A Life of Marble and Gold

My life leading up to adulthood was filled with happiness, and many of my dreams were fulfilled. I grew up in a nation's capital that calls itself an empire. Growing up, I did not have any ideas what the word meant, all that mattered to me was how much our life prospered, every day as a child all I kept on hearing were the achievements that our country has accomplished. Despite lacking much vocabulary, my mother would always tell me to clap once the person on the platform would finish talking, and everybody around that busy plaza would do the same. I grew up doing the same thing, over and over again, not knowing what it meant but knowing that I had to do it.

It was during a day in the academy when I finally sealed my fate.

The teacher was asking us one by one what we wanted to be when we grew up. When it was my turn, he looked at me with a smile, pleased with everything he heard from the other students.

"Now Nox, would you like to share with the class what is it that you dream of becoming?"

Everyone else was looking at me like my answer was expected. Young as I was, I merely smiled and exclaimed my answer with passion in my heart.

"For the glory of the empire, I will become a soldier just like my father before me."

Everyone in that classroom seemed pleased with my answer, immediately clapping like I just finished performing on a stage. Years passed, I learned new things, and I tried things I never did before. Many things changed with time, but one thing remained the same, and it was the news being announced at the central plaza of the city. Only imagining such feats accomplished through the word they had said, we were left amazed and applauded to hear that the neighboring nation had willingly joined the empire.

In the Altonian Empire, there was never any bad news. Everybody was happy.

The day finally came, I was 20, and I opened my eyes with excitement while lying down on a comfortable bed. I stretched my arms into the air as I looked outside of the window, in front of me was the most glorious city in all of the empire - Altonia. I put on my shirt and quickly rushed downstairs, my mother was surprised to hear how rowdy I was first thing in the morning.

"What's with all the excitement, Nox?" she asked.

The stair in our house was shaped like the letter L, and there were two landings, one before the stairs leading to where I was standing and one that lead to the hallway upstairs. From where I was standing, I boldly did a frontflip into the floor of the living room, there weren't any objects nearby, so it was safe for the most part. The danger was only applicable to my body, but it went successfully and I can just forget about that.

I graciously raised my right hand to the ceiling and my head followed.

"Altonia will finally have its new hero!" I said.

"I do not doubt that, son," said my mom, expressing her deep support towards me with a smile.

I immediately walked behind her as she cooked in the kitchen and hugged her from the back. My mother was taken by surprise by my sudden burst of energy but the hugs that we share were something that we do a lot.

"Finally, you'll be able to avenge your father's death."

This day was supposed to be a day of joy, but after she said that, I was reminded of why I became even more determined. The smile on my face faded into a face of longing and anger. Suddenly, I immediately felt like a grown-up, like I had to protect my mother in the absence of my father.

Altonia was at war with a large nation to the east, and my father became a casualty trying to defend the homeland from the aggressors. It's been 6 years since then, and there had been numerous ceasefires, but peace was never an option for both sides - one had to fall. Feeling the same drive that my father once had, I left later that day, carrying luggage. My mother came along as she watched me board the train. There wasn't much said between the two of us, she just looked at me after we said our goodbyes, and I knew already what she wanted to say just from her eyes.

Just like that, the sound of the steam locomotive's engine roaring began to fill the station, and it wasn't long before it started to trail its way toward the other side of the country. I sat down near the window without any seatmates next to and in front of me. I looked at the landscapes as the train passed by each one. The last time I had been on a train was when my father was still around, we were on our way to a relative back then, but I hardly have any recollection of those days as it was before my teenage years. I began to notice something off as I looked outside, the farther we were getting from the capital, the worse the state of living was becoming - as shown by the degrading levels of architecture and the lack of any agriculture. Deep into the journey, I was startled by someone's voice before I could even continue thinking about what I was witnessing outside.

"Are you alone?" asked a man wearing a newsboy cap carrying a suitcase.

I blinked my eyes and shook my head slightly before responding.

"Oh…," I said, second-guessing what I was hearing before I continued speaking, "Yeah, there's no one else here."

I looked around me and saw that the rest of the seats in the car that I was in was already full. Afterward, I turned to the man who then sat in front of me. He was a man nearing his middle age and had a short beard. He was wearing a brown trench coat and beige trousers, and his presence seemed mysterious, to say the least. While I was thinking about those things, I didn't realize that he was already looking at me and then giving me an off-putting smile.

I immediately looked away, viewing the land outside once more. Unsatisfied with startling me just once, the man started talking once more.

"What do you think about the view?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The view outside, doesn't Altonia look beautiful?" he replied.

I looked back outside.

"Yes, it does look beautiful, every single thing, even the smallest of beings is part of what makes this country so great, and worth protecting."

As I said those words, I was looking at places that would make the younger me start doubting the words my mother told me before, and out of curiosity started asking questions. Even right now, I do not understand what I was looking at. There was a nearby sign that said that we were already past the capital region and already in a territory that had joined the empire decades prior. Far into the distance, I could see what looked like facilities surrounded by barbed wires. I was confused as to what I was looking at.

"Do you love the empire?" asked the man.

I looked back at him with a stern look on my face.

"Why do you ask?"

There was silence for a few seconds as he stared at me, I felt a slight pressure with every second that passed. My thoughts were fixated on the passing facilities that I saw earlier. I took a deep but silent breath.

Those were just prison facilities. I thought to myself.

Then, the atmosphere changed as quickly as his face turned into a smile once more.

"No specific reason, I just wanted to share my energy and love of the empire with other people," said the man and chuckled right as he said that.

An uneasy silence followed, I was looking here and there, unable to keep a calm demeanor, feeling rather awkward and uncomfortable at the same time. He stood up and I looked at him.

"Well then, I shall take my leave," said the man.

He was still keeping that discomforting smile from earlier. He raised his hat and I lowered my head slightly as he took his leave, bringing along his suitcase with him. The rest of the trip to my destination was a rather peaceful one, I continued looking over outside. Night soon arrived, and with nothing much to do for the rest of the trip, I fell asleep, waking up to a beautiful morning. Before noon came, I arrived at my destination and started to make my way out of the car and to the platform.

I started hearing people chanting, "Glory be to Altonia!" from the other side of the platform. They seemed to be surrounding the other exit next to where I came out from.

Suddenly, a great sense of pride struck me while I was standing on the platform of the station. I happened to see the man from earlier once more, and this time I realized that he was a member of the secret police after I saw him apprehending a man from the train and out into the platform. The other people who were there started to cuss at the man being arrested, going so far as to even throw rocks at him.

Bothered by what I was seeing, I went close to the man who was throwing the rocks and took the rock off his hand.

"You're acting like a savage, that is not how Altonians should be behaving!" I shouted.

"Back off kid! That man is an enemy of Altonia!" replied the man.

"That doesn't give you an excuse to become a savage. You're acting like an uncivilized person in a civilized society."

Suddenly, I heard the bearded man from earlier once more, laughing as he held the fugitive closely. Every person there was silenced, including me who looked in confusion.

"You are a good citizen kid, we need more like you. I hope by the time we meet again, you'll do more for the empire. Glory be to Altonia," said the man.

"Glory be to Altonia!" everyone else, including me, replied in unison.

The crowd began to disperse as the man from earlier started to leave with the fugitive with him. I stood there pondering and looking around, the environment I was in was different from the capital, most of the area was covered in grass and there were mountain ranges everywhere as if it was acting as some sort of natural barrier to protect Altonia from invaders. On top of the mountains I could spot what seemed to look like watchtowers, and at the foot were military bases.

The nearby town was about a kilometer away by foot, it wasn't far but it was an uphill walk that required me more stamina than usual when walking on a flat surface. As I went on my way there with luggage in hand, I accidentally stood on what seemed to be a damaged wooden sign. Upon further inspection, I found the word 'Jichi' written on it.

I was immensely surprised after realizing that the land I was standing on was the former capital of the Jiyuu Kingdom that joined Altonia five decades ago. What surprised me, even more, was that, as I looked more at the environment around me, I started to discover what looked like numerous broken concrete walls, looking like ruins.

A discontinued renovation perhaps. I thought. But most of the portions of the wall were darkened as if it was burnt, and it looked like the damage done to it was significant, burn marks could still be seen in some parts.

"Interested in history?" asked a female voice.

It caught me off guard, making me react with the intent of defending myself from danger, which ended up with me grabbing whoever it was that talked to me in an attempt to throw them down to the ground - a typical martial arts move. Yet, as I was attempting to do just that, the tables were turned as the other person overpowered me and threw me on the ground instead, leaving me surprised and groaning in pain.

"I can't even ask a simple question anymore?" jokingly asked the woman.

She was looking down at me, expecting me to answer but the only thing I was only able to do was to pray that the pain soon fades away, but it didn't seem like that was going to happen. It felt like I hit something solid on the ground, I was scared that my arm had been broken due to the overwhelming stinging sensation near my shoulder.

"Aren't you exaggerating too much? That was just a basic shoulder throw."

Yet again, she was expecting a reply from what I would consider myself at this point - a disabled person. I started to roll left and right as I prayed and tried to ease the pain. Then, the woman suddenly exclaimed.

"Oof, that's painful."

At that moment, we both realized that she had thrown me down a rock on the ground.

"Yep, you're needing medical attention."

After she said that, she pulled me up from the ground and started carrying me up the hill, and it was an embarrassing scene indeed. I passed out from all the pain.