MEET ME: The Winds Have Called (unfinalized)

In a cold street of the city, there he sat, waiting for a friend to return. No light reached him. Not the crescent moon, nor the stars hiding from the clouds, nor street lights from afar that kept flickering. It was too dark. And too cold. Yet he’s too hot.

It was a fever. Dangerously high. He heard fevers really can kill children.

Just about time he gives up waiting for his fellow lost friend, who promised she’ll come back.

It had always been like this for him. Nothing is in his favor. In fact, everything is against his convenience, like unluck itself is planted in his soul. He had called it a ‘curse’. For as long as he can remember, he has been the unluckiest. His mother cheated on her husband, and his biological father ran away when Ialan formed. He named himself because no one did. His mother’s husband abused them. And the woman who birthed him resented him his whole life, even learning from her that she had several failed attempts to abort him. On her last string, she dragged Ialan out of her house and yelled at him to never come back. He was homeless since 6. And just when he got himself his first friend, she won’t return as promised. (aw hell nah bruv wtf’s w dis edgy backstory)

Not to mention, he has the ability to clearly remember everything, like an almost perfect memory.

“Sigh…” why are his life memories flashing before him? Must be death.

Ialan was about to close his eyes, letting them rest for eternity. Until an unfamiliar older girl called to him. “Boy,” a girl with strange looking eyes and mischievous smile. “Do you want to live?” Ialan woke up, surprised.

Does he?

“I’ll come back in a week, so promise you’ll wait for me!” He remembered his friend’s words from a month ago. Such silly little promise was his lifeline. And he wants to meet her again.

“I…do.” He whispered. It was all the lass wanted to hear.

She cackled, “Then come with me. And become a witch–”

……

September of 2070, Roughly seven years later. Ialan is back in that same city where he met his “sister”. It’s been 2 and ½ years since he and Marina migrated there, around the same time their friend died. They are in a different house now, a house they built themselves near the boundary separating Caotica Sur and Caotica Occidental. Their house was made of few concrete bricks, and plenty of thin woods. It took them two years to become stable in the place. Now, one can say they are living however they want.

It has also been that long since Marina was cursed to have only 5 years left of her lifespan. meaning she has 2 and ½ years left as well. She has this gray thing in her eyes that grows every day. they guess her amber eyes would be gray before she dies. It can serve as a timer too(half has turned gray, means half of her time is over). Ever since the double hit of their friend’s death + her curse on her, Ialan swore to give all his best to help her achieve all she wants before her death.

They have done well in the previous years, but Marina is starting to feel her life there so far is boring and has nothing new.

The night after Marina showed herself to the South’s Witches Batch, Fuego was forced to register her and Ialan because Marina blackmailed him. Being registered in the Batch means they can take jobs as witches and earn money. Humans have dirty desires, like silently torturing someone, corrupting a company, or even assassinating somebody, and the witches in shadows fulfill those desires and get big money as reward. Of course, no one knows the existence of witches but themselves. Ever since, Marina and Ialan have been living from that dirty work.

Ialan and Fuego did get along, but Fuego’s still alert on Marina (also, she annoys him, so he doesn’t really like her). Not long after they were registered, Fuego had to attend somewhere far away, which took him more than two years before he returned to Caotica. (not really much will change if the chief is gone for a while)

When Fuego(19) came back, Marina(17) came to pay him a visit in his office, which he visibly didn’t like. She came to consult about the long untouched job of retrieving the legendary “Diamerald”, which was said to be a half-diamond-half-emerald stone made from the left-over eyes and powers of the Greatest Witch who had ever lived from a hundred years ago. To Necromen (a different species very close to humans) history, it is an important relic of the past.

Fuego asked, “And what about it?”

“Be careful, because I'm going to find it, and once I do, hell, I’m not gonna return it. I’m gonna sell it! I bet it costs a lot when petitioned. Just enough for me to spend before I die~”

Which boils Fuego’s blood, as someone with pride as a Necroman. He lectured her that a special, possibly powerful, relic of the past shouldn’t be tossed for a counted number of money.

Marina: Then what, wanna race? I happen to be an information breaker when I feel like it. Did you know? There was a family lineage that was entrusted to hold onto the stone, but chose to stay anonymous, probably to prevent the stone from being stolen. Which was pointless because it was lost anyway! But… you could never say for sure that one, maybe two, of its Family members didn’t take the Diamerald and hide it for themselves. Then masked the fact by saying it was “stolen”.

Fuego, irritated but attentive: What are you trying to say?

Marina: I know you know about this Family, but you’d never guess they were responsible. And you wouldn’t believe how close you are to one of its members.

Fuego was intimidated.

Marina: It was the Lantass Family.

Fuego: Lantass… it’s the one who passes that name only to female members, specifically daughters, right? If I’m not mistaken, husbands have the choice to have the surname, but sons are strictly not allowed to… which means they’ll have their fathers’ surnames no matter what. How did you even know it was them when they are anonymous…?

…I don’t understand. I don’t have any female friends or colleges that are named Lantass…unless they are purposely hiding it…?

Marina is amused by his assumptions.

Marina: No. No… I’ve heard about your personal… “servant”, they say. That boy ‘David Alvinn’.

Fuego is alerted that David was even mentioned: He’s an attendant, not a servant. Are you saying he is a Lantass? Impossible.

Marina: Isn’t he a ‘Cursed child’? One of those children who is chased by misfortune. Not to mention, he is an only child.

Fuego: …How much do you know?

Marina: Well, depends. How much is too much? I told you, I can dig into buried information if I want. Right, mister who hid all of poor David Alvinn’s information? I happen to know about his birthday, place of birth, blood type… same goes with both of his parents. Oh, and father is long dead.
She's playing with fire.

Fuego: you… and what does he have to do with the Diamerald, or the Lantasses, for you to dig in that deep?

Marina: What, you haven’t got the gist of it? David Alvinn is a son of a Lantass. He is an only child too, I’ve heard it from his mother herself. Why do you think he ended up as a ‘child of despair’?

Fuego connected the dots: The mother, for the sake of the Lineage, wanted a daughter…but got a son. Due to possible cases, like secondary infertility, she came to resent her own only child, giving him the curse of lifelong misfortune…

Marina: Ah, you’re overthinking. I don't know about the infertility part, but you’re mostly correct! I’ve confirmed it from the mother herself when I interviewed her. Such sad discrimination, right?

Fuego on high alert: How are you able to know all these information?! We left no trace-

Marina did a playful laugh: And why would you cover up an “attendant’s” past like it’s such a big deal?
So she asked, but she knows the answer. She was just provoking the chief

Fuego: No matter, GET OUT of my office

He pushed Marina out the door while she protested. When she was out, Fuego slammed the door on her.

“Well, how rude! I wasn’t done about the Diamerald!” She was sulking when she came back home.

…

Sunday, Marina was lying on the couch bored to the core. She can’t help but notice they have a lot of stuff all around their house. She made convenient skills for the past years like making their own mug, fixing their old pans, renovating rooms, etc. She has also made inconvenient skills, mostly hand-crafty stuff like making vases or beads out of old magazines, making a chair out of newspapers, sewing stuffed toys, or just any handy-made decorations. It’s only really convenient when it makes money in the market, which rarely does. Their shelves are filled with these things that make their house look crowded. Marina is always too bored and ends up making more, which is endless. She sighs, wishing someone would pay them to take all those trash away.

“Ialaaaan~” she called, “you there?” when there was no response, she lowered her volume. “Wanna play with spells…?” there was still no response.

Marina stood from the couch and peeked in his room, finding him there, packing his bag pack with new notebooks and pens. “If you’re there, you should’ve at least answered.”

“...No, I cannot let you play with spells and chants anymore. You have filled the whole city, not just Caotica Sur, but the whole Caotica itself with various spells and chants. They are all over the place, and you even made sure I would not find them. When I did find one, I discovered you made the spell in a way that is resistant to my dispersing spell. You are doing it on purpose.” His voice is stern the whole time, but Marina senses he is a bit…angry. His poker face is thick, but Marina sometimes knows.

“Hey…are you mad?”

“Am I? Well, maybe if it was not exhausting to disperse every spell of yours I encounter, it would not be a big problem. Can I ask you to stop leaving stray spells?”

“Th…that, I can’t promise.” Marina said sheepishly.

Ialan just sighs. “Nevermind, then.”

Marina goes back to the couch. Ialan leaves his room and goes to the dining room/kitchen to grab a tomato to snack on. Marina suddenly stood on the couch and shouted, “I AM ONE WITH THE WIND!” Ialan wasn’t even bothered. The usual.

“So, how was your visit to the chief?” he asked.

“Horseshit.”

“Any luck about David?”

Marina lets her back fall to the couch. She bounced a couple times before replying. “I think we're getting close to getting him.”

“I see.”

“In no time, we’ll have the stone and be rich~”

Ialan made himself a cup of milk.

“Say, Ialan. Do you think you’ll get along with him? You are both cursed children n’all, maybe you’ll empathize?”

Ialan didn’t like the question and sighed. “I do not think so. Our personalities crash.”

“Hm. That so.”