135 Beckoning Toward Depature (2/2)

A young couple from Cem-Elle visited Mardiemus a month ago and around the same time, an important place to the South had been destroyed by some unknown Chosen...

And now, a month later, a sudden disturbance occurred right around when the couple returned back to Cem-Elle, a town in the middle of nowhere?

Reed groaned and said, ”I don't think we're going to be able to stick around here for long, Sweetcheeks. Maybe tonight, at best. But after that, it'll be too risky.

We're gonna have to leave as quickly as possible. In fact, we might as well start packing now.”

Lu'um looked at Reed with a forlorn expression and sighed.

”I was about to tell you the exact same thing too, dear. It seems we're both of the same mind.”

Reed bitterly stared at the bakery and said, ”We'll take what we need and close up the bakery. I'm really sorry about this. It's my fault. Hopefully, we'll be able to come back here one day under better circumstances...”

”No... it's okay. I knew that one day, it'd end. I'm just a little sad that the day's finally arrived...”

It was time to leave. They couldn't stay anymore, even if they wanted to.

Before they left though, they paid one last visit to Hartford's house.

Reed smiled when he saw that it was still standing. Completely intact aside from a couple of strewn roses that'd been blown off their bushes. From the look of it, the house had faired pretty well. Even their windows had survived intact.

It looks like they were pretty lucky, huh. No, perhaps it was a hidden blessing for all the good they've done. That'd make more sense.

When Reed knocked on their door, he heard a muffled, ”Coming!” on the other side.

Old Man Hartford opened the door with a confused expression and said, ”Sonny? It's almost ten o'clock! What are you doing here, eh? Come to finally deliver me the good news?!”

Reed laughed from the bottom of his heart. The old man never seemed to change, no matter what life threw at him. It seemed as if he hadn't even cared about the fact that there'd been an incredibly dangerous fight not too long ago.

What a fearless old man... I swear, it's like he's got a spine made of steel or something...

”No, Gramps, it ain't about! Look, Lu'um and I are... gonna go on an adventure, you see. We've gotten tired of the slow life, and after hearing about all of your incredible exploits, we've decided to journey around the world a bit.

You know, to properly live out our youth. Best to not waste our years out on the pasture yet, right?”

Old Man Hartford stroked his and said, ”That's a pretty smart decision there, sonny. I was hoping you'd finally realize that there's more to life than the simple pleasures. Well, make sure to call us whenever you feel like it, you hear! Don't be strangers, alright?!”

Missus Hartford walked over to the front of the house when she realized that Reed and Lu'um had come to visit and said, ”Oh? What a surprise?! Are the two you okay?! That hubbub outside was quite the spectacle, don't you think? ...What have the two you of come here for, sweeties?”

”They've come to say their farewells, honey. It seems that these two have finally decided to go off on an 'adventure,' from the sound of it? Does that phrase sound familiar to you?”

The couple laughed at their odd in-joke and then Old Man Hartford said, ”Oh, don't worry about it. It just that... we said the exact same thing too a long time ago when we first set off.  Don't worry though, you'll understand once when you mature a bit and then some, sonny. ”

Reed and Lu'um looked at each other in the hope that the other would understand why they were laughing, but neither knew. In the end, they took it as a compliment.

Missus Hartford smiled and said, ”Don't worry about us, you two. We'll be right here, same as always, so go out there and enjoy yourselves. I'm sure that you'll be just fine as long as you have each other.”

She winked at Lu'um for some indecipherable reason and Lu'um nodded silently.

Reed and Old Man Hartford shrugged in confusion when the noticed the exchange and wondered what that whole secret wink was about.

But, eventually, their time had come to a close.  Lu'um noticed a peculiar change in the Anima density some miles away. They were coming. She alerted Reed with a tap on his shoe and they quickly cut their farewell short.

The last Reed and Lu'um saw before they left was the old couple waving at them from below as they left in their hovercraft. They continued to wave until the hovercraft passed disappeared, sending off the young couple with their best wishes...