Somehow, they had managed to make it back by following the trail of yarn through the endless darkness until they suddenly appeared before their friends. After they’d reunited, they’d continued to follow the strand, and they’d mysteriously made it out in far less time than it had taken to get there.
It was quite a bizarre space... Belgrieve mused. Even though they had retraced his steps, they’d never crossed paths with Solomon again. He wondered if he was still in that space, sitting alone under the apple tree. They’d had a way back, but perhaps for Solomon, the way had been closed off long ago.
“He looked lonely...”
“What’s wrong, dad?”
“Ah, well... How long do you think your journey to the east will take?”
“I don’t know... Probably over a year.”
After the festival, Angeline would return to Orphen before setting off for eastern lands. Anessa, Miriam, and Marguerite would go with her, and even Yakumo and Lucille were tagging along, so it would be quite a spirited journey.
“I’ll meet all sorts of people, see all sorts of things, and then...when I’m back, I’ll have loads of stories to tell!”
“I’ll be looking forward to it.” Belgrieve smiled and patted Angeline’s head. She closed her eyes, basking in the comfort.
So much had come to pass—and a great deal of pain, anger, and sadness—but they had somehow managed to overcome it. And that was why moments like this, when nothing was happening at all, felt so dear.
“Is running the guild going to be a lot of work?” Angeline asked, peering into Belgrieve’s face.
Belgrieve smiled wryly and twisted his beard. “Yeah, looks like it’s going to be rough going. But somebody has to do it.”
“Heh heh... I’ll help out when I get back then.”
“That would take a load off. But you might make Mr. Leo cry.”
“It’s fine. The guild master will come to Turnera sooner or later.”
“Hey now...”
Then again, maybe it really would happen. Belgrieve couldn’t see the future, but it was a little frightening that he couldn’t write it off as an impossibility. Belgrieve didn’t hate when things got a little wild, but he would struggle to keep up if things got too chaotic.
With a troubled smile, Belgrieve looked at the sky. The sun was gradually climbing higher and higher.
Angeline stood. “I think breakfast should be ready.”
“Right, we should head back.” Belgrieve stood up, using the cane to support his weight.
Angeline hummed a tune as her eyes fell upon the forest. “We’re going to pick cowberries, right?”
“After breakfast.”
“Hee hee...” Angeline beamed and hugged her father.
His daughter’s embrace caused a throbbing pain to race through Belgrieve’s side. “Ooh, ow.”
“Ah, sorry... Are you okay, dad? Will you be able to go on?” Angeline timidly asked.
Patting himself, Belgrieve chuckled. “I should be fine if you’re there to support me. Let’s take it slowly and tell stories along the way. Mit and Charlotte can go too. We’ll make it a day trip.”
“Okay.”
Angeline smiled, gently taking her father’s arm.
“Let’s get going.”
“Yeah.”
Slowly, the two of them descended the hill, taking each step with great care.
Schwartz had vanished beyond the bounds of time and space—even farther beyond that, perhaps. They would most likely never see him again. That wasn’t to say all of their problems had been completely resolved, but at the very least, there wasn’t anyone left who would disrupt their peace. But as Belgrieve recalled everything that had led up to the moment of their parting, he began to wonder if Ishmael truly had never existed. Perhaps Ishmael had been who Schwartz was before he had been taken captive by his own curiosity. Before he had earned the moniker of the Blue Flame of Calamity, perhaps he had been the same slightly awkward man who’d fought alongside them at the Earth Navel. Thinking about it now wouldn’t yield any answers, but he did feel a touch of sadness at the possibility.
In any case, their enemy was gone, and they had returned to the normalcy of daily life. Granted, Belgrieve couldn’t be certain what “normalcy” meant for his daily life anymore with so many new things beginning. Seren had settled in with the community, the dungeon was soon to come, and then the guild would follow soon after. People would come and go, and he would be involved with all of them. The life he had lived until now was effectively over. That thought stopped him in his tracks.
Angeline looked at him curiously. “What’s wrong, dad? Does it hurt?”
“No...” He closed his eyes for a moment and felt the wind against his back. When he opened them again, he looked at his daughter. Angeline curiously stared back. Her black hair swayed in the breeze. Angeline had grown, and so had he. One day, he would die of old age; one day, Angeline would need to leave the nest for good.
It was true that their enemy was gone, but not everything was resolved. Percival was putting on a cheerful front, but he was still hurting in some ways. Angeline herself hadn’t fully put all her feelings in order either—something she was evidently putting off until after her journey. She would distance herself from it for a time to take in other sights. Little by little, she wanted to find her bearings again.
But Angeline had undoubtedly come to terms with her past; time would resolve the rest. Eventually, there would come a day when they could have a laugh over all of this—that was what Belgrieve believed, though he didn’t know how old he would be when that time came.
I’m an adult. My friends have aged too. As the years went by, time would turn children into adults, adults into elders, and elders into the dearly departed—and new life would be born to take their place. For better or worse, nothing could stay the same forever. The times would change, the world would change, and perhaps in a hundred years, the landscape before his eyes now would be completely unrecognizable to him.
Belgrieve gently placed a hand on Angeline’s head. She closed her eyes, happily nuzzling into him.
“Hee hee. It’s warm...”
“Let’s go.”
“Okay.”
They went on their way again once more.
Until now, they had been pushed along by events they could have never imagined. But even now, change would come for them. Looking back on the past, it had been nothing but change.
Even so, the wind that was blowing down the hill hadn’t changed in the slightest from that day so long ago, when it had first ushered him off on his journey. That was how Belgrieve saw it.