Chapter 127
Sheltered Hearts
Two days had passed in a flash, and the weather never improved.
The ashen clouds remained hanging overhead, occasional streaks of black lightning flashing, ever a reminder of an ongoing change. Though Leo was worried, it wasn't as though there was much he—or anyone else here, at that—could do. As such, they did their best to ignore it all.
By now, they were getting rather good at it, too (some of them, at least). Shui'er had latched herself onto Yue almost immediately, and the latter seemed more than happy to play along. On the other hand, the more unexpected pairing ended up being Azariel and Liang. Though, in hindsight, it did make some sense; they were roughly the same age (mentally, at least), both interested in each other's realities, which made for a relatively quick friendship.
Lu Yang, in the meantime, devoted himself fully to the garden and rearing the newest seeds he'd brought over, which left Leo strangely alone. Even if animals visited and swung by frequently enough, they either simply came by for a meal or were far more interested in playing with Shui'er since, well, she played with them.
Thus, even though the forest was noisy and though there were more people than ever, not much has changed for Leo.
Right now, he was seated atop his 'special' terrace, a book in hand—well, more a string of parchments than a book—that he was trying to read. Strangely, he understood most letters to a degree, but he couldn't quite string them together into coherent sentences without a struggle. Nonetheless, he could at the very least read, which was more than enough for now.
His only companions of all people and animals were Gray and Whiskers, who were sunbathing by the railing, with the growing kitten twisting around the dog's neck.
The string of parchments that he was reading wasn't that interesting—it was a very simple fable about a cunning viper who tricked a poor hen into giving him eggs with the promise that he'd turn them into phoenixes. It was likely the kind of story that kids of this world read as a means of understanding that the world would try to exploit them at every opportunity.
Putting it down, he stood up and stretched, peeking over the railing and catching a glimpse of Yue molding dirt into a tiny doll (likely with Qi) while Shui'er's eyes beamed like spotlights. He couldn't help but smile at the sight, his heart squeezed, resting his elbows against the wood.
Even with the dreaded omen above, people lived. It was one of those consistent things between two worlds, similarities that Leo was packing into a bundle inside his mind, trying to home himself here. As there, so here, people were amazing at finding joy in little things and struggling through everything all at the same time.
Despite the stories of horror and how the world beyond the trees was vile, neurotic, and deadly beyond compare, none of the people Leo met thus far seemed that way. Well, maybe not none. But of those here and of those he helped... no, perhaps it was just the effect of him. Being treated nicely, especially if it was against expectations, birthed two things within people: distrust... and de-armoring. Either of those can grow large and all-consuming given the right circumstances, but as he never gave anyone a reason to doubt him, they simply mirrored him in the treatment.
"Look, look, Uncle Leo!!" Shui'er exclaimed as she caught sight of him, showing off the doll with a beaming smile. "Sister Yue made it! Isn't she amazing?!!"
"She is," Leo replied simply, smiling.
"He he," the girl grew giddy and ran off to her room, likely to store the doll in her 'treasure chest'. There were plenty of strange things in there, Leo glimpsed, such as the first dress he'd ever made her, the awful (really, truly awful) hairpin that he tried to make, and a litany of rocks, leaves, and flowers. She seemed to save anything that mattered to her in the slightest, as though she was building a shrine to what she feared would become a distant memory.
Yue looked up and, without pause, leapt, gracefully vaulting over him and landing behind. Leo took out two cups from his ring and poured juice in both, setting them down on the table as she sat on his seat—whether on purpose or by accident, he didn't know. He remained standing, curious.
"... Liang went out of his way to tell me I shouldn't feel guilty."
"Right."
"Did you just happen to mention something?"
"No, of course not. As your two's Master, I would never intervene in your lives with the intent of making them better."
"Did Shui'er tell you how she ended up here?" She changed the subject, her voice softening as her lips curled up into a faint smile. This was yet another change that silently happened—and it was for the better. Liang and Yue both took a book out of Shui'er's page and relaxed around him. They were still tense, in reality, but at least they put up a better front.
"No," Leo said. "And I don't have the heart to ask. I was actually hoping you'd do it. She seems to love you already."
"... when we bathed yesterday," she said. "I saw a crossed, inverted star etched on her lower back. Maybe by Qi, but more likely with a needle or something like it." Leo frowned. "I'm not quite sure since I only read it in passing, but in some smaller, isolated cultures, it is considered a mark of sacrifice."
"You think that's how she wound up here?"
"It's a good guess," she said. "The stories of this place on the outside, especially in clustered villages, are all of horrors, for better or worse. And superstitions are like unwieldy fires. It wouldn't be the first time a village sacrificed a child with the belief that whatever superstitious entity demanded it, demanded it for its innocence."
"... horrible," Leo sighed, taking a sip.
"I didn't have the heart to ask her, either," Yue said, lowering her head.
"Then we won't," he said. "When she's ready, or when she needs us, we simply need to be there."
"Hm," she nodded, silence falling between the two of them. "M-Master..."
"Yes?" The confident Yue disappeared, and the 'usual' one came back up.
"I, uh, I used... the feather... I, I'm sure Liang told you. Please forgive me! I did it in a bout of anger and for no other reason."
"...Did you think the reason I didn't bring it up was because I was waiting for you to do it?"
"It's... not?" She looked up, her eyes fluttering with worry. Leo felt his heart squeeze yet again, this time around with pain.
Here and there, he would catch glimpses of this—words refracting through the prism of his mind, affording him an insight into the kind of life that these kids lived. To them, they were nonchalant realities, something they'd always done and had become second nature, but to him, they were knives.
"I will never tell you to revel in anger," he said. "Because it's a poison like no other. But, at the same time, to be angry is to be human, Yue. I suspect there has never lived a person who'd never made a snap decision out of anger at some point in their lives. I gave you that feather for the same reason I gave you everything else—to use them as tools to live a life that you want to live. Maybe words aren't enough, but I hope that, in time, you will learn to see that I am not some benevolent force showering you with gifts—I am a man with a mountain of regrets that wreathe around my neck, and I'm doing all this just as much for selfish as for altruistic reasons. The feather, to start, never belonged to me—it was just a transitive thing, a gift from one to another. Just as none of the herbs and flowers and knick-knacks of the woods belong to me either. I merely borrow them and pass them on.
"So, from now on, if you just absolutely have to confess and apologize to me, please, make one of those dolls in my image and do it to that doll."
Her lips twitched and angled into a smile as she suddenly jumped from the seat and threw herself at him, hugging him tightly. She was shaking, and all he could do was smile helplessly and pat her back.
These were kids who would be considered superheroes back on Earth, capable of feats that Leo was still struggling to understand. But all of that was for naught—someone starved of love would look for any oasis in search of it, whether they could conquer the world or not.
"Whether by fate or by pure coincidence," she spoke softly. "I will always be grateful that I met you, Master. You have given me more in a few months than everyone beside my grandfather had in all of the rest of my life. It's not a debt, I know. It's not something that I am obliged to pay back. Which is why I will work as hard as I can to make the best of myself so that neither you nor anyone else will ever be able to say that I've wasted all the gifts you've given me. When the time comes and I am standing at the mountaintop of strength, I will proudly shout your name and let the whole world know your grace."
"Oh, I so wish you wouldn't."
"It's non-negotiable," she pulled back, smiling, though with teary eyes. "Just as I don't get to decide how you feel about me doing anything, you don't get to decide what I do after I've gotten twice as strong as you."
"Just twice?"
"Just twice is enough," she grinned. "Thank you."
"I'm always here, Yue," he said with a faint smile. "Whether it's that you need a laugh, a hug, a shoulder to cry on, or just someone to drink with in silence."
"I know."
"Good."
"Okay. Well, that was... embarrassing, but I'm glad I got it out. I will need a few days to forget it all, so don't be offended if I don't visit."
"Ha ha ha, okay. I won't."
She flashed him a grin and vaulted over the railing, joining back up with Shui'er who was looking for her. Leo walked back over, taking a sip of juice as he leaned against the railing. Life would have been perfect, if not for one tiny thing—the giant omen above, darkening the world.
He wondered for how long it would stay silent, because it would not go on forever. And he wondered (and dreaded) what it would mean once it awoke fully.