Sub Terra: Et Reditus

Twenty-Two

Daniel

Gus and I met Dad outside the hospital doors. He was dressed in a red t-shirt with an album cover from some artist back in the 50's on its chest, and a pair of relaxed jeans. He sat in a HoverChair, something that would allow him to become mobile again. There was a button on one of the arm rests that could be pressed in case of an emergency, and a few other knobs and switches that allowed him to maneuver himself. We went over a plan for our excursion, then set off.

We noticed that the sky was perfectly blue and cloudless as we walked to the outskirts of the village. There was a slight, cool breeze and the air was warm. It couldn't have been more perfect.

"Sora ga utsukushii," Dad said in some foreign language. "Your Uncle Jack's grandpa always used to say that on days like this.

"What does that mean?" I asked him.

"It means 'the sky is beautiful' in Japanese. Sounds simple, right?"

"I guess so."

"He said something else when the weather wasn't that great. He'd say 'Ashita wa motto iihini naruyo.' That meant 'tomorrow will be a better day.' He never used to complain about the weather."

"What's all that gotta do with anything?" I asked as we approached the river that cut through the village.

"Nothing much. Just something to think about." he smiled.

As we arrived at the river, we saw someone sitting by it, petting a donkey which was laying down. I recognized the person. It was Aries' sister.

"Hey Nadia." I said. "You here alone?"

"Um... yeah." she said softly.

"We're just taking a walk to an old village just north of here. Wanna tag along?" I offered.

"Sure. I'll come with you. I don't have anything else to do here anyway." she said, picking herself up.

"You know Gus, right? Well, we have someone else with us here. This is my dad." I said, introducing them.

"Pleased to meet ya... Nadia, that's your name, correct?" Dad said.

"Yes, sir. Nice to meet you, too."

We walked along the river at a steady pace, taking in the views of the red-brown rock in the surrounding area. It felt like an entirely new planet.

"It's great being together in our little bunch like this outdoors, huh?" My dad said. Everyone agreed with him. "It's a hell of a lot better than being in a lousy old hospital room all day." I would've hated to be somewhere like that for all of my waking hours. I didn't understand how he was able to bear it.

"I wish Devi was here,"  Nadia said quietly. "She's amazing."

"She's busy," I said, even though I wasn't sure what she was doing. "She's either doing volunteer work at the hospital or helping Madame out with something." I said the two most likely tasks she would've been doing at a time like this.

Speaking of Madame, further up the river, we met a peculiar sight. On the other side of the river, we could see a couple making out in an area otherwise devoid of human presence. I could recognize the man -- Kai, one of Madame's many children. I quickly took away my gaze from the scene.