The Night

Chapter V: почемучка (Pochemuchka)

The Night

Chapter V: почемучка (Pochemuchka)

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The 18th Century

Life became foreign upon the moment Sora's brother was sealed in their family mausoleum.

Beneath the shiny rosewood lacquer of a coffin, his brother's body laid against silk throws of nobility with a visage that bore more living aspects than that of a corpse. It was as if the blood, no longer needed for the working on the heart, had gone to make the harshness of death as little rude as might be. (1) It was also perplexing to Sora that the marks [Au] [Au] [Au] vanished; [Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] -[Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] strangely they were gone just moments before his brother's death.

However, his parents refused to question it so he simply stayed silent. They needn't frighten others with the auspicious legends that terrified them as children and worse in adulthood. To bring up such superstitions was poison to reputations, and as a family of islanders they were already somewhat out of place in Transylvanian society. It was simply better to forget from that point onward.

The stone doors shut with a gentleness that somehow still left a resounding echo in Sora's skull. Empty like the air, yet loud and clamoring.

Life begins just as life dies, so they turned away from the crypt without a wayward glance. [Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] [Au] Especially Sora, who had so many dreams to chase and a life to live.

It was his 21st birthdate that lonely year: his mother, so proud of her steadfast son for standing tall despite the weight of grief, awarded him the heirloom she had originally given to her eldest son. While receiving the shining item brought tremendous pain to his heart, it also brought a sense of undying pride. Sora was stepping in his brother's footsteps while also making his own path for the both of them.

After all, he was hell-bent on crossing the Black Sea at all costs. Many days of his youth were spent reading maps and history books until the early hours of the morn. In church he would sneak peeks at navigation manuals and astronomy notes between missals. One day the priest caught him, attempting to instill the fear of god in the young man. To the shock of many, he laughed at the notion and nearly got his family excommunicated—claiming god's wrath could find him on the sea, and being dragged to hell was the least of his cares.

His near-endless days of expressing a desire to seek the world was apparent to all who knew him. His late brother was incredibly supportive, but his parents pleaded with him daily to settle into a science or medical-related career—after all, they built their own fortune off of it. Even Sora's fiancée, a girl from another wealthy family, thought it best for him to abandon his dream. In full honesty, Sora didn't care for her opinion in the least bit; after all, their betrothal was simply arraigned by both their parents, despite his aggressive protest. Who was she, again? She meant so little to him that he doesn't even remember her face or her name

However, with too much pressure from multiple sides, Sora finally gave in to the demands.

After nearly four years of studying, he abandoned his college courses on history and geography before taking up biology and machinery in their stead. Such a sudden shift in focus was truly grueling, and Sora felt himself become miserable. Still he had to please his family, and also his fiancée's. A year of sorrow, depression, and the undying sense of soullessness...