“So he’s not coming home?”
“It looks like it’s part of his job to become a security detail for a VIP. He is magiborne, after all. And you know what the magiborne are.”
“You say that so easily, like you don’t remember that I don’t know that much.”
“Sheesh, anyway, it has been decided by him.”
“Huh, I guess things aren’t easy for him.”
Alden leaned on the back of the seat. “So, are we going home then?”
“We still have to take care of the papers. Besides, Paul and Lina can handle the chores if there is a need to. Nana’s been used to taking care of the kids while I’m away, so don’t think too much about them.”
It was hard for Alden to think so. He had been used to wondering if the kids would come home. Among Paul and Linda, was far closer to Paul who had dreams of being a policeman.
Paul was someone who had a father once. He lost his father from a heart attack. Not because of any accident, mind you, it was simply that his father died because his heart gave up on him.
His father had always been a workaholic, Paul said to him. But even then he was dedicated to keeping people safe. Paul was one of the oldest kids in the orphanage, the second brightest among them.
Lina, the second oldest kid, wanted to become a teacher. She wanted to get her degree, and become someone who could teach the kids in the orphanage. The two were quite confident for two kids. They know suffering, but instead of wallowing in it, they decided that it was not right to keep their feet planted on the ground. They instead dragged their legs out of that pit, and kept on going. Alden knew that among the people in the orphanage, he was the most free from such thoughts. Alden didn’t have any dreams. He didn’t have any aspiration other than to continue this life he was living. Alden had not noticed it, but it was like there was something missing in him.
It was told to him that he had been working as a clerk, traveling from place to another, buying strange items, and was working under someone.
Alden couldn’t remember what the name of the owner or anything other than he was rather polite. There are times where he had to take some items from another one’s hands, and he would be instructed to check on the items. He hated the idea of tinkering with those items, since they usually prick his finger, and make him nauseous. It always felt like there was something entering his body when he handled those items, and the owner he was working with was rather eccentric about them. Alden recalled that he was going to deliver some items to the clients, and then that sinking of the boat he was boarding happened. He recalled using that item he got from the owner, and then everything went blank. Other than that, he felt like he should be remembering something. Alden however, thought that somewhat he was rather free from those things. He did try to find that clerk through a detective agency, and yet there was no news.
The documents that he had were burned alongside the shop he was working at. It was like the shop was turned to ashes leaving nothing behind. Alden found it terrible that something unfortunate happened. If he was a suspicious man, he would have thought that there was something more other than unfortunate accidents. Other than that, what can Alden do other than spend time helping out? He knew how to handle a gun, but other than that he felt like he was lacking in many aspects. Alden noticed that Melia was doing the taxes and the documents. He left her alone, and had decided to forget about Thomas’s problem.
Thomas was someone he didn’t know if he could truly be trusted. The magiborne was still dangerous, and he had heard many things about them even though he had less time to worry about them. It was a shame that he had lost his memories before he started working as a clerk and then further lost them when he hit his head. One of the Doctors in town said that he was suffering from some sort of amnesia after a part of his brain had been badly injured. They performed a checkup, seeing that he only had an injury around his head.
Alden walked up and was about to inspect his head in a mirror when he saw that the injury on the top of right head was gone. He was sure that there was a glaring scar on the right side of his head. But that scar was long gone. No, it felt like it didn’t exist at all in the first place. Then again, he was quite young, but a scar like that disappeared...he didn’t know if this was some miracle or just his youthfulness. Alden decided to ignore the mirror. His eyes looking at the garden where the new day has come. Sunlight broke through the leaves, the rest of them were glaring from high-rise buildings, and skyscrapers that had started to pollute the skyline of the city. Alden looked at the neighborhood. There were only a few who were outside of their houses, most of them spending time mowing their lawn. Alden didn’t greet them other than the customary nod. They were not nice people, and most of them were far warier when it came to strangers. Even Melia didn’t bother associating with this street for the reason that they were not really friendly, and that most of them were renting the houses. Nana’s house was something she owned, and even though this was a relatively quiet block, it was still rather a high-valued lot that only a few could afford. Nana must have earned a lot, Alden thought, somewhat recognizing the value of this property.
Alden stretched around the garden, doing pushups, pullups, and handstands to keep himself fit. He would like to do some jogging, but it felt like he was somewhat stronger than usual. Alden wondered if he had gotten fitter after all the world he had done? Well, a fit body suited Alden, and though there are times where he felt like there was a burning feeling around his body, but after some time those were going away as well. He would have liked to get that checked, but since he had no money other than pocket money the orphanage gave him. He had no florins to spend, and even if he does. He probably would use it to buy a fishing pole in the market. There was a spot in the wharf that had been rather popular lately, and Reno had told him that there was a place where he could catch crabs in bulk if he had a net.
Lano Town was rather generous when it came to seafood. He would like to get some.
As Alden started fantasizing about the crabs and the fishing pole. He saw something happening far from the house. They were about ten miles from the center of the city, and yet he saw something bright.
Alden widened his eyes a bit. Though he was rather unfamiliar with explosions, he knew that no sunlight or fireworks could do that unless it was explosives. Then, the sound of an explosion echoed in the city. Alden didn’t think much about where the explosion came from. All he knew was that he needed to go back in the house. When he was at the door of the house, he almost banged his head against Melia's forehead.
“Heard that?”
“I did.”
“Let’s tune in,” Alden forced himself in, and dragged Melia back in. He locked the door, and tuned in to the television and radio. “Looks like there was some explosion that happened, I don’t know what that explosion is, and what that meant, but I ain’t going to wait to find out.”
Melia pulled her hand away. She looked at Alden for a moment. “You were rather forceful just now.”
“Sorry,” Alden turned the radio to the AM station. The 24 hour radio broadcast was always up, and the rather somber-toned host was reporting explosions in the Knia’s center.
“This is just in,” the host started. “There has been an explosion in the Presna’s Hotel. I repeat, air raids are going out, and there are movements in the three to four blocks around the hotel! Any citizens that are in the area, please stay calm. The city’s task force has started responding.”
That was what all the hosts said. Alden thought about what he had seen and heard from the past two days. Not only that there was a summit going on concerning the Easternside of the World. There were also important VIPs that are currently in the city. Not to mention that there were air restrictions, and strict security.
“Do you think that someone is targeting the people?”
“I don’t know. But they may be after the summit. I heard this from someone that there were rumors that there has been something going on lately. There are also soldiers who have joined the movement, protesting that they have enough of fighting on the other side of the world.”
“So they started bombing buildings to peacefully protest?”
Melia shook her head, sure that was not the case. “There have been negotiations going on, and this summit was going to be part of those. They might not have liked what they had said in the last summit.”
“No shit,” Alden said loudly. “They were trying to continue to genocide an entire race, of course they wouldn’t like that work.”
“It’s...not that thing that pisses them off. It’s about the long tours of duty. There have also been troubles with the economy lately since most of the budget is focused on the military and the funding of the organizations that could help in making topographic surveys to find more of those crystals. There might be more reasons than we know, but it’s probably that.”
“You are calm about this,” Alden said. There were no shows on television. There was nothing other than the morning telecast that showed. The radio was faster to report the news.
Melia showed no emotion as she hurried to one of the cabinets in the bag where he found a two-way radio with a scanner.
“You have something like this?” Alden asked.
“Nana does,” Melia operated the two-way radio, “and for the record we are government employed, and though we do have some taxes because of our office work, it’s mostly halve because we are subcontracted by the government.”
“I’m guessing that I am not part of this?”
“You aren’t,” Melia turned to the military scanner. There were dispatches and deployment. Alden didn’t understand most of the Holmian jargon, so he stayed silent while Melia listened in.
“Vulcan Units...and tanks are being deployed...but that ain’t even the worst part damn it,” Melia almost wanted to scream. “Shit, the anti-easternside forces are gathering up.”
“Why?”
“They don’t want to go to war and continue the fight. And it looks like they aren’t stopping until they get what they want.”
Alden nodded. He looked around the house for a moment. “So what do we do then? Run away now, or hold up?”
Melia placed a hand on her chin. “They will probably put all streets into a lockdown until this mess is fixed. If we go now then we should expect heavy traffic, and congested streets.”
Alden folded his arms. “Nana had some weapons in this house?”
Melia nodded her head, then pointed her yes on the side of the house. “She has some of her old gear.”
“Old gear?”
Alden followed Melia into the part of the house Melia was looking at. She opened a compartment on the wall and he saw an assault rifle, and a bolt-action rifle. There was even a semi-automatic pistol. Alden already had his six-shooter, but he took the bolt-action rifle, and looked down on the sights.
“Nana...what did she do in the military?”
Melia cocked the hammer of the assault rifle, and hung it across the shoulder. “I’ll call Nana first, so you should familiarize yourself with that.”
Alden took the bolt-action, ten-round, rifle and armed himself with it.
karsev Thank you for those who are still reading!
And fifty thousand views!? Yay!
“So he’s not coming home?”
“It looks like it’s part of his job to become a security detail for a VIP. He is magiborne, after all. And you know what the magiborne are.”
“You say that so easily, like you don’t remember that I don’t know that much.”
“Sheesh, anyway, it has been decided by him.”
“Huh, I guess things aren’t easy for him.”
Alden leaned on the back of the seat. “So, are we going home then?”
“We still have to take care of the papers. Besides, Paul and Lina can handle the chores if there is a need to. Nana’s been used to taking care of the kids while I’m away, so don’t think too much about them.”
It was hard for Alden to think so. He had been used to wondering if the kids would come home. Among Paul and Linda, was far closer to Paul who had dreams of being a policeman.
Paul was someone who had a father once. He lost his father from a heart attack. Not because of any accident, mind you, it was simply that his father died because his heart gave up on him.
His father had always been a workaholic, Paul said to him. But even then he was dedicated to keeping people safe. Paul was one of the oldest kids in the orphanage, the second brightest among them.
Lina, the second oldest kid, wanted to become a teacher. She wanted to get her degree, and become someone who could teach the kids in the orphanage. The two were quite confident for two kids. They know suffering, but instead of wallowing in it, they decided that it was not right to keep their feet planted on the ground. They instead dragged their legs out of that pit, and kept on going. Alden knew that among the people in the orphanage, he was the most free from such thoughts. Alden didn’t have any dreams. He didn’t have any aspiration other than to continue this life he was living. Alden had not noticed it, but it was like there was something missing in him.
It was told to him that he had been working as a clerk, traveling from place to another, buying strange items, and was working under someone.
Alden couldn’t remember what the name of the owner or anything other than he was rather polite. There are times where he had to take some items from another one’s hands, and he would be instructed to check on the items. He hated the idea of tinkering with those items, since they usually prick his finger, and make him nauseous. It always felt like there was something entering his body when he handled those items, and the owner he was working with was rather eccentric about them. Alden recalled that he was going to deliver some items to the clients, and then that sinking of the boat he was boarding happened. He recalled using that item he got from the owner, and then everything went blank. Other than that, he felt like he should be remembering something. Alden however, thought that somewhat he was rather free from those things. He did try to find that clerk through a detective agency, and yet there was no news.
The documents that he had were burned alongside the shop he was working at. It was like the shop was turned to ashes leaving nothing behind. Alden found it terrible that something unfortunate happened. If he was a suspicious man, he would have thought that there was something more other than unfortunate accidents. Other than that, what can Alden do other than spend time helping out? He knew how to handle a gun, but other than that he felt like he was lacking in many aspects. Alden noticed that Melia was doing the taxes and the documents. He left her alone, and had decided to forget about Thomas’s problem.
Thomas was someone he didn’t know if he could truly be trusted. The magiborne was still dangerous, and he had heard many things about them even though he had less time to worry about them. It was a shame that he had lost his memories before he started working as a clerk and then further lost them when he hit his head. One of the Doctors in town said that he was suffering from some sort of amnesia after a part of his brain had been badly injured. They performed a checkup, seeing that he only had an injury around his head.
Alden walked up and was about to inspect his head in a mirror when he saw that the injury on the top of right head was gone. He was sure that there was a glaring scar on the right side of his head. But that scar was long gone. No, it felt like it didn’t exist at all in the first place. Then again, he was quite young, but a scar like that disappeared...he didn’t know if this was some miracle or just his youthfulness. Alden decided to ignore the mirror. His eyes looking at the garden where the new day has come. Sunlight broke through the leaves, the rest of them were glaring from high-rise buildings, and skyscrapers that had started to pollute the skyline of the city. Alden looked at the neighborhood. There were only a few who were outside of their houses, most of them spending time mowing their lawn. Alden didn’t greet them other than the customary nod. They were not nice people, and most of them were far warier when it came to strangers. Even Melia didn’t bother associating with this street for the reason that they were not really friendly, and that most of them were renting the houses. Nana’s house was something she owned, and even though this was a relatively quiet block, it was still rather a high-valued lot that only a few could afford. Nana must have earned a lot, Alden thought, somewhat recognizing the value of this property.
Alden stretched around the garden, doing pushups, pullups, and handstands to keep himself fit. He would like to do some jogging, but it felt like he was somewhat stronger than usual. Alden wondered if he had gotten fitter after all the world he had done? Well, a fit body suited Alden, and though there are times where he felt like there was a burning feeling around his body, but after some time those were going away as well. He would have liked to get that checked, but since he had no money other than pocket money the orphanage gave him. He had no florins to spend, and even if he does. He probably would use it to buy a fishing pole in the market. There was a spot in the wharf that had been rather popular lately, and Reno had told him that there was a place where he could catch crabs in bulk if he had a net.
Lano Town was rather generous when it came to seafood. He would like to get some.
As Alden started fantasizing about the crabs and the fishing pole. He saw something happening far from the house. They were about ten miles from the center of the city, and yet he saw something bright.
Alden widened his eyes a bit. Though he was rather unfamiliar with explosions, he knew that no sunlight or fireworks could do that unless it was explosives. Then, the sound of an explosion echoed in the city. Alden didn’t think much about where the explosion came from. All he knew was that he needed to go back in the house. When he was at the door of the house, he almost banged his head against Melia's forehead.
“Heard that?”
“I did.”
“Let’s tune in,” Alden forced himself in, and dragged Melia back in. He locked the door, and tuned in to the television and radio. “Looks like there was some explosion that happened, I don’t know what that explosion is, and what that meant, but I ain’t going to wait to find out.”
Melia pulled her hand away. She looked at Alden for a moment. “You were rather forceful just now.”
“Sorry,” Alden turned the radio to the AM station. The 24 hour radio broadcast was always up, and the rather somber-toned host was reporting explosions in the Knia’s center.
“This is just in,” the host started. “There has been an explosion in the Presna’s Hotel. I repeat, air raids are going out, and there are movements in the three to four blocks around the hotel! Any citizens that are in the area, please stay calm. The city’s task force has started responding.”
That was what all the hosts said. Alden thought about what he had seen and heard from the past two days. Not only that there was a summit going on concerning the Easternside of the World. There were also important VIPs that are currently in the city. Not to mention that there were air restrictions, and strict security.
“Do you think that someone is targeting the people?”
“I don’t know. But they may be after the summit. I heard this from someone that there were rumors that there has been something going on lately. There are also soldiers who have joined the movement, protesting that they have enough of fighting on the other side of the world.”
“So they started bombing buildings to peacefully protest?”
Melia shook her head, sure that was not the case. “There have been negotiations going on, and this summit was going to be part of those. They might not have liked what they had said in the last summit.”
“No shit,” Alden said loudly. “They were trying to continue to genocide an entire race, of course they wouldn’t like that work.”
“It’s...not that thing that pisses them off. It’s about the long tours of duty. There have also been troubles with the economy lately since most of the budget is focused on the military and the funding of the organizations that could help in making topographic surveys to find more of those crystals. There might be more reasons than we know, but it’s probably that.”
“You are calm about this,” Alden said. There were no shows on television. There was nothing other than the morning telecast that showed. The radio was faster to report the news.
Melia showed no emotion as she hurried to one of the cabinets in the bag where he found a two-way radio with a scanner.
“You have something like this?” Alden asked.
“Nana does,” Melia operated the two-way radio, “and for the record we are government employed, and though we do have some taxes because of our office work, it’s mostly halve because we are subcontracted by the government.”
“I’m guessing that I am not part of this?”
“You aren’t,” Melia turned to the military scanner. There were dispatches and deployment. Alden didn’t understand most of the Holmian jargon, so he stayed silent while Melia listened in.
“Vulcan Units...and tanks are being deployed...but that ain’t even the worst part damn it,” Melia almost wanted to scream. “Shit, the anti-easternside forces are gathering up.”
“Why?”
“They don’t want to go to war and continue the fight. And it looks like they aren’t stopping until they get what they want.”
Alden nodded. He looked around the house for a moment. “So what do we do then? Run away now, or hold up?”
Melia placed a hand on her chin. “They will probably put all streets into a lockdown until this mess is fixed. If we go now then we should expect heavy traffic, and congested streets.”
Alden folded his arms. “Nana had some weapons in this house?”
Melia nodded her head, then pointed her yes on the side of the house. “She has some of her old gear.”
“Old gear?”
Alden followed Melia into the part of the house Melia was looking at. She opened a compartment on the wall and he saw an assault rifle, and a bolt-action rifle. There was even a semi-automatic pistol. Alden already had his six-shooter, but he took the bolt-action rifle, and looked down on the sights.
“Nana...what did she do in the military?”
Melia cocked the hammer of the assault rifle, and hung it across the shoulder. “I’ll call Nana first, so you should familiarize yourself with that.”
Alden took the bolt-action, ten-round, rifle and armed himself with it.
karsev Thank you for those who are still reading!
And fifty thousand views!? Yay!
