The script floats before my eyes, ancient words carved carefully into stone and left for those of us who came after them. A message, that will lead us to salvation, but their empire fell before they could do anything about it.

I’ve read the words myself. The grand project, spoken of too frequently alongside the great eclipse, the lover’s kiss. They put their everything into this, destroying their entire empire, to see this grand project completed. Maybe it’s some magic shield to protect us, or to blast one of the moons out of orbit.

Or maybe they even achieved the impossible and mastered teleportation magic, escaping this world like the fae have. If they left behind enough information, I’m sure we can do something with this. We can survive, and our story doesn’t have to come to such an early end.

My tired eyes just can’t focus on the words anymore, no matter how important this all is, I just can’t make any sense of it. I need to refresh my mind.

Setting aside the notes that I’ve kept, I walk down from our room, a small thing but enough for us. The stairs rattle a little as I head down them, but it doesn’t quite feel like they’ll fall out from under me. The madhouse has a certain charm of its own that I’ve never come across before, on the bar floor there are plenty of patrons gathered, drinking leisurely as they discuss this or that.

It’s not impossible to see the few strangers who have come here to find solace in the bottom of their cups, but the majority at least are here for the company. There’s something innately wonderful about being around other humans, talking, and expressing yourself. It’s a part of being human, and on the road Hope and I don’t get much of it.

Hope is currently running drinks with a stiff expression and a back so straight that you’d think she has a fire poker for a spine. Her eyes shine in the flickering lights as she notices me, her expression loosening into a soft smile, and her strained back returning itself to something closer to normal.

She’s not good with people and crowds, but for me she puts up with it. Or perhaps it’s for the sake of her quest that she doesn’t want to talk about?

There’s still so much mystery in the gaps between us. So much that we keep from each other, and lies that we say to comfort one another.

“I’m going to go out for a little bit.” I say to her as she comes over to me. “Are you doing alright? There are no problems?”

“It’s fine.” She replies easily, but her expression does stiffen a little more.

I gently pat her shoulder, as I lean in closer.

“If you’re having trouble, tell me.” I say. “I can do something to help.”

“It’s fine. There’s no trouble.” She says, and I don’t think she’s lying. “I’m just getting used to people, is all it is. I’ve never been around this many people before.”

“Never?” I ask, a little surprised. “I thought that it might be uncommon but…”

“I… there were a few times, but nothing… nothing good.” She explains, and I think back to the few things I know of her past.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I offer, wanting to know more about her. “Tonight when we have some privacy?”

“Maybe…” Hope says, looking away. “I need to get back to work, but make sure you’re back for dinner, we’re going to the night markets remember?”

“I remember.” I say, letting her go and releasing a long sigh. What can I do to earn her trust? What can I do so that she’ll feel like she can share these details with me, so we can properly get to know each other?

Would it be enough to open up with my own past? It’s nothing really worth speaking about, and I doubt it would make her feel comfortable to share her own story.

Thinking about these things, I make my way down the streets looking for something to inspire me. Maybe I can get her a gift while I’m out.

She travels light, burdened not by property or gold. While she appreciates the finer things, and I’m sure she could tell a good tea from an average one, I’m not convinced that she really cares about that distinction. So, what can I get a girl who doesn’t seem to care about anything at all?

The cobblestone streets are clean of trash, and the people are all fairly happy, but still it feels like something is missing. This isn’t enough for me anymore. There’s someone missing from my side, and while it’s not so bad being alone in this crowd, I’m sure that it would be much nicer to have her with me.

I look for a gift, something to show her my affection, something to make her smile wide. Something that might inspire her to fall deeper for me. I have competition in the form of Sable, and I’m not going to have Hope become confused or get led astray.

She will fall for me, and together we’ll save this world. We’ll live long and happy lives, dying only at a ripe old age.

~Hope

The work is draining, and not because of the running around. The people are loud, stinky, and obnoxious even when they’re trying to be nice. I can bear with the work knowing that it’s just for a little while, but living like this would be unendurable.

Lucette somehow enjoys all of this, she’s running circles around me, while wearing a smile bright enough to make the candles flutter with shame. Constantly she’s flirting with the customers, touching them lightly here and there, whispering and saying the most crass of things, but everyone seems to see it as a game.

Yet, she does none of this with me.

“Your shift is done for the night, then” She says, smiling cheekily at me as she hangs off of Fates shoulders from across the bar table. Most of the customers have finished up and are ordering nothing but refills on their drinks. “I have someone else helping me tonight, so you two can go do your little date.”

“Thank you.” I reply, and even I can hear how wooden my words sound as they come out. Fate is instead blushing a little as she throws Lucette off.

“To the night markets.” Fate says as I pull off my apron.

It bothers me how close the two are after only just meeting, but I don’t really know whether or not I should say something about it. I don’t really understand relationships, or how any of this stuff is meant to work. What relationship does Fate really want anyway?

Should we be acting like lovers? Like we’re married? Should we be getting jealous over things like this? I just don’t really know what to say or do about it all.

“Let’s go.” Fate says, pulling at my hand and leading us away. We’re both rather hungry since we haven’t had anything to eat, apparently the food stalls in the night markets are something to experience so it’s no good filling up before we get there. That’s what Lucette was telling us, at least.

“Do you know where we’re going?” I ask, squeezing her hand. She grabbed onto me so naturally, and while it’s hardly the most intimate thing we’ve done together, there’s a simple warmth in my chest at the casual nature of it.

“I checked it out beforehand.” She says. “I wanted to make sure that it was just you and me. I’m sure Sable is very nice, but I still want some time with just the two of us.”

“Me too.” I admit, relaxing a little. Sable is a strange person, and she’s easy to talk to because of how distant she is from me. I don’t need to worry that she’ll spread rumours or get a bad impression from my stories. Fate is different, I don’t want her to ever think badly of me.

“How were the places she showed you?” Fate asks. “Was there anything that caught your eye? Anywhere we should visit ourselves?”

“I can show you if you want.” I say, “It wasn’t that nice, the city is ugly no matter what angle you look at it from.”

“Hey now.” Fate stops me, “Don’t go saying things like that. There’s plenty of people who think this city is beautiful, I’m sure, and I know you’re just saying that because you haven’t looked at it in the right way.”

“You think it can compare to a beautiful mountain, or a lake?” I ask, thinking of those serene and beautiful landscapes. “I don’t believe you.”

“Oh?” Fate chuckles into her hand. “Let’s see what you think later on. I’m certain that you’ll see something that will change your mind.”

Her smirk comes alive in her eyes even if she covers her lips.

“Well, I wouldn’t really feel bad about being wrong.” I admit, following her into the crowds that are growing slightly more dense the further we go. “How much further?”

“Almost there.” She says, pulling me towards a gathering of floating lights. At first they seem like magic, like the spirit lights that infest swamps, but when we get closer I can see that they’re actually paper lanterns. Thousands of them, all glowing together to brighten the city streets.

Stalls are set up along both sides of the road, busy with many more customers. The laughter spreads from one person to the next, and a few people shout in disappointment as they fail at some game or another, yet it’s always with a smile.

The lantern light surrounds us from all angles, dispelling shadows before they can even be born. The warm colours spreading throughout the street, and to the people here with us.

There are still drinks and those who enjoy them, but there aren’t as many drunkards, and those few that I do see are exuberant rather than angry or depressed. What’s more, it doesn’t feel fake. There’s no layers of deception to be cut through, and the inevitable doom coming for us all seems to be genuinely forgotten about in the confines of these lights.

“This is the same every night.” Fate says. “It’s not some celebration that harkens the end of times. It’s just a place for people to come and enjoy themselves.”

She leads me over to a stand, buying something from the man there, tending to a cooking plate. The fried noodles he’s cooking are sizzling atop it, and the smell is intense, but quickly it’s drowned out as we step deeper into the party with our paper bowls and small meals.

There are entertainers that will occasionally march down the street, breaking through the crowd that gives way for them. A few men and woman walk on tall stilts skilfully moving about and playing with the crowd. Others are dressed in ridiculous costumes dancing and singing and twirling about.

Dozens of stalls sell cheap but colourful knickknacks, accessories that seem far nicer in the strange lights of the night markets. The merchants don’t even really seem to care about ripping people off, or anything the like, just enjoying their time here and talking to their customers.

We move from food stall to food stall, eating all sorts of strange things that I’ve never before seen or heard of. The foods are poor, but flavoured strong. If my head wasn’t floating in the clouds, it’d probably taste rather bad, in fact.

Fate is with me through it all, buying a strange wooden hair clip coloured lime green and vibrant orange. A gift that carries no value, but seems so much more meaningful right now than any gold or silver. The clashing colours filled with the same bright nature as the small world around us.

Fate sings when we pass by the marching musicians, and pulls me into a dance when the crowd clears enough for it. It’s nothing at all like the ballroom dances I once knew, the movements chaotic and made up on the spot.

Her smile brightened by the atmosphere around us, makes me forget my anxieties for a moment. The people around us no longer something to be feared, and the future a distant thing that we need not worry ourselves over.

As the night drags on, and the food stalls pack up one by one. The lights start to dim, and people head back to their homes.

The illusion fades, not disappearing fully yet, but waning.

In the shadows that are now visible, I can see tired eyes and grumpy expressions. People packing up their businesses, or wandering about in search of something they couldn’t find in the light.

“Let’s go to that place that Sable took you.” Fate says, her cheeks flushed red as she pulls me along, not knowing where it is that we’re going. She looks adorable, whether we stand in the light or the shadow.

I lead her the right way, and we stumble up the dangerous flight of stairs, using a borrowed paper lantern to light our path. While this is certainly more dangerous than it was in the day, I can feel none of it.

My head sits light on my shoulders as I walk up to the tallest lookout. Just earlier today, this sight disgusted me, a mottled brown stain upon natures beauty.

Now the browns are hidden in darkness, and warm reds and yellows ignite the town in a thousand pinpricks of light. The sparkling motes float on a sea of darkness, swimming slowly here and there as men and women walk the streets with their torches and lanterns.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Fate says. “Each one of these lights is a person, staying awake to help fight off the darkness. Each and every person here, is struggling to live on even as the ghost of day pulls them towards their beds.

“They’re struggling to maintain their imperfect lives.” Fate says, leaning against my side. “Isn’t it inspiring?”

I turn to look at her, and there in her eyes the lights shine ever the brighter. Gathered together in her twisted dreams, her delusions of a future and a present that I simply can’t believe in.

Reaching out a hand I pull her closer and take in the sight, my senses slowly returning to me. Even with a clear mind, I can still faintly see the beauty of this city as if seeing it through her eyes.

A beautiful lie.