Alberto awoke from his doze beneath the tree to find his children in his arms, as if they were fragments of his very soul. He carried Arios with the utmost care and handed him to Heles with a silent glance that conveyed a depth of gratitude his tongue could not express. Then he lifted Elios, placing him in his bed as though he were setting a jewel into its case. When he returned to the hall, Heles asked about the source of his calm, and he replied only with brief words: "Nothing… but my mood is good today." He had no need to say more—her smile alone translated everything words could not.
But peace in the world of the Celestines never lasts. An urgent royal message tore Alberto from his oasis of tranquility and hurled him into the furnace of politics and war.
In the Throne Hall: Omens of Annihilation
Within the grand hall, the king stood like an unshakable mountain among his elite commanders. The air was thick with tension. "We have lost our alliances," the king roared bitterly. "Those parasites known as the 'Malaria' have begun devouring our influence. We are a people of war—we will not allow creatures that thrive on plunder to shatter our pride!"
The vice king explained the technical dilemma: a 40% defensive gap threatening their planet. Then he dropped the revelation that shook the hall to its core: "After three years of preparation, we will launch a campaign to occupy their entire galaxy… and we will be gone for another three years."
A funeral-like silence fell. Three years of exile, of brutal wars against unknown beings, and three years away from the cries of children and the faces of wives. "And we may never return," the vice king concluded, his words like a treacherous stab.
The king declared he would remain to protect the planet, ordering the commanders to spend the coming three years with their families. This royal mercy carried within it an unspoken farewell—for every child's laugh now would become a debt to be paid on distant battlefields.
Warriors' Tavern: Bitter Farewell Cups
In the tavern, amid tobacco smoke and the clamor of cups, Alberto sat with his comrades. "Three years? This is a suicide mission," one of them said bitterly. Alberto sighed, leaning his head back. "The problem isn't the fighting… it's what we'll leave behind. My children… my home…" One of them mocked Alberto's sudden softness, but he paid no mind. He knew the "Malaria" did not attack with swords—they corrupted pacts and sowed doubt—and that this war was the final breath in preserving the Celestines' honor. They raised their cups with a unified cry: "To war!" Yet their eyes searched for the answer to one question: which of us will return to tell the tale?
The Magic of Two Years: First Steps
Two years passed like a dream. Their home became a sanctuary of love. Heles watched as Alberto turned two-year-old Arios into a human "airplane," flying him around the room with laughter she had never imagined lived within her stern husband's chest. "You are special, Arios," Alberto would whisper to the infant. "As if you are a gift from something greater." Arios replied with his first word, shaking the warrior to his core: "Da…da."
Then came a golden moment. Arios stood unsteadily in the middle of the room. Elios clapped with excitement, Alberto extended his hand like a shield, and Heles called from afar, "Come to mama… Arios." With wobbly steps like a tiny penguin, Arios ran. They were not merely a child's steps, but the first strides of destiny. "Arios is walking!" Heles cried with childlike joy, while Alberto looked on with quiet pride, knowing this small journey would one day end upon peaks no one had ever reached.
Helen: The Last Breeze of Peace
The joy did not end there. Heles announced another pregnancy. And amid the looming clouds of war, "Helen" was born. Heles chose the name in honor of her late mother, a bridge between past and future. Alberto held his delicate daughter and felt the burdens of the entire planet vanish before her tiny eyes. Helen became the anchor that bound him to the earth, and the promise he made to himself—to return from the hell of the Malaria, no matter the cost.
The family gathered: Alberto the steadfast, Heles the gentle, Elios the brave, Arios the enigmatic, and little Helen. A scene overflowing with love… yet beyond their window, the hands of time were ticking closer to the moment of departure—the moment when warriors would become ghosts in a distant galaxy.