Alma 78 As Far Apart as the Universe Is Wide

Aside from the cottage house, nothing else had been built upon the pure, virgin land. It all looked the same as the day that Velvund and Emma had discovered it.

Reed slowly swung his feet in the lake's clear waters and enjoyed the simple pleasure it brought with Velvund. They watched the roaming clouds and passed the time describing what they looked like to them.

It's like the Evergreen Estate in nature — isolated from the world — but even purer than that.

When he looked back and the modest cottage, a small smile formed on his face.

No big, gaudy mansion. No servants or butlers. No titles or ranks.

This a home for two people; that was it. Nothing more.

The whole world could fuck the hell off, as much as they were concerned.

There was nothing that could top this in Reed's eyes; this was heaven.

"…This is a really nice place, gramps. I can see why you guys decided to settle down out here — it's like a little slice of heaven out here," said Reed.

"We made it our little slice of heaven, my boy. After Emma and I found it, we put a barrier around this place and made it invisible to the eye. Then I made some… corrections to the empire's geographic records and erased this place from existence, so to speak…"

Niceeee… An excellent application of your authority as king, gramps.

Reed whistled in admiration and said, "I hope I can find a place like this one day, too. Hopefully somewhere beside an empty beach, so I can spend the rest of my days on a hammock with a cool drink…"

Velvund smiled and said, "That's a wonderful dream, son. If you want something like that, head down to the South and search the Golden Coast. There's plenty of untouched land down there in the far edge of the South."

Oh? He didn't make fun of my dream? ...That's a first.

"Everyone needs a place that they can truly call home. A place that you can feel at peace," said Velvund.

He put his gently patted Reed's head and said, "I know that you felt something was wrong when you spoke to Emma back there. I saw the color of your soul turn a shade of black I've never seen before from you. What is troubling you, son?"

"I know that you feel alone. That you feel fear. …I can see your soul and have observed the hearts of thousands of people, my boy, so don't even think about denying what I have seen."

Reed looked down at his floating feet and quietly said, "I don't know how you — how everyone can do it. You trust and allow each other to into each other's hearts so easily, so… effortlessly. …I-I don't know how to do that."

"I UNDERSTAND there are honest, decent people out in the world — that these people are worth taking the leap of faith but I… just can't fucking do it. I can't. A million, billion irrational fears — pathetic excuses swarm me alive whenever I try to do it."

Velvund's expression softened when he heard Reed's fears and said, "I'm afraid, too. We all are, Reed. None of us want to be hurt by someone we've allowed into our lives, but that pain is an intrinsic part of life, my son. There is no avoiding it. We all have to pay the price in order to experience life's greatest joy."

"And what's that supposed to be? Please don't tell me it's…" said Reed.

"It's love, my boy. That unconditional, sincere love that makes you feel complete. The happiness, the comfort of having someone who will always be there for you, forever. The indescribable joy of being with someone who can make every single day feel like a breeze…"

"…You sure know how to sell an idea, gramps," said Reed and chuckled a bit. "That way you describe it makes it sound like the pain is well worth the final reward…"

"It's a price that people have paying since the beginning of time, my boy," said Velvund. "Had I feared to make the jump, I would have never found Emma or become King of the East."

"Trust is the foundation of every single relationship in the world, son. Without it, everything would crumble away under the weight of our suspicions and fears. Be it between friends, family, races, and empires — none can live without it."

"But how do I do it, then?" said Reed in a frustrated tone. What I do have to do to break past my fear? I don't understand. What am I lacking that everyone else seems to have?!"

Velvund calmly shook his head said, "You just need to let go, son. Accept that you might get hurt in the process and take a leap of faith when you find someone you think is worth it. I know it sounds impossible for you right now, but one day I'm sure you'll understand."

As the old man spoke, he wondered what sort of wretched past could have caused the boy to fear other people so much. Even now, it haunted the boy and had twisted his perception of the world in such an awful, saddening way.

Were it not for the faint, stubborn glimmer of hope in the boy's eyes when Velvund first met him, he would have thought that the boy had given up on the world.

"She cares deeply about your well-being, you know. The girl. She's quite adept at hiding her emotions but she can't hide her feelings from me. Beneath that cool, composed exterior of hers lie a myriad of emotions. Most prominent in her soul are the colors of attributed to love, concern, and sadness."

Reed looked up at the sky and said, "I know. I'm a bit slow when it comes to other people, but I'm not that dense. There is... a gap keeping us at arm's reach from one another, but that gap is... as wide as the universe itself."

There is so much I want to ask her but at the same, I'm terrified of what I might hear…

"I felt the same way when I held in my Emma arms... the day she died."

Reed felt his heart drop into his stomach when he heard that and then said, "…Can I ask how did it happened? If that's alright with you...."

"...The North had planned to assassinate me in a last-ditch attempt to destabilize us after we had won the East. I had not expected that they'd stoop so low as to kidnap Emma, though. I should have."

Velvund stared at the calm lake and said, "They lured me into a trap, of course, but I could not have cared less. The only thought in my mind at the time was Emma and nothing else. They brought two suicide squads compromised of veteran conquerors just for me. They wanted me dead, even if it cost them all their lives…"

My god… The set of balls on this man. I can't even begin to imagine what it must have felt walking into that nightmare…

"So I went to work and sent them all straight to hell but in the end, they won. They had poisoned her with something unforgivable — the miasma from an Infested Seed-bearer. Pumped straight into her body… There was nothing I could do. It had already been eating at her from the inside. She was struggling, but I knew that it had already been set in stone."

Velvund bitterly smiled and said, "I was desperate and out of time. As long as she lived, I'd do anything. So I made the choice and I salvaged her soul before it, too, was eaten away... and put it in the only thing I knew that could safely contain it without fear of danger."

He flicked his hand and a tiny hologram of a certain time-coffin appeared in front of Reed. It slowly started dissembling itself and then a tiny component flew up out the model and expanded in size.

"Isn't this…?!!"

It was the fist-sized crystal in the room. The same one that… her soul was kept in.

"This is the memory crystal, the package that the coffin is designed to send back home to my people. It is a special, one-of-kind archival system that was made to house the accumulated memories of all Avunians for safe-keeping," said Velvund.

Reed dumbly looked at the hologram and then said, "But doesn't that mean that she's going to, um, you know…"

"I know, my boy. The day the coffin leaves, she will, too. This is something that both she and I have discussed about at length and we have both come to terms with it."

Velvund grabbed a small stone, threw it and then said, "One day, she and I will be as far apart as the universe is wide... but we'll be fine."

Chapter end