It was a bright, cool day in Spring. The greens of Dreya flourished and the flowers bloomed. The sky was clear, and the people were happy and energetic. It was a busy morning, for the port expected many ships to come by during the coming weeks. Spring was not only the perfect time for travel but also for visiting this cozy, welcoming island.
That wasn’t the only note-worthy occurrence that morning as another surprise graced the townsfolk, and that was the Reyos. Seeing Isaac and Charlotte away from their little house out on the eastern half of the island was not uncommon, but it never went by unwelcomed. The couple were the island’s most respected people, and time only further deepened that respect.
On this fine April morning, Isaac and Charlotte arrived early as the glimmering golden rays of the rising sun shone brightly over the horizon, strolling into town on their horse-drawn carriage. As the man parked the wagon on a hitching post, a young girl greeted the couple with eager delight.
She stood a little taller than Charlotte and just an inch shorter than Isaac. She was slender, with an adorable smile plastered on her pretty, pale face. Her kindly, honey-brown eyes complimented her long, light brown hair flowing down her back. She was dressed in a blue and white dress, and her aura radiated tender kindness.
“Mr. and Mrs. Reyo!” She called out, “I’m so glad to see you, I was wondering when you’d come back.”
“Oh, dear Ella!” Charlotte said, hurrying towards the girl before wrapping her in a warm embrace. “I was wondering the same. And look at you! How wonderful, you grow bigger every time I take my eyes off of you!”
“You flatter me, Mrs. Reyo.” She blurted, flustered at the compliments. As Isaac stepped down from the carriage, the girl bowed her head respectfully before greeting the man: “Mr. Reyo, I hope you’re in good health.”
He was silent. His signature, stern frown glued onto his face. As he stepped towards the young woman, he pat her hair and gestured for her to look up.
“Don’t bow your head, you’re not a stranger.”
“That’s right, dear.” Charlotte followed, “And don’t call me Mrs. Reyo, how many times do I have to tell you otherwise?”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Reyo.” She blurted out.
“Oh dear, Ella. You’re too polite, even for us.” Charlotte chuckled, “Now, would you like to accompany this old woman to fetch some groceries?”
“Certainly! I thought you’d never ask.” She replied with a glint in her eyes.
With a merry smile, Charlotte leaned towards the young woman and accompanied her arm-in-arm as they followed after Isaac.
As with every visit they made to the town, Isaac was busy greeting his fellow men as he passed by. With nods and waves; something which he disliked, but endured for the sake of reflecting the respect that he garners. Charlotte, on the other hand, was in a jovial mood as she greeted the women of the town. However, the greeting was an understatement, for she paused her strolls occasionally to stop and chat with some of the women, losing herself in the conversations for minutes at a time before returning to her stroll once more.
“You’re quite popular, Mrs. Reyo.”
“Charlotte, dear. I told you to call me Charlotte.” She said, “And that’s one mighty grand talk from you, considering what you’ve done some years ago.”
Ella’s face flushed, and she averted her gaze in embarrassment. “You don’t have to remind me.”
“Should I, now? Remember when you said ‘I will wait for you’ when Tommy and Adrian sailed away?”
“Stop it, please!” She blurted out.
“That was so adorable!” Charlotte giggled, “I knew Adrian took a fancy to a classmate of his, but I didn’t know that it was you! And my, did you not want him to go away that much?”
“Well,” She said, composing herself. “Adrian was my closest friend when I was young. For the four years that I knew him when we were children, I remember we played together almost every day. Obviously, seeing him go away made me sad.”
“You’re not sad any longer, are you?”
“Of course, not.” She explained, “But I do wonder when I would see him again, I missed him. Have you, Mrs—”
“Charlotte!”
“Charlotte! Yes…do you miss him, Charlotte?”
The latter looked at the horizon beyond the sea, breathing a deep sigh before her gaze softened, an undertone of sadness hidden behind her smile.
“More than you know.” She said, “I love my son, and I’m sure Isaac misses him as much if not more. I can’t wait to see him again, but I’m happy to know that he’s somewhere out there, seeing the world, accompanied by the greatest adventurer around. But most of all, I wonder how much he’s grown.”
“I do wonder that too,” Ella added, silenced by a moment of deep pondering before she blushed. “Oh my.”
Though she tried to hide her blushing face, Charlotte glanced at her, and smiled mischievously before remarking: “You just imagined how he’d look like, didn’t you?”
“N-no! I just remembered something embarrassing.”
“Well, dear Ella. You have to know, Adrian is no longer a child. He’s become a grown man, it’s natural for you to have those thoughts, as sudden as they are.” She said, “And well, as I said, I miss my little boy. It’s a shame I couldn’t see him growing up. But all is right, at least we had you in the past years filling the void he left in our hearts.”
“It’s my pleasure, I couldn’t be happier myself,” Ellen replied.
“But you know what will make me happier?”
“I think?”
Charlotte gestured for the young woman to come close and leaned towards her before whispering in a low voice. She spoke words familiar to the young woman, making her face flush red and her movements stiffen in embarrassment.
“Let’s leave that for later, ma’am.”
“You could only run away for so long!” Charlotte giggled, “Now, let us go get some groceries first.”
“Charlotte,” Isaac called out, “I’ll be waiting for you by the port. Don’t take too long at Mr. Bernen’s, alright?”
“Surely, dear! Love you!” She said, waving her husband away before she turned a corner to the other street. “That dear husband-o-mine, he’s softer than a cheesecake.”
“Really? Why’s that, Mrs. Reyo? I’ve never seen Mr. Reyo cry or laugh.”
“He’s a watermelon. Hard from the outside, soft from the inside. Why do you think he went to the port?”
“For some business?”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“You silly girl, he has no business in the port! He only goes there to buy the newest newspapers he can get his hands on. He has a bad habit of reading every day at almost all times, but he does it because he misses his son. Sometimes, Tommy is written about in places where he was spotted last, enjoying a drink or sightseeing, and that husband-o-mine loves to read those articles. He reads them with a big smile on his face, imagining Adrian in all kinds of different places and enjoying all different types of delicacies, and he couldn’t be happier about that. He couldn’t leave his son, even if it were just by imagining him.
Oh, and also to pick up letters from Tommy.”
“Tommy writes you?!” Ella gasped, “Does Adrian too?”
“Quite often, yes. They mostly write their paragraphs in one letter and send it to us, and, of course, we reply to them by sending ours. We’ve got to learn about the adventures they went through and many more things. But he also got to learn about many other things, such as you.”
“Me?”
“Obviously! You were such a great help, such a beautiful presence for all of these years. How could we not talk about you?”
“That’s quite sudden to hear about.” She stuttered, but then went silent as she gazed down. “But why didn’t he write me?”
“We told him it was better not to.” She explained, “It wouldn’t be nice for you to know everything about him, what will he talk about when he comes back?”
The mood was lightened as Ella couldn’t help but smile as she imagined Adrian sailing back to port, with wonderful stories to tell. Alas, her daydreaming was short-lived as she accompanied Charlotte into Mr. Bernen’s esteemed grocery shop.
Meanwhile, Isaac trudged towards the end of the main street, standing on the edge that overlooked the port. Just as he arrived, a merchant ship had docked on the pier, much to his convenience. He waved at the cabin boy, who was a familiar face to him, and the cabin boy came hurrying down the ship and towards the stairs as a gleeful look flashed on his face.
“Mr. Reyo! Mr. Reyo!” He said, “Mr. Reyo, I’m so glad to see you! It’s been so long!”
“It has. How are you doing, Billy?”
“Ah, we’re doing quite well. But never mind that, I have some cooking utensils from the north that Mrs. Reyo will love. Let me go grab a crate or two.”
“No, thank you. I’m here for the letters, is there anything new from Tommy?”
“Tommy? I’m afraid not, sir.” The cabin boy said, “Not a thing. Usually, when we receive letters we put them in their own chest to keep them reserved, but we don’t have anything today.”
“Well, you must be mistaken. It’s been nearly a month since the letters were due to come. Are you sure you haven’t forgotten it or lost it in this heap of garbage?”
“I’m afraid not, sir.”
“Nonsense, look around again.”
“I don’t know, si-”
“I said, look around again, boy.” Isaac retorted, his voice stern and hostile. “In eight years Tommy was never a month late to writing us, you either lost it or forgot it, check again.”
“He’s right, boyo!” A cabin crew member said, leaning on the rails of the pier as he smoked his pipe, fetching a brand new newspaper to read. “You better do what Mr. Reyo says, else he’ll teach ya manners!”
“A-alright, sir.” The cabin boy said, a little frightened as he made his way back towards the ship. “But I don’t know, sir. Maybe Tommy is just busy, maybe something could’ve happened to him.”
“Nothing will happen to Tommy. If there is no letter, it’s your fault. Now, search again! Come on, come on! I don’t have all day!”
As the cabin boy searched frantically and shuffled through the crates and chests, Isaac turned to the pipe-smoking man, “Do you have any more papers?”
“We have a batch, a few weeks old, up on the deck. But this one here is brand new, haven’t even read the headlines yet!” He broke into a raspy, hoarse laugh. “You better steady on there, ol’ chap. I’ll give it to ya once I’m done reading it.”
Isaac was annoyed and impatient, but he composed himself and decided to wait for news from the cabin boy. However, all his composure was shot out of his body, like a stab to his chest, as he heard the pipe-smoker gasp:
“Holy shit,” He mumbled, eyes bulging from their sockets. His gaze quickly shifted towards Isaac, and he seemed reluctant (almost afraid) to bear the news. “Mr. Reyo…”
“What?” Isaac asked, cautiously.
“I-…You have to read this.”
For a moment, time stood still. Every heartbeat was felt in every part of his body and echoed loudly inside his mind as he stretched his hand for the newspaper. As he read it, the light in his eyes faded, and he breathed a shallow sigh before all strength left his legs.
As Charlotte and Ella were making their way towards the port, chattering and laughing, the girl was caught off-guard by the sight of a large crowd of men gathered around another man, sitting on the ledge overlooking the port.
“Mrs. Reyo, is that-” She squinted her eyes, “Is that Mr. Reyo?”
Charlotte’s gazes shifted towards the direction in which the girl pointed, and her heart skipped a beat at the sight. She knew something was terribly wrong, and as she approached, her doubts seemed to be confirmed.
“Dear, what’s wrong?” She asked.
The men all turned towards her, fear in their eyes. They traded glances before Isaac looked at her, then motioned for the sailors to shut their mouths.
“Dear?” She said again, then turned to the sailors. “What’s wrong?”
“Mrs. Reyo, I—” Billy, the cabin boy, began.
“Don’t tell her, don’t you damn tell her!” Isaac shushed, but as he saw Billy approaching his wife, he tried to stand up, only to fall back down immediately. Everyone surrounded him, worried and fidgeting, only for him to realize that he was paralyzed from the waist down.
“I-I can’t move my legs.” He said.
“Dear, you’re scaring me! What’s going on, what happened?! What is all this?!”
“Mrs. Reyo,” Billy stuttered, “Tommy is-”
Before the cabin boy could finish, Isaac mustered up all of his strength to leap towards him with his upper body and tackle him to the ground, shaking him violently.
“I said don’t tell her!”
In the chaos of the moment, the men pushed back Isaac, for his enraged strength is too great for one to stop, even if he was paralyzed from the waist down. The chaos made Charlotte petrified, and the commotion grew louder and more violent as more bystanders joined in. The girl, wanting to know the truth, slipped from under the chaos and snatched the newspaper, only for her eyes to widen as she gasped, holding her mouth.
“Mrs. Reyo,” She gasped, choking back tears. “Tommy is dead.”
“What?” With a mix of worry and fear, Charlotte disproved the claims. “No no, of course not. These rumors always spring out, it happened a lot of times, Tommy won’t die.”
“Th-…There is a picture,” She broke into tears. Then turned the newspaper to face Charlotte.
HERO OF THE SEAS, TOMMY NEIR, DEAD AT 35
The headline read, with a picture of Tommy, wide and in color, of his smiling lips, closed eyes, bits of blood and ash smeared across his face and hair.
“No. No, no no no! No, this isn’t real, this isn’t real!” Her arms were shaking, her heart was clenched. “But what about my son? Where’s Adrian? Adrian surely has to be there, he needs to be! He’s alright, right?! Tommy would never let him die, he never would! Please, where’s my boy, where’s my son?!”
The chaos ceased, and everyone was silent. In that moment, Isaac called out to the girl, stretched his hand for the newspaper, and began to read the article in a monotone voice with an undertone of hope.
“Tommy Neir, the hero of the seas, was found dead in the Midwestern Isles by a Helsarian search party notified by a young boy believed to be his associate.” Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, for a moment, until Isaac resumed reading, a lump in his throat. “Tommy’s body was found cold and deceased around two days before the search party found him. The whereabouts of his final resting place held traces of an intense battle, with a burnt down and destroyed Galleon, two other unidentified dead bodies, kilometers of destroyed forest, along with craters and burn marks.
The survivor of the incident, Adrian Reyo, is believed to have died on the hospital bed three days later. Further testimonies were held secret by Sir Fredrick Neir and the knights of Helsara.”
“Is my son dead? Is my son dead?!” Charlotte screamed, “Tell me, is my son dead?! No, he can’t die, please tell me he didn’t. Tommy won’t let him, Tommy can’t let him die, he didn’t die, did he?!”
But Isaac couldn’t respond. He sat there motionless for a second, then crawled towards the ledge, and vomited. Charlotte’s legs failed her as she dropped to the ground, and let out an inhuman shriek of pain and loss, a sound so gut-wrenching and terrifying it horrified all that had the misfortune to hear it—A maternal scream.
Isaac turned towards the cabin boy. “You!” He called out, “When are you going to the northern city? Helsara?”
“T-tomorrow, I think.”
“Set the sails now,” He said, crawling towards him. “I’m going with you, I’m bringing back my son.”
“Sir, I don’t think there’s space for you to come along, I-”
“I didn’t ask, you son of a bitch!” He said, shoving him away. “I’m coming with you! My son, a corpse or not, is coming back with me! Set the sails!”
“Sir, please, we really can’t!”
The men of Dreya began to pile up, holding Isaac away. Though he couldn’t stand, his power was terrifying, and the burning rage that flashed in his eyes dwindled the courage of the toughest of men amongst them.
“It’s best we go now, son.” The pipe smoker said, turning towards Billy.
“But-”
“Now, son!” Said he, “Lest you want Isaac to kill ya and take the ship himself! Go!”
The men of Dreya held Isaac back from crawling onto the ship, dozens of them, as the sailors made way for the boat and raised the sails to depart immediately.
Meanwhile, the women of Dreya gathered around and tried to comfort the screaming, crying Charlotte. Her very soul was torn apart by the news of her son’s death, and the only solace she sought was in Ella’s embrace. The girl was no better, for tears welled up in her eyes, and her sobs were drowned out by the ensuing chaos around her.
The town was in turmoil, and as more people got to know of the tragic news, the choir of lamenting souls and their cries echoed louder. But the pain in the Reyos was greater than one could possibly imagine. For they haven’t lost a son, but two on the same day: Tommy Neir and Adrian Reyo.