Chapter 5: The Separation and The Years of Forging
1408 Words
I. Sakura's Decision
Three days had passed since the sisters arrived in Astoreth.
During that time, Sakura had observed, learned, and planned. She had seen how the villagers looked at them with curiosity, how some whispered behind their backs, how Elara and Darian protected them with a discretion that betrayed they knew more than they said.
But she had also felt something more.
A restlessness. A certainty that they could not stay there. That as long as they were together, danger would stalk them like wolves stalking wounded prey.
That night, while Amelia and Serenity slept, Sakura spoke with Elara and Darian by the fire.
"We can't stay," she said, with a firmness that surprised even herself. "Arman will look for us. And when he does, he will find not only us. He will also find everyone who helped us."
Elara and Darian exchanged a glance.
"What do you plan to do, little one?" asked Darian.
Sakura swallowed. She had rehearsed this conversation many times, but now that the moment had come, the words stuck in her throat.
"I have to separate them," she said at last. "Hide each one in a different place. That way, if Arman finds one, the others will be safe."
Elara looked at her with a mixture of admiration and sadness.
"That's a very heavy burden for a seven-year-old girl."
"I'm not a girl," Sakura replied, her eyes bright. "Not after what I saw."
Darian nodded, understanding.
"You're right about one thing: they can't stay here. But separating them... are you sure?"
"No," Sakura admitted. "But it's the only thing I can think of."
Elara stood and knelt before her.
"I know a family in Gaya," she said. "Good farmers. They have a daughter Amelia's age. They could take her in, raise her as their own. No one would look for her there."
Sakura felt a knot in her stomach.
"And Serenity?"
Darian spoke up:
"In the forest, east of here, lives an elderly couple. Their names are Theron and Mira. They live apart, in a cabin. They have no contact with anyone. Serenity would be safe with them."
Sakura nodded, tears threatening to overflow.
"And me?"
Elara and Darian looked at each other.
"You..." said Elara softly. "You have to live. Grow. Become strong. Because someday, when your sisters need you, you'll have to be ready."
II. The Last Night Together
That night, Sakura did not sleep.
She stayed awake, watching her sisters, engraving every detail in her memory. The way Amelia frowned in her sleep. Serenity's little fist, clenched against her chest. The warmth of their bodies, the scent of their skin, the soft murmur of their breathing.
She wanted to cry, but the tears didn't come.
Only an immense emptiness, as if she had already lost something she could never recover.
At dawn, she woke Amelia.
"Come," she whispered. "I have to tell you something."
Amelia looked at her with her big green eyes, still drowsy.
"What's wrong, Sakura?"
"You're going to a new place," Sakura said, her voice trembling. "A good family will take care of you. You'll be happy there."
Amelia frowned.
"Aren't you coming?"
"No," Sakura answered, and the word tasted like poison. "But I'll come back. I promise. When I'm stronger. When I can truly protect you."
Amelia hugged her with all her might.
"I don't want to go," she cried.
"I know," Sakura whispered, hugging her back. "I know. But it's the only thing I can do to keep you safe."
They separated. Sakura dried Amelia's tears with the back of her hand.
"Be good," she said. "Obey your new parents. And never forget that I love you."
Amelia nodded, biting her lip to keep from crying.
Then Sakura took Serenity in her arms. The newborn opened her eyes for an instant and looked at her, as if she knew what was about to happen.
"You won't remember me either," Sakura whispered, with a sad smile. "But someday, when you're older, someone will tell you your story. And then you'll know you have a sister who never stopped loving you."
She kissed her forehead and handed her to Darian, who waited at the door with a covered cart.
"May the gods protect them," said the old man.
Sakura nodded, unable to speak.
She watched the cart drive away, taking Amelia south, toward Gaya.
She watched Darian go into the forest with Serenity in his arms.
And when she was alone, at Elara's door, the tears she had held back for so long finally flowed.
She cried until she had no strength left.
But when the sun rose fully over Astoreth, Sakura dried her face, straightened her back, and made a decision.
She was going to become strong.
She was going to survive.
She was going to be ready for when her sisters needed her.
III. The Years of Forging (I)
While Sakura began her own path in Astoreth, learning to fish, to trade, and to survive, in Felian, Lans Eliot was forged in fire and steel.
The first year was the hardest.
They took away Lans's prince clothes and gave him a rough tunic that chafed his skin. They gave him a wooden sword and told him to learn to use it. They gave him one plate of food a day and told him that was a feast.
The other children mocked him.
"Look at the little prince!" they shouted. "Where are your servants now?"
Lans clenched his teeth and did not answer.
But at night, when everyone slept, he got up and practiced in secret. Blow after blow, until his hands bled. Push-up after push-up, until his arms trembled.
He didn't want to be the best. He didn't want to be a hero.
He only wanted to survive.
And if to do that he had to become the person Haruko had warned him not to be... then so be it.
IV. The First Lesson
Akira, the weapons master, watched Lans from the shadows.
The boy had something special. It wasn't his strength, which was meager. Nor his skill, which was nonexistent. It was his gaze. That fierce determination not to give up, not to complain, to keep going no matter the cost.
One afternoon, after training, Akira called him aside.
"You have something," he said. "Something that can't be taught. Something you either have or you don't."
Lans looked at him, not understanding.
"What is it?"
"Hunger," Akira replied. "Hunger to be more than you are. And that, boy, is more valuable than any technique."
Lans didn't answer. But that night, when the others slept, he kept practicing.
Blow after blow.
Push-up after push-up.
Without rest.
Without mercy.
Because deep down, the only thing keeping him alive was the hope of seeing Haruko again.
And the certainty that, for that, he had to become someone she could recognize.
V. The First Year
At the end of the first year, Lans had changed.
He was no longer the chubby, scared child who had arrived in Draconis. Now he was thinner, harder, with a gaze that had lost all innocence.
He had learned to fall. To get up. To ignore pain.
He had learned that friends don't exist, only temporary allies.
He had learned that the only person he could trust was himself.
But at night, when the moon shone over the black towers of Draconis, he climbed to the highest point and looked south.
Toward Isagar.
Toward Haruko.
"Wait for me," he whispered. "I'm coming back. I promise."
And somewhere, far away, Haruko felt a tingle in her heart and smiled, not knowing why.
VI. Epilogue: The Path of Each One
In Gaya, Amelia arrived at her new home. A family of farmers welcomed her with open arms. The girl, scared at first, soon began to adapt. But at night, she dreamed of an older sister with violet eyes who hugged her tightly.
In the forest, Serenity grew up among the elderly Theron and Mira. She learned to speak with flowers, to listen to the wind, to feel the magic that slept inside her. But in her dreams, a voice called her again and again: "Serenity... Serenity..."
And in Astoreth, Sakura became Elara's assistant. She learned to fish, to cook, to trade. But she also learned to be quiet, to observe, to wait.
Because she knew that someday, when least expected, the past would come knocking again.
And when that happened, she would be ready.
- Writer
