LOST LIVES

Chapter 4: Painted Red With Apathy

Within the Forest of Embers...with the nearly lost.

The Forest of Embers would have been one of the best places I have ever seen if the "embers" were scarcer. But no. You couldn't even count anything as embers because everything was essentially either burnt or on fire. The red fog that we saw before contributed to the supposedly smoky atmosphere that coated the land and the forest. The trees were in coats of soot and ash and were all tilted to the side for some good reason. It wasn't a surprise that there wasn't anything living around the path we walked, save for a few lizards. Burnt bushes and large stones were insanely prevalent with both being covered in ash. It was a feeling of uncertainty and death that I never really experienced to the scale that it showed me. I could tell that I and Francisca felt the same feeling from just us strolling in the forest. It was heightened by the occasional skull and tools that we came across.

"So... this is where she got offed, huh?" I started.

"I guess so." Said Francisca. "I hope we find her soon."

"We will. I just can't believe she had to die in this hell." I said.

"...Come to think of it, all of our bindings were pretty much hell. From what I have heard from them, my sister that died here had lots of first-degree burns that took weeks to heal and the one that died in the lightning strike was inflicted with 'supernatural pain' as she called it." Francisca explained.

"I guess so," I remarked.

It was kind of a silent moment after that. I kept on walking and climbing and Francisca kept holding on to me and my mouth. I wanted to pass the time as we walked.

"Anything about yourself that you haven't told me yet, Francisca?"

"...I don't think I have mentioned this yet but, thanks to Hyness' revival I was able to use magic," Francisca answered.

"Oh?"

Francisca then shot out a small blast of ice from her hand. I was shocked.

"Oh, and that's not all."

Francisca made sure one hand covered my mouth while she held out her right in the air and summoned a hand ax for her to hold. It looked like an ax that you would use to chop wood, but its handle was long and blue, and its blade was also bigger. It looked more like a weapon than something used to chop wood. Opposite the blade was a snowflake shape that was the color of a cornflower. Her weapon looked so goddamn amazing. I was filled with excitement and astonishment.

"Francisca, your weapon looks so fucking amazing!" I exclaimed.

"Oh! Umm... Thank you! I remember this looking much nicer though..."

"It still looks amazing Franci- Franny!" I said with excitement.

"Thank you- You already have a nickname for me?" Francisca questioned.

"Yeah! We've known each other long enough, right?" I asked.

"...Yeah. I guess we have Zu-... Zub-... Zuuuuuuu..."

"...Zu'?" I suggested.

"Yeah! Zu'!" Francisca exclaimed.