The Conquest of Happiness

“Am I the god Xilu? Why would you ask that?”

“Well, we heard what happened to Xilu, that is, everything but his bones.” Lady Scarlet noted.

“I don’t know if you know this, but you are literally bones.” Mr. Ren added.

“What? When did that happen? Hahaha, I kid, I kid. What if I were Xilu?” Journeyman laughed.

“Then we would have some serious questions for you.” Lady Scarlet responded.

“Alas, I am not. As I mentioned, I have abandoned my name, but I, too, once set out for Xilu’s Chalice. Besides, what do you mean you don’t know what happened to his bones?”

“Xilu tore the skin off his bones as he forged the Chalice. His blood filled the Chalice, granting it the extent of his own power. Finally, the remnants of his existence, his spirit, spiralled into madness and formed the Chaos Lands—the space between realms. This was what the Teraxious told us.” Lady Scarlet repeated. It was the same thing I had heard from Miss Zaloneas.

“Oh my, is that the tale they say now? Much like the tale of the man with the crescent smile, I suppose the Teraxious have lost the full story after however many years it has been.”

“So you know what happened to them?”

“Indeed, his bones were used to create the chalice itself.”

“So you are just some random wandering skeleton?” Mr Ren asked.

“Not just any wandering skeleton, I am the Journeyman. Hahaha.” He laughed, and I don’t remember much more before I fell asleep.

──✩₊⁺⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧──

I will be in a space that is completely pitch black. There will be nothing. Only a vastness of nothingness. The only thing that will be there is a girl who will be me, another me, crying.

I will put my hand on the head of the crying me to try and comfort them.

“What is wrong?” I ask the crying me.

“I’m so lonely, I could not save anyone,” the crying me will respond.

“What do you mean?” I will ask.

“You will know soon enough.” She will respond.

At that moment, the dream ended.

──✩₊⁺⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧──

I awoke with a single tear coming down my face. I remember having a sad dream, a dream of me. But I did not know why I was crying.

“What’s wrong kid?” I turned to see Mr. Ren watching me. Lady Scarlet was asleep with Buddy curled up with her. Mr. Journeyman was not moving either. He was either sleeping or dead. It was hard to tell with Mr. Journeyman.

“I had a sad dream,” I responded to Mr. Ren.

“That’s not good. I have lots of sad dreams too, so I know how bad they are. Why don’t you come and sit next to me kid?” He patted beside him, and I slowly approached him and sat down next to him.

He raised his hand and put it on my head. I still felt sad, but I felt a bit better when he did this. It was nice. I leaned in closer to Mr. Ren, and he put the arm that was on my head around my shoulder to support me. It was like a sideways cuddle. I felt very safe next to Mr. Ren.

“Kid, the others won’t be awake for some time still. If you want to go back to sleep, you can; otherwise, you can also sit here with me.”

I didn’t particularly want to go to sleep, I always had bad dreams. I wanted to stay awake with Mr. Ren.

“Can I really stay here?” I asked; I didn’t want to get in Mr. Ren’s way.

“Of course kid. You can stay here as long as you want.”

I remember just sitting quietly next to Mr. Ren. I don’t know how much time passed, but I must have fallen asleep again. The next thing I remember was waking up and Mr. Journeyman and Lady Scarlet had already woken up. I looked next to me, and Mr. Ren was still sitting next to me with his hand over my shoulder.

“You’re awake kid? How did you sleep this time?”

“Much better!” I replied, smiling at him.

“That’s good to hear.”

“You can always wake me up and cuddle with me if you have bad dreams,” Lady Scarlet shouted as she tidied up the campsite. I felt much better knowing I could get hugs from both Lady Scarlet and Mr. Ren.

“Now, we have quite the distance to travel if we wish to get to the Chalice.” Mr. Journeyman commented once we were ready to leave.

“Can we reach it today?” Lady Scarlet asked.

“Not a chance. We must pass the Cliffs of Clxzlcha before reaching the Forest of Voices. Only once you pass the Forest will you reach the Palace of Xilu.”

“Is there anything we should know about these places?”

“Well, it goes without saying that they are dangerous. Then again, most things are in the Chaos Lands. The Cliffs of Clxzlcha are known for falling rocks and rockslides. The path is also slippery, so be careful. As for the Forest of Voices, it is very deceiving. Trust no one and assume everything is out to trick you. Just ignore everything and keep walking along the path.”

“Got it.” Mr. Ren noted.

“Is there going to be a dragon at Mr. Xilu’s Castle?” I asked.

“A dragon?” Mr. Journeyman asked, he tilted his head.

“I read dragons guard castles.”

“I see. Well, I haven’t seen one before, but you never know,” he replied. Mr. Ren and Lady Scarlet laughed. I didn’t know what they were laughing at. No one said a joke.

We walked for quite some time until we reached a large mountain.

“So this is the Cliffs of Clxzlcha?” Lady Scarlet asked.

“That is correct.” Mr. Journeyman responded. We sat and had something to eat while we caught our breath. Apparently, we would need it for the Cliffs.

After we had rested, we began climbing the mountain. We got quite a distance up the mountain. Mr. Ren and Lady Scarlet went up ahead, and Mr. Journeyman and I were a short distance behind them.

Crack

A sudden sound sounded, and there was a sudden shaking. I wasn’t like with the Galacs, where the ground shook like a rumble. This was a large bang, like something was breaking.

“Look out,” Lady Scarlet Screamed as she and Mr. Ren ran towards Mr. Journeyman and me.

I looked up and saw a large rock fall from above. Even though they were running full speed towards us, there was no way they would reach us in time. This rock was going to crush me. I also didn’t want them to come any closer; if they did, they would get hurt.

I felt the cold hand of the Journeyman behind me.

“I’m but the remnants of a lost lover, a decrepit traveller who has lived long enough. You gave me a heart when I no longer had one of my own. Survive, find the Chalice. Goodbye, kid. The Journeyman has journeyed his final adventure.”

He pushed me forward, and the rocks narrowly missed me. But they landed right on Mr. Journeyman. I could hear the snapping of his bones—the crushing sound. There was no way he could survive that crushing.

His bones were turned to dust.

──✩₊⁺⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧──

End Chapter 22

Goodbye Mr. Journeyman.

They Trampled your Bones.