Edited by: ASaltedFish
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Seth opened the door for Darya. She knew Seth, so she thanked the little robot and saw Ellery in the living room waiting for her.
It looked exactly the same as when Orin brought her here to greet his parents and Ellery. The only difference was the urns that were accompanying the family photos on a drawer nearby.
Ellery stood up and looked at Darya, who seemed even more haggard than when he last saw her. She used to have tan skin, but now, it looked sickly pale. Her thick and wavy long brown hair looked thinner and drier than before; like it had only been brushed and washed. It didn't look bad, but it definitely didn't look as healthy as before.
Overall, Darya looked like she had one foot in the grave.
"Darya…" He couldn't believe that she looked this terrible. He should have reached out more, but she didn't want to see him. Now, he regretted not putting his foot down in these past two years.
When Darya saw Ellery's face, tears quickly formed in her dark brown eyes, and she could barely compose herself.
"Ellery." She wanted to run over, but she collapsed onto the ground. The weight on her shoulders and chest was so heavy she could no longer move.
Through her sobs, Ellery heard her repeat the words, "I can't do this anymore."
Ellery knew exactly what she meant and brought her into a hug. He didn't care that he was kneeling on the ground. His sister-in-law was still having a hard time grieving over the death of his brother, and it was heartbreaking to see Darya, someone he thought was beautiful and strong, completely lose herself like this.
He felt for her, but there was not much he could say to her because the pain he felt was a little bit different.
After a while, Ellery helped her get off the floor and onto the couch.
Aster told Ellery to take care of her well and made his presence extremely small. Ellery didn't mind and actually appreciated that Aster would give him time to talk to his sister-in-law.
Ellery whispered to Seth to get him some tissues, glasses of water, and warm towels, to let Darya calm down. She was still sniffing, and the tears seemed to keep coming out of her eyes, but at least she wasn't wailing anymore.
"I'm sorry for crying the moment I saw you…" Darya finally said, but her voice was hoarse. She took a sip of water, and her throat felt a little better.
Ellery sat down next to her and patted her shoulder. "It's okay… I should have come to check in on you sooner. I'm sorry I didn't do so."
"No, it's not your fault. I told you I didn't want you to come see me. I should have reached out first to tell you I wasn't doing well. I just felt terrible facing you because all I could see was Orin in everything. I didn't want to see you as Orin's replacement.
"I just can't do it anymore. I'm so lonely, and I miss Orin so much. Why did he have to protect me like that? Why did he leave me behind? He should have brought me with him!
"I thought I would feel better if I came to see you in this house, but I don't feel better. I feel the same. Despair, heartache, and loneliness. I know he's dead, but deep down, I feel like he could be alive, and I feel even more guilty about wanting to die. What happens if he comes back and he finds out I died? Wouldn't he feel worse?"
Ellery listened to her and understood where she was coming from. Even though they had his brother's urn, the ashes in there weren't his full body. They were only able to burn his left leg – the one that was detached from the knee down. As for the rest of the ashes, they burned some of his belongings, like half of the clothes in his closet.
They could barely fill up half a normal-sized urn, so the urns Ellery and Darya had were on the smaller side. This was different from Ellery and Orin's parents, who were able to save their bodies from the Ineks. They died from their injuries and were cremated before the funeral.
Sometimes, Ellery also thought about his brother being alive somehow. Not only did he lose his parents, but he lost his only sibling. Without Aster or Darya, he would have no one in his family left.
That was why, there were times when he hoped his brother was still alive. No one had actually seen him get eaten by the Ineks, but they only said he was dead because the only thing left behind was his left leg.
Orin was a scout for his division, but he and Darya were surrounded by the Ineks, who were waiting to ambush them. Orin made sure to push Darya into the emergency pod that would launch out of their mecha to their base. He stayed by himself to fight against the Ineks to make sure Darya got to safety.
By the time the rescue team came to rescue him, only Orin's left leg and the bodies of dead Ineks were in the area. Orin himself and his mecha were nowhere to be found. The rescue team searched high and low but couldn't find him anywhere.
There were no known cities or towns nearby at the time, so there was no possible place he could go if he was still alive.
That was when he was pronounced dead.
"If he is truly dead, I just want to be with him… I don't want to be without him." Darya clutched the pillow in her lap like it was her lifeline.
She knew that the only reason she was alive was because she still had some hope that Orin was still alive.
Ellery also felt the same, even if he didn't express it often. Even if he wanted to continue with his life, there was always this nagging feeling that his brother was out there somewhere, he just didn't know where.
"I understand… I will keep searching for him. Now that I am the most influential guide in the entire galaxy, I will do what I can to find him, even if it takes me hundreds of years."
After a long hug and silence, Ellery finally asked her the question he had on his mind. "Do you want to stay here? Though I have to leave by the end of the month, this is the home my brother grew up in. I don't want to keep this house empty when I move. You don't have to pay rent or anything, just take care of the house as best as you can. I will take care of the bills."
"Can I think about it?" Darya wasn't sure what she wanted to do. She definitely didn't want to go back to her apartment where she would be alone, but Ellery would be moving soon, so when he left, she would be alone again.
Still, this was Orin's childhood home… It wouldn't hurt to stay here and wait for him.
"That's fine, take your time. I like having other people around."
Well, Aster didn't, but Aster probably won't be coming back to the forefront any time soon, so it should be fine.
Darya thanked Ellery for his kindness and decided to go back to her apartment to pack up some items. She didn't bring anything with her when she came over because she didn't think Ellery would offer for her to stay with him.
When she left, Ellery sighed.
His brother… If he was still alive, where was he? Did he remember that he had a wife and a little brother waiting for him?
[Ellery… I don't know if this makes you feel better, but I feel like your brother may be alive.] Aster couldn't help but say anything listening to Ellery's thoughts.
'You think he is alive?'
[Yes. It's just my intuition, though, like a gut feeling. The moment I learned of his circumstances, I immediately thought, 'He's definitely alive somewhere, just unable to come home.' And I take my gut feelings seriously.]
'Thank you, Aster, for telling me… I will believe in your intuition. I will see if I can send people to look at the planet he was on before and the surrounding planets. Though I just hope he will see through the Starnet how famous we've become and reach out to me.'
[I hope he will reach out to you soon, Ellery.]