As the sun fell and the moon rose, the night sky grew cloudy and bleak.
A mix of fractured rays of moonlight and the fluorescent light of the mountains kept most of the streets illuminated.
But there, in Everdream, the darkness of night was not scary to Oren. He was not afraid of the dark, but it always gave him this strange, dull ache in his chest.
He dreaded that feeling, and so, he disliked the night a little more than the day, but either way, they were both the same to him.
He watched as the lanterns cast a warm glow over the crowded streets, while the soft murmurs of the people gathered around the stage filled the air.
There were dozens of them, perhaps even close to a hundred.
There were no rows of seats or set chairs.
Most simply stood wherever they could find space, some with children held close, others whispering amongst themselves as they waited for it to start.
Oren caught bits and pieces of the conversations around him, some of which piqued his interest.
"Oh, they're performing O'Resen today?"
He heard another person.
"I haven't seen that one in years. How many Sunwanes has it been now, brother?"
'O'Resen?'
Oren pondered.
'I've never heard of that one before.'
He slowly fell to the back of the crowd, finding Selvar near the edge of the crowd.
Normally, the Enlightened archer would not be permitted to leave the residence, but on this occasion, Oren was more lenient.
Either way, he appealed to the people when they saw his good deeds, especially towards his apparent slave.
To them, it made what would have been a twisted sight seem not so twisted, almost consensual, though it was.
Oren gave Selvar a knowing smile, then faced forward.
In front of them, beyond the people, a wooden platform had been raised in the open air.
It was modest, assembled from rough timber with several rocks arranged around its edges. It was the one he had seen earlier that day.
His eyes settled on the centre of the platform.
Three people stood upon it.
A man wearing noble attire, a woman in a pale dress, and another woman dressed in darker clothing, a snake-like pattern threaded into her clothes.
Oren watched them quietly.
Then the murmuring crowd fell silent.
A low voice rang out from somewhere beyond the stage.
"Long ago, in a land far beyond these mountains, there lived a mortal prince, Enlightened by the world, and his dearly beloved, a woman whose beauty carried something strangely otherworldly."
"It was a perfect match of opposites, Of love, perception and hate."
Lowering his head, the man on the platform got into position.
The lanterns dimmed, and Oren's attention sharpened as the performance began.
The skilled performers took their positions.
The man lowered himself onto one knee before the woman, who smiled down at him.
"We are beyond such superficial titles as marriage and love. Despite this, what I feel now... I love you. When we are apart, even when you're off to your flower garden, I yearn for you."
"Take my hand and accept my love, my dearest?"
The actor portraying the Prince opened the box in his hand, his fingers trembling as he revealed a wooden ring, its roots intertwining around a vibrant emerald.
The actress portraying the Wife opened her mouth, then closed it, tears falling down her face as she smiled and extended her hand toward him.
Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper.
"I love you. I accept all your love, for I love you too. When you're off on your journeys, I yearn for you too. No matter how far we are apart, I will always long for you. I love you to the sun and back."
The Prince caressed the ring, taking it out of its holder.
But before he could place the ring on her finger, the Wife suddenly shuddered and fell, collapsing onto the ground.
"...My beloved!"
The Prince rushed to her side, the words escaping his mouth again.
"My love!..."
His voice trembled as he checked her pulse.
He faced the crowd, his eyes searching through them.
"What hath happened in so brief a time?"
His voice dropped.
"My beloved has fallen! I failed. I could not surrender myself. This is my fault, it has to be."
His eyes focused on the crowd as gasps were heard. Before him, the Serpent moved onto the stage.
A low rattle followed, then a hiss.
The Prince suddenly staggered backward before falling over.
"You! You committed this act of purgatory! You..."
The Serpent struck him.
A scream resounded through the air as the Wife slipped away from the stage, leaving only the Prince and the Serpent there.
The voice of the narrator rang out once more, carrying across the gathered crowd.
"Having lost his one true love, having no reason to live anymore, he gave himself a new reason."
The Prince stepped forward as he spoke.
"For her, I will eclipse mortality itself. Thou shalt not live to take another life!"
"And so," the narrator spoke, "looking at the defiled Serpent, the chase of O'Resen began."
The actress portraying the Serpent lowered herself and moved away, while the actor portraying the Prince immediately pursued her.
The actors ran around the stage in circles, shouting curses at one another, so much so that it felt real.
At that moment, Oren smiled.
He had never seen a play before, but this one, he was really enjoying.
Selvar seemed to be entranced by it too, his pale blonde hair fluttering gently in the breeze, his cold grey eyes focused on the play intently.
Everyone around them was completely immersed in the play.
And for the first time in a long time, the focus wasn't on him, and he liked that feeling.
Oren loved it.
He loved being no one, he loved being nothing.
The voice of the narrator rang out again, this time carrying from somewhere beyond the stage.
"They ran throughout the lands and mountains, rivers and cities, on an eternal chase.
The Prince, to achieve his goal of capturing the Serpent and defeating it, would have done anything, willing to give up the traits that made him human in a heartbeat to fulfil his wish.
The Serpent, on the other hand, bore the bitterness of his resentment."
"Until one day, they reached a cliff."
The actress lingered at the edge of the stage. If she took another step, she would fall into the crowded space below.
Whilst the actor portraying the Prince stood before her, his weapon raised.
"Only then were they ordained to cross fang and sword."
The narrator's voice continued as the actors remained frozen for a moment.
"Led away from his light, and his love, the Prince was forced upon a path of no return. And yet, when he reached the Serpent, it had grown fiercely."
The Prince stopped whilst the actress playing the Serpent stood on her tiptoes, stretching herself upward and making her silhouette larger.
The movement appeared exhausting, her legs trembling slightly as she struggled to maintain the position.
To the Prince, the creature appeared taller than before, larger, stronger, and more formidable.
The actor hesitantly stumbled backward, cowed, his voice trembling as he looked at the Serpent before turning toward the crowd.
"How has it done this? How has it grown so large? It is too big. Its size has risen beyond houses and trees, rivaling even mountains.
If only I had not spent my life chasing it, even then my growth would not be so stagnant. I've become so feeble... So utterly insignificant. How far I have fallen, have I truly become forsaken...?"
He turned toward the Serpent.
"And you...! You are large enough to topple mountains."
After a moment, the actor portraying the Prince laughed wryly.
"No matter. I have finally found you."
He raised his sword.
"What are you called, beast?"
"O'Resen." The actress portraying the Serpent hissed sheepishly.
"You will die here, O'Resen, by my blade, at this moment. Repent in Hell, Demon."
Oren froze, then shook his head and continued watching with the crowd.
The narrator's voice returned, filling the silence that followed.
"With those words of indignation, he fought the beast again and again."
The actors clashed in the middle of the stage, dancing around each other as though in a fierce struggle.
The Prince was struggling, and yet it seemed O'Resen, one who could topple mountains, was struggling even more, almost afraid.
O'Resen avoided the Prince's attacks, the actress relying on her body to imitate the creature's movements.
Even then, the man's wooden sword only grazed her clothing.
The actors' weapons were wooden, not real, yet the performance was convincing enough to make the confrontation feel almost real.
The Serpent fled once more, on the verge of defeat.
But both were injured, and yet the forsaken Prince continued forward until he saw O'Resen reach the edge of the stage.
Slowly lowering herself from her tiptoes, the actress gradually shrunk her posture.
By the time the Prince regained his breath, O'Resen was merely the size of a large human, looking down at the water below the cliff.
The Serpent looked down at the crowd, then toward the Prince.
"Stop, stop!"
The children in the crowd gasped as the Prince stepped toward O'Resen, determination burning in his eyes.
"Why should I halt, Beast?" he screamed.
"Do thou not feel guilt for sin? Hurt for the pain thou hast embedded in me? Empathy is beyond thee, and so thou shalt feel this torment."
O'Resen trembled.
"We will fight, I promise. But not now. I... we must reach the altar."
Several large rocks were placed across the stage as the actors moved into position.
"Surrounding the cliff lay an altar, a small island where the two could fight once more. But between the altar and the cliff was a river, with large stones jutting jaggedly from the sickly water below, which bore terrible creatures."
And so, O'Resen cried out.
"If thou gather the attention of those who reside here whilst I swim, we can meet again. Jump from rock to rock and leap onto me, together, we swim to safety."
The Prince roared.
"Foolish snake. You have taken my love and my sanity. Having bitten me already, I am not a fool to let it happen again."
O'Resen leaned closer.
"I promise not to bite you. I am not a violent snake. Why would I attack thee when we need each other?"
"If I bite thee whilst we cross, we would both drown. I would be a foolish beast then."
The man hesitated, his hand clawing at his face in anguish as he agreed, but to everyone watching, it seemed as though agreeing was going against his very being, his very will to live.
The lanterns brightened, revealing several performers growing slowly around the stage.
They stood tall in all black, moving like shadows, dancing elegantly and yet violently, swaying back and forth as though entranced by O'Resen and the Prince.
They swarmed the two until the actress slipped past them, leaving the actor portraying the Prince to deal with them.
With that, their plan commenced.
The Prince kept the attention of those surrounding the water, then leaped from one rock to another until he reached the Serpent.
For a moment, the entire stage fell silent.
The narrator's voice carried across the crowd.
"The Prince clung to the Serpent as they crossed the water, holding on as tightly as he could as he feared falling into the depths below."
The actors remained still as the narrator continued.
"He knew not how to swim, nor how to hold on. And so he held on for his life, believing that if they reached the summit, he would finally win and survive."
His body trembled.
Something had gone wrong.
The Prince flailed violently, his voice rising as he struggled against what had happened.
"Deceitful beast!" he screamed.
His scream echoed through the crowd.
"You promised not to bite me. You promised, you promised. Now we will both die."
His voice grew lower and lower.
Eventually, he was unable to speak at all.
He could only stare toward the crowd.
"So that is it, then? So this is it...?... this is the end?"
The actress sighed as she twisted her neck slightly, facing the Prince, before turning toward the crowd.
"I'm sorry, but this... is only my nature. It can't help it."
The Prince began to laugh, a distorted, twisted murmur resounding at the centre of the stage.
"Ha... ah... haha..."
He looked at O'Resen as the narrator spoke once more.
The Prince had not been bitten by the Serpent.
His somber gaze lowered.
"But there was no mark or wound upon the Prince's body.
His hands were still wrapped around the ivory Serpent's body, fingers trembling against its blackening scales.
They were not smooth.
Thousands of needle-like hairs protruded from them, dark as ink, piercing his flesh, turning its white carapace into an ebony blanket.
He had not been bitten by the poisonous snake.
The forsaken Prince had poisoned himself for holding on too tightly."
Oren's eyes widened.
As he heard the last of the narrator's words he smiled.
'It truly was O'Resen's cursed nature.'
He looked around the bustling crowd, then at Selvar, who was standing beside him with a faint smile.
"That was nice... if we are still here next Sunwa—"
He froze.
"Yes, that was nice..." Selvar replied calmly, before adding,
"Are you alright?"
"Im fine." Oren finally replied after his gaze scattered around the crowd.
"We're leaving." He let out an exhausted sigh and began walking away from the people as the performers took their bows and were introduced to the crowd.
Selvar shortly followed, folding his hands behind his back.
A blend of moonlight and the fading glow of lanterns shifted behind them as they slowly abandoned the crowd, passing through the people and following the path to the manor.
The moon hung alone in the sky, with only a few stars scattered around it.
In the calm of night, Oren suddenly spoke.
"You've mentioned your home before. In a way, this mountain is your home. It is nice, other than the humans that dwell."
He looked into the distance, his gaze settling on the manor.
"...I used to have a home too, you know. I've had many homes, I've been to many places, but I've never stayed in any longer than necessary, and I have yet to step beyond these mountains."
He stared at the nearby buildings, a myriad of shops, houses and lodgings filling his sight as he thought.
'Even so, I cannot help but remember a place so different from here. One that is not made solely of mountains and lakes, but of something far greater, far more precious to me.'
But that was not the only strange feeling he had. There was another place, one that he did care about in any particular way yet he thought about from time to time.
Oren sighed.
"In all the time I've lived, I've only ever praised two places like this, Everdream included. And whilst I don't remember much, I remember the feeling it left me with."
Oren found himself hoping that he had not done to this village what he had done to the others.
Selvar slightly tilted his head.
"And where is this place?"
Oren paused, then sighed.
"It's... Unison City, in the centre of the mountain chain."
Selvar stared at him for a while, his expression changing subtly as he replied.
"Are you certain there is...?"
Oren nodded, but Selvar seemed to disagree.
"That's strange. There is no city here, especially one with that name. Still, whether there is or not, I guarantee you there is no life in the centre of the mountain range."
Oren stayed quiet the rest of to the manor.
He knew Unison was there. He had been there for a while before entering the fourth mountain. Although his time there was short, he remembered every moment.
It was not some concept he had made up. It was not something Oren would forget simply because someone said it had never existed.
'...Do I even remember?'
He shook his head before looking away.
'I don't need to prove myself to anyone. I know what I know, and I can trust that, at the very least.'