1 Shadows of Eleftheria
XEPER, ELEFTHERIA
[1]
The skies are cloaked in darkness and the only light comes from the eye of the goddess.
Down she looks on the mortals that lay, still in slumber, unmoved by the wails. They cry in prayer to the goddess above for aid. All which the men and women have with them is faith.
The goddess blinks for a moment, and all of Xeper turns silent.
Once the goddess opens her eye, half the city of Keme has died.
[2]
There is only a promise she has to keep.
To leave Xeper, and to never turn back.
She doesn't know how far or for how long she's been running. No sense of time as they pass by the mounds of sand. They have never been this far from the walls, nowhere near the isolation of the desert.
Safiya's white hair continues to get smaller and smaller in the violet blanket. Thus Aisha urges her own legs to go after her, in a breathless and mindless running, withstanding the pain of her thighs and her feet, of her burning lungs, and of her pounding worry and guilt. Even that spot right under her ribs is aching. And yet, she has to will herself to go farther. They have to get to the Sacredos Church in Lucis.
Her loud gasps and her own heartbeat overlap the gush of the southern wind. She could no longer hear the roaring of the soldiers from inside the walls of Keme, and yet the voice of her mother echoes in her ears. And her father. Her brave and loving father's words linger in the promise she's made to him.
Leave Xeper and never turn back. She reminds herself in tears.
She regrets ever disobeying her parents. She regrets not loving them enough.
Until a familiar shriek interrupts her thoughts in the peaceful desert night of Xeper.
Looking up the empty sky, Amir gracefully stretches his enormous wings, tilting on one side, ready to land. Safiya calls for the roc's name, slowing down her pace.
Her white hair whips when she turns around, with her uniquely colored eyes of blue and gray. An embodiment of day and night. Of the rising and setting of the sun.
"Come, Aisha!"
The motion of Amir flapping his wings moves against the direction of the wind. Sand particles rise into the air and fly all over the place. Aisha covers her eyes and coughs out what got in her mouth.
Safiya swiftly gets herself on Amir's back, as he hovers a few inches above the ground.
"Aisha!" She extends a hand.
Aisha runs faster, stretching out her arm, reaching for Safiya's hand, who grunts and clenches her teeth, and grabbing on to her as she jumps unto the back of the beast.
She could hear Safiya sigh in relief.
Now that running was out of her mind, her entire body has started to scream. The pain is throbbing in places where she's never felt sore, and she's no longer with her mother or father whom she could cry to anymore.
She wonders when she'll see them again. Their answer had only been 'when it ends'.
"No," She hears Safiya gasp.
She faces her friend who is shaking her head, tears betraying to roll down her cheeks.
Aisha follows her line of sight, concerned to know what she means.
From afar she can see the black smoke surrounding Keme. Leaving no trace of the stone walls or of the civilization inside. As if it's a living creature that's devouring the city, her home, her family.
A chill runs down her spine. From fear and from the agony.
Something about it isn't right.
Somehow she can feel it's in pain. Like it's longing, searching—and then an earsplitting sound that reverberates, like an angry scream or a child's cry.
Aisha and Safiya both cover their ears, but Amir starts to sway from side to side. They immediately hold on to him as Safiya tries to calm him down.
There are words being spoken but she couldn't decipher them from the noise.
"What are you trying to say?" She tries to listen more intently, unto the voice that's being overlooked.
Until she hears him clearly utter the question,
Where are you, Aurea?
A voice she thinks she's heard before.
Then it all retracts, like a sentence spoken backward and stops completely, leaving the desert in its previous state. As if nothing about it has changed.
Amir recovers and is now flying straight, while Safiya sits right behind his neck to guide him on their way. Out of the desert, and into the plains.
She wonders who that was, and why she seems to recognize his voice. She knows who Aurea is, and she doesn't think he'd be able to meet her here. She wants to ask Safiya if she heard it too, but instead, she reserves her question and waits for the night to be through.
[3]
The eye of the goddess sleeps and the eye of the god awakens, by this time the aid has arrived from the nations of Dânesh and Lucis. But it's all too late, realized the Princess, seeing how Keme has been brought to ruins.
Red silk overlay the progeny of bones. Respects are paid by their flesh with stones.
Solemn prayers are given to the wandering souls, may they all enter heaven's doors.
Where was the goddess? Asked the Princess. Her faith wavering from doubts and questions. Ultimately she points to herself the blame, for being a powerless child—her own people she couldn't save.
She then wears a veneer of a strong leader who does not fear. Carrying herself as a true ruler, as she was born and raised to be. She promises her people to rebuild the kingdom, strengthen their borders and avenge their loved ones.
She will find the shadows that lurk in the darkness, draw them to the light, and serve them justice. It is her oath to the fallen king and queen whom they have killed, and to the father and mother of her friend so dear. A friend who is more like her sister, who journeyed to Lucis with her. Who was taken by her grandfather to another nation far away from Xeper.
Safiya only hopes Aisha's well and healthy. There's nothing much she can do if this is part of their destiny. So whenever Aisha comes back home, rest assured, waiting for her is a safe and serene abode.
