Chapter 137: Chapter 137 - Home ( Part 3 )
The morning came calmly over Ashvale.
A pale mist spread all over the mountains, gently hovering in the valley while the first beams of light colored the eastern horizon with a warm golden and light pink colors.
Birds started singing in the pines.
The village woke up.
Smoke started going out of the chimneys.
The miners started preparing their old tools.
Children slowly followed their parents along the small streets.
Life went on.
Just like always.
But for one person...
Everything changed.
Roxy hadn’t slept.
She stood next to the ruins of her childhood house until the morning came.
The scorched stones were still wet with the tears she had cried during the whole night.
Jennie silently sat near the ruins, holding onto the remains of an old stone fence.
She stayed awake with her friend.
Not because Roxy asked her to.
But because she didn’t want Roxy to stay alone during this night.
Snow was curled up under the ancient oak tree.
Even the Divine Beast kept quite.
The rising sun finally put an end to this silence.
Roxy slowly stood up.
Her eyes were swollen and red.
Her usual smile was gone.
But...
There was something else about her.
The emptiness she had inside her for ten years was gone.
Instead of it there was grief.
Honest.
Heartbreaking.
But real.
Jennie looked up.
"Feeling a bit better?"
Roxy gave a slight nod.
"...It still hurts."
"I know."
Jennie smiled lightly.
"It probably always will."
Roxy looked at the ruins.
"...Is that normal?"
Jennie looked into the distant mountains.
"Some people say that grief goes away."
She slowly shook her head.
"I don’t."
"What happens instead..."
"...We become strong enough to carry it."
Roxy listened quietly.
Jennie wasn’t talking to Roxy as Jennie.
She was talking as Leonis.
As someone who buried so many of his companions.
To miss someone...
"...Means that they were important to you."
Roxy slowly lowered her head.
"...Mom and Dad were everything."
Jennie simply nodded.
"I know."
Silent footsteps approached from behind.
The four of them turned.
Elder Harold slowly climbed the hill, supporting himself on his old wooden cane.
He looked at Roxy with kind eyes.
"I thought I’d find you here."
Roxy gave a slight smile.
"...Good morning."
The elder slightly hesitated.
"There is..."
"...One more thing."
Jennie noticed it in his voice.
"What is it?"
Harold looked toward the mountains overshadowing the village.
"I never told you where your parents were buried."
Roxy stopped moving.
"What...?"
The elder lowered his head.
"We couldn’t give them a decent funeral."
"Lord Barthus forbid us to do it."
"He wanted everyone to believe that your family was erased."
"But..."
A small smile appeared on his face.
"The villagers didn’t listen to him."
The four walked silently past the ruins.
A narrow path started leading higher and higher.
Wildflowers were growing all around the edges of the path.
Morning dew shone like small stars on the grass.
A cool mountain breeze was touching their faces.
Nobody was hurrying.
Silence was peaceful.
After almost twenty minutes...
The path ended.
Before them opened a small field overseeing the whole valley.
From there Ashvale looked like a tiny village under the huge mountains.
The river was shining under the morning sunlight.
Birds flew over the endless blue sky.
It was beautiful.
Peaceful.
The perfect place to stay forever.
Two simple stone graves stood near the edge of the cliff.
No names.
No ornaments.
Two stones put side by side.
Surrounded by the wild white flowers.
Someone obviously took care of this place.
Harold quietly stopped walking.
"...They are here."
Roxy’s breath stopped.
She silently approached the graves.
Step.
By step.
By step.
Until she stood before the two silent stones.
Her hands were shaking.
"...No names..."
Harold smiled sadly.
"We wanted to write them."
"But Barthus visited the village every month."
"If he found the graves..."
"He would destroy them."
"So..."
"We didn’t leave any marks."
"But every spring..."
He looked at the white flowers.
"The villagers planted new flowers."
"So nobody could ever forget them."
Roxy knelt silently before the graves.
Her trembling hands brushed the leaves off one of the stones.
It was cold.
Rough.
Simple.
It didn’t tell anything about those two people, who had loved her more than anything in the world.
Tears started filling her eyes again.
"...Dad..."
She put one of her hands on the first stone.
"...Mom..."
Her other hand rested on the second.
"I found you."
Her voice cracked.
"I finally found you."
Jennie quietly stepped aside.
Snow did the same.
Neither of them wanted to interrupt her.
This moment was for Roxy only.
The mountain breeze carried every sound away.
Only the whispering grass remained.
Roxy lowered her head.
During several long moments...
She couldn’t say a word.
Too much emotions were inside her heart.
Too much regrets.
Too many words left unsaid.
Finally...
She smiled with tears on her face.
"...I’m sorry that it took me so long."
"I kept thinking..."
"...That you abandoned me."
"I was angry with you."
"I even blamed you."
"Sometimes even hated."
She covered her face with her hands.
"I’m sorry."
"I was wrong."
The wind gently touched her silver hair.
Almost...
Like if someone touched her head with a kind hand.
Roxy looked up to the clear blue sky.
A small laugh escaped her lips.
"...You know..."
"I finally became a mage."
"I think Dad will be really proud."
She brushed away one more tear.
"And Mom..."
"I learned how to cook."
"...Well."
She awkwardly laughed.
"I’m still terrible."
"But I’m trying."
Jennie smiled quietly far away.
It didn’t sound like someone was speaking to the dead.
More like a daughter telling her parents about herself.
Roxy put two wildflowers next to the graves.
"I met amazing people."
"My best friend is the strongest swordswoman in the world."
Jennie blinked.
"...Best friend?"
Snow grinned.
"She promoted you."
Jennie coughed softly and pretended not to notice that.
Roxy kept smiling.
"I also met a lazy wolf."
Snow immediately objected.
"I object."
"I’m magnificent."
Roxy laughed with tears in her eyes.
"The kindest lazy wolf in the world."
Snow looked away.
"...I’ll accept it."
The laughter gradually turned into peaceful silence.
Roxy lowered her head one more time.
"Thank you..."
"...For protecting me."
"Thank you..."
"...For loving me."
"I promise..."
"...I’ll keep living."
"I’ll become someone you can be proud of."
"I won’t waste the life you gave me."
The cool mountain breeze brushed the white flowers growing near the two silent graves.
For a brief moment, Roxy felt like if the two voices she knew spoke to her, not saying anything, but with the help of the gentle wind.
And for the first time in ten years, a little girl, who managed to escape through a dark tunnel, finally felt like she returned home.
The breeze of the mountain whispered softly above the cliff.
The white wildflowers were moving gently around the two nameless graves, shaking under the warm morning sun.
Another day has begun in the valley below.
The smoke has appeared in the chimneys of Ashvale.
Children laughter has reached the ears of the mountain.
Life goes on.
As it used to.
Roxy remained kneeling before the graves.
Her hands gently were touching the stones of the grave.
Tears flowing unceasingly during the night started to subside.
The only sounds that remained were soft sniffles.
Jennie stayed several steps away from the grave.
She never interferes.
She knows how grief is going to its own pace.
It can never be hurried.
Snow sat under the near-by pine tree, his silver eyes silently following the horizon.
Even the careless Divine Beast seemed not wanting to violate the peace of the moment.
Several minutes passed.
Nobody talked.
The mountain mourns together with them.
Roxy reached into her travel bag.
Looking for something for some seconds, she found what she was looking for – the carefully wrapped item.
Jennie raised her head.
This was old.
Very old.
The wrap was already faded.
Its ends were worn out.
Roxy slowly unpacked it.
Inside there was a little wooden bird.
Its painting has almost vanished.
One wing of it has been glued years ago.
She smiled sadly.
"...Dad made this for me."
"When I was little..."
"I was carrying it all the time."
"I thought I have lost it."
She smiled.
"It was lying in my bag all this time."
Jennie looked at the little carving.
It was not the best work of art.
The wings were uneven.
The beak of it was slightly crooked.
But...
This was a sign of love.
And nothing could change the value of it.
Roxy put the little wooden bird between the two graves.
"I think..."
"It belongs here."
The breeze moved again.
The tiny sculpture captured the sunshine and cast the shadow on the stones.
"I asked myself one question."
Roxy broke the silence.
"For ten years."
Jennie looked at her.
"’Why me?’"
Roxy nodded.
"I was wondering..."
"Why was I the lucky one?"
"Mom and Dad were gentler than I was."
"They were worthy of living."
She became quiet.
"I was not."
Jennie remained silent.
She knew that question.
All too well.
Leonis has been asking this same question millions of times.
Why did he manage to survive, while thousands have perished?
Why was he chosen, while better people have been lost?
But there was never an easy answer.
Jennie slowly walked closer.
She stopped next to Roxy.
Gazing into infinity of the mountain range.
"The world..."
She said softly.
"...is not fair."
Roxy lowered her head.
"No."
"It is not."
Jennie continued.
"There are many people I couldn’t save."
Roxy looked at her.
Jennie’s eyes were not looking at Ashvale any more.
They were looking far beyond the mountains.
Beyond the era.
Into the memories, which only she could see.
"I once thought that surviving means to carry the guilt forever."
She smiled slightly.
"But somebody wiser than me taught me something."
"What?"
Jennie looked up.
"They told me..."
"’The dead do not demand us to join them.’"
"’They demand us to go forward.’"
Roxy quietly listened to her.
Jennie’s voice sounded calm.
Almost gentle.
"As long as we are alive..."
"We can laugh."
"We can cry."
"We can protect others."
"We can create new memories."
She turned to Roxy.
"If we give up our life..."
"Then people who saved us will lose all what they were fighting for."
These words sank deeply into Roxy’s heart.
Jennie slowly kneeled next to Roxy.
She looked at the two nameless graves.
Then she spoke with a voice even softer than the breeze.
"Your parents died not so you could hate everybody."
Roxy stopped breathing.
Jennie gently continued.
"They died..."
"...so you could live."
Silence.
These simple words rang in Roxy’s heart.
She remembers her mother’s final smile.
She remembers that single word.
"Live."
Not...
"Avenge us."
Not...
"Hate the world."
Not...
"Kill those who have killed us."
Only...
"Live."
Roxy covered her mouth.
Fresh tears rolled down her face.
But these tears were different.
They did not come from sorrow.
They came from understanding.
"I..."
She whispered.
"I have been living the wrong way."
Jennie shook her head.
"No."
"You have simply been surviving."
"There is a difference."
Snow slowly walked closer to them.
Without taking the giant size, he sat next to the two girls.
His huge fluffy tail was lazily wrapping them up.
"You know..."
He said.
"I have been alive for thousands of years."
Roxy looked at him.
"I saw how kingdoms were rising."
"I saw how they were disappearing."
"I saw my friends aging."
His silver eyes melted.
"One thing never changes."
"The people who truly love you..."
"They never want your happiness to end together with theirs."
Roxy smiled faintly.
"...You are surprisingly wise."
Snow puffed out his chest proudly.
"I know."
Jennie smiled.
"It almost makes up for the fact that you are lazy."
"I conserve my energy."
"You have been conserving it for centuries."
"Exactly."
Roxy could not resist.
A small laugh sounded from her mouth.
Snow blinked.
"There it is."
Jennie nodded.
"What?"
"Your laugh."
"We have been waiting for it."
Roxy wiped her eyes.
"...Was it really gone?"
"For some time."
She looked at the graves.
"I am sorry."
Jennie gently pushed her shoulder.
"No."
"You came back."
"That is enough."
Roxy slowly stood up.
She looked one last time at the two graves.
It hurt.
It always would.
But it did not break her any more.
Instead...
It becomes something to carry.
Something precious.
She bowed deeply.
"Mom."
"Dad."
"I do not know what tomorrow will bring."
"I do not know if I will become the greatest mage."
"I do not know if I will always choose correctly."
She smiled through her tears.
"But I promise..."
"I will keep living."
"I will laugh."
"I will make friends."
"I will protect people."
"And one day..."
"When we will meet again..."
"I will have so many stories to tell you."
The mountain breeze gently caressed the clearing.
The white wildflowers moved together under the blue sky.
For some time...
Roxy could almost feel two familiar silhouettes standing among them.
Her father’s friendly smile.
Her mother’s gentle eyes.
Watching.
Proud.
She closed her eyes.
And slowly wiped the last tear.
When she opened them again...
For the first time in years...
Roxy smiled.
Not the smile, which she put on to hide her pain.
Not the awkward smile, which she was forcing to ease other people’s worries.
But an honest smile.
A smile which reached her eyes.
Jennie smiled in return without uttering any words.
Snow moved his tail.
The three companions turned their backs to the graves and started walking towards Ashvale.
Behind them... the nameless graves, shining in the warm sunlight.
Before them... the road stretching to the uncertain future.
The past will always remain the part of Roxy.
But for the first time since she was little...
She is walking with hope.
