"Rekka... I'm sorry." Ren, who was still lying on the ground, suddenly said in a small voice,
Throughout their entire journey to get here, Rekka hadn't had the opportunity to express the emotions that she had been bottling up. So now that they were safe, it was like a dam had broken. all of those emotions came rushing in all at once, almost frying her brain in the process.
Even after hearing her brother's voice, Rekka couldn't break out of her trance, she barely even moved, like she couldn't control her body. All she could do is lump over to a tree near her brother.
Her back against the tree, Rekka Slumped down, slowly descending until she fully sat on the ground with legs straight on the soft grass below her
....
Northwest to where Ren and Rekka are
"Looks like another flyer arrived," a woman wearing a medic uniform stated.
"They look like kids; can anyone check on them!" A male paramedic announced in concern,
Slightly further below the mountains from Ren and Rekka's location. Dozens Temporarily tents were set up to separate those who need intensive care from the people with non life threatening injuries. However, it doesn't look like those spaces were enough.
Over 10 acres of land were covered with people, all injured in some way, mainly from physical collisions like broken bones, blunt force trauma, and many more. Some were even dead.
"I'll go check on them." A young paramedic in his 20's volunteered and grabbed a med-kit before leaving
"Alright, make sure to come back quickly because we need you," one of the doctors near him said, exasperated as he ran around frantically, saving lives.
...
Lying face up on the grass, the colors of Ren's body were faded, almost as if the color was drained from it. All of his body, except for his hands, but even though his hands retained their colors, their state looked the worst compared to the rest of his body.
Bruises, burns, and dried blood cover the entirety of his hands; it is truly a wonder that he's still able to move his fingers.
"Are you guys alright?" A male voice announced his presence.
Even though Ren looked terrible. Ren had recovered enough by then to sit up when he heard the voice coming from a distance.
Getting closer and closer, an image of two siblings sitting against a tree trunk became visible to the paramedic.
Because of the constant thrashing of the Sky Whale, many clouds around the area were displaced, causing the sun to shine directly onto the ground around the affected area.
Coincidentally, one of these areas just so happened to be the park Ren and Rekka landed on, painting a scene that looked bright and beautiful on the outside but dark and painful on the inside.
Seeing this sight, the paramedic was momentarily stunned. However, it didn't take him long to enter professional mode once he saw Ren's injuries.
Rushing toward the two siblings, the paramedic immediately started addressing Ren's wounds.
Putting down his med kit, the paramedic flared up his node immediately, making his left hand glow deep blue. Without a second's rest, the paramedic moved his fingers, creating a blob of water in the air.
The blob of water looked unrefined; it constantly bobbled around like a water drop that falls infinitely in circles. However, it doesn't have to be perfect, because all it's needed for, is to clean the dust, dried blood, and other bacteria that might cause an infection off of Ren's hands and injuries.
(I can't do anything without cleaning his wounds first), the paramedic thought to himself, concerned that Ren's wounds might get worse.
"This is going to sting" the paramedic warned to prepare Ren for what comes next.
The paramedic guided the water, making it flow toward Ren's hands in an unstable stream.
Once it got to Ren's hands, the water encapsulated them, washing all the gunk off by gradually vibrating until his hands and eventually other injuries were completely clean.
After a minute, the water dispersed and merged back in a blob. finished with the cleaning, the water was turned completely dark, flowing with both cement dust and blood.
(What did he do!?) The paramedic asked internally in surprise.
Ren's hands looked completely battered with a mixture of both fresh 2nd-degree, bordering 3rd-degree burns and purple bruises covering the entirety of his hands. But the weird part is, despite all of that, there were no broken bones.
The paramedic wanted to ask questions about what happened to the two siblings. He tilted his head looking his vision onto the two siblings, however when he faced their faces, he felt his heart froze.
Just by looking into Ren's eyes, the paramedic could already tell the scale of what happened to them.
(What happened to you guys...)
Not having the heart to confront the siblings about the matter, the paramedic hesitant diverted his attention back to Ren's injuries
Looking through the med-kit he brought, the paramedic took out a small white bottle, labeled 'Advance Burn Cream' with familiarity and uncapped it. He squeezed the bottle, and plopped out a drop of it onto his left hand
The bead of burn cream was light and slightly luminescent with a sheen of green around it's coloring and when it touched the paramedic's hand, a flush of coldness as well as peg of relief where ever the burn cream touched
Slowly applying the burn cream onto Ren's burns, Ren was caught off guard and flinched slightly as the prementioned sensation was inflicted onto his wounds
Finished with Ren's treatment, the paramedic went to give Rekka another checkup, just in case he missed anything.
However, Looking at Rekka, the paramedic couldn't feel relieved at all. Despite having no injuries, her mental state was in complete chaos
Rekka looked like she was on the edge of fainting, but yet it seemed like another deep-seated emotion was keeping her conscious, not allowing her to escape from reality
"Rest up, you guys, especially you," the paramedic said as he pointed at Ren after standing up.
(I'm sorry, but I can't stay.) The paramedic thought in regret as he looked at the two siblings.
Even though Ren and Rekka would not have wanted the paramedic to stay. The paramedic felt that no matter their opposition, it wouldn't be good for them to be left alone in this situation, but unfortunately, due to the current circumstances, he can't spare them anymore time.
...
Leaving the two siblings, the paramedic looked back regretfully before rushing to the temporary field hospital he left from
When the paramedic left, Ren finally fully lost his guard and began to feel his adrenaline wear off, as all his repressed pain receptors regained their normal function.
"Urrrrgh," Ren groans and shuts his eyes tightly as a response to the pain he's suddenly feeling.
It felt like there were millions of sharp needles constantly stabbing into Ren's hands, overloading his thoughts. Unable to direct his attention at anything else, Ren focused on the pain until his pain tolerance finally caught up
Luckily or unluckily, when Ren recovered from the overstimulation of pain he received, he was able to temporarily enter a somber stage of acceptance.
"Mom, Dad..." Ren whispered to himself, with a voice heavy with guilt and sorrow
Finally deciding to look at his sister, Ren felt his heart sank. When Ren laid eyes on his younger sister's state, he was speechless, the face that Rekka had was nothing like he had ever seen.
Pain, anger, sadness and much more dwelled in every inch of her tear streaked face, creating what could only be described as the personification of all negative emotion.
Ren feels similarly to his sister, he too blamed himself for their parents death, though, not as harshly as Rekka, as it is because, it's her birthday that caused their parents to stay home which eventually lead to their deaths
...
Even now, Ren still feels the close distance that could reach to save his parents, a phantom of the past that'll soon fade and go unresolved.
Ren felt himself giving out for a second, but as he gazed at his sister, he fought against himself, trying his best to suppress all those emotions through whatever means necessary.
Ren pushed and pushed, feeling the pain of his heart grow stronger and stronger, until the only emotion he felt was sadness as tears began to run down his cheeks again.
"I promise you... I promise you that... I will bring them back one day!" Ren yelled, trying to hide his blatant lie with confidence to comfort his sister
It was like Rekka hadn't heard Ren at first, but after a few seconds, Rekka looked up slowly.
Rekka's eyes were wide, looking at her brother's face in surprise and hope.
Ren tried to reciprocate her feelings, but inside, he knew he had given up. So his face ended up looking unconvincing.
However, due to Rekka's heightened emotional state, she believed anyway, even though normally, she would've never been tricked by such an obvious lie
"Really—" Rekka said in a small voice, barely managing to articulate the word.
"Yeah..." Ren tried to smile, but it ended up looking sad and guilty.
After hearing that, Rekka felt like a curse had been lifted, and in the next moment, her body slumped even more to ground, as her consciousness faded
Ren was extremely worried for his sister, but once he checked her breathing and pulse, Ren felt relieved, glad even. After seeing Rekka's state, Ren couldn't help but feel like it'll be better for Rekka to not be conscious for now.
Sitting down next to his sister, Ren slumped with more than half of his body off the grass, his head almost connecting with his sister's.
Ren stared at the leaves for a moment, watching them sway as breezes of wind occasionally brushed by it. Observing one leaf in particular, Ren watched it detach from a branch and slowly float. Ren felt a lump in his throat. Watching the leaf be disconnected and fall, it reminded him of his predicament, causing him to enter out of his state of acceptance and dwell in the dimness of his eventual future.
Putting his arm against his eyes, Ren sniffled and finally, he let out the emotions that he had been bottling up
...
On the way to the temporary field hospital
"HEY!" A mature and strong-sounding voice called out.
"Huh?"
Shocked, the paramedic that attended to the two siblings looked to his left and saw a man in his 30's in a military uniform calling out to him.
The man had honeydew green hair and dark emerald pupils. The military uniform he wore was unbuttoned, showing a light green inner shirt.
Along the man's body, were dozens of gadgets strapped around his coat and pants. Alongside them were also hundreds of small advanced-looking cylinders that glowed green, tied across his body on his left and right.
"Are the flyers that just landed up there?" The man in the military uniform questioned in a casual tone
After hearing what the man in the military uniform had to say, the paramedic instantly knew what he was after. For a moment, he wanted to tell him to give up on the siblings, but after deliberating for a second, he felt like this man could maybe help the siblings in some sort of way. So in the end, he decided to nod, confirming the man's conjecture.
"Alright, thanks!" The man in the military uniform expressed his gratitude and immediately ran up to meet the siblings, leaving his subordinates behind.
...
"Hey! You are a wind musician, right?" The man in the military uniform called out as the vague image of two teenagers came into view.
The man felt thrilled; ever since he had arrived, he had constantly been trying to recruit all the wind musicians he could, but he only managed to gather five.
"Yeah..." Ren instinctively answered.
Walking toward the siblings, the man organized his clothes, distracted, so he didn't notice the state the two siblings were in.
"I'm so glad we found another wind musician before we started. I think, with you, we can definitely save more-" The man in the military uniform suddenly stopped his speech.
Finally meeting the siblings, the man stood in front of them, inconsiderately spouting how glad he was after he found out that Ren is a wind musician, until he saw their status.
"What happened to you!" The man accidentally raised his voice as he immediately checked on the siblings out of concern.
"I..." Ren let out a word in response but stopped before he even started.
Looking at his own hands, their situation finally dawned on Ren. Because from today onwards, he and his sister will be alone, and they'll never be able to see their parents again, no matter how many lies he tells.
Watching this, the man's face quickly turned regretful; he gritted his teeth and clenched his fist tightly.
"Never mind."
Suddenly turning around, the man felt his heart tying into knots, getting tighter and tighter as the true severity of this disaster finally dawned on him.
Throughout his short service as a commander, the man had seen sights like this numerous times. But no matter how many times he sees it, he can never ignore it, allowing it to haunt him, to push and guide him to make sure that he protects everyone he can and more.
(I need to get there fast!) the man thought, clenching his fist as rage surged within him.
Leaving the two siblings, the man's resolve hardened by three times, adding fuel to the already vibrant flame burning in his soul.