The largest home in the village stood at the very centre of the sprawling mass of homes, passed down by word of mouth it is said that the home was the very first one built by the first Awakened, now it is passed down from one protector to another.
From Granny's mentor, to the old lady, down to Laurence and now one day Lauri would come into ownership of the home.
During Granny's ownership of the home she raised 4 children, the first was Laurence, who she had taken guardianship over after he was found within a nearby forest. Coincidentally, Laurence had become an Awakened, so his training began with ease.
Many years later, after Granny had stepped down from the role of the village's protector, she took in 3 children who had been found wandering the woods. The first was Merry, then Lauri and then Richard.
The home had three floors, the ground floor was occupied by a living room and a kitchen with a large table to eat at. The first floor was divided into three bedrooms, these rooms belonged to Lauri, Merry and Richard respectively. The second and final floor of the home was divided into two rooms, Granny's and Laurence's.
The house had stood for hundreds of years, its outer walls showed signs of wear. Both from the wind and the rain and old claw marks, the only reminder of Fiend's that had managed to reach the village's centre many, many years ago.
These thoughts ran through Lauri's mind as he stared up at the familiar ceiling of his room, for the past hour and a half all he had been doing was thinking. It was a nice change from the year of action, especially his last few days. His head resting against a feather pillow, Lauri slightly smiled as he barely recalled the first time he had woken to see this now familiar sight.
He was scared, afraid, he didn't know who anyone was or where he was, he barely knew who he was. Lauri's brow furrowed as he held the thought in his mind.
'Where do we come from… Everyone in this village – aside from the children born here – were brought here form somewhere else. We have no memories of the lives we lived before finding ourselves wandering the forest.'
Lauri's fingers tensed as his knife formed itself out of the nearby candlelight. Holding the handle, Lauri looked through the orange blade into the ceiling.
'The statue near the altar, the statue in the village square. How did I not remember the similarities between the two statues sooner… To be fair, I have been away for a year, and it's not as if I was expecting there to be similarities. Hmm, so similar yet so different, made from the same stone, wings reaching from their back, yet one was nondescript and one held a ball to the sky and one held only its palms…'
Jumping up from his bed, the knife disappeared as Lauri hopped towards his door.
"I need to get another look at that statue, maybe there's more I've missed-"
As he swung the door open Lauri jumped back in surprise.
Lauri was not the only one who jumped back as the door swung inwards, Merry who had just been about to knock on the door jumped.
Putting a hand on her chest she sighed.
"Lauri, what the hell you scared me!"
Lauri blinked, "I mean, you scared me too, but that's whatever."
The two teenagers stood in a slightly awkward silence.
Merry looked to the side her palm still held to her chest. Lauri shuffled in place scratching the back of his neck as he tried to form a sentence.
"So, uh, did you need something from me?" Lauri gestured past Merry. "I was just going outside to look at the statue."
"The statue?" Merry tilted her head, "Why do you need to see the statue?"
"Oh well, I was just thinking about how it might be a little more than a coincidence that the statue above the altar at the end of my trial and the statue in the square are so similar. Want to join me? You might see anything I'll miss."
About to speak, Merry hesitated as a small smile grew across her lips.
"Well, actually I was heading there anyway." Turning around she gestured for Lauri to follow.
Confused, Lauri shrugged. Shutting the door to his room he followed after Merry.
Following in her footsteps down the stairs to the ground floor, Lauri squinted as he heard Merry start to giggle to herself.
"Something the matter Merry?"
Covering her mouth, Merry shook her head.
"Nope, nope, nothing is the matter… Just thought of something funny is all."
As she said this, Merry tried – and failed – to stifle another giggle.
Rolling his eyes, Lauri felt himself blush slightly as a thought crossed his mind. Covering his mouth, Lauri let out a small giggle of his own.
"Uh, Merry I was wondering. Are you- are you busy tomorrow?"
Merry stopped at the front door her hand on the doorknob turning back to Lauri with a slightly pleasant smile.
"Busy tomorrow?" She paused for a moment to think, "I shouldn't be. Other than the tasks Granny leaves me, you'll probably be busier than me tomorrow. Won't you be starting your Awakened lessons with Laurence?"
'Oh right, Granny said we'd continue the talk tomorrow.'
"So you won't be busy? You wouldn't um," Lauri's throat suddenly became dry as he tried to ask his question. "You- you wouldn't mind if we met up tomorrow, later in the day, maybe when we're both no longer busy… There's something I wanted to ask you now that we're back together."
Merry smiled as she tightened her grip on the doorknob.
"Sure thing, Lauri, sounds like fun. But first, I think you should take a deep breath."
Lauri gave Merry a confused look. Deciding it would be better to do as told instead of questioning this command. He took a deep breath.
As Lauri did this, Merry opened the front door.
Lauri's eyes widened as he took in the sight in front of him. The village square was full of people – well, the square was full except for the space people had given the massive bonfire.
'Massive bonfire?'
Lauri could see one person near the bonfire, Laurence was standing close to the fire, so close in fact if it was any other person they would have been in pain from the heat. But not Laurence, in fact, he was more than happy to chuck another giant log on the raging fire.
"What, what is this?"
"It's for you, Lauri." Merry took Lauri's hand, leading him out of the house. "To properly celebrate your return, and wish you luck with your training and and-"
As Merry began to stumble on her words, Granny emerged from the crowd that had begun to notice the arrival of the reason for the celebration.
As Granny hobbled up to the two kids, Lauri could hear conversations happening within the crowd.
"That's him, huh, our new protector?"
"Was he younger or older than when Laurence first became an Awakened?"
"I knew he could do it, you owe me."
"I hope I become an Awakened when I'm older."
Lauri's eyes moved from the crowd to Granny, her weathered face radiated a soft light as she looked upon the boy she had raised as her own.
"This is," Lauri felt emotion well inside his chest. "All for me?"
Granny lightly chuckled, "Take your time to become acquainted with these moments of happiness. As when you are running around killing off Fiends that threaten the happiness of those you do not know, you will know how important moments like these are and why they need to be protected."
Merry loudly coughed as she stepped beside Lauri, she glared at Granny.
Although this action was pointless as the old woman was blind, she seemed to understand Merry's actions.
Leaning on her cane, she smiled. "What I am trying to say is, yes, little Lauri. This celebration is for you, a celebration for you passing your trial and to celebrate the grand protector we know you will become."