Chapter 5
White Stained Red: Haku
I still don't believe it. My best, my only, friend in the whole world is dead. Miku can't be dead. It has been months and months since that day, yet still I have hope that one day she will burst out of the bushes, laughing, "Haha! I got you, Haku!"
So far, it hasn't happened yet. After her death, I fled the city. I wandered for weeks, just trying to go as far away as possible. Somewhere that no one will recognize my white hair. Somewhere where no one will look at me and think, 'That white haired girl. She's the only survivor of that massacre, the one where they killed all green haired women. I bet she's so smug and happy that she got away. I bet she loves having white hair.'
I hate people like that. So I did what I always did, what a have been doing my whole life. I ran from them. I ran so very far, but now I have to stop.
I reached the ocean. I was content, for I thought that I was so far away from that horrible country of Loewyl. I stopped running. I now live in a beautiful church, a building so ancient, so old, that it wouldn't care about my white hair.
After I had lived here for a week, a girl arrived. She had dirty yellow hair and wore a tattered cloak. Her eyes were red and stained with tears. She looked like she had been running too. So I took her in.
She lives with me now. Every day I think she is getting better. When she arrived, there wasn't a single chore she knew how to do. She struggled over the simplest of tasks. But she wouldn't give up. I think that she helped me get better too. Every day, I smile a little more and cry less. Yesterday, I even laughed.
After we do the morning chores, I go to greet the guests that arrive here, and she disappears. I'm not sure where she goes. Sometimes I find her curled up in the confessional, sometimes I see her wandering aimlessly around the empty halls. Many times I see her, curled into a ball, sleeping in the tiniest corners of the church. When I do, I pick her up and carry her up to her bed.
Today, I found her asleep in the storage room. She had tucked herself in between two barrels of flour. I sighed, and gently picked her up. When I laid her down on her bed, she muttered one word, "Len."
That puzzled me for days. Who was Len? I thought for hours and then wondered where she came from. I looked at the cloak that she arrived in, and it confirmed what I had thought. The stitchery was only found in garments made in Loewyl. This lead me to believe that she had been had ran from the same place I had run from.
Perhaps Len had told her to run. Perhaps she too was a victim of the evil princess. I pitied the girl, for I knew how inhumane that princess was.
However, it stirred an interest in me, an interest to find out what had happened to the princess. When I went to town, I asked if anyone had heard what had happened to Loewyl. If they had heard what had happened to the princess.
No one seemed to know. I kept asking and would get the same answer, "I don't know." That answer frustrated me.
One day, when I was out shopping, a man in a blue coat walked up to me. "I hear that you have been looking for information about Loewyl," he said.
I nodded, "Can you help me?"
"Yes," he replied, "I know the best, for I was the best friend of Kaito, the king of Ulbe."
"You were his best friend?" I asked.
"He died," he said, "In the revolution. But let me start from the beginning. The queen ordered that the country of Nreeg be destroyed. In that country, there was a woman with green hair that had in some way offended the princess. But the woman, Miku, was the lover of my liege, Kaito. Kaito was devastated and traveled to Loewyl to try and bring about the downfall of the princess. He found that no one would listen to him, so he hired a mercenary. The woman mercenary, Meiko, stirred the people, and a revolution was born. The people attacked at the right moment when the Loewyl army was still weak from fighting the war against Nreeg. Kaito brought me and the rest of the army to help bring down the kingdom. They were successful, and the country is now ruled by Lady Meiko and her chancellors."
"But what happened to the princess?" I urged him to tell me of her.
He continued, "The princess was captured and executed. All her servants and guards had left, even the most loyal."
I asked, "How could anyone be loyal to her?"
"There was a rumor that she had a servant that was the spitting image of her, a twin brother or something that had in some way faulted the old king. Apparently, she saved him from exile," he replied.
"Do you know his name?" I asked.
"No, sorry," he said, "That's all I know."
"Thanks…" I walked away, thinking over what he said. The girl had probably ran from the revolution, not wanting to get caught up in the fighting. I turned and headed back to the church.
When I arrived, I could smell something warm and yummy coming from the kitchen. I entered and found that the girl was there.
She was standing at the counter, slicing a loaf of warm, fresh baked brioche. "Here, have some," she said, handing me a slice, "I made it. Is it good?" she asked.
I bit into the warm bread. It was delicious! Warm and soft, the best brioche I had ever tasted. I couldn't believe that this girl, who could do anything, had made something so delicious. "It's wonderful," I replied, "Thank you."
She smiled, and wandered off like she always did. I finished the slice and ate another. It was so good that I had to remind myself not to eat too much. I packed the rest away, saving it for later.
But now, I was curious. Where had this girl come from? Who was Len? I followed her, looking everywhere for her. I found her sitting in a small back room. She was sitting on an old bench, facing the window. It was a stained glass window, and it looked like she was talking to it.
Something told me to listen to her. I pressed my ear to the small opening in the door and listened.
"Len had blood on him. It was so scary to see him like that. He was my Len. I think that really hurt him. It was my fault, it was all my fault. If only that stupid green lady hadn't interfered! No, she wasn't stupid. It wasn't her fault, it was mine. I shouldn't have killed her. I shouldn't have," she said, crying.
My eyes were wide. She killed the 'green lady'? Could that be…?
She stood and pressed her hand to the window, and continued, "Len had never been like that before. He shut me in the closet. I didn't want him to. But I saw him in the square. I couldn't move, I couldn't stop it. I wanted to throw of the cloak and say that it was me, that Len was innocent, that they should kill me instead. But I didn't and the blade came down anyways. I miss you, Len. Come back, okay? So we can send bottles to sea again, and so that you can make me brioche again."
She continued to talk, but I didn't listen. I ran to my room and shut the door. She was the princess! That girl, the girl I had helped, had cared for, was the princess! Of course! Len was the twin servant! They killed Len instead!
I started pacing the room, not sure what to do. Should I tell that man I meet in town? No, he would kill her. Wait, why was that a bad thing? Surely she deserved to die? I didn't know why I was confused. I laid down on my bed and fell asleep.
In the morning, I woke up with an idea. I needed revenge. I would be the one to kill her.
I walked to the kitchen and found a knife. I hid it in the pocket of my skirt. I rushed throughout the church, looking for her. Where could she be? Where had she gone?
I saw a glimpse of her then, rushing down from the tower. I tried to follow her, but to no avail. I had no idea where she had gone. "Think!" I muttered to myself. Where would she have gone? If she came down from the tower, where would she go?
What could be seen from the tower, but not from the rest of the church? Of course! The sea! She said, 'so that was can send bottles out to sea again.'
She would have gone to the ocean! I rushed out of the church and ran down the main street. I wasn't looking and banged into the man from Ulbe that I had met the other day.
"Did you see?" he said, trying to stand again, "I found the princess! She's here-"
I shoved him to the ground again and continued running after her. I think that man followed me. I ran and ran, and then I stopped, for I had reached the ocean.
She was standing in the water, placing a small glass bottle in the waves. I slowly walked up behind her. she was crying, crying so hard. I raised my knife.
As I brought my knife down to strike her, I realized why I had hesitated yesterday. She was like me, how I had been so long ago. Helpless and crying, sorry to be alive. And I realized, I couldn't do it.
I dropped the knife and fell to the ground, crying, "I'm sorry," I stuttered, "So sorry…"
She looked up at me, her face streaked with tears. Her eyes looked sad and questioning.
I heard running behind me and turned around. I saw that man with the blue coat running towards us. He grabbed the knife that I had dropped and raised it to strike the girl.
I couldn't let that happen! I must not let that happen! I threw out my arms and stood protectively in front of her. If one of us must die, then it should be me. I was unimportant.
The girl panicked and pushed me away yelling, "No, don't Len!"
I fell to the side and screamed as the man brought the knife down. He slashed at her and she fell backwards, her dress stained in blood. I screamed and pushed the man away yelling, "Murderer!"
He stammered, "She deserved it!"
"GO!" I half screamed, half cried at him. He lowered his eyes and rushed away. I was crying heavily now. The girl lay in the water, her blood mingling with the water, staining it red. She wasn't crying like I was. Her face was calm, peaceful, and she was smiling. Her eyes fixed on the small glass bottle that was floating off into the distance and she reached her hand towards it.
I realized that the bottle must be special to her and to her brother Len. It must be something that they both cherished and shared. I wiped my eyes, trying in vain to remove my tears.
The girls eyes fluttered and closed and she whispered, "Len…I'm….coming….."
I must have been hallucinating, for nothing else could explain what I saw next. As she closed her eyes to this world and passed on, another hand appeared. A translucent hand closed around her outreached one. When I looked up, I saw a ghost boy dressed a servant. He held her hand and smiled.
I assumed that he must be Len, for he looked so much like the girl. He smiled such a warm smile. Then he disappeared.
I stood up and picked up the girl. I carried her lifeless body back to the church. As I walked I thought, I am sorry I'm alive, but for you, just for you, I think I'll work on changing that.
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