c1 (1/2)
The Abandoned Child, Elsa
In the country of Vion, surrounding the wealthy residential areas, there were nuhborhood where Elsa greas particularly poor People actually considered it to be h these dark streets, her bare feet pounding on dry land as she huffed and puffed through clenched teeth
She soared over leaking sewage and wooden crates scattered in disorder on the streets She leaped over a feral dog that was either sleeping or dead, hesitating not even the slightest as she propelled her frail torso and dangerously thin shoulders forward, sprinting effortlessly Her long black hair was neither trimmed nor neat The ends of her hair were split and disarrayed Only the pupils of her eyes did not waver in intensity, almost entirely scarlet red
Elsa was sprinting home In these parts, most people lived on the streets, but she had a house to return to On paper, it actually belonged to Elsa’s foster parents who had raised her, but since they were dead, she had inherited it even though the house was technically owned by dead people
“Elsa”
A hand reached out frorabbed her by the shoulders By reflex, Elsa twisted away and cried out:
“Hey! Leo!”
“Is there a reason why you’re so tense? I really don’t get you”
The large hand that grabbed Elsa’s shoulder was fir a deep breath, Elsa brought her fiery red eyes to glare at him
“That’s none of your business, Joseph!”
Despite being spurned and identified by nahed and furrowed his fine eyebrows This person who blocked Elsa’s path was quite a well-known h most people of this area were nasty and lazy folk, he was one of the few more sympathetic individuals who actually tried to keep an eye on Elsa
Joseph was a bouncer at a local tavern and older than Elsa by about ten years His muscular build ell-conditioned
His tall figure sported a collared coat He had extremely short brown hair and pupils of a similar color Quite contrary to his body and line of work, his eyes flickered with sense of youthful energy Suddenly his ordinarily gentle and cheerful eyes narrowed as he lowered his head towards Elsa with astonishment
“What are you holding in your hands? Show me”
“Huh?!”
Faced with histone, Elsa looked extremely uncomfortable Her eyebrows puckered up as she clutched a leather wallet and rapidly tried to conceal it against her frail chest Her ar, and she spat
“I didn’t take anything!”
Joseph didn’t hesitate to grab her shoulders and attereen stone hung from Elsa’s neck, exposed to the outside air
“Hey, hands off! You creep! Don’t you fucking dare touch me I’ll tell Misery!”[1]
“All you have is that dirty mouth, you little imp Even a chicken is more feminine than you are”
Elsa clenched her fist in resistance, but it made no more of a difference to Joseph than if she were a insect He lifted the leather purse high above him and spoke
“Pickpocketing?”
Elsa kept struggling over it as she complained:
“Give it back! You thief!”
Joseph let go of the purse, but his astounded expression hardly changed
“Are we talking about you or me here? But that’s definitely not yours”
“It’s mine!”
Elsa snorted and raised her chin, and arrogantly continued:
“If I pick up soht? What’s the difference between this and picking up trash? If you’re going to scold the whole boatload of us, then I’ll gladly listen! Don’t stick your butt in this, Joseph!”
“They’re not the sa”
“They’re exactly the same!”
Elsa’s mouth blabbered on she stood there
“If it’s ditched in a landfill and wrapped in shoddy blankets, who’d want that? As an alcoholic who can’t tell backwards and forwards apart, you’re ht to tell Misery that if aback even if he’s got nothing left!”
As Elsa’s tirade went on, Joseph sighed as if to surrender
“Honestly, you…”
“My life has nothing to do with you, Joseph If you like giving people earfuls of crap, then please preach at that wall instead”
Elsa opened her palms waved them around so Joseph could that see they were erabbed her shoulders again
“Wait! I have so to do ith the two of us Elsa, you skipped out on your shi+ft at Loki’s store again I helped get that job for you–”
Elsa shrugged off Joseph’s lare at him
“I don’t want it! I’d rather die than be ordered around by Loki! Somebody who makes such tasteless food and serves it to people should burn in hell!”
The work that Elsa played hooky on was a job that Joseph had arranged for her His face twisted into contortion, and Joseph spoke with a coarse voice
“Did you really get such a dirty mouth from practice? Or were you born with it? If you want to talk all high and et a job and can support yourself!”
“Oh here we have it, another one of Joseph’s frickin’ lessons!”
Elsa didn’t bother hiding her sarcastic expression
He was always like that In Elsa’s opinion, his lectures was less hih, Elsa understood that Joseph’s words were for her own benefit However, her own heart was filled with the arrogant belief that she wasn’t a child anyhtened her shoulders
“If Ione, cussing and swearing, what the hell’s wrong with that?”
Joseph released a huge sigh as he ran both of his hands through his hair His ave away how shaken he was by the conversation
“Can a little rascal like you really survive like that?!”
Listening to Joseph’s arguhter She directed her ridicule at Joseph, but also a little at herself
“I can do anything!”
As she laughed, words continued to spill out of her
“I can do it”
Suddenly, the entire world seee of Joseph’s face distorted It was as if droplets of ink had interrupted the picture
“…As long as I have my words and my voice”
That’s where it broke off
(Noas I have a voice)
Elsa’s awoke to the sensation of her lips touching the icy stone floor The taste of the cold stone reminded her of her despair
Elsa understood very clearly why she felt this despair
It wasn’t because she longed for freedom now that she was in imprisoned Nor was it because she cursed how her life had played out or the people she had met It was certainly not because of the treatment she suffered as a prisoner and how they had tossed her onto the icy cold ground
Rather, it was because she had inadvertently been pulled into the dreamscape of her past, when she could talk
(My voice)
She still wanted to say soround, only the sound of air came out from lips when she tried
There was a bed in this narrow cell, but Elsa continued to lie on the cold floor
She tasted the stone floor in her silent tears They were tears of despair, but she couldn’t er There wasn’t any point
In the low Elsa groped blindly with her fingers in the direction that green light Before her eyes, Elsa saw the Star Stone that ordinarily hung at her bosum
In Vion, as long as an infant is born alive, a Star Stone is assigned based on the positions of the stars Regardless if one is nobility or a peasant, every person gets a stone that stays with them for life Each person’s color and shape is unique Elsa’s stone was glossy and a reen color, with traces of red scattered within
It was said that when Elsa was born, the Seers had interpreted from the stars that her birth was an ill omen
In other words, they predicted that she would become “the princess ould curse the country, a poison-breathing princess”
But even taboo children and ned star stones This was the custom of this country
Elsa wasn’t quite sure whether this was a blessing or a curse She delicately caressed her stone with her finger It didn’t have any particular special abilities, and it wasn’t going to bring her anything
Within the City of Vion, even inside a prison, Elsa’s hands and feet were free to s The only freedom the Seers had stolen from her was the clarity of her voice
Her one and only, rich,It refused to appear
The temple Seers had performed a wicked and cruel act in order to wed a n country It was inhumane
Because of the poison-breathing princess’s vulgar language, they had used ic to snatch away her voice and her words
Elsa stroked the icy floor as well as the he, she heard the sound of footsteps, followed by this particularly despicable raspy voice
“Princess”
The young girl reflexively shot a glance Actually, she hadn’t intended to inally intended to become a soulless doll, or a corpse, but she couldn’t suppress her feelings of hatred and rejection
“Milady is like this again…”[2]
Their solemn tone of voice didn’t bear an ounce of respect To them, it was another day in the business, and it was easy to tell they spoke that way out of obligation
Elsa wished she could block her ears However, a voice continued in her ears:
“…just like a sinner”
Just then, a new voice spoke out as if it were trying to verify so the speaker didn’t understand It was a voice she hadn’t heard before
“Can’t you all be a little more respectful?”
Their deep, heavy, and poh on the inside She was laughing at them
Respectful? She wondered to herself what kind of person would actually dare say that kind of thing to the Seers
“But, my lord Prime Minister…” Elsa faintly detected the deep voice of one of the seers whispering in protest
(Primer Minister…)
The very same one of this country, this city, that corrupt politician—
In her hazy state of limpse at the man who said those words, but in the darkness of the prison cell, she could only vaguely perceive his indistinct silhouette
Just then, the tender and beautiful voice of a woman surfaced from behind that silhouette
“Precisely Her Majesty is the much esteemed princess of Vion I wouldn’t knohat to do if some terrible misfortune befell our dear country…”