Part 1: A Death
"I'm tired of this! Don't you understand how dangerous it is to let them go alone?"
I was sitting on the bed, watching the beautiful woman who has been accompanying me for the last few years, the woman I fell in love with, acting with a strong character, which was captivating in its own way. She was pacing back and forth, clearly upset. I know her concern comes from the fact that before we lived in a Big City...
But after all the time we've been in this town, nothing dangerous has ever happened, maybe some thieves here and there, but we're still protected by the commercial laws between the Continental alliance, so harming someone from here is equivalent to declaring war. There's no one insane enough to try it...
"Are you even listening to me?!"
Uff... I got distracted...
"Yes, I understand what you're saying, dear. But-"
"BUT nothing! How could you look at me like that when Frey asked if she could go out? You made me look like the bad guy by having to tell her she couldn't go"
"You know that wasn't my intention, it's just that I don't understand why you worry so much... We've been here for 13 years, you know nothing bad has ever happened."
"Even if you say that, I can't accept it. They're children, Brishen, they're not ready to go that far without us."
Actually, she's right. This place may be peaceful, but I wouldn't know what to do if something happened to our children and I wasn't there to protect them.
"You're right... I'll try to talk to them."
"Thank you, dear..."
She sat down next to me, she looks exhausted. We're both worried... Although sometimes I feel like she overprotects them too much, I understand that no one would want to risk losing what is most precious, no parent wants to lose their children or be away from them. Just as no father wants to earn the discord of the one they love so much...
We must talk to them, make them understand... I don't want them to think we're doing this on a whim, besides Lutero could be very affected knowing he won't be able to go to the market on his own until he's at least 15. Maybe I can take them myself once a week, when I have free time... That would be best.
"Love, would you come with me to talk to the kids? I think it would be better if we did this together."
"What do you plan to tell them?"
"That we can go once or maybe even twice a week to the Market, I can take them or we can all go together... I know Lutero won't be completely happy with that, but it would be better than just stopping going..."
She started biting her own thumb gently while looking at the floor... After so many years together I learned that whenever she needed to think about something she did this same gesture, maybe it was unconscious, but seeing her like that always gave me a feeling that was hard to describe...
Focusing on the simplest things; like when we decided what to prepare for a meal, or even when she thinks about the most important things, like now, makes me remember how cautious and intelligent she is.
To be fair, I would dare say that it is thanks to her that we even managed to live in this place and it is thanks to her that I was able to grow as a person and father. She was the one who planned everything, who found out that if she got a job in the crop fields in this area we could live in an impressive place like this at more than a reasonable price. Our children have never had the need to go to schools, not because we can't afford it, but because everything that a place like that could offer them, she has taught them and in a better way.
Sometimes I feel bad, I feel like she deserves much more than I can offer her and that's why I help her as much as I can at home... It's not always possible due to work, but it's the least I can do to thank her for everything she has done for our family.
She stopped biting her thumb, and then looked at me with her honey-colored eyes.
"Well, but it would be best to talk to them separately... Freyja can help us convince Lutero once she understands why we made this decision."
I looked at her without responding, while she kept a serious look with her beautiful eyes.
"Don't you think it's a good idea...?"
"Do you know you're the most beautiful woman I've ever met in my whole life?"
"Brish... Come on, what's that about now?"
Her character softened a little with this last comment, letting out a radiant smile that you could only imagine in dreams. I gently placed my hand on her cheek, then brought my lips to hers and kissed her, a short one, but I tried to fill it with all the love I felt for her.
"It sounds like a wonderful idea... Shall we go then?"
"Y-yes..."
We left our room at the same time, and then stood in front of our children's room door. Well... The moment of truth has arrived. Edith was the first to knock on the door.
"Freyja? Can you come out for a moment? Your dad and I need to talk to you."
We didn't hear any response... Weren't they in their room? Edith began to slowly open the door.
"Freyja...?"
We could see the room... Freyja wasn't here, neither was Lutero.
"Maybe they're playing in the garden..."
I suggested this, even though I imagined they wouldn't be there either. I suppose Edith thought the same as me, since she didn't say anything on the way until we were outside the house.
"They... They went to the market, didn't they?"
"Dear..."
Kids... Seriously? I won't be able to save you from this one. I'm very upset myself, I don't understand... They've never done anything like this before. Although I must admit that I was much worse at their age.
In fact, I have no right to scold them for this when I used to do the same almost every day, to the point where my mother had simply given up scolding me.
"We have to go get them."
"Don't you think that would be a bit exaggerated...? After all, it's the last time they'll be able to go out alone, we can think of a punishment while they come back..."
"..."
She remained silent, then went back into the house... Well, they'd better be enjoying their last solo outing... Now I have to do everything I can to prevent them from never being allowed to go again, even if I can accompany them.
I sighed, almost giving in to what was going to happen next. Me trying to calm my wife down, while she scolded me for indulging them too much... And the truth is, she was right.
I entered the house expecting the worst, but to my surprise Edith hadn't gone to the bedroom. She was in the kitchen preparing different ingredients.
I stood watching her for a while, not knowing exactly how to react... One doesn't usually cook when they're upset, do they?
"What are you standing there for? Help me cook, I'm sure our children will be hungry when they get back."
"Aren't you mad at them?"
She dropped the vegetables she had taken out of the pantry onto the stone table, then sighed.
"Do you remember how you were when we met? You were worse than them... My mother didn't want me to hang out with you and yet you always ran away from your house to find me. Our children took that rebellious side from you and, although we must correct them, it doesn't mean I'm going to neglect my love for them."
I could only laugh. Truly, I don't deserve this woman's love.
For the next hour we prepared the food together, I'm not exceptionally good in the kitchen, but at least I could be useful for chopping the different vegetables and meats that my wife then mixed together with various condiments in a large pot which I had previously placed on the campfire.
While we did this, we began to talk about the past, since the topic had come up. We talked about how our relationships with our parents were, how they raised us. No matter how hard I tried to be a better version of my own father, sometimes I feel like I'm identical.
I think those are things that can't be changed, after spending so many years with someone during the most important time to define our personality, it's impossible not to adapt certain traits from that person. Still, I don't feel it's wrong, no one is perfect and I'm not some kind of deity to be the exception.
I love my children and my wife, as long as I keep that in mind and don't make the mistake of neglecting them... No, I mustn't think about that. I may seem like it, but I'm not him.
We finished cooking, I offered to serve the food and set the table in the dining room. Once everything was set, I sat on the couch in the living room next to Edith. We both silently admired the fireplace...
They're taking too long. Has it been about 2 hours? I hope they come back before it gets dark, maybe I should go get them after all.
"I'm going to go out for a moment, maybe they're already arriving."
Edith was the first to bring it up, she's surely as worried as I am, if not more. I understand her, after all her reason for not allowing them to go out without our supervision was precisely to avoid these moments of anxiety when it was impossible not to fear for them.
We could be in the most peaceful place in the world, surrounded by soft clouds, and still we wouldn't be able to get rid of these feelings.
Edith asked me to wait for her, she was just going to peek out the door to see if she could spot them in the distance. I heard the door open and close behind her.
I kept watching the fire, it makes me feel calm... It keeps burning, constant, offering warmth to our home and our family.
For me; the fire is what makes me feel at peace, it's what manages, in part, to make me forget my worries. This room... The campfire... The fire.
A reminder that our family will always stay together, no matter how much time passes.
"Uh?"
Out of nowhere I began to tremble as I felt a chill run through my entire body at the same time the fireplace went out. A draft? It's not normal, after all the windows are clos-
A horrifying noise deafened me, I instinctively covered my ears with my hands at the same time I screamed from the pain I felt in my ears. Even though I couldn't hear my own voice, I could feel it scratching my throat.
What the hell? What's happening? What is this sound?
I was like that for a few seconds until the sound began to fade away... I looked towards the window and could see that a stone had gone through it...
Edith! Edith was outside! I have to see if she's okay. I ran out of the house, she was on the ground, covering her mouth with both hands. I went to her and took her by the shoulders... I see a little blood, maybe she was hurt by the same stones that broke the window?
"Edith? Are you okay??"
"..."
Silence. She didn't say anything, she just pointed in the direction she was looking without stopping covering her mouth with her other hand... I turn in the direction she's pointing, holding my own breath.
"Oh God..."
I couldn't stand on my own feet and fell to my knees, horrified as I looked at that scene.
"Why...?"
No, it has to be a dream. A nightmare. Something like this can't be real. How can that be real?
Wait...
MY CHILDREN!!
They... There's still a chance they were already on their way back, right? We can still go get them...
They're okay... They're okay, I know it. They're okay... That... Thing, they weren't involved in that... I know it.
DAMN IT! I can't... I can't move. How can something like this be real?
A fireball reaching the skies... Enormous, bigger than anything I've ever seen in my life.
What happened a moment ago, what hurt my wife despite being so far away, was just the shockwave... My children weren't at the Market. They weren't... Because if they had been there...
At that thought crossing my mind, I could only hug my wife, she was in complete shock... Her tears were falling, but her expression didn't change. I hugged her as tightly as I could and cried with her... God... What have we done to deserve this...? What kind of punishment is this?
Being like that, I couldn't even give words of consolation to the woman I loved so much... I could only ask myself the same question in a low voice, repeating it over and over in desperation.
"Why? Why? Why?"
After a few seconds, which seemed eternal to me. That fireball finally began to dissipate, leaving only curtains of smoke behind, probably from all the fires it had caused... Curtains of smoke that no matter how many there were, did not compare to the number of lives in the area where that catastrophe occurred...
Edith finally reacted, she gave a small jump and separated from me, quickly crawling towards the fence of our house and trying clumsily to open it.
"Our children, Brishen. We have to go get them!"
I was still without strength, I could only watch her clumsily trying to unsuccessfully open the latch, then hitting the fence with all her might. She rested her head against it and, without turning to look at me, made me react.
"Brishen... We won't be able to believe it until we see it... At least we must see it..."
She was right. What am I doing? It's still possible they're alive. We have to go quickly, they're waiting for us. We have to see them and bring them with us.
"Yes..."
I got up as fast as I could and opened the fence, then ran with my wife. The crops in the area had been devastated by the shockwave, some were even on fire... How is that possible? What could have caused this?
We ran with all our might, even if we stumbled we couldn't stop running. We kept giving it everything we had.
The town, you can already see it in the distance...
No... Wait... Is that really the town?
The town... Abitus, the merchant town where we had lived for so long...
It doesn't exist. It's gone...
Only the desperate cries of the luckier people could be heard, those who did not lose their lives. But even so, there was nothing left but rubble of what was once a wonderful place.
We both looked horrified and speechless at that nightmarish scene.