Crimson

A song of light.

Once , Mama told me the story of a girl and her mama that lived like us , secluded from the world .

The mama kept the girl in a tower she had built all by herself to protect her daughter from the world .

The girl was angry that she was being kept away from the world and tried to hang herself severally using her extremely long hair .

Her mama tried to make her see reason but the girl was determined to have her way or literally die trying .

The mama had also been a beautiful girl during her youth and she had fallen in love with a handsome albeit married man .

He had promised her drops of the vast , blue ocean and handfuls of mist from the heavens and promised to leave his wife whom he had been forced to marry for her .

And so , one day , under the wide blanket of night she had let him take her virtue .

( Mama had a hard time explaining what a virtue was and why he had taken it ).

She discovered herself to be with child after a while , she was overwhelmed with joy .

She was carrying the child of the man that she loved with all of her existence .

She ran up to the hill that his beautiful house sat on , her clothes in a small satch , she demanded to see the Lord of the mansion and announced that she was with child .

The Lord came out , his picturesque wife resting on his arms , she was also with child .

He asked her if she truly knew him and was simply not delusional .

He asked in such a calm fashion that she stuttered in disbelief and was thrown out of the mansion and out of the town for daring to shame a man as honourable as the Lord .

Heartbroken and alone , she was determined to save her daughter from the pains that came with humans .

But, her daughter was never satisfied with whatever her mama did .

Finally , her mama brought home a child for her daughter to play with .

Her daughter was overjoyed for this and played with the child endlessly .She played every game she could think of and when she had run out of games , she played the " Jump off " game .

The child obeyed her and jumped off , she died and her mama brought her another child to play with .

This went on until one day when the daughter's boredom had reached a new high , she asked her Mama to play the " Jump off " with her , of course , her mama refused .

She chased her mama around the small tower until she finally pushed her down .

Satisfied , she brushed her hair one last time , it took her a whole day .

And then , she hung herself .

JUNO

I was not Scarlet .

I had always known , so , I had never really thought of it .

When you were Scarlet , depending on your bloodline , your body exhibited changes to show just how much of Scarlet you were .

I had nothing of the sort , my body held no marks except a small beauty mark that Mama had also had , that did not count .

Mama had been Scarlet , one of the purest types of Scarlet .

She had abilities that were as intriguing as they were beautiful and she had known how to wield those abilities .

I would have been Scarlet if my father had also been Scarlet .

My father must have been Crimson , a Crimson and a Scarlet as pure as Mama would have definitely made a child whose blood hue was too pure to be considered just Scarlet .

But Mama had never talked about who my Papa was and I had never asked .

Not because I was not curious , but because I saw no reason to . To me he was as unnecessary as he was non-existent .

All Crimsons belonged to the Royal family and since there had never been any record of any extra male Crimsons , it meant any information on my father was in the air .

He was most probably as dead as Mama was .

I wonder if they were having fun after leaving me with so many questions and problems .

Crimson .

If I was Crimson , that meant a whole different playing court for me .

Ali walked silently by my side , the occasional swish of his clothes the only sound from him .

I wonder how long he had known that I was or might be Crimson .

We had never really discussed blood hues or origin except if it was a need to know information , I had always wondered what type of Scarlet he was too .

I sighed softly , with this new found voice in my dreams and Mama's plague , along with the suspicion of being Crimson , my life was spiraling down a path that was entirely too serious for me to handle .

Life did not need to be this hard or serious .

I moved closer to Ali and rested my arm in the crook of his .

" Will we be okay ? "

Ali blinked , his eyelashes fluttering carelessly .

He looked so in place with the scenery , his braid coming undone and the butterflies that danced about it .

" We always are ".

We had reached some type of clearing that had been used recently probably by Outsourced merchants .

He turned around ," We should make a fire , this is where we will pass the night ".

I looked around , we would have chosen a smaller , more discrete place If it was just two of us .

" I'll get something for you to eat and wood for the rest of the party ", Ali whispered in my ears .

He turned and left immediately , Star went with him .

I watched them leave , I did not want to be the person that was hungry in such a serious situation but i really was starving .

" I think Vitalis took our joke a little too seriously ".

I turned , Nero stood behind me , smiling leisurely .

I smiled too .

" I think his pride is more hurt than anything here ".

Nero laughed then .

" You really do understand him already ".

I nodded , laughing .

" I do , he will get over it soon enough . What I hope will go just as soon is this new found sensation in my feet ".

He looked at my feet ," You can feel them now ?"

I nodded , he turned around , searching for something .

" Come on ".

He held his hand out and I grabbed it , going the way he led .

He led me to a log that lay face flat , we sat and watched Vita and Keanu work .

Or we watched Vita work while Keanu maintained an authoritative air .

His red hair that had been combed down when he had come and demanded to tag along now stood on its ends , wild and matching the orange of the fading day .

" Did you want him to come along solely for you ? "

I asked quietly .

Nero watched them for a while , Vita had finished moving the logs and Keanu was busy gathering lint for the fire .

" I'm just glad that he agreed to come along ".

He nodded , I understood .

It was the same relief that I had felt when Vita had told me that he was coming along .

" So , you love him then ?"

Nero burst out laughing , I turned to him .

" What ?"

He wiped his eyes with his sleeves and chuckled again .

" I am not into love and its characteristics ".

I watched him , waiting for him to deny what he had just said , he did not .

I laughed then .

He was a fool if he thought he had not or would not fall for Keanu .

They both watched Keanu try to light the pieces of lint he had gathered .

He kept striking and striking and was finally stopped by Vita .

All the lint he had gathered including the woods were probably very cold , there was no way it would strike .

" Do they really not know that it won't light ?", Nero asked .

I studied their faces , they really did know but continued striking anyways , I laughed at this .

Vita bent too and began to strike , he kept striking over and over again too and soon he developed the mad frenzy that he had just saved Keanu from .

He was finally saved from his strike insanity when Keanu stopped him .

They both stood to their feet and began to converse quietly .

Vita did not seem to like whatever was coming out of Keanu's mouth .

He said something and Keanu laughed , quite loudly .

I had been watching them from beneath the Shadows of my lashes , I stopped abruptly and raised my head completely .

I narrowed my eyes wondering what Vita must have said that was so funny .

I watched Vita's expression change gradually and soon , I saw him inhale quietly .

The next thing that happened surprised them all , even Keanu .

Vita laughed loudly , it only lasted a moment but they had all heard it and its echo still rang loudly .

What could Keanu have said ?

He only smiled when they talked , to others he was a grumpy , unsmiling man .

I did not care for a change in his reputation .

I stood to my feet , walking towards them .

Vita watched me come , his eyes on my face .

If it was trying to light a fire that was making them that happy , then , the more the merrier.

" I will light the fire ".

I was looking at Keanu as I said this , he moved immediately , walking to the log that Nero still sat on .

" It's too cold to be lit ", Vita commented .

I turned to glare at him , lighting fires had always been an inner forte of mine .

I bent to the pile and picked up two metal pipes .

I began to sing , a song that Mama had taught me .

Now , it probably was just not a song but it had always brought fire unto what I intended.

So , I sang .

I sang till I saw little Sparks .

I sang till I saw little flames .

I stopped singing when it was finally bright enough to live .

I took my eyes off it and was met with stares , even Ali had come out of the forest , he watched me too .

Seems it was just me that thought it was normal to sing to a fire .

I grinned .