428. Rose new world, 5

(Rose)

My feet pressed the snow that lied there pristine for years prior.

My first steps here, heading east foremost, and a little southward as well since the cold days are coming already.

My new friend vanished, and I was left to go, carrying only what I could and still had.

The cold wind greeting me was a little harsh but I didn’t mind.

Behind me, I left another friendly daiûa on her domain, with her single purpose in life.

I’m not entirely one of them yet.

I was alone now. But far from lonely yet.

I began walking in that snowfield, breathing slowly, covering my face against that soft blizzard.

Someday not so far, I will feel the weight of loneliness.

That’s quite a given with what I’m going toward.

But that day right then, I was feeling alright.

I didn’t mourn Yaelun as much as I wish I would have.

I was saddened from the lost and tearful end of my friend with wings, but I...

I already was moving on I guess.

I know I’m not heartless.

One day, I will cry over my loss of Bleue surely as well. I don’t know when, but I expect it. Someday, it will break.

Meanwhile, although I expect some painful times ahead, today I’m feeling well.

I feel like the world is opened to me again. Entirely.

And it is so wide.

And it will be so beautiful.

It will be uncompromising to survive like a lonely animal, but I will.

I will triumpgh.

Today, I’m confident.

Seeing the blurry mixture of colours and cold air, ready to freeze me, somehow I’m happy.

I know I will love my journey ahead.

I will love the oddities to discover along my endless way. I will love discovering the landscapes. I will love the intensity of life when you have to fight for it.

Every meal will be intense.

Every night and sleep will be intense.

Every day and light will be colourful.

It will be my new adventure. Simply put for me, it’s a new adventure that begins.

Me, entering foreign lands, unsure of what to come.

Eager to discover the new species and other whimsical things that are scattered along the way.

The chaos behind every tree, below every stone, inside every drop of blood. The new branches and flowers of life. The new weird things that aren’t quite life. And how they all painted each other over the incredibly rich tapestry of the old world turned silent.

The old world, the vanished human civilisation of before, they didn’t leave a blank canvas for the new world to restart. No, far from it.

It was an incredibly detailed and complex painting that was left behind to start over.

And nature has. Decay has. Life and death have.

It’s not a human led painting anymore that rules over the world. But it’s beautiful nonetheless, and still incredibly complex.

T.I. brought more variety, more chaos, and faster evolution rates over the world. Life loves it, in her own way.

One day I might see a flying whale over the skies of Asia.

I wouldn’t be shocked just because of how impossible it was in the old days. I would laugh. Because I knew it, that something like that is almost bound to happen someway. I will laugh when I discover one.

On my endless road to the land of the blue sky, I will face hardship.

Hunger. Cold. Thirst. Diseases. And occasionally demons, dragons and gods to fight sword and magic in hand.

I should expect at least a few of them as well. That’s why I’ll keep carrying this heavy sword of light.

But mostly I’ll be worried about food most of the time.

That’s why though I feel bad about it, I kept a piece of my friend. I saw what this land was when I arrived.

Until I leave this snowfield, I don’t expect to find much to eat.

I’ll manage. I’ll thrive.

In a very few words that manage to make me grin after all; I’m eager to see what’s next.

~

The palace holding the source of T.I. on Earth. I found it, Bleue. I found it.

I honestly still don’t know what it really is that I found here.

But someone or something up there, lives with the confidence that it should remain a mystery to protect.

Such a tease. But I’ll respect the daiûa claiming she’s protecting Pandora’s box from potential accidents.

I respect her. Hell, I even admire her.

It’s not something I think I would ever have considered when finding a powerful artefact. I will protect others from accidentally hurting themselves or others, by guarding this thing.

My ideal self is kind and caring. But even my ideal self would probably not have decided something like that. She impressed me.

Another strange daiûa it is. A true daiûa. One that was once human and went onto the other side. A little like me. Although next to her I’m far more on the human side of the balance.

New flowers will blossom again, in more ways than one.

I’ve learnt little things about the origin of T.I. on Earth by reaching this castle. Little things. Not much, though better than nothing.

Unlike an older friend, I don’t see my knowledge of T.I. as a high priority in my life. I was fine before. I’ll be fine even if I don’t uncover all and every mystery about it. I’m not a scientist, I’m a bookshop keeper.

So more than a new lead in my tensed investigation, I have found a new goal in my erratic journey. And I’m happy with that. I wasn’t really into the world’s history between the nineteenth century and today when I had the chance to learn about it.

I didn’t know what was important about it at the time. Given the time I live in, nothing was obviously important regarding history. Technology was important. Sciences were. History, not that much.

But now, I know there was a chapter I should have listened to more carefully.

The civilisation of the sun cities.

It didn’t have a clear name as it never was a defined country as in my days. It had a nickname or another, which meant sun. There’s some history behind it, but I don’t know it, yet.

What matters, what floats above this sea of unknown knowledge, is that the cities of sun were the last know centres of the world, for harbouring and leading technologies and industry.

What I couldn’t find in London nor Paris, could be there.

To put it another way, from the perspective of nowadays, ignorant of the past, the cities of the sun were the places on Earth with the highest concentration of the highest technologies.

Nothing might be left working today, but they are the first places one should check if you’re looking for human achievements in science.

History is vanishing in ruins, like the ruins themselves.

Remain legends, incomplete.

Like this source was. It was a nice journey to come here.

Whatever I find, it almost doesn’t matter.

I’m happy to just venture slowly to the ends of Earth. The ruins of the sun cities will be another tapestry to discover.

I have a long way to go until I perhaps find the one closest to me. A very long way to go. Immense.

I’m smiling. I don’t mind if I don’t find the city at the end.

I live for the story. The adventure. What happens next. I don’t like to have a final objective that would mean the end. Like life. Who cares about an end.

For now, I’m happy to just live on, on an endless road.

~