“So, what room is it you wanted me to paint?” Eory’s voice echoed through the empty halls as did his footsteps. Everyone was either in bed or eating.
It’s just me and Maruka…
Eory thought to himself.
He probably has ulterior motives for seeing you just like you do for him.
Taylor warned him as he trailed behind Maruka.
I don’t think he does. He seems lonely—like he wants company…
Eory remembered seeing the human crying bitter tears in the hallway.
He said he was a prisoner… I can relate to that.
Taylor sighed.
You’re so foolish. Those could have been fake tears and a fake story to pull at your foolish heart strings.
Eory shrugged.
How bad could his intentions possibly be?
“Oh, y-you’ll see. I want it to be a surprise.” Maruka answered his question mysteriously.
Eory commented aloud to Maruka as they began climbing a staircase, “Astral Elves sure aren’t ones for decorations, are they? There’s nothing in these halls…”
Maruka chuckled in response. “N-no. T-they’re very logical and straightforward people. That’s why I need your help painting this r-room.”
Eory panted as he continued up the stairs; when he reached the top, he asked Maruka, “So, the Astral Elves run this place, right?”
Maruka nodded. “Yeah. I just w-work as a kind of… a figurehead of a leader, here. Astral Elves are incredibly efficient, but they’re not good at teaching or leading. They help plenty on the battlefield, of course, and run the place behind the scenes. They also promote promising recruits to captains and let them run the shifts--l-like me for example.”
Eory pushed himself harder to keep pace with Maruka and exclaimed without thinking, “Unlike you! You’re amazing! You’ve taught me—or Taylor--so much in just two days! You're a great teacher!”
Maruka covered a grin with his hand. “W-well, I try my best, but I w-wish the Astral Elves would give me just a few more days to train recruits.”
The selkie playfully nudged Eory. “I-I also wish I had been training you and not Taylor. You should get that discrepancy in your identity sorted out for your own good. Taylor is insolent.”
…I hate him. Let’s go to bed instead.
Taylor demanded.
But Eory ignored her.
Maruka marched forward down the eerie, gray hallway in front of them and threw the second door on the left open.
In contrast to the dreary halls which were not lit, this wide, circular room was bathed in warm, orange firelight from torches on the walls. The room was a glorious, empty, iron canvas that Eory drank in with great excitement. His mind was abuzz with dozens of ideas of what he wanted to paint.
In the center of the room were barrels of paint filled with every color under the sun. Eory walked forward with his heart pounding in excitement. He did a spin to get a good look at the empty room. His voice echoed as he asked, “What is this room?”
Maruka stayed at the entrance with a smile on his face. “Normally, it’s an armory. B-but we cleared out all the weapons and armor for the time being so you could paint it.”
The smile wouldn’t leave Eory’s face as his eyes roamed over his limitless canvas. His mouth wobbled and a happy tear rolled down his cheek. Without thinking, he threw his arms around Maruka. “Thank you…”
Maruka looked over his shoulder in surprise. He felt an unfamiliar warmth bloom in the pit of his lonely stomach.
__
With a brush in hand, Eory smeared a pristine, crystal blue color on the iron floor. His large ears danced at the familiar sound of the bristles on the iron floor. It sounded like…
It sounds like the leaves of trees rustling in an autumn wind. This color… It delights my senses—it’s even more beautiful than a real sky. This smell is so familiar and intoxicating…
Eory slammed his palm into the paint with a grin and smeared it around in a circle. Suddenly, he was a child again.
He felt a guiding hand on his shoulder.
Doesn’t it make you feel at peace?
“Kori?” Eory’s eyes lit up as he looked over his shoulder.
But it was only Maruka.
“W-who is Kori?” Maruka asked.
Eory, who had been on all-fours, sat up with his shoulders slumped. “She was my caretaker… The one who I told you about who was rehabilitating me in my prison.”
Eory listlessly dragged a blue finger across the floor in a straight line. “Maruka…?”
“Y-yes?” Maruka replied.
“Why is this fake sky so much prettier than the real one? I spent twelve of my eighteen years yearning to see the real sky again and it ended up being
ugly
.” Eory frowned, looking at the blue paint on his palm.
“F-fantasy is always prettier than reality. Y-you can paint reality however you w-want using fantasy.” Maruka didn’t remove his hand from his shoulder as he said it.
“I suppose you’re right. Maybe we should try harder to make our fantasies a reality.” Eory answered, brightening a little.
“M-maybe w-we should.” Maruka gave him an encouraging smile.
Maruka lowered himself onto his knees next to Eory. “What are you planning on painting?”
“Well,” Eory answered as he continued dragging the brush across the black floor. “How familiar are you with the fairy religion?”
“N-not very…” Maruka replied, leaning a cheek on the palm of his hand.
Eory grinned and poked Maruka’s nose with a shaking finger. “You’ll find out what we’re painting, then. Grab a brush and help me out!”
Maruka grabbed Eory’s wrist and examined his shaking fingers. “What’s w-with the shaking hands?”
Eory was beet red with embarrassment. “I don’t know. I can’t help it.”
Maruka chuckled. “There must be butterflies in your fingers.”
“I wish…” Eory replied wistfully as he returned to painting. “I think it’s just fear that is deeply embedded in my fingers.”
Maruka shook his head with a warm smile. “No. It’s butterflies. I’m sure.”
He left the room for a time, then, and eventually came back with a paintbrush of his own.
“Most of this floor is gong to be blue,” Eory shouted to the selkie from the other end of the room. “So get to painting!”
“Y-yes sir!” Maruka grinned.
__
Maruka was beginning to realize what it was that his new fairy friend loved about art and painting. There was something indescribably spiritual and soothing about it.
He was a prisoner through-and-through. He never had a chance to express himself freely—even his thoughts were not his own much of the time—but he could feel his soul pouring out through the paint on the floor. He always thought he didn’t have much of an imagination, but suddenly, the blue floor was beginning to look like the sea to him. He could hear the barking of seals, he could feel his fins waving through the comforting, warm water which felt like a loving blanket.
I’ll go back one day. Somehow, I swear I will.
It took them an hour, but they were nearly done painting the bottom of the floor blue. Maruka wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at Eory who was incredibly focused on his task. Maruka, who had been on all-fours, now sat on his knees and waited for Eory to notice he wasn’t painting.
Eventually, Eory's eyes darted the selkie’s way and the fairy realized he had been staring at him. “What?”
“I-I-I was just wondering… How did your family come to be so close with P-Pollyanna? Why is she so loyal to you?” Maruka queried.
Eory leaned a cheek on his blue hand—not realizing the paint was still wet—and drummed his fingers on his leg. “It’s a long story…”
Maruka wiggled his shoulders excitedly. “W-we’ve got time!”
Eory couldn’t help but open up at Maruka’s enthusiasm. “She… she had an absolutely miserable life, and my ancestor gave her suffering meaning… He gave her the power she wanted. She started out so weak and sweet…” Eory murmured, adding, “She became so powerful…”
Maruka lowered himself down on all-fours again and went back to painting—thinking the busywork would make his probing questions easier for Eory to answer. “I-i-it sounds like you have a crush on her.”
The soothing, sweeping sound of Eory’s own paintbrush briefly halted, and then resumed. “Goddesses, I love her so much… I can’t even tell you what it is I love or want about her. She’s a vile woman.” Eory’s strokes suddenly sounded angry, hard, and imprecise.
“P-perhaps it’s her power that you admire? Her ability to pick herself up after starting o-out so weak?” Maruka suggested.
Eory pulled himself into a sitting position. He tucked an errant hair behind his ear. “You know, when I was a child, my caretaker, Kori, convinced me that she was a grand hero who went against my parents’ wishes and saved as many citizens of Maribel as she could. Slowly, I’ve come to realize she was the opposite of that. She’s nothing but a killer. But… There’s something about her—something inside her that’s so…”
Eory sniffed, closing his eyes. “Deep down, I think she always just wanted to be loved, but when the world rejected her so cruelly, I hardly think it was love she wanted from it anymore.”
“W-what did she want from it?” Maruka asked.
“Respect… And fear.” Eory murmured sadly. “That’s what my ancestor gave her; respect.”
Eory’s fingers tensed in anger.
A furious volcano was rising within him.
Eory threw his paintbrush. It stung the iron wall and clattered to the ground. “I would have given her…”
He sucked in a deep breath. “Why? Why couldn’t she have waited? Why did she foolishly sell her soul to him? My ancestor carved his name into her like he owned her…”
“She s-sold her soul to your ancestor? I-is that why… She’s invincible?” Maruka probed.
Eory’s eyes widened, but he quickly turned his back to Maruka so he couldn’t see.
You fool! Don’t let him know the secret to her immortality!
Taylor yelled.
“I don’t know how she’s invincible. My parents never told me, and Pollyanna won’t tell me either.” Eory whispered. Eagerly, he changed the subject. “How come you faced her so bravely when you first met her? I would have been crying in fear if she had lifted me from the collar like that.”
Maruka gathered his thoughts. He stood up. “L-let’s take a break. Come sit with me for a m-moment.”
Maruka walked to a patch of iron at the edge of the room that was still dry. Eory stood up with disheveled hair, blue paint on his hands, and charcoal on his face. Maruka couldn’t help but smile at it. The fairy walked around the paint that was still wet and eventually found his way to the selkie’s side where he sat.
Maruka chose his next words very carefully. “I-I was f-fearless of her because… I’ve known women like that before. They are unkind, and I’m used to them now. T-that’s why—I think it’s a good idea to stop loving her. She would only hurt you.”
Eory sighed heavily and kept his eyes glued to his hands that were folded in his lap.
He acts as if I don't know that. I can't stop wanting her.
You’re so obsessed that it disgusts me
. Taylor’s clipped and clear voice overwhelmed his mind.
If she offends you, you should cut her loose.
“You said you were a prisoner. Is this woman you knew the woman who was… Or
is
keeping you captive?” Eory changed the subject.
Maruka paused for a moment—like he was caught unawares—and then he cleared his throat. “Y-you remember me saying that before, h-huh? N-no, she doesn’t have me captive anymore, but I still have the memory and scars to prove how hurtful she was to me. I-I used to not stutter like t-this, but I started doing it the first time she dragged her nails across my chest.”
“Dragged her nails…?” Eory whispered in shock.
Maruka nodded solemnly. “I h-have a feeling… Pollyanna would be that kind of woman.”
Eory looked at the clear, beautiful blue sky they had begun to paint thoughtfully. “How did she hold you captive?” Eory asked.
Maruka shrugged. “I-it doesn’t matter… I’m free now. Maybe I’ll tell you about it some other time.”
Maruka noticed Eory licking his lips with thirst. He smiled and handed him a water flask from the pouch hanging from his belt. “Thirsty?”
Eory nodded. “Very!”
He downed the whole bottle in no time and then handed it back to Maruka.
Eory glanced at Maruka nervously two times and twiddled his thumbs.
Goddesses, just ask him!
Maruka turned his gaze toward Eory. “S-something y-you want to ask?”
“Well… Do you know if there’s anyway at all to eliminate the doppelgangers? I don’t think containing them is doing anyone any good…” Eory asked.
Maruka looked at Eory in surprise—his black eyes roaming Eory’s face curiously. He chuckled a little. “You’re so s-sweet. I know of no way, but if you would meet me again on a different night, I would gladly search the library with you f-for a way.”
Eory gasped. “Oh, that's right! I
should
be going to bed! We have to train tomorrow!”
“That would be wise.” Maruka agreed.
Eory sighed. “I’m so worried about having to fight in two days, though… I’m so bad at it.”
Maruka saw a way of making him feel special, and decided he should act on it. “I-I won’t make you f-fight in two days.”
Eory was shocked. “Truly?”
Maruka nodded. “Truly. I don’t see any point in it--you would probably just be a hindrance at this point. I’ll keep training you at your own pace when I have time.”
Eory breathed a sigh of relief, but then he pursed his lips. “I don’t know… everyone will think I’m getting special treatment… they might beat me up…”
“I’ll make sure they d-don’t. I have a lot of authority, you know.” Maruka winked.
Eory gave it some thought, and eventually nodded. “I guess being beaten up is better than dying… I’ll take you up on that.”
A pleasant silence pervaded.
Eory suddenly laughed gaily as he looked down at his white hands that were coated in blue paint. He remembered how dirtied his face was with charcoal and was set to laughing even harder. “I’m such a mess!”
Maruka, wondering just how much the fairy understood about the world, decided to
test
how much he did. He looked the fairy up and down suggestively and smeared one of the charcoal patches on Eory’s face with a thumb. “M-maybe we should get you cleaned up?”
“That’s alright! I’ll just wait until morning to bathe with the other recruits! We can paint more later!” Eory answered as he leapt to his feet and began running for the door. “I’ll meet you at the library any time you want!”
Maruka chortled to himself.
I suppose he knows very little.