Mura of Demons: Glimpses and Short Stories

Beautiful

     Not seconds or days ago, she had been someone. She'd had a past, goals for the future. Pain had been in her memories. Rivals in distant places. Loves yet to be discovered. Now the only thing she knew was her name. Aya. It meant something like silk or weaving. Colors maybe, she couldn't remember. Even knowing that she'd had a past before was beginning to slip from her mind. 

     Aya stood alone in an open room. Tatami mats cushioned her feet. A breeze came in through the open doors leading out to a mesmerizing moonlit garden. The garden's colors were distacting to her, but also hard to see from inside. Even further out were walls that closed the garden in. She stood with her long, raven black hair brushing along her bare back. The breeze chilled her skin, but drew her near. A soft caress in the dark.

     Drawn by the air, she walked to the open door. Outside, the sounds of flowing water and a cool summer night greeted her. Her eyes touched on breathtaking flowers tinted white by the glow of the moon. Fireflies fluttered above the flowers, adding hints of yellow to the scene. Somewhere off towards where the sounds of water came, they glinted off of the stream there as well.

     She took careful steps until she too was in the moonlight. Her bare skin glowed dimly along with everything around her. Something warm dripped off her chest and she looked down only to have her vision blur. Unbeknowist to Aya, tears had been slipping silently from her cheeks. Without any idea why, heavy sobs began to make it hard to breathe. Her heartbeat was erratic. There was a feeling of loneliness, as if there was an empty cavity in her chest. Aya buried her head in her hands.

     Somewhere around her was the soft sounds of footsteps. Heavy footfalls and light ones, not trying to hide. But even then, Aya barely heard them they were so quiet. Through blurry eyes, she looked up from her hands. There among the glowing white flowers was a boy about her age, maybe older. He stood next to a large grey wolf. The boy was looking at her with an expression of concern.

     In that moment, another feeling welled up in her. Fear and embarrassment. She suddenly didn't want to be seen. Not by him. Aya wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to cover up as she moved quickly back into the room. she hid behind the doorway. Heat colored her cheeks as she willed him to leave. Just go away.

     It wasn't so. His footsteps echoed quietly as he stepped up onto the hardwood of the porch. It was too much for her to bear at once.

     Burying her head in her hands again, she cried out, "Don't look at me!"

     "You know I won't hurt you, Aya," was his answer. But his footsteps stopped on the other side of the doorway.

     "But I don't... I don't know you. How can I know that you won't?" she asked quietly. More tears came to her then and she hid in her hands.

     He stepped around the doorway to assess the girl in front of him. She wore no clothes and her whole body was shaking as she cried. It made him hurt, seeing her like this. Under his arm was a blanket he had pulled from his wolf's sidebag. He wrapped it around her shoulders and held it up around her with one hand.

     Gently, he touched his free hand to one of hers and waited.

     "Aya?" 

     Hearing her name, she responded and lowered her hands, moving them instead to hold up the blanket. The feeling of it had surprised her and his touch had calmed her. Aya peeked up at him, her face burning with heat and more tears threatening to show.

     "Don't hide." He paused to move both of his hands to her cheeks, wiping at a tear with his thumb. His fierce orange eyes met her cool green eyes. "You're beautiful, don't hide."

     A bit of the cavity felt like it was filled. Looking at him, he felt familiar to her. Aya turned her face to his hand and closed her eyes again. She yearned to remember him, to remember this warmth that felt so close. A smiled creeped its way onto her face and she looked up at him again, not quite hiding the pain behind her eyes.

     "Why can't I remember you?" Aya asked him. His eyes narrowed a bit and she looked away. She was scared of his answer, if he even gave one.

     There was a moment of silence before he moved closer to her. He hugged her to his chest and stayed quiet.

     "You don't have to now, but I'll help you to remember me. I will help you."

     Aya stood in shock for a moment before moving to hug him back. She didn't care in that moment that the blanket fell down. She didn't care that she didn't have a past or even remember his name. There was a way, she was suddenly sure, for her to regain her memories. He would help her, he would become known again.

     "I'm ready to remember now," she whispered against his chest. Another sob shook her body and  a thought tumbled through her head.

     I'm ready for Recall.

© 2012 M.K.M