《Blue March》


 #1: Soulless

    Had I become soulless?


    Legends warned me about it. Nothing more than fire spread through my deserted veins. A dying tree, erected on an island in the middle of an unending ocean, reflected on the clear water as its leafless branches waved with the soothing breeze. However, the land was made not of earth but of dark ashes which soared through the wind.


    Was I at fault?


    Did I burn its life?


    It didn''t matter. There was nothing I could do anymore, save to step through the water that encompassed half my legs and approach the burnt tree. Blue flames wrapped my hands when I laid them on the ashes, but no heat nor pain surged from them. Instead, they burnt the ashes into the azure, dissolving them from existence. Ironic.


    Ground emerged beneath the dead leaves. Infertile, but seeded with the duty to be freed from the ashes. Just as Jenny had done with me.


    Jenny was a friend of mine. An acquaintance, rather. Her golden hair and emerald eyes were something I had never seen before. More importantly, she awoke new feelings in me.


    After my ninety-seventh excursion concluded, the war ended. We won. But then what? There was no one waiting for me back home. I knew nothing more than war. That was my home, not the soft bed I could sink into at any moment.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    "Aren''t ya gonna take your groceries?" Jenny chuckled behind the counter in front of me.


    She was the cashier at a grocery store not far from my apartment. Not the closest one either, but I discovered it when my usual store was temporarily closed down. The only reason I kept coming back was because of her. Only she was able to fire things, other than guns, in my head.


    Speechless, I took the bag in which she had just put the groceries into and walked towards the door. But I couldn''t endure it anymore. I needed more than those emotions to leave the war behind.


    I turned around and asked her, "Excuse me, ma''am. This is a selfish request, but would you like to drink a coffee with me?"


    Three entire weeks had passed since I gathered courage up. That rush of adrenaline always made my heart pump.


    Jenny stared at me for a few seconds before giggling.


    "Do you even know my name?"


    With no answer reaching my head, I merely stood still with my mouth open. My brain was so stagnant that an old lady had to ask me to move away from the door.


    Jenny kept laughing until she decided to end my suffering.


    "I''m Jenny. I have nothing better to do, so sure, let''s meet at nine o''clock tomorrow at the park."


    Without notice, my mouth curved into a smile. Thanks to her, my life started to regrow the color that had been buried under ashes.

 Notice

    Hi, thank you for giving my novel a chance! I wanted to say a few things before you read.


    I wrote Blue March for a contest on WriterVana (a Discord server). Two months later, the results finally arrived; I got second place! At first, I didn''t know if I was allowed to post it before the winners were announced, so I preferred to wait and get some feedback as well. Now, after improving it, I''m posting it.


    It will be a very short story of five chapters. Each of them will be posted two hours after the other on multiple sites: Scribble Hub, Webnovel, Penana, and Neovel.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Whether you like Blue March or not, please give my other works a try. They''re quite different from this one and much longer, so maybe you''ll like them more. Especially Couple That Can''t Touch, which even has an eBook and Paperback published!


    My Carrd</a>


    https://sosin.carrd.co/


    The cover was drawn by a friend of mine. Please check out more of his works on his Instagram: @retrosensei</a>


    https://www.instagram.com/retrosensei/


    All the chapters were edited by RedPandaChick!

 #2: Emptiness

    The ground of the island was clean, but there was still a lot to do. Slowly, the burnt trunk recovered its brown base. However, one of its branches was imperfect compared to the rest, so I ripped it apart and threw it into the ocean.


    "What do you mean he''s dangerous? He''s just a childhood friend! You''re jealous of him!" Jenny yelled at me.


    One month had passed since we began dating. Things were sailing smoothly. We even slept together every night in her apartment. However, problems needed to be fixed to have a healthy relationship. I made her quit smoking, but I also needed to get rid of her dangerous, childhood friend.


    "I know he has bad intentions, I can feel it," I replied.


    Jenny stared at me, furious in a way I had never seen before.


    "I don''t how you can be this stupid¡­ Fine, I''ll stop talking to him."


    "I knew you would understand."


    "With one condition. I''ll smoke again."


    "What? What does smoking have to do with this?"


    "You get on my nerves! That''s what!"Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Needless to say, our relationship had reached the point of no return. But we ignored it. We always did. We simply carried on and never looked back because it was painful.


    A black patch surfaced where the branch had landed in the ocean. Like oil, it began spreading in every direction, including the freshly-grown grass. It wasn''t fair. Life had finally flourished again and a mere branch was going to destroy it.


    Just as I had with the ashes, I placed my hand on the stained spot to clean it with my blue flames, but it didn''t work. An arm emerged from the darkness and grasped my hand, trying to pull me into the ocean.


    Excruciating pain soon burnt my arm as more muddy hands developed from the oil on the ground. My blue flames wouldn''t stop expanding, but they didn''t help at all. I was doomed. There was only one option.


    Uncertain of what was going to happen, I let the arms pull me into the ocean. Even if I didn''t know if I was going to make it out alive, I felt the same weight of duty as I had when infiltrating an enemy camp.


    My left hand anchored on the still solid land. My right hand touched the bottom of the ocean. I felt my fingers brush against the branch I had thrown in. Seizing the branch, I took it and broke through to the surface once more.


    The muddy arms immediately melted back into the oil patch as it began to fade from whence it came. The grass didn''t return to its lively green, but it was only a matter of time and care to get it back to normal.


    However, black drops still dripped from the branch into the healthy ground. It needed to return to its trunk, but there was no way to stick it back together.


    As illogical as it was, my mind told me to place the branch in the same spot it had been before I ripped it off and wrap my hands around where it connected. The blue flames soon melted the wood back together and it was magically repaired.

 #3: Breathless

    "What do you mean he''s dangerous? He''s just a childhood friend! You''re jealous of him!" Jenny yelled at me.


    Again?


    Jenny stared at me, just as furious as she had been when I told her to stop talking to her childhood friend. Just like¡­ now?


    "I don''t how you can be this stupid¡­ Fine, I''ll stop talking to him."


    What was I thinking? It wasn''t fair. I didn''t have any right to stain her life because of a feeling I had. Jealousy. By doing that, I was just pulling her into a dark corner along with me.


    "With one condition. I''ll smoke again¡ª"


    "I''m sorry. I don''t know what got into me," I apologized.


    "What?"


    "Ignore what I said and keep talking to him."


    She stared at me before slapping me harder than ever before. Then she smiled and embraced me. I hugged her back.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    "Why did you change your mind?" she asked.


    "Because I''m stupid."


    It was fixed. Our relationship returned to the right track and our lives grew brighter together. There was no such dangerous friend and nothing interfered with our growth.


    Leaves began to grow from every branch and the brown had almost covered the entire tree. But something at its top halted its recovery. A bird was building a nest.


    With nothing to throw at it, the only option was to climb up to get rid of it. Fortunately, the branches were arranged in an easily climbable way. Unluckily, they barely supported my weight.


    Carefully, I climbed while distributing my weight among the upper and the lower branches. Just like climbing a cargo net in the old days.


    It only took me two minutes to reach the almost finished nest and I pushed it off the tree as soon as I could. The bird flew away and the empty nest glided down to the ground.


    The brown began growing again. There was nothing else to do, so it was time to climb down. But, as soon as I lifted my foot from the branch, an extreme wind suddenly arose, making me lose the balance I had with my remaining foot. Unable to support my weight, the branch soon cracked and I fell out of the tree.


    Awaiting my impending doom, I landed on my back, probably shattering my ribs in the process. My breath was gone and I couldn''t move. I could only stare up at the tree whose leaves were being ripped apart from its branches by the wind. Much like a tornado.


    I couldn''t die. Not yet. I had things to do.

 #4: Restless

    "We''re breaking up," Jenny said, her expression displaying happy sadness.


    "What? Why? I''ve been working hard for us! Did I do something wrong? I can fix it¡ª"


    "You did nothing wrong, Mark. There''s not always a wrong. It''s just¡­ there''s nothing more I can offer in this relationship and you''re not offering anything I want. It''s a good thing. We lived happily for two months and you have already changed, but it''s time for the two of us to move on."


    I closed my hands into fists.


    "Is that everything?"


    "What do you mean?"


    "There''s another guy, isn''t there?"


    "No, there isn''t, Mark! You have already stopped being this stupid, so please don''t go back to that. I still care about you."


    "Fine. If that''s what you want."Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    "Thank you."


    The change I had made, to let her keep her childhood friend, didn''t alter the future. Our relationship still came to an abrupt end and there was no way of getting it back. I couldn''t fix it, that wouldn''t be fair to her.


    I tried to move on just as Jenny asked me to, but it was impossible. Not only did my nightmares return, but Jenny was in them now. Every night. I couldn''t sleep, I wasn''t hungry or thirsty, and I wouldn''t go out for anything.


    My pride was such that I wouldn''t let myself fall into alcohol or drugs. It was the worst month of my life, but it began healing. Time always healed all wounds. Most of them, at least.


    The nightmares only appeared every once in a while now and I got into cooking. Finally, I was feeling passionate about something again. There was only one thing left to do.


    I hadn''t answered Jenny''s calls over the previous two months and I would ignore her every time she knocked on my door. I couldn''t show her my state until I healed. I owed her a visit.


    It was time to go grocery shopping, so I walked to the store Jenny worked at. Gathering up enough courage just to even see her, I walked in front of the store and saw her through the window, talking to a guy. My flames wanted to burst, but I had already moved on. I controlled myself and prepared to step inside.


    Then they kissed. Multiple times.


    That wasn''t something friends would do, but nothing happened inside me. The pain was long gone as if I had been expecting it. However, I couldn''t go in after that. Instead, I decided to pay a visit to her apartment. Our old home. For old times'' sake.

 #5: Alive

    Knowing she wouldn''t be back until hours later, I returned to my apartment and grabbed the copy of her apartment keys, which she had never taken from me because she trusted me.


    I arrived at her apartment and stepped inside. All the memories of us together flashed through my mind and, before I realized it, I was bathing in her bathroom. One last time, for old times'' sake.


    What I didn''t take into account was that it had been two months since we talked, so it was logical that there were changes.


    The clink of keys sounding outside the apartment, as well as Jenny''s cheerful voice, made me realize how much I had missed her. It was too late to run out, so I stayed in the bathroom and waited for¡­ something. Even I didn''t know what I was waiting for, but I was eager.


    It was only a few seconds, but they were the longest seconds of my life. The apartment exploded and burst into flames.


    Suddenly, I was drowning. As hard as I tried to swim up, something held me down. Why was I trying to live? My panicking body contradicted my fulfilled soul. There was nothing else to do. Something or someone controlled me.


    The same muddy arms, that had pulled me down before, were pulling me down again, this time they had complete bodies. They emerged above me and pushed me down. Only my blue flames could defend me, but they did nothing. They kept growing until my entire body was wrapped in them, suffocating me.


    All the memories of Jenny and me together flashed through my mind. Again. Before I realized it, I was back bathing in her bathroom. One more time, for new times'' sake.


    The clink of keys sounding outside the apartment, as well as Jenny''s cheerful voice, made me realize how much I would suffer if I lost her. I jumped out of the bath and ran to the door, holding it close.


    "Who''s there?!" Jenny yelled.


    I couldn''t answer. What would she think of me?


    "Hank, break the door down!"


    A second later, he pushed with such force that I almost fell to the floor. I had lost all of my strength because of the previous month and I was just recovering it.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Whoever is inside, step aside and we won''t be hard on you!" Jenny said.


    "I''m sorry, Jenny. Just¡­ come back in a few hours," I replied.


    "Mark? What are you doing in my apartment? And why are you holding the door shut?"


    I stayed silent.


    "Mark¡­"


    "Come back later, please¡­"


    Taking a moment to reply, Jenny complied.


    "Fine, we''ll be back in an hour."


    I let out a deep, long breath and stepped back from the door.


    To my surprise, Hank still pushed the door open. Behind him, Jenny held a cigarette in her hand.


    The apartment exploded. Again.


    Back into the ocean, I was still unable to breathe. The blue flames had arisen far beyond my body. Not only was I drowning, but the fire began to burn me alive. Pain, fulfillment, and fear. They all crushed my soul.


    All the memories of us together flashed through my mind. Again and again. Before I realized it, I was back bathing in her bathroom. One more time, for our future.


    But it didn''t matter. The ending was always the same. I kept drowning and burning, dying again and again. Until I gave up. There was no other way.


    All the memories of us together flashed through my mind and, before I realized it, I was back bathing in her bathroom. One last time, for Jenny''s future.


    As much as I wanted to, I didn''t wait for her voice. Instead, I ran into the kitchen and stood in front of the stove.


    Legends were right. No past could change without consequence.


    I turned the stove on.


    I could breathe again.


    It was done.


    The tree combusted into blue flames in front of me, but no ashes were left. It merely vanished from reality, leaving a fertile land behind. For birds to plant their seeds and become a new home with more and bigger trees.


    I stood up from the ocean and turned around.


    I never looked back.


    Why would I?


    A whole ocean awaited for me to march through it forever.