Grievability

Though I had only known Mr. Journeyman for a short time, I had liked him. Much like Mr. Jason or Mrs Dinklebottom, I considered him a friend. Seeing him get crushed in front of me brought a great deal of despair. If I wasn’t so useless, perhaps I could have saved him.

“Are you alright kid?” Lady Scarlet asked as she embraced me.

“Mr. Journeyman…” I could feel the tears coming on. There was that awful feeling called empathy. It was just as bad as the feeling called trauma. I hated them both so much. More tears began to fall. “Mr. Journeyman…”

“I’m so sorry. I don’t think even Journeyman could have survived that boulder.” She replied.

“He pushed me out of the way. It’s all my fault.” I began to cry.

“No kid. He pushed you because he wanted you to live on. He made the choice himself, and you have nothing to feel sorry about.” Mr. Ren added.

“But…” I tried to explain to them that if I weren’t here, Mr. Journeyman would still be alive. I’m the biggest burden on everyone. I am a dumb girl who would be better off dead like Father and Stepmother always said.

“Ren is right. It wasn’t your fault at all.” Lady Scarlet added.

“Really?”

“Really!” They both replied.

I could tell Mr. Ren and Lady Scarlet weren’t going to budge regarding Mr Journeyman’s death. So I decided to keep quiet.

I wiped my tears. Everyone told me that many people would die beyond the rift. I thought I was prepared for it. I certainly expected it for myself, but instead, everyone around me was dying. I didn’t want that. I hated that. I think most of all, I hated the fact that there was not much I could do. I was useless—a dumb head girl who was useless.

I said one more goodbye to Mr. Journeyman before we set off again up the Cliffs of Clxzlcha.

──✩₊⁺⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧──

We walked for several hours, climbing around the mountain until we could see a large forest on the other side. This must have been the Forest of Voices. We began our trek towards it but stopped to catch our breath at one point.

“How are you holding up kid?” Mr. Ren asked.

“I’m okay,” I responded. I was tired and still very upset from the recent deaths of Mr. Jason, Mr Journeyman and Mrs Dinklebottom, but I was otherwise holding up well.

“If you need to stop anytime, let us know, and we will rest.” Lady Scarlet added before drinking some water from the rucksack she carried.

I nodded and sat quietly, cuddling Buddy. He wanted to stretch his legs a bit since he’d been stuck in my bag for most of this time. Seeing Buddy walk around made me temporarily forget all the bad things I had experienced. He was like Mr. Ren and Lady Scarlet.

As we were sitting and catching our breath, I couldn’t help but think about how truly grateful I was to both Lady Scarlet and Mr. Ren. They had done so much for me. There was no way I could repay them.

There was something I wanted to ask them for some time, but I didn’t think it was appropriate to ask. Even now, was this the best time to ask such a question? Mr. Journeyman had just died. I should be mourning him instead of thinking such selfish thoughts.

“Mr. Ren, Lady Scarlet, can I ask you something?”

“What is it, kid?” Mr. Ren asked.

“It might be selfish to ask, but can I call you my mother and father?”

Mr Ren’s face turned bright red; I was almost as red as Lady Scarlet’s hair. Lady Scarlet gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.

“Of course you can, child.” Lady Scarlet responded. She seemed happy. Perhaps it wasn’t such a selfish request after all.

“I mean, if you want kid, but I’m not a particularly good person. I’m sure there are better people out there who could be your father.”

“I have never met anyone better or stronger than Mr. Ren,” I replied. I wanted to let him know I thought he was the strongest and nicest male I knew.

“Alright, you can call me father then,” he replied, his face still red. He quickly added, “Anyway, we should make haste. We need to reach the chalice as quickly as possible.”

“Really? Thank you… Mother… Father.”

I felt good calling them this, and they both seemed very happy. A short time later, we continued our venture down the Cliffs of Clxzlcha towards the Forest of Voices.

──✩₊⁺⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧──

As we ventured closer to the Forest of Voices, something began to feel off. It was as if something was wrong. It was like we were being watched by something or someone, it is a feeling I didn’t like.

“Lady…” I quickly corrected myself, “Mother, I feel bad.”

“What’s wrong? Do you need to rest?” Lady Scarlet asked.

I shook my head.

“I just feel bad. It feels scary here,” I said, pointing towards my heart.

“You feel bad inside?” She asked, looking concerned.

I nodded.

“Do you know what is causing you to feel like that?”

“This area feels bad,” I responded. I didn’t know how to tell Lady Scarlet what I was feeling. It was just something off. It was seriously wrong.

I was worried Lady Scarlet wasn’t going to take my fears seriously, but she turned to Mr Ren.

“Do you feel something is off with this area?”

“No, but it would be a perfect spot to be ambushed.” Mr. Ren commented.

As he did so, there was a slight noise, like a pebble skipping across the ground.

Without any hesitation, Mr. Ren quickly pulled out his sword as a figure stepped out from behind a nook in the cliffside. It was the figure we all knew well, yet hoped we would not see again.

~KeKeKeKe, it seems you noticed me. There goes my plan. KeKeKeKe. Oh my, aren’t you lot making significant progress, even without poor old dear Journeyman. How sad and truly crushing it must be for you, KeKeKeKe. If only someone didn’t set off a landslide. Whoops. KeKeKeKe~ 

──✩₊⁺⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧──

End Chapter 23