[Gilmaved] Act2: Emancipation of the Amaranthine

chapter two
(Emancipation of the Amaranthine)

Gilmaved roamed the garden alone. His soul felt restless by the loneliness but it was appeased by the wonders of the garden.  Day and night he marveled at its beauty. He saw a million colors, tasted infinite flavours, smelled a thousand fragrances, and heard the voice of the smallest of creatures. A hundred years passed and still he could not fathom the wondrous sensations that the garden brought upon his senses.

He did only as the Creator pleased; tended the garden with utmost care and adoration; and soon the Creator favored him most above all his creation. Once again jealous of Gilmaved's position, Asmodai wore the skin of a bat and lured Gilmaved into eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Gilmaved, having heard from the doves the predicament of Adam and his wife, refused to eat of the tree.

Asmodai was thwarted. He summoned a legion of five hundred sixty-four fallen angels and all their jealousy and corruption poured down unto a spot on the ground where another tree started to blossom. They named it the tree of oblivion.

The tree of oblivion bore but one fruit and Gilmaved did not pick it. It was the exact image the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil so he did not dare eat it, but Asmodai had plans. He knew that Gilmaved was starting to feel restless alone so he wore the skin of the dove whom Gilmaved trusted the most and spoke unto him: Gilmaved! Gilmaved,the one who shall be eternal. I knowest how to put thy heart at peace. Follow Pison which flows to the golden lands of Hav'ilah and there ye shall find the end of thy solitude.

But I am not allowed to leave the Garden, Gilmaved said.

The tree of oblivion, the tree of oblivion shall set you free, the dove screeched with the voice of legion. It led Gilmaved unto the tree and he took the solitary fruit from the withering branch; and Gilmaved ate of it.

He heard the footsteps of the Creator walking the garden and quickly he came forth to welcome him. But the Creator did not see Gilmaved; He did not hear him. Gilmaved screamed in anguish for his Creator did not recognize him any longer. He was no longer part of the Creator's dominion nor recognition.

Gilmaved followed the flow of the river as it split to four paths. He followed Pison and headed to Hav'ilah without looking back at the garden once. That was how the third son of Eden left.

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"Don't leave me! I still have much left to learn. There is so much I need to know! Tell me your name. What have you made of me? Don’t!"

Another night, the same old nightmare. It was as if Sunggyu was sentenced to dream  this dream for eternity. Has it been two score years or three? His mother was still strong then. But now, she is gone and he did not even have the chance to watch and care for her as she grew old. This is the price of immortality: an eternity of isolation. It was ironic how he was given an eternal life while his own was taken away from him. 

Amaranthine, that was how the one who made him called them. Sunggyu did not know his name. He did not know how long he lived or where he was from. He did not know if there are any more like them. As far as he knew, he was alone; a solitary lion who beguiled time and death without even knowing how or why.

He used to be called ShengGui. He was a young gentleman then; full of youth, full of vigor, with small piercing eyes and a playful smile. The Goryeo Dynasty was crumbling but he was not affected by it all. He was free as the breeze rustling through the leaves of trees. He didn’t care about anything or anyone. He would drink his nights away and hunt in daylight.

That all changed when he met the traveler. The traveler was riding on a white mule with nothing but the clothes on his back. He stopped in front of ShenGui who was drinking ale beside a well like any other night.

"Would you like to play a game, kind sir?" the traveler spoke. ShengGui’s interest was piqued.  The traveler had deep set eyes and a prominent nose. He did not look like anyone ShengGui knew. He was tall and had a thick accent that ShengGui could not place.

"What game do you have in mind? I am the best at hunting in all of Goryeo. Would you like to be shamed tonight?" ShengGui laughed boisterously but the traveler only smiled as he alighted from the mule. He filled a bucket with water and gave a drink to his beast of burden.
"How about a game of destiny?" These words chilled ShengGui but it intrigued him more. He has never met a stranger as bold as this before.
"Hide amongst the trees and bushes as I count to a hundred. If I find you before my mule finish this bucket, you will buy me a drink and a room to stay for the night."
"And if you don't?" ShenGui asked.
"I will give you enough gold to live for a hundred years. I will give you the gift of eternity," the traveler calmly replied. He then took out a piece of cloth and covered with it his eyes. He started counting and ShengGui swiftly snuck in a hidden inlet under the roots of a ginkgo tree. It was the place ShengGui used to hide from his mother as a child when he was being told to do some chore.
Time passed and the traveler did not find ShengGui. He called out to the forest.
"I lose! You may come out now and I will give you the gift," the traveler said and ShengGui came out of his hiding.
ShengGui found the traveler by the well. The mule was nowhere in sight but the traveler was smiling still.
"Come with me," he beckoned and ShengGui followed. The traveler stopped at the edge of a cliff and took a knife from his side.
"What are you planning to do?" ShengGui stepped back but before he could say another word, the traveler started to carve the word 'amaranthine' on his own arm. ShengGui could see the blood trickling down and the traveler's face contorting in pain.
"Behold," the traveler held out his arm and before ShengGui's very eyes the wounds closed up clean and healed. The knife left no mark except for the stain of fresh blood that ran through it.
"What are you?"  ShengGui asked. He has heard of wizards, witches and nine tailed foxes that ate human flesh but he knew that the traveler was none of that.
"I am an immortal. I do not grow old. I know no sickness. I can not die from physical harm. And tonight you will become one too," the traveler proclaimed as he leaned forward to ShengGui and pulled him in to give him a kiss. ShengGui pushed him away but the traveler's arms were strong and he was locked gasping for breath.
"You are now an amaranthine," the traveler said as he stepped back and let ShengGui go.
"What are you talking about?" ShengGui's heart was racing. He felt the sky and the earth closing in on him and everything was spinning uncontrollably. He fell on his knees as a thousand different sensation swept through his consciousness.
"You will not grow old anymore. You shall stay as you are. You will not die of violent or natural causes. You are eternal. You may choose to pass on this gift to another soul but know that you will be vulnerable to mortality for only a hundred years after that," with these words, the traveler once again cut through his own arm but this time he did not heal. The color of his life bled through his arm as he gave ShengGui a map cloth and took steps towards the cliff.
ShengGui saw what he was doing. The traveler wanted to die. A thick darkness of fear enveloped ShengGui. He called out to the traveler, "Don't leave me! I still have much left to learn. There is so much I need to know! Tell me your name. What have you made of me? Don’t!", but the traveler was already gone. He let himself fall freely to the cliff with eyes closed and a peaceful smile on his face.
After that night, ShengGui tried to convince himself that everything was just a dream. He tried to live a normal life. He signed up to be a warrior for the newly founded dynasty of Joson. Through the years, he fought and killed for King Taejo. He was a great warrior and he brought honor to his family.
But he never grew old. He never showed a bruise or a cut from the wars. Rumors started to spread that ShengGui was a nine tailed fox. The people feared him and no family wanted to give their daughter to be his wife. Because of this, ShengGui was forced to leave Joson. The map that the traveler game him led to a hideaway carved at the side of the mountain. It was far from being a cave. It was a concrete structure that the king's army would take hundreds of years and complex machineries to build. For years, he stayed there, oblivious to the outside world. It was only him the mountains, the whispers of the trees and the laughter of the crickets bathing in the morning dew. There was an avalanche of gold inside the hideaway. He had no use for it. He just stayed there in the company of his loneliness.
Now he came back. Joson's fourth king Sejong is in reign. ShengGui took the name SungGyu to adapt to the changes in his days and forget the life that was no longer his. His mother has been dead for five years and no one ever came to put flowers on her grave. SungGyu stayed there for days, just staring at the grave, silently mourning the life and death of the woman who cradled him from her womb up to adulthood. Without tears, he cried.
He started to walk away without a particular direction in mind. The leaves crackled beneath his feet and the sun rays caressed his face as his only paramour.
Joson was a good place to start over but he did not know how or why. Why build another life if it would again be taken away from you? Why build bridges that eventually disintegrate into dust with the death of those who you love and know? He was alone and he knew he will always be. Death did not know him or even time. He could pass on immortality for a chance at death like the traveler did, but who would want this kind of life? What kind of monster was he to sentence another soul to this curse? He walks alone.
Beyond the gates of Joson he saw a figure standing against the sun. It was a man and for some reason Sunggyu knew that they were akin.
“Amaranthine,” he whispered under his breath and the man looked at him with recognition in his eyes. He heard. He is one. The immortal stranger walked away without a word. Without any reason Sunggyu followed him and he was alone no more.