Shortly after landing on the bank of the river, a Fortissimo member under Skyla's subdivision found them and led them to a small inconspicuous building.
Inside were about a dozen people, all of whom looked over at the arrival of Skyla. She smiled at her subdivision members, and they smiled back, exchanging greetings without a single spoken word.
"When dawn breaks, scatter in the woodlands. Pell, your group will search this side of the river. Fin, your group will search the other side of the river. I will search for Kai, if you spot him or a ghast, retreat and report it to me."
After her orders, the entire room - except for Lukas and Skyla - nodded in acceptance and understanding, before departing for the night.
Skyla then led Lukas underground to a collection of beds.
"This building acts as a safe house for Fortissimo members in and around Mistfell. There are beds down here and a small meeting room on the ground floor. We'll rest here until we have any leads. When morning comes, you are free to do as you please. Seeing as you may need time to recover, I would advise resting for the foreseeable future."
Unfortunately, Lukas agreed. It would be wise to rest for now, it was already bold enough to rush to Mistfell. But now he couldn't avoid it like he did most of his problems.
So when he went to sleep that night, he stared at the ceiling contemplating his choices. For every step he took, there's another version of him who chose not to. What would that version of Lukas look like? Would he be happy?
'I'm I happy?'
He is tired, and scarred, longs for the past, is unable to meet his expectations, feels useless, and constantly questions his worth.
To Lukas, none of these elements indicated that someone was happy. Yet, he couldn't say he wasn't. He may not be happy, content, or satisfied, but he couldn't think of a version of himself that was better off.
Except, of course, if none of this happened to begin with. But that was out of the question, a fantasy, a dream that would never - and could never come true.
Soon, however, all of this contemplation would wash over Lukas' mind. Rendered to nothing but a mere thought. And soon, he was asleep.
***
When morning came, everyone else was gone, except for Skyla. She was sorting through papers, making corrections or writing responses. She didn't even notice that Lukas had woken up. There was some freshly made bread and eggs on the table she sat at, so Lukas decided to sit down and enjoy them.
"Good morning."
Her voice was flat and she didn't even look up at Lukas.
"Did the others already leave?"
"Yes, I hope they find something soon."
Lukas ate slowly, with the pain in his legs ringing dully through his mind. Yet, sitting so calmly and doing nothing at all was unlike him.
"What's Mistfell like?"
She looked up at Lukas briefly, before returning to her task.
"It's... boring. And... helpless."
"Helpless?"
Skyla sighed.
"Yes, they don't help anybody, nor does anybody help them. Nobody trusts each other here. Their breath is soaked in facades and their hearts love nothing but themselves."
Lukas ate the rest of the meal in silence, before leaving to explore the town and its surrounding woodlands briefly.
'Helpless...'
When he stepped out he saw that the streets were still mostly empty, even though it was only a few hours before noon. He explored the town with the aid of his crutches. He was able to walk by now, but it was sluggish and painful.
It was quiet and empty, and a sense of unease clouded the air like a thick fog. Yet, he couldn't find a single person. Where was everyone?
When he made it to the east side of town, away from the river, he understood why the town felt so lifeless. There, he saw entire blocks of the town left in ruins, abandoned and utterly devastated. Although only a glimpse of the ruins of Shorstone still existed in Lukas' mind, it was eerily similar to what he saw before him.
As he stared out into the rubble, someone walked past him.
"What are you doing, there's nothing over there."
Lukas turned to face the older man.
"Why isn't there anything there?"
The man's face didn't change, displaying the same static despondent stare.
"A terrible storm ripped through here some... 10 or so years ago. Killed the hearts of everyone with it. Shame you can't leave with those legs of yours, there ain't much left anyway."
The man began to shamble away with his cane, his expression still locked on the ruins.
"But, why didn't anyone repair the ruins? Half the town is still here, couldn't they fix it? Why didn't they?"
The man stopped and looked away.
"Boy, you already answered your question. Some people wanted to, but they all said the same thing: 'Why won't they help?'. They always pushed the responsibility onto someone else. Now we're stuck with that longstanding regret."
The man continued to walk away, mumbling to himself. Lukas was only able to hear a snippet.
"...That poor kid..."