The Great

Evay Maver: The capital was even more beautiful from the air than it was on the ground. Hundreds of bright lamplights lit up its various courtyards and the many illuminated buildings in the center of the shopping district stood out like stars in the night sky. I slowly descended upon the bustling city and landed on a black-clay rooftop. Cylindrical lamps made of thin red paper glowed with a soft red and orange light. The entire shopping district was filled with people, merchants, and carts filled with silk clothing, livestock, silver, emerald, and golden jewelry, and all kinds of other foreign goods. I jumped off my roof and landed amongst a crowd of people. Everyone was walking and talking and enjoying the night-life of the city and I went with the flow of the crowd. I peered into some buildings and saw restaurants serving customers who were sat along a stall, dress-making stores with spools of silk and weaving beams, and stores selling beautiful porcelain dishes, cups, and bowls.

All around me were complete strangers all going one way or another. We each flashed in and out of our lives in mere seconds and then moved on like we never existed. It was all very weird—we were so close to each other yet we never talked or even acknowledged each other, we enjoyed each other's company but also kept to ourselves. Maybe it was because I had grown up in a town with less than thirty people but it all felt so weird… My eyes darted around trying to take in everything when my mind began to race. I was to meet up with Mars and Grace and them in a of couple days—until then I lay low and try not to attract too much attention. I meet up with Geon, Lila, and Aurora and go to the ceremony and party and then slyly help the others. I get what I want and then I’m good. I’ll also have to fight in a war….that’s going to be so much fun…

An incredibly seductive and sweet female voice suddenly whispered into my ear, “Hey mister….do you want something nice to look at.” I looked up and saw three beautiful ladies dressed in revealing, tight, and extremely luxurious, velvet red dresses. They each had long, shiny, black hair and bright red lips as well as seductively beautiful faces. My face felt a little warm and I began to feel a little weird on the inside. My heart started to race and I felt a weird sudden rush come over me. I could smell them and they smelled really good—agonizingly attractive pheromones were released into the air as I found myself in a trance. I began to walk towards them before snapping out of my trance.

I awkwardly waved to them and ran off towards some place other than the room filled with beautiful ladies. I slid to a stop at a random stall with no customers before it and bent down to catch my breath and reset my brain. I breathed hard and tried to clear my mind. Thankfully Aurora isn’t here—she probably wouldn’t have liked that. These new sensory abilities make it so much worse when I’m around girls…. An old man with fading gray hair and an old smile reached over the counter and tapped me on the shoulder, “caught by the ladies were we?” He let out a heart laugh, “don’t go around giving yourself to them too much now—they’ll drain your soul and your wallet.” I stood up and looked into his eyes,

“Who are they?” The man laughed,

“They’re entertainers—girls who make you feel good in that type of way.” My face went red and I looked away from the building where the girls were. The man spoke again, “you look hungry son, stay here.” He went to the back of the stall and began to prepare some type of food. I saw him take some dough and stretch it out with his hands. He made the small little ball of dough into a long and stretchy string and he started to twirl and twist the string of dough around. He cut the stringy dough into noodles and tossed them in some boiling water. He put some brown colored broth into a bowl and tossed in the noodles there and gave it to me to eat. I looked at him with gratitude and surprise,

“Thank you….How much sir?” He waved his hand,

“I don’t make students pay—go on, eat.” I looked down at the warm bowl of noodles and took a big slurp.

The warm and tender noodles softly rolled along my tongue as the magical broth seemed to heal all the soreness and pain etched into my body. The flavors inside the soup made my mouth dance with happiness and I quickly ate more. I ate faster and faster and faster until I had finished the entire bowl. The old man looked at me and laughed softly, “students always need to eat a lot—don’t bother to come back if you need more. Bring some friends.” The old man turned back and began to head back into his stall even before I got to say thank you.

I got up to try and find him when a sudden movement flashed in the corner of my eye. I dashed towards the noise in the corner of the man’s kitchen and I reached out to the source of the noise. I felt my hands grab a trembling body as I pulled a small child out from under a stove. The kid was pitiful—his face was caked with dirt, his hair was dusty and damp, and his eyes were filled with intense fear. He was very skinny even to the point where his ribs were clearly visible and his cheeks were sunken in. I knew what he was from the moment I had laid eyes upon him—he was a peasant, just like me. I looked at him with a mix of wonder, sadness, and shock as I held him in the air for a while. The old man came rushing out and held his hands in the air. He spoke with urgency, “No! No! No! Please stop, put him down. He’s harmless—don’t hurt him!” I looked at his frantic eyes and I quickly put him down. He looked surprised for a second before helping the kid onto a chair. He quickly prepared another bowl of noodles and gave it to the kid—who ate like a ravenous wolf. The old man spoke, “he is a…..a peasant. He comes every week or so and begs for food. I’ve been feeding him for the last few weeks. Of course the customers don’t like it—they say all he’s good for is spreading diseases and taking up space. They haven’t been kind to me for feeding him of course.” I looked out at the stall and my heart fell,

“They’re—they’re not coming to you because you feed him? Is that why? But you’re food is so good…they don’t come because you feed the needy?” The man smiled and looked at me with wonder,

“Are you sure you’re a warrior boy? Ha, nevermind. The high born people with liquor and blueprints think that these peasants are a hindrance. They’re not entirely wrong—the peasants are all physically weaker than anyone with a blueprint—even those who’s blueprint does not give them combat abilities. So they’re not good for physical labor and their weak bodies spread diseases and they take up space which people can not use for farming or living. They are in all ways inferior.” I clenched my fists. “But I do not care.” My heart softened up and my body relaxed. “Children are all children are they not? Do we not all bleed the same red blood? Do we not all need food, water, and air to survive? I hope everyone can enjoy my food and that includes children like these—that is what I believe.” The boy looked at us with fear and gratitude before running off into the darkness—out of the city and into the wilderness. The man sighed and he started to go back into his stall. He was halfway through the door before I spoke,

“Sir! What’s your name?” He turned around and spoke with an old smile,

“Mr.Filo, the old noodle maker.” I looked at him and spoke with all of the gratitude and respect I could possibly muster up,

“Thank you sir, for being…for being a great man.”