Part II: Death and gullt\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abril was horrified to see the villagers lying in the dirt streets. She approached a woman, infused her magic, but it was too late; the woman was dead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sirius said to her, \u201cAbril, she\u2019s dead. There\u2019s nothing you can do for her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t leave her here; we have to bury her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Taren went to inspect the other villagers lying in the street. They were all dead. When he returned, Abril\u00a0<\/p>\n
asked, \u201cIs there anyone alive?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one among those lying in the street; they\u2019re all dead. We\u2019ll have to check the houses for survivors.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s do that first, then bury the dead.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cUnderstood.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
They checked each of the houses, but they were all empty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Taren said, \u201cWe only have the church left to check; they might be there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, let\u2019s go.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When they entered the church, a putrid smell hit their noses. There they found the other villagers lying on\u00a0<\/p>\n
the floor, covered with tattered blankets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abril went to the nearest person, still breathing but on the verge of death. Sirius and Taren checked on\u00a0<\/p>\n
everyone they could; some were dead, and others were in critical condition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re in bad shape,\u201d Sirius said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abril stood in the center of the room. There was no time to heal them one by one; she had to heal them all at once, or many would die. She extended her hands, rising up in desperation to save them, unleashing her power like a torrent, without any restriction or limit. A warm light flooded the room, the sick regained color in their faces, and they were healed. When their lives were no longer in danger, Sirius told Abril to stop, because even though she had great power, releasing so much magic at once could exhaust her and cause\u00a0<\/p>\n
her to faint.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abril stopped using her magic. She felt a little dizzy and stumbled. Taren hurried to her side, grabbed her arm, and asked, \u201cYour Majesty, are you alright?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I just felt a little dizzy. How are the villagers?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are fine now, but they will need rest. We also need to relocate them to a clean place; otherwise, they might get sick again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, let\u2019s do that first, and then we need to bury the dead.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abril tried to walk on her own, but she was still very dizzy. Sirius told her, \u201cYou also need rest. Yesterday you used a lot of power and haven\u2019t rested properly. We will take care of everything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Part # Death and quit\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, you rest a little.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sirius turned to Taren. \u201cTake Abril to a safe place and then come back to help me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI will do it immediately.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Points\u00a0<\/p>\n
Taren took Abril to one of the nearest houses, helped her lie down on a small bed there, and said, \u201cYour Majesty, please rest. I will go help Sirius.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Taren left the house, and when he returned to the church, he saw Sirius using his magic to transport the sick to what seemed to be an inn. Sirius said to him, \u201cI will take care of transporting the sick. You take care of burying the dead.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat? Why do I have to do it alone?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you want to move all the sick and take care of them until they wake up?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThen don\u2019t waste time and get moving.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Taren found a shovel and started digging graves in the farthest part of the village. He buried the dead one by one, starting with those in the church as they were in the worst condition, and then those lying on the\u00a0<\/p>\n
street.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When he had finished burying all the dead, he lifted his gaze to the sky. It was dark and full of clouds. Small drops fell on his face; the sky looked sad and distressed that day. Those drops of water were as if the sky was crying for all those dead that no one had mourned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Taren said a little prayer for all those dead and then returned to the inn. Some of the sick had already regained consciousness and were taking care of those who were still unconscious.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abril appeared behind Taren and asked him, \u201cHave you buried them all?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, Your Majesty.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTaren, don\u2019t call me Your Majesty in this place. Remember that no one can know who I am.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, Your Maj\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust call me Abril, like Sirius does.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, Abril.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abril looked through the door as the rain began to intensify. She extended her hand; the rain wet her hand. As she looked at the sky, she said, \u201cThey are like tears.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what I thought too. It\u2019s as if it is crying for the dead that no one mourned.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if no one mourned them today, it doesn\u2019t mean that there won\u2019t be anyone who will. When everyone\u00a0<\/p>\n
wakes up and sees that many are missing, they will cry bitter tears for those they have lost.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Part !! Death and quilt\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe we should have waited for them to wake up before burying their dead?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I think this was for the best. I hope they remember their loved ones with a smile, alive, not as\u00a0<\/p>\n
decomposing corpses.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Points\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose you\u2019re right. It would be an even greater pain for them if they had seen the state they were in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abril looked sad and downcast. Taren asked her, \u201cAre you okay?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I\u2019m fine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abril finished entering, and seeing that Taren was staying behind, she asked him, \u201cAren\u2019t you coming?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I\u2019m coming now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abril began helping the sick. Taren approached Sirius, who was lighting the fireplace in the center of the room, and said to him, \u201cYour Majesty\u2026 I mean, Abril doesn\u2019t look well, don\u2019t you think?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe must be blaming herself for the deaths of the villagers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she believes it was her duty to close the Hades rift, and by not doing it earlier, she condemned these people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not her fault.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sirius lit the fire and said, \u201cEven though it\u2019s not her fault, she thinks it is, and I believe that\u2019s why she wants to help all these people, because she believes she owes it to them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sirius stood up and said, \u201cI need to write a letter. Don\u2019t let the fire go out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sirius looked for a place to write his letter, which was a report for His Majesty, the King, but the room was crowded, so in the end, he had to write it sitting on the floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abril, seeing that Sirius was writing a letter, approached him and asked, \u201cAre you writing to Alessandro?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to write to him. May I?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sirius gave her a sheet of paper, a pen, and an inkwell. \u201cThank you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abril had so many things she wanted to say to Alessandro; she didn\u2019t know where to start. After thinking\u00a0<\/p>\n
for a while, she wrote:\u00a0<\/p>\n
To my beloved Lessan,\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are so many things I want to tell you; I don\u2019t know where to start, so I\u2019ll begin by asking for your\u00a0<\/p>\n
forgiveness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
< Part II Death and qualt\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Points\u00a0<\/p>\n
Forgive me for not keeping my promise to return soon, but in Laios, people are dying because of me. Darkness has come to destroy their lives. I want to save them, and that might take me more time, but don\u2019t worry about me; I\u2019m fine. As soon as I finish liberating Laios, I will return to your side and to our daughter\u2019s\u00a0<\/p>\n
side.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Until then, take care of her and fill her with love.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With love, your Abril.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After finishing writing her letter, she handed it to Sirius. He used his magic and turned it into a bird. He\u00a0<\/p>\n
went to the window, opened it, and released the little bird into the sky.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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