Nigel's consciousness stirred, his eyes fluttered open to a scene of devastating destruction.
The grand manor he grew up in now lay in ruins, the roof had been torn apart and beams jutted out of the ground,the walls were reduced to rubble scattered across the floor. The air was filled with the scent wet earth and the metallic tang of lightning mingling with the smoke rising from the smoldering remains of the wooden furniture.
Through the shattered windows,the sky was chaotic with dark clouds still roiling with the aftermath of the storm. Occasional flashes of lightning lit up the scene casting flickering shadows all over the place, thunder rumbled in the distance, the storm had passed but its effects were vividly visible.
Nigel pushed himself up, surprised at the ease with which he moved. The weakness that had plagued him for so long was gone, replaced by strength and vitality. His left eye throbbed slightly, and he raised a hand to cover it. He touched his face, feeling the warmth and energy emanating from his body. Looking at a his reflection on a broken mirror he saw his face, now looking healthy but by his left eye there were inscriptions that were slowly fading away, touching the fading inscriptions he could feel the warmth coming from them, eve his hand was riddled with the inscriptions but unlike the one on his hand these ones did not fade and they did not emit a warmth like the ones on his face. His clothes were torn and wet, he currently looked like a homeless person- well he was technically a homeless person.
Moving to the broken grand window he observed outside into the city below, it was a tableau of chaos and despair. Buildings lay crumbled, their stones scattered like toys. The streets, were now rivers of mud and debris. Survivors moved like ghosts among the wreckge, their faces ecthed with shock and grief. Cries for help and the distant cries of the injured pierced the heavy silence.
As he stood, Nigel's gaze was drawn to the horizon where the spire of the Church of the Seven had fallen, its once proud structure now a shattered remnant of its former glory. The realization hit him hard, the city of delin was no more.
He took a deep breath, calming the storm within him. The wind seemed to calm down and the lightning flashes died down, he remembered falling by the balcony but he had woken up still in his mother's room, shaking his head he turned away from the window deciding to go look for better clothes in his room, moving through the pile of rubble was hard but eventually he reached his room, luckily for him there had been minimal damage done to the room. Rummaging through his closet he took out a a white linen shirt, black trousers and a black coat that reach the knees. Changing into a clean set of clothes he caught sight of his cane, deciding to take it along and not reveal his good health to anyone Nigel made his way out of the manor.
Once outside the scent of wet earth was much stronger and he stood by the entrance looking at his family's Manor, this was a chapter he was about to close in his life and he wss not sure if he would ever return to delin again. But first he had to go to the cemetery before he leaves the city. Walking towards the the city cemetery a small sense of happiness flooded his brain, he was healthy now, he could walk properly without the aid of a cane. He can finally walk in the cold without trembling like a wet puppy, he can now live a life where he does not have to drink medicine all the time. He was healthy now but his happiness was short lived as he suddenly remembered the secret he now held, after he passed out he saw visions a series of them and in those visions it was him....sighing and forcing himself to think about something else he suddenly heard sobbing sounds coming from a nearby broken down building the voice seemed to be coming from a young girl.
Without thinking twice he moved running towards the building, since he had never ran before the experience wss quiet exhilarating, within no time he had reached the building, the entrance was covered in rubble and the
Sobbing was much more audible from here.
"Hello, can you hear me?" He called out from a gap for a moment there was silence but then he could here footsteps slowly approaching the entrance from the other side
"Hello, can you hear me? If yes please respond" He called out again and this time he got a response "Y-yes, I can hear you... p-please help me..(stammers)"
Hearing a respond he continued"yes i will help you, but say what's your name?" He asked he could hear from the voice that the girl was no younger than his little sister sebrina, the girl answered " H-Hope Myers." He had heard about the Myers family from sebrina they owned a few coal mines around the kingdom. Thus young lady must have been the daughter of Arnold Myers, she came from a successful family but now ...
"Okay, hope my name is Nigel Madison and I'm going to ask you to follow everything I say Okay?" He used helena's surname instead of his own, he did not consider himself a Belling. Hope agreed from the other side and he began looking for an exit while keeping up a conversation with the young girl
"So hope, I need you to follow my voice and also answer some of my questions, can you do that?" He asked his eyes scanning the broken down building, the streets were filled with rubble, piles of wreckage blocked some roads and it was also eerily silent with his footsteps, voice and hope's voice being the only source of sound in this part of the city. The girl agreed to his request
"Okay so tell me, how long has it been since the storm passed?" He asked because he had suspicions that the storm actually last longer than just a few hours.
"Two days....I think."
He felt a chill run down his spine. Two days. He had been unconscious for two days?
"Alright, Hope. Stay calm and keep talking to me. I'm going to find a way in," Nigel said, trying to keep his voice steady. He climbed over the rubble, searching for a way to get in.
"Hope, can you see any light coming through? Any gaps?" he asked.
"There's a small crack near the corner of the room," she replied, her voice shaky.
"Good. Head towards that crack. I'll meet you there," he instructed.
He scrambled over the debris, making his way to the corner of the building. He found the crack Hope mentioned, a small opening just wide enough for a child to slip through. He looked inside and saw a frightened girl about three years younger than him, her face dirty and tear-streaked, dressed in a black dress that was now torn at the knees.
"Hope, I'm right here. I'm going to widen this gap a bit. Stay back," Nigel said.
He took a deep breath and with a forceful push, he managed to shift some of the debris, creating a larger opening.
"Come on, Hope. You can do it," he encouraged. The girl squeezed through the gap and Nigel caught her as she came out, pulling her into a protective embrace.
"Thank you, Nigel," she whispered, her small frame trembling.
"You're safe now," he reassured her, looking around at the devastated city.
"But we need to get out of here."He dded
With hope following close behind, he navigated the ruins of delin heading in the direction of the cemetery. He had told hope that he needed to visit his mother's grave one last time before they could find refuge, he was also wary of the people from the church and the Royal Family so he had to move fast.
The cemetery was on the outskirts of delin surround by trees that had somehow managed to survive the storm's fury. But the sight of the cemetery was devastating, most Graves were washed away and even he could not pinpoint where his mother's grave was. Closing his eyes in frustration the wind picked up as if it was mirroring his emotions, hope stared at his back in awe she could see faint inscriptions appearing on his neck but a moment later they faded, for a moment she thought her mind was playing games with her, even the wind that had kicked up just now stopped.
Nigel sighed and smiled it seems as if he had already spoken everything with his heart turning around he was met with hope's confused gaze
"Are you okay, hope?" He asked in a concerned tone, hope nodded, "Are you done?" He nodded at her question and they left the cemetery
On the way hope asked "where to?" Nigel paused for a while before shrugging
"I do not know, but what I do know is we both need food so I suggest it's best we go rummage a few houses before leaving the city. Or we can just look for your family-" hope cut him of loudly
"No!....I mean no, let's just look for food and leave, I'll be going where you are going." The girl refused to be reunited with her family because her older brothers had left her behind a few hours before the storm reached the city, so Nigel knew how she currently felt. Nodding to her they went back to the city in search for food, along the way they met a few other survivors who were already on their way out of the city. Most of them were injured and some appeared not badly injured, the storm had left the whole city in shambles and he was sure delin would never rise again.