136 Much Ado About Love (2/2)

Imagine meeting the person of your dreams every single time you shook hands with an Eisalon. The ones you dream about and love most, even if you didn't know about them yet. That was what the Eisalons could do -- they were capable of pulling out what you desired most. As such, they were often the cause of many failed romances in the South. Too many to count, in fact.

Their ability was so infamous that it was even used as a means to test relationships. A couple would ask an Eisalon to touch them and test whether their significant other was in love with them or not.

Naturally, if they turned into an individual's family members and their current significant other, they'd pass the test. But more often than not, the results were not what certain couples hoped for... to put it politely.

It was the stuff of nightmares watching an Eisalon turn into a random stranger and even worse, a close friend. Heaven forbid it turned into one of the other person's family members and the Eisalon confirmed that they took on the form of the person's most beloved.

...The Eisalons were offered referred to as the bane of marriages and relationships. In a culture as free as theirs, which was built around the word 'fluidity,' concepts such as marriage seemed alien to them.

Even the concept of money had been monumentally difficult for the other races of Mulia to teach to the Eisalons, who did not even know such a thing was possible. For millennia in their original homeworld, they had lived in a society without money. They simply shared what the had to offer to one another, as the concept of 'possessions' did not even exist for them.

To other races, they were a chaotic race, but the truth couldn't have been any further for the Eisalons. They thought themselves pure and free of the shackles that the other races had built for their societies. The Eisalons had lived in their own moral community for the longest until the other races had forced them to follow their laws for the sake of peace and order.

Nevertheless, they were still a very free-spirited people at heart, even after living for thousands of years alongside other races and their pesky 'laws' and 'morals'.

Reed had chosen Cem-Elle for a reason when he left in exile -- because it was a town formed exclusively by human settlers nearly half a millennium ago. It was a miracle for that he'd found a place like Cem-Elle in a place as diverse as the South.

Eisalon love was spontaneous, free, and ephemeral all at the same time. One day in love, and the next day out of love. They were people that loved to ride the winds of the unknown, so to speak. Never living in the past, nor anticipating the future.

Always doing whatever they wanted to do today, in the now. That was what made Reed uncomfortable back in the day. As someone who had always been stuck in the past, he couldn't understand how the Eisalons could toss away the past as if it was garbage.

It wasn't as if Reed feared them now though, but he still felt very wary around them for certain reasons.

What he had feared the most was meeting one of them and accidentally touching them. The thought of them turning into either one of them, the two he had failed the most, frightened him to death. Seeing them transform into them would have probably broken him into pieces in the past.

...It also frightened him what would happen if an Eisalon touched Lu'um. What would happen, then? Would a copy of Reed appear or would it be...?

He didn't want to know. The fear was so intense he almost couldn't handle it.

Reed stared at the energy gauge of their hovercraft impatiently. It read 48 percent. They had been waiting in a recharging station for the last three hours for their hovercraft to recharge. It would be a while before it finished charging, to Reed's immense displeasure.

He... trusted Lu'um. He did. But the irrational fear in his head would not stop gnawing at the back of his head, even though he knew that he was being stupid.

When Reed let out a sigh, Lu'um said, ”...Hey, why don't we go get some fresh air? We have time to waste, right? Why don't we stretch our legs and get something to eat?”

Ah, goddammit... I shouldn't have sighed!

Reed nodded and said, ”Yeah... sure.”

Man, this sucks...

He missed his bakery and Cem-Elle now, more than ever.

In truth, he was already beginning to dislike their little 'adventure into the world' and wondered how the Hartford's were doing back home...

I stay home, too...