HAVEN || SATORU GOJO

XIII

THE SUN SET ON THE HORIZON, casting its warm glow across the land, a quiet stillness began to settle over the world. The birds ceased their singing, the insects stopped their buzzing, and the gentle rustling of the leaves faded away.

It was a moment of peace and tranquility, a moment of reflection and introspection. And in that waking moment, she was reminded of the impermanence of life, of the fleeting nature of existence.

Just as the sun had to set, so did all living creatures that one day would pass from the world. "But even as we mourn those who have gone before us, we can take comfort in the knowledge that they have found their peace."

It was possible find solace in the memories that they left behind in the fleeting memories that would linger. Rieka had lost enough people in her life to understand these things.

When Rieka had arrived .. it was like the calm after a storm.

As she approached the border of the small countryside town, the first thing she noticed was the sky. It was a deep, angry shade of gray, roiling with dark clouds that seemed to stretch out to the horizon.

The air was thick with the smell of ozone, and the wind was picking up, carrying with it the sound of distant thunder.

Something inside of her knew that she was too late, that the storm had already arrived, but still she felt a sense of responsibility to find them .. and to bring them home, dead or alive.

As the sorceress made her way into the heart of the town, she saw the destruction that the storm had wrought. Trees were uprooted, buildings were damaged, and debris was scattered everywhere.

The streets of  the village were deserted, the only sounds were the howling of the wind and the pounding of the rain.

But the woman pressed on, through the wind and the rain, guided by the light of her own soul ..

She sifted through the rubble, her heart grew a bit heavier, catching a glint of something glistening in the dirt. At first, she had assumed it was just a piece of metal, or maybe a shard of glass, but as the woman scrambled deeper, she realized that it was something much more precious. It was a locket, a small, delicate thing, with a silver chain and a tiny, heart-shaped pendant.

It was caked in mud and grime, but the woman could still make out the intricate designs etched into the metal. Carefully wiping away the dirt and debris , revealing the delicate photo of a young little girl with a cute gummy smile.

The god gifted eyes scanned the rubble for any sign of life .. until she heard a faint sound, a soft sound of breathing that seemed to be coming from beneath a pile of twisted metal and broken concrete.

The brunette rushed over to the spot, her heart pounding with fear and hope, with desperate urgency she used a mass of curse energy to shatter all of the debris in one go.

Reaching out from beneath the rubble there was the glimmer of a hand. Rieka grabbed onto the hand, pulling, careful to not injure the unidentified person and slowly, agonizingly, a figure emerged from the wreckage.

It was a boy, his face was nearly unrecognizable, battered and bruised, his clothes torn and dirty, but alive.

But his soul was just the same.

"Nanamin!" Like a worried mother, Rieka's hands began to look for any life threatening wounds. Her eyes moved around rapidly, looking through the dirt that coated his skin.

He lurched over, coughing out soot. "Yu .. Yu was .."  The boy whispered the rest of the sentence in her ear as her eyes grew wide.