The Unknown Divinity

Her Name

Astraeus begins to work on an elaborate dish, with the main ingredient being potatoes. It takes him some time but with a little bit of elbow grease, and some fire magic to speed up the process, he was able to make a dish reminiscent of his past. The smell permeated in the kitchen and he could hear the time when his grandmother praised him for cooking on his own.

The smell soon left the kitchen and Nicholas can be heard saying, "It sure smells good from here! Get those short legs moving kid! Don't want whatever that is to get cold too soon." Astraeus makes himself and Nicholas a plate, soon making his way out of the kitchen to the living room. He hands his plate to Nicholas and makes his way to the dining room to eat his share. But before he can, the man says, "Don't eat in the dining room, won't be able to see if you pass out or not again. Come, grab one of the extra chairs, and eat with me."

The boy grabs a seat and sits next to the old man as they silently eat. Astraeus doesn't know what he wants to say to him. He could make another joke but the old man seems focused on his meal, perhaps he was thinking about someone. Before he could think anymore, Nicholas randomly said, "Her name."

Astraeus confusingly asks, "What?" The old man explains himself, "Your grandmother... What was her name?" Astraeus seems surprised by his question but answers, "Aileen, she raised me all alone for fifteen years." The man continues to eat but then asks, "Tell me about her, I want to know about the woman who raised such a strong young man."

He takes a moment to think, he grabs the necklace that he has around his neck, "Where to begin... She was an interesting person, to say the least, but she cared so much about me." The boy sighs, "My father and mother died after I was born, so she was the only person left who could take care of me. She always told me about how quiet of a child I was when I was a baby, compared to her son I was easier to raise."

He takes a moment to continue eating, "But she was still very strict, I wanted to go out with my friend into the nearby forest to play but she would always punish me if I thought about leaving our village borders. She said some wolves would eat little kids like me." Astraeus drinks some of his water, "But she was still extremely kind, whenever I would come home crying because I was being bullied, she would make a big fuss and harass the parents of the kid who made fun of me. There was this time I fell from our olive tree because I didn't listen to her. But she didn't get mad, she just wanted to know if I was alright."

He pauses, thinking some more and laughing a bit before saying, "She, however, was a terrible teacher. I always had trouble understanding anything she tried to teach me. I had a lot of trouble learning to write and even to this day, my handwriting is barely legible. The only thing she did teach me was how to make baskets out of fiber. She told me that she came from a long line of weavers and so it was the only thing she fully understood."

The man smiles and Astraeus finishes his story, "Granny Aileen will always be the best grandmother I could ever wish for. I don't think I would be who I am today if she wasn't the one who raised me."

The both of them finish their meal, it seems that Nicholas is a bit teary-eyed, "Alright enough reminiscing kid. You got yard work, but thank you for the story Astraeus. Aileen sounded like a wonderful woman. I think she and my Maria are watching over us right now." Astraeus wipes some tears as well, "On it sir!" He takes both of their dishes and heads back into the kitchen.

He soon makes his way outside to the backyard to begin the yard work. Compared to the forest, it wasn't too awful. But all Astraeus had was a carving knife, a sword, and a bag of camping supplies. Nothing he could use to cut the grass or dig up weeds. However, Astraeus noticed a small shed and so with nothing better, he went inside.

Just like the house before, this shed was extremely dusty but it was much worse. The moment he stepped inside, he could barely breathe as the particles in the air were dense enough to get stuck in his throat. So the boy held his breath, opened the shed door, and began fanning out as much as he could.