literature

Prism chapter 1 (tentative)

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His home is in ruins.

From buildings, tall pillars of thick black smoke emerge. Most buildings do not even stand anymore, piles of stone and wood and things that once belonged to some dead soul drowning in their own blood somewhere. The most tragic of battlefields is always the one upon which slaughtered children and innocents lay.

No one is innocent in a fight for freedom, however.
But right now, no one needs to be.

Because, as people walk over the dead bodies, they realize that their families and friends have not died in vain.

As broken as it is, Labrey is also free. No longer the slaves of cold foreigners. No longer simply the spoils of a war lost. This war was won, and it brought with it the freedom to live like normal people, to go off into the world and explore it, or to simply stay home and live ones life doing whatever job they wanted to. No more forced labor. No more working until you passed out, no whips or guns or darkened skies.

It was all over and done with.

At least, the war was.

Life was just beginning for the Labryans. Especially for Black.
He sat in a train, across from two strangers who had seemingly decided that they were going to adopt the war orphan and his older brother. Said sibling sat next to the ten year old boy, with a distant look on his face. Black looked over to his brother, then to the scarlet haired woman in front of him. She noticed his gaze and winked at him… Or something. She only had one eye visible, the other hidden behind her hair. He hesitantly smiled back at her and turned his gaze to the scenery beyond the window. Something about this woman seemed warm. Black enjoyed it.
But the man beside her…

Upon further examination of him, Black realized that the man was a Color, a being who embodied a color and who had special powers. Black was one of them, although Black was more of a shade than a color. He noticed that this person was the Color Gold. At least now he knew what to call this large and intimidating man. He spoke in a gruff tone, and wore an unpleasant expression. He also had a ring on his finger, and Black decided to concentrate on that instead. It was neat, with what seemed to be little gears engraved in it. To be certain, he glanced at the woman’s hand and saw a ring there as well, similar, though it had a diamond.
And so, he figured the two must be married. They certainly bickered like a married couple.

The woman was a Color as well. She was the embodiment of Scarlet. Black remembered a few random details about her. Namely, she had control over fire and contact with water harmed her. From this angle, he noticed that the skin hidden by her hair was discolored. Burned.
She was also from a far off country called Sanya, as was obvious by her heavy and beautiful accent… If the dark contrast of her olive skin wasn’t proof enough.

As for Black’s older brother, he was Metallic Blue. And he had a knack for predicting the future.
But mostly, he was his older brother, and he made the young one feel safe no matter what. Home was wherever his brother was, for now.

It would be a lie to say that Black wasn’t sad, though. The farther the train advanced, the farther away he was from what once was his parents. It hurt. He’d lost his mother. The lady who ran the bakery, miss Zei Imiko. Her smile was forever burned into his mind, and the taste of her sweet cake always lingered on his tongue. She would never bake anything for anyone ever again.
But she died a hero. She was the one who had orchestrated the revolution in the first place. Her death will allow hundreds of Labryans to live a free life.
It was worth it, he told himself. Another year and his brother would have been forced into slave labor. Had his mother not fought, he would be just another bloody backed worker.
He just wished she could have been free, too. And here with them.

The train passes by where it used to stop. From here on, it is a world Black has never even seen before, and no Labryans have, either. Everyone in the train looks out the windows. There are gasps. Shouts of “look mommy!” and “wow!” that echo through the locomotive. Once upon a time, they now can say, you couldn’t go this far. Once upon a time, no one left Labrey. Now the walls keeping them in are being demolished.
Black watches the destruction with a strange sense of joy. He can imagine his mother taking a hammer to these walls. He can see it.
It is very reassuring.

The train passes through the Alzurian countryside, and soon finds its way into the capital, Emberlin. The city is filled with tall skyscrapers and houses and stores. There are more people walking around than Black has ever seen.
“Where are we going, exactly?” his brother asks Scarlet.
“To our home. I’m sure you children must be hungry, and you’re both pretty filthy. I think supper and a bath are both in order,” Scarlet replies. Black observes his reflection self-consciously. He is covered in dirt and ash. His hair is filthy and greasy. He does need a bath.
“Tomorrow, we will bring you to see White,” Gold adds. Metallic Blue nods.
Black finds the word ‘White’ to be strangely appealing. It has a very fuzzy and sweet feeling to it. He doesn’t understand it, so he disregards it.
“Good. I know things have been rough in their country,” Metallic Blue says. He sounds older to Black. More mature. So he decides to question.
“Who’s White?” Black asks.
“You’ll see tomorrow,” Metallic Blue says. There is something strange about that smile of his as he messes up his little brother’s hair. “He is very important though, and you need to be very good when you meet him.” Black nods at this.
“How come he’s important?”
“You’ll see.”

Black decides that he really hates the words “you’ll see.”

The train stops suddenly. It scares Black, and he looks out the window, only to see the inside of the station. It is much brighter than the station in Labrey, and so much busier. People from all over the world seem to be there. He can see a little girl with pink hair playing tag with a boy with green hair.
Maybe he’ll get to play tag with White, and be happy like they are?
Tomorrow just can’t come fast enough. Things just can’t happen fast enough for Black. He urges and pushes his way out of the train, just so that he can get out. Get out, and go home and take a bath and then sleep until tomorrow comes!

They walk down the streets.
There is a parade, walking down the road. Metallic Blue taps his shoulder and points to one of two flags the people are holding.
“That’s the Labryan flag. They’re celebrating our victory. Isn’t that nice?” he says.
“I wish mom could see this,” Black replies sadly. But Metallic Blue just laughs.
“She can! Her body is gone, but her soul hasn’t gone anywhere. I’m sure mom’s a pretty ghost following us around and making sure we get home safe,” he assured his brother. Black could have sworn he felt a touch on his shoulder as he heard those words, but it may have been just him. He walked in awed silence until there was no more road to walk on. Instead, they walked on uneven rocks. It hurt, for some strange reason. His ankle hurt.
Gold noticed this.
He stopped and picked Black up, placing him on his shoulders. They continued to walk like this until they arrived to a strange home shaped like a boat.

“Welcome home,” Scarlet says with a smile, and they walk in through a door at the bottom of the ship-like structure. Gold places Black down carefully and nods to him before going up a nearby staircase and into what seems to be the kitchen.
“Follow me, sweethearts. I’ll show you to your rooms and the shower,” Scarlet tells them, holding out a hand for Black. he takes it, and they go up the same stairs, but turn left instead of right, down a hallway. She opens a door to her left and holds it open with a smile, urging Black inside. It is a bathroom, and possibly the nicest he has ever seen. Scarlet turns the water on for him and leaves him a towel before leading his brother off to some other room.

The spray of warm shower water is relaxing and well needed. The tub is lined black with the dirt and ash that once clung to the little boy’s body. He shampoos his hair and rinses it out, and repeats the process once more just to make sure.
He wants to look presentable for White, after all. First impressions are important. Black washes himself until his pale skin is red with all the scrubbing. Only then does he stop and get out. The towel left for him is very soft. It reminds him of his blankets at home. He’d rather not part with the towel, so he doesn’t. Even when gets dressed and follows the scent of food, he brings the towel with him. Scarlet and Gold look at him curiously, but neither says anything. he eats in peace, a delicious and rich meal the likes of which he has never had before. When he is done, the sit on the couch together. Black snuggled up with the towel and rests his head on Scarlet’s lap. She smiles at him.
He likes that smile very much.

They spend maybe an hour watching funny cartoons about frogs. Every so often, Gold laughs too, and every time he does, he seems less scary to Black.
Maybe he’s just misunderstood.
“It’s bedtime, sweetie,” Scarlet finally announces. Which is good, because Black’s eyes were starting to close anyways. He stands up and walks over to Gold.
“Goodnight,” the young boy mumbles, and gives the no-longer-scary man a hug.
Gold smiles at him. Quite the achievement.
“Good night, little one. I am glad to have taken you home,” he says.
Scarlet leads them down that hall again and shows them to their room.

She kisses each of them goodnight before leaving. Black feels another kiss upon his forehead, but knows it is not from his brother.
“Night mom,” he whispers to the air. And he closes his eyes, in hopeful wait of tomorrow, in excitement to meet this White.
I'm redoing a few chapters.
I think.

I like this one, but I'm not sure if it is better or worse than the first. It is different, but better? Who knows.
© 2013 - 2024 MidnightsEcho
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faye-cadmium's avatar
edit note. in the towel paragraph it seems you forgot the word he or black in the sentence "even when gets dressed and follows..."

otherwise i enjoyed reading this. i vaguely remember the previous version of this chapter, but this one seems well written. good job.