The Guardian

Parallel Story New Beginning Chapter 6: Get up

Aurora watched through the window what was going on.

Robots were paving the streets, while other robots were building the houses and taking the furniture to be installed.

That was not all, the residents of this town and those who had arrived were not standing idly by and were helping.

Was it unnecessary when robots were around?

Perhaps, but that enthusiasm alone showed the attitude of those who found themselves in this land.

They learned that hard work was the only thing that paid off... No; they learned that working hard was the only way to go on living another day.

“You’ve been gone from home for too long and you’ve been out of school for long enough, too,” said a heavy, gravelly voice coming from behind her back.

Aurora looked at that big man who was looking at her, trying to give a strict and intimidating atmosphere, like that of a father who was scolding his daughter.

However, his eyes revealed a gentle, concerned gleam, afraid of hurting her if he inquired.

“Honey, if you’re worried, just ask,” said a woman sitting on the sofa, crossing her legs.

Elegant and young, looking in her thirties, she seemed to be her older sister instead of her mother and that woman was feeding her sister.

One was drinking tea, and the other was calmly cutting her snacks, looking at her intently with the same concern.

The giant came over and hugged her gently.

In his arms, she felt like a child... And it was quite possible that even when she grew up, she would still feel like a child.

He was big and tall, with strong, heavy arms and it made sense that her mother said he was her ‘stuffed animal’... After all, he was a gigantic bear who was warm and kind.

“I missed you daughters so much,” the giant murmured, hugging her gently and when Aurora hugged him back, he gave her a look and asked. “How are you feeling?”

His concern and attention were evident, but when Aurora tried to open her mouth to lie saying ‘fine’, nothing came out.

“...”

The silence stretched, and it was to the point where Alice stopped eating as if she was affected by her expression and lost all appetite.

She wasn’t feeling well... She wasn’t well.

She woke up every night crying at the nightmares that tried to drag her back to the hell she lived in.

Just those nights were enough to put her in her place and make it clear to her that everything that happened was real.

Bringing back the suffering.

She wanted to lie to them; she wanted to tell them she was fine and not to worry, but she couldn’t.

“Tell me, I’ll listen to you,” the giant murmured with a worried tone and a soft smile patting her head.

Yes, in the face of her father’s embrace, she was still a child.

She sobbed quietly in his tight embrace, not wanting them to see her let out her tears, not wanting them to worry too much, and especially not wanting her heroes to see her cry.

Yes, heroes.

They were the heroes she watched on television saving people and it was because of them that she became what she was and risen very high.

It was precisely because of her father, who always helped those he could.

That man who looked in his late fifties, perhaps less so because of his splendid physique and youthful spirit, was actually approaching his seventies.

Yet that man was the one who went out to help people.

She cried, venting her emotion and when there were no tears left to release; she hugged him until she calmed her emotions.

“I’m not well... Not well at all. Every time I pick up my sword, my hand trembles,” she muttered quietly, wiping away her tears.

The trembling became more and more evident, the more and more she tried to escape from reality, the more she moved forward trying to forget... The more trembling her hands became.

She felt she was covered in blood, a lot of blood, and sometimes when she looked at her hands, she felt they were dyed red.

Out of revenge, she murdered many people.

It was not a small number, she murdered a considerable number of people... Evil, lunatic, irrational, or just ambitious.

But in another sense, husbands, fathers, lovers, and someone’s children.

She was not so naïve to believe that what she did was right, and it was like them using force and in this case; it was for revenge.

If it would have been worth it in the end and something would have changed, she could have had an excuse to hide, it just didn’t happen.

Nothing changed and now...

“I can’t stop taking my sword. I keep taking it and swinging it again, against monsters, against magical creatures and beasts... And against all those who are my enemies,” Aurora muttered and looking at the slowly rising village, she added. “No matter how much I shake and how much blood I get dirty with... I’ll keep taking it.”

She couldn’t change.

If she had to choose her or one person to save... The decision wouldn’t even cross her mind, she would move immediately.

Just as she moved to take revenge by setting everything aside, she would move for her next goal... Again and again, even if it meant sinking deeper.

Lost himself in the abyss of despair, just as she was now.

Her father sighed and put his hands on her shoulders, watching the town as she did out the window.

“We’ve all fallen into the depths of the abyss once. Thinking there is no escape, walking without knowing the direction, trying to find some light, trying not to sink deeper and deeper with every step we take. Thinking that every decision we make only takes us deeper,” her father murmured and in a low voice, added. “But if you stand still, you’ll realize that the light is not beside you, it’s not in your surroundings... It’s above.”

Surrounded by darkness and despair, where she stood was the abyss.

An abyss into which walking around trying to escape gave the feeling of sinking deeper, like a swamp dragging her into the deep.

And no matter what she tried to do, there was no light and no matter how far she walked, she could see no light around her.

“You’ve fallen into a pit and you need to get up to get out, but first you need to take a good look at the way out,” her father said and looking out the window, he pointed to the village.

No, it wasn’t the village; it was the people of that village.

Men and women were working, whether old or young, they were trying to help as much as they could.

They were carrying building materials, helping by organizing furniture, and some even came with Makeba looking to get stronger.

All that the Apicius Company brought was humanitarian aid, so it was called by James, but for these people who survived by striving, they could no longer stop their constant effort.

Elsewhere, former refugees were preparing food for the residents, workers, and mercenaries that the Apicius Enterprise had brought in for protection.

Turay could be seen walking alongside James, who was calmly organizing everything.

It wasn’t all work though, and that could be seen in the little ones who were having fun.

They tried to help, however, they were rebuffed, and perhaps for the first time in a while, they could have fun like the children they were.

Another group of children from a recent group of refugees were still nervous after leaving the emergency medical room where they checked their health and now looked on, unaware of everything.

However, the children were children and they let themselves be carried away by coming over to play ball or run around.

Then elsewhere was another group and then another... And before she knew it through the window, revealing all of this small town, there were faces she didn’t know.

Blinking slowly, Aurora stood still, watching intently.

At that moment, she felt her tired body as if the ‘autopilot’ had been deactivated.

She realized that the village she had slowly saved had taken on the size of a small town and was still growing.

It lacked to be considered fully a village, but there was something rising up there.

“Do you see the exit?” Her father asked in a calm voice.

“No, but I see the light,” Aurora muttered as she looked out the window.

She could see it, it was small, but there it was.

Maybe it wasn’t an exit, though it was a way out.

That was what was being built here.

It was small, almost tiny, and it wasn’t upstairs either, it was downstairs.

Where she was, where darkness prevailed, and where despair was spreading.

They were tiny specks of light, just like her, trying to escape the darkness looking for a better place... Looking for salvation.

Gathering them all together, she made something form.

She didn’t know what it was, but she understood that something was being built. It was small and fragile. Maybe it wasn’t the way out of this pit, but maybe... Just maybe, it was the base to be able to get up.

However, they were surrounded by darkness and despair that was lurking, waiting to bring her down, just as they were trying to swallow her up.

That was why she needed to protect them... Aurora wanted to protect them.

Even if it drove her to despair and plunged her deep, as long as she saw that light safely, she was going to be okay.

At least for now that she couldn’t see anything else and was lost, that was okay.

Still, she knew, she had to aim for something, even if it was far away and distant.

“What will you do now?” her father asked calmly and quietly.

The answer was simple...

“Get up,” Aurora replied.

Even if she had to sink deep, even if she looked lost and had to crawl, she needed to get back up again by finding her way.

“Then let no one stop you from reaching your goal,” announced her father, patting her.

It was a long-term goal that wasn’t even at this moment visible, but there it was.

She was still in the depths of despair and still had too much trouble ahead of her, yet she needed to move forward.

This time without moving mechanically.