Molly VI

17th night of the Month of Ice, 16:30

She doesn't tell anyone, she just leaves the house when Chrysas is busy with something and Cira is at the weird church-school. Then, she takes a unicorn—nerval, had said Shuja with eyes full of wonder, the unicorns are called nerval—and leaves towards the south gate and beyond. Nobody stops her but some glare at her when she meets their eyes as she passes.

Not even this strange utopia filled with superpowers can escape prejudice and discrimination, Shuja had told her he would explain further in their next lesson, but he had looked sad about it, he had simply told her to expect the best treatment in public, no one was going to scream insults at her in the streets, but their hate had more secretive ways of being shown. Molly had changed the topic after that, she didn't want to know. Her experiences had been good, but maybe it was because the family that had adopted her was rich and well received, maybe Shuja had suffered a different treatment than she had in the few days she had been living here.

She carries a lanterns attached to the stolen nerval—the city maybe lit with street lamps, but outside the walls, at least for a while, no light lead the way—and had decided to wear the most beautiful dress of all of the ones Chrysas had gotten her, the blue one with gold silk that made her feel like a princess, and her boots. Molly felt like a runaway princess from a fairytale, seeking a knight that would save her only to realize only she could save herself.

Molly had tried. She liked many things about the city; she liked the prewritten future she had acquired with just a surname, the clothes and even some of the people.

But…

She rides with some difficulty. She has never done so, so she expects very sore thighs at any moment now, but she rides and she reaches the house in record time, she dismounts and almost falls on her face. She walks the path like she had done once, leaving the horse tied to the fence of one of the cemeteries, and climbs the steps in a rush, skipping the last one in a fruitless attempt to gain time.

Molly knocks and waits, she doesn't have to do for long, Nima must have seen the future because he almost immediately opens the door, his face hiding no surprise.

"You have made a decision?" He asks leaning on the door. He wears red and Molly wonders if this is the clothes that he wears under the heavy coat and hood. A fancy crimson shirt with a black cravat and red riding pants with tall boots that are a slightly darker red than the rest of the outfit. Maybe he didn't see the future and he was just about to leave for work.

"Yeah" breathes Molly "I want to try to leave"

Nima nods.

"Give me a second, I need to grab something" he says, but stops just before he disappears inside the house "Bring your lantern, we are walking"

Molly nods and turns around, practically running to the nerval and grabbing the lantern. When she returns Nima is waiting for her, red cloak on his shoulders, its hood covering his head, and his bird mask on his face. On one hand he carries another lantern, and on the other he has some kind of leather bag that looks to be filled with something that smells like copper.

"Let's go" he says, and they start to walk towards the back of the house and beyond, where the woods part to show something black and shiny like glass in the horizon.

They stay quiet for some time before Nima clears his throat and Molly stops looking down and stares at the back of his cloak.

"Why did you decide to leave?" He asks, turning his head just enough for Molly to meet one of the glass eyes of the mask "What made you change your mind? You weren't so sure a few nights ago. I was relatively sure you would stay"

"I-" starts Molly but stops. She swallows. How could she explain what ran through her head? "I thought I could stay, I loved the chance of not having to live my life anymore, of being special and different, all of you looked so happy…I mean…look at you! You're like…one fourth of a pope! That's amazing! I think…hahaha…but me—outside me was shy and a lonely girl that had decided to attend a party filled with people she didn't know and then couldn't talk to anyone, I just sat outside by that pool and waited for it to be over, and then someone pushed me…and, and! I just wanted something else out of life!"

"Like this?" Asks Nima, he had stopped walking as had completely turned to look at her.

"Who could have imagined this was even a possibility! I just want my mom and my dad back, my little brother and my grandpa and grandma, maybe even my only friend! I don't want to loose all that and my name, just for a life filled with superpowers and complete darkness all the time!" Exclaims Molly, stopping in her tracks when she notices her throat is raw and her eyes have filled with tears "I don't want to be just an another missing person case and make my family wonder what happened to me. I want my name and my old life back. I can learn to make it better instead of getting a new one"

Nima says nothing, but the silence feels heavy. She holds her sobs and continues walking.

"I think leaving is worth a chance, even if I can never return" she concludes as she passes by him "I love this place, I think, I wished I had the opportunity to visit, just once again, when I feel I'm ready or when everything else fails"

"Another chance in life…"mutters Nima as he also starts walking, taking the lead not soon after.

The rest of the way is spent in silence, just the surrounding woods and fields to serve as background noise.

It takes what feels like half an hour until they reach the parting of the woods, among some straggling trees, something like a wall makes them stop.

It looks like black glass, a sheet of thick glass that goes infinitely up, blending with the dark sky.

"The Yashma" says Nima "The impenetrable barrier and the bars of our cage"

"Hope you have a good plan to cross that" mumbles Molly to herself "It doesn't look very…crossable"

"Humans are the only ones restricted from crossing it; animals have more…freedom to leave, in a way, but the ones that can always pass through, not matter what, are birds" explains Nima as he opens the leather bag and shows its contents to Molly.

It looks like a cloak made of feathers of all sizes and colors, the inside out it looking like it was made of some type of leather. Nima pulls it out and throws it around Molly's shoulders.

"It took years to make.It's made from feathers and skin from Neth's birds and outside ones too," says Nima and then he pulls something else from the bag, a small leather pouch that he opens to show what looks like red sand "and this is dried bird blood"

"For what?" Asks Molly with disgust as she stares at the small pouch of sand-like blood and tries not to think about the cloak and it's origins.

"I'm going to paint your face with it, oh and your hair also. The rest of your body will be covered by the cloak" explains Nima with, his voice sounds like he was smirking, even with his face covered, Molly can feel it in her bones.

"Please, tell me is a joke" pleads Molly staring at the blood but also closing the cloak completely around her.

"I don't joke often"

"Still"

Nima laughs and then grabs a handful of the blood and drops it on her head.

"Stand still and try to not breath it in" he says and Molly just shivers as he mixes the blood with each braid on her head and then smears it on her face.

Molly splutters but manages to keep both mouth and eyes closed as she feels the blood on her face, it feels like powder foundation, but worse.

"This is disgusting" groans Molly when he is done and she can finally speak without the fear of accidentally tasting the blood.

"Suck it up, it wasn't that bad" he chuckles.

Such a lighthearted moment is broken when Nima freezes, his body shielding Molly from the view of the way the came from. He must have heard something.

"What is it?" She asks with a tilted head "An animal?"

"Molly" he says and she realizes it is the first time he calls her by her name, she hums in response and he continues "Are you a hundred percent sure you want to leave?"

Molly no longer doubts about her decision. It's now or never, she will return home and be better than she was before. She had dealt with a magical city filled with strangers, she could deal with high school.

"Yes" she answers and Nima starts to walk forward, making her walk backwards, her back almost touching the barrier.

"Then goodbye, Molly" he says, his hand on her shoulder "enjoy the sun for me, will you?"

And then, he shoves her backwards, into the void.