It is a common belief that money brings happiness and success brings satisfaction. That if one has both of them you are living the dream. But if it really were so, then why do I feel unhappy and dissatisfied. I have a nice house and a stable job, yet why do I feel as if I have nothing of real value. What is it that I am missing? He pondered as he walked towards the park with a bag of chocolate cookies in hand which were his favorite.
Like a robot he auto piloted to a lonely bench in between two oak trees, completely ignoring the world around him. It was a bad habit of his to just lock himself in his head and become ignorant of the world.
Having reached his destination, he sat down on the lonely bench, far from the noisy streets and blessed by the tree’s leaves soothing whispers. It was the perfect place for someone like him, who wished out from the hectic city life every now and then.
His shoulders dropped down, legs spread far and arms stretched as his body relaxed. Back to reality his eyes regained focus and moved from one side to the other contemplating nature. He reached out to the bag of cookies, opened it, took the first cookie his hands sensed and moved it towards his mouth, all of it done automatically as if it was second nature for him.
The tree’s leaves danced through the wind to the rhythmic crunchy sound that came off his mouth as he tore through the cookie’s crispy crust and reached its soft chocolatey core. Cleansed by the sweetness of the cookies, his mind trailed off into memories from times past. Back to the days where life was simple and all he knew was his house, his neighborhood and school. Back then in his childhood days, when his world was but a speck of dust to the true vastness of the world. When the thought of venturing into the unknown thrilled him.
I was born too early for space travel and too late to explore the world like the conquistadors or explorers from yore.
His head lowered, such thoughts always drowned his mood for a couple of seconds before recovering with a “it is what it is, nothing I can do about it”.
Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he noticed something, it was but a single page with jagged edges and filled with wrinkles. Almost as if someone had forcibly tore it apart from a book.
Confused, he stared at it. That was not there when I came here. He thought as he focused solely on the page. It was unsettling, yet it kept his full attention. As if he was under a spell his shaky hands moved without his consent, grabbed the page and brought it in front of his eyes. Unable to fight this seemingly all powerful compelling force, he read through its contents.
Book of Fable, Character Chapter 5 Fale The Perfectly Imperfect Android.
Fale, the magnum opus of the father of all androids, Alan. An android that is both perfect yet imperfect at the same time. Despite being a machine it was made so it would be almost human. Capable of emotions, of love, considerations, trickery and trust. It was considered to be a living being while at the same time not being one, it was truly a one of a kind existence.
A soul resided within providing it with life, while its body remained that of a machine powered by the most advanced technology known to the world. One proved to be unmatched even as time passed.
Created from Alan’s desire for a child, crafted after the image of what his daughter would have been were she ever born. Silky white hair, delicate face, petit mouth and slender porcelain-like body like that of his wife, Jane. Round sapphire-like blue eyes, slightly pointy nose and a look of determination like those of Alan.
Having lost his daughter once already, both Alan and Jane took it upon themselves that this new child of theirs would be completely safe from all harm even if it meant caging her in their home while also implementing her android’s body with the perfect means for defense in the event worse came to happen.
Fale grew like a human child should, showered by her parents' love and care. Life was good and she had plenty of cookies to devour when she was hungry, but there was an ish she couldn’t ignore. Compelled by the stories told to her by one of the selected few who came into their home, her uncle Jonathan told her.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Jonathan was Alan’s best friend, they’ve known each other since a young age and have gone through many adventures together. He worked as a sort of informant for Fale’s family and kept them in the know for the events occurring outside. He would always visit on the 10th and 20th day of each month religiously. Ever since Fale’s family decided to live secluded from the world, Jonathan has never skipped a visit.
He would tell Fale many stories, some of them of a forest with trees so high they reached the clouds, called world trees and the single biggest tree that towered over the other world trees, the Universal Tree. The land the forest occupied was so massive that it covered a third of the entire continent’s landmass and served as the homeland for all elves and giants.
Fantasies of visiting the many branch islands situated on the world trees’ branches engulfed her mind. However, those were not the only amazing places that laid outside her home. There was a sea of never-ending starlight called the Starry Ocean, where it was always night and the reflection of the stars carried their cosmic energy. So much so that if one was graced by it they would suffer intense radiation that would 9 out of 10 times result in death.
The Convergence of the Element, a gathering place for spirits of all elements, sizes and forms. A unique location where fire intertwined with water, earth floated around carried by the wind and lightning. Light and darkness coexisted. It was a place where the elements and their spirits were in harmony. Spirit Kings gathered there once a year to determine the future of their race, holding the Elemental Host.
The Reverse Continent, a continent that is upside down. Like a joke played by gravity on this world, the mass of land was actually separated from the planet. True to its name it had a soft plain surface facing towards the planet’s core and a rocky mountain-y back facing towards space. However, the land was not simply just reversed but gravity there was reversed as well, it was a phenomena found only there.
Facing only the planet’s core, night was not known there and so the conditions for life were extremely harsh, which allowed for only the most bizarre, dangerous and cunning creatures to inhabit there.
Aetern, the name of the planet Fale lived in, has many more intriguing places such as the Underground Castle, Heavenly Mountain and Hellish Crater to name a few. They were all in her plan-to-visit list albeit they weren’t at the top.
Thanks to her constant persuasion and a bit of a push from uncle Jonathan, she managed to convince her parents to finally let her set out on an adventure and explore the world outside. However, as the loving and overprotective parents they were, they set conditions for Fale to meet if she wished to go outside.
She needed to learn how to defend herself and to reach maturity, that is to reach 18 years old.
Time went by and countless combat machines were discarded until the fateful day came. In front of the thick iron door which looked more like a bank’s safe door, her lips arched from ear to ear, eyes shone brightly, white low bun bobbed unceasingly matching its rhythm with her magical core that pulsed fast like an excited heart.
Finally, the day had come, her journey into the unknown would start. Before leaving, she ran a last minute check on herself. She readied her black puffy shirt, making sure it was tucked nicely under her gray shorts.
She tapped and nudged the twin swords that hung on each side of her waist to make sure they wouldn't fall off in the future.
The sword to her left had a black blade that gradually turned gray as it reached its blade and the sword on her right had a white blade that just like the other one gradually turned gray. Each sword looked as if it were the half of a sword and if put together they could be one.
However, they were anything but regular swords. Each one served a purpose and it was to amplify Fale’s unique abilities. Both swords had thick blades and hollowed edges in an “U” shape.
The black sword enhances Fale’s ability to release energy, allowing her to give her blade a sharp edge materialized from pure raw energy or use it to discharge a powerful energy wave. This feature gave it its name of Repulsion.
Contrary to Repulsion the white sword enhances Fale’s ability to absorb energies and store it. Absorption is its name due to how it assists Fale directly absorb magic and turn it into usable energy.
Having finished her last minute preparations the door opened as it made way to a purple-ish blinding ray of light prompting her to step outside if she wished to uncover that which lay ahead.
She took her first steps outside and stared with eyes opened wide and mouth wider. She was standing in the middle of a forest, however, just like most places in this world it wasn’t the type of forest you are used to seeing on Earth. The trees’ leaves were almost transparent, purple in color and looked as if they were stained glass rather than leaves.
Electricity ran through her body and an empowering fierce wave assaulted her soul.
“This is it! The start of my adventure!” She said as the door behind her closed. However, before she continued moving forwards she suddenly came to a halt.
“Huh!?”