The snow fell from the gray sky. It was slowly turning from a light to a dark gray. The eerie silence was only broken by the crunching of their footsteps in the snow. Jonathan stumbled through the town, his legs shaking with dread. He was now wearing a dark brown cloak, to protect himself from the cold.
Andromeda followed slowly behind, taking the time to drape a dark blue blanket over every dead body that they could find. If they found a Demon of Shadow's body, they burned it. The dark blue blankets were to soothe the soul of the body that had waited so long to be buried. They would be buried with a proper ceremony, even if he was the one doing it. Every dead body that they found, Jonathan tried to identify.
He wasn't sure most of the times if he was correct. Memories kept popping up as he walked. Ones on how the town used to look like before he ever set foot in that ruined old castle. If only he could take it back…
Andromeda spoke.
“That necklace that you have. I have one just like it.” Jonathan looked at her. “Really?” She nodded and drew something out from underneath her shirt.
“See?” An exact copy of his necklace was on Andromeda. He blinked. “How did you get that?!” Andromeda's shoulders slumped. “My uncle gave this to me when he died.”
Jonathan started. “My aunt gave this necklace to me when she died! Did your uncle make you say an oath?” She nodded. “With a golden dagger that he used to pierce my left fourth finger.”
Jonathan couldn't believe what he was hearing. “Did he paint symbols onto you with your blood?” Andromeda nodded. Jonathan felt mildly surprised. Normally he would think this was really weird, but now he didn't.
“All right then. Have you gone to the past?” She shook her head. “No. But he did speak to me about legends of the past.
One of them was about a group of people, each from a different race, that had necklaces that looked just like ours. According to the legend, they were so powerful, that the beings of the land called them 'gods'. But they weren't really, because one day, all of them vanished from their world forever. Or so the legend goes.” Jonathan chewed on his cheek.
“I don't get it. If this world that I went to was the past, then why does no one here remember about it?” Andromeda shrugged. “I was sent here to bury the people of this town. According to one of my friends, the known survivors of the town were unable to bury their dead friends and family because many of the Demons of Shadow were around the ruined town.
But today they were unusually far away, so I was sent here by my friends.” Jonathan looked at her. “Thank you.” She nodded at him. He kept walking along, still checking the bodies.
Among the charred and rotting bodies, there was he caught a glimpse of silver gray hair. A huddled body lay in a collapsed building. For a moment, he thought it was Rayon. But the shape wasn't quite right. He went closer.
No, the hair was longer than Rayon's. And the body was wearing what used to be a dress. Realization hit him. “This is Rayon's grandmother.” Andromeda placed a hand on the old woman's forehead.
“She died in her sleep. Not because of a demon.” Jonathan nodded. “I am glad she died peacefully.” She slowly placed a dark blue blanket over the cold body.
“Did you know her?” She asked, her head turning to him. Jonathan sighed slowly. He felt like liquid lead was in his body. “No.
I knew her grandson, though. Rayon. The meanest guy I have ever known.” He sighed. “I wonder where he is now.”
He turned, only to find a dead demon lying nearby. A broken crossbow bolt was on its shoulder. He blinked. He bent over and tugged it out of the demon's flesh. The woodwork of the crossbow bolt was familiar.
Chavez Foretor… Chavez Foretor had made this. Jonathan felt a pang in his heart. “Oh no.” He slowly turned to where the crossbow bolt must have been shot from.
His eyes widened. A male's body was lying in the doorway of a small house that had been crudely made from cheap wooden planks. The body had brown hair and pale skin. Beside the body, clutched in one hand was Chavez Foretor's cane. In the other was a crossbow.
Lying on his back, was a wreath of dark roses. Jonathan ran over to the body. “Chavez Foretor…” He softly spoke. He heard Chavez's voice.
“With the crystal halberd, you can not only defend yourself against things that would attack you, but you can defend yourself.” In the house, was a woman's body.
She too had brown hair and pale skin. In her hands was a wreath of dark roses as well. Jonathan slowly went to her body. “Kaila Foretor…” In the back of the room, an open trapdoor was visible.
Someone had been hidden in there but was gone now. Chavez Foretor's sword was gone. So was Sera Foretor's light brown wooden bow with darker brown carvings of leaves. Andromeda put dark blue blankets over both of them. Jonathan left the house and continued on.
He almost didn't realize his hands were shaking as well. Andromeda looked at him. “Were they your…?” Jonathan shook his head. “No.
Sera Foretor's family. I haven't seen her body yet, so I'm hoping she is still alive.” He kicked a nearby rock. “Chavez Foretor is the reason I have this.” He jabbed a finger at his crystal halberd that was currently on his back.
Andromeda was silent.
“He could have sold those crystals, ya know.” Jonathan sniffed. “He could have used that money. He needed it. And yet, he chose to give it to me.”
Jonathan gave a bitter chuckle. “And where was I when he needed protection? Off in the past, thanks to this necklace!” He gave it a sharp yank, even though he knew it was useless. They came across a group of bodies that had fallen near each other.
Jonathan recognized them right away as soon as he saw them. “Rayon's gang members.” The gang members seemed to have grouped together in order to prevent the demons from entering another section of the town. The effort was valiant, but futile in the end. Rayon wasn't in the group either, and Jonathan wondered if he died with the town, or died in the forest as he tried to run away.
“Why am I so certain that he is dead?” He thought. “Maybe it's because everybody else is dead as well.” Jonathan knelt near one gang member. His face was peaceful, as if he understood his fate, and had been willing to accept it.
He remembered his voice. “Get him, Rayon!”
Did Rayon accept his fate as well? The bully must have taken down many demons after his grandmother died. The taunting voice of the bully was in his mind as well. “Well, well. If it isn't Argon's protector.”
He stood, and helped Andromeda place dark blue blankets over them. Slowly, they moved on. The old well was still standing.
But Elder Onyx Ashstone wasn't there, neither was his body. His blanket was gone as well. He knelt on the ground. Nothing was around to show that he once was there. Was Elder Onyx Ashstone dead?
Or was he still alive? Without the knowledge, Jonathan felt so empty and afraid. Elder Onyx Ashstone's words could be heard in the silence of the town. "Come to the well, tomorrow. (This crystal halberd shall be created)."
As he stood, his foot crunched on something. He looked down. A broken arrow was lying on the snow.
It was one of Lena's arrows. He felt a sharp dagger pierce his heart. “No.” He looked in the direction of Argon's house. The archway had collapsed, and the wood was charred black.
He ran over to the house, his heart pounding. “No. Please, no.” In the now cracked cobblestone pathway that leads up to the house was several dead Demons of Shadow. The door was in pieces outside, lying in the cracked cobblestone.
But what was on the wooden steps of the house is what made his heart crack.
“Felix…”
Felix's body was lying on floor, face upwards. Tightly gripped in his cold, white hands was a wooden halberd. He had died there, blocking the doorway, in a last futile effort to save his family. His once sharp green eyes were now glassy and dull. They were still staring at the ceiling, a mere mockery of the anger that had been raging in his body over the Demons of Shadow attacking his family. His mouth was even still clenched.
Jonathan fell to his knees. “Felix…”
He began to cry, the salty hot tears dripping from his chin. Felix was gone. If he looked closely, he could even see the dried flecks of clay that hadn't been washed from his hands. He could remember Felix's voice.
"Whew! You're getting quite nimble my boy." Andromeda stared sadly. “Poor man.”
Slowly, Jonathan gently passed his hand over Felix's face. Closing his eyes, and relaxing his mouth. He removed the halberd and placed Felix's hands over his chest. Tears fell onto the cold body as he did so. Andromeda placed a dark blue blanket over Felix's body.
Jonathan willed himself to move his heavy limbs. The hallway had been destroyed, from fire and Demon of Shadow alike. A wooden table had been knocked over. Beside it, a brown, wooden jar was in pieces. He looked at the floor.
Corina's bag was lying there, having fallen off her sash. The Morus berries were now withered, and inedible. Jonathan removed his gaze from them. He stopped beside the stairs. Three small child-sized bodies were lying on top of them.
The dresses that they wore were made of rich cloth. The hair was raven black. Jonathan felt his heart crack again. “Three of the Five Sisters…” He breathed.
Slowly, he picked up one of the girls. Her cold body lay in his warm arms. Her empty eyes were staring at him, mocking the life that they once held. He could hear her voice. "Corina, come on!
You're missing out!” Slowly, he closed them. He did the same with the other ones.
And Andromeda lay a dark blue blanket over them.
He went into the washroom. The sight made his heart crack again, the painful jerks of the sharp dagger making it unbearable. Trisha lay in a corner, her dead body supported by the wall. She had died trying to protect the other two. They lay at her feet, huddled into small balls.
She was still wearing the dress she was gardening in. She hadn't even given birth to the baby. Jonathan suddenly felt violently ill. There was something very wrong with a child dying before it even experienced life. With tears falling onto his chest, he slowly took Trisha's body, and laid it on the floor.
Jonathan could hear her voice. “If you ever need somewhere to be, just come to us.” He closed the eyes of the remaining Five Sisters. One's voice could be heard. “Sorry, Big Brother.” Then Trisha's eyes were closed.
As an afterthought, he wrapped Trisha's arms around the bodies of the two Five Sisters. It made him feel less ill. He was the one to lay the blankets over them, this time. Slowly, he tiptoed past the blanketed bodies as he went up the stairs. Up into the upper story that contained three rooms.
One for the Five Sisters and Corina, one for Argon, and one for Trisha and Felix. Or rather, had been. He checked Argon's room first. It contained a simple but comfy bed, a desk with a chair, a book with an ink bottle and quill, and a photo of when he and Argon were toddlers. Jonathan took a deep breath.
He had been afraid that he would find Argon's body in here. Turning, he went into the Five Sisters, and Corina's room. Neither Argon, Corina, nor Lena was in this room. Thankfully. A rather large hole was in the roof, though.
Six beds lay, side by side, each with a stuffed animal that they had slept with. Jonathan turned from the sight, as he felt another painful jerk. Andromeda peered in, then followed him. He went into Trisha's and Felix's room. There was Corina's body, on the bed.
It looked more like something, or someone had placed her there. She looked peaceful. Jonathan stood beside her. He felt… empty.
Like he had run out of tears to shed. He knelt beside her and grasped her pale, cold, thin hand. Her words echoed in his head. “Your aunt. When she died, was it painful?”
Jonathan sobbed, as the memory brought a fresh wave of tears. “Oh, Corina. Please tell me you died without any pain.” Andromeda put the last dark blue blanket on her. She placed a comforting hand on Jonathan's shoulder.
Jonathan shuddered. “They… were… the… only… family… I… had… left.”
He choked out between sobs. “And… now, I only have Argon and Lena left.” On that somber note, the conversation was left. For the remaining time that they spent in the ruined house, Andromeda did her best to comfort Jonathan.
Even though they had just met, Andromeda felt the need to comfort him as she already seen too much grief in that one long year.
So, she tried to soften the pain that had been inflicted upon him as he cried.