"Oh? Weilder you look different somehow, you look more… Healthy." the staff came swooping down from the chandelier that hung near the center of the chapel.
"What are you doing here?" asked the fairy while flying around the staff.
"Ughhh it's you… I'm here because I've chosen my Weilder, why are you here?"
"I'm here because Levern said to stay beside Vee and help her through her fusion." the two kept arguing while twirling around each other and anyone that was looking at the two would feel sick.
"Well I'm here so we don't need you, isn't that right wielder?" the tension in the air between the two made everyone standing nearby uncomfortable.
"You two stop arguing, your both going to stay together whether you like it or not so squash any grievances you have with each other." I shut down the argument before they could continue and they both looked very disgruntled by me not choosing a side.
"Okay…" replied the fairy looking down.
"Fine." The staff retorted and turned around to fly back towards the chandelier.
I turned towards the corpses that were piled up and decided to bury all of them with the help of the staff to move them all at once, each skeleton got its own plot in front of the chapel and the spirits that clouded the chapel were released one by one.
"Vee what about the director and Miss Dandy? Are you going to just leave them?"
"No, I'm going to bury them too"
"Why? She was a horrible person." Reuben asked filled with curiosity.
"That's true but it's also true that she too deserves a place to rest. Someone once told me that your foes deserve just as much respect as your friend."
"I can't understand you, didn't you hate her?" Asked Rein sitting on the ground leaning his head on his elbows.
"I did hate her… I no longer harbor any feelings for her as she is nothing but a dead person now." I walked away having completed my first goal knowing that there was a harder trial coming up on this road that I'd decided the tread down.
I looked up towards the horizon and a beautiful red dusk had settled in the sky, another morning was on the rise and there was still so much that needed to be done.
- - -
I was in a dream, and in that dream I saw 2 people who were connected through a rippling reflection on a lake, one chased after the other but was never able to truly reach him no matter how hard he tried.
It reminded me of Vee and I, no matter how hard I chased after her she never turned around to even give me a single glance, I yearned for her affection and the further she ran away the harder I chased after her.
The man with golden eyes and red hair who reminded me of a summer sunset reached out his palms towards the lake and stared at the reflection of another with white hair and white eyes.
His eyes flickered between different emotions as swiftly as the flickering of a candlestick, one moment he was drowning in happiness from simply the sight of the person he loved, and yet another moment he was filled to the brim with sorrow.
"Arnedan… Arnedan I'm here talk to me." His voice beckoned him urgently.
"Levern? Your up from your slumber… I waited for you." He replied while walking towards the lake and smiling brightly.
"Arnedan, you should return to my side now… You've been with the humans long enough. Come back to me." He spoke softly his urgency breaking upon seeing such a bright smile.
"Not yet Levern… I still have something to take care of… once that's done I will return to your side I promise." He coaxed Levern with a sweet smile.
Levern could not argue anymore with Arnedan as he knew he wasn't someone he could force to drop everything and return to his side, Levern simply wanted Arnedan to be happy.
The settings changed, the once bright days filled with warmth changed to endless rainstorms and a strange dark gloom that loomed over the lands.
"Arnedan… Do you hate me? You said a little while longer… you said you'd come back, so why?" Leverns face masked over with a painful expression.
"Levern you know I can not return, you know that my end is near." Levern's whole world crumbled at the answer he received.
"IT doesn't have to be, you simply need to come back to me and you'll be by my side forever, please I'm begging you to choose me!" Urgency laced with anger.
"I'm sorry Levern, I can't… This is my job, this is what I was created to do."
"You… You're choosing humans over me and you? Do you… Do you not love me?"
"I do love you, of course, I love you."
"Then chose me… Chose me if you love me!" he choked and stumbled over his words.
"I'm sorry…" An answer that deafened him rang out in his ears, he had been abandoned…
The gloom continued to grow in the sky and Levern could be seen casting spells into the air, the spell then traveled down and into the central temple lectern where oracles are passed down, at that moment it clicked in my mind that this man named Levern was God.
"God has sent an oracle." said the founding Pope, any noble in the empire could recognize his face as his portrait was proudly hung at the front of the central temple.
"What does it say?" asked a younger man, perhaps a deacon.
"It says that we should prevent the death of the devil if we wish for God to not abandon humanity…" the Pope spoke while his eyes widened at God's shocking oracle.
"What? Why would God say such a thing? Are you sure this isn't the work of the Devil?" the person suspected as a deacon asked, also confused.
"The lectern is made from a Holy artifact there is no way that the devil would interfere with this without dying." The Pope answered.
"We can not tell the people that God is on the side of the devil, there would be mass hysteria, this is simply blasphemous this cannot happen. The devil must die." Without even hesitating the Pope had already decided what would be best for the reputation of the temple.
"But God has said he would abandon humanity if we don't…" The deacon who was frightened to upset God spoke out.
"Silence! This oracle cannot be released to the public have I made myself clear… We will deal with God's fury later." The Pope pushed the deacon's worries aside while the deacon knelt down towards God's statue and prayed desperately.
The atmosphere changed once again the once stormy sky was now simply bland and Levern or God lay atop the lake, the scene I was watching reminded me of the look Vee had on her face while she watched her loved ones die one by one, unable to even cry and mourn the loss.
Time started moving by fast while the sky remained gloomy and Levern remained floating on the lake staring into an empty reflection, the once beautiful garden was now overgrown and dirty with no care put into it.
I was awakened from the dream by the golden dusk that seeped through my curtains, I sat up from my bed and found myself crying. Levern's mourning reminded me of my own mourning, I knew what it feels like to have your heart absolutely ripped out of your chest.
- - -
We returned to the chapel and I woke the kids up, they started freaking out as they remembered what had happened moments before they fell unconscious.
"Your okay now, relax let's go back to the orphanage."
"Are you crazy? Why would we go back there? We're going to die if we go back there, let's run away while we still can." Sam screamed out, clearly panicked.
"The director isn't here anymore, you'll be fine I guarantee it." I tried to sound as calm as I could
"No! What about the other teachers? Miss Dandy too, she's scarier than the director!" A slight pang hit my heart at his words, he didn't even realize the person he feared was his own mother.
"Sam! Calm down, breathe in and out, they're not here anymore… and they won't come back, I promise."
"Who are you to promise me that? How do I trust you?!" He was still panicking and words weren't enough to get to his head.
I took matters into my own hands and sent him back to sleep so that we could at least calm down the other children, going back to the orphanage was our priority as the children in section B were in need of medical attention.
"Alright, I'll carry Sam back everyone else follow us, the road might be a little rough but if we walk fast we should get there by mid-day at the very least," I spoke and the other children nodded their heads.
The twins paired the children up so no one would get lost and Reuben decided to walk at the back and Rein would lead the way beside me, our long journey started but the way back felt shorter and calmer as if the forest was making sure to guide us back to the orphanage safely.