By Yuli Atta
Ash didn’t fall from the sky.
I stood on the top of a
building in the middle of Elendel, my coat fluttering in the wind. My eyes were
watering because of the chilliness of the outside air, while I was perching on
the roof of the tall construction, trying to see as far ahead of me, as
possible.
This place had changed so much from my last visit. It seemed… normal
almost boring compared to the one in my memories. I remembered a time when the
city was called Luthadel and there was ash falling from the sky almost like
black snow. I could remember the streets being littered by beggars and hurt
skaa, but most of all, I could recall the cracking of the noblemen's whips when they decided
to punish the weaker race for standing in the
way, for begging or just for their mere existence.
The streets of Luthadel had
been full of fallen ash, nobody really knew why it had been this way, flowers, yellow sun and clear blue sky were as good as a myth
back then – a story of times long past. There was one
person in particular who used to carry a piece of paper with a flower on it – the last gift from his long-dead wife, that he had been holding on to
for years, trying to change the world. He didn't know that it was possible, I'm
not sure he even believed that flowers had existed but at the time he needed a
reason to keep his sanity and carry on living.
I looked over at the buildings
before me, the sun blinding me, making my eyes water even more. How could it be
sunny and so chilly at the same time? I could hear the strange noises of what
was called a 'train' – a massive metal thing that could carry people from one
place to another – it was a rather noisy kind of transportation if you asked
me. All I could think about was the waste of metal. During the old times, it would be saved for people would need it, when new
mistings were going to discover their gifts, they would need to ingest some
metal in order to give more power to their abilities.
The world had changed so much
during my absence, it was like a whole new era had arrived which is what had
happened during my three hundred years of absence, I guess. There was no more
ash on the streets and I'm pretty sure the people of the city would freak out
if they saw ash falling from the sky. They did not remember the times
when the sky was black and the sun red. There were no more skaa being beaten or killed in cold blood on the
streets. To be honest, I'm not sure anybody knew what a skaa was, people were
now so mixed up together that everybody probably had a bit of noble and skaa
blood in them. They
probably knew about their past, there were some statues of Vin and Elend, of
Kelsier and even Spook. They were known with different names now but I would always
remember them as the people who righted and saved the world.
All
forgotten now.
I wanted to know how they would
react if they could see it now after they fought for it so hard. There was
greenery, there were flowers and trees and sun, there wasn't any ash anymore
but beautiful flora, various fauna, like some kind of paradise. I couldn't help
but marvel at the beauty before me even with all of its imperfections. I knew
this world's story, after all. I knew how much it has gone through.
From my place on the rooftop in
the middle of Elendel I had the feeling that I could see the whole world – a pretty delusion but still. It was so beautiful, the new architecture,
the new technology and the people – with all their imperfections – they were
also beautiful. The terrifying old days when nobody could walk on the streets
without the fear of being killed for merely breathing the same air as the
nobles were over and what was even better now was that there were forces whose
job was to look after Elendel's citizens and protect them.
I sighed and turned my back on
this beautiful new world. It wasn't the world I knew, it was a better one, a
far safer one and I did not belong in it.
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