Jellyfish - Chapter 12 A White Dress

The day after the poisoning, Ya’Fu found herself wandering the village she once knew.

Ever since the Outsider took over and changed things, the first thing to notice would be the town’s new look. The Valley was filled to the brim with stone brick homes and sandstone buildings. Mining, carving, cutting, chiseling, and doing just about anything with rock was the new fad. Although the villagers had once used a stone to cover their homes, time and technology advanced far beyond what anyone could have foreseen. Now they used earth like one would use water or fire. It had its presence in everything.

The great bones of the Valley were carved out and converted to mass living spaces. The mountain that once blocked many paths had been carved out, and a massive tunnel took shape within it. The Ivory Cliff, once a burial site and place of rituals, fell one day and had been forgotten ever since.

As the sun rose beyond the horizon, Ya’Fu saw hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people roam about and do all sorts of things. Awe-inspiring feats like taming Glass Vipers and Rex within farms. The once famed beasts that had taken her parents were now fed and cared for like pets. Terrifying displays within the coliseum where contestants murdered each other and rose again in fights of stamina. Non-lethal was not the right word to use to describe every fake struggle. Workers toiled and struggled through caves and mines. Children learned all manner of subjects in schools that simulated miniature villages.

To summarize, this was no longer a village.

It was a city, full of immortals.

Of course, without dying on the horizon, many issues took its place and descended upon the Valley. Ya’Fu was a witness to all of the problems in the city, and so were many others who now lived their endless lives here. Unfortunately, she was perhaps one of the few who acknowledged the many downfalls of her society.

There was always a need. A persistent lack of resources plagued the people, and there was nothing anyone did about it. Many were homeless and suffered through starvation and dehydration without end. Children were torn from families and sent off the schools, and some “ran away” as others would say. A crisis was around the corner concerning the idea of “Cursed” and “Blessed” citizens. Cancerous tumors grew unchecked in the bodies of the “Cursed” and created walking victims stuck somewhere between living and dying.

Memory was a fleeting idea while the truth was just as absent. Amnesiacs popped up all around the city, often with no information to help figure out who they were. The beautiful carpets that every family stitched were now insignificant and forgotten. The use of drugs skyrocketed as people did their best to escape reality. With their beliefs shattered and religion useless, so many turned to worship the Outsider with hopes for a sweet release.

Ya’Fu walked past a shop selling something called “Noodles” and observed the chef walking around with chopsticks stuck up through his nose and in his brain. Her feet carried her through the streets; her body wormed through crowds and cramped spaces. She passed a prison, but instead of a locked building, it was an open field of dirt where criminals were buried alive.

Death. That’s what anyone wanted around here. In one way or another, all the people in the city sought death.

Ya’Fu tried to keep that thought out of her head by gripping the vial of poison she had been given. Her mind flickered to thoughts of Ya’Fi. The night they had tried to run away, the second they were captured, the horrible appearance of something that used to be her brother.

She still believed he was alive, as everyone else in this accursed city was. Perhaps he was locked in a room, or trapped underground. He could be anywherenever-ending possibilities ran through her headin the entire Valley. Maybe he was even outside of it. Ya’Fu walked down a dimly lit path. Her fingers ran across the bottle.

“The Outsider wears a white dress,” she whispered.

“A white dress.”