Moving Forward A Better Future

After that evening discussion, Priscilla started avoiding Akira, telling him through a servant that, as she wasn’t feeling that well and was busy with personal things, the lessons of that week were cancelled. It was obviously an excuse, at least from Akira’s point of view, yet he let it slide, knowing that not everyone is comfortable telling their past to someone, so he let her some time to think and put in order her mind. That also meant that he was dispensed from his tasks for that week, and because of that he had a lot of free time in his hands. He thought about going on a holiday with Samai, but then he discarded that idea because of two things: he thought that Priscilla could have used the presence of Samai near her in that period of reflection and also because, when he asked Samai, she said him that she couldn’t take a holiday in that period, as she already took one a month before Akira came into their lives, which meant that she could take only one or two day off, but nothing more. That of course didn’t stop them from acting all lovey-dovey whenever they could: their evenings were practically dedicated to that, with them taking frequently a stroll around the city or just chilling somewhere, cuddling. They still didn’t cross a certain line, but that was only because each one of them had to work the day after, and they could not permit themselves to passionately be involved in what each one of them wanted to do. As they didn’t have to hide the relationship, whenever they met in the villa they just acted like a couple, giving each other lovely effusion even under the eyes of the other servants, who many times said them, joking, to get a room. When Samai was busy and Akira spent time with Kjeo and Wahlia, the two of them always joked with Akira about their relationship, but they were only teasing him, as they were really happy about them. Even though he couldn’t get to have a holiday with Samai, Akira still succeeded in organizing a little trip for the two of them to a little hotel between the mountains that it was said to have one of the best hot springs in the entire region. They would have stayed there only one night, but that occasion was the perfect one for the two of them to remain alone and have a little of privacy and intimacy. A little moment all for themselves, without no one else involved in it. Something that would have only remained in their minds. When he thought about that, Akira found himself eagerly waiting for that day: they had decided to go in the weekend, so six days from there, as the calendar of that world was formed by ten months of thirty-six days each, with every week being of eight days, with six working days and two days that constituted the weekend. That left him with six days free for himself, in which he had to decide what to do. During the last days the sky had always been covered by black clouds that announced an imminent heavy rain that, however, never arrived, leaving space for some occasional light rain that left no trace of its passage, apart from a little drop in temperature that was really negligible. Still, at least for the first day of his long and unwilling holiday, he decided to check a place he never really considered since he had arrived in the town: he wanted to go back to the place where he kind of spawned with Priscilla after what happened in that fake cavern. Not that he really had too many hopes in that visit, but he hoped that, maybe, he could find some clues of sort there. It was his instinct that suggested him to do that, and, as he had nothing better to do, he decided to return to that part of the forest, even though he would have had probably some trouble finding it, as it was a spot between the trees like any other in the forest. The only thing that could have helped him in that blind search was the fact that the place in which he found himself after that fake cave vanished was near a lake, which surely was highlighted on a map. And so, he set out to the search of a not particular spot of land, in the hope of finding some clues of sort that maybe could have helped him discover something new. Honestly, he had no idea what he could have found: still, an excursion like that could have served to clear his mind a bit from the delusion he felt for not finding something new regarding Priscilla’s case and the many unanswered questions he had about he being there. However, that excursion served him nothing: he arrived near the lake where he had the first of many mock fights with Priscilla and from there searched the area, but all the places he saw were the same to him. After all, the place in which he found himself after having talked to Meilìs had literally no particular signs that could have made him remember exactly the location. After searching the area for a bit without any notable result, apart from a sense of disillusionment that made its way in Akira, making he think that his instinct had baited him more than once in that last period, he sat near the lake, taking a moment for himself, searching for a bit of peace and relax. Maybe that figure that appeared to him outside Jeremia’s bar was right: he really needed to relax a bit, or else his brain would have shut down by itself, and he needed it to be at its top form. That thought made Akira laugh: he did that because he understood that what he just did was his desperate way to try and find something that could have made him understand more about what was happening around him. He then looked around him: the lake was desert, no other people were there, even though Akira thought that that place should have been a spot where many people hanged around. Instead, no soul was present: he was alone, in a big forest with a big water mirror near him and, over him, a sky full of raging clouds, as if to remind him his insignificance in that world, way bigger and complicated than him. That was when he felt useless, like whatever he did in order to go further into the case wasn’t enough to even take a step. He remained there for a bit, enjoying the silence of the place, and in the meanwhile made also a solitary swim in the lake, before returning home. On the way back, he made a fortuitous encounter with Heinrich, the guard with whom he examined the case a few days ago, and, when they saw each other, they quickly greeted and then parted ways, even though it seemed to Akira that Heinrich had a pained and interrogative expression on his face, like he wanted to tell him something, a face that, when the two of them left, seemed to him also a bit pale, like it saw a ghost. Still, when he turned around to see if Heinrich had decided whether to talk to him or not, the guy vanished, like he wasn’t even there to begin with. That was when Akira finally decided that he needed a long holiday: he would have discussed the possibility with Samai, even though she already said him that she couldn’t come with him, but maybe he could make her at least agree to reach him before the two days they reserved to themselves. As he was thinking that, he continued walking through the streets of Zuvaskja, both happy and tired.

In the meanwhile, at the Natò residence, Priscilla was in her room, chilling. She really didn’t intend to play that foul joke to Akira – saying to him that she would have been busy for a week and that she would have not taken up any of his lessons for the time being -, but she needed some time alone. Plus, she was sure that he understood that: after all, she was the one saying him that she literally had nothing to do in that city. Still, she was confused: after Samai and Akira got together, she felt a strange feeling blooming into her, a feeling that made her hurt when she saw the two of them together and her heart ache when she saw Akira alone. She knew what that feeling was, she felt it in a different way many other times before that: that feeling was jealousy. Still, she didn’t want to feel that towards two of the most precious friends – and probably only, she would have added – that she had: she needed to be happy for them, especially for Samai, who finally succeeded in finding a person with whom she could be happy, after what she passed in her past. However, she wasn’t able to: whenever she looked at Samai since a bit of time she didn’t see the friend that was with her for the majority of her life, not the sister she thought she had found in her, but a rival. A rival that already won, unfortunately, so that was only a one sided feeling that only risked to break their relationship. That was also why she wanted to stay alone for some time, without seeing neither of the two: she needed to put a bit of order in her mind, before she could return to her normal routine. She needed to delineate the relationship she had with both Akira and Samai, and then she could have returned her normal self. Still, she was trying to come to terms with her feelings since a lot of time, and that was an exhausting if not even impossible challenge. Even though at a first glance it seemed like she was chilling in her room, in fact she was in that position since an hour, thinking about all of that, and that activity made her tired, so she decided to take a stroll in the villa. Fortunately for her, she could spend her time leisurely thanks to the efficiency of the servants, who didn’t need her control to make things perfectly and which left her with nothing to do apart from her normal duties, which, in that moment, were none. She walked slowly through the corridors of the family wing of the house, where normally very few servants were to be seen. While she was walking, she thought that a bath in the hot spring would have made it easier for her to think, as the heat helped her relax a little and maybe it would have made her thought process a little bit more functional. Deciding that it was a good idea, she started going towards the hot spring, however, in front of Leon’s studio, she stopped a bit, hearing her brother talking at a high level of voice in a language she never heard. She was tempted to go into his office and ask him what he was doing, but she restrained herself: she knew that Leon hated when someone entered uninvited his studio, like it was his sancta sanctorum, and she didn’t want to face an angry Leon. He was really terrifying when he was angry, like he was on the verge of taking the other person’s neck, and she didn’t really want to assist to that spectacle in first person. So she ignored him and went on, even though the curiosity of what language was he speaking remained inside her: was it a language from the east, or a dialect from the west? However, that question slowly started disappearing from her mind when she entered the lock room before the hot spring, where her only thought was the warm sensation the water would have given her and that she needed in order to think.

While Priscilla was taking a dip into the hot spring and Akira was still at the lake, Samai was in her room, looking at the clothes in her wardrobe. When that morning Akira asked her if she could come with him on holiday, she felt really happy, however at that time she still had her duties, and the few days off she had had been already used for a little holiday in Sehravla a month before Akira entered the Natò family life. However, later in the day, Priscilla told her that, if she wanted to take some free days, she was free to do so, as Priscilla would have been busy in things a maid could have not helped her with. That meant that she could have gone for a full week holiday with Akira, a feeling that made her heart beat like it was possessed by a demon. That occasion was where they would have probably crossed every line that still remained between them, so she wanted to be ready for whatever could have happened during that trip. And that was why she was checking her wardrobe, to see if she had everything she needed for that trip or if she needed to have a little shopping trip out in the city so that she could buy what she hadn’t. She was also doing that to decide what to bring with her: she didn’t know when the two of them would have departed, but she wanted to already be prepared, even if the trip hadn’t taken place in a day or two. However, that activity also helped her to deal with a little tension she felt: she was nervous about having a trip with Akira. Even though she acted like an active and extrovert person when she was with Akira, her shy side was also a big part of her, and it was that that made her feel in that way. Her heart beat way faster than it ever did in her life, and she didn’t know whether it was because she wanted to do that with all of her heart and she was eagerly waiting for it, or because she was nervous about being alone with the person she loved. Maybe it was because it was her first time in that situation, but she didn’t know what to do and she feared that she could have ruined all if she even made a little mistake or forgot something. However, whenever Akira’s face entered into her mind, she felt as if she could control her heartbeat and felt at ease, like she had just received an injection of peace. That was to show that she really loved him: in those moments, she just wanted to see his face, to be with him, to feel his presence near her. She was sure that her being so clingy to him wouldn’t have made him angry: she thought instead, with a giggle, that he would have liked it very much. After all, he said it to her, didn’t he? “When you are with me you can just act however you want, you don’t have to limit yourself or put on a mask: just be you, that would make me happy”. She still remembered those words, and, when those same words arose to her mind, she felt a warmth in her body, something so soothing that made an involuntary smile appear on her lips. She wanted to see him. She wanted to embrace him. After thinking that, she left the wardrobe, closed it and quickly get out of the room, wanting only to search for Akira, wanting to be near him even for a lonely second.

When Samai rushed out of her room, searching for the object of her desire, Akira had just returned home. A fortuitous coincidence: Samai was just passing near the hall when Akira made his appearance in the house, which made her turn back on her steps and quickly run down the stairs. When Akira saw her, he was ready to greet her, a smile on his face, but Samai didn’t even give him the time to do something, as she quickly ran to him and embraced him with all of her strength, which made Akira smile. He wanted to ask her if there was something wrong, but, before he could say anything, she whispered to him.

“Please, don’t say anything. Just embrace me tight and let me stay like this for a bit”.

And that was exactly what he did: he embraced her tightly and they stayed like that for some minutes, their two warm bodies glued together. Still, when they separated after a moment that seemed to have been an eternity, Akira asked her if there was something wrong.

“No… I just missed you…” replied her, a shy look on her face, which made Akira’s heart skip a beat: because of that, he got near her again and kissed her on the lips, while Samia replied to that sign of affection with all of herself. Then, after separating each other yet again, she told him the good news she had for him.

“Listen, Akira… about that full week trip... do you think we can still do it?”

That took Akira by complete surprise, as he wanted to talk with her right about that: now he was sure that he needed to relax for a bit, and he wanted to do that with Samai, whether she was free or not. So hearing those words coming from her were a pleasant surprise for him.

“Does that mean you can go?”

“Yes. Priscilla told me that I can take a free week, and, well… I really want to spend my time with you, so… can we?”

“Of course we can, Samai!” replied Akira, with a visible excitement both on his face and in his voice, “You don’t know how happy I am to hear you say this”. Then, he asked her if she had time to take a walk together, even though he just returned from his personal excursion, and so the two of them got out in the streets of the city, while the sunshine was painting the whole city orange. During this walk, other than acting even more lovey-dovey than what they normally did – just to show how much Samai wanted Akira near him and how much Akira desired the same thing -, they decided that they would have started their trip tomorrow, right after lunch, by going to a little city near Zuvaskja, Havinta, where they would have then stayed until evening before going to their real destination, the hot spring mountain hotel that they would have visited in the weekend, where they would have passed all of their days together, doing whatever they wanted. Of course, they would have slept in the same room. They decided to let their next morning free so that, if they needed to buy something before the trip, they could have had the possibility to do so. Both were very excited for the trip, and, seeing the visible excitement that their partner had on the face, both Samai and Akira felt like they finally understood what love really was: being happy when the person you love the most is happy. They then stayed together for a long time and, when they returned home, it was almost midnight. When they entered the house, they stayed glued one to the other for a little more, before they unwillingly separated for the night, their last moment alone before a long week of being one near the other for all the time, or so the two of them hoped.

While the two of them were out, Priscilla, in the bathtub of the hot spring, succeeded in making a bit of order in her thought and in her emotions: it would have been probably impossible to stop that jealousy she felt for Samai and Akira’s happiness, so what she had to do was to just go out and find her own happiness. What she felt robbed of was not the only source of happiness that life could have given her, but the only way she could have found other sources like that was only by going out and live life: during all of her period in Zuvaskja she always refused to go out and live in the society, and the unhappiness of her family events and of her own condition just made her lose any hope. However, she was the first to blame for her situation: whenever she had the possibility to change something, she didn’t do anything, and, even when she found something that could have given her happiness, she didn’t act and lost that, but that was her own fault. So what she would have done from that day onward would have been to give Samai and Akira their space, making them live their life together and cheering them on whenever she had the possibility, while trying to find a way to live her own life outside of the four walls of her own house: she was not a child anymore, so she had to take her life into her own hands. With that proposition, easier to be said than done, she got out of the hot spring and then enjoyed her evening, before preparing to go to bed right when Akira and Priscilla returned to the house.

After midnight, three people were going to sleep, all of the three with something to do the day after, something to be happy of. Priscilla was going to try and take her life into her own two hands and find her own path, away from the security of the family; Samai was going to pass an entire holiday with the person she loved the most, and she was so excited that she had problems even laying on the bed and trying to sleep; Akira was excited for the same reason as Samai, but, moreover, he would have finally relaxed, in what seemed the last chapter he needed to have in order to let his past and probably that case behind him and finally restart his life from zero.

However, what at first seemed a calm night with a completely dark sky would have turned out to be far different from what nature prefigured it to be.