Once in the land of Basia there lived an evil princess in the palace of Jux. Mental domination made her feel powerful over others, so she did everything she could to appear strong. She spoke confidently and intimidated everyone that she interacted with. Her goal was to rule the world.
Aside from that, she was the most beautiful woman in the Basian empire. Her hair was as dark as her soul, and it curled messily, like fire. Her body moved with the fluidity of a serpent. Everywhere she went men turned to look at her, but she would look straight back at them until they turned away. She had a way of defeating people with her eyes alone.
One hot afternoon, Princess Lacuna decided to dress like a commoner and wander outside the palace walls. She’d gotten bored of palace life; well, she got bored of things in general quite easily. She thought it might be fun to toy with the city folk instead of her servants for once.
The streets of Jux were lined with cubic red buildings that were all framed by golden decorations. The gold was shaped in the tradition of fire, for Basians worshiped it, as their greatest god was their sun god.
The princess came to a park that was full of commotion. Curious as to what the crowd was ogling over, she forced her way to the front of it. No one recognized her as being the princess, of course. She was wearing a veil that hid her profile, only revealing the mysterious eyes she used to control people with.
Oh, just another boring dance off, she thought. She was thinking she'd wander instead to the dragon circus, when a dancing young boy skipped his way over to her. His dancing was unlike anything she'd ever seen. He twirled around in circles, jumping into the air with the greatest of ease. His feet moved over the ground like they were feathers flying in the wind. Lacuna squinted her eyes, forcing herself to ignore any interest in this magical peculiarity. The rest of the crowd was bedazzled by the boy's unorthodox movement, which clearly wasn't Basian.
Then a giant bully of a Basian tossed the other dancers aside. He stared at the boy with a challenging gaze. The boy just smiled back. Then the Basian did a series of complex arm thrusts and leg kicks that were linear and powerful in their dynamic. It was a traditional Basian dance, which forced another yawn from poor Lacuna's face. At least the boy is original, she thought. The boy smiled again at his challenger. In return, he folded his arms and jogged his legs rapidly around in circles, picking up a cloud of dust. The spectators cheered, clapping louder than they had for their own dancer. The bully looked disgusted. To impress them more, he did barrel rolls with intermittent summersaults, ending with a rocket of a jump high into the air before landing gracefully on his feet. The boy just smiled again. In return, he did a slow windmill pattern with his arms, and tumbled upside down to dance on his head. He had the ability to lift himself on one hand, toss himself into the air, do several flips, and land on the opposite hand. And much to the annoyance of the giant Basian, he was getting faster by the minute. So, the bully growled and charged at the boy who'd humiliated him. Just before the giant could clobber him, the boy stepped aside, letting him run by, still smiling. Then the bully, embarrassed beyond his control, unsheathed a golden sword. The boy grabbed the hilt of his own, did a forward bow, and of course, continued to smile.
Thus, they fought to the death, much to Lacuna's amusement. However, it was quickly apparent that the strange boy was only taunting the Basian. Lacuna could see it at once. The way he moved, the way he was fearless, and the brilliance of his charming grace created a weakness in her heart that she had never felt before. A weakness that she didn't like one bit.
To end the fight, the boy stripped the Basian of his pants by using his sword. The crowd laughed, and the boy smiled back at them. The princess was repulsed by all the laughter. As she was leaving the commotion, she saw flocks of children smothering him, enamored by his charisma. He did tricks for them and told them stories about the Holy Mountains of Nirvana, his home. From afar, the princess turned back and locked eyes with the boy. He waved at her, but she did not wave back. She was the first to look away, which hardly ever happened.
The next time she saw him was at the reputed Coliseum of Jux. It towered an astonishing 600 feet. Tens of thousands of people from all over the empire came to see the famous Tournament of Swords, held every year at the Coliseum. Most of them brought little binocular eyeglasses (especially the ones with seats in the upper rafters).
It was Lacuna's most favorite event of the year.
Challengers came from all over the world. But no one had ever defeated the gladiator, Solomon. He was an eight-time champion, a beast of a man. Lacuna could beat him; she was sure of it. You see, in addition to her ravishing looks and deadly mind, our princess was a prodigal swordswoman. Her desire for control extended beyond the mental realms and into the physical. In every competition she found her opponent's weakness, exposed it, and calculated the right time for a crippling offense. She had no weakness, and sword-fighting was no exception. She always won, making people think she was perfect in every way.
When the Nirvana boy from Mt. Karma made it to the final round, he was booed instantly. The Basians had a 6-year winning streak in the tournament, and they feared that streak would come to an end. It seemed to Lacuna that she was the only one who wanted Solomon to lose.
Solomon was larger and stronger, but the boy was faster and smarter. All he had to do was evade the man and wear him out. The boy used his whole body to defend the powerful offense of Solomon. In 3 minutes, the giant was sweating. In 5 minutes, his strikes began to weaken. In 8 minutes, he was stopping to catch his breath. In 10, the 8-time champion was finished. Throngs of spectators booed while the boy bowed respectfully at his opponent. What aggravated the crowd more than anything was this boy's granting mercy to the killing of his opponents, which went against the tradition of the tournament. The princess leaned back, folded her arms, squinted her red eyes, and grimly smiled.
The next time she saw him was in the palace courtyard. Due to his fame, he was becoming easier to locate. He also had a name- Kumbum- but was mostly known as the Nirvana Boy.
He was escorted through the courtyard by Lacuna's servants. The courtyard was clean and polished. The columns were decorated in ornate designs that unraveled in scenes from an ancient story. Gemstones outlined the perimeter of a crystal blue pool in the center. Behind it rose the high turrets of the palace. Below, in its shadows, Lacuna was waiting for them to approach. The evil princess sat on some steps, anxiously awaiting her pray. When he saw her, he did not appear to be afraid. It annoyed her.
"I hear you're good with a sword, Kumbum."
"Only in my sleep!"
Lacuna squinted at him. "You won't be toying me with outdated Nirvana riddles. You want a real challenge?"
The boy finally stopped smiling. "It isn't my habit to go around fighting people. I'm leaving for the Imperial capital tomorrow."
“I should call you ‘bum’ for short, since you're obviously a homeless exile. What, did the monks get tired of you showing off?”
Kumbum laughed. "I entered because I was asked to. And no, I will return to Nirvana once my mission is complete."
"We'll see about that."
She rose from her seat, surging through the air, gaining an early advantage. Kumbum was backpedaling and nearly fell into the pool when he did a forward flip, over her head. She was quick, smart, compact, and tactile. A ferocious menace, whose calculated attack seemed flawless. The only way to defeat her would be to outlast her, just as he'd done with the gladiator. Nirvanans were notoriously durable. Even though Lacuna was one of the most durable fighters in the Basian empire, she found herself losing her breath, just as Solomon had done.
Aggravated, she screamed, "Attack me, you cowardly floater!" But Kumbum continued to work her offense to his advantage.
"Defense is the best offense", he gasped.
Lacuna let out a dire scream and charged at the boy. But he out-maneuvered her, leaving a gash across her cheek. She wailed, hollered, attacked again. This time she overpowered him, yet Kumbum escaped though her legs, launching her into the pool as he rose. Again, she attacked and failed. Again and again, she came, but the boy would not tire. After a series of retreats into the columns, the princess fell to the ground, surrendering. She ordered the guards to take Kumbum as her prisoner.
"Curse that show-off! I haven't lost in years."
Lacuna was pacing the dungeon hall. There echoed in the back of her head the condescending voice of her mother saying, you miscalculated. And then the blunt criticism of her father: You just weren't good enough. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her teeth rattled. The hair loosened from her bun, cascading down her face into a painting of insanity.
In the dungeon, she took pleasure in torturing the boy. She beat him black and blue. At least he wasn't smiling anymore. But he wasn't crying either. The challenge of breaking him excited her beyond measure. She wanted to see him suffer. It wasn't fair that he should go through life as if it were some divine gift. But the more she tortured him, the more it seemed like it was he who was torturing her.
On one occasion she took off her clothes to see his reaction. Kumbum found her quite beautiful, but he didn't show any interest in her body. Then she straddled his wounded body and licked his face, tasting what she could never have.
"Why don't you fear me? Everyone else does.”
"There's no love in fear. Fear is what limits our abilities and destroys our relationships. I have nothing but love for you, Princess Lacuna."
She bit her tongue. Kumbum noticed tears walling at the sides of her eyes. "You're wrong. Fear is the most primal, reliable instinct. It’s what keeps us alive. We control our lives and defeat others using it. You can't control your life if you trust everyone. Trust is for fools.”
He looked into her eyes with an expression of empathy. Her hair was wild. She looked like a deer in the headlights of a car fast approaching.
" Someone hurt you very deeply," he said.
"What! Nothing can hurt me. Don't presume to know my life."
"When I lived in the mountains, I fell in love with a traveling gypsy. The monks said that I was over-indulging in my senses, that I must detach from her and all other Earthly things. I had to let her go. So, I left the mountains to travel the world, just like she was doing."
"Oh please! What is the point of taking the middle path? If you can't indulge in the senses, then you may as well be dead. Not the most exciting life."
"Taking the middle path brings balance. Seeing every problem from every perspective. What could be more exciting than that?”
The princess was getting angry. She couldn't take it anymore. The boy looked back into her eyes.
"Who hurt you, Lacuna?”
"NO ONE!”
And that’s why she killed him.
For days she spiraled into a mental breakdown. Grief, loss, and regret tattooed her heart. She had done horrible things to people, torturing the first boy she had ever found any interest in. Her dreams of uprooting the king- her father- and taking over the world were slipping away. Instead, she slowly started finding forgiveness for herself, and for those who’d wronged her, including her father, who never paid her much attention. It was a transformation that takes a lifetime for most people. But for her, who had been touched by the magical boy from Nirvana, it was a relatively quick process; quick like the movements they once shared. Later it dawned on her that in some fundamental way, she had become the mysterious boy that she’d danced with, imprisoned, and killed.
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