Entha

Chapter 28: A Far Off Message

“That is right brother, you’re a Grandif now, and an Elder at that”

Excitedly said Heather, but I wasn’t able to relate as to why Heather was on the verge of jumping in delight joy, he had inched his face a tad too close to the point of it not being comfortable,

“Is that really that big of a deal”

“Of course it is my son, Grandifs are know as the demon world’s strongest and the elders are second only to the king, you being granted such titles in your short amount of time could only mean that you are special”

I'm not a fan of the term special, but considering that the demon world is in turmoil, constantly threatened, and is caged by billions of angels seeking to wipe out every demon, wouldn't such titles be worthless? Perhaps if granted freedom, I'd be a bit happier about it, but if the title is meant to motivate me, then I don't really need it, or maybe I'm overthinking things, I guess for now I should at least try to share their joy,

“Is that so, then what should I do during the announcement?”

“its simple you just have to show that you are worthy of such title”

Replied Halen, what does she mean to show that I am worthy?.... How am I to do that? Don’t tell me…

“You don’t mean another fight right?”

“No of course not, it just a matter of parade?”

Parade? Walking through the street like those of festivals? Why would we even do such thing, come to think of it I even declined such school activities to avoid attention back then, but now I’m asked to do the same, should I decline?

“Parade for what? Isn’t it fine for the king to just announce it?”

“Well that’s how things should be but it is decided that we would be doing a parade to ease and motivate those who have lost their Entha since cases of demons breaking their souls have started to resurface”

Explained Halen with her eyes now downcast, demons breaking their own souls?... Probably an aftermath of their Entha disappearing, is this also planned by Azam’s will?, hardly believable to think so, Azam had always loved his subject, what is going on? is maintaining the barrier that taxing?

“I see, Elena any progress on the alchemist side?”

“Ahem, Yeah were making improvements bit by bit but it’ll be a bit long before we could actually execute the plan, a year perhaps”

Said Elena who was immersed in pinching the now sleeping Anna, it wouldn’t be that simple, I guess taking one step at a time wouldn’t be so bad, but the problem of demon’s breaking their soul shouldn’t be prolonged,

“Have we got numbers of how many demons started to break their own souls?”

“so far only two were reported, but the king and the elders along with the dukes have already come up with countermeasures, one of that is the Parade I mentioned”

That’s a relief then, we would need every help we could get in the upcoming battle, thus a single demon is so much valuable, considering we are greatly outnumbered,

“Then well just have to wait for now?”

“That is so my son, so for now focus in recovering”

-

Shortly after Father and the others left, Anna who had been sleeping soundly had woken up, I’ve talked big about taking care of her but I haven’t done anything but shove such responsibility to others,

“Calix don’t leave me too”

She spoke and I could hear worry on her muffled voice, what am I doing worrying a little girl, though the thought of her not wanting me to leave made me happy, I’m really starting to think of myself as a father,

“Don’t worry I won’t”

“You promise?”

She’s a bit talkative today which eased me, I was still stuck on how to help her grieve but I’m glad that she seemed a lot brighter, but the question she asked is something a bit harder to answer, I don’t take promises lightly, not that I had been promised something before but to be in the receiving end of an unfulfilled promise is sure to give a nasty feeling,

“I can’t promise but I’ll do my best to be with you Anna”,

I replied, she might not understand what I meant but I can’t put myself to lie to her for the sake of an immediate short-lived relief, I’ll just try to comfort her if she did cry thus I slowly held out my hand to hug Anna but,

“I’m okay with just that Calix, since you’ll have to work right?”

Anna said as she jumped in my arms, is she a genius? That’s really mature of her, is their difference between children raised in the demon world and on Earth?

“Calix, I’ve been painting want to see?”

Said Anna as she jumped off the bed and reached out for the paper stacked beside the paintings, and returned towards the bed,

“Take a look”

She continued,

The first painting she showed me was that of the De Val duchy it was filled with dark colors of black and brown and is a bit hard to interpret but the size of the huge house and the figure of a yellow stickman swinging a sword would surely be Heather, she continued showing me her paintings of the different rooms in the duchy for example Elenas lab along with stick figures of Esteroth, Halen, Elena and even Father, but one such particular painting had piqued my attention, it was a painting of Esteroth Anna, Halen and Elena looking above the sky in what seemed to be the duchies balcony it was the most detailed in all of the paintings where the people involved weren’t in the form of stick figures but that of roughly shaped person it was beautiful and all but the sky is obviously blue and a yellow sun dominated it,

“Anna, what is this painting about? And why are we not included as well?”

I asked her since this painting had greatly differed from the usual ones wherein it would be places found in the duchy,

“I dreamt of it”

“is that so, then can you tell me about your dream?”

I said to engage conversation with Anna,

Thus, we spent the time talking about her dreams, which were probably a mix of Earth's sky and the duchy, she had even taught me how to paint, which was easier said than done; I talked about her paintings being natural for a child, but my paintings being much worse than hers only meant that my painting skills is at a level lower than a child; it was fun spending time like this; it provided relief from the nightmarish thoughts and worries, It might be early to say that I understood how a parent felt but I feel like I’m a bit closer to it as for the first time in a long time I witness Anna smile and chuckle,