The Daughter Of Dawn

When Responsibility Calls - ZENO

Since immemorial times, our ancestors have always said, "A great leader is someone who doesn't abandon his duty, his responsibilities,  he shall not budge from his duties, not from the wrath of the God, not from the curse of the evil, he should stand loyal to his duty never ever abandoning them. Not even when he is forsaken from his duties, he was born to abide them, so shall he die abiding them. That is what makes a great leader.

Now it's my time, as a future leader I shouldn't abandon my duties, I cannot. I was forsaken, I was asked to leave, to disregard every ounce of responsibility I ever felt had. I was disowned, thrown out. But it is my responsibility, my pride, my ego, my everything comes below it. Even if I have to live a life with shame, I'm willing to walk down the path to follow my responsibility. It is the path that I chose to walk alongside with my responsibility.

"O Goddess, may your blessings be with me when I take the road filled with uncertainty. May my judgements not be clouded by the darkness of the unknown. May I find peace in the unrestful world. May I not be strayed away from my responsibility while seeking the other worldly duties. May I shine brighter till I reach my zenith, so that I cannot be the one to get abandoned, so I don't have to go through the pain once again."

I opened my eyes, I knelt before the stone of the Goddess Artesia. Her stone was a small tiny piece of earth floating above the ground, defying every bit of gravity, glowing brightly as a tiny star in the sky. It floats, naturally,  undefined by the laws of the Nature, breaking out from the crowd and finding its own place, where it can shine and rise to its glory. She is worshipped not because she saved the mankind from another greater evil, she is worshipped because she chose the path that defies the rules, she walked out from the laid out tradition bestowed to us by our ancestors who were unaware that the world they lived in can be so different from the world that we are in now. She broke those rules, and now she shines, brighter than any stones in the kingdom. She walked on her own, traveling into the unknown wilderness, leaving a path behind her to be followed. I seek the same enlightenment, I want to travel making my own destiny written by my own hands, not the destiny bestowed by someone else. The name Artesia, former name of the country of Artois. It sits in the crown of the continent, filled with snowflake mountains and frozen lakes. The soil from this land is always covered with a thick blanket of snow, covering them for the whole year, only the mud from the banks of the great river Rivia sees the light of the sun, when the mud is separated from it's kind, it defies the nature's forces and floats in the sky, it goes against the will of the outsider and travels hundreds of miles into the atmosphere to shine brightly in the night sky. She was the first one to break the rules, to travel alone and seek the meaning of the world. When she travelled to Artois, the soil chose her, for her will to disobey destiny, for her courage to go against the rules, it followed her back into her world, to her country. The soil brought peace and order with her, the unrest in the continent was settled down upon her call, her name became a common fable throughout the continent. Later when she died, the soil from the banks of Rivia floated above her dead body and shone like a gem, it followed her to her grave and is still there where she rests now. Now they call her Goddess Artesia, a shrine was made to honor her as the symbol of someone who denied her destiny and paved her own way finding the true meaning of life. I want to be her.

I turned to my left, I saw my mother. She had her eyes closed. She was mumbling something, probably asking the Goddess to stop me from going away. It's so ironic how a mother and son wish for something opposite for what the other wants. This is the destiny that I wrote, this is happening because I choose it to happen, it is not because someone out there is puppetting with my life. After praying for the last time I stood up, waiting for my mother. She stood up and looked at me, her eyes glistening. She must be trying hard to control tears back. She reached out for my hands and pressed them gently.

"Bless you my Son." She said, patting my head.

"Let's go." I replied to her, taking her hand and we walked out of the shrine.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

It was my phone. I pulled out my phone from my pants.

Private Number Calling.

It read it was a private number. I knew where it was from. I glanced at my mother if she was looking at me. I pulled my hand out of her hands and started walking the opposite way from her.

"Talk." I said.

"It's code Black." The voice from the other side replied.

"What" I shouted. I shouldn't have. I turned back, Mother was looking at me raising her eyebrow, I waved at her trying to tell her it wasn't anything bad.

"It's not that bad. We can handle it well." The person said from the other side.

"Your job is not to tell me what is good and what is bad. Your job is to prevent what has happened from happening." I snapped and cut the call.

I have to go. I have to go now. I turned back, and started walking. I have to go now. It's urgent. I'm needed there. I suddenly felt a shrug in my shoulder. I turned back to see who it was.

"I asked you who was it? You didn't respond to me." Mother stared at me waiting for an answer.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't hear you talking."

"So who was it? You look baffled?"

"Huh? Ohh that was no one. Just a person. It's fine. Everything's fine. I'm fine. You don't have to worry."

"You replying like that is worrying me more Son." She said stopping me from walking away from her.

"It's okay. I'm fine Mother." I'm not sure where to look. I can't look in her eyes and tell her I'm fine when I'm not.

For a moment she just stared at me, thinking what to ask me next.

"Your speech for tonight should be perfect, lots of important guests are coming to the party. They will all stand by your side on your ascension." She said after a while.

The speech, I don't even remember it anymore. Nothing is going through my mind. It's plain, blank. I couldn't think of anything. 

"Son?" Mother shocked my arm. I looked at her. I'm confused. I don't know what to do now. We stood there as our car arrived.

"Yes yes Mother." I said. 

I opened the car's door for her. Before getting in, she stopped and touched my cheek.

"I'll be waiting for you at your birthday party." She said kissing me on my cheek, before going in. I smiled at her tightly and closed the door. After her car left, mine arrived. My Aide came out from the seat beside the driver seat and opened the door for me.

"Drive to District 23 military base." I said to my Aide before getting it.

"Sire?!?"

"Did you not listen to what I said?" I don't have time for this. I don't want to waste time explaining people.

'Yes, Sire." She said and closed the door. 

"District 23."She said to the driver getting into the passenger seat.

We  passed through the gates of the military base of district 23. I'm shaking, I'm scared what I might see. I hope what I'm thinking is not true. The car stopped in front of the headquarter. Someone rushed into our car and opened the door. I climbed out of the car looking around. Where? My eyes wandered around. My eyes met the eyes of the Captain's, he was saluting, waiting for me to accept his salute. I ignored him. He was the one who called me in the morning. He was given one job, and he failed to do it. He is a failure, a human worthless of giving attention to. I'm in no mood to confront him. I can't think about anything else. I want to go there. I need to be there.

"Where?" I asked. Where?

"I'll lead the way, Sir." The man who had opened the car's door earlier said.

"Do it then." I was getting restless, nervous. Just like old times.

As I walked through the narrow path, the soldiers on their post looked on my way.

They weren't supposed to see me here before next week, but here I am breaking all the rules just to follow my responsibility. They maybe weren't sure who I was, but their guesses won't be wrong. I was me. I'm me. People have known me since the day I was born, not me, my name, my identity.

"Sire, in here." The man said.

I turned to my left, the Warrant Officer was smoking in front of the tent. Our eyes met, something in his gaze told me he wasn't surprised to see me here. He knew who I was, the hostility in the air was clear enough. He glared at me before entering the tent. He annoys me the most, I could have him punished for not saluting a senior at work, but he knows the rules too well, and I can't mess with him either. I can't hurt him even if I wanted to, hurting him is the last thing I would do. I stood in front of the tent, trembling, shaking, I'm just one step away. I clasped and unclasped my fists. This is it. I removed the plastic sheet that covered the entrance to protect it from rain and looked inside. The WO limped his way to the other side of the room. My eyes stopped at one place. I couldn't stop staring, just like every time, I just kept on gazing. I went in, trying to go nearer, to get closer.

I suddenly felt a hand on my chest.

"You're not going any further than this." It was the Warrant Officer, he glared at me, maybe even hating the fact I'm somewhere he doesn't want me to.

"I want to be here alone." I looked back at him. Those words came out of my mouth, as if they were working on their own. 

"I'm not going anywhere." The WO stood face to face with me.

"Mercy." I called my Aide. I don't want to fight now, not with him, not here.

"Warrant Officer Class 1 Koch, you're being summoned for your duties." My Aide said, taking out her badge. This works, if someone doesn't listen to you in a straight way, you have to make them listen the other way. As much as he faithfully wants to stay here, he can't disobey the State's order. He glared at me one last time before leaving the room.

Finally I'm alone. With my responsibility. Here lies my responsibility. Avila.

She was sleeping on the bed, her eyebrows were kneaded tightly. She is having a nightmare, she does, everytime she gets sick she sees terrible nightmares. I walked towards her bed, she slept there unconsciously, unknowingly after what she had done to me. I came here like a maniac after hearing she is sick, leaving behind everything. Even a small cut on her is like a deep scar on me. I sat on the corner of the bed, her eyebrows were still kneaded tightly. I slightly pressed my thumb between her eyebrows and gently massaged them. Her eyes relaxed, the crease on her forehead disappeared. She was sweating, her body was glistening with sweat. I took the towel from the table and started wiping her. Her skin isn't smooth anymore, her body shows signs of hardships. I regret not bringing her back. I should've, even if she didn't like it I should've done that.

I'm so sorry, Baby.

"Sire"

It's my Aide. 

"What had happened here?"

"It happened today morning, she dived into the river to save a child from drowning. They said the river was flooded this morning and the stream was fast, maybe that's how she became sick. The water is always cold and chilly in this region."

"What about the others? Why did she end up getting into the water?" 

"There were, Sire. About 16 Nobles were present at the site but no one helped. Since the nobles were not taking any measure, Miss had to step in."

"Who were they? Take care of all of them."

"Yes, Sire. There is one more thing to be mentioned, Sire."

"That can wait, just leave for now"

"I'm afraid not, Sire. The King of Vizophini is coming here after he learnt that you came all the way up here leaving your birthday party."

"What? When is he arriving?"

"Anytime soon, Sire."

"You leave first, I'll join you soon."

I turned back to Avila, only if she didn't carry the burden of death this wouldn't have happened. But nothing is your fault, nothing can ever be. As long as I'm by your side, you can never be wrong. 

I took her hand and rubbed it. It was colder than the rest of her body. I covered her hand with both of my palms and blew on them.

I promise I will never let you carry a burden again.I swear.

"Noh?" She whispered in a low voice, her eyes half opened. The name that came out from her mouth, I've yearned for years to hear this. She called my name, she called me.

"I'm so sorry babe, I've to take care of something." I kissed her knuckles as she fell back into her slumber.

I came out of the tent.

"Sire, he is here. He is waiting for you in the headquarter office." My Aide said as soon as I came out.

"Let's go." I replied.

He was there sitting on the Captain's chair as I entered the room. He stood up, towering above anyone else in the room. He walked towards me smiling. He looked like a typical Vizophian, his skin dark as dawn and eyes jet black as devil's. His long black hairs touched the bottom of his torso. His ripped muscles made him look like a giant. He stood in front of me, looking at me, studying me the same way I studied him.

"Your Highness, King of Vizophini." I said, giving him my hand.

He took my hand and smiled.

"Crown Prince of Arcogantia." He said.