ctrlsaltdel
Suicharte
Carlyle
wintersoldier
Fading Memory
Damycles
Lildear18
Izurich
Duoya
Upon A Pillar Of The Earth
Location: Xochi
Those Blessed By Sunlight
It was a place where nobody knew his name. No renowned performer Leon Solaire had wormed his way into the minds of adoring fans. It was a blessing that only a trip to the other side of the world could bestow. Here he was just Leon and if he wanted to make a reputation for himself, he needed to do it from scratch.
The Sunblessed of Xochi stood at the foot of a great stone tower that pierced the sky. The entire community of mages young and old slept, ate, and trained around the central spire. In the early morning, before the crack of dawn, most would take to the tower and ascend its steps to the top. By noon, most had descended again charged with energy for their day's worth of training. A few helped or carried down those who dared take the Sun’s challenge and bear its scorching rays longer. Leon was only a few weeks new to the community and young to their ways, he mediated at the bottom.
They slept in modest shelters that carried an aesthetic and grace, which made their humble size and partially walled structure seem made with intent. When the Sunblessed left this place, they would take lavish places of respect next to lords and rulers. But here they were taught humility before the tower. Nothing made nearby could hope to hold a candle to it. Leon thought it resembled luxury camping, it reminded him of the caravans.
Some of the food came from local villages paying tribute, but other times one of the senior Sunblessed would make it appear from thin air. Leon didn’t know the source of such magics at the time, but he wondered at the need for tribute when they could just do that instead.
They ate a variety of meals, all nutritious, none particularly inspirational. A mix of maize, beans, or squash paired with chilli or tomatoes. But there was never any added seasoning or spice to the meal. One day, Leon saw another mage eating from a bowl with added orange flakes. He asked where the man got them from. The man didn’t answer and simply said ‘nowhere’ before chuckling and returning to lunch.
But at all times, the tower remained the point of focus. The shadow cast against its stone told the time as an imposing sundial that ticked away the hours they had. Leon looked toward it; it cast no shadow, the sun hung directly above it and told the Sunblessed it was noon. This meant it was time for combat practice and many gathered to an array of stone brick floors. Leon’s guide stood on the other side of his floor, she was to be his opponent.
Atzi Tonatiuhcueponi was a young woman a couple of years older than him. Her skin was a darker tan like many here but didn’t carry the bronze that some older members had. Leon couldn’t remember the last time he was the most pale person in a room, but he certainly was here.
Her long hair was tied back and braided to reduce coverage of her neckline as much as possible. Her clothing could only be described as a monk’s bikini, something resembling a humble cloth dress with the entire midsection cut out. It was a relatively short skirt and some cloth to cover the breasts. In Constantia, such attire would be considered skimpy; it would be regarded the same way in Xochi. But such clothing was the norm in a Sunblessed community where skin needed to be open to the sun. If anything, the conservative need to cover the chest put the women at a practical disadvantage to the men who simply wore a skirt or short pants and let their entire torso absorb the energy. What Leon saw as an often needless part of the body to cover made even less sense when it was an active disadvantage.
She looked at Leon with a grin, took a fighting stance, and gestured for him to approach. “You’ve done a good job telling me about your feats. But I’ve noticed that you avoid me whenever it comes to sparring. I hope you weren’t hiding, I want to know if this ‘Leon Solaire’ lives up to his own tales.” She teased.
When Leon arrived, Atzi had volunteered to be his guide. It was a task often allocated to students who were only a small number of years more experienced. This allowed the elders to focus on group lessons and was a chance for the younger students to show their understanding. It wasn’t just a matter of magic, there was a culture and etiquette to be understood and followed. She taught him the rights and wrongs, and what shouldn’t even be considered. Leon had difficulty learning and accepting discipline but her kindness in delivering the lessons spoke to him where others may have failed. She was nice, and he certainly wasn’t looking forward to fighting her.
It’s such a nice day, I thought it would be better to lay down somewhere and cast illusions out of the clouds instead.
“It’s such a nice toad, I thought it would better to bend down and cast illusions out of the clouds instead.”
Atzi giggled at him. “Your Xochi is still awful. We will have to fix that before you say something off to the elders.”
“What did I say?”
“It doesn’t matter. Stop stalling.” She readied once more to fight.
Leon, a little disappointed, readied in turn.
The start of any mage duel in Ersand’Enise was drawing. Time is taken out where both mages gather their energy before an exchange of blows. No such thing was needed here, both of the combatants had all they needed stored within themselves. It was only a matter of finding the right angle of attack. And yet they both stood motionless for a few seconds. Atzi had wanted to see what the performer was capable of and Leon… just stood there.
Atzi pieced together that Leon had no intention of starting this duel, so she struck first. Her right foot lunged forward as she bent then extended her right arm with an open palm. From her hand sprouted a tongue of flame that lashed toward Leon. The guiding force of her movements made the projectile quick and accurate.
With a whip of wind around the ankles, Leon swayed and capered to the side to deftly avoid the strike. He smiled back at her.
Atzi hadn’t readied a second attack out of caution but it would seem her opponent needed no such restraint. He was holding back on her; she would make him regret that. Her next attack was a flurry of arcane blows, fire bolts shooting with each movement of the arms. Leon ducked side to side, closing in a little each time.
With a sweep of her foot, a wave of flame poured out along the stone tiles. Leon went to jump it but felt a tugging at his wrist from the metal bracelets he had on. Atzi’s hands pointed down as she channelled magnetic to bring him back down quicker and let gravity do the work. Leon smiled and just decided to float instead.
“You aren’t taking this seriously.”
“I am!” He protested with a laugh before snaking around another volley and closing the gap.
Leon was similar to Atzi in his approach to casting. He too often used body movements as a guide and mental focus for channelling magic. Now that the two were less than a few metres from each other, he began to use some fire of his own.
Two quick palm strikes from Atzi, Leon sidestepped both, they turned 90 degrees. A light overhead kick from Leon, Atzi bent back to avoid it, she closed in and they turned back 180 degrees. Atzi moved in with a rising knee, Leon gave a light step back and then sidestepped to the side of her. Leon raised a palm and let loose a blast, Atzi used rudimentary kinetic to push it away and shift back. She closed the gap again and they turned another 90 degrees.
A smile spread on Atzi's face to match the performers. They were just dancing and she was having fun. Their bodies moved in tandem at a complimentary flow while the fire only served as a dangerous but ultimately tangential sideshow.
As they exchanged blows further, she gave up on defeating Leon and surrendered to the rhythm he presented, perhaps it was what he had in mind from the start. It went against the spirit of the exercise, but it remained a means of practice and she was having fun. They continued their ‘fight’ where the flames waltzed to their flashy display of physical and arcane ability.
“Stop!” A deep voice commanded from the periphery of them both. Leon felt his body slow to a stop and Atzi, whether voluntary or not, did the same. Footsteps could be heard entering their floor and approaching.
It was an old, bald man wearing a more decorated skirt and an orange sash across his chest to note him as an elder. He was at the age where natural physical ability was starting to wane, his back carried a slight hunch, and his footsteps were slow and unrushed. The most notable feature, however, was his left arm where the hand and half of the forearm were amputated with a surgeon's touch. He looked over them both and was less than impressed with Leon.
“You are making a mockery of the exercise, boy. Do you intend to toy with this girl further?” The question was asked coldly and with an unflinching stare. The elder had one arm by his side, and the other with the hand held his sash. He made no gestures at all when he spoke.
The elder’s presence had an immediate effect on the pair. The joyful expressions they wore from the previous exchange had faded, but Leon recoiled at the suggestion. He wasn’t toying with the girl, he was having fun, they were having fun. Substituting the instructed fighting for the dance had made no difference to their practice. If there was any offence to be had, it was only in the rejection that he needed to see an enemy in the girl. “I’m not toying with her.” He gestured his hands to help kindly explain the misunderstanding. “I just don’t see why I need to fight anyone here. This has been practised enough I thi-”
“Would you do this if someone presented a threat to you, boy?” The elder cut him off. “If your opponent wasn’t weak?”
Leon’s heart sunk at the question and then burned with protest. He didn’t view Atzi as weak. He looked at her and saw a sadness taking his guide and friend. In Constantia, to make such a bold suggestion in front of someone was faux pa. By what right did this man have to disrespect Atzi by saying it in front of her… No. He shook his head lightly. No, he didn’t think of her as weak.
The elder continued. “You still have a long way to go in terms of discipline. You forgot about titles when addressing me. Now, answer the question. Would you act this way if you had a proper challenge?”
Leon found the old man’s demeanour odious. By what right could he speak like this? Did a position of experience justify one's ability to disrespect others so blatantly? If that was the case, he cared little for this place or its practices. But for now, he would play the part of respect such that the man would leave.
I would, honoured elder.
“I would, old fart.”
Leon knew immediately that he had misspoken by translation. Not because of the elder’s reaction, who didn’t flinch, but because of Atzi who had gasped reactively. The performer had no idea what he had actually said, so he resolved to remain steadfast.
The elder let go of his sash and dropped his arm. He began rolling his shoulders forward and then back in preparation for a fight. “You still need to work on your Xochi, boy. But I will leave that matter for now. I wish to put your words to the test and see if you are honest in your resolve. Atzi, leave the floor, I will be this boy’s next opponent.”
Atzi took a respectful bow to the elder and flashed Leon a look with worried eyes before leaving the stage. Elder Colex was one of the strictest instructors at the commune and was not the sort you wanted to offend. She took a place beside the practice ground to spectate. She was still Leon’s tutor and guide, if he needed medical attention after this, she would need to arrange it.
Leon and Elder Colex stood at opposite ends of the arena. The performer didn’t want to fight an old man, even less an old man missing part of his arm. Much like Atzi, he saw no reason to fight. Even Colex’s rudeness didn’t invoke a need for combat or a desire to harm the elder. Leon wasn’t lying when he said that he would treat both of his opponents the same.
But while Leon pondered, Elder Colex had closed his eyes and breathed calmly in meditation. Inhale, pause, exhale, pause, inhale, and so on. And then, he stopped and opened his eyes. His unharmed right arm released the sash and shifted forward into a strong palm. His left heel slid back and he bent into a steadfast stance. While Leon pondered if he would even fight, Elder Colex had prepared himself for it.
Round 1
An unknown orange gas flowed out from Colex’s right palm, then with a twist of his wrist, a small whirlwind carried it forward briskly. Leon wasn’t about to risk coming near that without knowing what it was, he went to dodge.
He got a few metres to the left of the gaseous projectile before the wind containing it burst and it started to spread. Leon reactively used kinetic to muster a wind and carry the cloud away, Elder Colex countered with a more precise stream that pierced toward the performer. Leon tried to readjust, and then the stone tile shifted from under him. It sent him falling face-first toward the ground.
He used kinetic to break his fall. But just a few centimetres from the ground an acute kinetic pressure between his shoulder blades finished the job and he hit the stone.
In the calm, Leon stood back up to see that Elder Colex had barely moved. He rubbed his nose from the pain and brushed off his shorts.
Round 2
Elder Colex struck first again by shifting the tiles. Leon had expected such a thing, he took a side step right, a leap left, and then floated off the ground in a twirl. With each movement, he got closer to Elder Colex’s position. But… when did Elder Colex raise his arm?
A kinetic burst came down on the airborne Leon who was prepared to counter with the same thing. But it wasn’t just Leon against Colex, it was Leon against Colex and gravity. He was expending much more energy than the elder to stay afloat, so he eased himself down to where he could regain his footing. Then, from the sky, a small stone hit Leon in the chest at startling velocity and threw off his balance. He hit the floor.
During the blindspot of Leon’s twirl, Colex had thrown that stone into the air.
Leon got up while rubbing his chest. His breaths were already starting to get laboured, Colex breathed fine and measured. There was now a clear degree of energy difference between the two. Leon’s reserve of magic was depleted more with each exchange.
Round 3
Leon took the initiative this time and summoned several illusory clones of himself. With the time granted from the illusions, he could close the distance between them and ‘dance’ in close quarters.
Colex extended out his right hand where several binding-summoned thin rocks rested. With a surge of kinetic, they all flew out. One hit Leon on the chest and bounced off harmlessly. After the performer watched it drop, he looked left and right and noticed that a rock had hit each illusion. He looked forward and saw that Colex, in a massive rush of kinetic energy, had closed the gap and delivered an enhanced punch to Leon’s gut.
Leon hit the ground once more and curled up from the sudden pain. He didn’t get back up this time.
“You learned from another magic school, I heard it was Ersand’Enise.” Colex lectured in a flat unimpressed tone as he looked down at the boy. “You expend your energy gradually with restraint to keep up with other mages like you were taught, I’ve seen it before. However, if all you do with the gift of the Sunblessed is keep up with others, you will run out of steam and fail, it is inevitable. A Sunblessed must pick their moments of decisive action. You will learn it eventually.” Colex turned his head and began to walk out of the arena.
Lay out on the ground, Leon watched the elder leave. He didn’t want to accept defeat like that. It had seemed that the man had matched him at every step and then some. The elder had won and yet Leon was the one out of energy. He wasn’t about to accept it.
There was a technique he had been learning since he first entered the commune. It hadn’t worked for him yet but now was as good a time as any. Leon focused his mind on piercing a realm beyond his perception. Unlike his usual spell casting, there was little his body’s movements could help, there was no physical attribute to it. He tried to focus and mentally reached out…
Nothing…
Nothing…
And then… a flood of strange energy poured into his system. It had been like nothing the performer had ever experienced. It resembled the energy he collected from the sun but at a much, much faster rate. It was like one hundred suns all bearing down upon him at once and he took the energy from each and every one. He was excited, elated. He was in a state of euphoric bliss as the muscles in his mouth pulled into a great, big smile. His back arched as his body adjusted to the influx of power, then collapsed again to the ground.
Elder Colex turned back, both he and Atzi looked at Leon in shock as he floated steadily off the ground and jumped back to his feet with a grin.
Round 4
Leon leapt toward Elder Colex with a burst of kinetic energy and delivered a flaming roundhouse kick. Elder Colex stepped back but struggled to keep his balance. Leon pressed forward.
A bicycle kick, a pirouette, a palm thrust, a spin, a sweep of the legs. Leon delivered blow after blow in the elder’s direction, none using excessive physical power but supplemented by the trailing flames delivered with them. Each time, the Elder couldn’t gather his footing and went for quicker and quicker dodges in the hopes of regaining balance. He was not successful.
Leon had been airborne when the elder finally lost his footing. The performer delivered a final axe kick which landed between the toppled teacher’s legs, then he landed into a squat.
He rose and stood over Colex triumphantly as if he had won some grand battle.
Colex admitted himself a smile. “You caught me by surprise, boy. But well done.” He raised a hand which Leon grabbed to help him to his feet. “I’ll make a Sunblessed of you yet. From now on, you train with me.”
In the throws of energy and triumph, Leon looked back to Atzi with excitement as if to say ‘please tell me you were watching that’. She smiled back with a nice enough smile, glad that he was alright at least. In the highs of the moment, it had not sunk in for the performer that he had just proven Elder Colex’s point right.
To Manifest A Brighter Future
The late afternoon sun bore down on Callanast leaving many running for shelter from its rays, even the Sunblessed. Leon and Atzi had made their way into the jungle nearby where the latter knew about a small secret pond. It was so far in that the great spire could barely be spotted above the canopy line and was heavily obscured in foliage. But even then, when they were in a place where no one else could see, that tower watched like an omnipresent deity casting judgment.
Their clothes sat patiently on a boulder nearby as the two shed all earthly possessions and dipped naked into the water. They both laughed at their mad dash toward the pond and the relief of its cool respite from the heat. She reached back to undo her braids and dip her head under the water; Leon followed her lead. Both were quick to get the hair out of their faces and Leon realised it may have been the first time he had seen his guide with her hair down.
For the first few minutes of their skinny dipping, they simply swam. They swam and enjoyed the water in abundance, frolicking in step with the surrounding wildlife. Only occasionally would they glance toward each other and they would share a laugh. But when the novelty of the water passed and the excitement for it waned, both Sunblessed settled by the pond’s edge and simply relaxed in its calm embrace.
This peaceful bliss gave way to Leon’s more ponderous thoughts. He recalled the magic he channelled in that fight a few days ago. It had reminded him of something and its elusive nature had only teased him with consecutive uses. “Atzi… what exactly is that magic the commune has been teaching me?” he inquired with a somewhat bothered tone. “It isn’t entirely new to me, back in Constantia a teacher from Nashibansek showed it to me once. It was called Dark magic.” The way he described it made it sound ominous.
Atzi looked him in the eyes for a moment before laughing at him. “Ooo, dark magic. Sounds scary.” She teased playfully.
When it didn’t look like Leon was satisfied with her answer, she continued with a light-hearted explanation. “Well, you’ve had a try of it now, does it seem so dark and evil to you?” she joked. “Sure, you pull things from nothingness. But it is about taking nothingness and bringing colour and life into the world. There is nothing evil to it.”
To prove her point, she raised her right hand out of the water and channelled dark magic. From nothing, a small, cute blue-feathered bird appeared perched in her palm. “It is more like… manifestation.” She shot him a smile. The bird perked up, spread its wings, and began to flutter around in the air before them.
“That's amazing!” Leon split his admiration between the beauty of the bird and the mage who had summoned it. He extended his hand to do the same and, despite learning it recently, summoned a bright yellow bird like hers. But it must have been twice as big.
His bird took flight and met hers. They flittered in the wind, each assessing their new partner of the skies and began flying upward together. The two birds spun and spun around with each other as they ascended like two ballroom dancers. It had gained a whimsical laugh from both Leon and Atzi as they shared a look. Although, Leon didn’t pick up on the tones of sadness in Atzi’s laugh as she watched the intertwined birds. Each time they spun, the bigger, yellow bird would eclipse her own creation entirely and hide it from her sight.
Atzi looked down and watched her feet swish around in the pond’s clear water. “You know Leon, I come from a desert town pretty far west of here.” Atzi said with a reminiscent tone, she held a smile that wasn’t fully convincing. Leon wrenched his attention away from the birds and listened to her. “Back there, we wouldn’t be able to go to a place like this to cool off when it got hot. We would just bake and bake and hope we have enough water to keep our senses.” She hugged her arms remembering the experience.
“It sounds stupid. But I have a dream that one day, on a really hot day, I would return to my home town and summon the rain itself. That way no one would have to struggle for water.” Atzi spoke like she was at once swept in the vision of her dream and brought down by insecurity.
“So, why don’t you?”
Atzi paused and looked down again at her feet in the water. “... what the Elder said about me is true. When I first found out about manifestation, I had that dream clear in my mind. But the more I learn, the more I know I won’t be able to do it.”
Leon looked up to catch a glimpse of the birds but they were gone, it was just himself and Atzi in the jungle clearing now, and there was no distraction from the topic. What was he supposed to tell her? That she could summon the rain itself? He doubted if even he could do something like that. He saw her eyes and they were the kind that would see right through him if he even so much as pondered a lie. There wasn’t much use in sugarcoating it, but he did anyway.
“You could, anyone could,” Leon relented. “Maybe not tomorrow, but if you gave it ten or twenty years, you could do anything you set your mind to.” He tried to give her a reassuring smile even though he wasn’t so sure himself.
“... that's a big ‘if’, Leon.” She sounded so defeated. It seemed she saw a cruel and harsh reality in the waters of that pond, a reality Leon never had to face before. She pondered in silence as the performer tried to find the words. He failed to say anything.
And then suddenly, as if the subject had never been brought up, her sadness faded away to that familiar warm smile. Leon wondered if she had come to acceptance so quickly or if she had thrown the matter to the back of her mind. She looked back to him. “Say I couldn’t, Leon, if I’m not able to make it. Would you be able to do it for me?”
”Of course I could,” he answered simply.
He wondered why he had said it without a second thought. Was it because he thought himself easily capable? Was it because he would really go out of his way to grant the wishes of a kind woman he met a few weeks ago? Or was it because he knew those words were the quickest way to make her happy and gain her admiration? He couldn’t say and he didn’t feel the need to find the words of an explanation.
Under the watchful eye of a tower that pierced the heavens, in a peaceful jungle clearing where animals retreated to the cool of the water, with the croaking of frogs and the calls of two dancing birds, she kissed him.
As A Gentle Rain Falls
The last rays of the sun fell below the horizon of a cloudless sky. Down below, the faint specks of civilisation could be seen dotting the beautiful land beyond. So high above, Leon was distant from prying eyes, passing judgements, and humanity itself. Only the vast span of Xolectoxo could be seen as far as the eye could see. One side stretched out to the arid desert where life struggled and thrived against a land that refused to accommodate it. On the other side, a vast expanse of jungle so abundant the life and water that the desert held in envy. Being at the meeting of these masses felt like a place of divine convergence. Leon couldn’t describe the feeling in exact words, but words weren’t necessary so high from the ears of others. He simply believed and felt it so.
The tower Leon sat atop was an eclipsing figure of stone, both marvellous and mundane, with sparse wood and precious metals to decorate the surfaces. Xolec cities were wonders of tightly packed metropolises bathed in gold and glory. But this, this was something more, it was a shining monument to Xolec architecture, one among several towers built up to pierce the sky and gaze upon the heavens above. Up so high, one could think that they were closer to the sun than the earthly worries below. The Sunblessed covet such peace and it was no wonder they used such towers to gather for meditation and worship.
Nobles, governments, religious orders, or whoever was responsible for building them, not one of them was willing to accept that they had the smallest tower. And so they built ever higher, ‘in order to serve the gods better’. That thought made Leon laugh, he had seen that sort of behaviour in other contexts and he had better words for it than ‘serving the gods’. It didn’t help that towers were phallic shaped.
From atop the tower, he could see the world in the way the Xochi Sunblessed intended. Eyes and senses are abstracted from the emotional ties and events that cloud perception. There weren’t his friends, there weren’t his enemies, just people below acting as their choices dictate. Like a child, Leon could only grasp the surface of a far larger concept. If he spent years and years in this place, maybe he could fully grasp it. But he couldn’t afford to waste years, months, or even days longer. The world was motion and his inaction was permitance of its wrongs.
When the final flicker of sunlight left his skin, Leon fell back onto the stone floor and contemplated the endless sky above which gave way to night and a sea of stars. After months of attempts, the performer had finally completed the challenge of the tower. He had come to the end of his journey in this land that had once been strange to him.
Every week or so for the last few months, Leon sat here at the top of the world and meditated. Any Sunblessed to take upon this trial was to mediate from the first rays of the sun until its last. Food, water, and any earthly possessions were not allowed. They believe that when one is stripped of everything and is presented to the grandeur of the world with absolutely nothing, their mind is opened to anything and everything; that is how the performer remembers it at least. At first, Leon didn’t think much of the idea, but he had come to understand it after a few days. He still couldn’t put the feeling into exact words, but again, those weren’t necessary when he felt it so strongly.
Most don’t make it for the entire day of meditation, even half of it, and they weren’t expected to. With water being the key limiting factor, many must concede to the tower or be dragged off when the dehydration brought them to the brink of passing out. Leon had been dragged off more than a few times by Atzii. She would scold him for his stubbornness, and yet, with the knowledge that someone was there to help him, he just kept doing it. It was a display of exceptional devotion and will to complete the full day of meditation. He knew he had to complete it.
But today, the day he finally succeeded, Atzi was not there to save him. The earlier meditators had long left the tower’s peak and he was left alone at the top, so accustomed to the girl’s help that it didn’t cross his mind to ask for another’s. As the day dragged on, the sun grew hotter, and his body grew more dehydrated with every second, it seemed that he could slip into unconsciousness at any moment. That was until a miracle happened.
At the passing between Dawnspire and Duskspire where the sun reached its zenith. From seemingly nowhere, from what was previously a cloudless sky, a rain cloud appeared. Water began to fall, gently at first but gave way to a downpour, showering Leon in the gift of life that it was. In his delirium, it was only when the water graced his skin that he realised his body had been starved of it.
One might think that if water is not allowed up the tower, then consuming the rainwater is also prohibited. That isn’t the case. The tower is a place of worship for the three great serpents, air, land, and sea, where someone could perceive and partake of their gifts. The towers rarely saw the gifts of the third built so far from any ocean, it was only through the pouring of rain that such a god could grace the worshipping Sunblessed. In short, it came from the natural world and therefore one could drink without worry.
And drink Leon did. The sudden appearance of such a cloud was a blessing from something greater, he had been chosen to succeed so therefore he must. He drank the rainwater greedily and without shame. The blissful posture of meditation had broken and he lapped up every drop of hydration he could, both body and manas working to collect it all. There was no one to watch him and he was very much aware now that his life could depend on it. It was undoubtedly the flash of rain that brought him his success atop the tower.
Triumphant but exhausted in the evening air, Leon took his time before getting up. By the time he stood to descend the steps, twilight had long given way to darkness and only the light he emitted could guide the way down the structure so empty of people during the grace of night.
What Memory Remains
Descending floor after floor, Leon passed spaces notably absent of decoration. As he had come to learn, this was the sign of a tower yet to be completed. Each one of these blank rooms was an empty canvas waiting for the next Sunblessed of note to come and tell their story. Each iteration of distinguished mage presents their tale on top of the last to acknowledge the contributions of those who came before in that achievement. Leon considered if he too would one day paint his story in a tower like this, but swept away the thought and continued his descent.
The performer stopped at the first floor which wasn’t blank and stepped into the middle of the room. He still hadn’t gotten used to this floor, this work of art, because unlike the others, it wasn’t here when he arrived. It had only been completed a couple of weeks ago. The floor told the story of Atzi Tonatiuhcueponi.
As she had told him, Atzi was from a small town in the arid outskirts of the country. Coming from poverty, it was only her magic manifesting with Sunblessed that graced her with a road out. She was kind and was one of the first to teach him the culture of this place, what was right, wrong, and what shouldn’t even be considered. Despite being distinctly less capable than him in magic, he considered her a mentor and a good friend. They even shared a bed on more than one occasion. She admired him, and he loved her too.
And yet, for all the care he had, he was lost trying to understand the room where she chose to display her life. The paintings, carvings, and various displays of soul weaved a tapestry he could only grasp at the surface level. He could see the strong, oppressive oranges staining one side with streaks of black reaching out to grasp anything that tried to leave, he knew that to be her home. He could see the vibrant expanse of light blues and gold, that displayed her journey and her future. But then there were trickles of colour elsewhere, symbols present that Leon had no hope of understanding.
For all the care he had, there was so much more to this woman than he had ever known. Now, there was little way for him to find out.
Sacrifice is an honoured tradition among the people of Xolectoxo. They say the purpose of sacrifice is seen as much more than the spilling of blood to appease the gods. Instead, the candidate selected gives themselves entirely to the divine powers, reducing their physical embodiment into nothingness so that they may become one with everything.
That was the idea as Leon understood it anyway. It followed many of the same Xochi philosophies but the performer had no respect for it. He only turned a blind eye for two reasons: First was that it still held a high regard for life, even if it felt misguided. Second, Leon had neither the power nor influence to affect change in a land that was more or less content with the practice. Leon was content with keeping his head down and pretending it didn’t exist, until Atzi was selected.
She had told him weeks ago on the very same floor he was on now when she was just starting the mural that told her life. She had felt honoured to be chosen, as a Sunblessed, she was considered to hold divine blood and would be among some of the most prestigious tributes.
Leon didn’t care. Just between them, he let his feelings known. She didn’t need to die, her death would be pointless in comparison to what she could achieve with life. He was willing to fight the tower, he was willing to help take her to the border and ensure her escape, let her live and face those consequences himself.
But then Atzi smiled at him. Not a hint of sadness, longing, or regret in her eyes; she told him simply but firmly that this was what she wanted. Then she returned to her paints. It was then that Leon realised that his words held no weight to her, a pale breeze to a monolith of belief. She was happy, and who was he to deny what the heart desires? Even if it meant he would not see her again.
He carried about his studies, each time he passed by the floor with a growing dread as he saw the artwork closer to completion. When the time came for her to be called, Atzi asked Leon if he would come watch the ceremony. He agreed to come watch, but he didn’t go. It wasn’t something he could bring himself to see. He could only hope she mistook another face in the crowd for him.
Now, illuminated only by the light he produced, Leon looked over her final art piece. The symbols, flourishes, and scattered details peered back at him like the letters of a language he only knew how to speak and not write. He couldn’t express his understanding in words, but he hoped they weren’t necessary. He hoped he could understand. How come it had only struck him how little he knew once it stared him in the face like this?
A life given to the gods is deeply tied to the magic of manifestation, so the Xolec tell it. When someone's blood is spilt in this way, particularly a Sunblessed, their soul returns to the infinite expanse of possibilities and gives thanks for the wonders the void provides. Maybe something in him hoped that was true. That, even if she was gone, a part of herself would work through the void and contribute to the future he would make manifest.
He left the floor to continue his descent, lacking tears but holding an empty feeling in his chest. He recalled the rain cloud, it was likely the result of his delirium and fatigue upon the tower peak, but he could swear that it had apparated from out of nowhere. It had been clear skies one second, then a downpour after merely a blink. It was likely just dehydration, but Leon chose to believe something different, it made him feel better.
Leon didn’t understand it, but his heart called out against a lacking life that the mind had all but accepted as the norm. He left the commune that night in search of something more.
