9 CHILD AT HEART 1 (1/2)
Lirzod was on his bed. He had been rolling around for fifteen minutes, but he couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he remembered Duera. She was the one who always made him sleep, either by telling him stories or by patting on his chest. When she wasn't there, Primera took care of that job, though she just scared Lirzod into a sleep.
It hadn't been more than an hour since he departed, and his heart which pumped at normal speeds when he's at the shore, now pumped in strange rhythms. From as far in his past as he could remember, there was never a day he spent away from either of those two. But at the moment, both of them weren't by his side. He missed their company more than anything.
Silent tears soaked the pillow as he cried in a subdued way.
After few minutes, his eyes no longer produced tears, but his cheeks still had traces of streams left by the salty secreted liquids. He got up and rubbed his eyes and cheeks with his forearm. The coldness of his tears just told him how long he had been crying. Slight redness tainted the whites of his eyes.
His gaze settled on his right palm, which had a black circular dot on it. Seeing that, made him remember what happened the previous night.
”Little Zod, promise me... You'll never get rid of that birthmark on your palm,” His mother seemed emotional and serious.
”But mother, I never really liked it. Whenever I stare at my palm, all I can see is this big black mark. At school, my friends used to laugh at me, and even teachers avoided giving me a handshake.”
Valli's heartbeat fluctuated in an irregular fashion. Lirzod never told her those matters before. She knew that people didn't like seeing such a mark, but she never thought that even teachers behaved in such a manner. She gritted her teeth, and its sound reached his ears. Just the thought of people cracking up at the mark on her son's palm made her blood boil.
”Mother, I didn't tell you this because you'd have fired those teachers right away.”
”Of course. They deserved that!”
”They do. But I admired their teaching. Though they were a bit harsh to me in some aspects, I have some good memories of them, and of my friends as well.”
”Little Zod... This is the problem with you that worries me the most,” She slid her hand on the back of his head. ”If you like someone, you turn a blind side to everything they do... Though, that Vesta's kid is an exception.”
”Mother, we are not talking about this again!”
”Fine, but remember that you're not a child anymore. Just because you love someone, don't act nicer towards them, got it? There are all kinds of people in this world.” Her focus then shifted downward, ”This mark on your palm might be a gift from the god. It guards you against the evil eyes of the world... Just like the scar on your face. These two will ensure that the 'evil eye', doesn't fall over you.”
Lirzod spoke nothing.
”Please, Zod. Do it for me, okay?”
”Got it. But you are unexpectedly calm today...”
”I'm not the kind of woman to quarrel with her son on the day before his journey.”
”You are definitely the best of the three clan mothers.”
”Just among the clan mothers?” She narrowed her eyes for a moment and later planted a kiss on his cheeks.
”In the entire neighborhood.” His other cheek was greeted by a kiss as well. ”In the entire town!”
Getting back to the present.
Lirzod's butt had heated up by a few degrees of Fahrenheit, and he was still lost in thought, but his hand just happened to land on the book beside him. He glanced down sideways, and it was the pocketbook that 777 gave him. Tinier than the extent of his palm, the claret-colored book titled 'Extensive Voyage Guide,' oozed out a newfangled aura which made him pick the book into his hands without his conscious control. He also saw a groundnut lying on the bed and picked it up with his other hand.
He opened the cover and the first page exposed a peculiar picture of a decorated bell which faded in and showed itself on the surface of the page, right in front of his eyes. ”Hmm?” He touched the image of the bell.And it gonged.
”What the —” The sound made by the bell took him by surprise, and his hands automatically tossed the book away into the air.
Still, the gonging resumed, and Lirzod's hand flighted by itself, startling him. He tried stopping his hand, but it further got pulled towards the book. ”What's this?” Lirzod was forced to get out of the bed. His feet slid on the polished wooden floor as his body continually pulled closer and closer to the book, which floated in the air. He used all his strength, but there was no use. ”Owuwohh!” His entire body got sucked into the book before it closed and fell to the ground.
The gonging ended as replaced by the newborn silence, and left no traces of Lirzod, other than his luggage that lied at their respective spots. At the moment, the single groundnut, however, almost touched the ceiling.
At some unknown area, Lirzod stood and stared at the agricultural fields which extended as far as his eyes could behold. ”Where am I?” He looked around but didn't find a single soul anywhere. His body, however, floated about and drifted along with the wind, as he got carried towards an obscure destination.
”So you have boarded one of the four vehicles that lead to the Shambala Sect.” A sourceless voice reached his ears.
”Who's there?” Lirzod looked around, turned in every direction in midair, but found nobody.
All of a sudden, a bunch of dry leaves flew towards Lirzod and circled around him, before forming into a human figure in a stygian cloak, his face hidden by the hood. His long yet skinny gray beard mirrored his fragile yet towering physique. His well-grown mustache hid his mouth without fault and made sure that nothing above it was noticeable.
Lirzod wanted to move back, but his body wasn't in his control, and he got pulled closer to the mysterious person.
”Fret not... Child,” An archaic voice sounded out of that man's mouth, and it calmed down Lirzod's anxiety in an instant.
”Who are you, geezer?” Lirzod still returned an unscrupulous gaze.
”It matters not who I am. Since you've come here, I assume you have your own reasons for doing so, and I won't question you regarding that, but there are some rules that you must follow — be it in life or on the ship you are currently at. And there is some knowledge you must be made aware of.”
”What the heck are you talking at?” Lirzod scratched the side of his head, ”First tell me where I'm at now?”
The old man's arms lied on the peak of a staff that appeared to be made of twisting tree roots and leaves floated about at its base. ”You are where you wished to be,” with a flight of his hand, both of their bodies dashed through the winds at high speed. They kept crossing miles in a matter of seconds, but Lirzod didn't feel any pressure on his skin whatsoever. ”Why do you want to become a martial?”
Though he was in doubt on everything that happened around him, Lirzod replied, ”I don't know. To be honest, I don't really know, you know... I do want to help my clan more than anything. But I'm not sure how I will help it just by becoming a martial.”
”Are you saying you are not sure if you can help your clan even after becoming a martial?”
”Yes. My father and his friends are quite headstrong. I can't force them to do things against their wishes.”
”So, that's why you fear that you can't reshape the clan as per your wishes.”
”Kind of, yeah.”
”Why do you want to change your clan?”
”Not the clan, but its people. They are just too many bad things my people do, including my parents.”
The old man shifted his head slightly towards Lirzod. ”You picked one troublesome goal. At least you seem to know that.”
”I hope I do,” Lirzod sounded not so confident.
”Forcing people to do something they don't like is much easier than trying to change their characters. Temper is one troublesome thing”
”I know that... Because I have that.”