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Once upon a time, there was a beautiful red-haired native from the Brazilian Amazon named Noriaki. When he was born, the leaders of the Kakyoin tribe wanted to kill him while still in his mother’s arms, condemning his sickly pale skin and beautiful scarlet hair. The tribe chiefs labeled him “the cursed one.” Noriaki’s dad defended his unique, flame-haired son, a reminder of his late beloved. Despite others’ views, the boy was a beautiful curse to his father.
So Noriaki survived, flourished, befriended animals, and matured into a pretty boy—but now the new tribe leader Dyo mandated Noriaki’s marriage.
But Noriaki didn’t want to get married, he wanted to be free. Free to bathe in the river, to hunt and make friends with the animals of the forest, who somehow fell in love with him. Butterflies perched on his finger, dragonflies hovered in his hair, and fireflies lit up his porcelain skin even on the darkest of nights.
Nights like this one, dark as the mood between him and his father as they discuss the supposed marriage, their faces illuminated only by the flames of the bonfire lit in the middle of the hut. He insisted that Noriaki had to marry the woman of the tribe he chose and that would be a pride not only for him, but for the entire tribe.
Noriaki rejected the proposal; he had already seen others his age suffering at the hands of arranged partners; he didn’t want to end up like this. His only love was for the gods and nature; no one else had caught his eye and no one ever would.
The young man knew how much he loved nature and nature loved him. Beside the fire, a huge ant was wandering. Noriaki extended his finger and the insect climbed on, welcomed by the redhead’s love for animals.
It was the perfect distraction, preferring to focus on the insect rather than listen to his father insist on marriage. He was smart, knew he couldn’t defy or disrespect his father. His only alternative was to postpone the proposal, claiming that he was not ready for marriage and he needed to wait.
His father decided to give him the necessary time, although he insisted that a marriage would be the best choice for his future.
Noriaki didn’t think about it. Inside, he was relieved to have a little more time to think of what to do to escape the situation. He knows very well what’s happened to the others, lives taken by the chief of the tribe for going against his orders. Dyo is an executioner when it comes to disobedience.
Noriaki decided to just wait for his father to retire and go to sleep. For the young man, the night was not over yet. The fire remained lit, but lost its strength over time as there was no more wood to feed the flames.
The young man noticed the glow that illuminated the trees outside the hut and got up surreptitiously, taking advantage of the fact that his father was snoring softly. He looked up at the sky and smiled when he saw the halo between the treetops. He went to a secluded clearing and laid down, relaxing in the knowledge that his true love was nearby.
Noriaki didn’t want to be doomed to a marriage without feelings, his love was...
In the sky.
The halo was beautiful, refracting light in the night sky. Noriaki smiled as he beheld Jaci’s glow in the sky—an ethereal orb of white radiance when directly above and a warm, yellow hue when they grazed the horizon, transitioning through their different phases.
Noriaki groaned, looking up to the zenith and begged the god for help, asking them to save him from an arranged marriage and his desperate situation.
Layers of high clouds made room for the divine. The god Jaci materialized, leaving aside their spherical shape to become a being of intense light and elegant garments.
The moon transformed into a beautiful god with blue eyes, a body adorned with white details on his skin and a charming crown of feathers of the same color on their head. There was a star-shaped mark over their shoulder, beautiful and sparkling. Around them, the imposing halo accompanied them in whatever movement they made at the zenith.
The god glowed like a supernova; their voice brought comfort to Noriaki’s heart. The same heart that was desperate.
“I want you to take me with you, Jaci, away from here!” he asked, mesmerized by the god’s glow.
The wail was heard by Jaci, who floated uneasily at the zenith with the request. The god stopped through the stars, each one sparkling brighter with the divine presence. Jaci shook their head as Noriaki asked to run away.
From above, Jaci saw the young man’s desperate behavior. Noriaki was gripped by the anguish of not knowing what happens to those whose souls are snatched away to compose the starry night. Jaci didn’t want to tell, much less want that beautiful young redhead to join them so soon, even if Noriaki confessed to Jaci.
“I love only you, Jaci, take me!”
All the stars twinkled at once when Noriaki declared himself.
Jaci hovered in the west next to a constellation. “Despite your declaration of love, your place is among your people. You will be a noble and valiant man.” Jaci floated west, becoming yellow and less intense.
The boy blinked his eyes quickly and when he saw Jaci, they were already back to their spherical and yellowish form, almost disappearing among the treetops. Tears bubbled up in his eyes, feeling the longing. Time had passed, just as that night passed quickly and a new day arrived.
Not only a day, but days. Days he had to deal with tribe girls offering themselves to him. Girls who wanted him to propose, who wanted a marriage without romance. No! He knew that if he accepted his father’s request, he would never again be free, but a prisoner of a family he would never love! His heart twisted in rage as he thought once more of the women of the tribe. He endured the torturous days that passed, accumulating pain from everything, a misery to bear.
But one day, tired of so much anguish, he decided to wait for his beloved in the night. Noriaki saw them appear from behind a cloud. He felt too much as he looked toward the village and darted through the trees. His feet stomped hard on the ground, stones and dry branches hurting the soles of his feet. His eyes shone passionately, the stars twinkling through the trees; long red hair flying along with the few pieces of clothing.
A cloud crossed Jaci and dimmed their brightness for a moment, which made it difficult for Noriaki to see the obstacles in his path, and then a cloud of fireflies gathered next to him, illuminating the path of the young redhead running in search of his love.
Even with the fireflies lighting his way, Noriaki tripped over a vine on the ground and fell. His ankle was hurt and he groaned with the pain. When he looked up, he saw that Jaci had fallen asleep, the clouds covering them for good.
Noriaki’s eyes rolled down and he saw that he was at the edge of a river. Somehow he couldn’t run after his love and he crawled to the water. He washed his ankle and still looked up at the sky hoping to see Jaci, but saw only the big clouds and a few stars twinkling lost among them.
Since Jaci didn’t fulfill his wish, he had to clean himself up and tend to the wound on his ankle. He did this while still crying, both from pain and sadness. His anguish made him sleep right there, by the river, looking at the last stars in the sky, hoping someday to be chosen by Jaci as those stars were, because he would finally have his true love reciprocated.
He dreamed of this day, but woke up with reality poking him with the point of a spear. The redhead rubbed his eyes and contemplated the scariest sight he could have.
Dyo, the chief of the tribe, with a spear in hand.
“Why are you here?”
Noriaki lied about fetching water, but Dyo was suspicious. Both returned to the village together, but Noriaki realized that he needed to be careful with the chief, although he felt protected knowing that Jaci would be in the sky watching over him at all times.
Days passed and Noriaki had his time alone, each night going out to meet Jaci in the sky. He was more and more in love, even getting sad on nights when it was impossible to communicate with his beloved due to clouds or the phases. The day for him was torture, all the time being harassed by all the young women of the tribe; he just wanted the night to come to see his love, the women left aside for a god.
One day, Noriaki walked outside the tribe. He walked slowly through the trees as he saw the dusk. Needed to see Jaci again, needed the comfort of the most beautiful god and to see that colorful halo and star on their shoulder. Noriaki knew that soon he would be able to vent to Jaci when they appeared in the sky.
Noriaki saw through the branches of the trees the proud halo and the colors. Jaci was there. The halo in refraction was perfect in the sky, the circumference shining like the god’s light; Noriaki can see them transforming. He preferred to look around and see if there were no eyes on the lookout.
Empty. The young man escaped even further out of the village’s terrain, leaving to raise his head only when he was not being watched and only the sounds of the jungle accompanied him. Jaci’s light and the fireflies illuminated the path he took to the open field in the woods, it’s always there where he communicated with his love.
Again hidden among pieces of wood, he lay down and looked at the sky, this time he could see Jaci there. He finally has the free time to contemplate his love and vent about the time that is running out.
“Jaci, I’ll never be able to love someone else, I don’t know what else to do.”
The god paced among the stars, looking down at the redhead on earth. “Loving also means caring. What you have for the forest is valuable and noble, you fight for it every day, to protect those you respect so much and… I know your love for me.”
The stars twinkled brightly, the halo pulsed around the god, like a racing heartbeat the moment Noriaki asked if Jaci loved him too. Jaci didn’t want to break the redhead’s heart and didn’t answer him.
Jaci’s light, little by little, turned yellowish as they moved across the sky.
Bitterness hit Noriaki to the core, leaving him even more hurt by the absence of an answer. He was tired, it was all or nothing and he needed to shout it out to his beloved. “Jaci, I love you, take me with you!”
A rustle of footsteps on the soil made the redhead startle, as well as Dyo’s serious voice, who heard the whole conversation.
The redhead was at a loss for words. He didn’t know how to react when he saw Dyo standing, a bow and arrow in his hands. Heart pounding, he backed away. The head of the tribe approached.
“You disobeyed my orders, you curse.”
Curse. The words Noriaki heard in his entire life about him being cursed hurt him most when Dyo offended his greatest love.
“I don’t want any girl, I love Jaci and I want to spend the rest of my life with them!” The boy’s eyes turned to the sky. Jaci had returned to their round shape.
The chief lifted his bow and aimed an arrow at Noriaki. He fired it into a tree next to the redhead as a warning. “Your soul will never be a star, you are cursed!”
Noriaki backed up, but he was no stronger than Dyo, who fired another arrow blindly. He couldn’t face the boss, much less kill him, so he only had one option.
Run for his life. Running desperately through the forest, Noriaki was pursued by Dyo, the boss’s hatred motivating him, stopping only to aim his arrows at Noriaki.
Guided by Jaci’s light and fireflies illuminating his path, Noriaki tried to escape the many arrows. He was hit first in the arm, feeling pain rush through him but he continued to run.
Jaci didn’t respond, but he still expected them to guide him through the darkness he’d always lived in, looking up hopefully, his long red hair sweeping over his face. Jaci’s light almost faded through the trees again.
An arrow hit his thigh. He felt the blood trickling down and the pain intensifying, twisting down his legs. “Jaci, please save me!” He pleaded with his beloved.
Noriaki arrived at the riverside, cornered. Panting, he had just time to turn back when Dio’s arrow struck him in the abdomen.
Pain washed over him. His eyes dimmed, but his ears still caught Dyo’s words. “Goodbye, cursed one.”
Noriaki turned his back on the leader, facing the riverbed. He was delirious. His eyes saw Jaci’s reflection on the surface of the water and he smiled painfully when he thought Jaci had come to save him.
Noriaki’s blurred vision intensified his delirium as he ventured into ankle-deep water. His abdominal wound bled into the river, forming a crimson puddle. He pursued Jaci’s golden reflection, convinced his beloved had descended from heaven to save him. He held out a hand, eyes closing and each step being even more painful to bear. His arm raised towards the water, already washing the wounds on his body and covering him up to his chest. “Take me, my love—”
The last request was made with tears in lilac eyes, until the pain overcame Noriaki. The redhead collapsed into the river. His eyes turned to the sky, seeing Jaci’s golden image slowly fading. The pain numbed him for an instant and his eyes struggled to stay open as wide as possible to at least catch one last glimpse of his beloved as he felt his body burn.
“You came to save me, my love—” Contemplating the last image of Jaci in the sky and the stars twinkling brightly, synchronized, Noriaki died in the riverbed. His body floated, still clutching the arrow in his abdomen.
Jaci felt pity when saw the young man’s body, his red hair spread in the water with the blood. The god materialized in their human form, movements like a dance, especially when the star tattooed on their shoulder glowed. Each time they rescued a soul and turned it into a star, the mark sparkled.
And that’s why Jaci and Noriaki could never be together on earth. Jaci, the god, turned the souls of the dead into stars and if they promised Noriaki that they would stay together, it would have sealed the boy’s fate. Now it was too late.
A white aura descended towards the river, reaching the corpse. The god hovered over the water, the whole sky became dark, and it was only possible to see the stars twinkling together. The closer they got, the more Jaci felt their heart ache. Seeing Noriaki’s body made them feel compassion.
The god touched the hair of their beloved, their light illuminating all the water in the river. “My feelings are the same for you, but I’m sorry. Your sweetness and love enchanted me deeply, but we were destined to be forbidden. I didn’t respond to your love in life, but it’s in death that I come to seek it.”
Noriaki’s body dipped into the river, suddenly being taken over by branches that sprouted from within random parts of its flesh. A green stem reached to the surface, sprouting small leaves, which surrounded his dead body. The round-shaped leaves grew to their fullest, floating in the water. The others also grew, squeezing between the first one that appeared, and soon the entire area around Noriaki’s corpse was surrounded by these giant leaves, causing the body to disappear under the water; flesh and bones already broken and giving way to the most beautiful green leaves. Only the bloodstain remained in the water, tinged green and red even in Jaci’s light.
Jaci created a white flower that sprouted from the red water. When the god noticed there was no regret on Dyo’s part, they punished the chief by cursing him with eternal sleep. Afterwards, they took Noriaki’s soul with them; making him become a star, the brightest and that would always be by their side.
Throughout the nights, both contemplated eternity, as the Kakyoin tribe disappeared and new Amazonian civilizations emerged; those in the future descended from the Kakyoin named Jaci as Jotaro, or moon.
The love between them is eternal, represented by the beautiful Amazonian flower called Water Lily, or Vitória Régia in the native language of the region, which only blooms when Jaci is in the sky next to the star Noriaki.
Even in the tragic circumstances, Jaci, or Jotaro, and the star Noriaki promised to be together every night, lighting up the world as they lived happily ever after.
