“Kagamine Len. You should rejoice.”

“What for…?”

An empty hall. It was pretty much familiar, but at the same time, it held an atmosphere of a complex feeling which I couldn’t comprehend.

The hall was a wide room, a gigantic window at the front but no lights coming in. Was it night? There was no moon, no stars, to clouds… I could barely even make out the image of a sky beyond that glass.

The salty smell of the sea… The flowing of the waves… And the movement of a steady ship…

I slowly opened my eyes, the reality of the situation hitting me harshly, like a huge rock.

It was hurting badly.

I jumped up, sitting up immediately on the bed. Across of me was a mirror, reflective my undignified profile.

“Kaori. Lie back down. You still have a fever,” Nodoka was beside me, holding my hand between her’s, with an unreadable expression on her face. It was really complex; there was practically no real emotion behind it. Or maybe, too many emotions and the inability to show them all. Her voice was slightly wavering. It was almost as if she was holding tears in her throat.

I used to dream about a strange world. A world where magic does not exist, and everyone lives on an equal standing… or supposed to be, since there are still poor and rich people in that world.

Of course, there is still a biased understanding of the world. I am always disgusted by that. I didn’t want to imagine myself as one of those rich and arrogant people who ignores those poor beggars on the streets.

The sight of the streets of Concordia surprised me. I expected a much better image from ‘the land of peace’. However, the image here was the same: beggars on the streets, rich merchants kicking them away, and earls shaking their head with a disgusted expression.

“Hime, from here on, it would only be you. Do take good care of yourself. We will meet up here in 3 hours,” Nodoka said, her face entirely serious.

“Sure,” I replied. What was on my mind was just to have a walk around the capital myself, on my own two feet.

“I’m serious, Kaori. Promise me that you will not get hurt or anything.”

It was uncommon for Nodoka to address me by my first name like that. “Of course,” I gave a reassuring smile.

Nodoka nodded and walked off, carrying her gray sack with her.

Collection of the Old Tales: Tale 5 “The Blue Petal”

A single petal falls from the stem of a violet.
A gentle wind passes by, and the petal floats away.
As it moves, it begins to think.
How can a single petal like it affect anything in this world?

As it continues to think, the petal flies beyond the hills.
It skidded through the skies, and got extremely cold.
Before long, it came into a hallway.
It lands on the white tiled floor, in the middle of a house.

“I’m not important,” thought the petal.
At that point of time, a little girl comes to pick up the petal.
The petal started to cry to itself, knowing that the girl will just throw it away.
“How pretty!” The girl laughed and brought it to her mother.

Her mother saw the petal the little girl was holding, and smiled.
“It seems like the little thing needs a bit of water,” the mother said, as she held up the petal.
She poured a bit of water into a small bowl, and drown the petal.
“It is in a really pretty blue!” the girl cried, and the petal gasped.
The petal was surprised, as no one has said something like this to it before.

Days later, the girl returned back to the blue petal.
However, it was no longer there.
The blue petal had turned into a beautiful blue rose.
There weren’t any thorns by the stem, only a single soft green leaf.

The petal had been transformed by the little girl’s love.