Zachary
I wonder what the edge of the world looks like.
I mean, have you never thought that before? Just like… what the end of the world looks like, after you've explored it all?
Is it barren? Is it boring? Does everything just implode?
My thought process is completely interrupted by the nuisance I call my best friend hitting the top of my head with a stick. A hard one, at that.
"What're you thinking so hard about? You're supposed to be meditating, student!" Alyssia says, with a grin portraying a mix of both pride and mockery.
"What the edge of the world looks like." I respond, sighing. "I mean, don't you think about it too? Just… what does the world look like after you've explored all of it?" I ask Alyssia. The question seemed to have already completely overloaded her brain, eliciting a chuckle out of me.
"Don't think about it." I say, patting her head softly.
"Do you think I'm dumb or something?" She responds with a growl. This isn't for the sake of being cute, though. I genuinely pissed her off.
"Yes." I respond bluntly, stifling a grin to the best of my ability. As much as I enjoy having Aly as a friend, there's no denying that it's funny to annoy her. I have to make sure not to annoy her too much, though. I don't know what I would do if not for her.
Sighing, she simply stood up, with me following suit.
"We can't go to the edge of the world. Not yet. But how about we go to the edge of the forest?" She says, pointing towards the dark oak forest that resided east from the village. I had never ventured near the forest, not out of fear, but more so out of lack of care.
Thinking for a few seconds, I evaluated the choice presented to me. On one hand, I could do what I love most- investigating and exploring. On the other, this would take a while, and we might end up lost.
But what's adventure without risk?
"Sure, let's go." I answer, standing up and patting off my butt. Alyssia smirked, as if she had already known that I was going to say yes. Which she probably did. I think she already knows that my love for exploring takes precedence over most, if not all things.
And thus, that was how we set off into the forest, its weepy atmosphere surrounding us as we moved through the terrain. To say the forest was unsettling was beyond an understatement. The swampy atmosphere, mixed in with a dark gray sky would have made any normal child, most likely adult too, piss their pants.
I was off put, yes, but I knew that it wasn't that scary. The human continent was mostly known for not having many monsters. When nobles wanted to kill monsters, they would travel to the Dwells or the Wildlands, like my mother and father, who both used to be dwellers. So, following that logic, no monsters should be in this area.
Safe to say, my theory was currently correct. There was no spirit pressure, other than mines and Aly's, which isn't too high anyways. Any difficult monsters wouldn't be attracted towards us, since our spirit wasn't enough to call them over yet.
*
It had been maybe an hour or two, and the foggy atmosphere of the forest had randomly started to clear up. Far, far back, I could somewhat make out the remains of what seemed to be a village, having been pillaged.
"Hey, Aly. Do you see that?" I say, pointing towards the village that was in utter shambles. She glanced at me, before looking in the direction where I was pointing.
"That's where Hiun should be. The village up east, where the adults went to work." She said, confused.
"Where are all of the houses that should be there?" She asked herself, muttering. We both stood, almost as if time was frozen. Finally, after what felt like 5 minutes, I spoke up.
"Do you think it was pillaged? The Spin Continent is just up north." I ask, gripping the walking stick I had picked up somewhere along the path rather tightly, almost as if using it for a crutch to protect myself in case I was attacked.
"I… I think so." She responded, shakily, taking a step forward. I followed behind her, as we walked a slow path upwards to what remained of the village.
It took a little while, but we eventually made it. Walking past the first house, it was clear that it was intended in this attack for no-one to survive.
Something in my stomach, in my gut, wretched and seethed at the vision of intestines and blood that splattered and laid on the floor. My head felt woozy, as I simply walked forward. Past a certain point, I wasn't able to look anywhere but forward. If I did, I was certain I would puke.
Aly had taken her sleeve and ripped it off, using it as a blindfold, and holding my hand so that I could guide her. No matter how harsh or tough she was, she was only 5. It was odd enough that one of us was able to withstand this grueling, cruel display of human nature. I was happy that she had done that, actually.
My attention was caught by the sound of wood and debris moving and shuffling over towards my left, as I turned my head over. There laid a boy, staring at me and Aly. He was dark skinned, and most likely the same age as us. His beautiful dark skin was tainted with blood and dirt, piles of intestines, of which I could only assume were his families, laid at his feet. The boy's cheeks were already stained with dried tears, and it was no underestimation to say that he had been sobbing until he couldn't anymore.
The scene reminded me of that one scene from Dexter, when his mother was cut up with a chainsaw in a crate. Literally, it looked one on one to that scene. His family, his father clearly, alongside his mother, and what seemed to be two babies, laid dead next to him. Rain had been pouring for a long, long time, drenching the ground around us, and washing some blood and grime off of the boy's face.
Swallowing my anxiety and discomfort, I spoke out to the boy. "Come on. Hiun is no more." I state the obvious, holding my hand out. As raindrops pour onto my hand, it takes a second before I feel the boy's smaller hand cupping around mine, as he stands in front of me, his white hair stained with blood, yet drenched as if he was fresh out of the shower.
"Who did this?" I asked the boy, not really expecting a response. Although I was pleased when he did respond, just as we had exited the village and returned back into the eerie forest, which oddly felt refreshing compared to the village.
"The Angelian's." He responded, his tone filled with a mix of regret, sadness, and rage. Not like I'm blaming him. He would be mad too.
We walked in silence, neither I, nor Aly, nor the boy saying a word, until Aly spoke up.
"What's your name?" She asked, looking at the boy with a concerned look.
"It doesn't matter anymore. My family is gone. Give me a new one." He responded, looking down only at the ground.
"Then it's Hinel. Your name is Hinel. And you're going to live with me. The start of your new, real life." Aly said, with a soft smile. Hinel simply grunted, trudging along the path back towards the village as un-energetically as I or Aly.
What else is there to say? "I'm sorry for your loss." won't take away the boy's trauma. Nothing we can really say will heal the boy, unless he just forgets. Unless he lets us show him why he should love us.
After an hour or so of walking, we finally started to arrive near the edge of the forest, and the eastern entrance of the village.
"Hinel. Do you want to see the edge of the world with us? Do you want to learn?" I asked, also looking down at the ground, just like him.
It took a moment before I finally received a response to my question. "You'll teach me? Take me to the edge of the world?" He answered, almost in a mocking tone. "Sure. Teach me all there is to know in this world, and maybe I'll be satisfied. I expect you to show me the edge of the world. What's your name, Teacher-ssi?"
"Zachary. Zachary Ilun Flarehart."
"Ilun as in Fate?"
"Yup." I and Aly responded in sync, before glaring at each other.
"Zachary-ssi." He repeated. "Treat me well, Zachary-ssi. Make me a mad scientist." He said, with a grin on his face. A grin that didn't seem truly happy, yet also didn't seem saddened. It seemed like a grin filled with grim determination to make something of the life he had been left by fate.
"I'll do my best." I respond, with a small smile. And, through the ruins at the edge of the forest, we had our third.