Volume 1 Part 8: The Colors of Sol
1504 Words
I resumed watching the crowd. A few moments had passed, then suddenly I noticed a loud commotion seemed to be coming from the distance. Trumpets roared playing songs of celebration then came out a shout that parted the crowd of people
"MAKE WAY! HIS LORDSHIP IS APPROACHING!!" A booming voice announced cutting through the blaring sounds of the trumpets
Not long after the barmaid exited the tavern and ran over to me
"Is the parade starting?" she asked with an gleeful smile.
"Parade?" I asked
"Have you never seen a parade?" she asked
"No?" I shook my head
"Really?" She asked, her mouth dropping slightly
"Yeah, this is my first festival," I said
"Seriously? Well have you ever heard of the Crystal Cove Festival?" she asked
"No, what is that?" I asked
"Huh, it's a festival that is celebrated by Eldoria and Aster. People from both countries can go through the caves and meet up in the center where there is a huge space there holding a large magical tree,"
"Large magical tree? What makes it magic?" I asked tilting my head in confusion
"They say that if you make write a wish on a note and tie it to the tree then your wish could come true?"
"Does it really?" I asked
"Of course not," she chuckled, "It's just a myth. How could some tree grant wishes?"
"Oh," I sulked
"Wait, are you disappointed?" she asked
"I mean kind of," I said, thinking about it. It would have been really cool for there to have been a tree that could do such a thing. Then a thought came to mind. If something like that had existed, could it have gotten rid of my golden eye and maybe I could be.....normal?
"But hey, what do I know? I haven't even made a wish on it yet," she chuckled
"You haven't?" I asked
"Yeah, you can only make a wish once so I think you probably shouldn't waste it. I always go, but just to enjoy the festival while I think about what I wish to wish for"
"But I thought you didn't believe in the wishes? Isn't that a lot of thinking for something you don't believe in?" I asked once again confused
"Yeah I guess you're right. It is a lot," she giggled
"So do you believe the wishes are real? Or do you not?" I asked wondering which of the conflicting sentiments were true
"I mean I don't really, but a part of me just hopes it is. Sometimes a little hope goes a long way," she said with a bright smile that was so contagious that it made me smile as well then shortly before being alerted by the trumpets starting to sound again.
Now there were additional sounds of music and soon after a loud explosion went off overhead. My body instinctively moved on its own, allowing me to jump back and remove the bow from my back, reaching for an arrow from my boot to load. Mister never allowed me to use the bow, but he told me to always be alert. I looked around and noticed the strange look the barmaid was giving me
"Um...are you okay?" she worriedly asked
"I'm fine, aren't we being attacked?" I asked.
The barmaid looked confused before realization struck her. I could watch as she struggled to hold in a laugh before letting it all out
"You don't know what fireworks are?" she giggled
"No," I said
"Well look up," she said putting up to the sky. I followed her instruction and looked to the sky.
There they were, the bright lights that had caught my attention from the cabin. There were many events that had happened over the last year that featured these fireworks and I would often watch them from my room in amazement. Now that I could see them in full view, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on. It decorated the night sky in varying patterns and shades. I looked across from me and noticed the barmaid had changed her clothes, her barmaid uniform had been replaced to a new yellow dress and her hair had been untie and allowed to blow in the wind. Her eyes twinkled with excitement as if it had been her first time seeing the fireworks and her smile sparkled
"You're really pretty, Miss," I suddenly said
"Bethany," she said
"Huh?" I spoke
"Miss makes me sound old. My name is Bethany," she said
"Pretty," I said
"Thank you and what's your name?" she asked
"Um my name?" I asked
"Yeah, do you not have one?" she asked
Of course I had a name, but Mister had rarely ever used it. Mister Jacob and Miss Mary would often just use a nickname and there was never an occasion where I needed to ever tell anyone my own name. Truly my name was something that I had could have eventually forgotten with ease
"Um....my name is....Azrael," I said after a moment of pondering
"Azrael? Huh, I've never heard a name like that before," she said
"Is that bad?" I asked
"No, it's beautiful and really unique," she said and it made me smile a bit
"Thank you," I said
"Hey, the parade's coming into view," a random person hollered, then suddenly the hoard burst alive and vacated the streets completely.
"It's finally starting," she said then I could hear the excitement grow and the music became more festive
"Come with me," she said grabbing my hand and running back into the tavern.
"Where are we going Bethany?" I asked allowing her to drag me up a flight of stairs. Once at the top of the stairs there was a door she opened and we entered. We were on the roof of the tavern where there were only crates and chairs. This place was dark so not many people down there could see us.
"What do you think? Amazing view, right?" she asked
"Yeah? It's a bit dusty"
"Yeah, the owner rarely lets anyone up here so it got a bit dusty. However, it's still the best view of the parade," she said motioning for me to look down
Looking down at the crowd, I could see everything. The people were all waiting in anticipation as the parade consisting of dancers and musicians moved pasted. Then came the crowd of people walking up. Among those masses was Ms. Mary who was walking alongside two women as they laughed and smiled at the onlookers in the crowd. Just as I was looking at Ms. Mary, the smile that was on her face suddenly faded and she looked up. She appeared to be looking in my direction before a smile crossed her face and she resumed her conversation with the other ladies
"That's weird," Bethany said
"Huh?" I asked
"It sort of looked like Mary was looking up at us," Bethany said
"You know Miss Mary?" I asked
"Of course I do. She's a regular at our tavern. She sells meat to a lot of the townsfolk," she reminded me
"Oh yes, I had forgotten" I said. I had figured that Ms. Mary was popular from all her stories, but it felt surreal hearing someone else calling her name. Other than Mister Jacob and Miss Mary, I did not interact with anyone else in the town. Everything we needed from the townsfolk was bought by Miss Mary and given to us
"Honestly, I think everyone in town knows her," she chuckled
"Would you happen to know Mister Jacob?" I asked
"Mister Jacob?" she asked
"Yes, he is a large man, very muscular" I described him
"Huh..." she said still confused and then her confusion slowly started to fade and she shivered a bit
"Um...you wouldn't happen....you wouldn't happen to be referring to the man that runs the butchery, right?" she questioned in a soft voice, that was barely above a whisper
"Yeah, you know him?" I excitedly asked, not noticing the shift in her tone
"Yeah....I heard some stuff about him," she said with a shiver
"Is something wrong?" I asked, finally noticing her reaction.
"it's...just...he's a bit...scary, don't you think?" she asked
"Scary?" I said confused, but as I thought about Mister Jacob's image, I could see what made her so frightened. Mister Jacob was a tall, dark monster of a man with only one eye. His face also always seemed to be in a scowl, and leaving out early in the morning with a butcher's apron stained with blood on was also not doing him any favors
"Yeah, word around town is that he killed so many people that their blood covered his entire body yet he loved the feeling so much that he never washed it off and it stained his entire body permanently," she said with a horrified expression on her face. Honestly, I couldn't believe that someone could possibly take that seriously and my facial expression did little to hide the fact that I found it ridiculous
- Writer
