[Arius POV]
There was an impact bigger than anything I'd ever seen. The sound was so loud that I felt my head shaking and ringing a few seconds after. A large cloud of dust had formed around the site of impact, preventing me for see anything. Exhausted, I let go of Master Doherty's armour and fall to the ground.
As the dust began to clear up, I activate my spectacles one last time. The burning was there, but also tingling as well. From the hole in the stone golem's abdomen, there was lots of blue mana gushing out, seeping into the red mana all around. Soon, the blue mana started to fizzle out as the red mana started to consume it. Once there was no more to consume, there was no more life in the golem and the red mana started to leave its body and dissipate into the air.
BOOM Boom Boom Boom!
With the red mana gone, the stone pillar that floated in the air started falling and landing back into the ground where they come from. The colour of the ground returned back to its light grey. Everything was back to normal. Deactivating my spectacles, I see Sir Earnest and Krast landing next to us.
"Phew, that worked a sweat."
"PFFFT! Doherty, do you notice anything different?"
"What do you mea- What happeeeenned?!!"
As Master Doherty continues to look at the headless hammer with Krast laughing at him, I start making my way to the S.T.A. I didn't forget my original goal, I still needed my pendant. Running down the broken hole leading to the portal, I had to jump over lard pieces of rocks and debris.
"Kid, what are doing?"
Suddenly, I hear Sir Earnest's voice behind me. Looking back, I see nothing but a bat hanging from a rock protruding from the wall.
"I need to get something."
...
"Alright, you can go. There shouldn't be anything in the S.T.A. for a short period of time."
After giving his okay, the bat quickly flew out of the hole. I continued to make my way to the portal. The way there had been visibly widened by the stone golem, but soon, I reached the portal. It was the same as before, unchanged, as if this entire thing had never happened. Walking in, I was greeted with the ruins of the settlement around the portal. Broken and collapsed buildings, wood and stones everywhere, even the grass-covered ground had some visible holes in it.
I didn't have that much time to care about the destroyed surroundings. Leaping over the rubble, I see the terrain switch to the grey stones. I could see the trail of giant footprints and the damage the stone golem left. Looking around, I see a familiar giant rock. It was broken in half with its edges crumbling but it was still standing.
Running over, I squeeze into the space behind it and start sifting through the rumble that covered the ground. I see the bag of items that was left here, the burnt jacket that Big Brother Jaque had on and then nearby, with a metallic glint, I see what I was looking for. Grabbing hold of my pendant, I put it back on my neck.
'Dakria, are you there?'
'Arius! You didn't forget about me! Is there's nothing around here that will hurt you?'
'We destroyed everything that left the S.T.A. I would never forget, you're family *sniff* too.'
Just having the familiar weight on my he's and the voice of Dakria in my mind, I start to tear up a little bit.
'Thank the lord that I found it, thank you so much.'
...
[Lorraine POV]
Tock Tock Tock
The sound of someone knocking on the door awoke me from my daze, closing the message I went to open the door to see who it was.
"Big Brother?"
"Lorraine, are you feeling a little better now?"
"..."
"Can I come in?"
"ok."
As I got back onto my bed, Big Brother enters the room before closing the door behind him. He slowly goes and sits down on the only chair in the room. He starts unwrapping the bandages around his head. Wincing but not stopping, the blood-stained bandages were removed revealing the burns and wounds on his face.
"What do you want with me?"
Hearing my question, Big Brother puts on a strained smirk before getting into a comfortable position and responding.
"I'm here to ask you, what do you want to do with you?"
"What do mean?"
"As I said, I know how you feel and worse, I've experienced it. I've heard from Emma about what happened yesterday and saw what happened today. You're bound to think of something far beyond what someone your age should. So I'm here to just hear it out. What do you want to do with you?"
Bringing my legs to my chest, I cover myself in my blanket. I feel my eyes dry and my nose starting to stuff up.
"*huc* *Huc* I don't know *cough* what to do?"
"It is alright to be scared, scared of the future, scared of your thoughts. Just know that running away is not an option."
Unbeknownst to me, Big Brother Jaque had ended up beside me and given me a hug. As I felt more tears running down my face, too many things were floating in my mind. I didn't know what to do.
"These past few days have been too much for children, I'm going to bring you guys back to the orphanage to cool down."
After that, we just stay there in silence until we started hearing talking and partying downstairs.
"Let me get you some food."
"No, I'll go down myself."
"Alright, just down think too hard today. Have some fun partying."
After saying that, Big Brother Jaque gets up and leaves the room. Laying down on the bed with arms over my face, I look at the ceiling and just shake my head. Getting up, I go to the bathroom and completely drench my face with cold water. Then I head down the stairs.
...
[Jaque POV]
Walking down the stairs, I see barrels of beer and food everywhere. Walking to the kitchen, I brew myself a cup of coffee. Taking a sip, I feel the cool liquid run down my throat.
"Man, a warm cup of coffee to take the edge off the day."
Tap Cough!
"Hey, Jaque. You took off your bandages. I gotta say, you got pretty messed up."
Emma suddenly came out of nowhere and smacked me on the back causing to me spit out my coffee.
"Watch it, Emma, I got coffee in my hand."
"Why you got coffee at a party? Here, have some beer!!"
"No thanks, you're alright wobbling around."
After pulling Emma off of me, I see Alfred and Arius in the corner of the room. Walking toward them, I manage to hear the last bits of their conversation.
"So managed to find it."
"Yep, it was exactly where I left it."
"Alright that relieving to hear."
"YO, Arius, Alfred, you two ready to join the party too!"
"Sorry, Jaque. I still got to head to the treasury to finish a task."
"Alfred, you really need a time to relax."
"Yeah, I will someday."
Alfred then gestures before turning around and leaving the worship. On his way out I see him light a puff though. Shaking my head, I turn to Arius, who was already loading his plate of food.
"Arius, I'll be bringing you and Lorraine home tomorrow. The last few days weren't exactly pleasant."
"What! Already? Well, ok... if Lorraine wants to go then we'll go."
"Great! Let's not talk about that for now. LORRAINE! Over here! There's some mighty good food to try!!"
No matter the problems we all have, just for tonight, we will forget them and worry about them tomorrow.
...
[Doherty POV]
Ha ha Woooo...
Hearing the laughter and excitement coming from inside, I gaze amusingly at Krast as we walk down the street with a large crate in hand.
"It seems like kiddos are having a nice time, I remember when we were like that too."
Krast gazing up at the stars replies,
"Yeah, it's been quite a while, I wish we could all get back together."
After that statement, we silently walked down the streets, observing the everyone in town. While there was still some fear, I could see the thankfulness that everything was over. A subtle joy filled the air contrasting the damaged roads and houses.
Soon we arrive at our destination. The depot at the edge of town. Walking in. It was early quiet without a soul in sight.
Krast gently holds up his staff, glowing with mana as we open a small door that leads down to the basement. There, we open the door to see Earnest sitting on the floor, facing away from us.
"Earnest, we've brought you some food and drinks. Its been a while since you've used your powers."
After a brief silence, Earnest turns his head slightly towards us. His reddish purple eyes making eye contact with me. In a hoarse voice, he responds.
"Thank you... my friends."
"No problem, feel free to let loose. We've all known each other for many years now."
With that, I placed the crate down, and we quickly closed the door and headed for the stairs. As we ascend, we hear the sound of liquid splashing. Reaching the main floor, I observed that it had started raining. Krast and I take a seat and simply observe the night over a glass of wine.
'It seems the loose ends are starting to poke out...'
---------------------
[Dakria POV]
'When I was by myself in the S.T.A., I felt...them. Trying to cross over. They will. It's only a matter of time. Within a few decades...Father Erlium, what happened to you at that time?'