Chapter 68: Embrace

His obsidian knife goes through the undead man's chin up to its skull, piercing through it cleanly. Swiftly, he pulled his weapon and neatly decapitated the foe before it could inflict further damage to them.

The blood that stained his clothes seeped out of the fabric, going back inside him once he died and was resurrected for the second time.

"Xenia...? Can you... bring me a blanket? I feel extremely... cold."

"Ah, just a second." Xenia looked everywhere but the house was empty except for more wood they could throw in the burning fire, so he chose to lend Crowley his coat while he warmed himself in front of the blazing fire.

***

Deliriously, Crowley sprung out of the floor when he dreamed of his father parting ways with him. He was sweating bullets while Xenia was gladly staring at him.

The kid looked around and noticed that they weren't home. As his eyes were roaming around, he caught a glimpse of Xenia who was in front of the fire, warming himself from the extreme cold. And on Xenia's side lies Mr. Lagman.

Using a clean cloth, Xenia patched the wound and laid the man beside him to warm up after freezing out in the low temperature.

"How's Dad?!"

Frantically, Crowley rushed to their side and stared down at his father's state. Blood drenched his coat and he felt a sharp pain inflicted in his chest after that.

"You have nothing to worry about, Crowley. Your father will be fine. He just needs to be warm enough and some more rest. Mr. Lagman didn't lose that much blood, thanks to the cold weather."

"Thank god..." He glanced over his shoulder. Through the open window that was obstructed by the deep snow, he concluded that the hailstorm still hasn't subsided. "But when will this chaos stop?"

"It should be about done," answered Xenia, rubbing his palm together and then blowing warm air to it. "I bet your mother and Lui are extremely anxious. Once Mr. Lagman wakes up and the blizzard stops, we will go back home."

"They definitely are. Ugh!"

"You should not move around much. You still haven't fully recovered."

"But I'm totally fine! Look!"

"We are lucky that we reached this house before we completely froze to death."

For hours they stayed in the empty house. They kept the fire burning with a sufficient amount of wood chopped and ready to be tossed in the fire pit. And in those times of sitting and keeping themselves stuck inside the empty warm space, Crowley got bored and kept grumbling and sighing about it.

On the other hand, Xenia began to sweat by exercising in the enclosure. This way, he will sweat faster and feel warmer than being in front of the fire, gawking at the searingly hot hands of the flames.

"Thirty-one... thirty-two..."

"You do like exercising, huh? Your body's becoming more rigid and firm. But didn't they say that if you want to bulk, you will have to eat a lot of protein?"

To answer Crowley's question, Xenia finished his training and started doing squats.

"Indeed... But I'm not trying to bulk up. I just want my muscles to be firm."

"Is that the reason you're doing a particular set of exercises?"

"Yes."

***

Finally, the disturbing blizzard and hailstorm came to an end but it left a devastating aftermath to the villagers.

In the bleak early winter, the cries of the villagers reverberated with each other as they laid their loved ones to rest. From children to the elderly, casualties had been tallied.

Utter gloominess because the villager's mourning was stagnant throughout the whole village. Every villager, while Xenia, Crowley, and Mr. Lagman were walking back home, frozen villagers they were acquainted with lay dormant.

"It stopped snowing... Now it is raining."

Confused, Crowley put out his palm to see if it really was raining but he just didn't understand what Mr. Lagman meant.

In the stead of the orphans and others who have a family, Mr. Lagman wept and mourned the death of the lost.

It truly was a devastating and disheartening scene, but he could only do so much.

'I probably should use Pack's gift.' Xenia said to himself as he was following Crowley's track who was in front of him.

[Reinforcement]

Applying it to himself takes less energy than when casting it on others. And when things get bad again, Xenia would need to rely again on Pack's gift to be able to drag not just Mr. Lagman but also Crowley.

As soon as Pack's gift was cast on him, Xenia felt extremely light and full of strength.

He was holding a wooden board they were using to shove the pile of snow to the side. And because he was full of vigor and strength, Xenia presented himself, even without Mr. Lagman's go signal.

"What— You'll deplete your energy, Xenia! Let me do this work as the pillar of our house!"

But Xenia stubbornly continued on his path, screaming through the excessive work and force he was exerting to hasten their travel.

"Wait! Xenia!"

"Leave him be, Dad. Once that kid puts his mind to it, there is no stopping him."

"Jeez! I guess he is just thinking about our well-being since we can't really stay outside. Just because the snow and the blizzard subsided does not mean we can now play outside. It's still extremely cold. We could end up freezing like the others."

They avoided their fellow villagers' eyes because they were aware that once they do so, they will be forced to help. And they knew that they won't be of much help.

***

Just the slightest knock on the door sent the two women came crushing on the doorsteps. They were just so worried that the anxiety was killing them.

And when they lay their eyes on the safe and sound family members, the burden on their chests was lifted, thus sighing in relief.

"Oh, dear! I thought we would not be seeing you three again!"

"When the village began to cry, we also did! That was when we thought that the three of you were not going back home!"

"I'm just so relieved..."

Tightly, they hugged each other as they cried in each other's arms after a worrying event in their lives.

~