Moments stretched into months and months into years. The calendar changed thrice, showing the swift flow of time. Everything changed significantly- Leon and others in the orphanage grew taller. Agasthus was now more mature than he had been before, and Liora hit her adolescence. Everybody distributed their chores as scheduled by Leon; this reduced the burden on individuals significantly. Agasthus and Faf grew closer as they dealt with matters related to tending the garden and warding off pests. Mrs.Kaelen and Leon were involved in household chores, but Liora seemed distinct from the rest. She would often be unavailable for dawn meal, and toils dealt by her were often left untouched.
The morning in the town was sweeter for many, and heavy for the ones assaulted, but the night was quite quenched with the blood of the criminals. The blood that amused a white phantom in the dark sky. Even with his white glowing clothes he sweeps at the site like a shadow. Many claim he holds sickle which was always drenched in blood. Few rare sightings of the white phantom happened in the daylight, but the night was the main omen when the blood craving started. Inspired by the uprising, a supportive organisation rose, called "Order of Day Embers". The reason behind such a name was quite simple: they tried to fill the voids in the daylight when their White revenant was not available. White revenant was the popularized name of Leon's role as the white phantom.
No one knew who was good, no one believed anybody to be the better one. But from the time when White revenant appeared, a revolution of warmth struck the citizens- this was the fact everyone was aware about. But the same revolution was consuming Leon. He was frustrated and tired of the reckless massacre. The only thing that kept him sane was his loving family and the small errands he does for them.
Just like everyday, Leon was sitting beside a large mango tree. In the sequence of house shifting, one prominent place was a stranded road towards a mango tree. Whenever the house shifts to that end of the town, a pack of our boys would run to fetch themself mangoes. Today, beside the tree, Leon was reading about herbs. The herbs in the Ascensions were magical and absolute in their treatment.
"Learning more and more about the Ascensions would surely help me someday" that's what Leon believed.
He was deep into the intellect of the researcher. A flower that blooms, when two people who love each other from their souls, hold its stalk together. It's called the Viseral flower which wasn't available in the Imperial town, but in fact blossoms in the wild edge of Tigerian mountains.
"Maybe I will visit those mountains with Liora" Leon giggled
Just then, he thought of her and just saw her. But she seemed to be heading out and it was the wrong time for that.
"Hey, Liora…. It's close to the night, I guess you shouldn't leave now" Leon stood up and spoke
"Will be back soon Leon, just a small, urgent work to take care of"
She didn't turn back, nor did she say anything. Leon was already suspicious about her from the last few weeks and now it was time to act.
Trees were dense and a dark gradient tinted the atmosphere around. Through the dense sculptures, a hidden narrow path heads towards the town. Liora was clearly going towards the central market as she went with the right arc of the path, instead of left. The bells churned as everybody gathered around the Praying house. Around mid evening, people who are devoted and religious gather around the Praying house to pray. Liora didn't stop there, instead she went through the crowd to exit out into the black market. The place was suspicious and eerie. A pungent smell as those of degraded marines envelopes the place. Black markets were obviously like the abandoned streets, but still full of crooked crowds involved in black business. That's when the sight that struck Leon shaked him quite hard.
Liora went to a strange man: he had a face lit with warmth, jagged hair and quite a trained body. He was militant by his strength and posture, but his presence in the eerie streets was taunting something different. Liora smiled at the man which explains their long contact with each other. It was surely not the first time they met. Leon couldn't hear anything from the distance, but he could guess their destination was somewhere amidst the Black Market, so they headed for it. Maintaining distance in a swarm closing in was difficult, but Leon kept his pace.
A right…
Push and yet another push….
A sharp left and they vanished….
The sharp left had no one else turning to. The lane was empty and not even Liora and the strange man were visible. They were there in a sinister structure, looking at Leon from the first story.
"He was pretty determined to stop us" the strange man teased.
"That's how caring he is; always thinking about our family. After Mr.Kaelen passed away, he took everything on himself"
"Is he really concerned?"
"Of course… no one would do what he is doing elsewise. He knows who gets up at what time, he knows everybodies favourite dishes, he knows everybodies favourite places"
"Well well… that's awesome but too much of information" he paused and glanced with a smirk "somebody seems to be in love"
"No, dammit. What kind of conclusion is that?" And without further delay, they headed for the headquarters. It was a simple rusted door that tore the thin fabrics between two distinct places. A whoosh just anointed their ears and the empty room just opened into a room full of revolutionaries. There was booze, vodka, and certain spirits lingering around. The spirits were of those who were trapped between the Ascensions and the final destination to the god. They would be their messenger, as lurking was their potency. It was surely the headquarters for
"THE ORDER OF DAY EMBERS"
It was time for them to determine today's surveillance.
"Today we got a leading hint on the Crikes" Hamer got up saying.
"What's that?" Silas, the stranger with Liora, spoke.
"A metal industrialists who lives across the prayer house seems to be connected to them"
"Do you know his livelihood?" Liora was enthusiastic to come in too.
"Yes, but now it's nightime… it's the phantom's time to come out. We can't interfere with work of White Revenant otherwise people would lose their trust on us"
"That fake revolutionary. If only he had a little less influence on people, we wouldn't have to make him our God for people's support" That was the reality among the order of day Embers that Silas spoke out. This association was never a fan of white revenants. They just wanted people's support and consequently ended up using his name as their idol.
The sun had already set and the dine was braced. Mrs.Kaelen specially brought Leon's favourite mushroom from the inner district of the town. But nevertheless she had also prepared Agasthus and Faf's favourite bean soup, and for Liora her sweet pickle in the jar was always ready. But Liora wasn't home yet which concerned the old women. Leon hasn't told anything about what he saw that day in the black market. He himself wanted to investigate a little further. Right before he was determined to search for Liora, she herself came in.
"Oh dear, where were you?" Mrs.Kaelen asked
"I was in the Praying house, mother"
"Ok, shall we dig in now? It's still hot and I hope you all would love it"
Looking at no suspicion from her mother, Liora knew Leon hadn't spoken of anything. That's when she turned towards him, only to find the silent gaze already reading her parameters. For that single instance she felt Leon was someone else, someone dangerous and mysteriously powerful. Letting her go, Leon pulled back his chair and ate his half. He was silent and humming a rhyme to himself. Liora for him was someone else's woman and additionally was hiding a big secret from her family. This increased the distance and woe of ache in his heart.
Midnight, the moon was straight above the head and the streets were silent all around. A persistent glamour of the twinkles was portraying the night view. White revenant was standing on a high post of a watch house. It wasn't in the centre, but would always make the still avenues wintry, as the view of every path would be evident.
A slight flutter, a mild disruption that tingled on his skin alerted Leon. But it was too late to move as the sharp edge of the arrow disseminated with tainted gun powder. The sharp tip pierced in and a large cracker blasted off right in his abdomen. The light glowed and the cinder sparks ignited the infrastructure around. The scene ignited like a forest fire. People trembled and rushed out of their houses. They were afraid to be enmeshed into the flames that radiated calor.
[ "He is reincarnation just like you" The Path of Eternal Deity send a message]
"Who?" Leon asked
[ "The warrior attacking you"]
The moment consumed Leon, another reincarnation like him. How was that even possible? Did the upper god do it or was this some kind of trap? Gale grew chill even in the fire that couldn't be extinguished. Numerous questions claimed Leon and right then, another arrow flung in. Leon dodged it, crashing himself into a house through a glass window. But he couldn't stop: the arrow was still chasing him. The flames and the gun powder was soldering out as if it had an infinite supply. Jumping off the house he landed on an adjacent roof, but the flames were still behind. Sliding down, jumping wall to wall dodging the arrow, Leon went into another house. This time the arrow lost its mark and quickly set the house on fire. Escaping out he lunged onto the town hall citadel. That's when he saw the hope flickering inside the people of the city. They were waiting for white revenant to become their ruler. He saw the wish glaring in their eyes as they lined themselves along the street.
"Get that bastard, Revenant" one of the fellow citizens bursted out, followed by cheers of others.
The scene was mesmerising as the street lights marked the silent apostle of hopes. The lights were like a grand entrance leading its way away from the town hall. Looking at the sky he could feel the pressure, the pressure when everybody else depends on you.
"The defunct threads of trust and mishandled realities are two bigger sins a man can follow" Leon thought.
With the realisation of nothing going to be easy anymore and the realisation of adherence to pain, Leon smiled and smirked at the paths.
"I can feel it, the time is changing"
….
"The moon isn't red anymore"
….
"The stars are twinkling, I guess"
….
"How can a human laugh?"
….
"Maybe I will get to live it someday"
….