---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hewwo. It's my first time since I was like 13 both writing AND posting my stuff, so please be gentle with me haha. I'll keep posting the story under these tags and, welp, I hope this helps you understand my characters a bit more. Thank you so much beforehand for even taking the time to check it out :'3.
Word count: 856.
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Tapā¦ tapā¦ tapā¦ tapā¦
The echo of heels striking the floor resonated at a lingering pace.
With every footfall, a short-lived shockwave lit up across the crystalline surface that mirrored the stars in the firmament. If not for the towering walls surrounding it, it would be almost impossible to distinguish up from down. The main hallā¦ looked as empty as ever.
It had been millennia, perhaps longer, since a single soul had wandered beneath its opulent dome. The Elder Stars, deities whom the ancient inhabitants worshipped and honored with crowded feasts and banquets, had mysteriously vanished along with those who adored them. Every child, every man, every woman who once brought brilliance to the place now only existed in his blurred memories.
Tapā¦ tapā¦ tapā¦ tapā¦
Beside the main entrance stood two colossal statues, their hands raised toward the heavens as if trying to reach them. Between them, at the point where they met, a small sphere of light flickered, on the verge of extinguishing. An index finger, covered by a glove as black as the Void itself, slid gently over the feet of the one who, in some remote time, would have been his father.Ā
āStardustā¦ āhe murmured to himself.
It was his only legacy in the corpse of a world abandoned by time. The lad brushed his hands against his white suit and continued his way. Descending the marble steps, he sighed, reflective. No matter how many times he traversed the desolate paths of his kingdom, the same question always lingered in his mind: āWhy?ā. It was as if the entire universe had decided that he was the only living being unworthy of sharing the fate of all the other souls that inhabited his lands. Not just the people, but also the beasts and the plants; it seemed as if even the water lacked vitality. As if the very concept of āsoulā had departed, never to return.Ā
That mystery kept him awake, which made him feel even more frustrated, for every moment he spent conscious, he wished he wasn't. He was free to wander wherever he pleased, to create whatever his mind dictated, and he had all the time in the world. So much timeā¦ Too much time. He had long since stopped counting. In the beginning, he tried to use the star maps kept in his observatory as a point of reference. But even the long-lived cycles of the stars seemed to have halted their trajectory. It was then that he felt the need to create his own model, his own unit of time. At some point in that distant past, while contemplating the sky reflected on a crystalline lake, the idea appeared so abruptly that he himself felt surprised.Ā
The word was as clear as the twinkling stars upon the water.Ā
āHow long does a flicker last?ā, he wondered.Ā
The answer also came on its own, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
āA flicker lasts until it goes outā.Ā
With a massive, almost desperate determination, the prince stood up abruptly from where he lay and walked briskly toward the statues at the palace entrance. Once there, panting, he regained his composure and breathed deeply. Closing his right eye, he joined his hands and conjured all his strength, making a potent magic flow through his veins. Moments later, a flash of light overflowed between his fingers, and as he opened them, the small sphere began to levitate. As if delivering a gift, the prince directed the āflickerā toward the place where the hands of the king and queen touched, forming an arch. The young man contemplated the scene, inexplicably proud of his feat, and a timid smile of satisfaction emerged between his lips.Ā
But, as the emotion of the moment faded, a strange sensation began to flood him: a feeling between emptiness, nostalgia, andā¦ shame? Of courseā¦ That had been the best idea heād had in cycles, butā¦ to what end?Ā
The realization that had surged through his body just seconds ago now weighed on him like a mockery. He had just created a solution for a problem that had never existed in the first place.Ā
āNow time is measured in flickersā.Ā
And then what? What did it matter if two hours, five centuries, or a hundred flickers passed? After all, time meant nothingā¦ not as long as he was the only one living it.
In the blink of an eye, the prince woke from his ancient memory and found himself once again at the feet of the statues. With disdain, he watched the small light that flickered intermittently.Ā
āItās almost timeā, he thought, his gaze lost on the horizon.Ā
Nothing stopped him from commanding the spark to go out. He didnāt even have to say it. A snap of his fingers would be more than enough. Perhaps even by just thinking it, it would obey.Ā
But that would be turning the pointlessness into something even greater.Ā
So, patiently, though uneasy, he sat on the stairs at the feet of the statues and watched it intently, for a long, long, long timeā¦ Until he fell asleep.Ā
