#smt2

In the days leading up to the festival, Aleph was approached by his dearest friends inviting him to join them. Hiroko was the first to reach him; she wasn’t scheduled for guard duty until later in the evening, so she asked if he would come with her when the festival opened in the late afternoon. Aleph, of course, agreed with great enthusiasm. Beth was second, who rather shyly asked if he would be willing to meet her after her guard shift, which conveniently ended just as Hiroko would be leaving for hers.

Aleph ventured out to Holytown to help with setup the day before the festival. He had come of his own accord and hadn’t been sent by the Bishop, but the Bishop had no objections when Aleph asked for permission to leave the Center. He spent all morning and afternoon moving supplies and building stalls. Zayin had been sent by the Bishop separately to help Aleph, though Aleph insisted that he didn’t need help or protection. Zayin stayed anyway and mentioned offhandedly that he, too, would be in attendance to the festival.

They sat together in the township’s bar for dinner once they had finished in the evening. When the bartender served Aleph’s food and drink, he also slid an envelope sealed with an elegant wax stamp across the counter, saying that a patron had left it for Aleph a few hours ago. Aleph tore the envelope from the top and read the contents of the letter that was inside.

Aleph,

Please meet me tomorrow before the fireworks show if your schedule so allows. There is no need to give your answer to the bartender. Your presence, or lack thereof, will suffice.

I remain yours sincerely,

Louis Cyphre

Aleph’s heart began to race and he felt his cheeks heat up. Just as Zayin leaned over ever so slightly to take a peek at the letter’s contents, Aleph quickly folded it back into the envelope and tucked it away. Aleph’s mind went through every possible believable lie about what was in the letter as his trembling hands held his silverware, but Zayin didn’t pry.

Aleph returned to Holytown in the late afternoon of the next day. He spotted Hiroko standing all alone just outside the entrance, looking around with worry on her face. She wore a sunny yukata with a warm floral pattern, and her hair was neatly pinned up with a matching flower hair stick. Aleph called out to her as he approached and she met him halfway.

“There you are!” she said, “Don’t worry, I haven’t been waiting long. I got here kinda late, too, but I started to worry that something happened,”

Aleph admitted rather sheepishly that he struggled with his yukata as he couldn’t quite remember the proper way to wear it. Hiroko helped him tidy up his earthy sage yukata that was in disarray and tightened the deep, wine red obi around his waist.

The humidity coupled with the crowd made the summer heat unbearable. Stalls of minigames were lined up neatly on either side of the pathway that led visitors through the festival grounds. The aroma from the food stalls wafted down the long street, the scent of the sweets drowned out in favor of the heavier fried snacks. There were couples strolling hand in hand, and children running after each other with sparklers.

Hiroko and Aleph browsed the games as they walked; most of them were designed for children, but they couldn’t help wanting to play some of them, anyway. Hiroko and Aleph stopped at a stall with a tank of goldfish. They were each given a scooper made with thin paper and were instructed to try scooping as many goldfish out of the water as they could until the paper tore. They stood crouched by the tank, surrounded by children and trying their best to catch any goldfish. In the end… neither of them caught a single one.

Aleph remarked at how strange it was that the game used real fish; he wondered where the stall owner got so many, and if the goldfish knew that they were part of a game.

“I guess it is a little weird… but they’re so small, it’s probably okay! It’s only for one night, so maybe it’s not so bad,” Hiroko said.

The next stall over was a game that required a skill Aleph was far too familiar with. It was the kind of game where players were meant to aim shotguns loaded with corks at the prizes to knock them down.

Hiroko handed Aleph the shotgun, “Here, your aim is better than mine. Win me something nice, would you?” she said with a bright smile.

Aleph scanned the variety of prizes lined up, some in disarray from previous players who gave up after a few shots. A little plush doll in the likeness of Poltergeist lingered near the edge of the top shelf. Aleph held up the shotgun and aimed for the doll’s hand. He pulled the trigger and the cork hit the doll right in the hand, but it only leaned closer to the edge; Aleph could certainly win it if he hit the doll at the right angle. He relaxed his body and took aim again. He pulled the trigger and hit the doll square in the head where it fell onto the table holding the shelves. The stall owner congratulated Aleph and handed him the Poltergeist doll, which Aleph then gave to Hiroko. She gasped and her eyes lit up as she took it into her hands.

“Are you sure!? You didn’t have to! I was only kidding, really, but…” Hiroko nodded as she hugged the doll, “Thank you…”

She glanced back at the shelf to see a rectangular box wrapped in patterned paper and labeled as a mystery prize standing upright amongst the other grand prizes. She pointed to it and said, “Let’s try getting that one!”

Aleph picked up the shotgun again and aimed for the very top corner of the box. The cork hit it with a thunk, and the box merely wavered. Aleph relaxed himself once again and, in an attempt only to get style points, aimed the shotgun with just one hand. He took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. The box toppled over and Hiroko cheered as Aleph dusted his hands off with a satisfied smile. He neatly peeled away the paper wrapping on the box, which had a decent heft to it, and lifted the lid to see an expensive combat knife. Though Aleph got by just fine with his sword and gun, he thought that the knife could probably still be of good use.

When the burning sun had finally disappeared, the festival was left with only the summer’s sticky humidity. Hiroko bade Aleph goodbye as she parted ways to report for her patrolling duty. Aleph meandered around, perusing some of the nearby stalls until he caught sight of Beth browsing one of the souvenir stalls. He weaved his way through the spaces between people to catch up to her and gently put a hand on her shoulder.

“Oh, Aleph! I’m happy you found me, it’s hard to get through this crowd,” she said, beaming at him. Her yukata was a powdery saxe blue much like that found on Messian garments. Without her headband, she had blunt bangs that sat across her forehead.

“Have you eaten yet? I passed by a few stalls serving things that I thought you might like,” she said. It was only now that Aleph realized he hadn’t eaten since arriving to the festival. He ordered a variety of snacks for them to share from different vendors. The meat of the yakitori had a perfect char on both sides, and the takoyaki was burning hot inside; ersatz, of course. Much of the snacks were designed to emulate popular foods supposedly eaten during festivals before the Great Cataclysm. The festival itself, too, was modeled after those of a time long past. For foods that were, at their core, all just made from Demi-Nandi, Aleph still found them to be quite delicious. There was even a stall selling absurd, borderline comedic sized rainbow cotton candy that Aleph and Beth shared together. The humidity melted it quickly and the sugar stuck in Aleph’s long hair. At one of the souvenir tables, he bought a few small boxes of sparklers.

Beyond a crowd of people surrounding a small stage area, Aleph caught a glimpse of a musical performance complete with dancers. The drums were so loud that he felt the sound reverberate through his chest. He stood alongside Beth, watching the performers and their intricate dance. Aleph had a growing feeling of someone watching over him. He glanced around, not finding anyone particularly suspicious. Absentmindedly, his hand wandered to his obi where he had safely tucked Louis Cyphre’s letter, just to make sure that it was still there. His thoughts ate at his mind so much that even once the show was over, he hardly realized that Beth had anything to say.

“They looked like they were having so much fun, but that dance looked so difficult. It makes me want to see you try it,” Beth said with a gentle laugh.

Aleph pretended that he’d paid attention to the whole performance, and said that he’ll consider joining the show next year.

Though the festival was meant to be a time for Temple Knights to have fun, Beth couldn’t help talking about work.

“You know… I’m happy we make such a good team. I was honored when the Bishop assigned me to be your partner, but… I was briefly worried that we wouldn’t work well together. But now… I feel safer with you. I hope we can be by each other’s side for a long time,” she said. Her head was tilted down slightly, and she avoided Aleph’s gaze.

For a while, Aleph had been getting the impression that Beth’s feelings for him extended beyond friendship. He respected her and appreciated the help she gave him in battle, but he could not reciprocate her feelings, for his heart already belonged to another. His hand wandered back up to his obi as he thanked her for the hard work she always put in.

Just as she was about to say something else, Beth and Aleph heard a familiar voice calling out to Aleph, and they saw Zayin approaching in an indigo yukata with a simple striped pattern.

“I’ve been looking for you, Aleph,” Zayin said, “I was planning on going down to the beach nearby before reporting back to the Center Headquarters. Do you two want to come with me?”

Beth’s eyebrow twitched ever so slightly. Aleph accepted without question, then turned to Beth for her opinion, but she said, “I… have something to do, so I can’t come with you. But Aleph… would you like to watch the fireworks with me tonight?”

Guilt crept through Aleph’s chest as he admitted that he had already promised to watch the fireworks show with someone else.

“… That’s okay, maybe we can see it together next year,” she said. She gave him a sad smile as he departed for the beach with Zayin.

The scents and sounds of the festival grew faint as Aleph and Zayin made their way to the nearest transport terminal which took them to another as close to the beach as they could get. Outside of the township, fireflies flickered in the air, lighting the darkness with tiny yellow specks. Aleph took a deep breath of the salty sea as they drew closer to the beach. Looking at his Arm Terminal, it seemed that he would need to extort a few demons to make back some of the macca he had spent that day.

They found a nice, open space on the beach near the waves that crawled up to eat at the white shoreline. Zayin sighed and stretched out as he fell backwards into the sand, Aleph sitting next to him with the bag of sparklers cast to the side. Zayin sat up quickly with a serious expression that Aleph certainly wouldn’t take lightly.

Zayin gazed deep into Aleph’s eyes, as if he were trying to see into Aleph’s very soul, “You wouldn’t keep a secret from me, right?”

Taken aback, Aleph nodded.

“And you wouldn’t lie to me, right?”

Aleph only nodded once again. He squeezed a handful of sand, letting the tiny grains slip through his fingers.

“Then that note the bartender gave you yesterday… What was it?”

Aleph’s heart pounded right into his ears as he confidently said that it was just a letter from an anonymous Holytown resident expressing their gratitude for the Messiah, but was too shy to approach him in person.

“That’s all?” Zayin relaxed, his hands sinking into the sand. “With the way you were acting, I worried you were keeping something from me,” he said.

Aleph gave an awkward laugh, as if to try to reassure Zayin that the idea of him keeping a secret from his dear friend was an outlandish thought.

“Sorry, I hate to ask, but I couldn’t hold it in anymore. Lately, the Bishop has been asking me give reports on you. I hate to lie to him, so I tell him as much as I can, but it’s difficult when you keep disappearing every few days. You’re not… running off somewhere, are you?”

Sweat glued Aleph’s yukata to his skin and his throat burned with the lie that he wasn’t running off anywhere in secret, he was just out aiding the people of Tokyo Millennium whether he was dispatched to their sector or not.

Zayin sighed and shook his head. “I believe you, of course, but you should be careful leaving the Center without permission. The Bishop might go easier on you, but it’s still against the law regardless of if you’re doing it for the sake of the people,” he said.

Aleph nodded guiltily, turning his head away to avoid having to face Zayin. His eyes wandered to the bag he’d dropped and he quickly dug out the sparklers he’d bought. He took one from a box and held it up to Zayin with a bright smile.

“Sparklers! I haven’t played with these since I was a kid. Or at least… I don’t think I have. My memory of it is fuzzy…” Zayin said with a glint of childlike wonder in his eyes. He took a sparkler and twirled it around between his fingers.

Aleph dumped out the entire box and a small pack of matches fell out with the sparklers. He lit Zayin’s sparkler and one for himself. The heat warmed his fingers as the flame crackled and ate at the stick. Aleph waved his sparkler around until it burned out. In a spur of the moment while Zayin was distracted, Aleph spun around to face his back towards Zayin. He worked quickly, fumbling with the matches and the sparklers, until he turned back around holding as many lit sparklers as he could fit in the spaces between his fingers. The light of his claws glowed in Zayin’s face who jumped and dragged himself backwards to distance himself from Aleph’s terribly dangerous stunt. The sparklers sputtered tiny embers that dissipated before even reaching the ground.

“Would you quit that!? You’re going to get one of us hurt!”

Aleph chased Zayin around the beach until there was nothing left of the sparklers, his maniacal laugh resounding over the woosh of the waves.

Aleph had gotten so caught up in playing around on the beach that he nearly forgot about the fireworks show. He wouldn’t make it in time if he tried to haul himself to the nearest terminal, so he summoned a demon capable of quick flight to carry him back to Holytown. Aleph could see the lanterns of the festival in the distance. He glanced down to see a lone figure on the rooftop of a building just outside the festival grounds. He point to the building for his demon to land, then returned them to his Arm Terminal.

Louis Cyphre sat on the raised ledge of the roof gazing out at the festival. His yukata was a deep red with an earthy sage obi, and his hair was tied back in a ponytail. Aleph kicked off his geta and hopped onto the ledge to join. His own yukata had loosened from all of his activities, exposing some of his chest. Louis gave him a gentle smile.

“So you’ve made it after all,” he said, “I would’ve waited for you inside the festival, but it seems that they have the security as strict as the Center, so I couldn’t get in. Have you enjoyed it so far?”

Aleph told Louis about his evening, but he had a feeling that he didn’t really need to.

Louis teased, “I wondered where you were going with that Zayin…You’re not seeing someone other than me, are you?” A smirk crept across his lips.

Aleph defended himself awkwardly and desperately, saying that he had never returned Beth’s feelings, and Zayin was nothing more than a friend.

Louis’ smirk grew wider as he took his teasing further, “And what was your great excuse for disappearing this time?” He put on his most dramatic impression of Aleph’s voice with an added playful inflection, “I’m sorry, Zayin, but I was assigned with helping set up the fireworks show, so please enjoy it without me!”

Then Louis leaned in closer, “Or did you have Hiroko cover for you once again, despite still keeping her in the dark?” He sat up straight again, “Forgive me, Zayin, but I already promised Hiroko that I would watch the fireworks with her this year!”

Aleph’s face burned iron-hot, tripping over his words to tell Louis that he didn’t need to come up with an excuse when he left the beach, but he worried that may he very well need to come up with one later if Zayin decided to interrogate him on his sudden departure.

Louis couldn’t contain his laugh, “Then I suppose you have until tomorrow to come up with something believable!”

Aleph turned his face away and they sat together in comfortable silence. Lanterns glowed brightly in the distance and Aleph could hear the beating drums of a parade. The cool breeze from so high up alleviated some of the sticky humidity and gave Aleph a pleasant sensation as it wafted through his yukata. He found himself shifting his body just barely enough to be closer to Louis. People began gathering for the fireworks show.

Aleph’s eyes wandered down to the street far below, his legs hanging off of the ledge. Breaking the silence, Aleph confided in Louis about how he sometimes felt that he may not have been sent by God at all; there were times when he certainly didn’t feel very saintly and worried that the role were not meant to be his at all.

“Does it truly matter that much to you? Would you feel less inclined to fulfill your duty if you were to learn that it was never yours by birthright in the first place?”

Aleph avoided facing Louis and kept his head down, the hair hanging by the sides of his face keeping him within the confines of his confession box. He shook his head; he would be content living as a simple Temple Knight if the title of “Messiah” were to be deferred to someone more worthy.

“Tell me… do you enjoy your work in the Center?”

Aleph tilted his head when he turned to face Louis, his torso twisted to give his full attention. Then, he said that of course he does. He was more than willing to do it if it meant helping the citizens of Tokyo Millennium.

“Is that so? But doesn’t it bother you to always have someone telling you what to do?”

Aleph thought to himself quietly for a moment before saying that while the Bishop’s endless commands irritated him sometimes, it was the inescapable nature of his job. He only wished that the Center did not rule Tokyo Millennium with such an iron fist, regardless of whether or not they did so in God’s name. He preferred for people to decide for themselves how to live, rather than be told by someone else.

Louis smiled and leaned on his hand that rested on the ledge, closing the space between himself and Aleph just a bit. Aleph’s heart jumped; their fingertips were just barely touching. He tensed his hand to steady the trembling.

“I see we’re the same in that regard,” he said. “It seems that perhaps Tokyo Millennium could use a change in leadership, don’t you think?”

Aleph raised his eyebrows in surprise, taken aback by Louis’ willingness to challenge the Center’s authority with such little hesitation. Then, he nodded his head subtly, saying he wished that the Center cared for the people of Tokyo Millennium more properly. Before Louis could say anything else, Aleph went on to complain in a low voice about how he found the Bishop and Center Elders’ methods to be rather extreme, and that he didn’t like how the weak were often left behind. He would never admit such opinions to his friends, but his time alone with Louis were Aleph’s place to speak his mind freely.

Louis looked back out at the festival. “While the Center’s actions disgust me, I can’t say I share the same sentiment as you about the weak. Tokyo Millennium grows ever unstable, and those who cannot defend themselves will be left behind one way or another,” he said.

Aleph’s eyes widened as he criticized Louis’ apathy, saying that one’s strength didn’t determine their value, and that everyone deserved a chance at survival.

“If they cannot defend themselves, then who will? You? Will you truly go out of your way to protect every citizen of Tokyo Millennium? What of those who slip from your grasp, the ones you inevitably cannot save? You’re only one person, after all,”

Aleph insisted that he would devote himself to protecting as many people as he could, as he was not given the title of Messiah for nothing.

“Your selflessness is something to be admired, always prepared to help others before you’re even asked. But do you do this because you truly want to? Or only because it’s the duty bestowed upon you?”

Hiding his irritation as best he could, because letting Louis see how easily he got under Aleph’s skin only meant that he would forfeit their debate before he even got to finish his argument, Aleph declared wholeheartedly that he truly would spend his days protecting the people even if it were not his given duty.

“Do you love Tokyo Millennium?”

Aleph gazed out at the bustling festival, at the parade winding down, at the children blowing bubbles together and playing games, at the adults savoring delicious snacks, at everyone gathering for the fireworks show. He did not love Tokyo Millennium; Aleph loved the people in it. He loved the annoying people of Holytown who implored him to attend the long and boring mass at the Great Church every week. He loved the workers of the Factory condemned to labor for opposing Center authority. He loved the people of the deepest slums of Valhalla, whose greed came from desperation. He loved the people of Arcadia, who enjoyed an existence of peace under Gimmel’s protection.

Louis stifled a low laugh under his breath, moving his hand closer so their fingers overlapped. Aleph’s heart raced and his breath hitched. The tingle in his chest traveled all the way to his teeth. He took as deep of a breath as his lungs would let him.

“Perhaps I should rephrase…” Louis said, “Do you love Tokyo Millennium as you love me?”

Aleph’s answer was no. He loved his home deeply and to betray his home and his friends would be to betray himself, but he could not confide in its people with his true feelings. He could count on one hand how many times a resident stopped him to ask how he was doing without the added praise and reverence that all would show him. He loved his friends dearly but he could not lay with them in his dorm at the Center headquarters after going through great lengths to sneak them in. He could not let them tear out the threads of his skin one by one down to his bones. He could not gaze with them into the mirror gifted to him that sat across from his bed. He could not enjoy a drink in a quiet corner of a bar with them, exchanging secrets in hushed tones. He could not speak of the world he wished for with any other.

Aleph then asked why Louis cared so little for the people of Tokyo Millennium.

“Moths who only wish to follow the light deserve no concern from me. If you’re so set on their safety, you can protect them yourself. Perhaps others will follow suit. Surely there can’t only be one like you,” Louis said. Then, he smiled pleasantly, seeing Aleph’s puzzled yet irritated expression. “I’m flattered if you’re worried for my wellbeing, but there is no need for you to go out of your way to protect me, so feel free to dedicate your energy to Tokyo Millennium instead,”

Aleph ruminated on Louis’ words, trying to make sense of the man he’d been slipping away to meet in secret for so long. Despite keeping their secret for what he would consider quite some time now, Aleph still felt that perhaps he didn’t know Louis very well at all, always learning something new that changed what he thought he understood.

Louis moved his hand to overlap with Aleph’s, his cold fingers clasping around Aleph’s warm ones. He took a strand of Aleph hair and gently twirled it around his index finger.

“Thank you for humoring me as always, Aleph. It seems that we learn more of each other with every passing day. I look forward to our next meeting,” Louis said.