Plague of divinity

Chapter 5

A couple days later and it was another sunny day. Just another wonderful day of the plague. Enrick grabbed a satchel and headed out, if he wanted to make a difference in this plague he'd actually need to do something. For now that thing would have to be gathering ingredients, at least before he could move onto the next step of experimenting and finally curing it.

As he walked by the street his mind wandered to the dreams of previous nights. All were slightly different, but each of them seemed to end the same way, him alone. He shook his head with a sigh. He couldn't let these dreams get to him. He just got back to his family, or at least what was left of them. If he let his thoughts get in the way of him doing what he needed to do, it could prevent him from saving the ones he loved.

A house he was about to pass on the right of him suddenly caught his attention. His feet slowed to a stop and he stared at it. Behind the windows cobwebs were visible on the glass inside, dust settled on the frames. It was obvious no one had been there in a long time. This is where his uncle Gaurin and cousin Cylssandre had lived.

After pausing, Enrick slowly started to move towards it, his gloved hand reaching out to delicately caress the doorknob with his fingertips before holding it. He tried to push the door open but it seemed to be locked. Looking down he noticed a familiar rock, nudging the rock with his foot and moving aside some dirt he found something shining delicately back at him. A key. Bending down to grab it, he lifted it up and pressed it into the keyhole. The door opened.

As soon as the door was opened, dust littering all the surfaces made its lack of inhabitants very obvious. Enrick felt his heart ache seeing the familiar interior. He had been close with them when he was younger, he remembered always being excited whenever he was brought over. The fact that he'd never see the warm expression of his uncle as he welcomed him in with open arms, tea and sweet treats ready on the table. His mother standing behind him, looking much less frail, her face glowing. Looking almost relieved after dropping off her other two children and being able to finally take a break...

Enrick felt his eyes prick.

He and Cylssandre would go round the back into their private fort. He would show her the medicinal plants he'd been learning about and she'd teach him the stitches she had learnt. It was because of her he had learnt to fix his own clothing, something that he was surprised to find came in handy during his time away. Without his mother there he had to do the work himself, which he was silently thankful to Cylssandre for not leaving him completely defenceless in that area.

He ran his hand over the top of a chair. Making the mistake of sniffing to try and dispel the creeping liquid in his eyes and ending up summoning a sneeze, his quick movement sending dust everywhere.

Despite how close they had become however, they hadn't always gotten along. Before he met her she had an older brother who she would constantly stick to. You'd never find the two apart, it was as if they were attached at the hip. He used to mock them for lack of independence and other things but she would usually respond with some kind of sharp retort, mocking his large ears or feet that he had yet to grow into as a response. Enrick was never really sure if she would hang around her brother because she genuinely looked up to him or because it was more of a defence mechanism against others. After all, it was hard to go after a snide young girl when her much larger older brother was there to protect her. When he died, it had a great impact on her. She completely withdrew into herself, hiding herself in her room, refusing to see anyone, even more so whenever relatives were over.

Around those times Enrick would play with Mags, their own older brother busy with work. After a while, Cylssandre began letting Mags into her room, mainly due to pressure from her father to be social. Eventually Enrick grew bored of playing by himself and forced them to let him be with them, with a little help from Gaurin. When he got there it was obvious Cylssandre only seemed comfortable playing with Mags at that time and so would usually exclude him. This was until, Mags came down with a burning fever and couldn't come for a few days. Left without really another option, Cylssandre started talking with Enrick.

He stupidly brought up the fate of her brother, which was first met with anger assuming he was trying to wind her up as per usual... before he instead apologized for being mean to them both in the first place, being more mature than he used to be meaning he realized what he did then was a silly thing to do. He felt bad about not acting nicer to them back then, especially after what had happened. Knowing he wouldn't get the chance to apologize to them both, he thought he might as well at least apologize to her.

She seemed surprised, obviously not thinking very well of him previously, for good reason. It took time but she eventually opened up. She had been lonely. Since her brother had passed she just hadn't the energy to leave her room and pretend as if she was ok, to socialize and act as she had before. Things weren't the same as they were before, and they never would be the same again... but that didn't mean she couldn't be happy once more, she just needed time and support. When she did finally open up, Enrick was taken back when she cried. He knew losing her brother was a horrible thing but he didn't realize how badly it had been affecting her all this time, after all, he had never lost one of his own siblings before.

They became happier to be around each other after then. They began to share their hobbies teach skills to one another and grew closer as cousins and friends as time went on, especially when Mags eventually got too busy to come around.

As they got older they became busier and had less time to spend at each other's houses. Enrick training to be a doctor and Cylssandre with her own things. He remembered her being rather popular with suitors when she got older, Gaurin making sure she wouldn't see any of them without his permission first, having had his eyes on the son of a noble for his precious daughter.

Enrick continued towards the stairs, looking up and getting images of him, Cylssandre and Mags running up playfully shoving one another. He slowly walked up. The upper floor was slightly darker compared to the lower one aside from a single uncovered window at the end of the hallway. He looked around slowly before going into Cylssandre's room.

It was nearly the same as he remembered, albeit couple of changes here and there. Her dressing table was decorated with a few dust endowed accessories, a few obviously coming from admirers who wished to gain her acknowledgement in some manner but of whom she had no interest and discarded to the side. In the middle of the table however, there was one necklace that caught his eye. The accessory was a gold necklace with an intricate fly pendant, its body a dull stone that glittered slightly when in the light, the eyes a deep red with a hint of amber. It was an odd shape of a gift for someone to give to someone they wished to impress but it certainly didn't look like the person spared any expenses.

Aside from the strange jewellery, another odd thing he noticed about her room were the mushrooms growing here and there. A couple on the furniture, a few gently jutting out of the wall and a few on the floor despite the room's lack of moisture. They weren't big enough to be noticed immediately, not with the room was lit currently with the dusty window, it was only if you took a proper look would you notice them. After gazing around once more, Enrick decided he should leave her room be. If she were to come back, he knew she wouldn't appreciate him going through her stuff. He left her room and began to head down the stairs. His mother had only said she was... missing.

He took a breath before continuing at the bottom. Wherever she was, he was going to find her. Then he'd help her clean out her room and anything else if she so needed. He was hoping she hadn't disappeared because of some fight with her father, Enrick knew Gaurin only wanted the best for his daughter, it would have broken his heart if she ran away because of him... if he had been still alive that is... Well, whatever it was, he was going to help her through it. She didn't deserve to be alone anymore.

Looking around one last time he gave a sigh, taking in the once familiar surroundings before walking towards the door. His hand hesitated on the doorknob. There was a part of him that wanted to stay, a deep irrational part of him that wanted to stay in hopes she might return at that very moment and things could go back to the way they used to be... when they were together and happy. It was almost comforting to imagine being able to go back to those sun soaked times, all of them playing and having fun, not a care in the world... But a lot had changed since then. Uncle Gaurin was dead. His own brother was dead. The best he could do is protect the members of his family that still remained. That was the only way things would return as close as they could be to back then.

Enrick stepped out in the outside and locked the door behind him. He placed the key back under the rock, Cylssandre would need it if she came back after all, before continuing to walk down the street where he had been on his way down before taking the detour in the house.