The Harvest of Souls

CHAPTER 61

ASTURIAN ISLAND

24.02.8462 - 10:00 AM

Richard has never buried a loved one in the Asturian Island commentary. That morning would be no different, despite the fact that they were all gathered in the Asturian Island cemetery, Richard felt the strange sensation when he saw the white coffin, completely empty, being covered with earth. The decision to honor Lélia had been Mila's, who had insisted that the ritual would aloud Richard to move forward in some way. The ceremony had been quick and simple, only Richard, Vaughan, Marta Mila, Scarlet, Nair, Mário, and Fernand, in a wheelchair, participated.

Richard calmly approached the grave, and while the earth was magically slipping and covering the coffin, he watched a golden trumpet tree flower fall among the earth. A tear leaked from his eye and he then began to hum softly:

"Por una cabeza, si ella me olvida, qué importa perderme mil veces la vida. Para qué vivir?"

ASTUR

27.03.8462 - 11:58 PM

The car stopped just in front of Marta's house, and Fernand could see as he left the car behind that the yellow lamps in the Living Room lighted everyone. He smiled in relief when he saw Mila, Scarlet, and Mário laughing inside.

"Hello," he said, facing the group inside the house through the window that overlooked the small garden.

"Fernand!" Mila exclaimed.

"Ready to go?" He questioned.

"Sure," Mila said. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes! No need for a wheelchair anymore. I feel much well, Scarlet can even shoot me again." Said Fernand laughing.

"Oh, please, don't say that to her, even being a joke. She's still tormenting herself for shooting you." Mila replied worriedly, seeing her sister-in-law approaching. "Mom, we're going," the girl shouted.

"How are you?" Scarlet threw herself into Fernand's arms.

"I'm great!" He replied, smiling shyly. "Preparing to take on CriSPe."

"That's good!" Said Mila hugging her friend. "I'm happy for you. Will you be my new boss then?"

"It seems so," said Fernand. He looked down with a look of guilt.

"Nobody wanted this to be happening that way, right," said Mila.

"No, I never imagined growing in my career under these circumstances, and so abruptly, it's only been seven days."

"You should leave it aside for longer, Fernand," Marta said, approaching and leaning against the door frame. "Richard will understand better than anyone."

"It's no use, he's worse than me, and he needs someone to take over. I'll take care of it," said Fernand. "As difficult as it is."

"You're going to take the work out of the way..," Marta began.

"The work is the least of my worries. The difficult thing is to assume something that Lélia built..."

"Oh yes, I got it. I'm sorry," said Marta.

"And how were the procedures with Charlotte?" Questioned Mila.

"She formalized my release this week. For all intents and purposes, I was in prisons until the day before yesterday," said Fernand. "As there were attacks on the island, she herself justified my release. The Anjeamons didn't like the situation, as far as I heard, but that's her problem, I won't worry about it."

"Complicated situation," said Mário.

"Yes," said Fernand. "Charlotte is still hunting and trying to find the person responsible. She called me herself to explain everything and probe what I knew."

"You said as we agreed?" Questioned Scarlet.

"Of course, we do not know who attacked us and why," said Fernand. "That's how it should be. Vaughan and Richard corroborated this story. They are also afraid of what Jeannie might turn into," said Fernand. "And Nair? How is she doing?"

"She is fine," Scarlet spoke. "She's there taking care of Richard and Vaughan. They're not very well yet. Who is, right? All of us trying to digest everything."

"And we going to a party," Analyzed Fernand.

"What should we do? We are alive. We must enjoy," said Mila. "And you, how are you feeling?"

"Sincerely? It doesn't look like it's gone down yet. I think I ignored that fact to get it. Lélia was my best friend, my first love. I'm very sad that everything turned out that way," Fernand sniffed. "Let's go then? We need to rock Penelope.

The loud music bothered Fernand's ears as he hugged Mila in the middle of the crowd. That was a small place, much smaller than the smallest of the rooms in the Asturian Manor. It was painted all black with a screen that took up one wall entirely. The music clip and the shadow of those who passed in front of the projector were projected on the screen.

"I don't know if I can handle it," said Fernand.

"Handle what?" Questioned Mila.

"This whole situation," said Fernand starting to cry and hugging Mila more tightly. "Jeannie performing this spell. Lélia dying. It's too much," he spoke, sobbing while everyone at the party laughed and had fun.

"Calm down, Fernand," Mila said, her eyes filling with tears. "Let's Dance. Let's dance, let's sing, and ward off all these evils."

Mila ran her delicate fingers over Fernand's face and began to sing, smiling through teary eyes:

"I left my head and heart on the dance floor."

ASTURIAN ISLAND

28.03.8462 - 1:26 AM

Richard woke up startled in his bed on the mezzanine floor of the Royal Chamber. He found he was sweating and wrapped in heavy blankets despite the heat of the night. The king disentangled himself and climbed out of bed, pulling on his slippers. He made his way to the mezzanine stairs and descended to his private library, turning on the lights with a wave.

Richard went straight to a specific section of the shelf and then was sure what had woken him up at that moment: two books were missing from his library. He took the list of books he owned and confirmed the volume titles, and then walked the length of the shelves, checking book after book to verify that the books in question weren't there. Almost an hour had passed before a knock on the door caught his attention.

"Hey?" Richard questioned.

"It's me, Van."

"You may come in."

Vaughan entered the Royal Chamber. He wore a long black robe and carried a lamp with him.

"I saw the lights on in your room and decided to knock to know if you needed something."

"I was sleeping when I woke up with a thought in my head," said Richard. "We checked that no books had been stolen, but Jeannie commented that she sneaked into the manor several times. So she could have picked up something even after our conference."

"And?"

"And two books are missing, books that my aunt didn't have in her collection, books that are linked to the history of Asturias," said Richard.

"About?"

"Books about Pandora's Box."