Albert stood guard as Valentina slept soundly. He also used this time to allow his brain to catch up to all the madness he had lived. The tiny girl laying beside him was actually a one-woman army. And, not only that. She believed that he had the same power, only to find out he was something else entirely.
Not even human… thought Albert, recalling the director’s comment. Then what the hell am I…
The other thing that bothered him was the secrets he had learned. About the Gods, the Descendants, and the government lying to the world about it. He still wasn’t sure whether to believe that or not, but the implications of it being true terrified him. Not because of some powerful beings with mythical powers, but because of the descendant's story.
An ancestor who was blessed by the gods.
If he was one of them, then why hasn’t he heard any of it from his parents? And if he is not a human, then what are his parents?
These thoughts haunted the young boy’s mind, as he watched the birds fly through the woods. But his plight was short lived as Valentina woke up after an hour of sleep. She stretched her body like a cat but recoiled in pain. Her face looked re-energized despite the dark circles in her eyes.
“Wow, I feel much better” she said, sighing
“Already? With the way you were screaming about that ‘kickback’ or whatever, I thought it would take you longer to recuperate.” said Albert.
“The kickback is only pain, really. Basically, when we use Ruach to enhance our bodies we push our muscles, ligaments and joints to their absolute limit. So we normally ease ourselves out of that state, to allow our bodies to relax and recuperate before turning it off. If we don’t… well you saw what happens.” Valentina explained.
Then her expression turned sour.
“But using it too much is also bad. That’s why I was worried. We are human, our bodies have limits too. And not just arms and legs. There have been cases of people who pushed themselves into a heart attack by enhancing their bodies.” she concluded with a serious tone.
Albert shivered, thinking about his heart exploding from overwork. Valentina noticed his worried look and laughed.
“Relax. You don’t have to worry about that. With the way your powers work, you always use them in very quick bursts. You should be fine.”
He laughed too, only more sarcastically.
But, after that, the silence fell between the two like an invisible veil. Once again, Albert was faced with the doubt of his identity. Not a descendant… not a human…
And there was another question that needed to be answered.
They had to decide their next move.
“How do we meet back with the group?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I have no idea where that tunnel leads or who is on the other side. I only know they are allies.” she answered.
“God dammit! Well, I guess there’s only one option then...” he said looking at the direction of the mansion.
But Albert was surprised by what he saw.
A dark cloud of smoke glided through the sky and loomed over the forest. Valentina had an ominous sinking feeling.
“We’re going back!” she said springing to her feet. Albert did not protest her decision. Not because he was as invested in the mansion or the people who lived there, but because that place and those people had answers.
And he needed some, really bad.
They made their way back through the woods quickly with the sun shining high in the sky. Also, the ash cloud served as a very good compass. When they arrived to the edge of the tree line they could finally see it’s origin
The house was completely taken over by the fire, engulfing it in the scorching heat.
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“No!” screamed Valentina running towards it. Albert tried to stop her, but she slapped his hand off her shoulder.
He wanted tried to follow, but the heat wouldn’t let him get within 200 meters of the mansion. Valentina, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be bothered by it.
She reached the walls without even flinching and with a deep breath she put her two hands on the flames. The fire engulfed her arms, burning her sleeves to ashes. But she didn’t scream in pain. Instead she calmly sat down in front of the house and smiled, as if she was greeting an old friend.
Her whole body shone yellow, her aura mimicking the flames in its random eternal pattern. Bit by bit, the fire was extinguished, leaving only a black, charcoal structure behind and a girl sitting among the ashes.
When Albert felt that the heat had died down, he walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Her pained expression, felt like a stab to the gut.
She spoke before he could.
“I am a blessed by the Sun God. Ever since I was young I could never get burned and I was never scared of fire. It was my source of power. My friend.” she said with sadness “This is the first time I feel like it’s betrayed me.”
Albert thought carefully about what to say next.
“It hasn’t betrayed you. You didn’t set the house on fire. You can’t blame the instrument for the destruction it caused. You should blame the one who wields the tool.”
“You don’t understand” she continued “when the fire touches me I can feel it. I can feel all the energy that it carries. It’s like it is… alive.”
“I understand... well... I don’t. But we have no time for this. If the house is on fire something happened to the people defending it. We need to go check the front!” he said, pulling Valentina to her feet.
But what expected them was even worse.
When they finally reached the battlefield, at the front gardens, there were many signs of a struggle. The markings of powerful punches covered the ground, and so did pieces of burned grass and misplaced plants.
But the worst part was seeing the fighters, who had not left the battlefield.
Several bodies were spread across the garden, their inanimate visages wearing serene expressions, despite being surrounded by destruction.
Albert felt his empty stomach spin, and fell to his knees. The sickening stench of death impregnated his senses, and the image of the dead bodies, haunted his mind.
Valentina gasped, out of air. The color vanishing from her face. She desperately ran, from body to body, looking for her friends, hoping to find nobody. Albert could barely hear her, although he knew she had found somebody every time he heard her pitiful cry cut the solemn silence.
But suddenly, the distant sobs stopped completely and Albert felt something was wrong.
He took long, deep breaths and tried to regain his self-control. It’s not Linus nor my parents, it’s not anyone I love… he thought to himself. He knew it was selfish thinking, but it was the only thing that kept him going.
Meanwhile, Valentina was frozen in place, staring at something in the distance. Her eyes didn’t even blink, she simply stared in disbelief. Albert finally gathered the courage and got up to see what she had found.
There were a bunch of bodies gathered close to one another. None of the faces looked familiar to any of the two, but the last one was someone even Albert could recognize.
Director Amelia.
10 opponents laid at her feet, some had limbs torn, others were downright beheaded. She had a spear trespassing her left abdomen. And her face, unlike many others, had a fierce expression on it, like a lioness protecting her babies.
This time, when Valentina opened her mouth, the sound that came out of it was not human. Her scream carried the uncontrolled Ruach on her body, giving color to it’s sound waves. But the sound didn’t carry just her power, it carried her emotions too. Valentina propagated her broken heart to anyone who would listen, however everyone around her was dead, everyone except one boy.
“I’m sorry” Albert instinctively apologized. He tried to hug her, but Valentina’s skin was scorching hot, to the point that her clothes started fuming. Still, her sadness was too much for him, or for her, to bear.
So he hugged her anyway.
The heat, at first, burned him mercilessly. However, his absorption skills kicked in, and he started draining the activated Ruach. Her temperature slowly normalized, and even her terrible scream returned to the pitiful wailing of a child. Her tears, that were evaporating before, streamed down her face and onto Albert’s shoulder, while he just repeated endlessly:
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
The rest of their afternoon was spent in mourning. Even though Albert was still scared that their enemies could return, he said nothing about leaving and worked together alongside Valentina. With their enhanced bodies, they easily dug a grave for Amelia.
Once they took out the spear, and closed her eyes she looked much more at peace. While holding her head in her lap, Valentina took out Amelia’s broken glasses, and put them in her pocket.
“I prefer you like this… mom.” said Valentina bursting into tears again.
Albert was surprised by that comment.
“I didn’t know she was your mother.” he said.
“She wasn’t… not for real, but at the same time, she was. I wish I could’ve called her that... Just once.”
Valentina finally broke down and could no longer control herself, so Albert took it upon himself to lay Amelia down to her final resting place.
They buried her at the base of a pine tree, on the edge of the woods, and carved her name on the tree trunk.
After the burial was done, Valentina looked lost. She was kneeling in front of the grave with empty eyes saying nothing. Albert wanted to give her some space, but the sun was already setting, and they had stayed around too much.
He grabbed her by the hand, and pulled her up to her feet. She did not protest and just let herself be led by Albert back to the garden. He found one of the black SUVs that had the keys inside. Valentina sat on the passenger sit, hugging her knees.
Albert forced his eyes off of her and into the road. He turned on the ignition, and drove off of the mansion grounds.