I arrived at the town! My house was on the other side, so I walked through the marketplace, picking up some stray fruits and bread as I got home. I put it all in the cloth bag Hermit gave me. “I could say that I found the figures on the ground, thought they looked cool and picked them up. And a kindly old man saw me holding all this stuff so he gave me a bag.”.

“Yeah, that’s an acceptable explanation!” I thought aloud, arriving at my house. I wouldn’t say my house was the most elegant or grandiose-if at all. But it was my home, and I was happy with it. I carefully opened the worn-down door, making the least noise. I wasn’t planning to sneak in, but I sure felt like it. After I took off my forest-mud encrusted shoes, I saw a drowsy dad slouching on the couch, with a half-finished shoe and some tools in front of him. My dad is a cordwainer, meaning he makes shoes from leather. But ever since my mom died, his salary hasn’t been enough to support us, and he can’t seem to get a new job. That’s why I go around stealing food. 

When he saw me, he immediately sat up, and stretched.

“*yawn* You’re back! I was a bit worried! Why did you come home late? Got into trouble again?” my dad sleepily asked.

“Not this time! I ran into a kindly old man, and I stayed at his house for a while. He gave me a bag and some food to bring home! Also, I found a few statues along the way home, and brought them back. And anyways, you know I have a knack for getting out of trouble!”, I lied. Close enough to the truth, I guess. I emptied the contents of my bag onto the table.

“Well! At least I know the last part is true! You stole food from the stalls again didn’t you! You know I don’t approve of you going around like a thief.” he frowned.

“Yeah I know. But…” I trailed off, unable to think of a reasonable argument.

“Look, I know that my job isn’t the best in terms of payment. So I guess it’s kinda my fault you have to steal food. But I want you to be careful. And stop lying to me. I love you no matter what you do, or how much trouble you get into.” he smiled, I thought with a hint of pride.

Good old dad. I hugged him.

“I love you too dad.” I told him, my eyes getting watery. I felt extremely guilty that I still had to lie to him about colours and the paintbrush until the time is right. I pledged to never lie about stealing ever again, relieving some of the guilt I was feeling before.

“You look worn out! Get some rest, you’ll need it if you’re going on another adventure tomorrow!” dad let out a hearty laugh.

“Yeah, you’re probably right!” I chuckled, rubbing my weary eyes. As I took a quick but comfortably hot shower, I thought about the training for tomorrow. I was excited but tired. I got into my pajamas, slumped onto the bed, and without even bothering to pull up the covers, closed my eyes and drifted off.

I slowly opened my eyes, and saw a figure in front of me. A figure with blue distinct blue eyes.

“Mom?!”

“Yes, Elliot.”

“Mom!!” I cried , bawling out my eyes , as I ran to her and hugged her tight, never letting go.

“I-It’s okay Elliot. I’m here. I’ve always been.” my mother whispered, desperately trying to stay strong. Me wiping off my tears, and my mom taking deep breaths to calm down, I asked, “How are you alive?”

“Well… I’m not really alive.”

“Am I dreaming then?”

“Sort of. When people dream, they are closest to their spiritual center, or “chroma center. Apparently your sudden realisation of the existence of colours has landed you smack-dab into your chroma center! The only other way to your chroma center is through meditation. This is where your deepest connections lie. You know the phrase, “I’ll always be with you”? Well it’s true, your chroma center is where the spirits of the ones you love and the ones you are most connected to lie.”

“Sooo… this is real?”

“Well, only for you.”

And that’s when I noticed I was floating.

“AAAAHHH!!!” I screamed for my life!

“Hah! Don’t worry, this is your own chroma center, you can levitate and fly in here!” my mother teasingly laughed.

“Now, I want to show you something.” my mom told me.

Slowly, we descended until we arrived at a blue river, inside of a lush forest, full of animals of all kinds, walking, flying, and swimming. Although, except for the river, everything seemed abnormal. I could only guess that I could see their colour.

“What you see here are many different colours. I won’t tell you them all, but the colour of the leaves and the grass etcetera is called green. It is actually a mixture of blue, and yellow.” my mother explained. Wow, I didn’t know colours could be mixed!

“Now, pay attention to the river. Notice how when the water meets a rock, it simply flows around it. It doesn’t try to break through the rock, so it can quickly travel around the rock with little effort. This is the basis of blue painting. Instead of forcing through or avoiding a problem, you simply let your energy flow around it, or change it’s structure to properly address the problem. In combat painting that’s blue affiliated, this takes the form of dodging or blocking strikes. In construct painting for a person that is blue affiliated, this is the way energy should flow through and out your body in the form of paint, flowing around all inner barriers. But this water can also be very dangerous. People can drown in it, if boiling you can burn yourself, and if compressed enough, when all the pressure is released it could potentially kill someone. This is the offensive side of blue combat painting, mainly the charged up, powerful strokes of paint, and the fast application of paint, or paint attacks. For blue affiliated construct painting, this is when you need quick constructs, mainly when you need a lot in a short amount of time.

Also, keep in mind that while your painted constructs can possibly physically hurt someone, paint/colour cannot directly do that. By combat painting, I mean repainting something that has no colour, and blocking physical or anti-colour attacks.” my mom lectured.

Looking at my fairly confused face, she asked “Did you at least understand most of it?”

I numbly nodded my head.

“I understand it, it’s just a lot to take in.”

My mother gave out a hearty laugh. “Tomorrow, you should tell Hermit about this. He can teach you how to meditate into your chroma center, instead of just randomly landing here!” she chuckled.

I saw the forest slowly fade away, until, me and my mother were alone, floating again. Then she slowly faded away too.

“Until next time, Elliot.”