Chapter 31: Chapter 31 Fitran Memories (2)
This time, the rain fell heavily, creating a torrent that soaked the vast meadow where the grass grew as tall as 3 meters, covering everything beneath it. As someone stepped into the meadow, they could not discern what lay hidden within. In the midst of the meadow, shrouded in an aura of mystery, there existed a very deep lake, with a depth of 10,911 meters, home to mystical creatures that had never been discovered before and waiting to be revealed to the outside world.
Fitran stood silently at the edge of the meadow, motionless. He was not waiting for the rain to cease; rather, he was engulfed in doubt. Caught between his desire to move forward and the compulsion to remain still, feelings of uncertainty arose within him. Despite possessing strength, deep down, he still felt like a child trapped between the realms of fantasy and reality colliding.
Suddenly, from a distance, a voice gently yet firmly called out to him. Fitran moved closer to the source of the voice, navigating through the tall, dense bushes. There, he discovered an old woman, sheltered by the sky and resting on the earth, sitting in profound silence. This was an extremely unusual sight for Fitran; he was shocked to the core upon seeing the condition of the old woman. It turned out that there was someone living a more tragic life than he had ever witnessed before. With blind eyes, a paralyzed body, and skin afflicted with ailments, the old woman embodied unimaginable suffering. Fitran, wanting to cry at the sight, struggled hard to suppress his emotions, as he had come to this place not for that purpose.
"Cu... what are you doing here?" the old grandmother asked in a hoarse voice, as if she were trying to reach a world far removed from her own.
Fitran paused for a moment, contemplating the words just spoken by that grandmother. Her gentle voice resonated in his heart, prompting him to finally speak up.
"I'm just a pigeon," he replied wearily, "are you happy living like this?" His eyes glimmered with a deep sorrow.
"Cu... there's one thing I want to say...! I am very happy here," the grandmother replied, her breath labored, with a sincere smile as if lifting a heavy burden from her chest.
"Why, Grandma?" Fitran asked, gazing at her, his eyes blinking as if struggling to understand the unexpected response.
"I am proud because I can see a young man who cares for an old woman like me who can do nothing," she said, her voice soft and filled with gratitude, showcasing the precious treasure she held despite her limitations.
Thud..! An inexplicable feeling struck Fitran, much deeper than the pain caused by a thousand spears thrown at him. This was not his first experience, yet the vibrations within his body rendered him completely frozen. It surpassed fear—for Fitran, who had never felt this before, began to realize that it was a paralyzing doubt that gripped him.
"How can you be happy, Grandma? Aren't you suffering?" he asked again, his voice and heart filled with sorrow.
"You see … I am old. My only wish is to see my grandchild," the grandmother said gently, yet her words were laden with longing.
Thud..! Little Fitran stood still, as if time momentarily froze. That uncomfortable feeling returned, weighing heavily on his chest with profound doubt. Regret washed over him, clinging to his heart like a dark shadow. Why does the feeling of regret always make his body so tense? His eyes widened and unblinking, while his breath came in gasps, as if a heavy stone pressed down on his chest.
"Grandma knows. All my family has cast me aside. No one cares for or looks after me, dear…" the old woman continued, her voice filled with deep sorrow.
Fitran fell silent, at a loss for words to respond to her. He felt the weight of his mistake in pretending to be a dove.
"That's not true," young Fitran asserted, striving to speak firmly, "Even if you feel abandoned by your family and neglected, there's still someone who remembers you."
Upon hearing those words, a sense of calm washed over Fitran. The doubts and regrets that had plagued him seemed to evaporate. However...
The old woman's eyes glowed softly, smiling as she understood the small hope nestled in Fitran's heart.
Still lost in her thoughts, the grandmother asked again, "Don't you feel disgusted looking at me?" Her voice was laced with uncertainty, awaiting Fitran's response, who seemed to be suppressing his emotions.
"Of course not, Grandma! I would never say that," replied Fitran, his enthusiasm warming the atmosphere between them.
The grandmother smiled again, a smile that brought hope and warmth to her spirit.
Fitran carefully took a still-warm loaf of bread from the bag given by Rose. He offered the bread to his grandmother, who sat there with a face full of doubt, but she slowly shook her head, declining the offer.
"Why not, Grandma? This bread is still good," Fitran said with a concerned tone, hoping his grandmother would accept.
"No need, dear... I've already eaten," replied the grandmother gently, despite the enticing aroma of the bread.
"What did you eat, Grandma? There's nothing here," asked Fitran, his curious gaze unwavering.
"I can eat grass or even scraps thrown here," answered the grandmother, her eyes glancing at the dirty streets with a faint sad smile.
"Nana, if you don't want it, you'd better just keep it," said Fitran, feeling anxious about his grandmother's decision.
"No need, dear... I'm already full. Last night, I even had dinner with the mosquitoes," replied his grandmother jokingly, although it was clear she felt full due to the bitterness of life.
"But, Nana..." Fitran paused, taken aback by his grandmother's remark.
"Isn't there someone who needs that bread more than I do? It would be better for you to give that food to your family at home, or you eat it yourself, since you must be hungry too," said his grandmother wisely, gazing far down the empty road as if envisioning a brighter and better future for Fitran.
"I think I hit something back then, and now my memories are gone; even my mother's face I can't recall," Fitran said, holding his head, his vacant eyes staring far off as if searching for answers in the silence.
His grandmother fell silent, lost in her thoughts, reflecting on Fitran's words.
"Yes, dear... I accept the bread," the old grandmother said, her voice trembling with hope. "But also the bottle you're holding," she added, her gaze fixed sharply on the vial of poison grasped tightly in Fitran's hand.
Startled, Fitran hesitated. Though his eyes were bound by darkness, he could sense the grandmother's sincere intentions. The bread was a gift from Rose, a girl who once filled his life with laughter, who had asked him to deliver it to her grandmother before she left. Fitran felt a deep connection to that promise, as Rose seemed to wish to give the bread as an apology for abandoning him. However, deep within Fitran's heart lay a sinister intention; prior to coming here, he had brought the poison with the initial purpose of ending the life of Rose's grandmother, before a bitter truth was revealed — that he was the killer of her beloved grandchild.
She was an evil witch, ensnared in the darkness of black magic, cold-heartedly sacrificing her granddaugther out of hatred. In a terrifying ritual, she offered her granddaugther as a tribute to the supernatural beings that inhabited this place, hoping to gain unparalleled magical power. The grandmother, a former wife of Elbert, was now caught in a curse that transformed her into a horrifying figure with a body starting to decay. As the supernatural beings gathered, their shadowy faces appeared menacingly, resembling ravenous monsters beginning to devour her helpless form.
"Why did grandma want this?" Fitran asked, his voice trembling with uncertainty.
Fitran witnessed the horrifying scene before him as if the long-standing curse had turned back, striking the grandmother with all its malice. Her face contorted, revealing profound fear as dark shadows enveloped her.
"I ... I just want to be happy. Can you grant me that?" the grandmother pleaded, holding Fitran's hand gently, which tightly gripped a bottle of poison, as if that hand was her last hope.
The rain had eased, allowing the sunlight to sneak through the gaps in the dark clouds. Soon after, a rainbow appeared in the sky, arching beautifully like an unspoken promise. However, within Fitran's heart, pain sliced through him sharply. This was especially true as he focused on his grandmother's smiling face, despite her body lying still, as if time had stopped for them. He longed to cry, yet he was ensnared by a suffocating guilt, for he was a murderer unworthy of savoring the beauty of life.
"I can't let Rinoa get too close to Elbert," Fitran whispered with a tense expression, anger and worry swirling in his eyes.
"I don't want Rinoa to end up like this," he continued, his voice filled with determination as he raised his hand to cast dimensional magic, a gesture that reflected both strength and remorse.
"Portal ... Gate of Emperium," Fitran uttered, the words flowing from his lips as if summoning an unseen power poised to shake reality.
"1 ... 2," counted a spirit woman wearing a delicate kimono, its pattern dancing like morning dew. "1 ... 2, 2 ... 1, oh dear," she murmured softly, her voice filled with gentle confusion.
"Wow! Marina can't count. Fitran is so mean, knowing how bad Marina is at math," Marina complained, her face scrunching up as she recalled the moment when Fitran patiently tried to teach her counting. "Well then, if that's the case, I'll bury them both together since they smell the same," she added with determination in her tone.
Marina summoned a kind of magical power, and gently, the ground began to open as if responding to her call. She continued her spell, gracefully lifting the two corpses and carefully placing them into the grave. Once they were inside, the earth seemed to seal itself once more, fully covering their traces.
"Done," she said, satisfied as she clapped her hands. "Watch out when Fitran comes; I'll scold him, unless he brings bao buns, then maybe Marina will forgive him, teehee!" she added, smiling cheerfully, even though the weight in her heart hadn't completely lifted.
"Besides, this is the first time Fitran brought a corpse with such a warm temperature," Marina said, her gaze fixed on the grave. As she spoke, a name appeared on the glistening tombstone, revealing the inscriptions "Angelica Alexa" and "Rose Alexa." A mix of curiosity and sadness swirled within her.
"As a Necromancer..."
"Should I make them into Izanami and Izanagi ...
A chilling laughter echoed, sounding as if it originated from the depths of an abyss, awakening supernatural beings that had been dormant for thousands of years. The voice seeped into the darkness, shaking the ground and creating vibrations in the air, as if signaling the return of ancient hidden powers.