A Vision of Crows

Chapter 8 - The Black-Eyed Girl

As soon as the old man finished the story, the entire crowd began to give him a loud applause. The old man and the flutist woman bowed to the crowd.

"That was amazing, Mr. Santiago!" exclaimed a woman with 2 small children at her side.

The old man waved his hands. "You flatter me too much," he replied, with a smile on his face. He then clapped his hands together. "Does anyone have any questions about the story?"

No one dared to raise a hand, but then one brave soul took a risk. It was an adolescent boy with a serious countenance. The old man nodded towards him, and the boy coughed a bit before mustering up some words, "This man, Ere, if he was not from the Walls, then where was he from? Everyone knows there is nothing beyond the Walls. How do we know that this was not some sort of cute story of yours merely passed off as a folktale of some fairy-tale place?"

Some people looked at the boy with annoyance, The flutist woman stood up, coming to the old man's defense, but he merely shook his head. The old man sighed, "You may not believe me, but there is more to this world than what we believe there is. Whether it is the outside of the Walls, beyond the Oceans, or perhaps, maybe even other worlds, there is plenty more than what we see.

"As for the story, even Emilia can confirm Ere's existence, for he was the one who taught her the song that accompanied this story. Does that satisfy you?"

The boy looked at the flutist woman, who nodded her head in confirmation. With a reluctant look on his face, he replied, "I suppose."

The old man smiled and announced to the crowd, "Well now, I suppose we're finished now. That is all."

The crowd dispersed, and as Meg walked among them, she could not help but be reminded of the crowd that always waited at the tram station every morning and afternoon. It was a silly random thought, but it made her feel a little happy inside.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice the little girl passing by, and lightly bumped into her. A small splash of a red liquid fell onto Meg's skirt, snapping her back into reality and she let out a small, "Ah."

She turned to look at the girl, who had barely managed to hold onto her balance. She was small, around 5 or 6 years old, and her face was incredibly plain. She had lightly tanned skin, with a round face that was dotted with freckles and large, beady black eyes resting below her brown eyebrows. In contrast, her hair was honey blond and curly, pulled away from her face with two large red bows tied on each side of her head. In her hands, she held a tray that was filled with cups containing a clear red liquid, the same liquid that had splashed onto her. The girl stared disappointedly at a few cups that hadn't been so lucky and had fallen to the ground, spilling their contains.

The girl reminded Meg of Liza when she was much younger, making her heart ting a little. She then bent down and began to help the girl.

When they had finished, the girl thanked her. Meg looked around, and couldn't see the girl's parents anywhere. Worried, she smiled at the girl and asked, "What's your name?"

Instead of responding, the girl merely shook her head. She held out her tray towards Meg, and in her best Lanje, she asked, "Do... you want drink?"

Meg stared at her for a moment, then glanced at the drinks and sighed, "How much for a drink?"

The girl grinned, "Erm...50 Luceros? Yeah, 50 Luceros! I think"

Doing some math, 50 Luceros would amount to 25 Shils. Meg nodded, then reached into her bag to hand the money to the girl, who in exchange, handed her one of the cups full of red liquid. After taking the cup, Meg tried again to question the girl, "By the way, where are your pa-?"