Chapter Text
Mizi has so many interests. The best of what she could learn about her heritage is within the bounds of books supplied by the Segyeins. She often wondered how vast the universe is, especially how small she felt within that vastness.
Segyeins razed down their civilizations and kept humans as pets. Mizi wondered if it was punishment or something else that led to all of this. The word alien itself is fitting since they seem to have this interest in humans but that doesn’t mean they care about them more than themselves.
Mizi would be considered “lucky” considering her alien guardians were much kinder and loved her but she knew better than to assume that they didn’t see her as more than just a human pet.
The Anakt garden was brilliant and she’d understood the concept of gods at the same time that she would meet her. Her clematis.
Sua was her name and it was the most beautiful thing she has ever heard. She was quiet and kept to herself but Mizi was drawn to her like a moth to a flame and she had to get closer.
Mizi doesn’t consider herself as anything special despite many others, especially boys would say otherwise. They called her pretty and seemed to have a clear interest in her that made her feel nothing but uncomfortable.
The garden was vast and there were so much to explore and yet it never looked enticing unless Sua was with her. And when she locked eyes with her, she knew that Sua was just as drawn to her as she is with her.
“Do you want to explore with me?” Mizi asked, innocent and sweet as practiced. It was something she came to believe about herself that is just the naive and optimistic human pet that her alien guardian always praises her for.
Sua seemed to look at her as if she was peeling off her layers one by one to see her true face, bloody and beautiful. It was a moment that cemented her confidence when Sua took her hand.
She made friends with the other kids but ones that stuck out to her were Till and Ivan, the former seemed to always come back with bruises that she stopped prying him for answers and Ivan who seems to follow him like a shadow.
What is interesting is that Ivan spared one glance at her and was uninterested which was new for Mizi, especially for a boy. And she immediately felt comfortable in his presence despite his lack of attention on her the first few times of their first meeting.
Luka is a complicated boy. He is by himself a lot and always seems to count something with his fingers which are purple in comparison to his pale skin. He always carries himself with grace and a practiced facade.
And Mizi, she’s just someone who loves and cares. A human pet full of joy and happiness towards everything. A beautiful soul and god in the eyes of Sua.
“Do you believe in God?” Sua asked.
It was a question Mizi never got the chance to answer before Sua started to speak, “From the moment we left the universe, we slowly forgot about god and god has forgotten about us too.”
Mizi listened with rapt silence and all she could think about was if Sua thought of her as a god? Mizi didn’t particularly want others to feel like they were beneath her or anything but the way Sua proclaimed her devotion to her and made her feel things she couldn’t quite name stunned her.
And in that moment, Mizi knew the universe and her dear clematis were one in the same. Sua is pretty especially when she used to have longer hair but the haircut didn’t diminish her beauty that it blinds her.
A human can live without a god but a god wouldn’t exist without a follower. And then, she starts noticing how Sua seems to have this troubled look with the mention of alien stage. It’s a competition between them to see who will be victorious but that’s not all that it is but it’s a game to see who will be the survivor.
Mizi always had a gut feeling of that stage and singing practice just to keep up often distracted her from it. And when she heard Sua sing for the first time, Mizi couldn’t stop herself from singing along in tandem.
It started turning with them singing duets together and having fun. Mizi could understand why humans used to devote themselves to a higher being than herself when she loses herself to singing with Sua. It would be years until they will stand on stage for their lives at stake but Mizi would cherish Sua every single day until that happens.
“You’re so pretty, like a doll.” Mizi says offhandedly and Sua seems to shrink but covers it up with a half-hearted smile. It would be forgotten as these two once again settled on a chase around the garden.
The cliff was a spot Mizi preferred since it was silent and she loved to see the view from there. Well, it seemed like she had her head in the clouds that she felt her feet slip from the ledge and Mizi wondered if this was going to be her last day as she spread her arms out about to greet her end.
That is until she felt someone pull her arm towards the ledge and she didn’t fall. She turned her head and saw Sua, her other hand holding onto a branch from the tree closest to the ledge.
Mizi frowned when she saw the tears streaming down Sua’s face as she tightened her grip and tugged with difficulty. She hardly registered when Sua did one last tug towards safety and she ended up on top of her.
They didn’t speak but Mizi did offer her a hug for the guilt she felt. The days blurred and moved along but even then, Mizi is inquisitive and always notices Sua’s erratic behavior.
The way she hides herself to practice her death shocked her and left her feeling hollow. Mizi asked her to stop but Sua didn’t listen and even continued such as changing the ending of their duet as her own solo to give her the advantage.
And Mizi selfishly couldn’t resist with the way her eyes shone in determined silence and her smile that could’ve brought tears to her eyes knowing she is resigned to her fate.
That feeling that bubbled between them was love to Mizi’s own insistence. She knew usually humans would settle with opposite genders and that was the common feeling of love but Mizi asserts that her own feelings are love too, just different than the norm.
The dressing room was filled with chatter as Mizi took her costume that she will be wearing on the first round, a white dress with similar white shoes. She thinks the white would suit Sua better but something inside her told her to not let Sua wear this. She hid it back and she noticed Sua with a black ensemble, it looked incredible on her and Mizi could only gush and tell her that it suits her.
The white ensemble was worn and Mizi had decided that she really couldn’t let Sua do this. A god must always protect their followers, right?
Oh my, clematis.
The duet they practiced that she knows by heart flows from their mouths and Mizi couldn’t help but steal glances towards her Sua. They move with grace and longing as shown in the song but Mizi always knew that she would thrive only on hearing Sua’s melodic voice in her ears. It was just them in their own world, outside of the aliens keeping a watchful eye on them and the robots making sure they can’t escape.
Hope bloomed from the abyss.
Mizi has suspected the Great Anakt isn’t as real or sounded too good to be true but she found comfort in having to bask in this moment as she sang along. Letting her voice carry everything she couldn’t say to Sua, her devotion, her love, her strength. Even if there’s nothing waiting for her on the other side, Mizi wouldn’t regret her decision.
Mizi knew that she could probably continue to live on without Sua but she couldn’t get an answer if Sua could live without her. The only way to know is if her plan works and as the last notes slip from her mouth, she could faintly hear the sound of the machine calculating but her attention was focused solely on Sua.
Her universe.
If all I can do as a human is to believe…
The only thing that mattered to Mizi. And as she gripped her microphone knowing that it wasn’t active the entire performance, the score tallied to 67/87.
Sua win.
Sua smiled at her warmly and she smiled back, sweat was accumulating over their foreheads over the energy expended on the performance.
It was silent.
Mizi felt the sting around her neck and the split second that she saw her own blood stain Sua’s face. Blood is one of the highest forms of devotion especially in religious and spiritual traditions, often known as a symbol of sacrifice, life and the ultimate gift of oneself to another. How fitting of her to remember that detail at death’s door.
Mizi couldn’t pick herself up from the ground nor could she feel as a growing numbness filled her body, this was the end.
No more tears or pain as she pictured Sua’s smile before succumbing to the darkness.