Noxis á Motre's First New Year's Eve

Noxis á Morte’s First New Year’s Eve

            The deep crack of a large piece of earth rolling against the stony shores split the night. None of the people in the town could hear the death rattle of the old castle over the thundering fireworks lighting up the night sky. Cheer and chanting, counting down to one, were mixing with the roaring waves to create a volume neither could achieve alone. The waves lapped gently against the shore, stated after consuming the fallen stones from the castle. The castle’s last wish rose with the bubbles and popped into the night wind. The wish was unheard by all but created something. A wish modeled after the motto that had long been shouted in its halls among shining swords and clashing shields. The castle wished that we, the knights and castle, could “gladly feast upon those who would subject us,” in the only language it had ever heard.

Sic Gotgimus Allos Subjectatos Nunc.

            The child born from this wish to live again in its glory days and whose voice would have the dulcet tones of the roaring sea that consumed the castle. The child opened their eyes to the moon and starlight being overshadowed by the firey sparks from the celebration. Fascinated by this light that reached into the depths from where they were born, they floated through the rubble to breach the surface. The sparks burned holes into Noxis á Morte’s vision. They swam dangerously close to the rocky shore in hopes to catch a surviving spark.

            After being unable to find their light above the waves, they dived down through the depths to search for a shimmer or shine that could compare to lights above the waves. Noxis swam down in spiraling circles gradually descending into the marina trench. The vivid songs of a pod of whales as they sounded off through the depths in a Georgian choir. The pod’s massive pull threw Noxis into a tailspin being buffeted by the different currents created by the gentle giant’s moving tails.

Swirled down and around until they could no longer tell up from down or right from the left caused Noxis to search for anything that they could use to reorientate themselves. Spying some waving tendrils of a yellow-orange coral stuck out in the deep blue. Noxis swam for the undulating center of the flower before it closed for the time being. Diving down into the center, Noxis found themselves in a cozy atmosphere enhanced by the glow of the coral. Noxis turned around to watch the open sea and whales' continuous wreckage through the marina trench. Spying through the bars made by the corals' yellow tendrils made Noxis feel comfortable enough to fall asleep.

The orange glow of the waving corals turned into tall, broad autumn trees that surrounded a glowing mountain. The rise and fall of the hills lead to a summit spitting out sparks around the rim of the volcano. Noxis’s dream was so vivid that they could almost feel the heat from the fire on their face; a deep warmth that stirred up their curiosity. While they enjoyed the light, Noxis was used to the much cooler temperatures of the ocean depths. The heat, as little as it was, was like entering a bubbling cauldron to them but would be slightly humid to others. Noxis was forced to squint against the amount of light that poured onto their face. They wanted to look deeper into the volcano but their eyes had not adjusted properly to the amount of light yet.

They wiggled around in an attempt to shade their eyes from the orange glow that permeated the depths of their dreams. Groggily realizing that the glow was not coming from their dream, Noxis reluctantly decided to open their eyes. They lost the last traces of their dream and could not remember anything other than the warmth they had felt. Somehow they had been transported into an orange tulip.

Noxis gave up on sleep entirely and scrunched their nose as they poked their head over the top of the petal. Gradually adjusting to the influx of light, Noxis became more aware of their surroundings. They were in a large field of tulips that stretched until the flowers hit a straight line of trees. While the field was a small plot, it felt to Noxis as if they had been dumped into a rainbow made of heavenly smells. Their senses were flooded by colors, scents, and noises that went unmuffled by the waves of the sea, uncolored by the blue of the ocean depths, and not overpowered by the scent of salt. Noxis was starting to wake up fully and was delighted by the different colors that greeted them in the morning light.

These flowers had twice as many colors as the fireworks than the night before! Noxis flittered with excitement from flower to flower to stick their head into the depths of each petaled cup until their face was dusted with a light yellow color from the pollen they had gathered. Unused to the tickling sensation, an uproarious sneeze catapulted Noxis back into the ground where they sat dizzily.

When the world stopped spinning in the opposite direction, Noxis decided to wander around to see what other wonders this strange dreamland held. They just wanted to enjoy their time here and hoped that they would not wake up back in the cold deep sea.