Memory in the End

Chapter 35: Aru's Gem

After that night, it was refreshing to be able to continue on with something normal in my life, such as in this case, the hunt for the gems. Aru sensed his gem next, meaning his was closer than Michael's to where we were. So we set off to find it, embarking on a two day journey to an abandoned, small, farming town.

The town was full of farms that looked as if it hasn't been lived in for quite some time. Most of the houses were falling apart, barely standing, weathered away by the frequent drought and heat. They were all farms, there was not a single house that didn't have land attached to it or a barn sitting in their backyard, although it was hard to tell where each plot of land began and ended, with the grass overgrown and the fences knocked down by past storms. There was a small store, abandoned, but the only one this whole town seemed to have, I guess everyone grew everything they needed and sold it in markets all over. Even though I'd never been here, I couldn't help but feel familiar with this place.

Aru didn't speak, he just stared at the town with guilt and sadness. I held out my hand and placed it on his shoulder as a means of comfort, but he simply smiled softly before turning away. He continued leading us to nearly the outskirts of town where a farm bordered the forest right next to it. When we arrived there, Aru stopped, causing a domino effect where everyone else stopped mid step behind him.

"It's here," Aru speaks, his voice barely coming out as a whisper, "But you guys wait here, who knows what dangers lie in this abandoned place."

I wanted to protest but then decided to stay quiet. We all nodded and let Aru continue his journey into the house. Michael accompanied me while I explored the forest next to it. I realized we're getting closer and closer to Arkade and if we weren't careful, we'd accidentally wander into King Philip's kingdom, and he would not be pleased. We were still far enough that it wouldn't be a problem, but we should still be wary of it, especially since we only had one gem left.

Arriving back, Aru still hadn't came out of the farmhouse and I was getting worried. He was a member of the Five, but still, this house didn't look very sturdy so one wrong move and it could collapse on him. I don't know if it'd kill him but I definitely did not want to find out. I decided to give him a couple more minutes, my heart racing every bit. After those minutes passed, I knew something was wrong.

"Aru should be back by now," I say aloud and they all shrugged.

"It takes a while to find where the gem really is."

"But not this long!" I snapped back angrily. How could they be so nonchalant about this? No one responded and I sighed, I hate it when they don't believe me and think I'm overreacting, "Fine, I'm going to check up on him."

"It's dangerous," Henry pointed out.

"It's a house."

"That could fall down."

"I doubt it will," I told him and turned around on my heels. I started walking towards the house but couldn't get the front door to open. I tried to use all my strength but the door was pretty much glued to the ground. Michael comes next to me and with a push of his hand, the door flies open, literally flying off it's hinges into the house. I gave a satisfied nod, I guess that was one way to open the door. The rest of the Five followed me in there.

A huge dust cloud hit me, causing me cough a bit but once it clears, I can see the quaint farmhouse. It was definitely for a small family because it had a tiny living room with barely any furniture left except for a wooden chair and a broken painting lying on the ground. The kitchen was as big as a bathroom and the actual bathroom was even smaller than that. There were two bedrooms, one had a big bed and the other had three smaller wooden beds.

We all split up to look for Aru, it's a small house but then again, you have to be careful. This house could fall down on us at any time, but I was more worried that the floorboards were going to give in and we would crash down. Michael and I explored the bedroom with the big bed, more so snooping around than looking for Aru.

"Where could he have gone?" I asked and Michael smirked.

"Maybe he's under the bed," Michael speaks before laying down on the ground to look there, "Nope, other than dust, he's not there."

I rolled my eyes, he was trying to make fun of me but I didn't care. I turned back around, looking at a cabinet that used to serve as the closet for this room. It was seemingly empty except for small pieces of paper I found. The back of it said Hawthorn Family, and when I flipped it over, my breath stopped. I quickly folded it up and threw it in my pants pocket before I walked out of the bedroom. There was about one place we didn't check, and that was the farm itself. I went out the backdoor and sure enough, Aru was in the far corner looking at something. I held a hand up to stop the Five.

"Wait here," I said in a quiet tone and walked over towards Aru. RIght below him were a couple tombstones with names written on them. It didn't take a genius to know who was buried here. There were five tombstones all lined up in a line along the forest, each one held a name. Henry, Elise, Matthew, Rose, and Pierre; these were Aru's family.

"They died of plague," Aru speaks, "The whole town did. It was a little after Knight Handon recruited me and let me join the service. I heard about it, but couldn't bring myself to take time off to check. I figured my family was okay but after Handon died, I came home to this. I stepped foot in the town and immediately saw how deserted it was and left. I couldn't even bring myself to check on my family."

"Aru-"

"I shouldn't have left, perhaps if I didn't I could have saved them somehow," Aru says, "Perhaps if I stayed, I could've been the son my father always wanted."

I rubbed his back, "Aru, your parents were proud of you."

"You don't know that."

I slowly took out the folded paper in my pocket and handed it to him, "I found this, and I think it's important for you to see it."

He took the three pieces of paper, one of them was a family picture painted of all of them, it was from when Aru was pretty young, probably around ten with his siblings and parents. The next paper was a picture painted of Aru in his knight uniform, most likely painted before he left, and the third was a letter to Handon from Aru's father about how thankful he was that Handon was able to provide Aru with a life that was better for him. He was glad that Aru pursued what he loved and wanted him to just be happy. He also wanted Handon to make sure Aru never felt guilty for his decision as his family was beyond proud of Aru, but the condition was Handon never told Aru that. The letter must've never gotten sent when the plague came, and it must've been hidden all these years. Aru didn't cry but sadness washed over him; seeing Aru sad was like seeing a small puppy being kicked. His happiness was what he was known for, but this sadness was understandable.

Aru bent down, cleaned any debris off of the tombstone and closed his eyes. He folded the papers and put it in his front pocket, closest to his heart and then stood up. A sudden gust of wind hit us, blowing my hair into my face. When I brushed my hair away, I saw Aru holding up a white, oval shaped gem in his hand. It was transparent and bounced the sun's rays off showing a world of color. But other than that, the gem didn't do anything whatsoever. Aru slipped it in his pocket and placed his arm over my shoulder pulling me close, "Thanks Arrabella."

"For what?"

"For just being you," He smiled and lead me through the house. We joined up with the others and for the first time in a while, no argument starts, but rather, everyone smiles and we started back on our way. I watched as their relationship grew closer and closer and I smiled, perhaps Ivan was right, maybe they do need me as much as I need them.

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Awe poor Aru. But I absolutely adore their friendship!

Tell us what you guys think!

H and S