Alma 125 The Lighthouse of Hope

"No, this is isn't about that, goddammit! And I've already told you that we aren't ready for something like that!" said Reed.

Despite his best efforts, Reed couldn't understand why the old man wanted to see it happen so goddamned much. Was it something intrinsic to the elderly? The old couple had changed ever since Reed confided in Old Man Hartford one of the biggest dreams he had yet to fulfill several months ago. 

A part of Reed regretted that he'd told the geezer because nowadays, it was all the old man ever wanted to discuss. An unpleasant, invisible force had manifested in the kind old couple's expectant faces overnight. It was smothering and heavy, yet gentle and sweet. 

What form of arcane power do children have over them? Why are they all so smitten with the idea of babies? I don't understand why they're both so gung-ho about us having a ...

"Look, it's not about that, alright? We're taking things at our own pace, gramps — we'll reach that crossroads when we reach it. There's no need for us to rush, right?

You said it yourself, right? 'Although slow-burning love doesn't burn the brightest, it burns the hottest.'"

In truth, it frightened Reed as much as the idea excited him, but deep in his heart, he understood that he wasn't ready to tackle such an enormous responsibility. How would he, who couldn't even take care of himself properly, fare in taking care of another life? He was nineteen, for heaven's sake! Someone as young and inexperienced as him was unfit to handle being a...

Nope. I'd fuck it up to hell and back. I'm sure that Lu'um would fare a million times better than I, but it shouldn't be a solo act.

I refuse to be dead weight. Fuck that noise. Some guys might prefer that, but I won't stand for that shit. Either I'm ready for it or the whole thing ain't happening.

From what Reed had learned of Old Man Hartford, they had played it by the ear. One day and they woke up as expectant parents-to-be and that was that, so to speak.

A night of passionate love had begotten them their first child. Reed had died a bit inside when he learned that little nugget of truth from Old Man Hartford. They had improvised the entire way through, learning through trial and error on their own without any help from their families. Even so, they had taken it very seriously and done their best in raising their child. 

Their love had been an expensive one; their marriage disregarded by their families.

The day Old Man Hartford told Reed his life story, he learned that a mortal life could be as amazing as a demigod's. The scale of mortal life wasn't as grand as Chosen life, sure, but it made up for what it lacked with intensity instead. Reed and Lu'um had learned that the Hartfords' were no strangers to adversity and had, in fact, thrived off it in their youth.

At one point in his life, he had been a promising young man — someone who would have become a Chosen. Missus Hartford, too, had been the recipient of the same illustrious privilege. They would have lived as demigods in the clouds.

Instead, they did something that no one imagined possible.

On the eve of their final exam as trainees, they both relinquished what had been bestowed unto them by the Will of the World — their Alma.

...No rules stated that one had to remain Chosen after becoming one. They had both fallen in love with each other over the year they had spent as trainees and discovered in themselves their truest desire: A normal life with one another. 

Over the course of their training, Old Man Hartford and Missus Hartford came to the understanding that although they were gifted enough to succeed as Chosen, neither of them wanted to live such a life.

Deep down, neither one of them cared enough for the duty that every Chosen needed to uphold. What interested them was their budding love that had taken a turn for the serious.

They both understood the risks that came with the life of a Chosen and accepted that if they chose to remain Chosen, it would mean that they would have to place their duty as Chosen first over their love, at least while they were active and that would be a long time.

Decades if lucky; Centuries at best; Forever at worst. That was something they could not accept.

Well-known was the fact that all Chosen would one day die in battle for the sake of the world. It was a part of the deal that they had made for the privilege of becoming a demigod. When and where it happened was not up to them, either.

Neither of them desired to see such a thing so in the end...

Love had won over Duty.

They had come to the conclusion that they could no longer remain Chosen. For them to keep what they would never put to proper use would have been unwise in the extreme. 

What their peers saw as madness, they knew was the correct thing to do. The responsible course of action.

If they could not keep their part of the bargain, then they were not deserving of the benefits offered by it.

Their families, on the other hand, did not feel the same way. In their eyes, childish love had led two promising stars to fall into ruin. The entrance marks they had given the young couple had gone to waste on them. 

For their transgressions, they had both been disowned from their families. Erased from their family trees. Deprived of everything that they had ever been given by their families, be it their former wealth, titles, and connections. The young couple had been cast out of the world of Chosen in full.

If they wanted to live a normal life, they were more than welcome to do so. Without help. 

Old Man Hartford and Missus Hartford had been fine with that and considered it a fair punishment, taking everything into consideration.

"One has to own up to their actions and take responsibility for them. Otherwise, you'll end up regretting what you've done before long."   

Despite what many had thought at the time, they had made their final decision after much consideration. It had not been some reckless choice in the heat of an impassioned moment...

Reed and Lu'um had learned many a thing about them over the last two years as they pieced together the old couple's story. They had journeyed across the world and gotten themselves in the murky, dangerous world in between the mortal world and the world of Chosen in pursuit of the normal life they had desired. 

They had been in their own fair share of incredible adventures, despite longer no being Chosen. 

And yet, despite all of the obstacles that had been in their way and the various mistakes they'd made, not once had they given up on their dream. 

As long as they were together, it seemed like nothing could ever stop them.  They were unstoppable.

Reed saw in their life story them a vague, still undefined path. There was something within their stories that resonated with him.

In his eyes, they were like a lighthouse shining a bright light into the murky fog that was his ignorance and indecision.

He would be lost without them, like a ship forever damned to circle in that foggy sea until he crashed the rocky coast that was made of fear and guilt. If that happened, he would sink into the sea of despair below and be forever lost...

The Light of Hope within the old couple was the product of decades of wisdom and the faith they had one another. It was a thing so pure and radiant that even Lu'um could not bear to glimpse at for too long at a time. 

Lu'um had come to the conclusion that this reason that they had been put on earth. They had been put there by the hand of fate for their sake. She hated that bitch to the core, but couldn't deny that she had done well this time. Everything made perfect sense to her now.

For the Earth to have shone brighter than Heaven itself. How befitting.

This is without a doubt, retribution for our sins.

In darkness, the Earth shall lead the way and Heaven will go without light.

Lu'um bitterly smiled and promised that she'd make that bitch pay in full for everything that she had done to him. There would come a time when everyone got what they deserved. Everyone.

That, of course, included her, too. Lu'um would personally make sure of that.

All debts would be paid. Blood for Blood. And then, at the very end of it all, she and her beloved would finally be free. They would be allowed to rest...

Chapter end