The battle was long, but eventually the free army won and destroyed the empire. However the scars ran deep, everyone had lost friends, lovers, and family. Towns unrelated to the conflict had sustained damage and Beyoment was no exception.
When the five of them finally returned home it was no longer the town they knew, the buildings had been burned and its people lay on the ground as charred corpses. Khalifa and Adolf collapsed to their knees.
“Mom….”
Kagetra and Zephyr looked down and Shawn couldn’t find anything to say. They sat like that for a while before a knight appeared inside the village. Zephyr saw him and instantly set off towards him.
“Excuse me.”
“Who are you!?”
The four others rushed up behind Zephyr explaining that they were from this town.
“I see, this town….”
“What happened to it?”
AD
Khalifa asked.
“Food shortage among the soldiers, they attacked any town or village they came across.”
Their expressions stiffened.
“But the townspeople evacuated to a nearby shelter, they all should be there now. ”
The five of them immediately set off towards the shelter but when they arrived.
“No….”
Adolf dropped to his knees again, the shelter much like the village had been burned. Corpses littered the ground turning the area into a charred graveyard.
The first they found were Adolfs parents, he couldn’t take the shock and fainted. Meanwhile Khalifa cried over her mother’s body. Zephyr and Kagetra silently wrapped their own parents in cloth and put them on the carriage, their expressions murderous. They did the same thing for Adolfs parents, carrying Adolf himself to the carriage as well. Then they stood next to Khalifa, their hands on her shoulders as she cried.
“Why, why..”
After that the reconstruction of Beyoment started with a graveyard, each corpse was buried and marked.
*
“We messed up didn’t we….”
AD
Each one of them had thought the same thing, that maybe they shouldn’t have gone on an adventure. Or that they shouldn’t have participated in the war. Zephyr hugged Khalifa.
“We didn’t know that this would happen, we didn’t know.”
Although he appeared to be telling himself this as well.
“There doesn’t have to be a reason…..we abandoned everyone. ”
“Right, we only thought of ourselves. We never thought our hometown might be attacked but that’s what kind of war this was. Still we could only see what was right in front of us. We prioritized our own adventure.”
“Adventure? Yeah….probably…”
For them war was easy, their lives were never in danger and it was just an extension of their adventure.
“We forgot the most important thing and abandoned those that could have been saved.”
“Kagetra, that’s not true. There’s nothing we could have done.”
“No its a fact! ”
Kagetras scream echoed out.
“We had the power to save them. This is the result of our own pride, we abandoned them.”
AD
Zephyr didn’t reply so Khalifa spoke up.
“Yeah…”
“We should change, from now on. No… that’s all we can do.”
A tear ran down Kagetras cheek, Kagetra who had thus far remained strong. It was his first sign of weakness, all four of them were devastated.
“Kagetra….”
Khalifa reached out but she had no words to say. Only Shawn could come up with the right words too say.
“Kagetra, it’s ok to cry today.”
Kagetra wiped at his tears.
“I don’t want to lose anyone else important, I don’t want anyone else to die..”
At that Zephyr and Khalifa began to cry as well.
“I’ll get revenge on this world, revenge for this war.”
There was no anger in what Kagetra said, only sadness. They swore that they wouldn’t allow a country like the empire to be created again. Although it contradicted what he said earlier about no one dying.
AD
“Revenge God, Shawn I’ll make that name reverberate throughout the world!”
Kagetras shoulders shook as he cried.
“The world needs a deterrence, we’ll become its gods.”
It was hard to call these words sane but with the scene in front of him it’s hard to think that anyone could have remained sane.
“Kagetra…”
Shawn burned that sight into his memory.
“I will cut down those who bring about the shadows of war. The number of dead will increase but it is necessary, I will get revenge in those who brought war to this world.”
Noone said anything at that. Not even Adolf, who stood away from the four of them, looking at them with a terrible clouded expression.
*
Kagetra suggested they rebuild the town and Shawn was the first to offer his assistance. Soon the other three agreed. After 5 years the town regained its appearance with new life being born their and travelers and adventurers visiting.
“That should do it.”
Five people were looking at the town from outside the gate when Kagetra spoke.
“Yeah, as long as this town is here we’ll always be able to return. ”
Zephyr was looking towards the same future as Kagetra.
“The eternal village will always be in our hearts.”
It took 5 years for Adolf to regain his sanity, but now he looked at the town and smiled.
“Do what are we going to do now? Is your journey over?”
“No…”
Kagetra asked Shawn.
“Actually I was planning another trip, I heard a dungeon just appeared 3 days ago.”
Khalifa looked surprised.
“Dungeon? You can’t mean that dungeon?!”
“Yeah, the adventurer eating Labyrinth. Shawn and I are going to challenge it. I don’t think everyone could forgive us for ending our adventure here, I think they would be sad.”
The other three began to regain the look of adventurers.
AD
“I’m going too.”
Adolf said.
“My mom and dad saw me off, and I want them to know that I’m OK now.”
“Alright.”
“Me too.” Khalifa said.
“I wonder what they’d think if they saw us standing here? They’d probably laugh wondering what we were doing.”
“What a needless worry.”
Zephyr continued.
“Let’s go to the dungeon.”
The 5 of them smiled at each other but Khalifa felt that something was strange. It was Adolf, he had been so down the past years that seeing him like this so suddenly was creepy.
“By the way, it seems this dungeon has been appearing frequently. I heard from another adventurer that it had appeared three years ago.”
“Did it?”
AD
Zephyr was interested.
“Yeah but apparently it disappeared after a few months with no one having cleared it.”
“Hmmmmmm.”
“Well there’s a first time for everything.”
Kagetra seemed enthusiastic.
The battle was long, but eventually the free army won and destroyed the empire. However the scars ran deep, everyone had lost friends, lovers, and family. Towns unrelated to the conflict had sustained damage and Beyoment was no exception.
When the five of them finally returned home it was no longer the town they knew, the buildings had been burned and its people lay on the ground as charred corpses. Khalifa and Adolf collapsed to their knees.
“Mom….”
Kagetra and Zephyr looked down and Shawn couldn’t find anything to say. They sat like that for a while before a knight appeared inside the village. Zephyr saw him and instantly set off towards him.
“Excuse me.”
“Who are you!?”
The four others rushed up behind Zephyr explaining that they were from this town.
“I see, this town….”
“What happened to it?”
AD
Khalifa asked.
“Food shortage among the soldiers, they attacked any town or village they came across.”
Their expressions stiffened.
“But the townspeople evacuated to a nearby shelter, they all should be there now. ”
The five of them immediately set off towards the shelter but when they arrived.
“No….”
Adolf dropped to his knees again, the shelter much like the village had been burned. Corpses littered the ground turning the area into a charred graveyard.
The first they found were Adolfs parents, he couldn’t take the shock and fainted. Meanwhile Khalifa cried over her mother’s body. Zephyr and Kagetra silently wrapped their own parents in cloth and put them on the carriage, their expressions murderous. They did the same thing for Adolfs parents, carrying Adolf himself to the carriage as well. Then they stood next to Khalifa, their hands on her shoulders as she cried.
“Why, why..”
After that the reconstruction of Beyoment started with a graveyard, each corpse was buried and marked.
*
“We messed up didn’t we….”
AD
Each one of them had thought the same thing, that maybe they shouldn’t have gone on an adventure. Or that they shouldn’t have participated in the war. Zephyr hugged Khalifa.
“We didn’t know that this would happen, we didn’t know.”
Although he appeared to be telling himself this as well.
“There doesn’t have to be a reason…..we abandoned everyone. ”
“Right, we only thought of ourselves. We never thought our hometown might be attacked but that’s what kind of war this was. Still we could only see what was right in front of us. We prioritized our own adventure.”
“Adventure? Yeah….probably…”
For them war was easy, their lives were never in danger and it was just an extension of their adventure.
“We forgot the most important thing and abandoned those that could have been saved.”
“Kagetra, that’s not true. There’s nothing we could have done.”
“No its a fact! ”
Kagetras scream echoed out.
“We had the power to save them. This is the result of our own pride, we abandoned them.”
AD
Zephyr didn’t reply so Khalifa spoke up.
“Yeah…”
“We should change, from now on. No… that’s all we can do.”
A tear ran down Kagetras cheek, Kagetra who had thus far remained strong. It was his first sign of weakness, all four of them were devastated.
“Kagetra….”
Khalifa reached out but she had no words to say. Only Shawn could come up with the right words too say.
“Kagetra, it’s ok to cry today.”
Kagetra wiped at his tears.
“I don’t want to lose anyone else important, I don’t want anyone else to die..”
At that Zephyr and Khalifa began to cry as well.
“I’ll get revenge on this world, revenge for this war.”
There was no anger in what Kagetra said, only sadness. They swore that they wouldn’t allow a country like the empire to be created again. Although it contradicted what he said earlier about no one dying.
AD
“Revenge God, Shawn I’ll make that name reverberate throughout the world!”
Kagetras shoulders shook as he cried.
“The world needs a deterrence, we’ll become its gods.”
It was hard to call these words sane but with the scene in front of him it’s hard to think that anyone could have remained sane.
“Kagetra…”
Shawn burned that sight into his memory.
“I will cut down those who bring about the shadows of war. The number of dead will increase but it is necessary, I will get revenge in those who brought war to this world.”
Noone said anything at that. Not even Adolf, who stood away from the four of them, looking at them with a terrible clouded expression.
*
Kagetra suggested they rebuild the town and Shawn was the first to offer his assistance. Soon the other three agreed. After 5 years the town regained its appearance with new life being born their and travelers and adventurers visiting.
“That should do it.”
Five people were looking at the town from outside the gate when Kagetra spoke.
“Yeah, as long as this town is here we’ll always be able to return. ”
Zephyr was looking towards the same future as Kagetra.
“The eternal village will always be in our hearts.”
It took 5 years for Adolf to regain his sanity, but now he looked at the town and smiled.
“Do what are we going to do now? Is your journey over?”
“No…”
Kagetra asked Shawn.
“Actually I was planning another trip, I heard a dungeon just appeared 3 days ago.”
Khalifa looked surprised.
“Dungeon? You can’t mean that dungeon?!”
“Yeah, the adventurer eating Labyrinth. Shawn and I are going to challenge it. I don’t think everyone could forgive us for ending our adventure here, I think they would be sad.”
The other three began to regain the look of adventurers.
AD
“I’m going too.”
Adolf said.
“My mom and dad saw me off, and I want them to know that I’m OK now.”
“Alright.”
“Me too.” Khalifa said.
“I wonder what they’d think if they saw us standing here? They’d probably laugh wondering what we were doing.”
“What a needless worry.”
Zephyr continued.
“Let’s go to the dungeon.”
The 5 of them smiled at each other but Khalifa felt that something was strange. It was Adolf, he had been so down the past years that seeing him like this so suddenly was creepy.
“By the way, it seems this dungeon has been appearing frequently. I heard from another adventurer that it had appeared three years ago.”
“Did it?”
AD
Zephyr was interested.
“Yeah but apparently it disappeared after a few months with no one having cleared it.”
“Hmmmmmm.”
“Well there’s a first time for everything.”
Kagetra seemed enthusiastic.
