Crown of Thorns

Time passed and the boy came back. In the meantime I have not neglected to follow the boy while preparing to teach him. It was to prepare for a possible event. Fortunately, there has been no change yet. What has changed is that the boy in my memory comes more often than the boy now. Besides if I remember correctly, the boy in my memory has been visiting steadily, but not by these short intervals of time. Because he grew a little more every time he came.

The boy’s voice tickled my ear as I compared the boy in memory with the boy in front of me.

“Hi.”

I think I misheard the boy, and when I look at him, he turns his eyes from me and walks closer to me.

“Long time no see.”

The boy’s voice went on and I realized that I didn’t hear him wrong. And I could barely accept the greeting with a nod.

“Yes. Long time no see.”

Of course, I knew what he had been through, whom he had met and what he had been hurt by as I followed him, but the boy did not know that so he must’ve thought we were meeting after a long while.

A quiet time passed after greeting. The boy seemed as awkward as I was. I thought I would laugh out loud, so I bit my lips. A warrior who says hello to a witch and a witch who welcomes such a warrior. It’s certainly a strange picture. It was something I had never seen in any fairy tale book.

I stared at the boy who was looking at the books for no reason. Still squatting.

As I approach him, he turns his head and looks at me. One of the two arms on his knee is tapping the book. Human time is still fast, so he seems a little more mature than before.

I thought he was the same, but he wasn’t. He’s bigger than I’ve seen him be before. The new boy’s time, which I don’t feel all the same, has gone as far as it could. Maybe it’s because he was in his growing phase.

“Did you find a name for me?”

“Estevan.”

“Did you really name me?”

Wasn’t he the one who asked me to come up with a name for him? Why is he so surprised now? Somehow, I felt like a fool taking all that time to think hard about his new name. But the idea quickly disappeared. It was because the boy’s face began to show signs of joy.

“Estevan, Estevan…”

He kept repeating it either because he liked it or he was trying to get used to it, and I suddenly thought of smiling. But the thought quickly disappeared. Because his eyes met with me. He turned his head and didn’t seem to know what to say, seeing that his eye rims were turning red he must be feeling embarrassed. Just as my feelings returned, the boy seemed to gradually retain his composure.

“I’ll call you Evan for short.”

Evan nods at my words. Then he immediately asked the question.

“But what does it mean?”

“The crown of victory.”

Evan’s mouth drops open at my answer. It looked like a smile to me as the corners of his mouth went up, but he quickly came back to his original look. Without realizing it, I smiled and quickly shook it off. When I see the lovely little child, I smile like a proud mother. I think I know what it is.

I lifted the book, thinking it was fortunate that it was dark here. I was about to start teaching but Evan’s question blocked me.

“What’s the witch’s name?”

I was expecting this question, so I answered it right away.

“Witch.”

“What’s your name, I said?”

“I don’t have one.”

I also lost my name a long time ago. I thought Evan would understand, but he’s starting insist again and again. I can’t stand it.

“I don’t want to call you a witch. Tell me your name.”

I opened my mouth countless times.

“Nyx.”

“Nyx. I get it. I’ll call you that from now on.”

Evan nodded with a look of satisfaction. I was relieved at heart that I was glad I had thought it over. When Evan was named, I thought this reaction would come back somehow, so I named myself again. My original name was lost a long time ago, so I thought it would be better to rename the witch just like the young warrior.

Evan kept muttering to memorize his name. I sat facing the boy and opened the book. I planned to teach the theory first and then have him learn it slowly. But my words were interrupted again by Evan’s question.

“You’re going to teach me here?”

“Then where do I teach you?”

“I mean… Wouldn’t it be a priority to clean up for now?”

Evan’s red eyes roamed the place. The dark and dirty insides of the tower caught my eye. Everywhere his red gaze swept over was just dark, dirty, and dainty. Only the books were neatly placed on a fine cloth.

I put the book down again. As Evan said, teaching in such a place seemed problematic. I’ve never cleaned up since I got trapped in the tower. Everything was rotting away and left untouched until it eventually disappeared. It was because I thought it would be like that, too. There was no reason to be clean and wait for the warrior.

Of course, I remembered the shape of the tower after the boy in my memory cleaned it. I remembered a boy who was removing spider webs, sweeping away rotten blood and dusting off the floor. I sat down in front of him, swept the floor with my fingers, and looked at Evan, who frowned at the sight of it coming out black. Evan’s house was no different. Despite losing my sense of smell when I followed him though darkness, it was a mess that I could see. I couldn’t understand trying to clean this place up while keeping his still.

“Let’s clean up, clean up.”

Evan rose up and moved busily. He wrapped the books on the floor in the fine cloth and put them on the table, found a stick that he couldn’t even grasp what it was originally, and began to remove the cobwebs. Until then, he didn’t forget to grumble at me sitting still.

“Don’t just sit still, get up and help me. This is too dirty. I don’t want to be this dirty because I have to keep coming.”

It was clear that he would continue to come. It was only natural as he was being taught by me, but I didn’t know why I was so happy to hear him say it, I barely controlled my expression. I also have recollections of myself waiting for the boy in my memory, wondering whether he’d come or not. I pushed him away then, but I won’t do that anymore.

I got up and swept the floor. It was something I could easily do with my own power. Evan stopped cleaning the cobwebs and came close to watch what I did. He was amazed to see something like a dark fog pushing black water away from the floor.

“It’s really comfortable. It’s so nice, but why do you think always think of it as a bad thing?”

“It’s human beings who don’t see it well, no matter how good these powers are, if they can’t have them for themselves, they’ll condemn the people who do.”

“In Nyx’ eyes, humans must look so foolish.”

The water collected on the floor gathered in one place and eventually pushed down the stairs. The sound of water going down the stairs rang out. A ceaseless echo resonated by walls that were blocked without a single window. The stairs were very long and I didn’t know when the water would finish its flight. Suddenly Evan spoke to himself as if he was worried.

“I have to go out those stairs. What if they get filled with water all the way down?”

“That won’t happen.”

“Oh, so it’s not a difficult thing for Nyx. But what the hell is that? Is it leaking?”

Evan looked alternately at the remaining marks on the floor and the ceiling. I didn’t want to answer, so I changed the subject.

“Are you done with the spider webs?”

“Ah right.”

Evan hurried back to clearing the cobwebs. I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn’t know how he would react I were to tell him that it was my blood. It was a real headache. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice and I took a breath. Evan was walking towards the curtains.

“It’s too dark to see, so let’s pull the curtains first.”

I hurried up and grabbed his hand. A stream of light leaked through the curtains and shone on Evan’s white face. I looked at the transparent hair and eyelashes, the big red open eyes for a moment. The expression “this boy is really beautiful” suits him well.

“Why, what’s wrong? But first, when did you get here? You were definitely standing there…”

Evan raised his finger and pointed to where I had just been standing. The light that leaked through the curtains was hanging down to there. The dirty and messy floor caught my eye. It also looked like a bridge that separates the darkness.

“I hope you don’t touch the curtain.”

“It’s too dark and soggy here. It’s very bright and warm outside, so you’ll feel much better just by pulling the curtains.”

Even after hearing Evan’s words, I couldn’t let go of his hand, which I held onto steadily. I know it’s bright and warm outside. That’s why I’m not confident to face it. I’m not ready to see the brilliant, dazzling sun and leave the gray shadows I grew comfortable in.

“Isn’t it because of the dark nature of Nyx? You’re weak against the sun? Or does it make it hard for you to use your strength without the cover of darkness?”

He had a worried look on his red eyes. He was looking straight at me with his eyebrows furrowed. Evan’s affinity was light and was most prominent under the sun. Not only was it good for his education, but in fact, for Evan, darkness was not so good. He wouldn’t feel too comfortable in here. This was the tower of the witch which did not betray a single ray of light.

Nevertheless, Evan worried about me first, so I let go of him. I used to think that I shouldn’t feel alive under the sun because I have to die anyway, but not anymore. I thought it would be nice to let myself feel alive for once. That feeling won’t last forever anyway, and I’ll be laid to rest before the boy does.

“No, it doesn’t matter.”

“Then can I pull the curtains off?”

I nodded slowly and Evan pulled them on my permission.

Light seeped into the tower and lit up its interior. The insides of the tower, which had long since been covered with darkness, began to fill with warmth. The dead interior was filled with life. Light seeped into this place trapped in the past and created the future. I felt still as the white, red, yellow and transparent sun came out and stroked my space. Light pierced through my eyelids even as I closed my eyes.

The sun permeated into the reluctant tower just like the young warrior whom I had refused to let into my heart, but he still found his place in it.

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T/N : The name Estevan indeed means what the witch said and is of Spanish origin. It’s considered a variated form of Stephen.