Salvation

by Cassiopeie

part two

-purgatory-

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

23. Endpoint

A robed girl stands by the sea.

The darkness makes it impossible to clearly see her face – and neither has she so much as glanced on her own reflection since that day.

It is way too similar to the one who should be in her place.

She has stood there for a long time, gazing out to the murky water. The crashing of the waves fills her ears. Echoes in her head.

It is too late for her to change anything. And it can’t be undone. She is helpless in this world now.

She needs to find a new one.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

24. Void

A young boy lies in a room of darkness.

He doesn’t know how long he has been there. He has difficulty even comprehending the question. Time, as he once knew it, doesn’t flow here.

All he knows is that he is here, and that he would much rather be somewhere else. But he can’t quite remember where that would be, and why he is here in the first place.

He can sense ghosts and shadows of memories, trying to approach him, calling him out, but he hasn’t been able to catch them yet.

He doesn’t know if he wants to.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

25. Aware

It has been such a long journey.

She has counted the days, the hours, the minutes, just to keep her mind on something else, just to survive – but every time she adds another minute, she can’t help but add a “since” – “it had been so-and-so long since that day” – and then she breaks one more time.

The facts burn her down.

She killed her brother. The weapons were her selfishness, cruelty and malice – her evil, the one she dragged him down to as well.

Her only, pathetically weak, defense is the regret that makes her earth quake at every step.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

26. Movement

But his room is not made of nothingness, even though he is. The only thing he can see is in the ceiling – it is a spring. He has often thought that it may be a part of an exit of some sort, but it is beyond his reach.

He lies on his back, observing it once again. He has no hope of ever escaping through it, but sometimes, if he looks at it long enough, he could just barely hear those voices that haunt him.

Yes, here they are again.

But he flinches. This one is growing clearer than ever.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

27. Open

The only words that she has left to utter are written down on the small piece of paper she holds in her left hand.

She holds the vessel for them in her right.

She shuts her eyes.

“Hey, I want to throw it, gimme!”

“You wrote it, you can’t have all the fun, that’s no fair!”

“C’mon, lemme throw it!”

“Well, can’t we throw it together then?”

“Yeah, I guess…”

“I’ll count to three: One… two…”

Laughter, accompanied by the sound of the waves.

“…three!”

A solemnity fell over the situation as they watched it float away.

The treasured wish.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

28. Memory

And he could hear it. A voice he knew.

“Boy who has sinned – you are on this side for eternity. To get out of this room…” but then it faded.

But the words didn’t matter. He only knew who had spoken them.

Girl in green, shining eyes, a smile, a knife, a well, a death, a sin. His sin.

But why? Another smile, sister in yellow, happy children, war, carnage, uproar, decision, the final words, a crying sister, a running sister, a prison – a guillotine.

He had vowed to take every hit for her, every last one.

And he did.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

29. Fulfill

She breaths, answering the cold wind.

It asks her why, and she has no real answer. She only tells it that she wants things to change.

She cannot undo. But maybe, just maybe, she can start again.

There is nothing left for her here. It is her punishment.

Still, she puts the paper into the fragile glass bottle, and closes the lid. She holds it for a few moments, tries to transfer the warmth of her hands into it. To make it stronger somehow. It has to survive.

The children hold their hands in prayer.

One.

Two.

Three.

Float away.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

30. Almost

He sees that his hands and feet are bound.

Hands in red handcuffs. He can see the blood drops, the battle, the war.

Feet in blue chains. He can see the tears, the sorrow, the grief.

And far away, a wavering, flickering image of green eyes smiling in demise.

This story of evil has brought along so many victims. So many sacrifices.

“Lu li la, lu li la…”

Even more distant, even weaker, he can hear the song. Simple words of nonsense and a tearful, unsteady voice, but it soothes him, he can find some peace in it.

Who sings?

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

31. Lullaby

It is protected now. She can only hope it will reach.

A small wish in glass.

She trusts it to the ocean, and closes her hands in prayer. Tears fall.

She has to hope that it will suffice.

“Lu li la… lu… li la…”

A nonsense nursery rhyme, she can’t even remember the words, nor is her voice capable of singing properly, but she sings nonetheless. She sings to the glass bottle, she sings to the waves, she sings to the heavens.

And she finds the words.

“Floating away, a small bottle of glass, holding a message of a wish…”

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

32. Connected

He is standing – has he ever done that? – and will not take his eyes off the ceiling.

The eyes are watching him, blaming him – eyes in red, blue and green – but he only listens. A song he knows, a voice he knows and wants to reach.

He can hear the words now – real words, real meaning. The voice is growing more secure – the tears must be running out.

It is a lullaby, it is his lullaby – no, it is one he used to share with someone. And it is one he is sharing with someone now.

And it heals him.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

33. Atone

The tones of her voice resound in the air.

She is giving her final message to the world. It is a message of regret . She is asking for forgiveness, and she is asking for one last favor, even though that she is well aware that she doesn’t deserve it.

And now her journey will end.

If nothing else, it is her final punishment.

She lets herself go.

The water is cold and dark, but it doesn’t matter. This is either a start of something new - she prays – or just the end.

If so, it just serves her right.

34. Hope

Light.

Tiny, but still there, right in front of his eyes. He grasps it in his hands.

And he can hear it. He wants to tell her that he can hear it.

Her message.

The spring opens.

And it’s changing now – the darkness. It’s dissolving.

“It is not that you can’t be forgiven for erasing your sins”.

The eyes look at him, and they soften their glances.

We will try to change those facts.

“After this, you will be born again”, he tells the red handcuffs.

“Today is your new birthday”, to the blue chains.

He smiles to the light.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

35. Birth

The field is showing its best side to them – with the flowers, the sun, and the fresh spring air – as if it has been waiting for them.

The children, brother and sister, are playing. Running around in their unbreakable happiness.

Inerasable smiles.

Little girl in green is following a butterfly. Older children in red and blue are looking up to the clouds.

If we could be born again – then I want to be with you.

The stories will come into their lives – that is unavoidable. But this one will be different.

Young pair of twins, laughing.

A new story begins.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

story of evil

the end