I crouched to pick up the little locket and looked at it. It was dusty from the years of being out here, but with a simple wipe, I could clearly see both pictures and the glint of the gold.

There had always been a doubt within me regarding who my father was, but just looking at him like this… The questions were answered. He was just a common mortal that mother got together with. Why she did it or how father managed to get together with a Goddess was something that I would never know. But it didn’t matter. In the final moments, father went ahead and gave his life away to get to them, even if it was just to encourage me to live.

A loud cawing was heard from behind me, and a beast flew straight to me as I was thinking. I didn’t need to turn to know that this was just a Wyvernian Eagle, but I still did a half-turn, and saw the large bird. It was corrupted, just like everything else in this world, and it reminded me of the one that Estelle scared away just days before the Evil God appeared here. This one was much larger than that one, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with it, so with a simple flick of my finger, the bird was cut to pieces.

It fell to the ground in a mess of feathers, blood, and red mist. It might’ve been the one that killed my father or it might not be related at all. It didn’t matter. I could use it as an excuse to say that I at least partially avenged my father; even if the one that caused all of this was still out there.

My attention was turned back to the locket. I inspected it for a brief moment, and then I turned my attention to my father. It didn’t feel right to leave him here like this, so I put away the locket in one pocket, and picked up my father’s remains. I had to be careful with it, since after so many years, they wouldn’t be able to withstand harsh movements. Once I was certain I was leaving nothing behind, I turned to go down from the mountain and in the direction where my old home used to be.

There was a clear path left behind by my mother’s rush back then, which gouged out the earth and left a large scar on it, so I decided to walk that way. Nothing strange happened, as this path was just full of red sand, so after one or two hours of careful walking, I finally made it to my old home.

I looked with raised eyebrows at my old house. It was in perfect condition, as if time hadn’t touched it and the Corrupted Winds never got here. Surprise quickly passed when I realized that this was likely due to my mother’s presence being there for so many years, doing to the house the same thing that the shard inside my body did to me.

This seemed like a good place for my father to finally rest.

I carefully created a small hole by the front of the house, and just as carefully placed my father’s remains inside. There wasn’t as much of him due to the many years he stayed in the wild, but I managed to place him facing up, with his hands crossed on his chest. The only thing that remained was the locket in my hands.

I looked at it, at the decayed picture of our old family. It was a shame that I didn’t have a picture of my father as well to remember the man that he used to be, but it didn’t matter. He was back home, and whatever was left to do, it was up to me now.

After closing the lid of the locket, I placed it between his hands. Family was the most important thing for him, and even if he didn't have us anymore, this locket would be the thing that was going to be with him from now on. Once I made sure that it wouldn’t fall off, I finally closed the hole with my own hands. I could’ve used magic, but I felt like I needed to do this with the same hands that gave him a final hug that I couldn’t grant him anymore.

Once a small mound was done, I stood up and looked at it. If this was anywhere else, I might need to do something else to make sure that it didn’t fade, but since my old home was being spared from the destruction of our world, I left it as it was.

“I’m sorry, dad,” I said, the same thing again, followed by something I hadn’t said in a long time, “And thank you. I’ll take it from here.”

After contemplating his grave for a while, I turned to look at my old home. Hardly anything had changed on its wooden facade. It still had the same green and dark wood color, the windows remained closed shut, and even the door itself still had that same dark wood color from so many years ago.

I walked to it and stood right by the entrance, not daring to place a hand on it for a few moments. Eventually, I reached for it, only to stop right as I was going to touch it. I didn’t know what could happen if I touched; if I entered. So, with a shake of my head, I retrieved my hand and took a couple of steps back to look at the house.

Maybe it would’ve been better to look at it completely, so I turned and walked around it. The walls at the sides were the same, and as I was going around, I noticed something impossible, which caused me to freeze on my step and look with widened eyes.

Blue flowers were blooming all over the backyard, right over the garden where my mother liked to sit and drink tea while reading a book. This wasn’t possible. The Corrupted Winds should’ve destroyed everything that it didn’t have the power to turn, and even the things that it turned, they should’ve all been red. Such a… colorful sight, wasn’t something that should exist without the use of magic.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

But it was here, and it was in my home.

After shaking away the astonishment, I jogged over to have a better look. I blinked a few times, shook my head from side to side, and even completely turned my body around to finally look back at it and make sure that it wasn’t some form of strange illusion, but… it was all there.

The flowers were swaying under the soft wind that hit this garden, and even the sweet scent of blueberry that they emanated caused me to close my eyes and remember the calm way that mother would sit here. I closed my eyes and took it in.

Home still felt like home…

Then I turned to look back at the house, where yet another thing I didn’t expect remained. Right where my mother would sit, a book and her empty cup were still there. The book was still open on the empty pages that she was reading at the time, and the cup was toppled to the side; whatever drink was inside long gone. With slow steps, I approached it.

I refused to grab it out of fear of turning it all to nothing, but the paper was the same white color as something freshly written, and the cup showed no signs of decay.

I read through the few words that the pages showed, and a soft chuckle escaped my lips. Despite being a Goddess, mother liked to read some of the cheesiest romances people could find, with plots as ridiculous as its characters, with big displays and confessions of love that a being like herself couldn’t possibly find interesting… And yet, here they were, in one of her books, opened right in the middle of one.

After looking at it for a moment and enjoying a smile that I hadn’t had in years, I finally walked to the door at the back. With a deep breath, I reached for it, and after hesitating for a moment in front of the door, I placed my hand on it, and softly pushed.

The door opened as if it had never been closed, and the same kitchen from the past revealed itself to me. Food remained on the counter; the pans, cups and plates that father cared for so much still had that same glint, and even the chairs and table were just as clean as the last time I saw them.

I walked through the door and into it. Food couldn’t possibly last this long untouched, but I decided to reach for it. For what reason it could still be in the same condition was beyond me, but it wouldn’t surprise me if mother used her magic to make sure that everything we got wouldn’t spoil until it was consumed.

The piece of bread remained just as soft, and after taking it, smelling it, and pinching it a couple of times, I decided to take a bite out of it. Tears nearly spilled from my eyes as I closed them and enjoyed the texture. It was terrible. My mother really never learned how to make bread, but this was definitely of her making, and I wouldn’t change it for anything else.

I swallowed it and decided to take a few more with me, along with other food supplies in the house. I might have a strengthened body, trained for many years to be able to go on without food, water or rest, but I wouldn’t pass on the opportunity to enjoy food as every other living being did before.

After leaving the kitchen, I passed by the living room. We didn’t really have many things besides a few paintings that mother bought and a couple of decorations that father gave her. Still, I stood still in place. In silence as I remembered the many times I heard the two of them simply talking; about the gossip in town, about the things that people did, and the things that they each learned about each other and about us, their children.

So many things we wouldn’t have back, and I couldn’t stay here remembering, so I passed by it and walked up the stairs. My room was the closest, so I entered it.

There wasn’t anything of importance here besides my bed, left in the same mess as the day I left with my sister to The Dragon’s Pond. There were my old clothes thrown in a mess, that wouldn’t fit me anymore, my bed in the same kind of mess, and a simple dagger that my friends gave me as they tried to get me to join them in their desires to be knights, which I always left behind since I was never really interested in that. Overall, there really wasn’t much besides that and a couple of books, so I left soon after.

I moved past my room to my sister’s. I hesitated to enter, since back then I was always told with a severe tone that I wasn’t allowed into her room, no matter what. But I still wanted to see what was inside, at least one last time, so I opened the door and stood by the entrance.

Her bed was neatly made, none of her clothes were thrown randomly in place, and over a counter, there were the few gifts that Grahm had given her, like the small flower with the yellow petals and the blue center, or the cookies that still remained. There was an involuntary frown in my eyebrows when I noticed that she was embroiling a small piece of white cloth with the man’s name and hers on it with pink thread, but there was no way I was going to destroy something she made, so after sighing, I took a step back, and the left her room as it was.

Finally, I moved to my parent’s room. We were never told not to go in there, but I generally had no reason to go in there, so I hardly did. Still, as I opened it, their scent attacked me. It was a strange, sweet vanilla smell that mother usually had, and I forced a smile away from my face, since it made me feel like I could almost hug them. But there was nothing in here besides their bed, their furniture, and the decorations that the two of them liked.

I decided to enter anyway and look for anything else, like a message from my mother or something I could take to be of use, but I knew there wasn’t anything like that since such power sources could be easily felt.

I opened and closed some drawers, looked at their clothes, and skimmed my eyes over my mother’s books, but there really wasn’t anything that was different from their usual things.

In the end, I simply chose to sit by their bed and just look at it all; at the lives that were stolen from me; at the past, present and future that could never be because of the Evil God that took it away from me.

No more time could be wasted here.

I stood back up, left the room, and finally stepped outside of the house from the front door and looked in the direction of The Dragon’s Pond. Xarcos’ time to pay was close.