Chapter 41: Interlude of those who lived on

A man faced a field of gravestones. He was old and wrinkled. His fluttering cloak sounded about as it flaps violently. The old man carried himself a step forward.

"Brother and Sisters of the Sons and Daughters of Light. Brother, they call us Heroes but yet it is an empty title that does not benefit us nor gives us the feeling of brotherhood and sisterhood that we've felt fighting the barren land people. We've fought through the worst and the worst. Each and every single one of us was willing to die for something.

Yet, here I am Brother, alive and in my years before the dawn. We survived through the worst and saw the world open up. The dim despair that shrouded us vanished and what was left was the splitting of the sky. The six heroes stood tall and helped us in our time of need. The once young and naïve ones were now wise men and women that saved the world. It is a grand tale, Brother.

Many of us walked the bleak path. We never have a home until we are grabbed by the hand and forced to stay. I admit that I've stopped wandering. My senses are dull and my knees are unable to continue the journey. I could see the dead every day within these eyes of mine. It hurts, brother. To see those that I fought buried under a stone.

None remembers us other than we fought as soldiers. We aren't called Heroes. We were just one of the many soldiers of the Light's Army. The Banners of the Light still flaps about. Yet, I fear that with no common enemy the United Kingdom's will fall to their greed for power.

No enemies to fight other than the monster. No defined goal for them to keep their wits about and think that they do not have the time for such meaningful strife. I fear that these men would want to go to war. I cannot blame them for this, Brother. Even now I missed the battlefield and the wandering. I yearn for the feeling of sharpness as death could come to me. The sense of urgency and the feeling of having a defined goal made me feel alive.

I missed our brotherhood. I missed those who fight with men unconcerned with their life. We didn't give a damn about our lives and were willing to die for them. At the edge of death, we were truly alive. I cannot blame those fools for wanting to start a war again. I hate this feeling but it is addicting.

In this peace, we find ourselves uneasy. The soldiers of the Light's Army have been used to the War that this eerie feeling of peace was unknown to them. They wish to fight but those that love them grab them by the wrist, Brother. They do not know how to live this world that we have fought for with our lives. Not everyone feels this way. Many of those who were forced to fight now rest peacefully.

They could not let go of their weapons. Habit does not die easily, brother. I too find myself unable to let go of the weapon that has saved my life. Brother, I have many things to say. She's doing well, Brother. She's as old and wrinkled. I've thought of myself as a man who could not be contained by one woman. I was wrong. Throughout the years she was the woman that could understand me. Who would leave such a fine woman who could still wallop me to the ground if I dare anything against her wishes?

Many of those that lived are now trying to rebuild Oasis City. I don't know what happened but the City's no longer a desert. It is now surrounded with green pastures. I do not know what happen, Brother. I cannot leave the home that she and I settled in. I wish to visit Oasis City and recall the memories of our brothers.

It's rather queer, isn't it? That we were once soldiers that lived as one. Yet, the changes turned us into bleak walking fools who wandered and kill. We didn't have any talents or skill. We didn't have any genius on us that made us unique like the Six Heroes. We were normal men and women that were trained hard enough to experience the worst that heaven could throw upon us. We fought demons and lived long enough to be called Slayers of Demons and Monsters.

Many feared our steps. They feared the sigils that show how far we've walked. We became monsters out of necessity. We fought like monsters so that we can contend against those stronger than us. Our hearts, however, stayed true even in the end.

In the roads, we walk we were brothers. In the battlefield we fought we were brothers. Brothers that were willing to die for those that fought with them shoulder to shoulder. None thanked us for fighting. We didn't care for glory. We just thought of helping to save the world. The Six Heroes were only a few. They needed our hands and backs to carry them to where the root of this dimming world was.

They will live on in the annals of History while we would fade along in space and time. We will not be remembered. Those that fought with us will be forever lost in time. They won't remember our faces and names. But I assure you that they will remember the soldier's of light that roared against the dimmed light. Our screams will echo for eternity. It may not be much compared to the Six Heroes who are now living legends. Still, I am not that that bothered by it. We've long stopped caring when we became wanderers.

It's nice that the world has become peaceful. I fear that it will not last. That's why I can only wish that they would listen to their saviors. The Six Heroes have been great persuaders and I believe that they can talk them out of their foolishness. As long as they live the fools that are in power cannot possibly start their wars. Not when they have the full trust of those who lived on.

But Brother, why did you have to die? We sent you off in hope that you'd survive and say that we have reached that far! We should be dead! Why are you the one that has left us instead? We believed that you'd survive but yet we found you dead with a smile on his face in the middle of a wasteland.

You broke our hearts, Brother! How could you leave this world so easily while we live? No, I understand why you would leave a world without her. You chase after her for thirty years. I still remember you climbing up the podium asking to court her. And you were falling flat on your face every time. You didn't give up for thirty years and devoted your heart to her. No matter how much you got rejected you pick yourself up as if that was your life.

Thirty years to melt a woman's heart. Many of us would give up but you didn't. I cannot understand you at all, Brother. We could not. That's why seeing you take her hand and her accepting you made us happy as well. For years you stayed with her in the battle against the darkness. And seeing you fall to your knees as she disappears from your life broke the hearts of men and women. You left us and returned as a dead man walking. Her death made you robust. You wouldn't even answer that magician out of loyalty for her.

You were like a boat without sail when you lost her. Brother, you never lost that decency and kindness you have. It was natural for you. So why in the heavens did you have to go! The Sword Maidens still have a glow in them! They finally have that milky glow after years! It only means that she still lives damn it!

So why do you have to give up on your life, Brother! It was supposed to be a happily ever after for us brothers and sisters yet why did lay your back and ended your journey! I don't know where she is but now she walks this earth not knowing that you are alive. She speaks to us and we can only lie to her that you're still walking aimlessly around this world until you could not do so.

We lied so her heart won't break. We lied because we could not allow her to fall into despair. Her smile broke our hearts into pieces. Her hope was a painful ray of light. She climbed out of the abyss just for you. Aren't you lucky to have a wonderful partner? It's your fault for loving her too much. Now she has to return that love equally as well.

As wanderers, we are not supposed to worry about the parts of life. We cannot be saddened unless we choose to. Brother, I chose to be sad. I have to come here and asked you to forgive us. We lied to her. We made her seek a hope that she would never reach.

I don't know, Brother. I am here bawling at this gravestone of yours with nothing but regrets. I am like a damn that has finally broken. I'll carry this sin of lying to her into my grace. I didn't do her any favor. I made her thought of a hope that no longer exists.

Can I still lie to her when her smile reaches the heavens? Even my wife could not take this guilt. She wouldn't even dare to face you on this hill. Brother, we have a philosophy of expecting the worse. We don't hold to hope. We expect things to go wrong. We look at reality with a brave face. We prepare ourselves and make sure that we do not disappoint ourselves into breaking our hearts. With stolid faces, we meet our problems head-on with a stiff upper lip.

Throughout this slaughter, we became men dressed like monsters. Still, when we lose our purposes and are unable to do what we are good at we became wanderers. It is a cycle of being lost and that leaves us wondering where we should go in this life.

I confess that I've finally reached a happy ending. I reached the end of this misery with her still by my side. We've saved the world so they shouldn't complain that we want to rest now. Brother, I do not know how to face you knowing we did her wrong by giving her a false hope.

This will be my last visit, Brother. I thought that I'd be able to visit the graves of our brothers and sisters but I was wrong. I was once young but no longer. I cannot trek the lands as it was again. That's why on this visit I hope that you forgive me for what we've done.

Brother, the world has rested for a while. You helped in saving this world. You died saving this world. Our Brothers and Sisters now rest in peace. We will reach the same end as you, Brother. We are not foolish enough to think that we are infinite. That we can live long with our skin wrinkled and our bones becoming brittle. We are slowly wilting away and I may even join you sooner than I think.

It's just...I wish that you and she would have days where the world wasn't in trouble. If there is another life then I wish that you and her meet again. I wish that you'd be able to take care of her and be with her. Brother, you already helped in saving this world. There's no need to help in saving the world twice. Be selfish. Do what you want. The world doesn't owe you anything anymore. You've done your best and it is time for you to worry about your own soul.

It won't be too long until she joins you, Brother. Soon all of us would meet again. This has been quite the life. I do not wish for anyone to relive this cruel story. It's already late, Brother. I'll go and now and please rest in peace."

The old man walked away from the field of gravestones. A woman with a dirty blonde hair whose beauty was eternal glanced upon where the old man was talking. She read the engravings. Tears poured out of her eyes as she kneels and draws her sword. "I'm coming, dear."

With a lonesome smile, she thrusted her sword into her heart. She embraced the gravestone and closed her eyes with the same lonesome smile plastered on her face.