CHAPTER 562

LONELY FLOWERS

There was no swelling music, nor the presence of the overbearing crowds with thousands of eyes, nor was there a grand procession, nor long-winded speeches recounting her life and deeds. There was only the sound of the shoveling, and the sounds of dirt flying briefly through the air before pelting against the casket set inside the ground.

Somber rays of the sun fell alongside the shimmering field of grass, a set of towering trees encircling a small enclosure resting by a narrow, yet wild, stream. The sounds of the shoveling echoed out repeatedly, an occasional grunt adjoining. There weren't many people present – Eggor, Cae, Lino, Hannah, Aaria, Alison and Lucky, seven in total. Though the speed was slow, soon enough a small mound of dirt existed where once a hole was.

One by one, all seven stepped further back, while Eggor circled around to the other side and picked up a wooden plaque, striking it deep into the mound, ensuring it wouldn’t be moved. A faint trace of wind whizzed by, untangling the flowered garden behind the plaque, bashing against the thick trunks of the trees even further behind.

“… it don’t look bad, eh?” Eggor commented, wiping sweat from his brow as he joined back with the others.

“No, not bad at all.” Lino said, patting his shoulders. “Your sense of aesthetic… ah, how the hell are you a smith?”

“Oh, pipe down, brat,” Eggor rolled his eyes, slapping Lino’s arms away as the rest laughed for a moment. “You couldn’t even properly dress up for your mother’s funeral, and you’ll preach to me about aesthetic?”

“It’s because I wanted to be authentic!”

“Right, right, authentic… lazy bumass…”

“Alright, could you two not throw curses at one another for a minute?” Hannah sighed, joining in. “We are here to pay our respects and bid her the last goodbye, not to watch you two make fools out of yourselves.”

“… are you sure… you’re fine with this?” Alison asked in a lowered tone. “I mean…”

“… it’s fine,” Eggor chuckled, patting her head gently for a moment. “She was hardly someone to demand grandeur. Come on,” he added, pulling young Cae by his arm. “Come drink with your father.”

“… why?” Cae groaned in protest, shuddering.

“Are you saying you don’t want to drink with me?”

“… I’d really rather not…”

“But you will, ha ha ha ha…”

“Come on girls, let’s go drinking as well,” Hannah chuckled. “Rejoice Aaria; you’ll finally get to taste the wine!”

“Dad let me taste it like five years ago, though,” Aaria said. “I didn’t like it very much…”

“HE WHAT?!!”

“Calm down, calm down,” Lucky quickly jumped in and reigned her back. “It’s in the past, in the past. Come on…”

"… we'll talk about this, bastard." Lino shuddered as he met a pair of the starkly green eyes screaming at him, quickly looking away, drenched in a cold sweat.

Soon enough, however, he was alone, standing in silence above the tiny patch of dirt. He crouched, sighing lowly, and took out a gourd of ale, drinking a few sips. The wind whizzed by again, belting against his hair, disheveling it and pushing it sideways. Strands dangled like tendrils, bending over the contours of his tired-looking, aged face. Wrinkles decorated the high forehead, thick brows giving way to a scarred bridge of the nose and the dented pair of black eyes enshrouded in the drooping circles. The thick beard had already turned mostly gray, adding quite a few more years to his appearance.

A few droplets of ale rolled down the corners of his lips, dangling off the thick hair, absorbed in it before they had a chance to fall. He placed his hand softly onto the mound and held it, open-palmed, as though he was using it as a support. No words left his lips as he stared at the patch of dirt, his eyes unflinching.

The sun eventually set, hiding behind the tall set of mountains on the horizon, giving way to a starlit night. Lino finally came to, glancing up beyond the shroud of Noterra and out into the infinity. Taking a sip of ale, he shook his head and smiled, walking over to a small garden of flowers, plucking out one rose and putting it on the fresh grave.

“… see ya’.” He muttered lowly as he turned away, walking out of the tiny grove, his shoulders ever-so-slightly slumped, heavy-looking.

**

Caleb watched in silence, with a faint smile hanging on his face, as Talisha chased around a few young Dragons along the vast stretch of a beautiful, tranquil plain. The two had already spent quite a few days here, far longer than he initially anticipated, though he didn’t mind it much.

The life outside of this small bubble rarely afforded them the momentum of calm and peace, which made it ever more precious in the end. He drank and slept in silence and peace every night, not needing to worry about setting up alarms, or of being raided and attacked at his most vulnerable.

He chuckled as he saw Talisha stumble over a Dragon's tail, fuming right after, while he leaned further back and looked at the clear, blue sky. He'd thought deeply about Lino's strange proposal; it was no different than any he'd received in the past from countless figures. A proposal to join sides and combat the undefeatable always sounded empty and rang hollow to him, as the struggle was always shallow. He didn't fight against the Creator; rather, he was on the run. All his life, ever since the Earth’s fall, all he could was run and hide. The more he’d learn about the reach, about the suffocating tendrils poking at every corner imaginable, the more he wanted to bore himself into a hole somewhere deep and hide in silence. The surface pretenses he’d put on were nearly as empty as the concentrated ‘war’ against the Creator; in truth, very, very, very few figures had the capacity to resist… and he was not one of them.

He used cheap schemes and lies to build a narrative around his name, though how authentic all of that was… needed not an answer. His eyes were opened to reality a long time ago, when he met someone who could actually resist the Creator without the facades – the first and the last time he met a figure that could walk into every corner of the entirety and do whatever he wanted. That insurmountable gap between them was the answer he sought ever since escaping the Earth.

Yet, for the first time in his life, that empty that rang hollow… was not here. The pair of black eyes that looked at him honestly… shook him. He hardly doubted the man's strength or even his charisma, but both were far too lacking; yet, for a reason he could not quite understand, he found his heart opening up to that strange confidence. Lino eerily reminded him of Rog’wal, the same figure that opened his eyes to the reality for the first time. Both seemed entirely ignoble of the actual reality, yet in their eyes held the perfect perception of it. Naïve-seeming on the surface, they exuded confidence bordering foolishness, yet, time and again, in those moments of need when most fumble, they broke past it all and endured.

One could say that they lacked that basic caution, the instinct drilled into every single soul that ensured the organism survives; but, perhaps a better way to word it is that they lorded over that same caution, that base instinct. Had Lino stayed further out into the open, fighting, Caleb would have never come; it was clear that the strange man knew the limits of what he could do at the moment, which is precisely what confused Caleb – why was it, then, that he could with absolute confidence claim he'd be victorious?

“… what’s got your panties twisted?” a familiar voice dragged him out of his thoughts as he saw Talisha sit next to him, her expression distorted slightly.

“Had fun?” Caleb asked with a smile, wiping a few droplets of sweat from her forehead.

“Tsk, these Dragons are really vicious; one of them even spat on me and stuck her tongue out. Can you imagine?!”

“… you tried to set their asses on fire,” Caleb shrugged. “I think their retaliation was still rather mild.”

“… what’s wrong?” she suddenly asked as she ignored his probe. Traces of that innocent naivety could also be found in her gaze, though in her case, Caleb was well aware, it really was naïve innocence.

“… should I accept his deal?” Caleb asked as Talisha pulled back all of a sudden, a shocked expression on her face.

“Y-you… you are asking for my opinion?!” she exclaimed. “Wow. He must have gotten you real good if you’re so desperate as to ask me.”

“… he really has,” Caleb chuckled. “But, it’s your time to shine. Just like every other time.”

“… we should stay.” Talisha said rather quickly, surprising Caleb. Whenever he’d reach one of these moments in his life, when he was at the conflict over what to do, he’d always ask her… and trust whatever her answer was. So far, it has never betrayed him.

“… that was quick.” Caleb said.

“… it’s a good place, C’,” her sudden smile caused his heart to stop for a moment as the wind blazed past, sending her hair spiraling for a moment. “To be honest, I’m kinda tired of jumping from place to place. Running. Hiding. It's not just us anymore; we have a big family… and we barely see any of 'em. That guy, I don’t know… he… instills me with confidence, for some reason. And, looking around, that seems to be the case with everyone here, no?” it certainly was true; a whole slew of cosmic species could be found here, Caleb realized. And all of them were here specifically because of that perpetually-terribly dressed human.

“… we’ll stay here, then,” Caleb didn’t deliberate on it for too long; though he trusted his keen insight beyond reason, that trust still fell short of one other – that of in her. “I’ll bring the kids and others over. I guess… it really is a good place.”

“Eh, better than that shithole we’re calling our home now.” Talisha shrugged.

“Oi, I spent like two years building that…”

“And it shows…”

“… ouch…”