A Tear of Hyacinth - [End of Arc 1]

~ “Hey, stop moving so much… I can’t draw properly like this.” ~

I could never get used to this, even a half curtained up room like this still felt like staring into the sun on a hot summer day. There she was in front of me, a girl whose face was covered in a dense white fog. It was just her this time it seemed, not that I could move my head to confirm it.

The walls were painted snow white, door-sized panels of glass covered by gray flowy curtains, and the floor laid with hard teak floorboards. A strong smell of oil paint came from the dozens of buckets of paint sitting on the floor. A flat box on a desk to our right with a black disk spinning, vinyl, was playing music. An art studio it seemed.

A wooden frame holding a canvas near the windows with her behind, occasionally peeking over to measure me, showing her overall doused in colors.

~ “Can you move a little to your left?” ~

~ “Wait no… I meant turn a little to your left.” ~

Scratching her pallet with a painting knife to pick up paint before splatting onto the canvas and pushing and sculpting in the finer details and the occasional heavy brush strokes for the background. Listening to her paint was oddly hypnotic.

~ “Wahh~ It’s finally finished! How long has it been? Like two months already, right?” ~

She picked up the canvas and hurried over to me, apron and cheeks still covered in gods know how many layers of paint. Wrapping behind me, her hands extended out with her painting so we could both have a view of it. Then the clouds drifted away, and golden beams veiled over, gilding us. The sun was setting already.

~ “What do you think?” ~

~ “You think it’s pretty? I’m glad you liked it!” ~

I didn’t get to respond again, but it was indeed a lovely painting. Chandelier lights casting onto a mahogany hall, turning the deep burgundy into lines of bright coral. Layered paint stacked on the canvas giving bookshelves depth and life, heavy leather-bound books toppling over empty spaces.

A person was in the middle, attired in a tailor-fit suit black as obsidian, trimmed with silver. A girl behind him, slightly bent over, grasping his hand. Her dress was as white as a lily, as graceful as a lily, but the impression it gave me was as sad as a lily.

I turned to their faces, they were distorted, twisted and distorted, with petals of roses hiding sections. Any normal person would have just let out a scream at this sight of absolute horror in what was supposed to be a normal dream, a, but when I stared at it, it just felt like seeing a reflection of myself.

We admired it for another while, until a cloud drifted through the sun again, the sudden burst of light stinging her would be eyes.

~ “Ehe... We ended up staying here for the whole day again. Why not go for a walk until we find a place to eat?” ~

~ “Great! Let me hang this on the wall first then.” ~

Paintings with a strange familiarity appeared as she moved along before stopping at a hammered in nail and hanging the piece we were just looking at. Those paintings were all the same two people, the man always in different clothing and the girl was always in that lily-like dress.

We walked down the stairs to the open streets, her hand holding mine. Store lights turned on one by one as the night creeps in. The streets were narrow, but shops were plentiful and the number of people could make up an ocean. Even the city of Detlas couldn’t compete with this prosperity.

~ “Almost forgot today’s New Years Eve, let’s go watch the fireworks later!” ~

She pulls down my arm, pointing at the sky before continuing. Stopping at every few stores to explore and try out their goods. The word “fireworks” was between familiarity and unfamiliarity, but she was excited about it and seemed to be all that mattered for now.

~ “Say, does this ushanka look good on me?” ~

The fur hat sat on her head, the ball of fuzz on top still shaking. The ear flaps bounced up behind floating back down, hugging her face. It was cute, it really fit her, even when her face was covered with an unperceivable fog.

~ “You like it? I’ll be sure to wear it more when you’re around then!” ~

We walked out as snow started falling, flakes of white covering the obsidian sky. What great timing for her to get a snow cap, I wonder if I had one, not that I would know when I couldn’t even feel, let alone place my hand on my head to check.

~ “Ahh, it’s snowing… but we should find a restaurant to get in before the seats are taken.” ~

We ran into a steakhouse, and the light dusting had become a small blizzard and the snow on the ground was already a thumb deep. We ordered our food and hers arrived first. Though faint, I could smell the meat when she cut into it, and her face screamed delicacy when biting the sliced bit.

Then mine arrived. I’d expected to taste nothing but somehow I could, not felt or from a distant memory, flavor seeped into my tongue. Even diluted, it was the best meat I had ever tasted.

~ “Let’s go now, the firework show should start soon, if it weren’t canceled by the snow.” ~

We left satisfied. Her hands grasped mine, dragging me along to this show she was so thrilled about. Running through the mostly empty streets and turning around corners, then another set or two, and at our last turn, the white, truck, sped through.

There was still no pain, but a numbness filled me and my vision reddened once again. She was facing me, her forehead covered in blood. Tears rolled down her face and the fog around her eyes was lifting. A single marigold was slowly falling with the snow, the flower head still round with golden petals. Landing perfectly in between us as the fog hasted off, shielding her now uncovered face from me, and my heart felt torn again.

I laid there, waiting to be awakened but it didn’t come. I was left alone with my thoughts, pondering what and who she is, this feeling when she’s with me, this feeling when she leaves me. Is this what love is? The reason I’m this confused is just because I don’t know what this is right? That I had never experienced it, never… never except…

“Ahh!..”

My companion screamed as Caramel reared up. I came flying off it, my face crashing into the soil below.

“Sorry!.. Are you alright?”

Caramel whined softly before checking on me with its snout. The numbness in my body carried through from that dream, moving was difficult but I tried to nod I’m fine.

“Caramel, you need to help me and work together, you know.”

It snorted as a response and she came down to help me up. My head raised and a massive stone city wall stretched in front of me. An arching gate with guards patrolling, a line of visitors waiting for entry. After two weeks of traveling, we finally arrived at the marble city of Citra.