Thirty Nine – After the rain, part I

A few months have passed.

The rain continues.

Things have started to improve.

We can use magic again.

Both inside and outside the Capital.

All the remaining gargoyles were destroyed with the massive explosion.

Du managed to evacuate the people who were still near City Hall.

Olvad’s explosion devastated a vast area of ​​the city.

Nothing remained within the radius of the explosion.

Those of us underground barely survived.

The city is already being rebuilt.

Residents are gradually returning to live in the Capital.

Even with the eternal rain is going

People still enjoy the city life.

I still do not like the rain.

People are looking for a solution to it.

One that does not involve blowing up the entire city.

I have high hopes for the future.

After spending a few hours in that hole with Canny, we decided to climb out.

We were starting to get hungry.

We wanted to take a shower and a rest in a proper place.

Kasamba and the others were looking for us.

Trying to find our bodies.

He scolded us so much after we emerged from underground.

I feel so happy.

Even though we were at the epicenter of the explosion, Kasamba protected everyone who was in the room with us.

The guards included.

Now, the guards are gone.

The Council has been completely dismantled.

Behind the scenes, discussions were already happening.

In collaboration, the various revolutionary groups were talking about what the government and the continent would look like after the war.

We are, once again, without a central government.

An alliance of the peoples was formed.

It brought peace and an end the conflict.

The Capital was designated a neutral territory.

A place for everyone.

They would be helped by an elected group that would resolve bureaucratic and political conflicts.

All in accordance with previously established laws.

No one had unlimited power to rule.

No place was permitted to keep a military force.

Armed groups formed during the war were forced to disband and surrender all their weapons for destruction.

I am no longer a no one.

My new name is Bruce.

I am a free person.

A new person.

I am ready to live in this new world.

After the battle, I returned to WayDeck once more.

I needed to bury my dead.

In someway.

I had to resolve my feelings from my past.

Canny wanted to go back to his hometown.

He lived in a coastal town.

I think it is near where Mrs. Lampronia had lived.

I asked him to wait for me there until I had finished what I had to do here.

I returned with Du and her warriors.

The people fighting alongside her are all from WayDeck who had also survived that night.

We all shared a connection to that tragic past.

Upon arriving in the city, I immediately went to where my old house used to be.

The fire had destroyed it all.

I tried searching on its ruins for something but almost nothing remained.

I stood in silence for a while.

In our tradition, we cremate the bodies of the deceased after a ceremony.

I wish I could have held that ceremony for my mother and grandmother.

It seems fitting that the house ended up burning down.

I returned to downtown.

Some the people were trying to rebuild with whatever they could.

Many people, actually.

I think I see some familiar faces.

Probably not.

It has been eight years.

Du told me that part of the townsfolk had isolated themselves inside the forest.

They all fled there and began living in the woods.

Despite the dangers.

Du went with her family.

After a while, they managed to secure permission from the elves to stay in the forest until the conflict ended.

People were afraid to return to WayDeck.

The Council never really cared about this area after taking everything down.

We are a middle sized town located near the Capital.

We were more of a strategic point than a place of any real value.

Even though people are rebuilding the city.

Now that it is all over...

I do not know if I want to live here again.

I think I will spend some time traveling.

I want to meet new people and reconnect with old ones.

There are so many other places I want to see.

When I was a child, I used to tell my mother I wanted to see the world, just like my father did.

I do not think she liked it much when I mentioned that.

She did not like it when I mentioned my father at all.

I never did run into my father all those years.

Even after the war ended.

I still have not heard a word from him.

I do not think I will ever see him again.

I do not know.

I am not sure I even want to see him.

I do not want to think about that right now.

I already have too many things to process at the moment.

This can wait for another time.

After the no ones left, their camp was dismantled.

Various structures and supplies were left behind in the city.

Tents and even buildings they had rebuild while camped here remained after their departure.

This is of a huge help in the reconstruction effort.

I do not know if it was a coincidence or if that was their plan all along.

I prefer to believe they knew what they were doing and that this is their way of saying thanks for the temporary use of the land.

There were so many people here.

I do not know if I will ever see any of them again.

I do not know if I would even recognize them.

I know who I never want to see again.

In the end, the no ones organization helped with the final battle.

Though mostly behind the scenes.

They were sent to help take down the remaining Capital forces scattered across the continent.

To ensure no small forces, that remained from the Capital Guards, were left behind.

Perhaps their methods of action were not the best.

I did things at for them that I wish I had not.

The circumstances demanded that I act that way.

I never want to have to hurt anyone again.

I want to live in peace now.

A calm and monotonous peace.

I want nothing more to do with missions, objectives, or conflicts

Or anything else that requires me to fight.

It was decided that a grand ceremony would be held tonight.

A celebration and a farewell.

To mark our return to the city and to honor those who rest here.

There were no longer any elders to lead the city.

There are no communicators left.

Du vowed to remain in charge until someone rose to become an elder.

That will take a long time.

But the people trusted her.

I trust her, too.

During the ceremony, we ate, drank, and celebrated all our memories.

It was deeply cleansing.

Liberating.

I was able to cry once more.

Not out of exhaustion.

Not because I was lost.

I cried out of love.

For the memory of the people I love.

I hope they are proud of me.

It is the next day.

We celebrated the whole night.

Now, I want to go to Roger’s house.

To see everything before leaving here.

It is devastated too.

The house is still standing.

I go into his room.

Things are where I remembered them.

It is messy and dusty.

The plants, the insects and the mushrooms had taken over the place.

I had spent a lot of time there.

Du walks through the doorway. "I knew you would be here."

"I did not have the courage to come here the last time I passed through town. I was not ready."

"The past should not hurt anymore, from now on."

"You are already sounding like a true leader. It suits you."

"WayDeck should not have leaders."

"WayDeck does not exist anymore. At least not for now. Once you rebuild everything, you will find a solution."

She walks across the room and picks up a dusty combat knife from the floor.

"I saw him that night. He disobeyed his father. He did not flee with the others. He kept saying he could fight. I saw him get crushed right in front of me. I still have nightmares to this day. I could not move. My mother carried me as far as she could. She was wounded. I do not know how I managed to reach the forest that night."

I hug her.

We both start to cry.