Eternal Malediction (RE)

”...What?”

Two small figures immediately broke into a run from the trees. ”KIERAN!”

Rin sprinted directly toward him while nearly tripping over the uneven ground. Beside him, another little girl ran toward Roy at full speed. ”Roy!”

Mella launched herself directly into Roy’s side without hesitation. Roy physically staggered half a step. ”...What the hell?”

Mella clung onto him tightly. ”You disappeared!”

Roy stared down at the child hanging off him with visible confusion. ”...Why are you two here?”

Nearby, Rin had already attached herself to Kieran while checking frantically for injuries. ”You’re bleeding!”

”I’m fine.”

”You’re obviously not fine!” Kieran sighed quietly.

Behind them, two more figures emerged from the forest. One was Lys Malen, and the other, Kieran, froze slightly.

His older sister. She immediately walked toward him with visible concern while Graham stood casually next to him. ”Kieran.”

His sister grabbed his face firmly before looking him over. ”Are you injured?”

”I’m alright.”

”You look awful.”

”Thank you.” She ignored the sarcasm entirely.

Only after confirming he wasn’t actively dying did she finally exhale slightly as Roy watched the interaction quietly.

Family. Weird.

Mella in her little frolicky dress finally released Roy after several seconds before immediately pointing accusingly at him. ”You vanished!”

Roy crossed his arms. ”Yeah, I know; I was there.”

Then Mella looked around the field. ”...Where are we?”

”Good question, Mella.”

Nobody answered because nobody knew. Lys finally stepped forward slightly. Roy and Kieran immediately started signing toward her rapidly.

Why are you here? What happened? Did you get teleported too?

Lys stared at them silently for a moment, knowing she was about to get shouted at, then sighed. ”...They wanted to watch Kieran’s fight.”

Rin froze, and Mella blinked, knowing they made a mistake and are also about to get shouted at. Rin tried playing it off. ”What?... No, I don’t remember that...”

Roy and Kieran looked dead straight at Lys, and she signed back in response, so she slightly pushed the blame onto the kids.

Roy then said what Lys was signing out loud. ”Apparently both of you kept asking to go to the Colosseum.”

The two children looked mildly guilty immediately. Kieran slowly rubbed his forehead. ”You brought the kids to the Tournament of Richt?”

She then signed, ’They insisted.’

”That’s not better; you’re an adult,” Roy responded in return.

Mella puffed her cheeks slightly. ”We wanted to support you!”

Roy looked toward Kieran. ”...You have fans.”

”Yeah, I’m aware.”

Rin suddenly looked toward the older woman holding Kieran. Kieran’s older sister noticed the little one too. ”...Who are these kids?”

The atmosphere shifted subtly again, and Kieran exchanged a glance with Roy, who immediately understood.

Another bullshit excuse, but the best types of lies are the ones where you don’t.

Roy stepped forward first again. ”Kieran and I are in a group who help people.”

Lys nodded quickly, and she signed her answer, but Roy spoke what she wanted to say. ”Me, Roy and Kieran met in this club to help the local society out.”

Kieran added awkwardly. ”Yup, and when I hang out with Roy, these two are always bored outside of the club, so we play with them, you know.”

Kieran’s sister narrowed her eyes slightly. She clearly didn’t fully believe them before she could question further.

Graham suddenly spoke. ”There are more people scattered around the plains.”

Everyone looked toward him.

Graham pointed casually toward the distant hills. ”I counted at least twenty-seven survivors total.”

Roy blinked once. You counted that already?

That was impressive; Roy couldn’t even be asked to do that. If it were up to him, he would have just estimated.

Graham continued calmly. ”I assume some groups haven’t found each other yet, and there are maybe a few lost.”

Graham brushed his shoulder against Kieran to get his attention and then whispered into his ears, ”PSST, don’t tell people I healed you; it’s just easier for me, alright?”

Kieran looked back at Graham with a surprised look and nodded slowly; he was just a little surprised, that was all, a Celestial Watch member that doesn’t really want to help people? Also, weirdly, this man is so similar to Roy; Kieran didn’t know why he thought that, but that was what his mind thought of first.

The survivors slowly gathered together properly for the first time, and as Roy observed the growing group, the situation finally became clearer.

Roy looked around slowly. Twenty-seven survivors, and it could possibly be more, and none of them knew where they actually were. The wind rolled softly through the open field while tension quietly settled between complete strangers forced together by circumstance.

But 10 people died, so it’s now seventeen.

Then Tanaka emerged from the tree line, and Roy immediately regretted existing. ”ROY! KEIRAN!”

Tanaka sprinted across the clearing dramatically before nearly tackling him. Roy stepped aside instinctively as he was already holding Mella in his arms.

Tanaka missed entirely and rolled through the grass. ”...Ow.”

Nobody helped him, and Tanaka slowly sat up while rubbing his shoulder. ”You could’ve caught me.”

Roy looked down at him blankly. ”I considered it, but then I already had her in my arms.”

”Liar.”

Then Tanaka noticed the little girl on Roy’s arm. ”... Who’s that?”

Roy frowned immediately. ”A member of my club?”

Tanaka then narrowed his eyes on the little girl, which made her a little scared, and she pushed herself further into Roy’s arms.

Roy noticed it and shouted at Tanaka. ”Oi, stop staring at her; she is already shy enough with strangers.”

Tanaka then was taken aback from what Roy said and replied to Mella. ”I’m sorry. What’s your name?”

Mella turned slowly from Roy’s shoulder to Tanaka and said in the kindest and sweetest voice. ”My name is Mella.”

Tanaka was happy that she told her name, and so he said his. ”My name is Tanaka, and I’m Roy’s friend.”

Mella then nodded a little and got shy again and dug her face into Roy’s neck. Roy rubbed his forehead tiredly.

The woman from the Trial Chambers looked toward Tanaka briefly. ”...Your friend is irritating.”

Roy nodded immediately. ”I know.”

”I’m right here.” Tanaka replied as he stared at Lise and Aster walk from the clearing into the group with Kaelen Vyrn behind them with more stragglers.

He was ignored. Meanwhile, Kieran’s older sister quietly approached Graham. ”You helped him, right?”

Graham glanced toward her. ”A little.”

He smiled faintly. ”Kieran’s a strong man.”

Kieran looked visibly unamused. Further away, Kaelen Vyrn stood near the edge of the clearing, speaking quietly with several frightened survivors. Unlike the others, her presence carried an odd calmness. People naturally gravitated toward her. Probably because she saved a lot of them during the fall.

Roy observed him carefully. A member of the Celestial Watch; just how strong is she?

Then Ethan finally voiced the thought everyone was avoiding. ”...What if we can’t go back?”

Silence followed instantly. But nobody answered.

Because nobody wanted to think about it. Lily’s expression tightened again while Daniel looked away quietly.

Victor crossed his arms. ”We’ll find a way.”

”You don’t know that,” Sophia muttered.

”No.”

Victor looked toward the horizon. ”But panicking about it won’t help either.”

You will always need an optimistic man like this in situations like this.

The woman from the Trial Chambers suddenly flicked ash from her cigarette. ”You should focus on surviving first.”

Marcus frowned. ”What’s that supposed to mean?”

She looked toward the distant plains. ”Places with Prana density this high are never safe because... Eh, I can’t be bothered to explain.”

Everyone’s eyes narrowed slightly. Almost immediately after she said it... The wind shifted.

Several people noticed that the atmosphere became heavier.