Lambent Lavender Lights| schema (pt. 2)

ix. a normal day

I climbed out of bed after rotting in it for two more hours. I was doomscrolling on my phone, when Null’s words earlier this morning rang in my head: what do you have on your agenda for today? The answer was nothing, but I didn’t like that answer. It reminded me of how crummy I was feeling and I wanted to forget that. So, I got dressed and walked out into the city.

Despite its name ‘Lavender City’ which would make you assume that this city was full of lavenders and smelled like it, there were barely any lavenders—or even flowers for that matter, around the city. In fact, the only grass that I could smell was weed. People were smoking it everywhere and every time the wind blew, a tiny bit of it would fly into my nose and I would be forced to smell it. And it was always very windy.

I decided to head downtown. I tapped my Flora card—which is the transit card used around Lavender City, and entered the subway station. The floor was littered with all sorts of trash from cigarette butts to crumpled receipts. I had gotten used to the sight though, and continued my way to the platform. The train was apparently arriving in three minutes. The screen on the ceiling said that it was three minutes, but that was probably not true. In Lavender City, you never trust anything official; especially when it comes to public transit. I made the mistake of trusting the time schedule shown on my phone, waiting in the rain for twenty five minutes because the bus was delayed.

Miraculously, the train was on time today. I rode it for six to seven stops southbound. I lost count. To be fair, there is a stop named 21st Ave right after 21st St. And to make it worse, they are a literal five minute walk from each other, and the stations look basically identical. Locals swear that these two stations are different, but I think they are gaslighting themselves.

Even with that small complaint, overall, I still love the trains here. Coming from a place where you either had to walk everywhere, or wait for a bus that came every hour, trains were a total game changer. Anyways, now that I was downtown, I realized that I came here without a plan. Well, there’s a pretty big mall close by, so I could head there I guess? If you couldn’t tell, I rarely went out. And if I did, my friends would be the ones planning these things.

I realized that I hadn’t eaten anything. So, I went straight up the escalators to the top floor where the mall had a cafeteria. Most of the food there is overpriced, but there are some that I tried that I frankly enjoyed. The best food I’ve tried so far from here is this udon shop called U Done—funny pun I know, where they sell kitsune udon with whatever side of tempura you want. I sound like I’m selling out, but I’m not.

Long story short, I had udon for lunch. Actually, this was my first meal of the day. But it was lowkey already 2:00 PM. So… Brunch? Linner? I don’t know. It was food and that’s all that mattered.

After food, I headed down to the first floor, since that’s where most of the shops were located. I wasn’t gonna buy anything since I was broke, but I do enjoy window shopping from time to time.

As I walked over to a fragrance store, I witnessed a quarrel happening by the mall fountain.

“I told you to never appear in front of my face again! How could you do this, Tom?” a lady in a blue dress yelled.

“I already apologized, what more do you want from me!” yelled back a guy that I presumed was Tom.

“We’re over! Get it? O. V. E. R. OVER.”

The man looked shocked for a second, as he took a step back and his jaw hung out in disbelief. However, he quickly composed himself and stepped up to the lady in the blue dress. I felt like I should just get going, as it wasn’t any of my business, but this was the most thrilling I’ve felt in a long while, and I couldn’t say no to public couple’s fights. Well, I guess it isn’t a couple’s fight since they aren’t together.

“That’s it, I’m done talking to you, woman,” Tom said, grabbing the lady by her hair.

“Have you gone mad? What do you think you’re doing? Somebody help!” she yelled, trying to squiggle out of his grasp.

A couple of bystanders backed away. Others came in closer. I was one of the ones that went closer.

“That’s it,” she continued. “I don’t want to see you anymore. Period.”

Then, she grabbed something from her purse. It was sharp. It was small. It was a brow scissor from what I presumed was her makeup pouch.

She made a swift motion, and Tom screamed in agony. He stumbled over the fountain and fell in. There was a large splash as he fell, and I closed my eyes, bracing for… well, something.

I squirmed, clenching my eyelids shut as hard as I could. All that came though, was a drip. And then, dripples.

I opened my eyes, just for a drop of the drippling liquid to fall right into my right pupil. It was red. I glanced around, seeing a body, floating inside the fountain, and crimson red oozing out of him, slowly dying the water. It was blood.

Blood?

Oh yes, it’s blood.

But it can’t be bloo-

But it IS blood!

It’s Blood?

It’s Blood!

BLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODVLDOIDBLOODBLODBLPOODBLOODVDLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLIDODBLDOBDODJFNDJDKFOGLDBLOOD-

BLOOD.

I ran out of that place as fast as I could, but that’s all I could think of at the moment. My breath got caught in my ears as they popped and the sound of the city was bustling into my eyes while the sky was as clear as a fogged up window and everything was dandy and super happy. That much was true. That much was true. That much was true. I could feel myself smiling afterall. I could feel myself smiling afterall. I was smiling to keep something from someone. Something from someone. But I didn’t know who something is and what someone was. All I knew was that if they knew there was blood, they would be furious with me and I couldn’t have that. I tried to keep up my smile but tears were flowing from my eyes as I tried to remember. Remember what? I don’t know. Oh no, I don’t know. Everything just looks red to me. I’m now panicking.

I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING I’M PANICKING.

I was panicking. It was a normal day.

x. night sky and us

A faint smell of lavender crept in. Along with it fell the rain, gently tapping against my window. I opened my eyes to see that the sky had darkened to a gloomy gray. I was lying on my bed. Again.

The last thing I remember was… a fountain. And blood.

Oh God.

Blood.

Blood Blood Blood Bl-

“Hey, are you okay?” a voice asked from behind. It was Null.

Swiftly, without thinking, I turned around and tightly wrapped my arms around him.

“Woah, did something happen?” he asked, startled.

I looked up and saw his silver white hair. I also realized that I was hugging him. Wait… hugging him?

“Oh my gosh, I don’t know what came over me. I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize…” I said in a panic, quickly trailing off.

“Haha, it’s fine. What happened at the mall by the way?”

“I’m not really sure myself. There were people arguing and— wait, how did you know that I was at the mall? You weren’t there.”

“Do you not remember anything?”

“N- no?”

Null gave a disappointing sigh then opened the window. He climbed through it, standing on the balcony and lent his hand to me.

I stood in place, reluctant to take it.

“Come on, trust me,” he said with a soft smile.

I reluctantly took it. Then, I wish I didn’t.

I got sharply pulled out and I was soon dangling in the air. I panicked and struggled as I thought that I was about to fall to my demise. Then, I realized that the ground was less than a foot below me. He let go of my hand and I landed softly on my feet. Looking around, I realized that I was on solid ground that was surrounded by a parapet. I leaned over to see the still bustling street below and a forest of concrete slabs and lights above.

“Are we on—”

“Yeah, we’re on the roof. Great view, isn’t it?” he cut me off, gesturing towards the open night sky. It was a starry night.

I gazed deep into the sky, observing how each of the stars were twinkling to their own rhythm. And yet, when I took a step back and looked at the landscape as a whole, their illumination synced with one another, creating a dissonant yet beautiful harmony that resonated somewhere within me. Somewhere I didn’t even realize had existed within me. It was like a calm that shallowed out the waves of a storm that was raging in my stomach. Or my lungs—I’m not the best at anatomy, but it was somewhere in my torso probably. Least to say; the sky was pretty.

Just as my eyes were about to drift across the sky, Null tapped my shoulder to ask, “are you feeling a bit better?”

“Oh… yeah. Thanks.” I lowered my gaze and locked eyes with him. His emerald eyes were shining. But this time, they were a bit different. It was almost like… his eyes were wet. Like…

“Are you crying?” I asked.

He seemed surprised by my question. His ears were turning red as he tried to act nonchalant, “oh, what? Haha, that’s so embarrassing. It’s not a big deal. Anyways, great view, isn’t it?”

“I feel like you just asked me that like five minutes ago. Anyways, mhm. It’s a great view. Great view indeed…”

With our conversation running into a dead end, we both stood there silently while trying to avoid eye contact. That naturally led me to gaze upon the sky again. It was just the night sky and us. Then, I remembered something.

“Do you know that story about star-crossed lovers?” I asked.

“Who?”

“Basically, there are two stars in the sky. I forgot what their names were, so don’t you dare ask me. The important thing is, they were deeply in love. So in love, that they would often neglect their duties to spend time with each other. However, the sky king, who was the girl’s father, was not so pleased with these two being in love with each other and neglecting their work. So, he split them apart with the milky way running between those two. However, the girl pleaded with her father, so he allowed them to meet just once a year. But, the milky way was too vast for them to cross. A flock of magpies saw this, and built a bridge to connect the two. They were finally able to meet. Just for a day.”

“That’s a beautiful story.”

“Thanks. It’s a bedtime story that my mom often told me. Especially around July.”

Then, something wet hit my face. Luckily, it wasn’t red like last time; it was just water. By the time I had finished telling the story, most of the stars had faded away as clouds took over the sky.

“Oh, it’s starting to rain,” I said.

I looked over to my right, seeing that Null’s hair had turned into a dark brunet. Ah, I must be dreaming.

Since when though?

“Don’t worry,” he said as if he heard my thoughts. “You’re safe in bed right now. See you in the morning.”

And with that, he vanished again.

xi. ???

It was a particularly hot summer. I was at a creek, enjoying the cool water flowing around my feet as I buried them deep into the pebbles. That’s when I heard a scream deep in the forest. I quickly ran to investigate what was happening. I first spotted a girl hiding behind a bush. Then, I saw a man striking something with an axe. That something kept splattering red water all over the place every time it got hit.

I quietly rushed in to check up on the girl.

In a whisper, I asked, “are you okay?”

She turned around, clearly startled. The most she could manage was shaking her head left and right.

“Do you want to get out of here?”

She nodded.

I lent out my hand to her and quietly navigated out of the forest.

As we had finally made our way out of the forest and near a village, I could hear her let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you so much! Uhm, if possible, may I ask for your name?”

“Sure. It’s Kahu. Kahu Amai.”

“Kahu as in Guardian? How fitting. But also, what an unusual name,” she replied with a chuckle.

“Yeah, I get that a lot. Yours?”

“———. ——— ——.”

“———… What a beautiful name. It suits you.”