Chapter 324: A Forgotten Wish

Nolan had enough of drinking. Ashia didn’t seem like her pockets were empty. The drinks didn’t make him wobbly. Ashia sat beside him on the tram.

The tram traveled on the rails leading to the bigger part of the island. From the inside of the tram, Nolan could see the blinking lights coming from the town where he was heading in the first place.

The tram was empty aside from the operator who seems to be operating the tram quietly. There was no sound other than the bottom of the tram hitting the metal railing. The trees passed by with a blur.

He noticed that the tram was following the coastline.

“There are strays out there,” said Ashia. “Trams like this are too fragile compared to them. The coastline’s safe so they use this to get around. Besides, the view’s not half bad.”

Nolan leaned his head on his right palm. Ashia moved close, her body sticking close to Nolan. Nolan glanced at her and heave a sigh. “You want to change seats?”

“No.”

“You’re not drunk, are you?”

“Not even tipsy.”

Nolan focused on her. “You’re getting too close. I’m not complaining though.”

Ashia looked down and shrugged. “I gave you quite amount. Relax, I won’t kill someone who I shared a drink with. Oh, you know what? Let’s change seats.”

Nolan stood up and twisted on the seat. She moved to the windows and leaned the right side of her head on the glass pane. From this side, Nolan could see the side of her neck, nape, and collar bones. She had loosened her robes. The tie of her hair was also loose.

“Don’t move,” he said, grabbing her hair. “Your hair’s a mess. Arrange your clothes too.”

“Oh,” she pulled on her clothes. “Thanks, I usually just tie with it whatever.”

Nolan fumbled his fingers on her blond hair, his fingers tying Ashia’s hair into a braid. She continued her focus on the blurring scenery, the landscape rolling before them.

“My students used to do my braids, but they are big now! Oh no, sir, can’t have their teacher treating them like children.”

“Do you have family, Ashia?”

“My parents had died fifty years ago. Well, they live long happy lives so I cannot grieve. They were happy that they were able to give birth to me and raised me well. I am one of the few who were birthed you know?”

“Is that so?” Nolan pulled his fingers away. He settled his hands on his lap. “Strange, I thought you’d have a family or a lover.”

“I had one. But our paths were different and that he was human. To love a human is hard. Bah, he was happy in the end though, so I have no qualms. Besides, I couldn’t chase after that kind of happiness when the world was in danger. I am quite used to this life of mine. I can’t change that on a whim.”

“You could say that,” Nolan said. “I don’t know what to do now that I am here. What do you expect from someone who lived his life fighting?”

“Says the man who can braid a girl’s hair?”

“I was a regular in an orphanage. Back then the sisters didn’t have any way of helping. Everyone was forced to fight that we took turns in helping the kids. I had to regularly cut their hair or braid them. I didn’t have time, but I think I was good at it.”

“Anything else?”

“I was a decent cook. Some of the vegetables and produce here are similar so I might be able to cook them up. I wonder if Arel will like them?”

“Arel, that farmer you keep on mentioning. You seem fond of him.”

“Who wouldn’t be fond of your rescuer?”

“You think of him as a friend.”

“I do. Lady Dalia, and I guess you are one now. Don’t you agree?”

“Yes, but I hope that you don’t turn, Nolan. I really do.”

Nolan smiled wearily. He fondled his wrist, turned to the front where he could see the incoming station. He took a step outside of the tram followed by Ashia. A lamp hung around the concrete crossbeams of the station. There was a flight of stairs that leads to a place with buildings lit up by the lamps.

“Well, this should be my stop,” said Ashia. “I am glad that we have this talk.”

“Yes. I regret that our first meeting was violent, but it is rare for me to sit down and talk it out. Most of the time my enemies come rushing in without reason, stabbing and slashing against me.”

“Now you’re just making me guilty,” she said with a guilty look. “Farewell, for now, Nolan. I wish you a pleasant day.”

She disappeared from his sight. Nolan descended on the flight of stairs and entered a shop where he can buy some of his necessities. He used the coat given to him by Arel. He tidied all of them into his rucksack. To his surprise, he found a clearing next to a tunnel that leads to a high place. In this high place, he saw what seems to be the corona of the sun breaking out of the horizon.

Somehow, it reminded me of the scenery that he saw before he fell.

That feeling of falling from a high place. The wind buffeting me. The sun kissing my face as I fell. I thought that was the end but I was there and then fought. I fought for her. I fought for them. I survived because of them. What was I looking at that place again?

Nolan sat down staring at the sun masking the seas. He thought and asked himself why did he climb that building. It was then that he remembered the wonderful feeling.

“Ah, that’s right. I wanted to climb that building to be happy. I like seeing the world from above. That was all there is to it. Damn, when did I forget? Have I gone senile despite having a young body?”

Nolan didn’t know why he kept on walking those roads.

Those burning sands.

The bloodied landscape.

The pain and heartbreak.

But...he thinks that he found it again.

“Please,” he begged. “For once…let me find peace.”