Grey Nirmala—Year 2018 AS
Every senseless soul has a counterpart to match itself. A mirror. But for me? No—not one. There is no one like me. Only me.
The Yellow Sun was near setting; the sky was cold, and fog covered most of the city streets. I jumped from one steep roof to the other, causing some to even crack and slip to the ground. I was careful enough not to let any of the fallen bricks fall onto anyone's head down below. Eventually, I found myself in my good old spot, where I would always spend my time with Maya and my older sister in the past. I was atop a taller house than most others in Lineage City. Most houses, including mine, had brickstone walls, tall narrow windows, and steep slate roofs. But this piece of vileness had a recently built thick brick smokestack, wisps of steam gushing from its tips—a true image of the rising Steam Era.
Sitting on the edge of the roof, I stared down at the streets covered by the fog. People were walking around in their half-poor clothes, men with tailcoats, women with corsets. "Idiots," I thought, "still in clothes they buy from outlets."
I stayed on the roof until the Yellow Sun had settled and the cold night sky ruled the city. The light of the moon shone on the streets as the fog began to disappear. Jumping from the rooftop to a shorter one, I slid down and landed safely on the ground. Night was very popular in Lineage City, not for the lineagefolk but more specifically for the tarnished who would try to steal from small houses and the defendman who would try to stop them. Walking in the night was calmer than in the day. The streets would not overflow with people when the Yellow Sun descended. I saw many tarnished in the side streets during my walk. Their darkened, violet eyes and dirty hair were always a sad sight. I can't do much for them; they were born as tarnished and would die as one. I was born with golden eyes, and I would die with them unless we change it. Fate is just a word, people are not.
My long hair swayed in the wind; a breeze of cold air brushed over my smooth skin. I tucked my hands deep into my pockets, keeping their warmth; the summer was over after all. I took deliberate turns until I reached one of the main streets, far away from the outskirts. My home was just a scent away from my nose, although it wasn't where I was headed. I sat under a firekeep tree just next to my house. The tree was small for its kind, with always-orange leaves and a yellow trunk. But it was forever warm on cold nights or days. I liked watching my father walk to the oak door and try to find the right key to open it.
"Oh, a tragic amusement." I laughed at my own pretty, humorous joke.
Soon, the door opened, and my older sister, Opie, peeked out, looking left and right until she spotted her dear little brother. She had wrapped a brown scarf around her neck, matching her flowing long silk-brown hair. Her golden eyes glowed in the cold night like a cat's fierce gaze. She walked toward me with a slight smirk on her lips. I frowned almost instantly when I met her grinning face.
"Why are you out this late? Summer brought its frost; you're going to catch a cold."
I scoffed and crossed my legs, sitting like a lord.
"Last time I checked, mother had no problem having me sit here. She's fine, so shall you too."
She rolled her eyes and sat beside me, claiming the warmth of my tree.
"I assume your play in the roofs ended early this time?"
"I slid down whenever my heart finds it right to."
She buzzed her lips and glanced at my hair.
"You should cut that hair of yours; it's even longer than mine now."
My hand immediately reached for a strand of my golden hair.
"I am not going to cut it; it's much more comfortable this way."
"Well, you look like a girl."
"Easier to convince those fool defendman that I am just late for my night shift."
She raised a brow.
"You don't have a job."
"No. But they believe I do."
Opie shook her head and adjusted the scarf on her neck—she always does it when she's annoyed.
"I heard a tarnished jumped from a roof near the outskirts earlier this noon. Poor fellows."
I narrowed my eyes, feeling a sense of mockery coming from her.
"You don't look very sad; did my older sister finally stop her cheers on our poor Eirdena?"
"I am sorry. But we have our own problems and solutions; they have their own."
Clasping my hands behind my head, I leaned back lightly and frowned.
"Moonveil Crest is on their edge today, I reckon. Their foolish plan of reshaping will fail miserably."
Opie huffed and vaguely hovered her hand near her head.
"Be less grumpy, please. You are like a walking beacon of frowning."
"What? The Five are merely families of savages."
Opie's eyes flashed with anger.
"Are you an idiot! What if they hear you?"
"Their satellites are not covering every house and street. And when I recall it, I see it true. They enforce a rule looming over the Twelve Cities; Lineage City is not their prime target in the Five Eyes."
"Should I remind you of what happened to Maya? To all those who spoke against and were killed. The Five Eyes could find every threat against the rule of the Endless Greatness of the Five."
I gave little care to her words from my face, much from deep in my heart. Five Eyes is a "tracking" system built by technology that is yet to open for the cityfolk, even for the ones in the capital—created in the aftermath of the Second Failed Republic Rebellion in 2002 AS. Five satellites from five different Cities across the world connected by a single network, a gargantuan spying system.
"Have you found a cat that can talk today? I did. It was a poor little thing, trying to survive on the food people throw it as garbage. Listening to their half-comprehensible sentences is a test for patience."
My older sister fidgeted with her scarf.
"I still wonder where they came from. I like cats when they wiggle their tiny tails and purr when they are stroked, not when they shout at me for passing through their boxes."
"I want to see a mermaid," I said. "I still believe they exist deep in Godwhisper Sea."
"Hope they are; I sure dream of seeing one, too." A weird chillness breezed across her soft, gentle face. My sister was without a doubt a beautiful woman, not more than Raya, of course, but still, she is. Opie would always look after me; she is a good elder sister. I thank her for that.
Looking at the dim, starless night, I felt as if the moon itself was watching me and recalled a lineagefolk tale of a girl sitting on the moon and watching the world even before the Separation happened. "The moon," I mumbled. "People really are idiots."
"You know, Grey," Opie said, "you should try urumi lessons; I heard it's a pretty hard weapon to master. I would like to see your egotistical pride getting bruised."
I almost stumbled where I sat.
"Oh, how evil of you, dear sister. Offering your one and only little brother to master such a vile weapon. You should be ashamed of yourself." I waited for a moment to see if any response would come; when not, I laughed loudly and insanely.
Opie watched me laugh with clear annoyance; her brows shaped a scowl.
"You should learn how to laugh more humanely, and also lord manners. Perhaps that's why people are so rude to you."
My laughter died as soon as she mentioned that.
"My laugh is lordly enough. It's not my fault for having golden eyes."
Opie's scowl deepened.
"I also have golden eyes; I don't think people have ever been hostile to me when I was at Legacy's Academy."
"I think not, sister."
I gave her a long look before my focus scattered because of the sound of a couple of fledglings chirping. I lifted my eyes and glanced at a branch of the firekeep tree. There was a small nest on it, six whelp birds fighting over a little spider, trying to determine who'd eat it. I had little pity for the spider; the eyes of a spider always made me feel uneasy.
"Why would a bird nestle in a short tree like this?" Opie asked. "They are easy to hunt."
I shrugged and returned my gaze to my sister.
"The tree is warm; they need heat."
Opie silently picked a small pebble from the grass and played with it until she threw it to the road.
"I heard there is going to be a conference at Legacy's Academy about the Yellow Sun by a guy named Doctor James Zoe. Are you any excited?"
"If I said yes, that would be a lie, and I don't like lying to you."
She smirked.
"Nice to have learned that."
"Well met, Opie Nirmala; you lied to father and mother or to me more than I ever did in my sixteen years of life."
Opie playfully slapped my arm.
"If you can't understand it to be a lie, then it is not. Play the role of the liar too long, even truths are a deceiver."
"A philosopher with bad poetry, I see; is that a new hobby of yours? Nothing is worse than a person who doesn't believe in their own words. You know what men I do not trust? I don't trust a man who doesn't fear death, for he can dream of everything."
Opie furrowed her brows; wrinkles formed on her forehead.
"You're worse than I am, little brother. To ponder which is the truth and which is a lie, straight from the play of the Endless Greatness of the Five."
"Don't compare me to them. They are a bunch of ugly, manipulative bastards. They sieged the Horizon Isles with the sole ambition of crushing the rebellion completely. They are not good people, Opie. They took the risk of drowning the Isles and thousands just to kill the uprising. Herba, Erus, Hera, Nata, all in their path to secure their dominion over the Cities."
My sister sighed wearily, her lips pressed into a thin line. I said the truth. And soon, one day, that rebellion would be mine to control. If I don't control it, someone else will. A wicked smirk curled around my mouth. I will do what is right. I will be their meager grave. Looking up again at the night sky as stars began to appear, I calmly exhaled until I suddenly held my breath. Because they were not stars. I slightly lowered my head as glimpses of motes of purple danced around me. I glanced at Opie, but she didn't seem to witness what I did. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of particles in the shade of lavender jumped and leapt around me as if they had their own consciousness. "What?" I uttered. A phenomenon that I could not grasp, circling me. I could see myself in their reflection. My gold locks, brows, and sharp golden eyes. My soft and smooth skin, the black and gold academy uniform on me. I blinked three times, believing it was just an illusion of the eye. But they were still here, still floating around me. I could hear whispers in my ears, ringing like laughter, coming from the purple motes. As if a call. Some beckoning from a lost purpose.