Chapter Text
At noon, the chiming sound of the enormous clock at the iconic tower stated in the middle of the town could be heard throughout the whole place called “Daybreak town”. The sound combined with the light purple sky was like a lullaby inviting everyone to take a nap. At this time of the day, the bazaar was quite empty unlike in the morning or the evening. However, a few groups of kids could be seen wandering around the place or crossing the bridge to the other side of the town. It was another peaceful day.
With a sigh, Ventus was leaning on the wall near the bazaar while he watched other kids having fun with their friends. Some of them were just hanging out and some were heading out of town. After a while, he sighed again and squatted down. His short blond hair was softly blown by the wind that carried pink flower petals from the mountain located near the town with it.
With an unreadable face, he said “Today, I still cannot find a party.” Then he stood up and walked away from the spot. Seeing other kids around his age running and chatting with friends made him jealous. Ventus shook his head to chase the thought away and left the place. However, something caught his eyes before he could go.
“A telescope?” He quickly ran to admire a telescope behind the glass showcase of the shop nearby. It was a perfect telescope. Its gorgeous golden tube, the red-wooden tripod, knobs that were carefully made, and the crystal clear lens fully grabbed Ventus’ attention. The boy loved stargazing. He heard that those stars in the sky were actually other worlds that he had never been before. He wanted to see those worlds with his own eyes even though he did not know whether the story was true. Actually, he could not remember who told him about this.
“Are you interested?” Ventus startled when he heard the question from an old man with kind wrinkled face and slightly bended back.
“I..I’m sorry!” Ventus said.
“Haha no need to be sorry. You are interested in this, right? Wanna come in?” the old man invited Ventus.
‘Oh..He probably is the shopkeeper.’ Ventus thought while blowing his mouth before following the man into the store.
The store was full of weird and old stuff scattering everywhere. The old shopkeeper unlocked the window showcase and carefully took the telescope out then placed it on the floor.
“Come on. Take a look. But don’t touch the tripod. It still needs to be fixed.”
“Huh? is it ok to put it on sale?”
“I was asked to repair it but the owner never came back for it. So I put it up hoping the owner would see it and take it back, but it has been ages already. That’s why it is always there. Moreover, I still need to fix the tripod from time to time.” The man explained.
“Haha if you touch only the tube then it’s fine.”
Hearing that, Ventus decided to touch the tube and looked through the eyepiece. He finally looks like a child of his age when he listened to instructions of how to use the telescope from the old man.
After chatting for quite a long time, the shopkeeper decided to give Ventus old astronomy books he had.
“Feel free to drop by anytime you want.,” he said.
Ventus picked up books from the shopkeeper’s table but he still could not take his eyes off the telescope and kept looking back at it. The shopkeeper did not need to guess the reason.
“You want to have it, don’t you?”
“Eh? No! I’d love to have it but it belongs to someone else.” Ventus strongly refused.
“Hmm if you pay for it, you can have it, boy. This old friend has stayed here for too long and there is no sign of the owner. It’s better to be with someone who likes and appreciates its value,” said the old man.
“That’s the purpose of an antique shop.”
“I don’t have that much money…” Ventus answered with a shaky voice and lowered his head.
“It’s not that expensive. You are the ‘wielders’ right? Maybe you can make money out of one of your missions.” The old man said with a kind smile on his face.
“That’s right!” Ventus replied and smiled at him.
“Ah the sky...” As Ventus looked out of the window, he could see that the sky had changed its color to orange. Purple clouds were painted with pale orange indicating that the evening had come. It should be around 4 – 5 pm by now.
“Is that so? Then do you wanna watch me fix the tripod before leaving?” the owner asked as he brought a tool box and a wooden box out from behind the back door. He delicately put the wooden box close to the telescope. When the owner opened it, Ventus could see that it actually was a padded box especially made for containing something but nothing was inside.
The owner opened the tool box after he sat down and started fixing the tripod right away. After a while, he finally placed the repaired telescope into the padded box and handed to Ventus.
“Eh?!”
“I fixed it for you. I was gonna let you pay at first, but I kinda like you, boy.”
“but…but about the money…”
“It’s ok. You can pay me later. If it’s possible, I’d like you to stop by once in a while. I’d be happy. You are lonely too, aren’t you?”
“I…..” Ventus said while scratching his head.
“Is this really ok?”
“Of course. I’ll have someone to chat with and you, boy, I guess you don’t have any friend. But as a good boy like you, I know that you can find a good one in no time for sure.” The owner said with a smile.
After a moment, Ventus smiled back. He then realized that the sky was getting dark so he said goodbye to the owner and promised that he would often visit him. Ventus picked up the telescope box and books then returned to his room with a delightful face. This was the first time that he had a nice conversation with someone since he had come to this town.
He hoped that tomorrow he could find a nice party and some good friends.
Yes, he would.
The innocent boy happily walked along the road with the box in his hand as the lights on the road lighting up. Many people returned to their places. The night crept into town. When the boy stepped forward beyond the light, his silhouette was engulfed by darkness.