That Empty Stump

Lost in rumination, I made my way up a familiar dirt path right on the outskirts of Rulid Village. The weather that day was about as perfect as you could imagine in the Underworld. A slight touch of warmth from Solus' rays hitting my skin, but complemented with a refreshing gentle breeze. The combination of the path I was walking and the perfect weather brought a comforting sense of nostalgia and escape that I admittedly needed. Currently, as the Swordsman Delegate, I was one of the people most involved in bringing peace between the Human Empire and the Dark Territory. Peace negotiations were going better than anyone on the Human Empire Unification Council could have hoped, however, every problem we solved simply lead to another. I unconsciously let out a deep sigh. 

But I wasn't here near Rulid to consider or plan anything regarding the political state of the Underworld, I was in fact here to do the exact opposite and take a break from the world of politics. Since the day I awoke from my coma back during the Otherworld War and defeated Gabriel, I probably haven't had a single day to myself. Hell, maybe not even a single moment where I could just rest my mind. It was only because of my wife, Asuna, who was also the Swordswoman Sub-Delegate, that I had even been made aware I was overworking myself. I smiled a bit as my legs unconsciously worked further up the slightly rocky path. That part of Asuna was just as she'd been since the days of Old Aincrad, always able to read me like an open book. A slightly harder gust of wind brought me back out of my thoughts as I took in the breathtaking view of Rulid Village from high upon the hill this nostalgic path ran upon. 

After another minute or so of walking, gazing at the familiar scenery. I held my coat partially folded and hanging over my right shoulder when I finally reached the summit of the small hill, where the dirt path slowly faded into a beautifully lush variety of grass and flowers. At the center of this beautiful peak, was a single massive stump from what was once a massive cedar tree, the Gigas Cedar. This was also where I spent a good chunk of my childhood... well, second childhood is a better way of putting it. Being able to remember two separate childhoods is something I'm not too sure I'll ever be used to if I'm being honest, but strangely enough my childhood in Rulid is the one that comes to mind first whenever I do find myself thinking back to those years. 

"I don't want to think too hardly about what that could possibly mean..." I mumbled softly to myself as I sat down on the empty stump, wiping that train of thought from my mind. I took the swords hanging at my hips and placed them on my right side carefully so that they were leaning against the stump. I let my eyes drift upward towards the infinite expanse of blue and occupied my mind with nothing in particular. The warmth of Solus on my back, the therapeutic breeze, the chirping of small birds along with the sounds of leaves rustling amongst the countless trees in the surrounding forest, it was relaxing. This hilltop, despite the expansion of Rulid into the forest after the felling of the Gigas Cedar, felt the same as it did back then except.... "I wish he were here." I thought aloud to myself, the sentiment was accompanied by a pain deep in my chest. I did my best to numb the pain with a deep breath, but it seems that this time that just wasn't going to help. 

I was referring to my late partner, Eugeo. He was the closest and greatest friend I've ever had, whom I spent my childhood in Rulid with and together the two of us changed the future of the entire Underworld. He had died in battle, at the very top of the Central Cathedral and ever since that day I haven't had much time to process what happened. I took this as an opportunity to finally acknowledge that pain in my chest, after all, there was nothing else there to distract myself with anymore. 

As my eyes wandered the sky dotted with puffy white clouds far in the distance, I let that feeling in my chest absorb me for the first time. The ethereal blue sky, a horizon covered with varying shades of beautiful greens, and the flaxen-colored wheat fields of Rulid in the scenery below me. It was hard not to think of him in everything I saw. The sentimentality was enough to tear me apart as my vision of the absolute beauty of the landscape became blurred. 

I reached down for the Blue-Rose Sword where it leaned next to me on the stump, and lifted it so that it laid on my lap. I looked down at the pristine-white sword in it's sheath and felt some of the loneliness and sadness melt away for a moment.