What? Carter thought, his expression speaking for himself.
Fleeting? Moon? That’s a moon?! He continued, looking back and forth between Mili’s face and the straight lump of lines forming a somewhat spherical shape in the sky.
Since he had seen the ‘fleeting’, as his new mother named, he was frozen in place.
He wondered if the calm the scenery brought him was just a distraction.
Somehow, his mother thought it was an exaggerated reaction, as one can witness through her heartfelt laugh.
What’s so funny? Carter asked in his mind disheartened by her face.
He thought she would be a little bit more worried, or even scared, but here she was, laughing her ass off like an audience to a stand up.
For Carter, it was indeed better, but he couldn’t help but be dumbfounded by such leaniancy.
As if reading his mind, thinking that her son was only confused and that his fear was due to the aftermath of such a long slumber, she reassured him.
“I know this is the first time you saw the fleeting, but there is no reason to be scared.”
Such words made the young boy shiver.
She patted him on the head with her right hand.
Carter still moved his irises between the two, he wanted to know what ‘fleeting’ in this scenario meant, but didn’t dare to ask the woman beside.
Understanding what her son wanted, Mili looked at the straight lumps of thread forming the moon.
It wasn’t a full moon, since it had the shape of a croissant, but it was unlike any moon one could describe as it had numerous little holes thorough its surface.
Its shine was bright, not as bright as the sun, but bright enough to make the streets and scenery visible.
“The fleeting is a very rare occurrence due to how unpredictable it appears. Sometimes, it takes years before its appearance, and sometimes just days or weeks.” She paused, continuing to look at the croissant shape in the distance.
She thought about her words before continuing.
“Speaking of which, the last time was about a year ago.”
She laid her head on her left palm, her right shoulder on the railing of the window.
She continued, her tone varying like a teacher's.
“At that time, your father had just begun his formation to getting a promotion in his work.”
She threw in a random fact while thinking about her next word.
She moved her eyes up, recalling.
“The legend says that the many lines structuring it never stops lengthening every time it appears…”
Carter twitched his eyes unbeknownst to the woman talking.
His eyes were already fixated on the shape in the distance and now he was even more focused, wanting to notice the slow lengthening as he narrowed his eyes as much as they could.
His experience told him that they would somewhat accelerate their speed, just like the time he last saw some.
He was convinced the moment they would get their eyes away, they were going to pierce them like a porcupine.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
His thoughts were like a fool’s waiting for the end of the world to happen in front of their eyes.
He thought he was finally close to seeing it when his new mother continued.
“… Or so the legend says but I doubt it is true.”
Carter’s squinting eyes gave the woman a side eye.
To his side, Mili was admiring the moon, her black hair flowing in the wind.
She seemed to only narrate to him a simple tale about an abstract myth that is just general knowledge much like the various legends in his world.
But unlike her, Carter had a front line seat to the existence of something awfully close.
Getting his gaze back to the fleeting, he stopped squinting.
If there was even a relation between the domain’s lines, as Carter began calling them, and the fleeting lines of this moon, then this legend is much more relevant than what his mother believed it to be.
Well, fuck it.
He began smiling awkwardly, as if he had never done such a fake or professional smile before.
“C-Can you tell me more?” He stuttered, twitching his eyes with every word.
She turned her head and looked at him, three curves, one her lip and the two others her eyes, on her face.
A hand on her lap and one on the railing she had a content and mischievous expression.
Mili raised her right hand to pat his head.
His eyes off of the fleeting, Carter looked down to the woman’s raising hand.
Mili hesitated, but eventually lowered it, a less bickering smile on her face.
She returned her gaze back to the moon and began talking with her soft voice.
“The fleeting had always been a part of our lives. For those who aren’t familiar with its legend, it can just be refered as a sign of coming events that could reshape one’s entire life even if outside of their own, ranging from the worst to... the best.”
Trying her best to not think of any foolish thoughts, she continued.
Carter noticed the pause but refrained from thinking too much about the reason.
He instead thought about the information he was given.
From what he heard, it seemed like the appearance of this celestial body was akin to nothing he was familiar with.
But even so, if it was even close to being true, then he thought there needed rules for the events it deemed worthy of its appearance.
Unfortunately, it wasn't something he was certain of.
Thinking further, he made the connection to the domain's lines again.
His heart froze.
Today had an event.
His soul was transplanted in the body of a child's today.
And today the fleeting moon appeared.
He was the closest to being in contact with the same looking lines, and they were now in front of him, notifying him of his own presence.
Sweats started forming on his face and back, his hair standing on end.
A woman's voice brought him back to reality.
“Do you want to hear a prayer, Ciel?”
Carter's eyes were hollow.
A few awkward seconds passed.
She looked at him.
The fleeting was soothing.
His heart was pounding.
Finally processing the name, he nodded through panicked breaths.
Beside him, Mili looked at him worried.
She couldn't help but put her hand on his back.
"Ciel? Ciel?!"
Feeling the sweat, she had no idea what to do.
In the end, she prayed, the words that came out of her mouth flowing like water.
“The fleeting, beauty within the transient, hope of all that’s mortal, the sign of ephemerality.
Our dreams lay within you, while your fragile threads corporate our relation with what is gone and what is left..."
Carter's ears were ringing, his heavy breaths were the only noise he heard.
"... May the gods that created you bless those who are left in our heart.
May my son and husband recover from their illness..."
Slight words entered his ears, anchoring him little by little back to his senses.
He turned his head, looking at the woman's blurred figure.
"...And may our fleeting lives be content of its own self, its most valuable gift.”
A cold breeze and the laughter of the people below filled the air for a moment as time seemed to slow.
Finally, breathing slower and slower, Carter looked at his mother.
None of the words that came out of her mouth reached him, apart from when she prayed for her son and husband.
Mili's voice was enticing enough for him to care anyway.
He looked at her trembling mouth.
He didn't know what to think nor to do, so he did what he was the best at.
Seems really… deep. He joked in his mind, a dry and not so thoughtful joke.
He was still sweating, but it wasn't the worst that had happened today.
He finally let out a relieved breath.
He needed to check on himself.
Such a panicking state wasn't something a normal human would experience just by getting scared.
He needed to admit though, his experience wasn't something a normal human could withstand either.
He still needed to check on himself later.
Beside him, Mili was lost.
Just before she had thought Ciel was getting better, he was even being curious.
But she realized she was being sourly mistaken.
She wanted to cheer him up.
She wanted to hug her child so bad.
But in the end, she refrained herself from doing both.
At least for the time being.
The wind blew in the chamber, and for another while, none of them uttered a word.
Reminiscing about the past, Mili asked an unexpected question.
“Do you remember what we talked about before your slumber?”
As she asked, Mili turned her body to face her son.
Carter was caught off guard as he almost choked from air.