Aftermath

Late night: 3 a.m

The village chief was deep asleep as the sound of his loud snoring reverberated in the whole room.His wife long used to her husband's habit was also sleeping soundly beside him.

When suddenly out of nowhere a loud boom sounded from a distance before a fierce tremor shook the house waking up the couple.The chief and his wife hurriedly sat up as the bed beneath them swayed.The lacrima lights hanging up on the ceiling swayed like pendulums as dust fell from the ceiling onto the chief's head.

"It's an Earthquake!!!Hurry up !Go! Go!

Go outside."The chief now fully alert, hurriedly ushered his wife outside as he himself got up.They heard the sounds of utensils falling and the glass breaking as they hurried outside.Saya their daughter in-law was already at the door waiting for them.She was in her pyjamas just like them and had a terrified look on her face.

"Hurry up!!"she yelled.

They didn't need the reminder as they themselves felt the power of the earthquake.It was a big one.They weren't sure if their house would be able to remain standing even though it had the sturdiest foundations in the village.

'ahh..the village!!...at this rate it will be razed to the ground!!!' The village chief thought in panic.

They hurriedly exited the house as they looked around them.Almost all the villagers had exited their house.They were all sitting on the ground unable to keep their footing.They followed their example too as they retreated to a safe distance from the danger of the falling structures.

After about 5 minutes of continuous shaking the earthquake finally stopped.But the chief knew better than to relax.There were surely going to be aftershocks.And they would be just as devastating.Talking about 'devastation'

,the chief took a look around and what he saw almost gave him a heart attack.

'..t..the village!....it's all gone.'

Just as he had feared,There was barely any structure that was still left standing after the earthquake.Even his own house was half destroyed.

The poor villagers were crying their eyes out.The women and the kids cried the hardest while the men tried to put on a brave face infront of their families and tried to console them.But the chief knew that they were also devestated inside."...sigh.."He sighed in defeat as he seemed to age a few years in just a few seconds.His shoulders dropped as his back hunched. The chief's wife noticing her husband's changes paniked before she steeled herself and grabbed hold of his shoulders as strong as she could.

"Dear!!! what are you doing! aren't you the village chief! ...You can't lose hope before everyone else!....wake up!! It isn't the time to mop around. What's happened has happened.The houses can be rebuilt again.The streets can be repaired again....Now what's most important is to save the people who might be trapped and get them to safety! and only you have the authority and power to rally the villagers. They'll listen to you because you're their chief.It's your duty to save your village and it's people.If you give up so easily who can we rely on!..."

The chief looked in shock as his wife lectured him.Before he looked down in shame.'..she's right!!..I am their chief!...I am supposed to protect them! ...to guide them...I can't be the one to lose hope! we'll get through this ..if we all work together...I know we can' The chief took a deep breath before he straightened himself up and looked into his wife's eyes. He the abruptly leaned down and kissed her.She was so surprised that her grip on his shoulders loosened.Before coming to her senses as she blushed deeply and pushed him away."WHAT Do you think your doing!!This isn't the time or place for something like this."She said blushing.

"Thank you Sarah! Marrying you was the best decision I have made in my life.. I don't know where I would be today if it weren't for you."The chief said lovingly, looking into his wife's eyes.

Sarah's blush deepened as she heard his loving words before she remembered where they were and looked around flustered. Thankfully no one had noticed them yet, still too depressed and in shock to be aware of their surroundings.

"Ok!..oK that's enough flattering...now you've got a job to do. You can praise me all you want when we are alone."She replied, still flustered and blushing.

The chief nodded his head before he turned towards the distraught villagers and yelled loudly to get there attention.

They all looked towards him,their eyes lighting up in hope.Everything was dead silent save for a few moaning and groanings of the injured.The chief looked at all their faces before booming in a loud voice,"Residents of the Sphinx village.I am your Chief Gyro speaking.I know that all of you are shaken right now.Terrified even.You don't know what you're supposed to do.Most of you have lost their homes.Some may have even lost their family.You might think this all a bad dream.But I'll tell you right now that it's not.It's understandable that you're upset. That's a normal and natural reaction to this situation But I just want to tell you that I am grateful that you are alive!!!

....I know things look bleak right now, but things are going to get better. This too shall pass....I can't imagine what you're going through.But I do know this,that you're capable and competent. I know you can handle this challenge!. I've seen you overcome other challenges. You're not alone - I'm here!...I'm here for you!! ...My heart goes out to you." The villagers looked on in a daze as their previously downcast expressions changed into one full of hope and determination.The women and the children stopped crying as the listened attentively to their chief's inspiring words.Their morale that had hit rock bottom, began to rise.

"Would you be willing to consider that something good may be unfolding here, in spite of appearances? What could that possibly be?

Imagine things go perfectly from now on. What would be an ideal outcome one year from now? What could you be enthusiastic about? Just think!! It's too early to give up!! We can get through this, if we all work together!! These houses can be rebuilt.These streets can be fixed.If we work together nothing is impossible. So...are you all going to cry and whine ...or are you going to STAND UP AND DO SOMETHING!!!?"

A chorus of positive and heated voices sounded out in reply , as the villagers who had lost their spirits were once again up on their feet full of hope and energy. The chief's words seemed to have lit a fire in their hearts as they cheered loudly.The women wiped their eyes as the children smiled again.

Sarah looked on in awe as she shed a few tears of happiness. He had done it again.Her husband had transformed the previously depressed and scared villagers into the cheering and shouting crowd before her.Their morale that had hit rock bottom, was now through the roof as everyone shouted in unison.The villagers were now more United than ever before.This disaster may have been a blessing in disguise.But she knew that only someone like her husband, Her Gyro had the power to turn such a disaster into a blessing.This was the reason she had fallen for him in the first place.He had this amazing charisma and an uncanny ability to inspire hope and good in people.She fully believed that her husband could do anything as long as he put his mind to it. It's just that sometimes he loses track and stops believing in himself likely due to shock and other factors.She knew that it was her job as his wife to support him and wake him up to remind him of who he was and that nothing was impossible.He was Gyro , her Gyro and he could do anything.

The village chief waited for the people to calm down before he continued,"The most urgent matter now is to find out the people who might be trapped under the rubble and get them to safety.Also get the medical supplies and start treating the injured. We'll salvage what we can from the rubble and wait for the sun to rise before doing anything else."

The villagers agreed and started following the instructions. Everyone became busy with relief efforts as the injured were brought to a safe place where the village doctor and a few other volunteers with basic medical knowledge were busy treating them.The chief gathered up some strong men and divided them into teams led by the village guards.They were to find and rescue the trapped people and retrieve any dead bodies.

2 hours passed and the Sun rose up shining brightly.The villagers were worked tirelessly.Strangely there were no aftershocks.The villagers were thankful of course but the village chief found this a bit strange.Surely after such a big Earthquake there were sure to be many small aftershocks.He had even made some preparations and ordered the teams to evacuate immediately lest any building collapsed near them while they were salvaging the remains.But even after two hours nothing came.A suspicion rose in his heart as he thought more about this.If he remembered correctly there was loud boom that sounded out before the Earthquake.At that moment due to all the chaos and confusion he had put it in the back of his mind but now that he thinks about it that was surely unnatural.' C..Could it be!! ...Could it be because of some magic!!....if so then what kind of wizard is that person to be capable of causing such destruction!!!...Was the village his target? or was it just caught up in it accidentally!!...If it really is because of magic then it surely is some kind of Lost Magic. Because I have never heard of Magic that can cause Earthquakes of this magnitude...I hope they don't have any malicious thoughts.Such magic can cause widespread destruction in the hands of wrong people...'

"Chief are you alright?"

The voice of a man cut the chief's trail of thoughts as he replied,"Y-Yes! ...I'm fine! what's the matter? Is there some problem?"

"No chief! Everything is going smoothly.In fact the report just came in about our losses.Almost all of the houses are destroyed or have taken some kind of damage.After searching through the rubble we rescued 76 people.Only 3 of them had suffered serious injuries. Others only had minor cuts or bruises. They were just trapped by the falling debris.We have taken roll call of everyone according to your instruction and there are a total of 156 people who are injured.Out which only 12 people have serious injuries.But the doctor has already stabilized them. Thankfully there is no danger to their life.The other 144 have only minor injuries.In fact some have even been helping with the relief efforts after bandaging up their wounds.As for casualties....I don't know if it's a miracle or something else but apparently there has been no casualties at all!despite this much destruction!!!" The man finished the report, his voice tinged with disbelief and joy at the end.

The village chief opened his eyes wide. He had been expecting a great number of casualties seeing the scale of destruction. But to think everyone survived! It really was a miracle! The chief was ecstatic!!!

"That's great news!!! I'll make an announcement to everyone.This will surely boost their morale.You go and see the progress of the camps.And report to me when Gary and the others return back to the village after requesting aid. I'll send a letter to the nearest army post and request for their help in the reconstruction. Now go."

The man nodded hurriedly before departing.The chief looked on as he thought ' hmm... I should also send a letter to the Magic council.If this is the work of some dark guilds then it's better to be cautious....hmm...Maybe I'll ask for his help too...It's been a long time since I last contacted him....I wonder how he's doing..He's now the guild master isn't he...hehehe...."

---

On the other side of the forest, There was a huge cone shaped clearing. In that clearing a small boy was sleeping soundly. Suddenly the bright rays of the sun hit his angelic face.The boy stirred his eyes before covering them up.

" Is it morning already?.... did I fall asleep here...ughh...that move must have taken more out of me than I thought."

This boy was Zack Newgate.He woke up after falling asleep last night due to exhausting his magic power.

"Ughh...now how do I explain this to the old man! The whole forest is destroyed. There isn't a tree for miles...damn this power sure is destructive.I have to be careful or I might even destroy the village. Haha that'll be really bad."

Zack thought amusingly, still unaware of the village's situation.He slowly stood up before stretching his sore muscle from the night spent sleeping on a hard surface.

" But really! this place has completely changed.All the grass,the trees and even the boulder was destroyed.The old geezer will chew me alive if he Comes to know that I was the one responsible for destroying his secret training ground after just spending one day here...sigh...I'll have to think of an excuse. He'll surely believe me.It's not like a four year old could even dish out so much destruction after just learning magic.It wouldn't be hard to convince him."Zack thought aloud as he took in the amount of destruction he had caused.Before looking around and searching for a way back to the village.

First he had to enter the forest.Then he'll be able to determine which way to go. Deciding on a course of action, he took off immediately in a random direction.After reaching the forest, he quickly sought out the tallest tree before climbing it and determining his current position and the direction of the village.

After finding it,he immediately climbed down as he made his way back to the village.After 5 minutes of running, he finally escaped the thick foliage and laid his eyes upon the village.

But just then his wide smile immediately froze on his face as his blood ran cold. He came to an abrupt stop as he looked at the place that had been his home for the past 4 years.His heart fell into an abyss as he looked upon the ruins of the village.He went into shock as A Thousands thoughts darted through his mind before he finally opened his mouth to speak, only to shout at the top of his lungs.

"WHAT . THE . FUCK!!!"