Work Text:
one day, during a loud evening, in a crowded tavern, a young and cheerful boy took seat in a remote corner. he just sat there for some time, doing absolutely nothing, then, as if possessed, the boy introduced himself:
“hello hello dear gentlemen and ladies, i’m Amanises and in this fated and magical night, i’m going to be your entertainer and storyteller, so please do not fret and take place near me to listen to the story”
After his short introduction, without warning, the boy started talking in tongues, no one apparently knew the language he was talking.The synesthesia beacons started buzzing and humming in the heads of the audience, but everyone understood the meaning and started looking at the scene in a daze.
everything started to change shape, form, color, and a faint sound of a childish laughter mixed with a little bell, stage lights of mixed colors appeared and illuminated the storyteller, who now appeared as a masked youth full of vitality, sorrow, despair and joy.
…one day , a long time ago, in a distant place a young teen ran through his home-village, a place located in a little valley amongst the tallest of mountains, on the surface of a little blue-green planet.
there was a little fella who had an hobby, he really liked to make people laugh, and fortunately fate gave him the ability to do so. to an almost unnatural degree he could make everyone's stomach hurt from laughing , from the stern mayor of the village, the sad accountant of the grocery shop, to the little children who were tired after playing all around.
The youth one day came back home, only to find that his mother, whom he loved dearly, was in the middle of a fight with her neighbor over a gallon of milk, and saw her beaten to a pulp. The youth understood in that moment that the ability to make one laugh could not solve every problem and decided that he would help his mother with their daily expenses and alleviate her financial struggles.
And so he did, he took off without a second of hesitation and went to the nearest circus, which were very popular at the times, there was not much technology and even less so dedicated to entertainment, the ringleader asked:
“boy what can you do for this circus that no one in this place already can’t?”
and the boy answered:
“i don’t know what i can do for this place, but i know for sure that the people will laugh at my jokes”
The ringleader didn’t really expect this answer, so he took the boy in, but made him start from a much humbler position than what the boy proposed.
So the teen started cleaning the cages where the animals were held captives, and while during his job he started cracking jokes, as a training of sorts, and even the animals started laughing like mad beasts, at first the boy was almost frightened, but then a brilliant idea came, he could use this trick to make the ringleader hire him as a jokester.
After showing the ringleader this new trick, he was immediately promoted, and even the boss of the circus was impressed and clearly said that the boy had a gift, even he after traveling long and forth as a circus-owner, didn’t ever see something like that.
Obviously, the boy was on cloud nine with happiness, and came back home to celebrate the fantastic news with his mother, she was also very happy for her child, he was finally able to make something out of his silly passion.
***
After ten or so years the little silly boy had grown into an adult, with a stable income and an interesting life among the members of the circus, all of them with a strange talent or freakish feature.
One day the moving circus stopped in a little city near a white beach, with a wonderful view of the, somehow, pink sea that surrounded the island.
the city wasn’t really a masterpiece, be it by the buildings style, the business, the money flow, the cultural value or anything, it was all pretty average, and the people, bored out of their mind, came flocking to the circus, finally a new opportunity to have fun and see new things!!!
The circus-owner, after some time of business in that city, passed away, and everyone was really sad. Who could hope to have such a good boss? He gave everyone the deserved wages and was really understanding of personal situations of sorts, at the funeral there was an enormous crowd, from the stern mayor of the little village, to the sad accountant and the little children, now teens and young adults, all mourning the loss of the departed man.
The young man after crying his eyes away near the tomb saw a strange person, clothed in black, gray and a mixture of blue.
The man after seeing our protagonist had his eyes visibly widened in shock, he seemed to be really happy for some reason and after reading something on his little tablet, he went near our joke-jester and said something he couldn’t easily understand.
He seemed to speak backwards, and his words had a power of sorts that made the young man really attracted to them.
Our boy obviously did not believe a single word, and stared at the man until he went away, somehow happy with his work.
Following the funeral the joke-jester took control of the circus, aided by the ringleader, now old and thinking about retiring, and everything went smoothly for some time…
…until something happened again, the jester decided to host a new event that would give some new vitality to the circus. He believed that a new experience, more intriguing and engaging would make more people come and pay.
So after long planning and budgeting with the old ringmaster, the jester went to search for the necessary props and materials.
flower & plants were the first things needed, and after searching for some time in the boring city he saw what he was looking for, a nice little shop located in a small alley near the center, the place was full of plants never seen before, giving the place a wild and interesting aura, a location to be explored, also the copious amounts of foreign and strange trinkets in the shelves or attached to the walls had some influence in how the shop was perceived.
after giving the place a glance and deciding in his heart what to do, the young man went to the counter, searching for a cashier, or the owner, but there was no one in sight, so he decided to ring the bell that was in the counter, and another young man appeared behind a little door that divided the shop-owner’s private spaces from the store.
He seemed really in a hurry, and said all the pleasantries usually reserved to the customers quickly, almost going out of breath, and that strangely made our protagonist laugh like never before, the young man was appalled at first but he started to laugh too, and amid tears and hurting shoulders, our jester made a deal with the owner for all the plants and flowers he needed.
such a big order made the florist jump in shock, what may this customer possibly do with all that?
So he asked about his intentions out of curiosity, and the customer’s response made the florist’s jaw fall. He was really entranced in the plan and wanted to be part of it.
afterwards they started to scheme together, and this led to multiple encounters in front of a cup of tea or in fancy cafes near the local train station, a place that the florist seemed to love.
with all the planning and organizing done, the circus seemed like a totally new places, plants everywhere, leaves and vines dangling around, sprouts, enchanting flowers and a magical aroma, it was almost like an exotic jungle and the circus staff were the locals, they knew every inch like their own pockets, and guided the customers through it.
when the florist had finally some free time he immediately made himself pretty by wearing his favorite black and gray cap and went to the new most-popular venue in the city, the circus-turned-jungle, and he was mesmerized by it, somehow the boss had made even a better job than he thought, and after entering he saw him, the jester.
he was clothed like a tribal native, with mangled strips of cloth only covering what’s necessary to hide, while exposing all the rest, right to say that the florist had some unholy thoughts in his head, and that made him blush, a lot, redder than a beet.
the jester, now tribal man, saw the florist too, and was mesmerized by the other’s elegance in his clothes, movements, and cheerfulness, he even thought that this is the first time that he saw someone that beautiful, his gray hairs and his golden eyes were like black and white, the opposite of each other but their difference made them shine even more.
After a long guided trip inside the clown-jungle, the florist and the disguised jester decided to leave the circus for some time , so that they could go around and have some fun for themselves.
After all the time spent planning and talking, they had grown quite close.
the best spot for that happy escapade they wanted was the beach, with it’s romantical colors, a pink sea that was almost lavender because of the sunset, an orange sky that covered them, and clouds that had the most funny shapes, and so they went, and spent a long time collecting little shells or talking while lying on the white shore of the beach.
***
The jungle-circus became the most popular place in the city, with the jester creating new experiences, sometimes scary, other captivating and exciting, all with the help of the florist.
He wasn't only that though, but an experienced traveler too, he saw lots of new things while in his journeys, and that was very useful when implementing new tracks or new guide’s costumes in the jungle.
and so the attraction went on for some time…
By that fated time our two little lovebirds became a couple somehow, to no one’s surprise really, everyone in the city and in the circus saw it coming and became quite the argument for gossip.
the circus had changed again, but not because of a new event, but because the florist had changed the location of his living quarters and his shop into the circus, so that the client could buy what they saw during their experiences, or at least that’s what they told the nosy people who asked.
They were having a happy life, indulging in each other’s company and love, while each having a career and some earnings, the days were peaceful and the escapades became dates.
During the last turn of the jungle-trip though, a terrible client, instead of smoking his cigarette outside as told by countless signs, decided to enter and throw it on the ground, somehow without thinking of the obvious consequences.
The staff wasn’t present at the moment and when they arrived it was too late.
The whole circus was on fire.
from the precious plants of the florist, his shop and the living quarters with all of his memories, to the tent of the jester, full of valuable items that came from eccentric clients and his belongings from his home-village.
The couple was on a date at the time, and only noticed the problem when, from the beach, they saw a gigantic cloud of smoke from a place they deemed familiar, and so they ran and ran and ran, only to see the raging fire and unmerciful destruction.
They were desperate and started to call for help. People came and started to put out the fire, only to see how powerless they were.
The circus was doomed.
While the fire was at its peak, the florist remembered that he had left something of great value in his home and so he started running towards the flame hell that was formerly a circus, searching for something he had low chances of recovering intact, also risking his life in this mad attempt.
The jester, being preyed upon by despair, noticed the florist’s escape too late, and wasn’t able to catch up with him to prevent his crazy attempt.
After some time of anguish, the jester to his horror saw a human figure engulfed in flames and smoke coughing his lungs out coming out of the fire clutching in his hands something.
The figure approached the jester with his last strengths and gave him the precious treasure that he was so mad about, a flower.
a single white dried flower.
That dried flower was a keepsake from the home-village of the jester, which he later gave to the florist in a silly and clumsy manner, flushed with embarrassment and awkwardness the day they got together.
their first memory as a couple.
a single sweet whisper was the only thing the florist could muster, the dying and faltering figure fell, only to never stand up again.
***
Following that day the jester was never the same, his gift of making others laugh vanished, and the circus never reopened and left there, as a ruin, as a symbol of the love that was there a long ago, a scar that won’t heal.
During a fit of longing and yearning for the lost lover, the ex-jester, now a lonely and haggard man, started to rummage in an old chest containing the few things that were spared during the fire, only to see an old diary.
“Strange” he thought, he didn’t remember ever writing this, and so he started reading, not for the thirst of hidden and new knowledge but only to escape his terrible state of mind and intrusive thoughts.
While reading he noticed a particular entry, supposedly written the day after the death of his old circus boss, before the lover, before the jungle and before his loss, the entry described the guests at the funeral.
everyone with a strange outfit, bizarre culture and a multitude of languages, the boss must have been a good person and an explorer before setting down.
among all of the guests, only one wasn't well described, there was no need since there was a little draw of the guy, he seemed to be a tall and skinny man, clothed in blue, gray and black robes, with a weird hat.
Even in that mess of cultures and customs the guy stood out as suspicious, and so the sad man started to read with more attention, until he saw it, the line that the weird man said a long time ago “discover the truth behind the universe, and your most heart-felt wish will come true”.
that ignited something in the lonely figure, it made him feel alive again, with a goal, even if it seemed impossible.
The words though, weren't very detailed, so the haggard man couldn’t do much at the start, but some time after there was a surprising and absurd publication in all the papers that made the world tremble.
a promising young scientist, named Zandar One Kuwabara, described the universe, giving it form, and completely changing the idea that previously seemed to be set in stone.
In the previous view the universe didn’t have a fixed shape, just a continuous expanding dimension.
the scientist instead described it as an infinite tree, an enormous structure that gives birth to countless stellar systems and civilizations on it, this description is on the simple side, but the consequences of this theory were devastating, bringing forth an era of incredible scientific progresses, and people the caliber of that scientist started to sprout like flowers.
This theory also arrived to the ears of the lonely man, giving him a burst of inspiration, the train of thought that passed in his head was simple, but terribly difficult and above one’s head in its execution.
He thought:
“what can the best place to see be?”
and he answered himself:
“where it’s high enough to see everything that happens below”
and so the answer that was making him lose his sleep finally came, he just needed to climb that damned tree and see with his own eyes what the truth could possibly be, give the answer to that man in black and finally meet with his long lost lover…
***
the storyteller finally stopped, only to make a little break and tell to his audience a little explanation “the part of the story that comes after the guy’s realization is totally unbelievable and probably has been falsified, but bear with me and listen closely, because it will be magical”
and so the masked boy resumed his storytelling…
***
So after the now-ambitious and full of vigor man knew what he had to do, he decided to have a talk and present himself to the scientist to have some pointers on how to proceed in his impossible mission.
The scientist wasn’t a free guy, he was full of appointments and researches, always engrossed in a new collaboration or in an interview talking about his discoveries, the latest of his projects seems to be a computer that can store the entirety of human knowledge and produce more of it…
but the scientist wasn’t really willing to answer any question related to that, so what may have possibly gone wrong? we don’t know…
but the guy was relentless and even came to stalk the scientist on his every outing and convention, almost following him behind the scenes, and one day he really did it, he cracked a joke so funny and in a moment so unexpected that the entire audience of the convention started laughing remaining breathless, the same went for the scientist, who was appalled and decided to listen to the funny guy after the lecture was over.
Following the funny guy’s explanation of his mission, the scientist paled and almost fainted, but thankfully a little droid with a red light was there to help him get on his feet quickly.
The scientist didn’t really know what to say, nor how to help, but he for sure knew that if that man completed the mission, the amount of data he would obtain would be astounding, and the new discoveries amazing, so he tried to help in his own ways.
the project took a long time to start and develop, the ambitious man knew he could die while trying or when reaching the summit of the tree, but that didn’t scare him, since the prophecy he had received that day was the only thing that made him feel alive and gave him a ray of shiny hope.
later though, during an experiment gone wrong, the man was teleported in a strange dimension, full of festive decorations, food, bars and whatnot, all seemed to be the perfect place to talk with other people and be happy, but the only other person he found there was an old guy, he seemed to be really sad for some reason, so the man tried to crack some of his best jokes to get the man’s moral up and receive some explanations about the place he ended up in.
The man after laughing for hours finally was able to tell his name, he was Elias Salas , genius number 56, whatever that meant, and explained to the lost guy that they were currently in a dimension of his own creation, and that he made it so festive to be able to talk and make new friends amongst his colleagues, but he thought he failed until the funny guy arrived.
The guy was really confused, he didn’t want to go there, he had other plans during the experiment, and so he told Elias his real goal and mission, and that he was receiving help from a certain zandar, a global renowned scientist.
Elias was confused at first but after a while realized what happened and was left speechless and about to faint, but the funny guy knew that this smarty-guys could be weak of heart, so he was already there to catch him, after this Elias started to write something on a paper towel and said:
“i know you wouldn’t understand nor be able to tell zandar what really went wrong in the experiment, so i’ve wrote something for him, pass him this note, he will be shocked for a while, probably even more than when you told him about your reckless mission, but he will understand for sure, good luck and remember to keep your memories safe, they will be your only safety anchor”
and so the old guy with a white beard and some strange glasses tore apart a little colorful and shiny ticket, and the funny guy was sent back to reality.
After his return he explained what happened to the scientist, and gave him the note, which gave Zandar such a big shock that he fainted for good this time, and fell from the chair.
The poor guy needed a day to recover from the note’s message.
***
After that encounter everything went smoothly and the man, now more happy than ever, was in front of a machine that would render him able to traverse the cosmos and reach the peak of the tree, the scientist was dying from anxiety and the man was about to enter.
After traversing the portal he felt weightless and instantly started his long and exhausting travel.
How much time can a man need to traverse the lonely and infinite space? one, two, ten, one hundred or a thousand light years? We don't know, and neither did the man or the scientists, but his will of steel made him go forward, marching for what seemed an eternity, slowly losing his sense of self, only guided by his goal and the golden eyes, gray hairs and sweet voice of his lover.
After arriving at the top of the tree, he saw how the universe operates as a machine, without intent or emotions, how the stars were brought into existence and how they perished or became apex predators-like black holes, one of them even seemed to have small little eyes…
that brought him an immense sense of despair and sadness, he felt and saw that nothing had the grand meaning we living beings search for, and that there was no “truth” behind the universe, that destroyed him, his goal vanished in front of his eyes, his only driving force extinguished and swept away by the coldness of reality.
/ but /
while he was peeking at the various scenes in front of him,
he saw it, a little baby, who fell from the bosom of his mother into the cold ground, and started crying, as if wronged.
that made the man go crazy with laugher, he started ugly crying and laughing, he finally understood everything that he needed to know, another kind of /truth/, if life itself had no meaning left, then one has to live and seek something that makes it worth living:
the joy in things, the various emotions he felt during his long journey, the happiness of a young child, the first sad realization, his own joy after helping his mother, the laziness during the first boring job, the people he made laugh, his first and last love, the despair in losing the only one he cared for, the emptiness of the husk he was after the loss, the blinding hope he received with the diary, and finally, the madness that comes from the discovery of the truth.
His laughter was booming, forming countless echoes and reverberating through the entirety of the cold universe, while laughing he felt it.
his body was changing and their memories were being consumed.
replaced by an incredible and formless power, and the desire to be in a constant state of thrill, emotion, of elation.
Then they stopped laughing.
a new being was born, from countless emotions that are the privilege of us living beings, happiness, joy, despair, rage, hope and madness.
the only memories remaining in the “head” of the divine being regarding a short laugh “aha” of some children in a remote village and the golden eyes and gray hairs of someone.
They didn't know who these people were nor how they came into their mind, but they thought it must be precious, but they still tossed them in the corner of their consciousness.
they had other business to attend to.
After that Aha, the aeon of elation, started their activities, spreading chaos all around the universe and enjoying making innocent jokes and incredible and destructive pranks, from normal humans to other fellow aeons.
that went on for an unknown amount of time, until Aha decided to make fun of one of the aeons he heard a lot about, Akivili the trailblaze, the aeon who has as their Primum Mobile the exploration of new paths, the experience of life itself in all the possible ways.
So Aha came to know about the nameless, the crew that travels in akivili’s train, the astral express, and so they decided to go experience it for themselves, maybe it could be a new method to gather new emotions and get even more joy from various events.
they were right, the travels were so interesting and full of raw emotions that they remained in the express as a nameless for one whole year, that’s something unheard of.
until he got bored.
after that they planned on leaving with a boom, and so they made half of the train explode… and a planet, that led to akivili being pretty pissed at Aha.
and so the two god-like beings met.
Aha saw it, they couldn’t believe it, the golden eyes, the gray hairs, it was all there, and an unfathomable rush of joy, anger, despair and pure happiness, almost love.
it all came from a depth of themselves that even they didn't know they had.
so Aha remained there, totally dumbstruck and with the dumbest of the smiles on their face.
in the meanwhile akivili was wondering about something too, the Masked aeon seemed a bit familiar, could it be though?
maybe from a past life of theirs? one of their lovers? a past encounter?
they didn’t know, but akivili felt it, there was an intense attraction, and an enormous melancholy.
In the end, a voice speaking in tongues and backwards said
”siht tuoba sdraugnav nemo eht llet ll’i ,gnitseretni“
***
and so the magic was dispelled, the audience stopped to be enchanted and the scene that was projected in the tavern disappeared, along with the young masked boy who claimed to be a storyteller, the people after a while forgot about this performance, and everything went back to normal, if normal could be used as a term to describe the tavern of course.
The night was still young after all, and the bottles of alcohol were still there to be emptied.
the end.
-a memokeeper’s report
…or a history fictionologist’s ravings.
( interesting, i’ll tell the omen vanguards about this)--> the backwards line :D