Chapter 212: The Moon
Barlow bolted upright in bed.
He gasped for air, his lungs burning. His heart hammered against his ribs like a
frantic drum. He lifted his hands, staring at his palms in the dim morning
light.
They were not the twisted, blackened claws of a monster. They were the hands of
a living man—rough, mapped with callouses, with coal dust forever etched into
the creases of his skin.
"I..."
Barlow looked around, his mind spinning. The wooden shack was familiar. The
scarred furniture. The portrait of his late wife hanging on the wall, watching
over them. Sunlight filtered through the window, dappling the floorboards in
warm, golden spots. In the air, the scent of his neighbor's meat stew drifted
in.
"Wasn't I... dead?" Barlow whispered.
The image of the mine collapse was still vivid in his mind. The crushing weight
of the slabs. The agony of his bones splintering. The infinite white void.
Hilde's final, warm embrace.
Just then, the door was thrown open.
"How are you still in bed?!"
Hilde charged into the room like a whirlwind. She stopped, seeing him awake, and
put her hands on her hips.
"Oh? You're finally up?" she huffed. "The sun is already burning the roof! It's
a big day! What are you doing, just sitting there in a daze?"
Barlow stared at her. Flaxen hair in twin tails. A smudge of flour on her cheek.
A faded homespun dress. She was alive. She was real. She was standing right in
front of him.
"Hilde..."
He didn't even realize he was weeping until the tears splashed onto his hands.
Hilde's annoyance vanished instantly, replaced by a look of alarm.
"Papa? What's wrong? Are you hurting somewhere?" She scrambled onto the bed, her
small hands pressing against his forehead. "You don't have a fever. Did you have
a nightmare?"
Barlow didn't answer. He simply pulled her into an embrace—tighter than he ever
had before, as if trying to anchor her to his very soul.
"Papa will never ignore you again," he choked out, his voice thick with sobs.
"I'll never stay at the mine for days on end again. I'll never say those
horrible things to you. I promise. I swear it on the Goddess."
Hilde was nearly smothered by the hug, but she didn't struggle. She simply
patted his back, her expression shifting from worry to a gentle, puzzled
confusion.
"Papa, what are you talking about?" she asked softly. "You haven't been to the
mines in three years."
Barlow froze. "Three... three years?"
"Yeah." Hilde pulled back, puffing out her cheeks. "Did you forget? Ever since
that corrupt Lord was driven away three years ago and the Lords of the Evernight
Empire took over Leaffall City, everyone got new lives. You're a patrolman for
the City Guard now! The pay isn't noble-tier, sure, but you're home for dinner
every single night."
Barlow's head throbbed. Three years? The Evernight Empire? The City Guard?
"And today is the big day!" Hilde continued, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"We're getting the keys to the new house! The Sovereign's decree said every
citizen in this district gets a real home! A house with stone walls! A real
kitchen! Separate bedrooms!"
She began gesturing wildly, her hands painting the air. "I went to see it
yesterday! It's huge, and there's a little courtyard! I'm going to plant
flowers, and you can sit in the sun all afternoon! We have our own well, Papa!
No more fighting the neighbors for water!"
Barlow watched his daughter's joy. He slowly reached out and ruffled her hair,
over and over, just as he had done in his dreams.
"Hilde."
"Mmh?"
"Papa loves you."
Hilde's face flushed a deep crimson. "Papa! What's gotten into you today? Saying
such mushy things! Did the fever melt your brain?"
Barlow smiled, offering no other answer. He turned his gaze toward the window.
The sun was warm. The sky was a brilliant, piercing blue. From the street below,
the sounds of children laughing and playing echoed upward.
"Thank you," Barlow whispered, so low only he could hear it.
Hilde leaned in. "What was that? Speak up, I can't hear you over the birds!"
Barlow shook his head, continuing to stroke her hair. "Nothing, little bird.
Just talking to myself."
Reality returned to the depths of the mine.
Skele-Lust tucked Barlow's soul-crystal and the tattered rag doll into her
spatial bag. She brushed the dust from her dress and turned toward the exit. The
noisy human children—Lott and his crew—had long since fled, likely terrified by
her display of power against the wraith.
Better that way, she thought. Saves me the trouble of deciding how to process
them.
Lust stepped out of the mine into the cool night air. She found a smooth, flat
stone and sat down. A nocturnal breeze swept through the trees, carrying the
scent of damp earth and wild grass. She tilted her head back, looking toward the
heavens.
The moon hung high in the sky, its pale, silver radiance bathing the world in a
ghostly glow.
Just then, the sound of rhythmic marching echoed from the distance. Lust didn't
look back. Several Skeleton Knights in black armor approached rapidly, dropping
to one knee behind her in perfect synchronization.
"General Lust!" the leader of the patrol spoke with crisp respect. "We received
reports from the residents of a spiritual disturbance in this sector. Has the
matter been resolved?"
Lust didn't answer immediately. She kept her gaze fixed on the silver orb above.
After a moment, she spoke softly.
"Would you like to watch the moon with me?" she asked. "It's quite beautiful,
isn't it?"
The Skeleton Knights exchanged a series of confused glances. The soulfire in
their sockets flickered with uncertainty. Watch the moon? It was a rock in the
sky that reflected sunlight. What was there to "watch"?
But since their General had commanded it...
The knights stiffened their necks and looked up. The moon was just the moon.
Round. Bright. Luminous. And then? They could not find the "beauty" she spoke
of.
Lust looked back at her bewildered soldiers and burst into a fit of laughter.
"Hahahaha!" Her voice echoed through the silent woods. "Forget it. I won't
trouble your simple bones."
She waved a hand dismissively. "Return to your posts. The matter here is
concluded. Ensure the report states that the high-tier anomaly has been
neutralized. Recommend that this site be sealed pending further structural and
spiritual safety assessments."
"Understood!"
the Skeleton Knights stood, performed a crisp salute by striking their
breastplates, and turned to march away. Their footsteps faded into the night.
Once again, Lust was alone with the wind and the crickets. She looked back at
the sky. The moonlight silvered her features, casting a soft, ethereal halo
around her avatar.
"It really is beautiful," she whispered, her eyes never leaving the moon.
"My Sovereign..."
The night wind blew, dancing through her hair as she sat in the silver silence.
☆☆☆
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