Cevic

Chapter 37

Because the last time you saw me

Is still burned in the back of my mind

You gave me roses, and I left them there to die…

-Back to December, Taylor Swift-

 

Fear and imminence

 

“I sent you to Earth because there is so much you can learn there. Some humans are drastically good, but the other end of the spectrum isn’t pretty. Some humans like Markus commit actions of madness and greed not because they are inherently evil but because they are shrouded with illusion.”

 King Decus let a small breath fall from his lips.

  “He was held in captive by illusion of finding an alien to earn cash, that cash would make him ultimately happy. The number one thing that I want you to realize is that if you desire something very badly as much as he desired money, you must be careful to look not only straight ahead, but look around.”

  Markus Reynolds’ obsession with searching for the alien species that kidnapped and killed his father had nothing to do with revenging his beloved father. It was pure hunger for money. It was mere obsession for bloodthirsty cruel killing. 

  “Pause. Think. Are you going the right way? Cevicïans are dreadfully focused on future, the tomorrow. Today we work hard to make a better tomorrow. Then when tomorrow comes, again you work hard to make a better tomorrow. That continues in a sickening cycle, and in the end, we’re never truly happy. We miss the important things. Our family. Our friends. Simple happiness of sitting around to eat with the people you love.”

   When was the last time I ate with the people I loved? It seemed a million years ago. “We seek tomorrow’s happiness and we’re never happy. We’re diligent for nothing. We fight in politics, rebellions are firmly established, blood is shed, and in the end we are left with nothing. One thing I really like about Earth is music. There’s music there. Music there reflects plainly their emotions- even the ugly emotions like anger and jealously, with staggering honesty. There’s no music here, because our feelings have hardened, slowed down. We’ve forgotten how to feel.”

  He paused, looking out the sky. “Sometimes I worry for Earth, for Earthlings, because Cevic ‘now’ is a bone-chilling reflection of the future of Earth ‘future’. Earthlings are changing too, like we have hundreds of years ago. They are becoming obsessed with success. They miss all the real things. It’s like going on a field trip to a beautiful town and being so obsessed with going the right way, going fast that you’re too focused on reading the map you can’t see the scenery around you. At the end you feel accomplished but there’s really no point in it.”

  Decus closed his eyes. “Eron… There is only one reason I went through all that trouble and lies to make you my heir. That is because you know how to feel. You feel emotions with the passion of humans, and instead of just looking, you see things. That’s what a king, a queen, a prince- a leader should do.”

   My throat felt closed up.

“I am ashamed for the times I blamed you for my hardship, mi baeka.” My eyes stung with hot tears. “I am sorry…will you forgive me?”

 “A thousand times we forgive you, Eron.”

A foolish, wide smile tugged my lips. “Mi baeka…”

I felt so blessed, beyond what I deserved. Without warning, a ticklish, prickly feeling crawled up my throat. Unable to restrain myself, I coughed, first a small cough that I managed to muffle, followed by a series of uncontrollable coughs that erupted from my lips, so hard that my stomach hurt.