Глава 14

'Not every meeting has a beautiful ending, Amiya.'

'A lot of stories end suddenly. A lot of stories keep us tossing and turning in our beds. And some stories end... with a long, long sigh.'

'In a wilderness without end, people meet and go their separate ways. But at the crucial moment when we cross paths...'

'No one knows if we should really be saying such solemn goodbyes.'

Come in.

Theresa, you're back!

Amiya?

What's the matter? Look what time it is. You should be in bed, if you don't want Kal'tsit getting angry with you.

I know, but... I can't sleep.

Want me to sleep with you?

I-It's okay! If you still have work to do, I—

You've been waiting for me all day, haven't you? Did something happen?

Nope! I... Everyone's been very nice to me, and I'm keeping up with my homework, too. I've finished all the assignments Dr. Kal'tsit gave me!

But...

I know you've been really busy and I shouldn't bother you, but... I don't know why... I really wanted to see you today.

Is that right?

Come, Amiya. I'm here.

Theresa kneels down and hugs Amiya.

I'm here for you now.

Alright.

I... I saw you standing here, waiting by yourself while everybody else was gone for so, so long... I still remember the look on your face. I don't get it...

Are you worried about something? Isn't everyone saying we're about to win?

Yes, there's always good news.

Our fighters captured another town. We advanced our position once more... Kazdel, our home, is closer than ever.

But...

Amiya, Babel still has a very long journey ahead of us. Our goal is so far away... I don't actually even know if we're still sailing toward our original destination.

Theresa lets out a brief sigh and looks into the distance. Amiya follows Theresa's gaze, but finds nothing.

Babel does not exist to win <i>victories.</i> It never has.

Victories and scars go hand-in-hand, and... those scars are far more difficult than we ever anticipated to heal.

Or rather... Can they even be healed?

Theresa's voice is very soft, almost like a dream melted away in water. As a cloud of mist rises, the brief, momentary smile that she had before now seems distant and hazy.

The young Cautus girl thinks that, for a moment or two, the woman holding her hand all this time almost seemed to have disappeared into the mist herself.

And so Amiya makes the effort to stand on her tiptoes and stretches her hand out. The young girl's soft fingertips touch the forehead between the eyes of the King of Sarkaz; she tries to smooth those knitted brows.

They can... They will.

Theresa, I still remember what you told me.

'Perhaps, one day... We'll be able to let everyone on this vast land fall into peaceful slumber.'

Right. That includes you... and me.

Go, Amiya. We have lots of time to talk about the future, but if you stay up all night, you won't be getting any taller.

What are you going to do if you're still a teeny tiny bean by the time Rhodes Island is proudly sailing across the vast lands?

*whimper*...

If I... If I point my ears up, I'll look taller, won't I?

Pff... Haha...

You really don't want to go back to your room, don't you?

I-I'm not being naughty! I'm just—

Alright, let's not tell Kal'tsit, then. You can stay a little longer.

It's been a while since I told you a story, hasn't it?

It's okay. I still remember all the stories you told me!

'A long time ago, there was a great, big desert and a tiny, little doll made of sackcloth. The little puppet swore he would cross the desert to find the legendary Plains of Hope...'

But you've never told me how the story ends—

Oh, that one, huh...?

There were a lot of scary things out there in the desert. If I were to tell you, you'd never sleep again.

I'm not scared of them. Besides, with you telling the story, I'm sure it'll have a nice ending.

Alright.

The desert...

It was so vast and wide, like there was no end to it.

Our little puppet had been through many great adventures, and at last, he made it. His goal was right in front of him. The Plains of Hope...

What were the plains like?

Hm... The kind of place that anyone would like to call home.

The kind of place with all the carrot pies I could eat? With everybody on the landship there, too?

Maybe.

But things are never that easy in these stories. He still had to overcome the last obstacle that stood in his way.

The desert was very cold, and the wind there never stopped. In the light of the twin moons, there seemed to be some black cloaked shadows whispering to themselves, but the moment he looked for them, they disappeared.

What were the black cloaked shadows?

They were the echoes of the oldest despair and sadness. If they catch you, you'll never escape them.

The shadows whispered among themselves and laid trap after trap to stop the puppet...

The black-cloaked shadows didn't want to let the puppet make it any further. They did everything they could to try to get him to turn around.

Because if the puppet made it through the desert, hope would start to spread their way, and they would disappear.

But the puppet didn't know that. His goal never once changed.

The puppet made it past their traps and foiled their plans. All the tricks they had up their sleeves had failed. They were furious, and they decided they weren't going to hide anymore. They were going to duke it out with the puppet and fight him to the death.

When he saw the shadows rushing toward him, the puppet took out a long spear made of a needle and some threads. Then, he—

Theresa, why did they become the echoes of despair and sadness?

Well, about that...

Did they catch Oripathy? And the pain kept them up at night?

Then, maybe the puppet could cure them? Just like what you and Dr. Kal'tsit want to do.

Cure them?

If the puppet cured them and turned them into... hm... happy and peaceful shadows, then everybody could go to the Plains of Hope together, right?

Were they born baddies who liked to scare people?

No, dear, of course not.

The puppet found out that... they all had wounds on their bodies. It was the wounds that turned them into who they were.

Couldn't he fix them up with his needle and thread? Just like what you always do!

Maybe... Perhaps it's worth a try.

(Yawns)

Sleepy?

N-No, I'm not! Did he do it?!

The puppet tried over and over. The stitches were thick and ugly. The black-cloaked shadows were livid.

Wh-What happened next...?

Maybe... peace and happiness don't really come so easily, but in the end, they decided to let the puppet go.

The black-cloaked shadows watched the puppet walk into the distance. They decided they'd let the puppet give it a shot, but... a big river stood before him.

He didn't even know how wide it was. All he knew was that he couldn't see the other side of the river.

He knew that the Plains of Hope were on the other side, but there weren't any boats nearby. There wasn't even a decently sized frond.

'What do I do now?' The puppet thought to himself, and he decided to see if he could swim across.

But... he's a... cloth puppet...

Right, he was made of cloth. If he got wet, he would only get heavier and heavier until he sank to the bottom of the river.

But if he stopped here, his journey would have been for nothing.

He leapt into the water and found that the river was cold and salty, like tears.

Apparently... a lot of people across the lands wanted to go to those plains, but not one of them succeeded.

It was their tears that formed this river. The puppet finally understood just how many people shed tears over this.

Zzz...

The puppet swam and swam. He felt his body slowly soaking up the tears.

Did the other side of the river really exist? Perhaps the shadows were right. It was called the 'Plains of Hope' because no one could truly make it there.