Confrontation
Elric could not stop the sudden emotions that came over him as soon as he was clear from the view of his friend.
His body was already at its limit, trying to hold back but it just could not let go of the overwhelming sadness from the loss of the two most important people in his life.
Memories of the wisdom that his grandfather had given him over the years and his sweet and beautiful grandmother, now haunted him.
His sobs were audible from a distance away but Elric did not care.
He felt that if he held back and ran away from this, he would go crazy.
Fists clenched and head held up high, the silent echoes of his sorrow surrounded the dark forest in front of him.
But the calming sensation that he felt was suddenly interrupted by a sound. It was Klein.
His friend crouched down and rustled his way out of the cave entrance. He pretended not to see Elric trying to hide his tears and wiping them away as he just stood beside his friend.
"I—" Klein's words were abruptly halted.
"We don't have to talk about this now. Can we wait for Alice to wake up?" Elric said quickly and with a slightly agitated tone.
"I was just about to say that we need to make a fire. It's harvest season so I thought that I should go gather up some firewood and light one up inside the cave so we don't freeze to death." Klein said with a coy smile, teasing his friend about his wrong assumption.
Elric then met Klein's eyes and they both started to burst from laughter.
After their light-hearted banter, Elric warned Klein about the forest before he went.
Reminded of his grim experience that felt like ages ago but was surprisingly just a few hours earlier.
"Be careful out there. There's a lot of wild animals inside. Just don't go too deep, okay?"
"Alright, I understand" Klein acknowledged and proceeded to look for dry wood, to use to start a fire.
About half an hour later, Klein came back with a small pile of various sticks and some dried leaves.
He went inside and started to make a fire in a pit that he dug out before he went outside.
Fortunately, one of the early education that the children in the village learned was how to survive in the wild since they were close to the forest.
This was preparation for an unforeseen event that might force them to hide which is what the three young friends were in.
Daylight came and Elric had already switched with Klein hours before.
"AAAAAAAAAAGGHHHHHH!!"
The two boys were startled as they were woken by the screaming Alice who has regained her consciousness.
Elric quickly came to her aid which calmed the startled Alice. She was in an unfamiliar place but was soothed by the familiar face that appeared before her.
Klein hurriedly went inside to see the situation. However, Alice was still in a panicked state. She started to burst out into tears as she embraced the unprepared boy and cried out.
"Elric! I had a nightmare! -sob- I dreamt about all the Classless villagers -sob- being killed by guards and my father was... and my mother too." Her sentences were interrupted as she bawled.
"Please tell me it was all a dream. -sob- Please tell me it's not real. -sob-"
Elric realized that she knew that everything that transpired was all true.
He realized that his precious friend wished that all the horrible events that happened were all just fiction and was just a terrible nightmare made up only by her subconscious.
"I'm sorry." Were all the words that Elric could say. He was sorry for everything that happened and is still happening to them.
However, there was guilt in Elric's voice. Deep down, he blamed himself for everything that happened and thought that his friends were also blaming him but was only holding back this whole time.
He was sorry for being born classless and was the cause of all the troubles in the world. But Klein suspected this from Elric and hinted at the tone of his voice.
Klein quickly grabbed Elric and slammed him against the cave walls.
'This is it. This is the moment that I truly lose everything. I deserve this... this is only right for the likes of me.' That was what Elric thought as he assumed that Klein and Alice were about to cast him aside and blame him for everything.
"What are you sorry for!? Tell me!" Klein yelled out.
"We're all sorry for what happened you idiot but don't go blaming yourself for something that isn't even remotely your fault!" He continued as he threw Elric to the ground.
This was the first time Elric saw Klein as serious as he was. Thus rendering him speechless and could only listen to his words. He had no choice but to take Klein's words so he stood up and faced him.
"Are you sorry because our parents defended your grandparents and the Classless villagers!? Because I'm not!"
"They did the right thing and stood up for what was right! To me, they were heroes so don't go blaming yourself or the wrong people! Those guards and this world is what's wrong!"
"So tell me what you're sorry for!?"
"I'm sorry for being weak!!" Elric roared out as he swung both of his fists up high and pounded the cave walls in one motion.
*CRACK!*
*BOOOM*
One side of the cave walls collapsed from the impact of Elric's fists, causing all the rubble to crumble and break, revealing another entrance but this time it was like a tunnel that led deep inside the mountain.
As the situation calmed down, the three friends were now calm as well.
An unusual tension was now present between them but it didn't last for long as Alice spoke up and asked.
"Are we all done?"
This initiated a burst of laughter from the three of them and it seemed like these laughs were the only sign that indicated that they were still twelve-year-old children.
They all decided to inspect the tunnel and where it led to, inside the mountain. They thought that the worst had already happened and that they should just go for it.
As they individually picked up a torch from the fire pit that they kept lit, all of them descended with Elric at the lead.
"So can we now talk about what happened last night?" Alice asked as they walked silently.
"Elric, can you start telling your side of the story since we don't know where you were when it all started?"
Elric began to tell them the story, which he started from when he came back to their house and saw that their door was unlocked and that he was attacked by the Head Miner, Robin.
Both his friends were astounded as they listened to Elric's words.
But then Klein asked the question that his and Alice's parents asked the captain of the guards.
"So why didn't they do a regular inspection this time?" Klein asked.
"Yeah, we're always suspected of stealing from the mines and all they did before was search our houses one by one, so why did they have to go to such extreme lengths?" Alice wondered.
"It seemed like they were looking to get rid of someone. Robin was left inside our house and was waiting for me to come back since he knew who I was and noticed that I was missing, he was probably left behind and was ordered to kill me when I came back. Which means that whoever it was... It's someone among the Classless." Elric speculated.
"That backstabbing scumbag! I swear if I see him again... I'll—I'll kill him!" Klein shivered in rage as he was reminded of how his father was murdered.
"Count me in. We'll track every last one of those guards and kill them all." Elric said as he kept walking. Exuding a very heavy aura that made the two feel a bit out of breath.
"Don't get me wrong Elric, you're good at keeping your cool in extreme situations and making rational decisions under extreme pressure but I think you should leave the fighting to me and Alice." Klein mentioned.
"Let's see about tha—" Elric was surprised by a creature that jumped up as soon as they cleared the passage to what seemed to be a bigger cave.
He quickly touched the cave walls and as soon as he made contact, a crater was formed on the wall and his hand was quickly coated with stone that formed into a sharp pointed edge which he quickly thrusted at the green creature that lunged at him.
Piercing through its abdomen and impaling the hideous being.
Elric looked back at his two friends who's jaws were basically on the floor.
"Are you guys okay!?"