92 Much more than you have ever had (2/2)

Then he brought the moist sand to his nose.

Sniff Sniff

”Clotted blood,” he whispered.

He slowly let go of the sand. As it gently fell back to the ground, his gaze met that of Lumia, so serious and mature… For an instant, it seemed to him to catch a glimpse of an innocent smile flashing on his sister's face. A smile that was unaware of the dangers hounding the world. A smile that placed a total trust in the only center of her world, her big brother.

The ground they were stepping on was made of someone else's previous attempts to become stronger. And now, they might become themselves someone else's soil to step on.

Once again, Helial brushed his fingers against the ground.

”Even the weakest of all can get to pierce the bluest sky, but a touch of the heavens will always come at a price,” Helial whispered.

***

A few years before

”Boy! You finally made it. You took forever! One more minute spent waiting in this rat-hole, and I'd throw up!” said Vidio as he pointed at the Mana Congregation. The servants glanced back at that ungrateful Master with resentful eyes. He never really bothered getting a hold of the contempt he had towards the poor conditions he lived in, as well as towards the place that had hosted him after the exile.

Helial nodded, helpless. They walked past the main doorway of the Congregation and set out for the city center, probably heading to a tavern full of nice-looking waitresses.

”This is a real rat-hole,” Vidio heaved a sigh. ”This town smells like shit. I say, why can't these barbarians just copy the Capital's sewer system?”

Vidio started off his usual tirade about the town.

”Master?” Helial called his name, his eyebrows furrowed.

”Yeah?” said Vidio. His voice vibrated with the hope that Helial's question would let him unfold one of his awesome stories.

”Why would you still live here then?” Helial asked in puzzlement. A doubtful expression hung on his face.

”Ahem,” the Master griped, ”come on. You know how things work. I can't leave this shithole, I just can't,” Vidio said. His faint smile could cause a pang in the heart of any onlooker.

”Why so?” Helial insisted.

”Why so? Because… Uhm. Because I'm too weak. Yeah. Well, wait. What the fuck am I saying. Like, not really weak,” Vidio cursed.

”The fuck are you blabbering, Master? If you're not weak, then why wouldn't you run away and take me with you?” Helial asked again.

”See, boy, things aren't so simple, they aren't at all. Even the weakest of all can get to pierce the bluest sky, but this doesn't mean they would always choose to,” Vidio sighed.

”Why not?” Helial's expression grew more and more doubtful with each Vidio's word.

Why would someone not choose to claim what they had a right to? To claim what does belong to them, what they have fought for? Wouldn't someone who has worked hard willingly grab their hard-earned salary and just shove it down their pocket? Was it even possible to do otherwise?

Helial couldn't follow that line of thinking. He racked his brains to come up with a reasonable answer. But it wouldn't appear to come to him.

Power, glory, wealth… who would renounce to all of this, when it all lay within their grasp?

”Sometimes people just choose not to reach for the sky, boy. And you know why?” Vidio paused briefly, trying to force sobs back into this throat so as to be able to speak. He gazed up at the sky and the clouds, that had presently taken the shape of a woman whose tender eyes were full of concern for him. He fished out a golden coin from his pocket. Then, he hinted at the entry door of a tavern. ”Because… because… everything comes t a price, boy. You can have the world. But even then, you are one step away from losing much more than you have ever had.”

***

Helial fixed his gaze on Lumia as he whispered: ”Everything comes at a price. You can achieve whatever you want, but you would still be one step away from losing much more than you have ever had.” Helial saw the strangest melancholy flash across Lumia's eyes. It was an inexplicable vacant stare, almost suggesting that Lumia really got what he said. An iron grip clutched his heart in its steely claws.

How much is left for me to pay? How long will the people I care for have to suffer?

The question echoed out through his head unanswered.