Chapter 25 No Place Like Home.
Chapter twenty-five
No Place Like Home.
Percy Flores
Ana never spoke much for the rest of that day other than to confirm we were heading to Borealis.
We walked fast, and I was worried that Valen would appear for us at any moment, but I think Ana was simply angry.
She had said we needed to avoid people at least until we could get some new clothes.
We looked too much like soldiers. We had stolen some work clothes from a village drying field, and soon we were off, with two sets of black work jeans and a couple of brown, wool jumpers.
Everything was too big, but at least we weren’t so conspicuous.
We asked a young woman who looked friendly where we were, and Ana asked for directions to the nearest train station.
We settled for the night in a village called Pothetos, finding our way into a farmer's disused barn up in the hayloft. We grabbed a tarp and made a nest in the hay. The farmer was unlikely to come checking during the winter, and I was confident we wouldn’t be disturbed during the night.
“Do you want to visit your family?” she asked quietly.
“It’s out of the way,” I said, but we were in Maria, and I hadn’t been so close to my village and family since I left with Selene in the spring.
“That’s not an answer, and it’s not that far out of our way.
A day, maybe. We should do it. Selene can wait a day.
You might not get another chance to see them,” she said in a chastising tone.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” she continued, quieter.
“If I get the chance to see my family again, I’m going to take it. ”
“I’d like to go, yes,” I told her.
“Tomorrow, we head east, then,” she stated. “They won’t mind you turning up with a blood witch?” she asked.
I laughed.
“No one will even notice, or ask, because we don’t care,” I assured her.
“Good,” she said, and her tone softened towards me for the first time since Valen.
“We’re okay, right? We’re still friends?” I asked, anxiously. I’d never had a true falling out with a friend before, never over something that felt so big and consequential.
“Yes, but I’m angry with you, and I’m not just going to stop being angry,” she huffed, upset. “I don’t even know who I’m angrier with; you for practically begging me not to kill him, or myself for giving in to you,” she said.
“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t feel exactly good about the situation. I know better than most what Valen is capable of, but I also know what it does to a person to be so involved with the taking of a life,” I said.
“That’s you, Percy. Not me. Not everyone feels the same way as you. There are people like you, and there are people like Valen and a thousand places in between. I wouldn’t struggle with regret or guilt or whatever it is you think would take hold of me. Not for someone like him,” she told me.
“Maybe you’re right,” I replied. In the darkness of the barn, I questioned whether I had done the right thing or not. Had I been selfish, trying to protect myself, putting my own fears onto Ana, and now, how many people like the man on the boat would there be?
It was warm under the tarp, surrounded by hay, comfortable too, and despite my ethical turmoil, it wasn’t long before exhaustion dragged me to sleep.
I awoke, startled and panicked the next morning. Ana hovered over me, one hand shaking my shoulder and the other covering my mouth.
“You were screaming,” she said as she took her hand away and allowed me to breathe, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you worse; I didn’t want to attract attention. I’ve heard voices calling across the field.”
“Sorry,” I said as I sat up.
“It’s okay. We should get moving. Hopefully, we’ll see the sea by lunch, see your village by evening. What were you dreaming about?” she asked.
“I can’t remember.” I shrugged.
Screaming myself awake wasn’t out of the ordinary for me, not since the summer.
We walked until the sun rose, and for the first time in weeks, it was sunny enough to feel the warmth of sunlight on my skin.
“I don’t think I’ve ever walked so much in my life. My feet are killing me. I can feel blisters forming bigger than my toes. I just want to sit and never stand back up —”
“Wait!” I interrupted Ana. “Can you hear that?” I asked.
“Hear what?” she asked.
“Listen,” I instructed, while listening closely myself. The land had flattened, and about half an hour previously, we had begun to see the sea. It had caused an excited feeling to form within me, but hearing the waves meant we were so close, and I could hear and see the beach.
“Hey! Percy!” Ana yelled as she chased after me.
I couldn’t help myself, the last mile I had to run. It didn’t matter how long we had been walking or how tired I was. Home was so close.
Ana caught up to me after I had reached the foaming lap of the waves on the beach.
“We’re,” she breathed in deeply, “here,” another breath, “where is,” another breath, “your village?” she asked, panting.
I knew where we were. I knew every inch of the beach and coastline for miles.
“This way,” I said as I began to march as fast as I could towards home, “The coastline bends there, do you see, where the cliff forms?” I pointed ahead of us. “We’re just behind that cliff edge.”
“Please, don’t run again,” Ana begged.
“Okay,” I laughed, “But walk faster.”
I saw someone on the cliff spot us. As a child, being a lookout for returning ships felt like such an important big grown-up job.
As I got older, I realised it was just something to keep us busy and make us feel part of the community.
But I knew two strangers approaching would be something to run and tell the adults about.
When we rounded the cliff edge, where the beach was more stone than sand, I saw them. My family, all three of them.
Midsummer had felt like a lifetime ago; it was only a few months roughly, but in that time, my brother had been born.
Father ran to me, and despite my agreement with Ana, I ran to meet him. When I reached him, he lifted me off the ground in a crushing hug.
“What are you doing here?” he roared so loudly and enthusiastically that it hurt my ears.
“Dad,” I smiled, “I’m so happy to see you,” I told him.
“Who do you have with you?” he asked, and I turned to see Ana standing awkwardly behind me.
“This is Ana, my best friend. We’re travelling together,” I explained.
He nodded in understanding and continued to look around.
“Selene’s not here,” I said, knowing who he was looking for.
“Why not?” he asked, and I was surprised that he sounded angered.
“You want to see her?” I asked, confused. My father had made it no secret what he thought of highborn purebloods.
“Never, but she should be with you! She can’t leave you unprotected. What is she thinking?” he asked.
“I was taken from her. A lot has happened. She would be here if she could be, I’m sure of it,” I tried to explain.
“Taken from her?” he asked, “You mean abducted? Again!” he asked, more shocked than angry. “How does such a thing happen twice?”
The sound of a baby crying made me look behind my father to Rosemary, who stood with a small baby swaddled against her, and half the village, it seemed, had followed them out to meet me.
“Is that my brother?” I asked, ignoring my father’s anger and questions. I didn’t have much time, and there were more important things to do than talk about what had happened.
He smiled proudly, “It is.”
“Can I meet him?” I asked.
He nodded and turned his attention to Ana.
“Are you coming too?” he asked, waving Ana forward.
I walked towards Rosemary and turned back to see my father patting Ana on the shoulder and the two of them exchanging pleasantries.
Rosemary seemed tired, her hair falling messily out of her bun, but she smiled so brightly at me and opened her free arm to greet me with an embrace.
“I’m so happy to have you home,” she said.
“I missed you all so much,” I told her as she released me and I looked down at my brother in her arms.
His eyes were both green, and he already had light brown hair, but he was still so small.
“Galan,” Rosemary said.
“His name?” I asked.
She nodded.
“For calm seas,” Father said beside me.
Irene, the unofficial speaker for the community, walked towards me.
“We want to celebrate that you’re home with a bonfire tonight,” she said.
“That’s a wonderful idea,” Rosemary agreed for me, and I smiled in return.
I was tired, I wanted to wash and change into something that actually fit me, and then hold my brother and learn everything I could about him before sleeping.
But a bonfire just for me? It was something special.
An honour. I wasn’t worthy of any honour, but I wouldn’t turn down the gift from my people.
I walked over to Ana and nudged her shoulder.
“Everyone, this is my friend, Ana,” I said. There were a number of greetings, and people introducing themselves. Ana looked a little overwhelmed.
We went back to my old home. The little blue house was smaller than I remembered, and it smelled different.
That upset me. It was like I didn’t fit in the space anymore.
It wasn’t that I was unwelcome; it was that I was a guest in a place where I once wasn’t.
It made the empty feeling in my chest worse.
“We kept all your clothes. I wouldn’t let your father give them away. I knew you’d need them one day,” Rosemary said as she brought out a box of all my old clothes for Ana and me so we could wash and change.
“Just because she needs them now doesn’t mean you were right,” Father called through the house.
“Yes, it does,” Rosemary said to us before calling back to my father. “I knew she’d be back.”
Her superior smile made me laugh with happiness.
“I’m very thankful that you kept these, Rosemary, but you don’t need to keep all of them. Maybe just a spare outfit or two, and then you should give the rest away. I won’t need them,” I said. There was always a need for clothing in the village; there was no point in hoarding my old clothes.