The Deceitful One

Saturday, 15th January 1581. Wilmington Cemetery.

The sun had just risen as it cast a rosy hue over the sea of grayish-white tombstones. A gust of cold wind blew through the desolate cemetery covering it with a blanket of melancholy.

About a dozen people, dressed in black, had gathered together as a gloomy atmosphere surrounded them. Especially the six little children who couldn't stop crying as they stood in front of the two graves.

"We gather here today to celebrate the life of Jamie and Ella, who have now returned to their home, the divine kingdom of our Goddess…" A priest from the Church of Wisdom solemnly recited the introductory message.

About ten minutes later, Bryan and Andrew stepped forward as they carefully lowered Jamie's and Ella's caskets. Then, the both of them picked up a shovel each and earnestly covered the caskets in soil.

As Bryan was shoveling the soil onto Jamie's casket, he looked at it, and muttered under his breath, his eyes full of grief, "Idiot… I told you to move out."

Throwing the soil after the casket was lowered was a visual symbol of bidding farewell and attempting to get closure. Man comes from earth, and so must he return to earth!

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." The priest piously prayed to the Goddess and concluded the funeral rite.

Bryan walked in front of the little kids and crouched down as he spoke gently, "It's going to be all right. I'm here for you, okay?"

All the kids present remembered Bryan as the person who had given them warm blankets and food on that snowy day.

They also remembered him coming to their house that dreadful night a week back and fighting the monster who had taken away Jamie and Ella from them.

Hence, when the kids saw Bryan approach them, they couldn't hold it any longer as they ran into his embrace and wailed loudly,

"M-Mister, big sister Ella and Jamie are gone!"

"That monster killed them."

The kids complained loudly as their tears flowed nonstop. Bryan too tried his best to stop his tears from flowing.

He had to at least act strong and dependable in front of the kids. He hugged all of them as he softly replied, "Hush, it's going to be okay… you guys will be okay."

However, the kids couldn't stop crying,

"What are we going to do?"

"Big sister Ella always used to get us sweets to eat and Jamie used to tell us bedtime stories every night… now there's no one."

"I miss them!"

"Mister, please bring them back!" The little girl, Ava, who had short black hair and brown eyes, pleaded earnestly as she grabbed Bryan's collar. Her eyes had turned red from crying for so long.

The other kids followed after her as they began to plead too,

"Yes, yes! Please bring them back!"

"You fought off that monster, I know you're strong. Bring them back, Please!"

"I beg you!"

Bryan finally couldn't control his tears from flowing as he began to sob as well. The kids looked at Bryan starting to cry and they began to cry even louder.

Gently tightening his grip around them, Bryan hugged them for a long time until they stopped crying a little.

Hailey who was standing nearby wiped away her tears and approached them, "Kids, come with me for a moment."

She took away the kids, allowing Bryan a moment of respite as he wiped away his tears and tried to calm down his emotions.

He turned to look at Andrew and asked earnestly, "Is there any chance they can be adopted by the Church's orphanage where you grew up?"

Andrew patted Bryan's shoulder and acknowledged, "Don't worry, I'll handle the paperwork and make sure they live well in the orphanage."

Bryan nodded his head and spoke softly, "Thank you."

He then recalled something as he asked, "Also, can you ask Captain to tamper with their memories?

I hope he can remove the memory of that Blood Path bastard feeding on Ella's blood and killing Jamie in front of them. The kids will be traumatized for life, otherwise."

Andrew nodded solemnly, "Leave it to me! I'll let Captain know and he can choose the best course of action."

He then added, "Also, Elijah says sorry and sends his condolences. There have been quite a few scuffles in his father's factory lately. So, he had to go there and help him out."

Bryan smiled faintly and nodded, "It's okay. I understand."

The duo then bid farewell as Andrew and Hailey took the kids back to the Church. Only Ron and Bryan were now left, standing in front of Jamie and Ella's tombstones.

Ron looked at Bryan who was staring at Jamie's tombstone in a daze and sighed, "Death is an inevitable part of life, Bryan.

It isn't something that you can truly get over, but something that you must learn to live with. And as a Transcendent, you'll come across death more than you're willing to."

Bryan snapped out of his daze and looked at Ron as the latter continued, "I know you're grieving and I know it hurts. But amidst this pain of loss, there is a shimmer of hope."

He said the last sentence while pointing at the kids who were being escorted out of the cemetery by Andrew and Hailey.

Bryan looked at the children's desolate backs and thought back to how Jamie had mentioned that it was his goal to provide a better life for his little siblings.

"Sometimes death is not the end, but a new beginning. It's all a matter of perspective." Ron added with a gentle smile.

Bryan nodded as he smiled faintly. He then looked at Ron and said sincerely, "Thank you."

Ron shook his head and spread his arms as he gave Bryan a warm hug, "Come on, you don't need to thank me."

"Let's head back to the HQ now, shall we?" Ron asked.

Bryan nodded with a smile as the duo left the cemetery together.

A gust of wind blew around the tombstones of Jamie and Ella, carrying the dried leaves scattered nearby. The leaves swirled atop the tombstones a few times and then flew high into the bright sky.