It's all over. Since he "finished" what his mother had started, everything has been peaceful. Tranquility was in the air and hopes for the future were palpable. And now, everyone is master of their own destinies, a dream come true.
The morning was beautiful, the wind was blowing gently through her window opening and the sun was breaking through, filling the room with a bright orange. The sound of the alarm clock pierced the silence, making its presence felt with its chirping song, which woke a sleepy Steven. It took him a while to get out of bed, but in the end he made it. With one foot out of the bed...and the other, he took his clothes and went to the bathroom.
While he was inside, he left his things on the toilet seat, while hanging the towel on the curtain post, with no slope to solve, he opened the water tap, letting the water flow freely. He began to get out of his pajamas and then went inside, and was welcomed with the warm sensation of the liquid running through his being; when he finished his bath, he took the towel he had previously left and began to dry, wrapped the cloth around his hips and came out of the shower to get dressed.
It didn't cost him much to get dressed, he was now a little more awake than before and he went to the first aid kit, looked at himself in the mirror and there he saw himself: It has been several years since he was a child, and his responsibilities were more serious than they could have been before, but this doesn't matter so much to him, because he would accept those responsibilities with pleasure and he would always be there for anyone who needed his help.
Leaving contemplation aside, he left the bathroom and went to the kitchen, approached the shelves and opened the door to take out a box of cereal which he left on the table to take a bowl and a spoon, emptying the contents of the box into the bowl. He opened the door of the shelf again to put the box away, went to the refrigerator and took a half-empty carton of milk to pour into the cereal bowl, having his breakfast ready, took a spoonful and ate it.
He slowly chewed the portion of cereal while looking around, everything was unusually quiet than he was used to. He continued to enjoy his meal, thinking about what he could do today: he had nothing relevant to do, but he did not want to stay home doing anything.
Without many ideas, the boy decided to go out and clear his head and maybe find something to do.
When he finished his meal, he left the bowl in the sink and went to the door of his house. Before leaving, he took his jacket, opened the door and went outside.
The almost icy air hit her face as the sun's rays timidly warmed everything she touched, under the stairs leading to the beach, letting the cold sand percolate at her feet as she walked down the nearest street. The boy's mind began to explore idea after idea, letting himself be carried away by the sea of his mind, so much to choose from, but no option seemed to convince him at all, which began to bother him, because in previous days this would be less difficult than it is now for him.
The walk of his steps took him very far, reaching "homeschool" without even having it in mind, he thought it was a good idea to make a visit (because he was already there), in addition to his current inability to think of something, so he let the inertia work and guide him in his today's activities.
Steven continued his walk, admiring every corner of the complex. Gems of various types were gathered for the day's activities: Some were physical activities, others were skill activities, a few more "precision" activities, and some were intellectual and creative activities. Regardless of what, there would be something they could excel at besides what their former regents would have told them to do.
Among all the "salons" and "workshops" of the place, he found one in particular.
The workshop was a bit large, with windows that left the interior exposed. The exterior walls were tinted a vibrant blue, and the roof was a less clear blue. Inside the workshop you could see some easels placed next to benches and pedestals. Indeed, it was Lapiz's studio.
He went into the studio and found it with no one in it, Steven thought it would be too early for the manager to open, so he decided to wait. He walked around the studio looking at every tool and object there was, there were some "works" resting on the easels and pedestals of the enclosure, which were realistic and abstract sculptures, as well as paintings with similar themes.
His curiosity led him to one of these paintings: It was a cream-toned landscape and the view from it looked as if it had been painted from a relatively close distance. In this one, you could see people, who were doing agricultural activities. One of the figures was carrying a bag of corn on his back, while two others seemed to be crouching down to pick up the rest.
The boy was lost in the picture, looking at the smallest details, he felt familiar with the scene, but he did not remember where he had seen it, but there was something in that picture that aroused that strange nostalgia. As he continued his inspection, some murmurs began to be heard from outside the studio, which he ignored because of his contemplation.
The squeaking of the door was enough to make him wake up from his trance, and as he peeked out from behind the easel, he could recognize the figures coming into the studio.
The first to enter was Lapiz, who was accompanied by a Pearl, exactly, the former servant of Blue, who now wore a long-sleeved cyan dress, which was as high as her knees. The latter was carrying a leather bag, as well as what looked like a sack, which rested on her right arm.
They both seemed to be arguing about something, but stopped when they noticed Steven, who greeted both girls.
In response, they both answered the greeting with kindness.
-Hello, girls. How was your day?
-Well," replied Lapiz as he moved aside for Pearl to pass.
-Greetings-Replies Pearl too as she put her left hand on her breast and extended her right arm-
Pencil, missed how early I was seeing the kid, asks:
-I don't want to sound rude. But don't you think it's a little early to be here?
-That's true, but I had nothing to do today...
-I understand, well, as you can see, Perla is accompanying me. She needs an evaluation on one of her paintings. -Lapiz mentioned-
Steven nodded, to respond:
-Oh, I saw it. I think it's a quality job.
The boy's compliment seemed to annoy Pearl a little, who let out a brief moan, which made Steven try to apologize.
-Hey...this...sorry, I didn't mean to bother you. -I was saying while moving my hands, trying to lessen the situation... The painting seems to me to be correct in its execution, that's all...
The response was rewarded by a heavy sigh from the girl in the cyan dress, who responded in a tired but somewhat still tone.
-Okay, no offense, I find it great that you like it, but in my opinion, it's not what I expected from me.
The answer confused Steven. Now he wants to understand the reason for his displeasure.
-I don't get it.
-Easy. Pearl made a gesture, asking him to come to the play. Holding it to one side, she begins to give a little lecture on her work. As you can see here, the parts outside the main scene are faded, but...the colors do not overlap in a "harmonic" way, making it look more like a stain than a field. On the figures, if you look more closely, you will see that the shadows are displaced a little more to the "north" of the work, that is, us as observers, than to the "west" of the painting, since the light source comes from the "east".
After his explanation, Pearl retires to leave her things. On the other hand, Lapiz takes a broom, and decides to ask something.
-I'm gonna clean up, are you gonna stay here or are you gonna do something else where I fix the studio?
-No, I'm going to stay here.
-I understand. You look a little tired, maybe it would be a good idea if you rest a bit here, it's a little cold outside and I think you might be bothered by that breeze.
That said, Steven takes a stool and reloads behind a piece of furniture that was there. He closed his eyes and decided to sleep a little until the studio was ready to teach.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a hallway, in front of him were twin stairs. The stairs were decorated with black carpets with floral motifs, embroidered in silver and purple. The floors were of white marble, and behind it, a carved wooden door with geometrical patterns, and on the sides, windows of clean glass and purple curtains with silver embroidery. At the sides there were two corridors, which had the same aesthetic. He turned to the ceiling, and saw the chandeliers hanging above his head.
Was he in a dream? His experience told him so. Now he is more confused, since some of his dreams have to do with events that occur around him, but this one does not look like one of those events.
He started walking around the east wing of the compound, hoping to find something. The walk felt a bit lonely because of the silence that reigned in what he sensed was a palace.
The further he went into the palace, the stranger he began to feel, and he was right to begin to listen to a conversation that was going on down the corridor, you could hardly hear anything, it was a kind of murmuring, he was determined to hear the voices, which seemed to be female, and little or nothing clean came out of the conversation.
-(...) I understand.
-Tell me, Yo(...), what do we do?
-N(…). (…)(...)(…)
The voices fell silent, leaving the corridor speechless again. Steven felt somewhat unnerved by the conversation, he could tell that one of the voices sounded as if it were sad, on the verge of crying. Having no idea of anything, he continued with the exploration, which went on without any problems, and without any sound other than his footsteps and breathing.
He had not noticed the rooms until he began to see door after door, and as he stopped, he again heard sounds coming from one of the rooms he found at random, those sounds were sobbing, and very raw ones. At the sound he was stunned, for I doubt whether he should open the door or not. The discreet click of the door merged with the choked cry of whatever was lurking inside the room. He pushed the door carefully, and could see the situation better:
The room was big, and it had several pieces of furniture. The walls were painted in pastel colors and the bed was in the center of the room. At the front of the bed, with his back to it, there was a person, who was wearing a black dress. The dress looked like those worn in the 1800's. The person was on his knees, resting his head on the mattress, while he was crying.
He entered the room slowly, as he moved forward slowly, preventing the person from noticing his presence. He extended his arm shyly, trying to get closer, but, at the moment of touching her, he disappeared without a trace.
Before he could process what had happened, he saw that the room was on fire. Surprise forced him to approach the door and leave as quickly as possible, but this was denied, as the door was closed. No matter how much he turned the knob, it simply wouldn't open, desperate for the flames that were spreading and starting to consume everything, he slammed the door with his body in a desperate attempt to get out, but nothing happened.
The fire had already consumed everything in its path as the smoke swirled into the room. Steven felt dizzy from the smoke, hindering his mind. Even trying to get out, without success, his skin began to feel hot, hotter, until it began to burn. The pain woke him up again, and now, he started knocking on the door again, now with more frenzy, feeling how his skin seemed to peel off, his eyes became cloudy, making his sight worse.
Horror began to invade him, no matter how much he hit her, she did not give in, but her body did: her arms felt heavier than normal and her body felt sick. The blows lost intensity until his body collapsed, and now he could only see how the fire devoured what was inside the room, including him.
Before closing his eyes, he felt a light, which became more intense as the seconds passed. The light became unbearable, but in it a figure was manifested, which came closer and closer. That figure resembled the one he had seen before, but with each step he took, it became more defined, and that figure came close enough to be seen, revealing who he was, and she was...
...
...
Steven woke up abruptly because of the vision. As he looked around, he saw that he had returned to the studio. Now Lapiz and Pearl were looking at him strangely.
-Uh...Steven...Are you ok?