[ENG] The Exiled : Dark Stars

ลำดับตอนที่ #10 : Gentle Feathers

9

The Exiled: Gentle Feathers

There can be no murder in Paradise.

This was the biggest lie in Ignatius Ride’s life.

Ignatius was born in a family of White Doves, the Messenger of Paradise. They watched every soul, report them to the supreme leader of the Paradise Council, and get matters sorted out.

Every male in his family was called Uriel Sraosha. In fact, when he was born, Ignatius was called Uriel Sraosha. His brothers, uncles, and cousins all had the same name. His father was Uriel Sraosha, as his grandfather, great-grandfather, and so on, and so forth. As for other females in the family, they had different names as to Paradise’s pleasure. His mother was called Iris, after Goddess of rainbow and messenger of God. In fact, most females in his family were named Iris. He had known of two exceptions so far. His grandmother was called Seraphim, and his female cousin was called Seraph.

Ignatius wasn’t blind since birth. Accident occurred when he was four, causing him to get partial blindness which could not be helped by any means. All the boy remembered were the faint glimpses of light, hazy shadows, and flashes of images in his childhood days. Everything was fading with time, no matter how dearly he clung to the memories of sight. They got distorted and faded away. Being the son of a White Dove, he understood that children with disabilities could not live in Paradise. He will defect the sacred land, and shall be exiled immediately. He trained hard not to make his blindness show, memorizing everyone’s voices and every surface. But he couldn’t be a future White Dove, so his parents changed his name to Ignatius Ride, a different surname. That alone was defying the law of Paradise, but they did not seem to mind. The only order they gave him was ‘not to appear in public ever again.’

He was marveled to discover the existence of eyeglasses and what they could do. However, his sight was too damaged to be restored with mere lenses, and he had to be partially blind for the rest of his life. That, he understood well but never managed to make the fear of it tangible.

 Elliah Ballad was a regular girl who managed to sneak into his room when the White Doves were having a meeting. Usually, the White Doves keep their work secret, even from their children. How Elliah must have begged and pleaded for daddy and mommy not to leave her at home alone. She smiled and touched his hand, her figure showing as hazy black and white in his corrupted vision. The little girl’s hand was smooth and tiny. Ignatius pulled it up and bring it to his face, afraid that the slightest touch could break those perfect little fingers. He heard what sounded like a laugh, and she brought his hand to her face. She knew, he thought. She knew he was blind, even though he was looking at what he knew was her eyes. He ran his fingers along the small hills and valleys of her face, memorizing every bit of it.

“Hi, I’m Ignatius Ride.”

His voice came out croaky. He hadn’t spoken for a very long time and could barely recognize his voice.

She did not reply. Instead, she directed his hand to her eyes, feeling the tender lashes on the tip of his fingers. He felt the slight flutter of her eyelids. A doll, he thought. This little girl is like a doll. He didn’t know how, but he could tell she was smiling. He felt an immediate connection and let it expand, filling the void in his heart.  

He came to know that the girl he met and was mesmerized with was called Elliah Ballad. After meeting her that night, she has never been mentioned again. He never got to see her until the event that had turned his life for the second time.

Ignatius felt aching pain crushing savagely at his body as his mind tore away from the past. He felt liquid running up his throat, twisted over, and barfed. It was uncontrollable. His body hunched, and warm, prickly, bitter and sour liquid ran through his throat and out his mouth. His insides were trying to turn inside out and fling out of his stomach. The pressure made it impossible to close his mouth, and a trail of nasty saliva dangled from his lower lips. He struggled to breath and drew several desperate gasps. The second wave surged over, causing him to open his mouth and let his gastric juice flow out. There was a splat as it hit the ground. He breathed heavily after it was finally all over.

Cold towel wiped his mouth. It was then that he noticed while he was throwing up, a small hand was running along his back, stroking and calming it. He noticed Elliah’s scent linger sweetly in the air. The silent girl took another clean towel, wiped his face, and make him lay down facing upwards. Tears streamed down as pain ate his body from every bit of muscle. Elliah closed his eyes and stood up to clean the mess he made.