The Whispers from Beyond

Pale as Snow, Dark as Ash

Lianhua sat awkwardly in the shade as she watched her brother talk to strangers so easily without shame. She herself was never one to socialize much due to her hearing disability. It made communication difficult. She has taught herself how to lip read but she rarely needs to use it at home since everyone usually communicates with her using sign language.

It's not that she was born deaf, it's just that she lost her hearing after the incident at the palace.

"The palace.." she mumbles. Her eyes darted to her right. There she could see the huge white palace with emerald green decor here and there. Caldaria's official colour.

She finds it hypocritical and funny that the colour that represents her family is the exact opposite of her favourite colour which is red. Not just any red, blood red. She wonders if once she returns to the palace, she needs to wear green all the time.

She has forgotten most of her memories at the palace. She was young, after all. Of course there are a few blurry moments here and there but she never bothered to remember them. Elixtris said it's bad for her mental state.

Remembering Elixtris, she touched the pendant. Elixtris. An entity that came out of nowhere. It, or she, has helped Lianhua learn how to pronounce words in multiple languages correctly. She knows not how Elixtris's voice can be in her head but so far, the only voice she knows the sound of is Elixtris's.

"Yo watcha thinking about?" A hand poked her. Lianhua got startled and her head snapped to her side to see a girl around her age with black and orange streaks in her hair. Her yellow eyes stared into Lianhua's while she waits for a response.

Lianhua didn't quite catch what she said, so she looked quite dumbfounded and terrified right now. The girl blinked and waved her hand in front of her face. "Helloooo? You there?"

"Ahaha..sorry little lady but my sister's deaf. She can't hear you," said Natsuo who suddenly came behind the girl. The girl jumped and quickly recovers her composure. "Oh really? I see. Well uh, can you tell her my name? I wanna be friends. She looks interesting," requested the girl.

"What's your name then?" He asked her. "I'm Lilian. People call me Lily for short," she explained. Natsuo nods and looks at Lianhua who's still confused on what's happening. He raises his hand to sign.

"L-I-L-I-A-N. That's her name. You can call her Lily. L-I-L-Y." Lianhua nods and let out a breath. "Hi, Lilian. I'm Lianhua," she introduced herself.

"Lenwha??" Lilian repeated wrongly. Natsuo shakes his head. "No no no no, it's Lianhua. You know? Like Lee-Ann-Hwa?" He tried explaining. Lilian nods her head in understanding. "Ohh I see. So your name starts with L too! Since you have a Li in your name, i guess I can call you Lili too!" She exclaims.

Natsuo starts to interpret Lilian's words. Lianhua gives a tiny smile to Lilian. "Yes I suppose you can. Nice to meet you, Lily." She spoke.

"Back at ya, Lili," spoke Lilian as she chuckles. Lianhua just tilted her head as she doesn't know whether to laugh aswell or not. The sound amplifiers built in her hearing aid to help further enhance her hearing hasn't adjusted to Lilian's new voice.

The two girls talkes for a bit with Natsuo as their interpreter and soon enough, Lianhua heard a beep in her brain.

"That's enough, Natsuo. It's adjusted already. Thanks," said Lianhua and Natsuo nodded. "What adjusted?" Asked Lilian. Lianhua turns to her and pointed at her ear.

"The mechanism in here," she responded as she brushes a strand of her hair back to show Lilian clearly. She took off one of her hearing aids and held it up.

"Oh that's cool- Wait can you hear me?" Asked Lilian surprised as to how Lianhua could respond without Natsuo interpreting. "I can. It takes some time to adjust but I can more or less grasp how you sound and what you're saying after 10 minutes of listening. The wonders of technology hm?" Lianhua chuckled.