Season of Fall, Day 63, 513 AV
Jorin stepped up onto the stage, tucking in the last of his costume as he tried to smooth down the wrinkles and gussy up for the next scene. The final act was here, and he really wanted to go out with style. The audience tended to remember the ending the most, and getting it right was a big deal for actors. And this production was special too, but perhaps only to Jorin. He wanted Rinya to have fun, and when he saw her appear in the actor's box he smiled warmly at her and gave her a playful wink. No one else on stage caught his action, they were too busy looking after themselves.
But a hush fell over the actors as there was motion near the curtain, and Jorin schooled his face from love and happiness to a mask of pain and sorrow. He needed to be in character for this scene, and that meant displaying emotions he really wasn't feeling at the moment. But then again he was an actor, so conjuring such emotions for the audience was stock-in-trade for him.
"You have done well, to have come this far, but you shall go no further," intoned an actress, as the curtain rose on the final scene. Her jet-black robes, and her imperious stare, implied that she was intended to portray a goddess, especially as she was standing upon a raised block of wood to elevate her above the "mere mortals". In fact, this actress was portraying Dira, goddess of death, come to claim Jorin's character's life, having escaped her embrace with the help of his ghostly companions.
"Forgive me, mistress Dira, but I cannot join my friends. There is still too much to do..." Jorin's voice cracked with emotion as he bowed before "Dira", who looked disdainfully down at the soldier.
"The concerns of man do not interest me," "Dira" coolly replied, her voice stern and her face stiff. "But you, little man, have escaped my domain through tricks that shall not avail you this time."
Jorin's face falls. He has no answer for the goddess of death, whose domain claimed all in time, and whose reach was long and inevitable. And the claim that death had on him was strong, and growing stronger; he knew he had very little time left.
"Just a few days, more I do not dare, then my soul to you I send, to take i know not where," Jorin stage-whispered, his voice low but somehow still audible throughout the theater. But "Dira" appeared unmoved, her face still as impassive as stone.
"Death must claim its due, mortal man. Beg all you wish, but your time is here, and I shall collect what is mine." With that, Dira raised a pale arm, but the apparition of the commander appeared, robes white to show his ghostly nature.
"Peace, Dira, for I have come to take his place. My soul is ready to move on, to earn him an extra day," he cried, his voice clear and strong. Jorin's breath caught, his face registering his surprise.
"Commander, I-" he began, but the commander cut him off.
"Peace, old friend, you have done what you could. Now I do what I must," the commander replied, mouth firm. "Do not mourn me, old friend. Avenge me."
"This sacrifice gains you but one day, mortal man," Dira cried. "Use it well, and-"
"I make the same sacrifice," came another voice from behind, as one of the actors stepped forth, his white robes showing he was one of Jorin's men that gave his life for the cause. As ghost after ghost came forth to offer their souls back to the cycle in return for days, Dira only nodded, her face growing slightly compassionate as she saw the sheer number of those willing to grant him just one more day.
"Very well, soldier of Suva. Your time is extended, but know this. When this borrowed time ends, I shall come for you. And no force on Mizahar shall prevent you from entering my domain." Dira's voice was cold, but her face was not. Jorin merely nodded.
"And when my time comes, I shall enter your domain willingly," he replied. Dira nodded, and glided off her wooden stand, a veil dropping over her to indicate that she had left the mortal realm. The curtain dropped, and the first scene of the last act had ended.
-----
The play proceeded apace, as scenes two and three played out on stage. Jorin felt lighter with Rinya's presence there, and the earlier nervousness that stole his lines from him was gone. It was interesting, Jorin decided, as he strode across the stage delivering his lines, acting in front of his mate like this. Because back home he never acted at all. And in the back of his mind he wondered how she saw him when he was like this, displaying emotions he did not feel, saying words that were not his. He might have practiced and rehearsed in front of her before, but this was different.
The play drew to a close, the applause of the audience loud and strong as the curtain dropped on the final scene. After a few moments, it rose again to the actors lined up on the stage, each one delivering their own flourishing bow to the cheers of the crowds before them. Jorin beamed joyfully and this time it was no act. It was this that made him happy, in the end. The creation of joy, the entertainment they felt as they watched a play unfold before them, and the knowledge that he was part of such a production. And seeing how much the audience liked the performance, made all the little disasters behind the scenes seem worth it. As the curtain dropped a second time, Jorin was finally free.
Bounding off to the actor's box, he grabbed Rinya's hand and smiled at her. Perhaps, when they got home, she could tell him what she thought of the play. In the meantime, he was just glad she'd been there. Jorin remembered once that he'd said that, when he was on stage, he could be a wizard, a king, a god; and that for a bell he could be someone worthwhile. But that when the play ended, he was just Jorin again, and that idea at the time had filled him with depression. But today, the play had ended. And indeed, he was just Jorin again. But looking into his mate's golden eyes, and feeling her emotions through their bond, Jorin realized... so long as he had her, being just Jorin suited him just fine.
~Fin~
OOCTo be continued in part 2! Sorry for the rushed end of the play, but I wasn't sure I had the creative juices left to actually play out the final three scenes of Act 3. Not to mention, they would have taken up so much space this would have gone to page 5
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