Chapter 4 "Scars of War"

In war, there will not be a good or bad side, nor those who end up without staining their hands. There are no good guys or bad guys, just species trying to maintain their survival.

Nauge from the moment he saw his father preparing to leave, when despite the 'no' from his father decided to go to war he knew that. But for someone to know something will never be the same as experiencing it, having stained hands leaves traces that could never be erased with water. Will time erase them? Perhaps, but so far Nauge silently prayed that the burdens of a war-stained life could be lessened.

He could notice the stains left on his family, as Lunette always kept guard with the magical who approached them in open areas, or his wife who always kept a gun on her chest, even her father, that old bird checked every route of escape in every place I came. He couldn't help but tremble every time he heard the thunder of lightning, bringing back the horrible memories of that fateful night.

The little episodes of anxiety and panic were some of the unwanted gifts that life at war gave them, forcing them to never forget how broken they are.

When Lunette and Léger did not appear, Nauge, despite his calm appearance, became concerned, the visions of him in the last days were so disjointed that she couldn't come up with the message. Shelves and lights were the only things he saw when he slept. The mirror seemed stuck, like an old human movie, repeating the tape over and over and over again.

His best option was to ask his father for help, maybe he could decipher the message, going back to Lunette and Léger, both had been out of work due to Léger's pregnancy but lately, they had not communicated with anyone in the family.

When the Brin-Amande appeared at the door, Nauge could not help but notice the aura of hypervigilance and rigidity that both men carried, they seemed with an avalanche of doubts, and with a single correct touch, it seemed that they would break into speech. Nauge for the sake of the little ones did not comment, but the glances of the adults spoke of a proper talk when the children went to sleep.

Dinner passed without major problems with pleasant talks, very soon it was time to sing all gathered on the patio. Everyone had a nice and peaceful time, but that ended the moment Cover and Letter sent the children to sleep.

The night cold was covered by a thick aura of seriousness and before entering each adult collected all the blankets and garbage left at random. When they finished cleaning they returned to the spacious living room and took seats in comfortable fluffy chairs, Nauge went to the kitchen to prepare drinks while the others remained seated.

" Why didn't you call these days? " Curious Cover asked the men in front of her.

An anguished sigh came from the dark-haired man's thin lips.

" So many things have happened that seem like years " Lunette gave a serious expression that calms down when he perceives the slight trembling coming from the long and calloused hand of his husband who was caressing his broad arm being like a refreshing wind blowing to the beautiful wildflower.

" The best route would be to start with the letter " Léger muttered under his breath and inside his jacket, he took out a medium cream-colored envelope, handed the letter to his older sister who slowly opened the letter and together with the others they began to read.

While Cover, Hotte, and Écaille were reading, Nauge returned from the kitchen with a tray and on it, porcelain cups painted with landscapes and a kettle with coffee in it. He slowly and gracefully served each cup to the others and with a careful smile, he handed the special tea to Léger who also smiled at his.

" I have read that coffee is not a highly recommended liquid in your state so, I also prepared some lemon tea, I hope you like it " With a soft smile and narrowed eyes Nauge sits next to his wife who receives him with a kiss on the cheek.

" It's perfect, thank you " With a nervous smile, Léger takes a sip of the warm drink, the heat and flavor quickly calm his nerves and he rests his head on the shoulder of his partner who squeezes him to the side of him.

The comfortable silence is broken by the strong exhalation that caught the attention of the others. All eyes fell on Hotte who was still engrossed in reading the letter as if to notice the others.

" We must prepare quickly! " With a low cry, Hotte finally looked at them with her eyes full of determination and fury.

Whatever was written in that letter, Nauge knew it didn't bode well and from now on things would move quite a bit, he didn't need his vision to know.

●●●

The rustle of the wind against the window and the grilling of insects along with the rustle of moving cloth were most of the sounds that could barely be heard in the room as Dennys and Lessandra got ready to sleep.

" Do you think he's sad? " After putting on his pajamas Dennys threw himself on the thousands of blankets and laid down like a corpse asked, fixing his gaze on the ceiling.

" Who? " Lessandra asked, combing his caramel hair.

" You know Ohtli, the one with the song, it must have hurt a lot when his other half was no longer with him, I would have been sad if one of you disappeared " Dennys mutters the last part and takes his little white hands out of the blankets appreciating the slight cracks still left on his arms, the first time the cracks appeared the panic was something that greeted him with a kick to the stomach but now (couldn't say the fear is gone) he's more used to (not is a thing to show off his grandfather would say).

" They are Dennys gods, they probably have more important things than crying for a brother who has not been around for thousands of years " Lessandra sighed, putting the comb in the low cabinet and lying down with Dennys on the wide bed, Dennys placed his head on his arm stretched out of Lessandra who brought him close to his chest.

" Tomorrow we can go out to play with Calamity? I found a new tree near that nice bush from last time " sleepily Dennys whispered, tucking his face deeper into his warm chest.

"Of course, we'll tell Aunt Cover and Uncle Nauge, we can have a picnic before we go" Lessandra replied, yawning.

"It will be incredible," Dennys murmured, letting himself be carried away by the haze of sleep.

The silence covered the room, the soft breaths and the cooing of the insects echoed in the place and the darkness brought out the paranoia that the little ones ignored.

●●●

The ripping of the pen and the sound of the pages repeated like a song that got stuck to start over and over again. In the large office, a brown-haired magical was hunched over, ignoring the strong rays of sunlight streaming through the window behind him.

The thunder of the wood made his long ears flutter slightly and he briefly lifted his gaze from the sea of papers on the table, the dark wooden door opened to admit a young man in a purple suit.

" His majesty everything is arranged, the car is waiting for him to leave " The servant politely informed him, bowing respectfully.

" In a few moments, I will go " The magic with a serious face replied slowly, writing again, only looking up to watch the other leave.

" With his permission " The servant bowed again and the soft click confirmed that he had closed the door again.

Stopping for a few moments, the king reviewed the calendar next to him 'September 15', he pointed out crossed out with a fluorescent circle, with no feeling other than fatigue, he returned to finish his work. Whoever said that being king was an easy task well he could cut his throat with a knife and see if he could get words out.

Being royalty (although it was not and never really would be) always brought thousands of cons, the magical could think that being a prince, princess, or whatever, was simply sleeping and having their whims fulfilled. All the magical or species of the Lasso with a royal status would burst out laughing when they heard that idiocy, being someone with a high status brought them thousands of responsibilities and regulations to follow (Although he could not appeal for all royalty because he only had less than 50 years in this world and I knew that, for that stereotype to be maintained until now, there would have to be some who complied with those attitudes) This world was inhabited by monsters and only the most persevering will go through difficulties and continue to maintain their essence. Égaré went in and out of the cold desert to get to where he is now and regret or doubt would take him nowhere other than an endless spiral of 'what would happen also, certainly, there were magical who were worse.

His ramblings about a damp and horrible place were cut off by the creaking of the door reopening, the light footsteps bringing into view a magical in a suit with golden seals, strong face, and white hair, who was staring at the pile of documents in the wide desk and a frown began to form on his forehead as he got closer to his place.

" If I'm not mistaken, a servant came to warn you about the departure" Exasperated, the blue-skinned magical snatched the feather from his hand.

" That's right, I was just getting ready to leave " Indifferent Égaré looked at the other who was sorting the papers on the desk and raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

" Sure sure. You are more likely to go a week without touching a bed to work than to be excited about attending a social event " Mocking the white-haired man hit the king's head with a book.

" Now, now, now, I don't want to hear another of his talks about my public image, I have enough with Une forcing me to pose for the festival campaigns " Tired Égaré got up and massaged his aching neck and thundered his stiff back, spending hours and hours sitting was not good for anyone "Okay, let's go now"

The magical white-haired man gave him a reproachful look when he heard the thunder of his back but he continued ordering when he finished they both left the immense room crammed with books, papers, and unlit screens. Outside the room they were greeted by a wall with a small painting of a sunny landscape, they continued walking, passing cold-toned corridors adorned by intricate patterns of the four elements carved in gold and various paintings or photographs in metal frames, some containing bloody battles or portraits of magical with various types of shapes and postures, the only things in common between them were some physical features (such as slit pupils) or the large headdresses that looked like horns crossed on their heads.

The floors where they walked shone like pieces of a full moon, after some time passing corridors cared for by some guards or cleaning servants, they finally arrived at the main hall, they were received with a strong greeting by a group of high guards with heavy purple and blue armor, with their faces covered by masks that only had little grids where an earring and sturdy gloves could barely fit.

Each guard lowered their heads and with a deep and respectful voice, they knelt in two straight lines on either side of the magicical's, showing their respect to their king.

" Very well, the sooner we arrive, the sooner we can leave" Tired and with an indifferent face, Égaré walked towards the huge doors, followed by a group of guards to protect him at all times.

●●●

Boom, boom, boom, boom, Dennys's heart thundered madly over and over again, his long white ears twitching around trying to pick up a sound. Certainly, Dennys couldn't tell where he was, he doesn't remember walking to this nameless place or even leaving his room; By looking more closely he could confirm that he was floating, seemingly unaffected by gravity or movement in general, he seemed to be in one of those movies about humans in space that he and Percy were becoming obsessed with watching.

But Dennys could certainly confirm that he was not in space because what the hell would he do in space, and how is he not dying now from lack of oxygen? Before he could continue to ramble and try to find an explanation for what was happening, a heavy cloud of smoke collided with his floating body, as black as a piece of freshly lit coal and as thick as condensed milk rushing into his throat, tears begin to his black eyes pop out and Dennys tries in vain to get it off his face.

As sour as a tender lemon it snaked down his throat and clung to his lungs, no matter how hard Dennys tried he found any form of escape useless, his magic didn't work here and defense techniques didn't prepare him for a thing like smoke ( he would talk about it with his uncle Rond when he returns from wherever he is) the more smoke got in the harder it was for him to fight to keep his conscience active and he does not know when the torture finally stopped but when his head stopped spinning there was not a single trace of smoke except for the burning in his throat.

Still dazed Dennys massages his chest and closes his eyes to re-establish his balance (bad move, never block your view in an unfamiliar place, his grandfather would remind him) and when he reopens his eyes a long staircase down is in front of him and the realization hits him. Of course, now he was aware of where he was, his father had told him about this place in case he ever arrived, the room with a thousand faces; a connected space between his subconscious and his powers of clairvoyance where he could get his visions. Certainly, Dennys had not been in this place, the estimation of his father and grandfather had told them that between 11 or 12 years it could happen and they were not wrong.

Without thinking too much and with his curiosity running high on him (Percy would call it too curious for his sake) he begins to walk towards the stairs. The closer he got he could notice how the previous smoke began to cover everything he left behind, Dennys couldn't tell if that was normal, each room was different depending on the wearer so he would only ask the gods to be something normal and he would continue his exploration.

Click, click, click, was the sound that accompanied him with each step he passed, he continued down and down and for a few moments Dennys remembered those stories with paths that did not end and that would lead you to what you are looking for and if he did not know he was in his mind would fervently believe that he had fallen into a fantastic story. Although they seemed not to finish their short legs they did not stop with fatigue or pain in their feet, when he looked down more of three dark corridors and the same, he received him, without thinking much he chose the left path and releasing a sigh he started.

The footsteps he took echoed off the high smooth walls and a small light appeared behind him every so often and as he walked further and further Dennys began to notice that the space narrowed more and more until he had to crawl to be able to continue. A small wooden door was the end of the long corridor and with some effort, he managed to enter.

Standing again, Dennys observed the place, at first glance, it seemed like a space, a blank room; but fixing his gaze ahead he could make out a medium and long construction and with determined steps, Dennys approaches. It is a fountain, its structure is somewhat rough with unfinished details but it hides a touch of strength and elegance, behind the fountain a simple glass jug filled with water is found.

Dennys takes the jug and starts pouring the water into the fountain and little by little it starts to fill up. When the last drop of the waterfalls towards the fountain the sound of the dripping and the movement of the water gives way to calm, and Dennnys stood there, watching; and suddenly the water gives way to fuzzy and crazy images. And the more Dennys watches, he can feel his heart leap out of his chest and his paper-pale face takes on a new shade of white.

If he didn't know that he was on his mind, he would try with all his might to scream.

●●●

It was a day with no sunlight insight, one of the requirements of the day for Dennys to be able to go to Percy's house without major inconvenience.

Both children were emerging from a large purple gate surrounded by magic and guarded by two statues of birds preparing for flight. The young woman with long apple-colored hair and skin as dark as a storm cloud took the hand of the one with skin as light as the moon and hair as pure as snow and together they walked through the exit.

Both children walk in a comfortable silence only broken by the screams and murmurs of other children behind them, Dennys keeps his eyes on him in front but not focusing, his mind wandering towards horrible messages and uncertain futures. Percy seems to notice this because he stops walking.

" Has something bad happened? " Curious Percicum fixes her completely black eyes in the dark eyes of the albino "This morning you have been very quiet, not even a literary analysis with Miss Cecil has taken you more than a few sentences. If you are not feeling well we can postpone our evening of movies, I will not bother" sympathetically the redhead smiles at him and gently squeezes her small hand.

Dennys is silently watching his friend and while he watches his appearance he can only reproach himself for worrying about things he cannot control, but maybe if he can change, he whispers a voice in his head. With fresh encouragement, Dennys returns a narrow-eyed smile to his friend and flaps his long ears.

"I will tell you everything, but we must get to your house before " Quickly and not lose courage Dennys begins to run quickly entering the path of flowers.

And as he feels his chest burn and his locks twitch Dennys can forget the sight of his father bathed in blood.