Knell
A light breezed stirred through the warm air that evening, offering a touch of relief to those caught out within it. The sun seemed to light the sky alight, the normally bashful blue seemed to be burning now . . . the sun looking like it was bleeding as it sank down into the horizon, vanishing from view as its sister moons began to follow the track of their day brother, ascending from the opposite side of the world. With the seemingly bleeding sun, and the sky that looked to be on fire, the surrounding scenery seemed to be bathed in the color of orangeāeverything looked as if it had been dyed the color to some degree.
Night was falling, and the world was beginning to follow suit. With the sun beginning to sink into bed, people were following its lead, heading for home, to prepare for the coming of darkness, as they always did. People walked passed, women, children, men, whole families. . . . Chattering away, smiling and laughing, speaking to their loved ones as they always did, living their mundane and normal lives, unaware of the happenings within the lives of the other around them. The world to them was what they saw, encountered, and did. Life revolved around the happenings they endured, and their families. It was as simple as that. . . .
So, of course they couldnāt have known anything about those they were walking past, save catching the tail end of a sentence, or a laugh. The only things they were the fragments of the conversations of others, tiny bits of detail that pertained to their lives, small things which would be forgotten soon enough anyway.
It was this sort of scene that a certain young mermaid found herself wandering about in. Whilst everyone around her knew where it was they were going, their destinations were at hand . . . she herself was but a mere drifter, her end unknown. All the people walking about were peaceful and content. The happy enough looks upon their faces could not have been more opposite of the one upon her features if effort was put forth. No, the expression playing itself out over her face was one of panic, worry, and fear. Her movements were frantic, uncertain and haphazardāshe moved about, darting between people, around them, and doing her best to make advancement against the flow of the crowd in her hesitant progression. Where it was she was going, she had utterly no idea.
Where . . . was she?
āTch, wonderful work Knell, I told you to watch yourself or else youād go and get lost again.ā A flash of annoyance flittered across the girlās face as she continued to try to make some progress against the crowd.
āCanaan, I so do not desire hearing a lecture at the moment. I know that I will be receiving one from Echo already, so you do not need to go and provide one.ā
āNo matter what she says to you, you still never listen. . . .ā
A sigh escaping her throat, Knell moved in and out of peopleās paths, doing her best to not cause anyone too much inconvenience as she tried to find her way. Canaan was in one of his moods today it seemed, whether the boy had a body of his own or not, he sometimes acted as if heād woken up on the wrong side of the bed. āYes, yes, I know Canaan, I never listen, nor do I learn. I am but a simple glutton for punishment, because no matter what I am told, I still somehow manage to wind up doing the same things over and over again . . . need I go on brother?
Inside that teal-colored head of hers, Knell heard the boy scoff and laugh once at what she had responded with, he didnāt say anything else, but remained quiet. It seemed as if what Knell had gone and said did the trick, and got him off her back for the moment. Maybe now she could at least concentrate and make some attempt in finding her way back to the inn . . . or finding Echo in the crowd. If Canaan decided to keep himself quiet of course.
Oh yes . . . it depended upon what he felt like doing. Though he and Knell had shared the same body, the same physical anchor to the world for the whole of their lives, Knell still got irked with her brother as if they were sharing separate bodies. Inside of that head of hers, the two still had their funny little brother-sister spats as siblings did. Of course, that was something that would only ever be known to the two of them . . . and whomever, Knell deemed worthy of knowing her rather odd secret, and state of being. But then, how many people would she go around telling? And even if she did, how many people would even believe her? To most, hearing a girl say that she had the soul of another person trapped within her sounded like hogwash, mere insanity . . . then for her to go and say that it was the soul of her stillborn twin brother.
Yes . . . it sounded like utter lunacy, yet, by some weird happening, it was not. Something strange had occurred at the time of Knellās birthing, when Canaan had failed to enter the world alive, and his soul had become bound to the world through her body. Neither he nor Knell understood why events had played out as they had, why it was they were made to live in her body. . . .
But those were things they would probably never know. Questions about their current state were ones that may never be answered, after all, it wasnāt as if brothers and sisters becoming bound together in the same piece of flesh was a common occurrence.
As she moved, the girl somehow managed to prevent tripping over her own two feet . . . until she made it to the edge of side of it all, her foot caught on the back of her other leg, and she went down, pulling many things down with her as she hit the ground outside of what appeared to be a tavern. A shriek came from her throat as it happened. She created quite a large commotion and causing several people to stop and stare at the sight and the girl who was to blame for it all.