Alfheim

XIX. Our loss

Meanwhile back in the real world...

"No, she hasn't run away," Ysabel's dad says to the person who he is talking to on the phone. "I've already filed dozens of missing person reports, but you are still doing nothing!"
"Yes, I will," he says before hanging up.
"My dear Ysabel, where in the world are you," he whispers.

Ysabel's dad POV

It's been a week since Ysabel's disappearance. Police tell me to be patient, but I can't wait any longer. I have to investigate on my own. I grab a notepad. I write down what had happened. Ysabel came to the office to go through my work and give me her opinion. I open my computer. I had shared my document with her. Maybe she left a note in there? After I opened the document I scrolled. Then I stopped scrolling... I couldn't believe my eyes... Someone had added another few chapters to the story! Was it Ysabel's doing? Probably not. I scrolled to the last page and saw how the computer was still adding words. I quickly called my editors who were also sharing the document with us if they continuing the story, but no one said they did.
"Gideon made a pact with Ivy," the last sentence said.
Ivy? Didn't I let that character die? What in the world is going on?!

Back in Alfheim...

The next day Ivy and Gideon are continuing their journey through the forest to find the others.

Gideon's POV

I can't figure her out I think while staring at the back of her head. She's so reckless. She is so different than the others. She is fascinated by so many things. Ivy... who exactly are you? I think the pact with her will profit me during our journey. We passed the first obstacle together with a reason. I have to make sure our team wins this quest, so Aestas will rule over Alfheim.

"Over there!"Ivy suddenly shouts while pointing to the end of the road where the forest ends.
As I follow where she is pointing at I see a group gathered on horses in the distance. It's the rest of our parties. As we come closer I notice a few people are missing. I quickly count the faces of my team. What a relief... no one is missing.
"Where are the others..." I hear Ivy ask with a worried tone.
When we joined our teammates I helped Ivy off the horse and noticed how disheartened her teammates were.
No one responded to Ivy's question. We all knew what this painfully silence meant, but Ivy kept looking around desperately, hoping to see her other teammates appear.
"Where are Hugo and Emilia?" she asked her teammates. She looked at Timothy and then to her remaining teammates. The girl had been crying.
Timothy walked towards Ivy trying to console her, but she shook him off. "Answer me!" she shouted frustrated.
"They... died..." Timothy whispered with tears in his eyes.

Not really grasping the situation, she got upset. Then she ran away from the group, back into the forest.
Timothy called after her, but she didn't stop running. She kept going. Timothy and I managed to follow her. She stopped at a tree and sat against it. She put her head in her hands and started crying.

"How...I...I...she...he...," she stuttered while crying.
Timothy and I ran towards her and sat next to her. We sat there in silence waiting till she stopped crying. Then she wiped her tears and stood up.
"Are you alright?" I asked while reaching my hand out to grab her hand.
She pushed it away and looked at Timothy looking for answers.
Timothy noticed how much I suddenly cared for her and pulled her close to him.

"They probably killed them!" Timothy claimed. "Cause we found them, all the trolls were already dead!"

At this point, Ivy was willing to believe anything and Timothy's claim made sense.

"No, the trolls killed them," I still tried to convince her. Still not knowing what really had happened.
"How could you!" she shouted. Ivy pushed me away and grabbed on Timothy's arm firmly. They both walked back to their group. Timothy looked back at me with a grin on his face. That elf... Something was off about him...

Ysabel's POV

That night we had set up a camp somewhere in the forest. We had made a fire. I stared into the fire. I can't believe they died... And I can't believe I cried over the deaths of two fictional characters. But their deaths and everything I'm experiencing in this world feels so real. When I heard about their deaths my mind went blank and my body was reacting on its own. I shouldn't get too attached to them I keep telling myself. I have to find a way back to the real world.

"Are you okay?" Kira asked as she sat down next to me.
"I'm ok," I answer. "How are you holding up?"
"Ok," she answers with a smile. Kira is so strong. Even now she still managed to remain calm and not become an emotional mess as I did. "Even though we didn't know them very well, they felt like siblings to me. We understood each other from day one."
I nod. Kira was right. Even though we didn't know each other very we well, losing them felt like losing a family member.
"We buried them. Later if you want to visit them I can bring you to them," Kira then suggests. "That way you can get some closure."
"I would love that," I answered a little bit choked up with tears swelling up again in the corners of my eyes.
Kira gives me a big hug and I hug her back. We hold onto each other pretty long, till Grant joins us.
"I'm sorry, I overheard your conversation," Grant said. "I was just about to visit their graves before we leave tomorrow. Would you like to come as well?"
"Are we going so soon?" Kira asked surprised.
Grant nodded.
"Yes," I said to answer Grant's question. "Kira, can you let Timothy know about our absence?"
Kira nodded.

I followed Grant to the horses. He helped me on the horse and then pulled himself up and sat behind me. He grabbed the reigns and made the horse move. During the ride, we didn't say much.
It didn't take long till I saw two crosses in the distance. They were branches stuck into the ground. We got off the horses and as we were walking towards the graves I stopped to grab some flowers from the bushes nearby and made two mini bouquets.
"Their very beautiful bouquets," Grant complimented when he saw them.
"Thanks," I responded.
I put them on the graves and said: "I hope you'll have a better life up there." I looked at the sky. It was a full moon.
"Don't worry. They'll be alright up there,"Grant said trying to comfort me. But while he was trying to comfort me, he got emotional too. I hugged him. We held onto each other as we looked at their graves. Later Timothy and Kira arrived. They put a hand on one of our shoulders and also looked at the graves. Timothy put his hand on Grant's shoulder and Kira on mine. And that's how we stood there in silence.

Sometimes the most powerful thing you can say is nothing at all.

'They didn't deserve this,' I whispered under my breath.

Life is a precious thing. You never know how it will go. So love you're loved ones as much as you possibly can because you never know when you'll lose them.