Prologue: Mister

Frederick's home is destroyed and he is hanging on for dear life...

                There was a lightness, a feeling of floating. There was a quiet ringing in my ears. It made my head feel numb. There was blurriness in my half-lidded eyes. They might have been tears. I was spinning, or so it felt like it. Should I have been scared? Should I have cried for help? I didn't know, I just knew I felt peaceful in that moment. I felt the safest I’d felt in years. Then there was a sound far away. The blur of my eyes cleared and I tasted copper. The sound became louder. It got closer, and closer, and closer, until the ground beneath me vibrated and my brain rattled in my skull. Why was I on the ground? There was a roar, and then there was the sound of bending metal. Why was a covered in mud and rubble? I wasn’t breathing. ‘Breathe. Remember to breathe.’ I inhaled deeply and my lungs filled with ash. Then there was a blinding pain. A shiver swept through my body, and then a stabbing feeling, like my veins were full of tiny needles. I couldn’t think. My head was to foggy. My home, my beautiful home. Its warm breezes and beautiful buildings. Its peaceful atmosphere and chirping birds. Where was it now? Where was it under this wreck?

 

                I tried to move and was blinded by stinging tears. As slowly as possible, I turned my head to the side, tears spilling down the bridge of my nose and my temple. It was early morning, the kind of early when the sun is barely visible yet and everything is tinted a deep blue. It would have been any other beautiful morning if not for the crumbling house and roads and ash-filled air. There were airships flying in clouds of engine exhaust. They suddenly flared red, bursting into flames, and plummeted from the sky. Big brother… Big brother’s an airship pilot… He’s on those airships… I remembered now, when the first explosion sounded from the north, he ran from the house, saying he had to get to the base, yelling about, “The enemies are here! They’re here!” There was a scream. It rang in my ears, drowned out by the last exploding airship and another collapsing building. “Brother! Brother!” I didn’t realize in that moment that the scream had come from me.

 

                The enemies, could he have been talking about the western nation? Our neighboring empire who’s people we shun as demons? Why are they here now? I thought this war was over years ago. My hand had been clutching my side. I looked down. Blood, so much blood. My left leg, the one I couldn’t feel, was buried in the remains of the old library. I remembered, I was running, trying to get out of the town. The library went up in flames and came crashing down, just as I saw Papa, who was running ahead, gunned down by an enemy soldier. “P-papa…” I choked. Why did this have to happen? My family, all that I had left...

 

                I heard someone approaching, heavy boots stumbling through the wreckage. Severe coughs accompanied the pounding of uneven steps on splintered wood. I held my breath and tired to appear as dead as possible. I didn’t want to risk being spotted by an enemy soldier. The creaking of wood and crunching on charred paper got louder, and I became more and more terrified with each step. I felt dizzy and my heart was pounding in my ears, almost deafeningly. Or maybe that just meant that I was dying.

 

                The sound stopped, but the pounding in my ears was even louder. I felt the person standing over me. I felt eyes on me. I didn’t dare breathe yet, even though my lungs ached for air. My closed eyelids twitched for a split second and I panicked that I had been caught. I felt a rough leather boot nudge my injured side, against my shattered ribcage. I bit my tongue to stop the wince from escaping my throat. I heard a deep, raspy voice. “I know you’re not dead.” I screamed internally, but did not give up my act, even if I felt like I was going to faint from lack of oxygen. It was silent. The pounding in my ears had even stopped. I thought for a moment that I had really died, until I felt calloused hands on my shoulders. I was pulled into a sitting position and my eyes snapped open in surprise to see the face of a young soldier. I noticed his blue and black uniform. An enemy soldier. I tried to squirm out of his grip, but I wouldn’t have got very far with shattered ribs and a crushed leg. “It’s alright, kid. I’m not gonna kill you.” He chuckled at my confused expression, letting go of my shoulders and moving to free my leg from the debris. I felt a wave of relief when the weight was taken off of my leg. My head felt light again. “I knew it. I’m dead, aren’t I? Are you an angel?” I rambled on in my haze. I heard him chuckle again, this time more lightheartedly. “Yeah, kid, sure I am.” I smiled, and then my head felt heavy.

 

The man put my arm around his shoulder and his arm around my torso and lifted me to my feet. My smile faded. No, I wasn’t dead. I was still here, alone. No big brother, no Papa. They left, went to join Mama. I was left alone with this strange man, an enemy to our people. Someone who could not be trusted. “No… big brother… Papa… don’t leave me here…” I breathed, not realizing I was speaking out loud. I felt the man turn his head to me, but he said nothing. We limped through the debris and rubble that was once my home. I noticed he was injured, too. He must have saw my look of concern because he only shook his head. He led us to the forest outside of town. I didn’t know where we were going, but he seemed like he did, so I didn’t say anything. I didn’t have anything to lose anymore.

 

“What’s your name?” His voiced was very hushed now. I was hesitant to answer, but again, what was there to lose? “F-Frederick…” My voice was strained and barely audible, but he seemed to hear me anyway, and he didn’t say anything else. The world was spinning again. The dark trees around us became a blur. I rested my head on his broad shoulder. “Thank you, mister…” I heard another roar far behind us, but I couldn’t even comprehend what it was. I thought I heard him say something like, “Ezekial”, but the ringing was too loud in my ears. I tasted blood again. And then there was that lightness, like I was floating, and a bright flash.

 

And then nothing.

 

 

Author's Note

Be gentle with me. I'm sensitive ;_;