Hero and the World

In front of me, slowly approaching is a woman. She has long, dark hair and kind green eyes. Her skin is only slightly tanned because of how much of her work is done inside, but she loves the sun and makes sure to spend at least a while outdoors each day. She moves with elegance. The other villagers love her. There are none warmer than her. She’s older now, but is mostly the same as she ever was. The sight of her was burnt into my eyes and she was branded on my heart. She notices me and begins to run. And even though I want to, I can’t run too. Inside of me is the fear I thought I had long since gotten rid of. When she reaches me, misty eyed, she pulls my head down into her bosom and hugs me tightly. She speaks with a kind, soft voice.

“Oh Alan, my sweet, darling boy.”

I begin to weep. I cry like a child, because I will only ever be a child before her. It’s the first time I’ve cried since I was taken. How foolish am I? How wretched am I? How hateful am I? How could I forget? How could I have forgotten for so long? How could I have forgotten the life before my duty? I’ve missed my mother so much.

I can’t stop crying into her chest. I can’t control myself. I was never a Hero, I was just a lost child yearning for his mother’s warmth. The warmth I’ve felt in the village this whole time is magnified dozens of times over as she holds me. She caresses my head so gently, so far removed from the violence I’ve been living with. I’m sure that here, not the capital, not the battlefield, is my home. She keeps talking to me as I cry.

“You always were a little crybaby.” I don’t remember any of that, but I’m sure she’s telling the truth. I’m sure I was, and I’m sure she isn’t indicting me for anything. “It’s been so long.” It’s been too long. I’m sorry. “If I knew I wouldn’t see you again for all this time, I never would have let them take you away from me.” I’ve finally begun to recover, and can pull my head away from her chest, my face streaked with tears.

“I’m the only one who can be the Hero. You needed to let me go. I’m the one who should’ve come back.” She looks me up and down, as though she only just realized how tall I am, and as if she only just fathomed how much of my growth I made her miss.

“Don’t blame yourself, my sweet boy. I’m sure you were busy.”

“I’m sure I could’ve made time, but I guess you’re right. They weren’t too keen on leaving me unoccupied.” She seems to realize something suddenly.

“Actually, are you sure you should be here? Don’t you need to be fighting the Demon King?” I don’t want to disappoint her, but I cannot lie.

“I ran away.”

“Oh my! Can you tell me why?”

“I don’t even know anymore. I just didn’t want to be the Hero. And I didn’t want to save anyone anymore.”

“I can hardly imagine that. As soon as you could run around and talk, you always wanted to help us. You used to bring me hurt birds and you’d cry about the fact they couldn’t fly anymore. What changed, my sweet boy?”

“I don’t know. But I’ve run away. And so many people have gotten hurt now. I’ve hurt so many people. I failed my duty. I’m not the Hero. I’m just a coward.”

“And how do you know you failed? If your duty is to save people, then isn’t there still plenty of time?”

“But I…”

“And beyond that, it doesn’t seem to me that you’ve changed that much after all. You’re still upset that there are things you can’t save. Whether it’s birds or people, you care so deeply about them, even if you barely know them. Why isn’t that enough to make you a Hero?”

“I ran… I’m a coward…”

“My sweet boy, when you were just a child, you were always scared of so many things. You were scared of the dark, of ghosts, of big animals, of all sorts of things. You would come crying to me at the smallest things, oh, it was so precious. But you still brought those birds home, even though the forest was dark, and where all the ghosts were. And you come home crying because of how scared it made you. Even back then you were a hero. From the moment you were born to this moment, you’ve been my own little hero.”

I cry again, and she hugs me tight once more. I know that she must live, I know what I must do, and my heart begins to make sense again. I draw away from my mother slowly.

“I need to go now. I’ll be back soon. There’s somebody I want you to meet, and I want her to meet you.”

I begin to walk forward. Behind me is all I’ve wanted these seven months. I don’t spare it even a parting glance, the edge of the world past the horizon. I run. For the first time I run with all my might.

Beneath me I feel a single strong pulse, the beating heart of the world beneath me. I for the first time feel the pulse of life in my own chest as the world feeds into it. And I feel every other pulse too, for just a brief moment. The pulse of every human, of even the smallest bugs, of each blade of grass. I can feel all of them connected to the giant pulse beneath me. And for the first time I am connected to the world, and to every life within it.

I run through forests burnt away, through wide plains, through nascent groves, through farmland, through cities, through smiling towns. And the lives around me catch hold and attach themselves, and I bear the burden of them all once more. It was never heavy at all. Each step I take is another closer to paradise, a gift my mother gave me.

I grab hold of the hilt of the Sword of Light. I reconfigure the spell and blast the Demon King’s territory with a burst of powerful light. I pull my sword from the stone it was planted in, and slice through my barrier. I keep on running.

Before I was the Hero, I was a boy. I had forgotten. While I was the Hero, I was a man. I had looked away. But I’m not afraid anymore. I’ll face everything I am at last. I won’t run away.

In a single strike the Demon King’s head flies from his shoulders. His body begins to turn to dust. I pull my sword through his gathered subordinates.

The world is saved. I saved the world. My duty is done. I was the Hero Alan. And now I stand here as just Alan, another man who wants to see this world live. Just another man who wants to love until time forces us to face the edge of the world.