Lunix (Working Title)

Chapter Two - The Proposal

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, you fool” grunted the old man. 

“How do I know you didn’t cause the fire?”

“Is that what you think happened boy? Do you know why I’m here?”

“You know, I thought I cared. I really did. I heard your song. The poem. I thought it meant something. Something special, something bigger than this wedding or - or the war -”

“No! Nothing means more than this wedding lad, nothing. She’s the one. And you, you too. You two are a part of it, after all these years. I’m sure of it. That’s why I was there, I wanted to protect you, her - you need to go through with it boy!”

“But I don’t care old man! I don’t care anymore, I just don’t care for what you have to say. Do you understand me? I need to find them, my family. And you will let me go. I am the fireborn Prince, the heir to this kingdom. And that includes the sewers you old man.” 

“The names Ahishar” said the old man, pausing. He looked hesitant, if only for a moment. 

“Fine,” laughed Ahishar, “go ahead oh great Fire King or Prince or whatever you think you are. You think a title really means anything out here? Is that what they teach you up in the clouds, in your pillar? Do you think a title actually means anything in reality? With the rest of us? Do you?”

Ahishar turned away from the stunned boy and gathered the fallen fish off the clay ground. 

“If you don’t want a home cooked meal then here, take this.” The old man grabbed a lantern from next to the rocking chair and lit it by the fireplace. “Take this,” he said, handing the lantern to Lunix, “and follow the lovely river to my left, your right, upstream. If you hug the sides you can stay on this little sliver of a ledge that sticks out of the wall for a bit. But you’re going to have to get into the waste at some point, you’re royal highness. Just head up stream about five thousand paces. Count your steps, I don’t know. You should be able to see it. I’m staying here to eat my lunch. And sleep. You’ll find two more holes in the wall like this on your way. I don’t think they’re occupied. At least not to my knowledge. So if you need to rest, use them. But you should be feeling fine by now. Right?”

Lunix nodded in disbelief, his previous temper fizzling away. 

“Right. Alright, so get going” commanded the old man, leading Lunix towards the rumbling rapids. “Must be a busy morning,” he laughed, “the currents strong.”

Ahishar patted Lunix on the shoulder, shoving him towards the small protruding ledge that extended out over the shallow waters. Lunix hugged the wall and inched forward with the lantern in his left hand. He turned around, but didn’t know what to say.

“Go, boy,” said the old man, “and I hope I’m still around when you finally decide to hear me out.”

Dazed and overwhelmed, Lunix silently turned away from the old man and headed up  the tunnel. He heard the shaky creak of the rocking chair slightly echo around him in the dark. He held the lantern high with his left hand, his stomach pressed flat against the wall - his lips felt the moist cool of the stone - as he edged up along the ledge, avoiding the waters for as long as he could.

Thoughts crashed ashore in his mind, ripping through his eardrum and ringing true through his reverberating cochlea, but he couldn’t risk registering a single question. They flooded the coast of his cranium, he felt like he was drowning all over again. But he just jutted forward, in unison with short bursts of breath, breathing the number of steps quietly - nothing else mattered, he told himself.

“One, two, three” he counted with steely reserve.

Somewhere around two hundred, much sooner than he hoped, the ledge and the wall of the sewer meet at a conjoining angle, merging as one. His bare feet broke through the water and whatever he was wearing - he had just noticed that, oddly enough, he wasn’t wearing his own clothes - was soaked through instantly. Refusing to let anything hinder his stride, Lunix treaded around the trash and through the murk, all while trying to count the number of steps. 

“Two hundred fifty one, two hundred fifty two,” he grunted, “two hundred fifty three, two hundred fifty - shit, um two fifty one.” And so he went on, slipping and sliding up and down the tunneled path just as much as he walked. The water made it difficult for him to gauge the distance he had traveled, making him even second guess his counting abilities.

Somewhere around two thousand, when he saw the first of the two alcoves Ahishar had mentioned, Lunix gave up counting altogether, depending on the landmark and the seemingly linear path to guide him. However, the moment he stopped trying to count, all the basic necessities of human life came rushing back into his being. Hunger, strength, endurance, even courage, all flickered between capable and incapable. He resisted the urge to turn back for the alcove, to rest for a moment. He resisted and he kept slugging onwards. 

But his mind couldn’t remain calm, couldn’t stay unburdened and serene, for long. Before he could travel the final few thousand paces, past the second alcove and towards the demonic black metal ladder that extended up out of this underbelly and into his city, only to have his worst fears realized, Lunix spent the final few moments of ignorance blissfully unaware of the benefits of not knowing. He imagined his family awaiting him with Lady Daphine waiting to take his arm in front of the townsfolk. He saw Luna beam proudly, then tease him playfully with just a hint of a smile. 

In his delirium, Lunix saw King Hyzerus and Queen Leasha. 

When he reached that ladder, past the second alcove, that lead up and out of the sewers, as he hung from the last rung and moved the thick metal plate covering the exit aside, he saw the King and Queen. In the light that poured into his squinting eyes and onto his tempered face, he could have sworn he saw his mother and father.