Pride 2026

“!” Etnajall woke up from a nightmare once again, he jumped up from the soft meadows, looked nervously to confirm no one was nearby. “Not again..” he sighed, as if he’s sick of the returning nightmare of his past lifes.

He hopped on a stone, staring down at the amazing sight of Colsentia, he still couldn’t believe he got reborn and got some power that he never had before. Still, he is shadowed by his past, worried that this wonderful life may be slipped away from his paws.

To stop himself from this unending cycle of self doubt, he shook his head, and decided to visit some nearby small village. Just crossing a few rivers and forest, he found himself wandered into a parade sort of celebration. The villagers are dressed in colourful costumes and having a great time, which Etnajall is not familiar with. “Pfft, what’s all those noise? What sort of parade is this even is?” He murmured, which is caught by some other Stelciar. “It’s the yearly pride parade!” The stelciar answered with excitement, “every creature can express themselves freely without fearing the stereotype by the society and others!” 

Etnajall grinned, “ huh? Why you need to celebrate such a thing?” Of course he knew the pressure that others would bring towards himself cause he did something different, of course he still remembered the slurs and insults he faced for being █  █ █ █ █ █  █ █ █. Related to cursed they say, which will never justify the hatred they shown towards Etnajall in the past. But Etnajall acts all tough and strong in front of others, at least in this 10th life that he is given with.

“Oh…” the joyful Stelciar shrugged, “maybe you come from a lucky place where discrimination doesn’t exist! But many of us fight hard for the peace and equality we got today so… how that’s not something we should celebrate together?” 

Etnajall wanted to say so badly he’s not lucky in the past at all but he held back himself. To covering his displeasure, he raised a question again, “Okay now I get it. So what’s all these flags? There are even badges and pins all over the backpack of these villagers? What purpose they serve?” 

“Here! Let me tell you the meaning of the flags one by one!” “Wait, let me explain!” “Hold up, let me gift you a souvenir first!” The question Etnajall asked attracts a few more helpful Stelciars. Very soon, Etnajall is surrounded by a bunch of chatty, friendly citizen that is eager to share more knowledge about the whole pride parade thingy. Etnajall was a bit overwhelmed by the enthusiasm but he is also quite happy to learn something new.

“What if I don’t feel like assigning myself to only one gender?” He asked a question that always clouded in his heart. In the past, he was scolded by his previous owners just because he acts not as some gender stereotypes…

“Maybe you are non-binary! There’s no need to force yourself to be something that you don’t feel comfortable with… life’s too short to be someone that’s not yourself!” Someone handed Etnajall a flag with 4 horizontal stripes, “here is the non-binary flag, looks amazing right?”

Etnajall took over the flag and waved gently, the wind makes the flag wave in a smoothing motion, he smiled and finally felt a little bit of solace.