CHAPTER 3
Cheers to Brotherhood, Cheers to Life
Eidan woke to the sound of folk music blaring, a burst as sudden as a raging horn. He sat up straight, releasing an anxious shout, and immediately searched for the source of the sound. When he looked around his temporary bedroom, however, the door was closed and the windows had yet to be opened.
Eidan groaned and rubbed his pounding forehead, praying the noise would stop.
When he’d lived at the monastery, the only music he ever heard was the sound of the monks chanting, and it was always sung quietly for those with sensitive hearing. Now that he’d been discharged, however, everything seemed so much louder and improper.
“But I don’t have sensitive hearing,” Eidan muttered. He looked around him once again. It sounded like the music was coming from the parlor on the other side of the apartment.
He released a breath and decided it was time to get up.
He wasn’t accustomed to having a bedroom to himself, but he vaguely remembered his childhood days where he slept in a giant chamber cluttered with colorful opulence. The room he’d been given now wasn’t much different, but it was smaller to suit his temporary needs. There was a wardrobe and a vanity, along with a bed and a nightstand. He no longer owned anything personal, so even his clothes had to be supplied by the holy Darim.
She was so much nicer than I imagined, Eidan thought.
At the monastery, he’d heard stories of how immoral and corrupt the goddess had become, how she’d sleep with men and spoil herself with expensive artifacts. She was a merciful woman, though. After Eidan was discharged, she offered to help him rather than banish him. She gave Eidan and his brother a home to live in, an efficient allowance, clothes and food. However, there was one condition. Eidan had never been a cruel person, but if he proved to be anything other than kind before forty days came to pass, she’d banish him to the wilderness where the wild Kinetics roamed.
“I’ll be fine,” he kept telling himself. “I have to be.”
Eidan frowned. There was something on the vanity that wasn’t there before. It was a pile of fresh clothing, and on top of this pile, a letter waited to be opened. After standing and approaching the vanity, Eidan picked it up and read.
He stiffened and read it again.
It was from his adoptive brother Zuri. “You sleep too much,” it said. “P.S. I bought you something different to wear. Put it on and come find me. I’m eager to see how it fits you.”
Eidan’s throbbing head felt light as air when he looked over the outfit Zuri had chosen for him. It was a type of long robe called a rompa, the traditional garb of the Numen of Ecual. Only the Numen were allowed to wear them, and knowing how particular Zuri was about following the rules of society, Eidan wondered if his hair had become blond and his skin white.
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Perfect World
Science FictionA story of star-crossed lovers couldn’t be more cryptic. When two gods Monaxia and Ari’el are captured by mad scientists bent on discovering the Secrets of the Universe, the lovers have no choice but to immerse themselves in an alternate reality whe...
