Chapter 5
Walking hand in hand across the lush green forest with stands of gold filtering through the top of the canopy, Saikougott and Lyaikomi listened to the wind blow gently through the branches as dodo birds stammered through around the high grass around them.
Suddenly, the Dodo birds bolted for their lives as a hungry thylacine bounced from behind secluded bushes and gave chase to them. The two laughed, watching as the thylacine got caught on a branch and fell over a slope. The dodo birds were safe for another day, it seems.
On their sides, they heard the cascading waterfalls coming up on their route and gazed at the open grasslands with the peaks of the high mountains dazzling with the soft golden glow of the sunset, taking in the grazing forms of the wholly rhinos munching on grass.
On their stroll through the woods, the towering 7-foot giant elk strode past them as it had finished drinking from a nearby stream, and was on its way home. With a wonderous grin across Saikougott’s lips, he turned to his equally bemused friend with an idea.
“Hey, Aiko, think we could ride that thing?” he asked.
Lyaikomi chuckled at the idea. “Ha! No, I don’t think it would take kindly to mounting it.”
“Aw! Come on, I know you could tame it. I know you’re strong enough for it,” He pleaded.
“The answer is no, little one. We need to get back to the palace soon,” she smirked as she ruffled his hair.
“Hey! Cut it out!” Saikougott said, trying to step back and free himself from Lyaikomi’s hold on his hand, not allowing it. “Come on! Cut it out! I don’t like this!”
“Then why are you grinning?” she teased, catching a glimpse of a smile.
“I’m not! Cut it out!” He said, trying to keep his tone serious.
As Lyaikomi ceased her hair ruffles, Saikougott straightened himself up.
“Aiko, you can’t just do whatever you want like that with me,” he pouted. “I’m your friend, but I’m also your king. Please respect—” Lyaikomi starts tickling him.
“What was that?” She smirked. “You talking back?”
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop!”
“Good boy.”
Saikougott wanted to say something, but knew Lyaikomi’s hand was more than ready to strike again if need be.
“I wish you wouldn’t mess around with me so much sometimes.” He said.
“Well, maybe if you didn’t make it so easy to mess with you, I wouldn’t be compelled to.”
Saikougott stared to the side, not wanting Lyaikomi to see him smiling.
Lyaikomi smiled down at him before something had caught hold of her mind.
“Say, Saikougott?”
Saikougott looked up. “Yeah?”
“What were you going to say earlier?”
“What do you mean?”
“You said you had a reason for being out here before the villagers cut us off. What were you going to say?”
“Oh, that?” Saikougott played with the hem of his shirt. “Honestly, today has been crazy, and I completely forgot the reason. Though I think I just needed to get some air and wanted to see what kind of seafood was being brought up from the depths near the—”
“Little one,” she whispered, crouching down and staring him in the eyes, her hands resting on his shoulder. “Be real with me. Tell me why you were out here.”
Saikougott’s mind was a mouse as it raced back and forth for an answer, an escape route to avoid this question, but as seconds passed, he knew it was futile. He sighed and told the truth.
“ Okay, the reason that I came out here were because I overheard some of the guards the other day talk about this area—The forest near Mueryu town—and about how I used to hunt and roam the area from time to time to unwind. I thought if I came here, I could jog my memory a little bit and potentially trigger my reawakening back to my old self.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Lyaikomi says nothing about this, narrowing her eyes and standing up before striding ahead towards the city, not looking back at him.
“Aiko, wait!” he hurried after her, following right behind her. “Look, okay, I’m sorry. I know that’s not a good reason to run off without you. I know you hate it when I try this kind of stuff, but please hear me out.”
Lyaikomi doesn’t turn around.
“I know that Raisikio has been able to run Mundil and the people smoothly since my accident 10 years ago.”
Lyaikomi doesn't turn around.
“And I know people have been peaceful even if I'm not sitting on the throne.”
Lyaikomi doesn't turn around.
“And I know that you and everyone else tell me that I'll reawaken someday on my own, but I just can't wait anymore!”
Lyaikomi doesn't turn around.
Saikougott quickened his pace to try to grab her hand, but she pulled back and took it to herself before he could grab it.
“Aiko, come on, just talk to me, OK?”
Lyaikomi turns her head to the side.
“Aiko, look at me.”
Lyaikomi wipes at her face.
“I can't wait any longer for my old self to reappear. Ever since that unknown de-aging Devakian attacked me 10 years ago, things have not been the same for me. I don't even remember what my old life was like 10 years ago. You saw how those villagers reacted to me when we were at the gorge. Even after all of these years, they just look at me as though I'm some type of ghost. A husk of my old self that just serves to creep them out every time they look at me. That each time I try talking to them, they only listen because they’re worried they’ll get in trouble. That’s why they wear masks sometimes.”
Saikougott's mind parses through the past few years as the memories flood in.
“Whenever royal meetings are held in my very palace, I'm not even allowed into the rooms for my own input. On the off chance that I ever sit at the round table, everyone simply nods andpretend to listen to my ideas when their minds have already been made up. And don't forget that whenever we step out of the palace to go explore, people get quiet when they look at me; moving out of the way, not out of respect but by wanting to stay away from me. Even my own wife, who should have my back and love me, doesn’t want to talk to me. You would think that after spending thousands of years together and forming this nation together, that she could look past what I am, but apparently, she can’t.”
Saikougott rubs at his face.
“Apparently, no one can,” he whispered before looking at Lyaikomi’s back. “Aiko, I'm really sorry if I upset you. Just please talk to me,” he pleaded.
“I get it,” she muttered.
Saikougott stopped in his tracks as he heard it. “You get it?”
Lyaikomi pauses in their tracks but hasn't turned around yet.
“I'm not blind to the stares. I've gotten my fair share of them before your accident. I would understand more than anyone else what it's like to be not even ignored but downright looked down upon.”
Saikougott looks down, realizing he crossed a line by complaining.
“I understand if it’s tough having essentially only me around to talk to and connect with consistently. There’s not a whole lot more to do otherwise.”
Saikougott nodded
“But with that being said, have you ever considered that maybe it’s for the best that you don’t change back?”
Saikougott's eyes widened. “What? Why would you say that?”
Lyaikomi sighed before striding once again, now walking past a grand marble archway with carved floral patterns running along the sides of the two pillars, with the top beam decorated with a geometric frieze pattern over it. A clear-cut off point between the wild and civilization that lay just ahead of the bridge.
“I don’t know why you can be happy with what you’ve got. Even without the people listening to you, you have all the privileges of being the king without any of the responsibilities. You’re free from worrying about writing up laws, figuring out how to distribute resources, traditional ceremonies that would need you to be present, and dozens of other tasks that would strip you of time.
She exhaled.
“You’re free.
“Each day you get served food crafted by chefs who have had thousands of years to hone their skills for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Food that the common people could only ever dream of savoring, and you enjoy them as a casual snack. On a whim, you can call forth performers and musicians to entertain you, reciting ancient poems of love and war, of heroes and villains that have withstood the test of time, playing melodies of master composition as dancers prance around and sync with each other in ethereal dance. And the sights of your ancient city and the lush lands filled with the treasured wonders from each corner of the world are all yours to take in and explore as your heart desires.
she inhaled
“Provided that you stick close to me, of course,” she muttered with an edge. “So with all of this being said, why would you ever want to go back to being a king of all things? Why would you ever want to lead your people?” She asked.
Saikougott was silent as they both walked across the bridge, the roar of the waterfalls filling the void between them, till Saikougott spoke once again.
“Because that’s what a king is supposed to do,” he muttered. “Because that’s what I’m supposed to do.”
Saikougott clenched his fists as his eyes gazed down at the ground, only being broken when the sounds of sniffling caught his ear. “Aiko? is... is something the matter?” he asked.
“Don't lie to me, Saikougott,” she said, her voice cracking. “I know what this is really about. The real reason you want to be king again.”
“Aiko, are you OK?”
“The reason you're in a hurry to change back into the old king is that you wanna get rid of me, isn't it?” She marched over to the edge of the stone railing and hung her head down, covering her face with their hands.
“What! What are you talking about? Where would you get that crazy idea! I would never want to get rid of you; you know this. You're my best friend after all.”
“I'm only your friend out of necessity! If you had it your way, you'd be talking it up with dozens of other people before even thinking about me. “
“That's preposterous! What makes you even think I would do such a thing?”
“Because I'm not like everyone else on this island. I don't have anything, Powers like the rest of you. Because I'm one of the blemished.”
She looked up at the sky.
“Because I don't have any dogma!”
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