CHAPTER EIGHTY FIVE

Keeping faith despite learning the true meaning of 'lost'

~

Oak was known throughout the world as powerful and brave

Reliable no matter who he had to fight or save

And no one in the village who had known him many years

Had ever seen his face so dark and twisted by his fears

Hawk then wasted little time in practicing her spell

She was tired but cast the magic barrier quite well

Sealed off from the System and the world, they looked at Oak

And feared the reason why his voice shook so much as he spoke

“I’ve never feared our children were at any risk at all

Their generation’s ready for when trouble comes to call

Whatever monsters find them, with their strength they’ll be alright

Even if it’s hard to send your children off to fight…”

Delilah grew impatient but she tried to hold her tongue

She new as well as any not to worry for the young

The gods were always kind to heroes’ children that she knew

“Hurry up, I have much more important things to do”

Oak looked with some pity at Delilah for a while

He wished to reassure her, but he couldn’t feign a smile

“I’m not as skilled a hunter as my wife, I’m sure you know

But I’ve been tracking people since so many years ago

I’ve never had a single problem trying to find Sky

I can sense her mana no matter where she might fly

Twig and Leaf as well, I know their mana signature

They couldn’t escape my watch out on any adventure…”

Hawk’s eyes widened as she realized what Oak’s words meant

He’d never lost track of a target anywhere they went

Without a word she flew out of the barrier up high

And with her skills attempted to find and sign of Sky

She strained her eyes and magic but after a moment passed

She sank back down to join her friends, all equally aghast

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“With my eyes, their mana should be visible to me

Dead or alive, there should be no mana I can’t see…”

Oak approached his wife with understanding in his eyes

Delilah then spoke out in more confusion than surprise

“What does that mean, are you saying they aren’t in this land?

Explain this in a way that I can clearly understand!”

Hawk, whose hand was pressed against her face, which had grown pale

Tried to speak, but as she did her voice began to fail

In her stead, Oak turned to clarify what she had said

“Our children are not in this world, whether alive of dead”

Delilah quickly cast aside the words she understood

“It looks like listening to you won’t do us any good

Come on guys, we’ll keep on looking, what else can we do

Obviously what they said can’t possibly be true”

Hawk reached out and grabbed Delilah by her broad shoulder

An awkward tension filled Hawk’s voice as she appealed to her

“I can see King Beam instructing his knights as we speak

Nothing that exists escapes what my both of my eyes seek

At the very least, our children have gone far away

Farther than my eyes can see, but that’s all I can say”

Delilah froze and thought about the warning from her friend

She’d always given advice on which they could all depend

Suddenly, as if she’d be hit with a lightning bolt

Delilah turned around to face her old friend with a jolt

“You’re saying that no matter where you look, he can’t be found

Which means my son is still out there somewhere, walking around!”

Hawk was quite surprised by the excitement in her voice

The optimistic path was rarely Delilah’s first choice

But when she thought about it, it did give her hope as well

Their children were not ‘dead’ as far as anyone could tell

Oak began to scratch his head and took some time to think

So deep in thought that for a while he didn’t even blink

“It’s likely that the System sent him somewhere far away

If we decode the System we may meet again one day”

Hawk looked at her husband with agreement in her eyes

“Recently too many things have caught us by surprise

We must arm ourselves with knowledge, then we’ll understand

For all we know, this may be something our children planned”

Pebble and his parents were confused but listened well

And no disagreement came from Delilah or Belle

It seemed as though their search had lost all meaning suddenly

And so they sat and thought about their futures quietly

Still protected by the barrier, Hawk told her friends

Of how the mystery she started chasing never ends

She told them how the System had less power than they’d thought

And summarized the many pieces of advice she’d got

The strange existence called the God of Time concerned them most

They all agreed he came across as some strange fiend or ghost

“So all that we can do is try and solve some mystery

And hope it leads us to our children eventually…”

Delilah was dejected but she quickly understood

She knew if there was anything that she could do, she would

“By the way, I mentioned I can see King Beam at will

But now it seems his army is now just behind that hill”

Hawk pointed toward a small hill, not too far away

Explaining that the royal army was no on their way

They all new from experience, the King’s army was big

But they would soon find out that their only target was Twig