Year 0002, The Imperium
---
Revenge is the single most powerful thought that could drive a person mad or fuel their very own survival.
It is one of the driving forces that made August survive, but he had set aside such notions for the time being.
He didn't even have anyone to direct his anger.
He only knew that they were soldiers of someone else's kingdom, who luckily managed to find their hidden village.
As to how they found their village, he didn't know, but they would surely pay dearly in the future.
---
Today, August woke up like he always does, although this particular day he felt a little bit sluggish and down.
The others were already awake and were preparing for their usual morning run.
But he couldn't find it in him to get up and do anything else.
Is there something wrong with him? He briefly checked his [Personal Panel] and opened his [Body Stat].
He perused it and saw that there is nothing amiss.
He doesn't have any particular afflictions that affected him; he is 100% all green in everything, so why?
That was weird considering his overall health has been top-notch and his mental health was good even the day before.
It must be something deeper, that even the powerful [SYSTEM] couldn't have any influence over it.
Even the system has its own limits, and that seems to be the human emotion.
At the end of the day, it is still a machine, a program of someone's machinations, and it had been made just for him.
Sure, it could tell him of any afflictions that affected him in some way or the other.
Like the lingering trauma from before, but that is it; it couldn't dive any deeper than that.
But it all could be because of the date today; he had been mulling over it every day for the past year since then.
On what he should do when that particular time of the year would come by again.
And today was that time, and it is the saddest year that he has experienced so far.
It was just last year that everyone from Maya Village had been massacred.
It will be the first year today; it was the anniversary of his family's death, and he was the sole living survivor of that tragedy.
So he always kept himself busy to forget about it.
But today, it seemed to have re-emerged; it reminded him again of the massive loss of life that he had been burdened to carry for the rest of his life.
---
The others began to notice August's somber mood; he didn't even get up to train with the others; he just sat there at the porch looking distantly into nowhere.
When he usually gets like this, it means that today was something that was memorable for him.
Even the new adults could feel the change in the atmosphere around him.
Christopher was the one to ask the people who had been with him the longest.
"Hey? What's wrong with the boss man over there?"
It was Erik who bothered to tell him what he thought about it.
"He must have remembered something important; he usually gets into that mood when something is bothering him, like that one time during the summer…"
He told Uncle Chris about that time during his birthday in the summer....
"Damn, the boss man is having some sad flashbacks right now, huh?"
And everyone who heard it agreed, no matter how they look at him, he was no older than the other kids around him.
---
They have heard the stories from the other children who were with him the longest.
On how he took responsibility in taking care of them all.
He didn't even ask anything from them in return; he just helped them and even taught them a lot of things that he thought they needed to survive.
Do you even know how hard of a thing that was to do?
When you don't even know if the people you helped would stay and would help you too.
Knowing fully well that you don't have a hold over them and that they could leave at any moment that they wish to do so.
But still, he helped them nonetheless.
He was already shoved pretty early into an adult's mindset, and he was pretty selfless too.
Before he got to even fully finish experiencing his own childhood.
They felt bad for the boy who took on the challenge that the world had thrown at him.
---
A little moment later, they all looked at each other.
They were looking for the brave soul who was going to approach him and ask the question.
Right now the boy seemed to not be aware that he had been the talk of the people around him.
Gel's eyes never leave August's figure when he is in that state.
A moment passed by, and she finally had the courage to ask him.
She went near him and asked.
"What's wrong, Gus?"
She didn't get a response for a good, solid minute.
It was only until then that the boy finally noticed that there was someone near him.
"Oh Gel, did you need something?"
She paused before she asked him again.
"Is there something bothering you, Gus?
We just noticed that you've been spacing out for quite a bit of time already."
He couldn't answer, thinking of what to say, but he decided to tell them of the past.
...
"I just remembered that today is the first year of this village's demise ... and my family's too. It was a month or so prior to winter and before your arrival.
When the soldiers came to our village.
Before that day, there was a merchant who lost his way, managed to find this place, and escaped the war.
He told us of the ongoings of the outside world.
The alarming news echoed in the village, and then our village chief gathered every family and began to discuss what we should do.
The majority decided to stay, and those who voted to leave left a moment later.
They seemed to still have families somewhere that they could run to.
Those who were left did our best to prepare, but they came in the middle of the night and..."
He could no longer finish telling them the story; he went silent and dazed off again, and his mind began wandering out towards the cosmos.
The others pretty much guessed what happened next; even the Trio were victims of the war, and even Gel's father was one of those who were sent to that war, and he could understand how much it cost them.
Especially since this village was stuck somewhere where no realm has dominion over it.
They must have assumed that it was an enemy territory when they stumbled upon it.
*Sigh
When they heard of his story, they began to feel pity for him all over again.
They could only give him their utmost sympathy for the moment.
---
Theressa got back to the kitchen of the house; after she heard his story, her heart broke for him.
And as a mother herself, she couldn't dare to think how her children would've survived if they had lost them in the war.
She thought of what she could do for the boy.
After a minute of thought, she thought she could only do what she does best as a mother.
She would make all of them a wonderful and hearty meal to share.
And at the same time, they could commemorate, remember, and honor the dead, the unfortunate lost souls who had died in this place.
She began asking her children and the other kids to help her prepare for something.
Unfortunately, they don't have any wheat that they could turn into flour at the moment.
She would have had made them all a sweetened cake or some variety thereof.
So she could only use the available stuff they had at the root cellar below.
A moment later the food was prepared; the once somber atmosphere in the house was replaced with the bustling noise of the children and the adults who merrily immersed themselves in the festive preparation.
Today will be commemorated as such to honor the family and friends they have lost from the war.
And it became a tradition that would last for a long time, even to the furthest future.
She was the one that was credited for it; August would surely make sure of it.
---
She gathered everyone and spoke her thoughts on the matter and how such festivities as now would surely help them move on, honor, and accept the sacrifices made by the people they loved.
Once she finished her speech, she blushed in embarrassment, only realizing that it was her first time speaking her thoughts.
Without the constant scrutinizing gaze, the judgmental whispers, and untoward comments about her, just because she was a woman.
No, the people who gathered here looked at her with more admiration and had wonderful gazes in their eyes; even her husband was proud of her.
And he didn't seem to mind the old system of the patriarchal structure, to which the men have been given all the voices in the society.
See, he thought even women could do things like this.
---
"Let us now all eat this wonderful meal to commemorate and remember those we have lost!"
The people gathered around the table and helped themselves with the food that was laid bare in front of them.
It was truly joyous to look at; even August was a little happier now.
Later that day they would all visit the graveyard at the back and pray for those who were lost.