The sun shone above the blue horizon as the day itself came into existence.
The early morning breeze blew gently with a whip of coldness. Indicating that the winter was almost here.
Hearing his mother's call, August woke up from the bed rubbing his eyes.
He was feeling good today. It had been a week since that last incident. Thankfully the inferior echoes within the barrier hadn't troubled him since then.
His parents thought perhaps it was due to the essence of superior elements still lingering on him that was the reason—inferior echoes were reluctant to approach him.
However, this could only help him buy time at most. As it was known that Ambivalence had no cure. So his pain was bound to return sooner or later.
Indifferent to all of this, August wanted nothing more than to live his days in happiness.
Putting the blanket aside he stood up against the glassy window in his room.
Fog had accumulated on the surface of the glass. Wiping it off, he took a look outside. The sight of tree leaves swaying in the cold breeze gave him chills.
"Nope, not now."
He quickly jumped right back into his bed. Preparing to go back to sleeping. Only to wake up again when his mother called him again.
"Dad?" He asked while walking down the streets of the town with his father, early in the morning.
"Why are we going on a morning walk?"
His father cleared his throat, "Well …uh, it's good for health you know."
August let out an exasperated sigh, "but we just took one yesterday. Ah… don't tell me I have to do this everyday."
His father raised a brow, "didn't you say you wanted to learn swordfighting?" As if stating the obvious he turned his gaze away, "well… you have to start from waking up early in the morning."
At first he didn't like the idea of waking up early in the morning very much but if it was for learning how to swing a sword —August had no problem doing it whatsoever.
All he ever wanted to be like his parents. Unfortunately, being an Ambivalent he couldn't learn how to control essence like his mother but that didn't mean he couldn't learn how to move a sword.
The art of sword was a matter of strength over aptitude.
"Good morning grandpa Rowan, grandma Martha," he wished them as he passed from the street.
On the other side Shelly's father was preparing to open his shop just as everyday, "good morning Uncle Logan."
Even though his daughter was practically a demon, Logan was nothing but kind to August.
"Ah.. good morning young lord," the vendor humbly replied.
On his way he saw people going to their everyday work. Since most of the town's folk did farming, he used to meet mostly all of them in the morning.
Today his father decided to take the route which led them to the east gate. Just as always, he was on patrol to see if something unusual were to be going on.
However, right now everything seems fine.
As for the other two gates, mages Vala and Arden were stationed there.
Thankfully mage Elara had also started to come out of her trauma, though it took years for her fear of Arachnid to settle down. But now was doing her regular duty of barrier maintenance just fine.
Valerius looked at the peaceful atmosphere and wondered—no matter how many attacks hit this place but people always manage to return back to normal.
It also proved nothing remained forever—neither grief nor sadness but happiness and peace were just as fleeting.
Remember to savour the experience while moments are fleeting.
However, when August looked at the sight before him he thought of nothing but the peaceful bed he had left behind.
Not only that, he started to question if it really was worth sacrificing his sleep.
Keeping that in mind he leaned on his bed as quickly as he arrived at home. His mother was about to call him for breakfast but according to him,
'A little nap would not hurt right?'
Trying to fall asleep he felt a sudden cold in the air. A very unusual but familiar kind of feeling. He did not bother to open his eyes only said,
"You are finally here, lady mist."
Before him a woman appeared shrouded in formless mist. Ever since the day she revealed herself in order to save him from those creatures, August understood that she was always at his side protecting him from the shadows.
And what good a companion is if you can't talk to them?
It took him about a week to make her appear before him. Not only that she refused to speak a word to him—on top of that.
August didn't understand but knew it had something to do with his parents.
It has to be.
"What? Are you gonna stand silent today too?"
He said waving a hand, "just dissolve into the mist already."
"You got a lot of nerve talking to me like that boy," for the first time after his countless attempts to make her talk, she finally uttered a word to him.
Shockingly, he opened his eyes but she wasn't before him at all but had moved away in order to close the door.
"Uh.. excuse me?" He wasn't sure how to react so he stared at her mindlessly.
The woman drifted slowly in the air as did the mist around her, she let out a frown at him,
"go ahead. Ask me whatever you want to ask. Just get this over with already. You don't have any idea how annoying it is to hear someone call for you non stop."
As though recalling something important, she immediately lowered her volume, "...just don't tell your father."
August was by nature a curious child. And when a being covered with mist, levitating in the air appears in front of him, how could he control his urge to ask her every possible question he has in his mind?
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