Chapter 5 : When I'm Gone

Seventy years had passed since that time and I am still here... all alone.

"Salai, I can feel the darkness, thank you... For all the time we've spent. You have grown so much, haven't you? My vision is already fading... Where are you Salai? I do not wish to die alone in this room, I can't feel your hand... Theodore? I just want to know... that you are safe."

It rained that day. T'was a harsh rain, for it was pouring from both the outside and inside of the house. Teardrops fell at the same rate as the rain and my heart crushed with the crackling sounds of the lantern beside me. It was supposed to be a source of light, and yet, I could not find any light in front of me.

"It will be okay," Leonardo said as his last words were uttered with such a soft tone, contrasting mine. I was screaming... At the top of my lungs condemning this cursed body of mine. Written in his will was to give me this canvas, t'was not as big as the others but still a moderate size.

"I will always watch over you, I want you to finish this one last unfinished piece. Not with technique nor skill. But fill it with what your world will look like. It will be okay."

"I don't want it to be okay, if I will be okay with losing my only friend in this world then I'd rather die."

"Well, Theodore." Leonardo said in a stern voice "from the story of you surviving being burnt on the cross, starting from today... You will be called Salai. We don't want you to be recognized as "Theodore the demon" now do we?"

And so our friendship began.

My vision was hazy, I stood up and my balance was off.

"What was that?" I said while I raised my hands to my face and touching my cheeks to see if I was real.

It felt as if I was looking through the eyes of someone... Theodore the demon... Lydia...

Ring Ring Ring

Surprised by the sudden noise, I jump from shock.

It was just my alarm clock... It was just my alarm clock?

Oh no, I am going to be late for school... And then again, I still feel lethargic. Why am I so out of energy? What day is it? I don't feel like attending right now... Maybe tomorrow.

Knock knock

"A letter has arrived for a Miss Mary Spritesthrall" I hear a person yell from out the door. "Coming!" I shout as I fumble my way downstairs and open the door. My hair not groomed and my outfit consisted of just my nightgown.

"Thank you," I say as the delivery man tips his hat and I close the door. The letter was addressed to me and was written by...My father! I open the letter with excitement and hope that he is okay in the war he's partaken in.

Dear Mary,

How goes your day? Mine has been such trouble haha! I was tasked with maintaining the horses and mules. Agh such a bother to be honest. I'd rather be out there shooting the bad people, or at least having a bit of action on the battlefield.

Well, to be honest, I'm kind of glad that I was put in this position, everyday I see soldiers coming back with their legs or arms either blown off or about to fall of. War is a scary place. I hope you'll just be as bright and happy as you were when I come back! Don't worry, I'll come back in one piece.

Your dearest father,

Lucius

"War is a scary place..." I see those words and just feel odd. In the visions I saw, when the person controlling me was rampaging... It felt like he was having such a jolly time. That time he was kicking the corpses and bashing them with a plank... It felt like he was enjoying himself. What else is the value of one's life other than to be the best they could? "Ah, I tried my best." or "I gave it all I had." But for me, it just feels like... a lie.

Oh dear, here I am trying to avoid my loneliness haha... I guess it will be some time until father will know that Cora somehow disappeared? How did she disappear... Right, she turned into orbs of light and vanished? As I ponder on what happened I came to the conclusion. I need more knowledge! funnily enough I skipped school today, I just don't feel like going today... Ah I know, I'll go to the next best thing. The library!

And with newfound energy and a goal set out for today, I compose myself, go to the bathroom and come out looking prim and proper. Setting out for the library I walk in a gingerly manner. And as I kept walking I just continue to grasp the visions that I had seen. I wonder how he felt when he was all alone... Probably sad huh? Or would he be happy that he is finally by himself? With no one to treasure, no one to mourn. As these thoughts kept going in and out of my mind, I had reached the library. While standing in front of the door, I list all the things I will try to find out in my mind. The first one would be, records of people turning into orbs of light and vanishing. The second will be about the demon Theodore. And the third would be Lydia...

And with a stern push I go in with anxiousness and excitement, wondering if I will find the knowledge I want.

"Oh, Hi Mary!!" I hear a voice in front of me, I look around to see where it came from and I hear a shout again, "I'm up here!" I look atop a bookshelf and see Ernest sitting down on it as if it were a balcony.

"Hello Ernest." I respond in kind as he goes down from the bookshelf swiftly and says

"Whatcha looking for?" with a shimmer in his eyes and a bright smile I say "It's kind of strange, but I'm looking for historical accounts of people morphing into orbs of light." I say with a blush on my face, somehow it's embarrassing saying these things aloud. Ernest lifts up a finger towards his lips and thinks for a moment, and then says "Nope! I don't remember any books like that." surprised to his response I asked "do you work here Ernest?"

"Not really, I just like literature and fine arts."

"Oh, okay then, I'll still look for any clues if I find any."

"Sure! be my guest."

Now that I think about it... What was the name of this particular library... Ether N' Al? agh I have many other things to consider, I'll just mind it later.

I walk towards the reception desk and ask their policies.

"You need a library card in order to borrow books."

"Do not damage the books."

"Maintain silence."

Pretty straightforward policies, well I guess I'd better start. As I crack my knuckles and stretch my arms. I walk towards the history part of the library and grab some books about the medieval period and some about the renaissance era.

No records of people changing into orbs of light and vanishing, except in some of these fantasy books. ughh, I looked at all the history books in these era's but still found nothing. I did see a lot of information about the crusades though.

They did a lot of crusades back in the day. In my visions they paraded him around every time they went on a crusade... He was paraded around 8 times. This book stated that there were only three... I looked at other books for reference and they were all varying from three to eight. listing them all on a sheet of paper with my own fancy fountain pen.

"Crusades were pretty common back then..." I hear a voice behind me say. I turn around to see whose voice that was. It was just the old librarian. With a smile glimmering on her face she says confidently "If my memory serves me well, they did exactly eight. Trust me, I went crazy back in my youth trying to research as well." as she went away pushing a cart full of books. For a moment, I thought I heard the voice of a man. I thought it would be Ernest...

Feeling bummed out of not solving the mystery of Cora, I take a break and look around the library. Huh? A lot of trinkets around, and this library is still lit by dated gas lamps, isn't that a bit dangerous? Well, it's not really my place to say, I guess they just like their rustic design.

I walk around a bit and see a lot of paintings, different vases... suddenly this place does not feel like a library anymore, it feels more like a mansion. As I kept walking and just wandering around, I see Ernest, struggling to carry around some buckets, I assist him and upon closer inspection, he was carrying buckets of paint.

"Do you paint? Ernest?"

"Yeah, it's something I do on days off or when I feel inspired."

"I'm pretty sure it's not a day off for both you and me, so... What inspired you?"

And as I say those words aloud, I look at Ernest with tears in his eyes. His face showing extreme distress.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" I swiftly add to my remark. It simply felt as if I said something I should not have.

"No no, I just felt compelled by you." As he wipes away his tears, a smile resurfaces back on his face and we continue to take the paint buckets out to a balcony.

Laid out in the balcony a row of buckets of paint, all different colors. A huge sheet of cloth was draped over the floor. Is it to catch some spillages? I say in my mind as Ernest grabs a string dangling in the middle of the balcony. I didn't even notice that, where is it attached to? As I look upstairs, It was attached to a big log protruding from the next floor. And as Ernest attaches a bucket of paint, he pokes holes in the bottom of the bucket being careful as to not to cause a mess. And Ernest lets go of the bucket and it goes around and around the floor. The hole in the bucket is spilling paint, and is making a beautiful pattern. After some time, Ernest lifts up the sheet revealing it to be a huge canvas!

"It's quite relaxing ain't it?" He says with a smile on his face

"I plan to hang this painting up behind the receptionist' desk."

"Does she like paintings?" I ask him, "No, she's just an old friend of mine." He said with a grin.

"Help me carry this would ya?" as he lifts one side and I grab hold of the opposite side, we walk through the hall with a large painting on our hands.

"Oh my, isn't that quite amusing!" the librarian said with a smile as we hung up the painting.

"I have to go back to my reading, let me know if you need any help."

"Okay, see you later!" As he walks up the stairs and goes out of my sight.

I sit there wondering what I should read about next. Theodore the demon was not mentioned in any of the books...

"Excuse me ma'am."I said as I walk towards the librarian.

"Do you know of any books from the medieval times that mentions about "Theodore the demon"?"

"Goodness me, that's a name I haven't heard of in a while."

"So you do know?"

"Sit down here. I will tell you a poem."

I sit down at the table and she starts humming.

Lydia, the lady in white

Garnered attention

For her Valor and might!

Fending off the cruel opposition with a female disposition

A terror once struck!

In the dead of night,

A cruel luck!

For the ones that might,

See the demon,

So ugly and unkind

Theodore the demon!

So cruel and unjust

Eating the bones,

Of the children that went past

As time moved on,

And everyone grew

Theodore the demon

Saw a canoe

T'was a lady,

Having a stroll

And he went underwater

As he wants to devour her soul

Alas, the lady was Lydia!

Sweet, mighty, strong Lydia!

With a sword in her hand

And a fire in here eye,

She struck the demon

And the misfortunes goodbye.

"or so the poem went." as she gave me the sweetest smile.

So... There is a relationship between Lydia and theodore...

"thank you, ma'am, you've just helped me a lot with my objective." I said with a smile.

"no problem Missy." as we both went back to what we were doing.

I stand up and go back to my table filled with books, I notice outside the window... It was already dark.

"good heavens, I forgot the time." I said outloud and I briskly walked towards the exit.

"young miss, you need a library card to borrow that book!" I hear behind me.

"Book? What book?" there is no one else around so I assumed I was holding a book, and sure enough, there was one in my hand!

It's title was "The essence Of Life" and it was a hefty book as well, I couldn't figure out how I took it without noticing. I go back to the receptionist' table and think of a way to get out of there quickly! Lest my curfew will start.

"it's okay, I'll lend you my card." I hear behind me, it was Ernest.

"Are you sure? Won't you need it for the books you're borrowing?" I said with puppy eyes seeing as I really need to go home and feel really guilty.

"ahaha, it's fine, I don't need any books right now." with a smile and a wave, I used his library card and sprinted back home. Luckily I was just two minutes off from curfew so I was not caught. The patrols just started looking around.

And as night struck, I went to my room and I look outside the window, I see the moon smiling down at me, with two stars as it's eyes I feel it's gaze lock on to my eyes, as if I was being watched.

I felt a cool breeze aloft my head, I closed my window and felt that I wanted to draw a picture. Finding a notebook and a pencil, Mary started scribbling whatever came to mind, just as an urge. After many scrupulous attempts, she drew three images. A hero standing atop a skyscraper, a village with a port, and a man with red eyes.

"I somehow felt the need to draw that. Oh heavens, look at the time." As I turned off my nightlight and went to bed.

An explosion, the scenery of contious fighting. I see a lot of soldiers on the battlefield charging at each other, not knowing why. They are just pawns, and yet, they are all humans. Why do they have to fight. I suddenly felt a push on my back and i-

---RINGGGGG---

I hear my alarm battering the back of my head. "I get it, I get it." I say as I crudely woke up and prepared my daily routine. Preparing my own meal, going to the bathroom to wash up, and putting on the proper attire. I checked my notes and the only thing I haven't found any concrete evidence on is the phenomenon of people turning into orbs of light.

Aghhhh I'll find it sooner or later. As I walked out the door, briefcase in hand and ready to come back to school.

With a steady March onward, I meet my good friend Ruth and we walk towards our school. We talked about all the lessons I had missed. There were a ton and I was relieved to know that my friend is willing to help me study it all.

---RIIIINNNGGGGG---

That bell signified the end of our school day, and as expected, I could not catch up. I suppose my time at the school will get extended as I walk straight to the library.

"Hold on Mary!! Wait for me!" I hear a shout behind me. As I turned around I see Ruth sprinting towards me. "Let's study together!"

Apparently, even though she was present the whole time I was absent, she could not focus on the lesson and did not remember any of them. I guess were two peas in a pod huh?

After 2 months we have finally caught up to our actual lessons, I have also been coming to the library more frequently not just to study, but it seems that I like that place more than my lonely home. I've made friends with the librarian! At least here... There are people I can spend my time with. Unlike my empty home. I even got myself a library card. Just in case I get engrossed in a book or another incident occurs. Speaking of which... The first book I borrowed, I still haven't read it at all.

"Oh no, I've forgotten." I say while in a panic and searching for the book, I tripped over a box full of toys. My old toys. Which I've not touched in 9 years. "How did this get here?" I wonder as I hear some sizzling coming from the kitchen, fear struck my heart as I get up and tiptoe from the living room to the kitchen, stealing a peek over the wall.

tsssssss

The sizzling continues and the smell of bacon wafts through the air. To my surprise

"CORA!" I shout in excitement and fluster. "Wahhh." Surprised by my shout, she looks at me and I am on the ground, crying.