The boy was chewing on a morsel of meat-filled pastry that his grandmother had made for him, when a pair of arms wrapped around his chest as he sat on the grass of his home’s garden.
“Hi, Leon!” Anwen called out even though his ear was almost right next to her mouth.
“A-Anwen?” the boy flinched, jumping forward and out of the girl’s grasp, spinning around to see the girl’s elated expression. He was of average height, somewhere between Anwen’s and Stefan’s. His short black hair and glasses made him look proper and well-mannered, as was expected of someone in his future profession. “What are you doing here?”
“Just came to visit. Are you busy?” Anwen asked.
“No, I’m not. Didn’t expect you to be back after two years.” He spoke.
“Why aren't you excited to see me?” Anwen frowned.
“All I see are girls these days, you know. It’s nothing personal.” Leon shrugged.
‘Glad I’m not the only one who thinks she’s annoying.’ Stefan thought.
“I’m different from those other girls, though! That hurts, you know.” Anwen crossed her arms, pouting.
“Sorry,” he said without any meaning. “By the way, who’s that?” he asked, his eyes having caught Stefan.
“Stefan Laine.” The boy said. His conversation with Felix earlier made him more confident in using his full name in introducing himself.
The other teenage boy approached him and shook his hand much like the way his grandfather did earlier.
“I’m Leon Bernard. Nice to meet you, Stefan.”
Stefan had never expected someone close to his own age to behave so respectfully or attentively. Was he just showing off?
“You, too.” Stefan said.
“I’m going to guess Gareth rescued you too, just like he did her?” he said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder to Anwen who was devastated at Stefan stealing the attention from her.
“I don’t know anything about her being rescued, but yeah. Gareth saved me from an Angel invasion.” Stefan said.
Come to think of it, Stefan still had no idea of how Gareth had come across Anwen a decade earlier. Anwen couldn’t remember, and Gareth would just give him some kind of cryptic answer if he asked any kind of question about any person or thing’s origins, be it his, Anwen’s or the Angels themselves. But then again, Anwen had to have been about four or five when Gareth came across her. Surely, she should have remembered something.
“Gareth’s a good man,” Leon said. “That first time he came to Marius, he saved it from an Angel invasion.”
“R-Really? All by himself?”
“Yeah. I was only six when it happened, so I don’t remember too much. All I remember is Gareth bringing in Anwen to Grandpa’s clinic after everything simmered down.”
‘So, Anwen has seen an Angel attack in person before.’ Stefan thought.
“Hey, Leon,” Anwen said, tapping him on the shoulder. “Do you still have that boat we used to ride when we were younger?”
“Of course, I do!” Leon said in a thrilled tone. “I tied it up at the lakeshore. We can take it for a spin.”
“Let’s go!” Anwen exclaimed.
‘It’s kind of odd how she only mentioned this boat after Leon began talking about her.’ Stefan wondered.
It was quite easy to reach the lake from the Bernard house. They simply had to climb the brick wall that surrounded the garden and land on the soft dirt on the other side. About 10 feet away from the other side of the wall was the lake.
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Leon ascended the wall first to show Stefan and Anwen the way. Stefan didn’t need help, but he still appreciated his effort anyway. He had climbed trees that were six or seven times higher than the relatively short wall. He was so used to it that he did not often know when to stop, resulting his previously broken arm. He was about to drop down to the other side, when he noticed Anwen having trouble climbing up. Her fingers were clinging to the small crevices in the bricks, but she could not manage to get a foothold on the wall.
“Need a hand?” Stefan asked, leaning forward as much as he could with an outstretched hand. Anwen fell back down controllingly and swatted his arm away.
“I want Leon to help me. Go away.” She scowled.
He sighed and glanced back at Leon who had an indifferent expression.
“Stefan’s bigger than me, he can pull you up more easily… but if you insist.” Leon said, and begrudgingly mounted the wall once more and helped Anwen to the top. Once all three were on the other side, they quickly found Leon’s small wooden boat, tied to a wooden pole on the shore. Anwen boarded it first, followed by Stefan, and finally Leon after he removed the boat from its bindings. He took one of the oars, passing the other to Anwen.
“It’s been so long since I’ve been on this thing.” Anwen said in awe. Meanwhile, Stefan, who had never been on a boat, distracted himself from the nausea of seasickness by looking at the scenery around him.
“Same here, to be honest. I’ve been studying so much I haven’t had the time to use it.” Leon said as the boat was well over the water.
“Studying? Are you going to be a doctor like your grandpa?” Anwen asked.
“Uh-huh.” He confirmed.
“Don’t tell me he’s forcing you to become one.” Anwen said with empathy.
“Oh, not at all. He and Granny have always encouraged me to do something that’ll get me far in life… the only thing I know that could get me there is being a doctor. I’m not complaining, though. The human body is just so interesting.” He said, his voice hinting at the passion he had for the profession.
“That couldn’t be me. I had to apply the antiseptic balm Gareth got from Dr. Bernard onto this guy’s hands for a week. It was awful.” She cringed.
“We’re lucky if that’s all we have to do at the clinic,” Leon laughed. “Last week, some man came in with neurotic tissue on his hand, and we had to amputate part of it. Let me tell you—
“Do you really get to see those mountains everyday?” Stefan asked Leon suddenly after he became entranced by the marvelous sight.
“Yeah. You wanna know something about them?”
“Sure.” Stefan confirmed.
“Those mountains didn’t exist 40 years ago. Granny says that my parents remembered a time when they weren’t here, when they were really young.”
“40 years?” Stefan said, astonished. “No way that’s natural.”
“I didn’t know that either.” Anwen added.
“Yeah. No one knows who built them or why. I hear different things, that the Angels built them, but why would they need to separate the north from the south if they hate all of us equally? I think it’s more likely that the southerners built them somehow, but I can’t know for sure. Maybe if they came back…”
“Are you talking about your parents?” Anwen asked.
“Yeah. You know they went missing around the same time Gareth found you. Anyways, enough rambling. Do you guys wanna go for a dive?”
‘Leon’s parents went missing in the south?’ Stefan asked himself in his head.
“I don’t want to take off my clothes, especially in front of him.” Anwen pointed like Stefan had committed something atrocious.
“That’s fine,” Leon said. “Stefan?”
“Yeah! It’s been a while since I went for a swim!” the boy explained happily. The boys removed all their clothes except their pants. Leon jumped into the lukewarm water first, followed by Stefan. They spent the next two hours taking in the freshness of the nearly clear water, which Stefan welcomed as it washed off the dirt from his grimy body which had gone unwashed during the weeklong journey to Marius.
After having their fun, the trio returned to the Bernard house to have lunch.
“It’s your lucky day, Leon,” Isabel said as she set out the dinner plates. “Gareth let us have some of his extra produce he grew back at his home.”
“It’s been so long since I’ve had fresh veggies at this time of the year. I’ll be sure to thank him when I see him later.”
“Where is he, anyway?” Anwen asked.
“He had lunch earlier then went to book a room at the inn.” Isabel explained.
“We get to stay at an inn?” she squealed.
“I would’ve loved if all three of you could stay here, but we don’t have the space. That’s why Gareth went to get a room for himself, and you two will share Janine’s old room.” Isabel said, referring to her granddaughter who had moved out.
“Granny, we only have… one bed in that room.” Leon pointed out.
“You’re still children!” Isabel laughed. “There’s nothing wrong with sharing a bed. Plenty of space for both of you.”
Anwen planted her forehead against the table, groaning. Stefan was more indifferent.
“Quit moaning and find a way to figure it out with me, Anwen. I don’t like it just as much as you do.”
Anwen responded by groaning more audibly.
“Gareth also asked me to tell you to go to the market with him later and help him trade. He wants you kids to get some socializing in.” Isabel told the man’s two wards.
“Sounds like a great opportunity for Anwen to use her brain and not complain on and on.” Stefan laughed. Eventually, a slight snicker left Leon’s mouth as well. Isabel rightly scolded both young men.
Stefan was glad that another boy near his age could relate to him so well. It nearly made him forget that Joakim wasn’t with him.