Amentia

Chapter 35 - Burned

The next day, the troupe woke up to a town shaken by fear. Half the creatures were scared to leave their homes, worried the murderer would come back and finish what he had started. Of course, no one except the girls knew that the killer had been lying in a shallow grave for the past twelve hours. The park was being avoided as much as possible, since the blood of the victims was still there, dry on the pebbles.

The troupe wasn't feeling particularly energetic on this day either, and they were hesitant to resume the play that the attack had interrupted. They knew no one would attend, because who wants to spend an hour in a place where such an atrocity had happened not a full day ago? Everything was still too fresh in everyone's hearts. No joy could be felt in the park that day. The troupe considered moving on, going to another village where tragedy hadn't struck like this and their work wouldn't be affected. But it felt wrong to leave at that moment. The purpose of the Theater of the Sacred Lotus was to bring happiness and a moment in the day when creatures could forget about their problems and distract themselves with an entertaining story. The purpose was to bring creatures together through the power of storytelling. And this town needed this more than any other. So they stayed.

However, they wouldn't perform that day. It would've been disrespectful to everyone's pain. Since they weren't in short supply of food yet, they could afford to miss one performance. Instead, after an uncomfortable breakfast, they decided the plan of the day would be to clean the park, wash away the blood that remained.

Ehlevit was quite special for the troupe. It was their favorite place to visit and play for. It was the town with the most energy, sound and movement in all of Amentia because it gathered creatures from all the corners of the world. They were always engaging audiences who treated them with the most kindness. And every time they had to leave, they paid extra so they had enough food and wouldn't need to make any stops before arriving to the next destination. They took care of the troupe as much as the troupe took care of them. It was heartbreaking seeing it in such a bleak state. They felt it was their duty to restore as much of that brightness as they could.

If they didn't set foot on the park right away, the trauma would take root in their hearts and keep them from performing there again. Of course, anyone who wasn't ready could decline and stay home and no one would think less of them. However, after hesitant deliberation, everyone decided to go. Best to rip off the band aid right away than let it get moist and grow unpleasant things underneath. So they grabbed all their cleaning supplies and walked to the park together, all twelve of them.

Nina considered bringing forth some water hoses again, but she felt like it would be better if she did the work with her bare hands; it would keep her mind at ease and help process the event. So the entire troupe teamed up, organized, and cleaned the park, ridding it of any traces of tragedy. If they couldn't give them stories that day, at least they could give them this.

Throughout the morning, some people walked by and left bags of food or clothing as a thank you for the work they were doing. No one else in town dared to do it, not even the Enforcers, who were nowhere to be found.

"I can't believe Aurora would let this happen..." commented a middle-aged woman with olive skin and two small horns on her forehead. She was passing by the park accompanied by a young girl with similar features but taller by at least a head.

"Mom, Shyra is dead and our back neighbors' entire farm is withering. Aurora is not watching over us anymore," said the young girl bitterly and with a cracked voice.

In the dead silence of the park, the troupe couldn't help but overhear them. They didn't stop cleaning, but looked up for a moment to share worried looks among each other.

"No, this must all be part of her divine plan, there must be a reason for all of this; she will make everything alright in no time," replied the mother.