraised her with his small cold eyes, but their gaze warmed up immediately when the warrior received a fresh-smelling phrasebook. Liwia asked again for the honor of training in the presence of Excalibur and Shura did not say "no" this time, only: "Time will show" and "Being patient I recommend". She thanked him and promised to be so.
She hastily invaded the Canteen and ate musaka in a hurry; it was made according to the recipe of the chef's grandmother. At least he said so. Liwia preferred lasagne, but she wasn't going to be picky, she still had a lot to do. She took the dishes and almost flew out of the building, not caring about something like heartburn. Sixteen-year-olds do not know this concept at all.
She returned to her small house, threw sweaty clothes into the laundry basket, and glanced at the schedule. First: helping Aiolos with collecting clothes (they were taking them for homeless people); second: training with Asterion (Silver Knight of Hounds) and – what was not on the list – meeting a new colleague, Tarant. She closed the door behind her and began to tread toward the Zodiac Houses, singing under her breath:
Czerwone jabłuszko przekrojone na krzyż,
czemu ty, rycerzu, krzywo na mnie patrzysz?***
She raised her head, admiring the buildings bathed in the afternoon sun. From this distance, some Palaces were barely outlined against the rocks, and she would not have seen the beautiful peristases, portals, porticos and sculptures if she had not been aware of them. Her eyes were fixed on two female statues inviting to enter the shadow of the sixth House of the Zodiac. Or discouraging, considering the host.
Czerwone jabłuszko po ziemi się toczy,
czemu ty, rycerzu, masz zamknięte oczy?****
She had training grounds on her right. Temple female warriors with Shaina at the forefront were practicing on one of them. Since their duel, the green-haired girl was hissing at the sight of Pole like a cat and similarly pulled her claws, so Liwia gave up with subsequent attempts to repair the relationship and adopted the principle of "getting out of the way so as not to go yet a ditch."
Gęsi za wodą, kaczki za wodą,
uciekaj, dziewczyno, bo cię pobodą…*****
She raised her hand to greet Algol-Perseus, who was passing by, and happily ran up the first stairs leading to the Temple of Athena. In the Aries Palace she glanced at the entrance to the private chambers. The milk was gone. Maybe it was already drunk.
She continued climbing, passing another Palaces.
Mazurek, mazureczek! Oberek, obereczek! Kujawiak…******
"Whom do my ears hear?"
She turned back.
"What, is it already over?" she asked, smiling to Scorpio. "You usually argue longer than the match takes itself."
"There was nothing to comment on. Loosers lost to Olympiacos, so we didn't want to talk, and all because of that Górski of yours. Eh. It's good that the concert is in the evening, music allows you to forget about pain."
"What concert?"
"Haven't you heard who came to us?" Milo asked in amazement. "Since morning girls were talking only about... Ah, ok, I know already why you didn't hear anything from them."
"Do you mean test for Tarant?" Liwia asked, wondering if they always called the trial in the Arena a "concert" or only after what she showed herself.
"Who's Tar… Ah, the one of the Golden Fish? Nooo, he is a different story, we postponed his test and other evening trainings for tomorrow, just because of the concert. Orphee has arrived, Liwuś. A living legend. Don't say you didn't hear about him."
"That Orphee? Lyra Silver Saint?"
"Himself," Milo smiled. "Even the Grand Master will come."
"Oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy," Liwia whispered excitedly. "I have to come early, otherwise I won't see anything, the whole Sanctuary will appear for sure."
"At most our Bull will carry you... piggyback."
"Keep working on the level of your jokes, Milo," the girl laughed and patted him on the shoulder. Because of all this, she didn't notice Shaka, who appeared in front of them. Probably he was heading towards the first House of the Zodiac.
Liwia had a little problem with such knights, because she completely didn't know how to greet them. With those easy-going she was on "hi" from the very beginning and it sounded quite natural. With Camus such a phrase did not fit, so she used to say the seemingly light, but still quite formal "good morning". However, seeing Shura or Shaka that "hi" or "good morning" stuck in the throat and "greetings" was incorrect (at most they could greet her like that, but because of their status, Liwia should speak first). For this reason Pole developed a set in the form of a light nod and the word addition "sir". Nothing better came to her mind.
When now, completely unprepared, she noticed Shaka, somehow the cat got her tongue. What could not be said about Scorpio. He was clearly having a good day.
"Hi! May I Shaka your hand?" he shot, smiling from ear to ear and extending his right hand.
Liwia snorted before her brain banned this.
The blond ignored them completely as if they were an air and descended from the next stairs in majestic way.
"Well," Milo withdrew that hand just to scratched his own head, "I hoped he would spit, but I have to live without it."
"Why is he treating us all like that?" asked girl, while observing the long blond hair torn by the wind before it disappeared behind the stairs.
"You have to take him warts and all," Milo said cheerfully. "Reportedly, he was like that when he appeared in the Sanctuary years ago. I have nothing against him, he's probably a cool guy, though a hellish recluse. Mu likes him, that means he's okay. In addition, in the event of a skirmish, he will certainly blow his opponents to smithereens. You know, there are legends about his skills."
"Aiolos told me a little about the attacks of the Golden Knights." Liwia remembered her first day at the Sanctuary and her visit to the Sagittarius House. "He said that Shaka knows many interesting techniques and one of them combines perfect defense with offensive; Heaven's Treasures or something like that."
"Yhm, Tenbu Hōrin," Milo confirmed.
Polish girl frozed.
"Wait, I've heard that! He used it on mother and her son that day on the outskirts of Athens!"
"Nah, maybe it was a lighter version or something," Scorpio waved his hand. "Supposedly this is his most dangerous technique, it can permanently destroy the senses of the opponent, one by one, at the same time the victim is unable to move, he is like paralyzed. Uh," the man shuddered.
"Yeah, but you can attack someone with slow poison, am I right? Madness or death? Possibly escape, if you let?"
"Seriously, Aiolos told you that?" Milo was a bit amused. "I didn't think he's such a talker. The attacks of the Golden Knights are a kind of open secret, but he should at least keep up appearances."
"It's just because I look trustworthy," Liwia winked at Scorpio. "So?"
Milo glanced at her with a smile on his lips.
"Scarlet Needle. Fourteen holes on the body, forming the shape of a Scorpio constellation." The man drew a s-shaped line in the air. "And bam! Fifteenth Antares, the final blow, a nail in coffin for the resistant opponents. But rather no one will survive all the previous hits."
"Awesome!"
"And I can prevent someone from moving, acting directly on the mind," he boasted, feeling he had the right audience. "People also say that of all Golden Knights' fighting styles, my is the fastest, but I don't know, I had no chance to compare, you know, it's forbidden."
"A Battle of a Thousand Days?"
"Yeah. Boooring. Who would ever want to do such thing?" Milo stretched out loud. Liwia did not miss the fact that the Scorpio presented an impressive musculature of his arms. Certainly by accident.
The sun was lowering its flight in the sky and they were now at the height of the eighth Zodiac Palace.
"And where are you going anyway? To Camus?" the man asked suddenly.
"To Aiolos, we're collecting clothes for the homeless."
"Don't you prefer to stay in my place? I still have some beer and crackers."
Liwia hesitated. It would be great, especially that she likes Milo immensely and had the feeling of reciprocity. Sagittarius certainly would not draw consequences from such truancy, but also a small scratch in her image could appear. She sighed.
"I'd love to, but maybe some other time, I shouldn't leave Aiolos alone with a ton of clothes, if they crush him, I'll have the Golden Knight on my conscience."
Scorpio nodded, not taking his eyes from her. It was obvious that he wanted to say something more. Finally he dared.
"So maybe I can invite you somewhere to dance instead? There are only wooden pegs in Sanctuary, nobody to go crazy with. What are you doing on the Saturday evening?"
Liwia felt a note of excitement.
"What am I doing? I think I am dancing with Scorpio, you know, training and stuff."
"I'll come for you," he said with a disarming smile and disappeared into the shadow of his own Palace.
The Polish girl took a deep breath. She just started flirting with the Golden Knight. She was ambitious, that's for sure.
Finally she reached the headquarters of Sagittarius. Apparently, it was for Liwia a day of meeting various personalities, because the host wasn't alone.
"Let me introduce you," Aiolos came to meet her, pointing to the short-haired, slender man standing nearby. "This is Christofor, the Silver Knight of the North Crown, called the Crystal Saint, student of Camus. Chris, this is Liwia, Silver Knight of Fox, Sanctuary Guest from Poland."
"Nice to meet you." The man reached out a stone cold hand and appraised her with blue eyes. "I know a little of your master, Gerard. He's a great warrior."
"We are clearly lucky with teachers," Liwia said eloquently. To tell the truth, she had no idea Camus had a student. In fact, Aquarius did not speak much about himself, so everything was possible.
"I'd like to hear it from Aiolia someday," laughed the Sagittarius.
"So see you at the concert." The Crystal Knight nodded for goodbye; the blue cape waved behind him when he climbed on the higher stairs.
"He came to visit his mentor," Sagittarius explained, starting a browse of clothes. "He wants to ask him about the possibility of taking a student; he found some promising boy."
"So the master's consent is enough in this matter?"
"Master's and the Grand Master's. You know, many students will never receive any armor, but that doesn't mean that they will become useless. Sanctuary also needs an ordinary warriors, we don't know what we will be dealing with."
Liwia sensed that Aiolos was more serious than usual. The Sagittarius' concerned face was a disturbing signal.
"Something's wrong? You look sad."
The man looked at her in surprise, then waved his hand and brightened the face.
"It's just fatigue, nothing more. I think I will take Aiolia's words to heart and rest a bit next week. Well, let's get to work, we can't be late for the evening concert."
The girl felt that Aiolos was not completely honest with her, but she did not delve into the topic.
The sun set over the horizon when they managed to sort, describe and pack everything into boxes. Without waiting they started running down the temple stairs, seeing from afar swarming crowds in the Arena. If it goes on like this, they will arrive last. Liwia began to think seriously if Bull could take her piggyback.
At the height of the Virgo Temple they felt a gentle and calm cosmo vibration. After crossing the threshold, they saw the paradise landscape; the host of the sixth Palace was designing a similar environment when he was keeping vigil, all devoted to his meditations, what Liwia had already discovered on the first day of her visit in the Sanctuary. But whenever she had the opportunity to go through that vision again, she could do nothing but admire. Admire and try to control a skin's chills.
Aiolos sighed and slowed down as he walked toward the solar flares. That is towards the Golden Virgo.
"Shaka, this is an unique opportunity to hear a living legend. You really don't want to experience this? He won't be closer."
The vision dispelled and only cold stone walls remained. Lost paradise.
"Someone must guard the Sanctuary. There were no other volunteers," Shaka muttered, not moving an inch his hands folded in prayer. He sat cross-legged on a stone platform carved in lotus flower. Eyelids topped with long eyelashes traditionally hid the color of the iris. Nobody but Mu knew what were their colors. Of course, Mask was collecting bets.
"I can replace you," Aiolos blurted out and Liwia looked at Sagittarius in amazement. It was an incredible act of altruism, want to resign the Orphee's concert for another knight. For THIS knight.
The right corner of Shaka's lips rose slightly. God of irony.
"There is no need. Such gatherings are… not my cup of tea".
Aiolos stood a moment longer, but finally he smiled and said:
"All right, we won't bother you anymore. See you next time."
Liwia suddenly felt that all desire to go to the concert abandoned her. She had no idea what had happened, but all was like then, when she came to the Palace of the Virgo for the first time. Some kind of attraction, completely inexplicable. Although... maybe Golden Saint himself deliberately influenced her? But just what purpose would he have in this?
She awoke. Sagittarius was almost leaving the Palace; she took the first few steps to join him, but suddenly she turned, looked at the still, bright silhouette of the host and said:
"Your cosmo has a special effect on me. Like I've known you for years. You're doing it on purpose?"
It seemed to her that Shaka slightly raised his right eyebrow.
"I do not know what you mean, Vulpecula Saint."
Liwia stood still, staring at the blonde.
"I saw you in my vision years ago. You had a necklace or beads in your hand, I don't know. But this can't be the only reason, it's-" she suddenly realized that Shaka, despite his closed eyes, was staring intently at her. And he even frowned. From afar, she heard Aiolos calling her name. Confused, she took a step back and flushed, trying to make a funny tone: "It's probably because of the smell of incense, somehow I like them very much. Forgive me, I'm going now." She bowed and fled toward the exit.
"Everything all right?" Sagittarius asked worriedly when she joined him.
"Yeah, it just got hot somehow, don't you think?"
Well, he probably didn't, no one would think that after dark it would be hotter than in the full sun of the day. Fortunately, the first sounds came from the Arena, saving Liwia from further explanation. They hurried in that direction, almost losing their breath.
Lyra Silver Saint, Orphee, played many beautiful melodies that evening, so beautiful that it was impossible to mistake him for an ordinary, talented musician. Lyre in his hands came to life and created sounds that touched the soul. If Liwia had ever wondered how the legendary knight could fight holding a stringed instrument in his hands, now she knew. And she understood why at least one Golden Knight had to stay in the Zodiac Houses. There was no doubt that if Orphee wanted, he could enchant them all, throw them into the abyss of memories and feelings, lock them inside stunned bodies, crash their vigilance and go, untouched, wherever he wished. If he wanted to.
Liwia, despite standing in further rows, managed to see the figure of the artist-knight. He was all very lyrical, had a lyrical, delicate appearance and lyrically subtle movements. He played leaned on a fallen column and looked like one of the prophets of the Romanticism movement. Liwia almost wanted to recite Mickiewicz.
Orphee bowed at the end of the performance, but the crowd did not allow him to leave. They all demanded an encore. The musician closed his eyes, waited for the applause to cease and said before he ran his fingers over lyre:
"Death Trip Serenade."
[Inspiration: Saint Seiya OST - Death Trip Serenade]
And then he played. He played, but as if he forced their souls to find the deepest layers of melancholy, sadness and hope. Liwia, like many others, often allow herself to be charmed by music that evoked memories and feelings, but what she was now experiencing could not be compared with something as ordinary as sensitivity to art. Listlessness swept her, as if a cold silk had been laid on her face, as if every splinter of her heart was pulled out on top, not exacerbating the pain, but carrying the sadness of understanding. There was a necessity, awareness of loss, but also a strange determination to continue journey deep inside yourself, to still having faith in the future.
She awoke when there was silence. Grand Master, who was standing in the highest circle of the Arena, was the first who shaken of the numbness. He began to clap. Others slowly joined him, finally everyone applauded loudly, very loudly, to the pain of hands.
Liwia too. Right after she wiped away a stray tear.
* A fragment of opening: Amado Jaén, La Canción De Los Caballeros
** "Liwuś" is a Polish diminutive of the name Liwia (perhaps equivalent to "Livie"?)
*** It is an old Polish song. I have changed some words to fit them with the situation. I think it can be translated as below (it is my own translation):
Little red apple on the cross is cut,
why you, my knight, look at me like that?
**** Little red apple is rolling on the ground,
why your eyes, my knight, are always close and down?
***** Geese behind the water, ducks behind the water,
run, girl, run, because they will peck and bother...
****** Mazurek, little mazurek, oberek, little oberek, kujawiak… (these are a Polish dances)