My Fallen Kingdoms
"Hello, Teacher, tell me, what's my lesson?
Look right through me,
Look right through me."
--Tears for Fears; Mad World
He was glad the Relic still stood untouched.
If he was honest with himself, Renne didn't want to leave this place -- even as a memorial to the dead, it was his place. His solace, his one place no one could find nor damage nor take away.
The taint of insanity didn't exist here.
The fickle shadows of Human behaviour didn't matter here.
With the same reverence as in years past, Renne stayed within the little glen, exploring every nook and cranny. He knew its every inch but it didn't matter -- the earth smelled and felt different here.
The water crashing from above roared the same, constant roar and the black stone remained smooth. Renne's mind drifted back to the ancient days when he could stand upright. When he was stronger and untainted by the falls of disloyalty or even the tears of tragedy.
He dreamed.
-----------------
"You are not here. Where are you?"
There was nothing under his feet but sand and bone-dust. There was nothing above him -- no sky, no stars, no clouds, no sun, no moon. There was no breeze and no sound but his voice.
It didn't even echo.
"Where are you?"
He walked in this land. Like he used to, upright, straight and even tall. Like he used to be, he stood six feet and bore the grace as his hips rolled with each step. The land was flat, barren and utterly featureless. It was not a place he immediately recognised until Renne walked nearly a mile.
A long mile and many more lay around him, stretching in all directions.
It stood out on the landscape like a single tooth out of a dead mouth and he knew what that was without having to see it. Tall things in flat landscapes often changed the wind, changed the air. Changed the *feel* of the land beneath his feet.
The Tower promised refuge like it did before.
It was familiar as a welcome friend, beckoning him to come for tea. It was strange too, quiet and forbidding as it whispered of perfect isolation.
Isolation and a cup of tea.
He walked, striding toward the thing, listening and smelling the land around him. Renne had to, several times, turn and adjust his direction. Several times, he went right past the thing and when he finally ran face-first into it, he nearly wept.
This time around, "his" tower did not stand completely alone. His ears perked as they caught wind of a new, invading sound.
Around the tower, on the left, water sloshed and the drenched sound was identified.
It was a masonry sponge.
"Bob, hand me that, will you?"
What in...?
He rounded the corner; left hand trailing expertly along the rough stone. A pair of Human men turned their heads up in utter confusion. One smelled of tobacco and the other smelled of lye and stone dust.
The men stared at him, then without a word, picked up their buckets and walked away.
Renne didn't call after them.
The tower beside him stood firm and when he searched, found the one entryway, the tower admitted him inside its darkness.
--------------
Renne screamed himself awake.
He knew the dream from once in years past and shuddered. The days inside his tower were days he had never spoken of, even voluntarily remembered. What was there to remember?
Solitude?
Tea with shadows and ghosts?
The tower still stood but unlike the Relic here, it was unprotected and exposed to the elements. By now, Renne figured, it'd be little more than a ruin somewhere far to the North-West of here. It wasn't someplace he visited.
He left its ghosts to lie.
As Renne turned to take leave of his place, he questioned whether or not he ought to. He questioned what he had left to go back to -- he doubted any would wait for him.
The precedent was set for that already.
Still, there were those few left out there. He thought of them and wept as he parted from the one place no one in this Multiverse could touch.
"Hello, Teacher, tell me, what's my lesson?
Look right through me,
Look right through me."
--Tears for Fears; Mad World
He was glad the Relic still stood untouched.
If he was honest with himself, Renne didn't want to leave this place -- even as a memorial to the dead, it was his place. His solace, his one place no one could find nor damage nor take away.
The taint of insanity didn't exist here.
The fickle shadows of Human behaviour didn't matter here.
With the same reverence as in years past, Renne stayed within the little glen, exploring every nook and cranny. He knew its every inch but it didn't matter -- the earth smelled and felt different here.
The water crashing from above roared the same, constant roar and the black stone remained smooth. Renne's mind drifted back to the ancient days when he could stand upright. When he was stronger and untainted by the falls of disloyalty or even the tears of tragedy.
He dreamed.
-----------------
"You are not here. Where are you?"
There was nothing under his feet but sand and bone-dust. There was nothing above him -- no sky, no stars, no clouds, no sun, no moon. There was no breeze and no sound but his voice.
It didn't even echo.
"Where are you?"
He walked in this land. Like he used to, upright, straight and even tall. Like he used to be, he stood six feet and bore the grace as his hips rolled with each step. The land was flat, barren and utterly featureless. It was not a place he immediately recognised until Renne walked nearly a mile.
A long mile and many more lay around him, stretching in all directions.
It stood out on the landscape like a single tooth out of a dead mouth and he knew what that was without having to see it. Tall things in flat landscapes often changed the wind, changed the air. Changed the *feel* of the land beneath his feet.
The Tower promised refuge like it did before.
It was familiar as a welcome friend, beckoning him to come for tea. It was strange too, quiet and forbidding as it whispered of perfect isolation.
Isolation and a cup of tea.
He walked, striding toward the thing, listening and smelling the land around him. Renne had to, several times, turn and adjust his direction. Several times, he went right past the thing and when he finally ran face-first into it, he nearly wept.
This time around, "his" tower did not stand completely alone. His ears perked as they caught wind of a new, invading sound.
Around the tower, on the left, water sloshed and the drenched sound was identified.
It was a masonry sponge.
"Bob, hand me that, will you?"
What in...?
He rounded the corner; left hand trailing expertly along the rough stone. A pair of Human men turned their heads up in utter confusion. One smelled of tobacco and the other smelled of lye and stone dust.
The men stared at him, then without a word, picked up their buckets and walked away.
Renne didn't call after them.
The tower beside him stood firm and when he searched, found the one entryway, the tower admitted him inside its darkness.
--------------
Renne screamed himself awake.
He knew the dream from once in years past and shuddered. The days inside his tower were days he had never spoken of, even voluntarily remembered. What was there to remember?
Solitude?
Tea with shadows and ghosts?
The tower still stood but unlike the Relic here, it was unprotected and exposed to the elements. By now, Renne figured, it'd be little more than a ruin somewhere far to the North-West of here. It wasn't someplace he visited.
He left its ghosts to lie.
As Renne turned to take leave of his place, he questioned whether or not he ought to. He questioned what he had left to go back to -- he doubted any would wait for him.
The precedent was set for that already.
Still, there were those few left out there. He thought of them and wept as he parted from the one place no one in this Multiverse could touch.