"Let's go catch some insects!" A boy named Kehal shouted to his friends as he ran into the forest.
"Let's compete that who can catch the most, Lol." A boy named Deric said with a laugh.
"You guys, wait for me!" A girl named Claudia said while following behind boys.
"These are boys." A girl named Midaran said, shaking her head.
All children have been friends since they were kids in this village. Kehal is the group leader who leads all his friends to do various activities together, such as going into the forest to find fruits, catching insects, and collecting various ingredients to bring back to the village. They promised each other that they would form a team member of adventurers in the wide world like their parents.
A lot of insects and fruits were collected into the basket that Claudia and Midaran had prepared. The two boys searched for many things until they were all dirty. The atmosphere was filled with laughter and joy like children living in the countryside. They mostly went into the forest and played in the river because they didn't have modern technology such as television, children's cartoon books, and other things like children in the capital cities.
"We got a lot. It's getting late. Let's go back to the village." Kehal said, brushing the dust off his clothes.
"Ok!" the other friends replied in unison.
When the children returned to the village, they all went back to their houses. Claudia and Midaran distributed their ingredients into four boxes and had each person take them home.
"Oh! This is Deric's favorite fruit. I forgot to put it in his box. I'll give it to him." Claudia said as she put the blue fruit in a bag and prepared to give it to Deric.
"Dad, Mom! I'll take some fruit to Deric." Claudia said.
"Sure, dear. Don't be late. It'll be dinner time soon." Claudia's mother said.
"Yes, Mom." Claudia replied and rushed out of the house with a bag of blue fruit.
Claudia arrived at Deric's house, but the atmosphere inside the house was quiet. There was hardly any sound of conversation coming from inside the house.
"Is there anyone here? Let's peek." Claudia said as she slowly walked to the slightly open window.
Claudia saw in front of her was Deric sitting at the dining table eating alone with sadness. The few tears in his eyes that made her know that he was suffering inside.
Knock, knock! There was a knock on the door.
"Mom and Dad?" Deric said happily and rushed to open the door immediately. But what he saw was a little disappointing, but at least it made him feel happy. It was Claudia.
"Oh, Claudia. Is something wrong?" Deric asked.
"I forgot to give you the blue fruit, so I brought it here." Claudia said, handing him the bag of fruit.
"Thanks." Deric replied, taking the bag of fruit in his hand.
"Are you always stay alone?" Claudia asked curiously.
"Yes… My parents always come back home late at night. They have many missions from the capital city that they hardly have time to stay with me." Deric said with a sad look in his eyes.
Claudia felt so sorry for him that she wanted to stay with him a little longer to give him some encouragement.
"Then I'll stay with you for a while. I'll make something to eat for you." Claudia said with a smile.
"I'm afraid that your parents will be worried." Deric said.
"It's okay, it'll only just a moment. You sit down and wait for it." Claudia said, borrowing a kitchen knife to peel and cut the blue fruit and put them on a plate for Deric to eat. He sat down to eat the fruit with Claudia with a smile. They talked about many things until Deric didn't feel so lonely anymore because he still had Claudia by his side.
One day, Claudia came to Deric's house to tell him that the others were waiting at the entrance of the forest to go for collecting items again and find ingredients as usual because today was Deric's birthday, and the friends wanted to make delicious food and desserts to celebrate Deric's birthday but when she stopped in front of the house, she heard the sound of people arguing from inside the house.
"Why are Mom and Dad always busy? Today is my birthday. Can't we at least spend a day together?" Deric shouted in anger.
"We really have an important mission to do, so we can't stay here for celebrating your birthday today." Deric's mom tried to explain.
"This mission is more important than my birthday?" Deric asked.
His parent was silent for a moment, but then Deric's father replied, which made Deric shocked.
"Yes…it's much more important than your birthday but we promised to come back soon to celebrate your birthday tonight if we have time." Deric's father replied.
"At least we bought a cake for you. When the mission is over, we'll hurry back to celebrate with you." Deric's mom said, pointing to the cake box on the dining table.
Deric looked at the cake box with a pained expression and did something that no one expected him to do. Deric walked over to the cake box and threw it onto the floor, scattering the cakes all over the floor.
"I don't want any birthday cake! I just want my parents to be with me, that's all! If you can't even give me this, then don't bother talking to me anymore!" Deric complained.
Deric's mother suddenly walked to him and slapped Derick's right cheek angrily.
*Slap*
Derick felt numb because his mother had never slapped him on the cheek even once since he was born. As for his mother, she stood there and silent because she did not expect that she would slap her son in the face like this.
"I hate you! Just go wherever you want! I shouldn't have been born!" Deric shouted and ran out of the back of the house, heading into the woods.
"Deric! Come back!" Deric's mother tried to run after him to apologize, but Deric's father held her back.
"It's okay, one day he'll understand what we have to do. It's time to go on an important mission. It's going to be too late." Deric's father said, while his wife stood there, crying.
They took their belongings, came out of the house and found Claudia standing still with a shocked expression in front of them.
"Claudia, please bring Deric home." Deric's mother said.
"Why don't you go with me to find him?" Claudia asked.
"We have a very important mission that we need to do quickly. It's going to be too late. Please take care of him, Claudia." Deric's father said. Then they quickly used magic to teleport to somewhere in front of Claudia before disappeared.
Claudia walked into the forest in disappointment, but she tried to be calm. After walking for a while, she found Deric was crying alone near a small stream in the forest. She slowly sat down near him and patted her back with concern. Deric turned to Claudia and immediately hugged her with tears streaming down his face.
"It's okay, I'm here, Deric." Claudia comforted him.
"Why can't my family live together like you? My birthday isn't as important as my parents' mission." Deric said through tears.
"Your parents might have something really important to do. They'll come back to celebrate your birthday late at night." Claudia consoled him.
"I am not important for them." Derek said.
"You always be an important to them. Don't think about it." Claudia said, caressing his cheek with concern.
"Really?" Deric asked.
"Yes, it is. None of any parent don't love their children. You may be alone today, but at least I'll always be by your side, Deric." Claudia said.
They were looking at each other. The concern they had for each other began to grow into an indescribable love. Claudia slowly kissed Deric's cheek, causing Derek to shy quite a bit with embarrassment.
"No matter what happens, I will always be by your side, Deric. Don't blame yourself. You are important to me and my friends too." Claudia said.
Deric hugged Claudia tightly. He tried to understand his parents' feelings even more. At least he had his friends by his side when his parents were not around him.
"No matter what happens, I will protect you, Claudia. I promised." Deric said in a serious tone.
"Thank you." Claudia replied with a smile.
They walked out of the forest holding hands to join Kehal and Midarun. The four of them walked into the forest together to find various ingredients. In the evening, they went to Claudia's house to cook and make various desserts to celebrate Deric's birthday. Everyone had smiles on their faces.
A cheerful smile that greatly relieves Deric's loneliness. At least he still has other friends who care about him.
At night, while Deric was sleeping, an alarm sounded throughout the village. People screamed. Footsteps ran back and forth throughout the village, preparing for the war.
There was a loud knock on the front door. Deric quickly got out of bed and rushed to open the door in a panic.
"Deric! Something very bad has happened! Our village has been attacked by demons! Come with us!" Claudia and her parents quickly said and brought Deric to a large building where many children and adults were hiding.
Suddenly, everyone heard screaming sounds. The people defending the village at the front line were starting to be unable to fight the demons, so the people inside had to come out to help fight with more force. The elderly and young children warped to the center of the capital city ahead of everyone else.
"No! I'll stay here with Mom and Dad." Claudia pleaded tearfully because she didn't want to teleport to the capital city with the others, but she wanted to stay here and help her parents to fight.
"It's dangerous, my dear. Please, teleport now!" Claudia's mother pleaded.
"I don't want to leave you." Claudia said.
"It's too late. Just stay here! Don't go anywhere." Kehal's father said as he quickly held up his sword and shield, ready to lead the others out to fight the demons.
The women cast a spell to create a large barrier covering the building, completely preventing the demons from entering. Then they immediately went out to fight the demons together.
Kehal, the eldest of the children, carries a sword and shield ready to fight. Although he isn't very skilled yet, but he is ready to fight to protect others.
Claudia trembled with fear, but Deric bravely held onto Claudia's hand tightly, reassuring her that he was always there for her.
"Don't be afraid. No matter what happens, I will never leave you." Deric promised, which made Claudia feel calm.
At the present, after Halfway through Claudia's story, she has a clearly worried expression. It's as if the past is haunting her again, and Mariel can feel it.
Deric slowly embraced his wife with concern and patted her head to calm her down.
"Don't be afraid, I'm still here by your side, Claudia." Deric comforted her.
"Dad, Mom..." Mariel also came and hugged both with concern.
"I feel better now. Now, it's time to continue the story." Claudia said.
"Then, this time, I will continue our story. You will know that why we always care about you more than everything in our life." Deric said, looking at his daughter with care, that made Mariel feel warm.