204 Conflicting Thoughts
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Perhaps, deep down, Ninhursag realized this as well, she realized that they were not wrong at all, that what they were doing was the devotion they had for the people of this tribe. Perhaps it was because of what they saw… perhaps because of those traumas that Shade sometimes speaks to my father about, which I sometimes heard about.
When he speaks about the bloodshed, about the lives of countless innocents being discarded for a “greater good”, for all those atrocities he saw in the war… I can understand why he doesn’t want to repeat them anymore.
Prioritizing to defeat a demon in expense of the life of many, or prioritize the life of the people in expense of losing an ancient artifact?
Any normal person with a hear would choose the last option, and my parents and Aquarina’s parents are perhaps the most dedicated persons there are to the people of this world…
Even when Shade laments that he wasn’t able to protect everyone, even when he laments all the lives of the innocents lost in war… I still think that he is an admirable person.
A hero is not made out of power, a hero is not made out of words, nor of appearances…
A hero is someone that people choose, a hero is someone that is dedicated to the people.
A hero doesn’t necessarily save everyone, they can’t, in fact, it is unrealistic. Even the gods cannot.
…..
But a hero… is someone willing to do everything they can to accomplish this goal, even as insane as it sounds, and even as impossible as it is.
I slowly walked towards Shade as I smiled back at him, and hugged him.
He looked down, he seemed filled with melancholy, the words of Ninhursag hurt him more than he had ever expected, but only because his eyes could be seen, it was hard to tell.
But I was very good at reading eyes, teacher always praised me because of that.
“Don’t let her words put you down, Uncle Shade… To me, you’re really a hero.” I said.
“S-Sylphy…” Shade looked down at me, as Aquarina slowly approached him and hugged his legs as well.
“Papa… you’re doing the right thing… I don’t want the people I love here to die…” she said. “You’re my hero, papa…”
“A-Aquarina…”
Shade, a stoic man, a silent man that always showed an expressionless face, that often covered it with black clothes, and whose powers were based in pure and abyssal darkness, a man that has perhaps always lived in shadows, began to cry.
His eyes… his aquamarine eyes started to drop tears of sorrow, as he kneeled and hugged both of us.
“Thank you…” he cried. “And… I am sorry…”
“It is fine, papa… You’re doing the right thing, I would do the same…” said Aquarina. “I like Ninhursag, she’s a good person… She’s just… probably just as sad… Her family… they all died protecting this place…”
“If we go away, it feels as if we were insulting her family’s will to give up their lives to protect this place, right?” I asked. “I was able to easily tell…”
“Sylphy… You sometimes surprise me, you’re so sharp…” said my mother as she walked to my side.
“Come on now, stop crying! It is fine, Shade! It is fine… We are here for you.” Said Nepheline, as she petted her husband’s shoulders and slowly helped him stand up again.
She looked at his beautiful aquamarine eyes, filled with so many regrets, so many emotional scars, and she smiled back at him, innocently and cheerfully… She was the perfect complement for this wounded and depressed man, a woman that is unwavering, and that will always be there to cheer him up.
“Everything is fine… I love you.” She said. “And I am here for you, okay? We’ll get through this, like we always do.”
“N-Nepheline…” Shade cried, as he hugged Nepheline warmly, and Nepheline kissed his cheek and hugged him back tightly with her big arms, fitting of a warrioress that wields an enormous hammer as her main weapon.
My father and my mother walked at my side, as I saw Aquarina hug her parents, Zack slowly approached them as well, as he was tightly hugged by Nepheline, he seemed timid, but he was like their adoptive son at this point.
“Sylphy… Thanks for cheering him up.” Said my mother. “I am sorry for… showing you this face of ourselves… We shouldn’t really show it to a children… I feel like you’re growing way too fast mentally… I wish… I wish I could had brought you a better childhood, one without problems… one without all of this…” My mother looked at me in the eyes, as her tears began to flow like rivers.
“I am sorry.” She said again. “I really thought that because we were heroes… we would be able to do anything and that we would eb able to raise you happily… but life… and everything else is always so hard… no matter how strong you grow… no matter… what you accomplish… at the end… it’s all… so… so hard…”
“No… No… Don’t cry, mother…” I said. “I am sure you’re doing the best you can. I know you are… T-That’s enough for me, really! I love you lots… You’re way too pretty to cry, okay?”
“Geez… You’re always saying such dumb stuff sometimes…” she sighed. “But this is why you always brings me joy in the direst of moments…”
“Sylphy… I am sorry for… not being able to protect you better…” said my father. “I am doing my best… I am working as hard as I can… I just… sometimes I can’t… Even as hard as I try.”
“It is fine, father… Nobody is perfect… Nobody can do everything in the world… That’s why we need friends and companions at our side, so we can complement one another! Right?” I asked with a smile.
My father opened his eyes a bit… as he smiled warmly back at me.
“You’re right…”
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