I'll Be Here

The First Day

His earliest memory was of standing on a hill, leaning into the wind, closing his eyes as he tilted on his toes and let the current support all his weight. The air blew his hair back, brisk and clean against his cheekbones, rushing blissfully in his ears. He wore a soft green changpao tunic and loose white pants that moved with the wind, wrapping about his figure as if they knew he was a treasure. He turned his hands over, marveling at the clean green shapes that marked his right arm. A small gold and glass square hung on a gold thread around his left wrist, and a shining black ceramic mask floated from the rope tied loosely at his waist. Strangers stood around him, and yet he felt only love and no fear. They were yaksha, his family: this, he knew, was a fundamental truth.

"Who am I?" He asked them.

"You are a gift!" A yaksha responded. "The fulfillment of a whispered wish, the blessing in response to a quiet request for joy. We asked the archons to give us all that we needed, and they gave us you." She beamed, and her gaze was as comforting as a calm stream of water.

He considered this. "What is my purpose?"

"You harness the power of Anemo." The tallest of the yaksha addressed him, stroking his amber chin thoughtfully. "You will help us to protect our land and keep the demons away from the humans. You are here to magnify us, to make our strength stronger, to increase the power that we already have."

"Not only that." A four-armed yaksha moved closer to him, but he did not feel any intimidation. "You are here to enrich our lives! Things have become still over the last century or so, and even if you increase our power, we hope to find a new friend, a new personality, a new story, and another brother in you." He pointed to himself, and excited electricity crackled through the air. "I am Bosacius. Do you have a name, brother?"

He shook his head slowly. "Would you give me one?"

The tall amber yaksha laughed, a rumbling sound that spread all the way through the ground and resonated in the heads of everyone around. "He asks many questions, this young one. What do you think of 'Curiosus?'"

"Archons, no!" The flaming yaksha protested. "He will grow out of his curiosity. He will not grow out of how cute he is! Thoughts on 'Bellus?'"

The tall yaksha snorted in response. "What makes you think he'll stay baby-cute forever, Menogias? He will become too manly for that name in no time."

"It's still a better name than no name."

"How about Bosacius, Jr.?" Bosacius winked.

"No one but you wants that! He definitely doesn't want that, does he?" Menogias almost stamped her foot.

"I think Bosacius Jr. is perfect."

Menogias shot a playful bolt of fire at Bosacius, who easily deflected it. The firebolt bounced off Bosacius's arm and into a nearby body of water, vaporizing with a hiss and startling a frog that croaked in surprise and leaped high into the air.

"Hah!" The youngest yaksha burst out laughing at that, a lilting, contagious sound that bubbled out of him, filling the air with ascending music. His eyes, golden as mora, crinkled at the corners as he grinned, catching the frog mid-fall and placing it gently back in the water. "There you go!" It paddled stressfully away, and he laughed again, wiping his wet hands on the sides of his loosely fitting white pants.

He looked around, noticing the sudden silence around him, and turned to face his new family, all of who were gazing at him in wonder.

"That was one of the most adorable sounds I've ever heard," the tall, blue-horned yaksha marveled, and the other yaksha murmured sounds of agreement. "Your name is Alatus. Alatus for both the wings of your Vision and the wings of your voice. What do you think?" She extended her hand to him, and he took it.