The Final Protectors

Underground Palace Part 4

Mr. Good and the rest’s departure seem to have taken away every remnant of air currents. Even the breeze through the long corridor was silent. Time seemed to have turned into a sticky solid that coiled around the two. Unmoving, motionless.

Karlos was facing away from Aldo, gaze looking through the window at the side halls and the garden filled with dried branches.

He did not know what to say. To Karlos, their last meeting was still quite recent. Though they had separated before they could even exchange a word. With the looming final battle, neither of them knew whether the next day would bring them a victorious tomorrow or an eternal hell. Even if they had a billion things to say to each other, there was no chance to do so.

Just standing together in silence like this… was almost a mirror image of a time millions of years ago that vanished in the deepest parts of their memories.

“Alright, what happened?”

After some silence, as the air began to turn awkward, the two spoke up in unison.

Karlos shrugged. “Frankly, I dunno either. One second ago, I was still playing tug-of-war with Satan, but I blinked and was sent to this time period for some reason.”

No wonder that person mentioned the forbidden time magic that day. Aldo kneaded his nose. “Do you mean that you suddenly went missing at the last moment because you were pulled into an unknown space-time? —I’m sorry, please forgive me, I’m a little overwhelmed. After all, to me, you were gone for many years, but to you, everything has just happened…”

A helpless smile appeared on Karlos’s face. He was, in truth, even more overwhelmed by the situation. “What about you? What happened?”

Aldo stared at his delicate profile and spoke only a while later, “Part of my soul resides in the Barrier. When it is damaged, I will be awoken at once.”

Karlos furrowed his brows. “No one’s life can exist alongside the Barrier, just like how no one can come back from the dead—or do you mean… you didn’t die at all? When you were alive, did you force your soul into a slumber?”

A mocking, unkind smile flashed across Karlos’s face. But it was just a flash, and ultimately, a rueful expression settled on his face—regardless of the situation, the person who fulfilled their vow to protect with their life and soul was this man in front of him.

It was a rare sunny day. Sunlight splashed on the Temple’s snow white rooftop. In the distance, some apprentices were already up for their own practice. He looked down from above. The front palace had begun to welcome the tourists in. By the fountain, white doves were preening with their cherry red beaks.

  Seeing this familiar, yet foreign scenery, Karlos was suddenly assaulted by a wave of faint sorrow that he could not name. The emotion slowly circulated around his heart.

The Aldo in front of him was someone unfamiliar to him. After careful scrutiny, he found that the frail teenager in his memories, who had always hung his head, had now become a tall adult. With broad and straight shoulders, the beauty he had as a teenager was still there on his face, but the ic-cold sharp edges of his facial features seemed to have been cut out. And now, they even carried the solemnity of having gone through the torments of life.

Karlos leaned by the window and averted his gaze. He spoke softly, “In the end, you still…”

“Yes, I did not fail to meet the responsibilities signified by the scepter given to me.” Aldo took a step forward to stand beside him at the window. He caught a glimpse of his own statue in the garden. There, through the statue’s eyes, he had already stubbornly and despairingly waited a thousand years for a person’s return.

I did not fail the scepter—but I failed you.

He thought silently.

“Then, a problem did truly happen with the Barrier your distinguished self mentioned?” Karlos asked.

“It has aged too severely, and now, the energy is seeping out far too much,” Aldo said, “But I will mend it proper.”

If Aldo promised it would be mended, it absolutely would be. This was the root of how they could still fight beside each other despite no longer trusting each other— they possibly even disdained each other—after they grew apart. Karlos nodded. And upon sharply realizing that he had nothing else to say to him,, he stated indifferently, “Since there’s nothing else, I will take my leave, your distinguished self.”

“Karl,” Aldo suddenly spoke up. Karlos could even hear a slight quivering hoarseness in his voice. The man’s throat bobbed in difficulty. “Could I… could I hug you?”

Karlos was silent.

With no reply, Aldo’s raised hand remained frozen in the air. Subtle blood veins grew visible in the light grey eyes. His eye rims were even a little red as he willfully stayed in this deeply awkward pose. “…Please.”

This was the person he once swore to protect for his whole life, Karlos thought in despondence. He had once been on cloud nine the rest of the day when graced with one of his faint smiles; he had once found it hard to eat or sleep at the sight of a single inexplicable frown But they still walked their separate ways. In this unexpected reunion, there was only shock instead of joy. They even had an irrational fight.

That proud, sensitive youth that had always taken up a place in his heart blurred at that moment. His body gradually stretched longer, turning him into a man who would even humbly beg for a hug.

Karlos sighed, finally slackening his tensed shoulders. The next moment, as if given a great pardon, Aldo tightly embraced him. Like what he told Mike earlier, the Archbishop from a millennium ago rested his hands on Karlos’s back as he shut his eyes, as if counting every single heartbeat he had.

“I can… I can do anything for you,” Aldo spoke at Karlos’s ears. “If you’ll give me a chance…”

I can do anything for you.

Karlos thought, Back then, I too… said this to you.

After a while, he firmly pushed Aldo away, responding with feigned composure, “I do not question your distinguished self’s promise, however… there’s no need.”

Aldo gripped his wrist at once. “Karl!”

Karlos lowered his eyes, glancing at his icy, pale fingers. Steeling himself, he pried each finger from his wrist. Then, the corners of his eyes curved as he laughed quietly, “It’s Mr. Fraruitt. Do allow me to remind you, your distinguished self.”

I’m already… very tired.

Then, he turned to leave.The long coat in a style odd to Aldo’s eyes began to be blown slightly. That clearly incongruous greatsword stayed in his hands as the sheath gently hit his leg in every careless step of his. Even without  a giant hood, he still wore a smaller top hat to hide his eyes. As though he lacked any semblance of security unless he wore one.

Aldo sharply recalled a conversation between them many years ago:

“Leo!”
“It’s Mr. Aldo. Mr. Fraruitt, who permitted you to refer to me by name?”

After all these years, their positions were switched

Aldo gazed after his disappearing back, smiling a little forlornly. Beneath the large sleeves of his robe, his hands curled into fists—this feeling was always unavoidable, his deep-rooted fear towards Karlos’s disappearing back.

As Karlos left his sight, Aldo’s unmistakable grievous expression vanished from his face without a trace like sand particles blown by the wind. He calmly looked down at his hand. That person’s scent seemed to linger still.

Earlier, he obtained two pieces of information. First, Karlos came straight from that war, so that person in his memory and himself did not suffer through the long, arduous passage of time as he originally assumed. Second, after testing the waters, he was still weak to him.

That was enough. Aldo told himself. It was sufficient. I will obtain you again, I swear in the name of the Temple.

Morning breeze blew in through the window, sending golden strands of hair flying. The chilly, sharp scent of winter hit his nose. Aldo sucked in a deep breath, closing his light grey eyes as he stood in place. He looked just like an angel praying at the first glimmer of dawn.

“If God does exists in this world,” he thought, “Then, please allow Your irreverent follower to offer up his most sincere gratefulness.”

At a complete loss, Karlos took a cab back to Jel’s residence, and paid the cab fare—which left him at a greater loss. He could never differentiate what these bizarre paper bills represented in monetary value, and added with his absent-minded state, it was a straight up tragedy.

The good thing was that the cab driver was an older man, who was more sympathetic. Seeing this pretty fellow with that “toy sword” spotted with rust and watching how very hard he strived to count the cab fare properly (after three failures), the sympathy on his face was so clear that he might as well have said it.

“No, no, kid. I can’t accept your money. Trust me, you are already very brave for walking outside alone,” the driver said. “Alright, please keep your money.”

Karlos thought: Huh?

After sending him off the cab with his gaze, the driver stuck his head out of the window and waved his fist at him. “Remember, kid. The constitution gave you the same rights as the others. Everything will turn out fine. Disability is the best teacher. Do not be defeated by it. You will definitely become an extraordinary person.”

Karlos, “…”

Uh… Did you misunderstand something?

“Run bravely like Forrest!” The driver impassionately whistled, before he turned the wheel and drove away.

Lily who was playing in the garden spotted him at once and called out happily, “John!”

“Stupid.” Mike pulled on her braid. “He’s called Karlos.”

Lily screamed. They quickly got into a fight. Jel came out, seemingly unsure of how to face him, “Jo… Mhm, how should I call you?”

Based on age… He should call him his ancestor? But that was too ridiculous.

Karlos halted on the spot, uncertain.

Without a smile on his lips, his face was far too pale. Even if the wounds on his body had nearly healed, the paleness seemed rooted in his soul.

He stood on the spot, gaze incomprehensible, ,as if the wind would blow him elsewhere; he adored joining the liveliness no matter where in the world, but he would leave as quickly as he came. He would partake in the joy, drink a cup of water, and then, he’ll immediately depart for another place.

Jel suddenly recalled that day he visited the Adoratt Cemetery. The graveyard keeper had told him Karlos’s popular legends. The endless wandering and unjust treatment still did not stop him from returning to the battlefield. The current Karlos was not even as old as him, but while he was praised as young and promising, this person had already undergone a great, uninhibited life full of twists and turns.

A warm smile appeared on Jel’s lips. With no more hesitation, he walked up to him, opening his arms to hug the stiffened man. He patted his back hard. “Alright. No matter what I should call you, you’re finally home.”

Perhaps in the passage of time, their blood relations had grown so thin that it was not even worth a mention. But here, it was the only attachment and connection he had. A thousand years later, the predecessor of the family which he was not fated to meet again finally fulfilled his ancestor’s promise to him when he was a child—if you did not become someone amazing, then, we would have no choice but to love you forever.

Karlos’s nose reddened. His rigid body finally relaxed. He laughed gently, “I’m so touched I’m about to cry.”

“Oh, then I’ll lend you my shoulder.” Jel let go of him cheerily, carrying Lily and Mike in his arms as they walked back to the Shelton residence. “For dinner, let’s go out, we’ll have Italian, alright? Grown-up child and little children?”
Mike and Jel answered in unison, “Aye aye!”

Karlos laughed. But very quickly, he remembered something.

“Oh, right,” he asked Jel, “Who’s Forrest?”

A/N:

Tomorrow, Christmas holidays will begin~~~ I’ll basically spend it on my journey to the airport, on the plane and departing from the airport = = I probably won’t come online at night, so if I can make it on time, I’ll put the chapter in the drafts. But according to my recent discoveries, the chapters I drafted never showed up on the page… However it is, everyone, please refresh the page a few times. I’ll set the update at 8. If nothing shows up, I’ll post two chapters the day after tomorrow.