Arc 6. A seemingly endless loss
Road to a Hero:
Three chances in another world
Chapter 4. Rouge lineage
Blasting down a mountain inside a lovely carriage while being pulled by a monstrously cute but dangerous dire wolf.
Edward: “SLOW DOWN LUNA!”
Luna pays no mind to Edward's cries, shutting him up by letting her slobber fly into his face. Inside the fabulous carriage Gray, Soku, Rosemary, and Peter fly into the back wall, barely withstanding the speed of the carriage. Luna waves and swings side to side, barely dodging each tree on every turn. Edward gets angry, jumps off the carriage while pushing down Luna’s head, and stops the carriage with his bare strength. His feet push through the ground, creating two ditches through the dirt road. The dog whimpers, causing Edward to feel a bit bad. Gray shoves his head out of a window on the carriage, trying to see what’s happening.
Gray: “THE HELL!”
Edward: ‘Sorry, sorry. We’re good now. Aren’t we Luna?”
The dog looks Edward in the eyes, then licks his face.
Edward: “Now, will you be calm?”
Luna barks at him, then sits up straight. He pats her on the head, jumps back onto his seat, and before they leave, Edward gets off to check the wheels.
Edward {A few nicks, but the wheels are fine. The bolts are as tight as can be.}
Gray: “WE GOOD!”
Edward: “YEAH!”
Edward hops back on the carriage, and scratches Luna's back, letting her know it’s time to go. And they begin going once more. Gray slumps down in his seat beside Rosemary, staring into space.
Gray: “I’ve always liked to travel. The sounds of the area passing by, the random happenings around us, it’s just chill.”
Soku stretches her arms, intrigued by the conversation.
Soku: “Eh, I’ve never really traveled. I know when I get my place to live, I’ll pick somewhere within a city. I can walk to anything I need fairly quickly, I like getting everything I need in a second.”
Rosemary: “Mmmm…I dunno. Living peacefully, nobody bothers you other than a kind neighbor or two. Grow your food, build a house, and get everything by yourself and a partner.”
Stolen novel; please report.
Peter interrupts the conversation to ask an important question.
Peter: “Hey uh, where’s the food?”
Gray: “DAMMIT! DID WE GET SNACKS!?”
Rosemary: “Um…I figured we could stop by a village or two on the way.”
Gray: “Damn…Now that Peter said somethin’ I’m hungry.”
Soku: “Yeah…same.”
Gray: “Does Walgonia even have big cities? Or is it all just small villages?”
Soku: “Well yeah, Walgonia is mainly farmland which consists of villages and towns, but it has a couple of cities, not as big or rambunctious as Constal.”
Gray: “Are we gonna hit a couple.”
Rosemary: “We should, we’re gonna get to Mier, it's halfway away from Valatrocitus gate border. We can stop there and restock.”
Peter: “Ugh…that’s in like a week or two.”
Gray: “I guess we can stop in the next village for a food restock, but to get to Valatrocitus on time we’re gonna have to ride through the night.”
Rosemary begins sniffling, rubbing her nose.
Gray: "You okay? Are you sick?"
Rosemary: "No, I'm fine. And if we are sick your mana can heal us."
Gray: "I suck at healing magic though…wait healing magic stops sicknesses?"
Soku: "They can, but not deadly ones."
Rosemary: "I am allergic to animal fur though, maybe Luna's fur got on me. Let's not worry about it and just get going."
The long trip finally begins as they get off the mountain, and embark on their longest journey yet. The rest of the day passes without any trouble, and Edward decides to pull an all-nighter instead of swapping places with anybody else, taking the night for himself. The greenish moon shines over the grassland, a vast emptiness. With a mix of flat land and hellish landscape, you can see the lights of various towns and villages, and on other sides, you can see them in their entirety. Fields of crops, farmers doing their jobs, animals lazing around in their pens, and windmills waving from the cold breeze of the night sky, filled with bright stars.
Edward: “I’ve never just looked out like this. No city, no monsters, war, or soldiers…no bad guy. This is just. What do you think Luna, think I’m going too far into this. Think that hole Moro left is turning for a fight, another revenge plot.”
Luna turns her head to Edward, tilts her head, and continents run down the road. Edward lets his mind go quiet, just listening to the sounds of the world. The wooden wheels of the carriage rolled on the dirt road, bumping along the way. Crickets and other bugs make their sounds, chirping, squeaking, and birds squawking. This continues for a few days, stopping at smaller towns, and getting food and water while Edward takes naps while guarding the carriage. Gray, Soku, Rosemary, and Peter take full advantage of the situation, eating breakfast at every morning stop, doing workouts and practicing their mana control, working on tools, etc. And throughout it all, Soku and Peter never directly say anything to each other.
Family is something they all strive to be, and yet somehow they can’t manage to do it. Soku and Peter both fell for each other immediately, their past, their lineage, a heritage they both know nothing about, whether it be their own lives with it or the history of it. But due to pride, ego, and inability to understand one another, the first mistake that could be made, would most likely end it all. So due to something Peter did, something that he doesn't understand what he did wrong, it concluded. To put it into the perspective of Gray and Rosemary, they were both people unable to love themselves. With their first meeting with one another, they both saw this, felt comfortable with this, and wanted to help or further understand it. They help each other up and make each other feel like they’re worth something, they are two separate beings that exist as one, both filling the issues the others have, but building up the problems as well. Because once one of the pillars that hold you up crumbles, you fall with it.
But for somebody like Edward, a man who knows loss better than anybody, the man whose first real “crush” you could say, just left. Because people leave, they die, they exist with or without you, and they try to stop whatever is taking it from you. You’ll find out what he found out, you’ll get taken with it, or you’ll be left without it. And when you’re left without it, a hole forms, one that in some cases cannot be filled, ever. So when everyone is trying to fill something, find something to support themselves, how will they be able to see each other? If Gray and Rosemary work as one person, who are they? If Soku needs to be able to find somebody, but it’s too scary to get close, what if they leave? When Peter gets pushed into a new family over and over, when are they his family, and just people that’ll leave eventually? When Edward lives in the shadow of his lineage, and he never leaves it, becomes a rogue of a “destined” history, what is he? Helsing, is a name that is held as a blessed title to just be born with, but is it that? Is it, not a fate, you’ll die young, you’ll die in battle, and you’ll die hurt, sad, and alone with only the hope your children have children before they meet the same fate. What is a name, is it bad to abandon it, and what are you without it once you’ve abandoned it, who are you without the name tag you put on, This a question everyone in this beautiful carriage has asked themselves over and over consciously or not. A question they’re asking themselves right now.
End of Chapter Four