Alma 121 The Desperation They Fel

Who the fuck's messing with the thermostat up there?! I swear if I find out who's responsible for this goddamned weather, I'll…!

A muffled, half-hearted shout from inside of the bakery interrupted Reed's thoughts and he hollered back to the other half of Summer's Ambrosia that he'd finish soon.

The word 'hot' couldn't even begin to appropriately describe the weather outside. It was an infernal, borderline unmanageable monsoon of scorching heat and bone-dry wind.

There was no humidity in the air, so the power of the heatwave had been amplified beyond normal. It had gotten so bad outside that a faint, persistent shimmer in the air prevailed wherever one looked.

Cruel mirages of water tormented anyone who dared to take a step outside of their homes.

Reed frowned as he gazed at the spotless, blue sky above and spit on the sidewalk in frustration. Unfortunately, the globule of saliva never reached the ground as Reed had intended. …Instead, it promptly sizzled up into a cloud of steaming hot air and disappeared into the sky in almost comical fashion.

He bitterly shook his head and retreated into the cool, air-conditioned bakery with a heavy heart, his spirit defeated.

Were it not for the considerable fortune that Reed and Lu'um had amassed when they chased bounties during their trainee days, the situation might have been different for them. Their business was not flourishing too well as of recent but thankfully, they had far more than enough to tide by.

Out in the boonies, the property was cheap and the cost of living was low, too. The two-story building that served as their home and place of business had cost Reed and Lu'um a fraction of what they would have had to pay to live in one of the larger metropolises.

Perhaps Cem-Elle was not as up-to-date and advanced compared to the big, bustling cities, but it was blessed with various gifts that they did not have.

A feeling of community, for one. Clean, fresh air and plenty of nature, too. And let's not forget the most important gift Cem-Elle possesses…

Peace. That was the main reason why Reed and Lu'um had chosen Cem-Elle in the first place. It was in all ways, a little town ruled by peace.

There were no dangerous intrigues in Cem-Elle. No sinister plots, power struggles, or ambitious godlings in the little town by the mountains. After all, there was nothing to be gained in living in a city built by mortal hands.

When Reed walked back inside, Lu'um handed him a dry towel and said, "See anyone outside? Or is it still the same as yesterday?"

"Still the same, unfortunately. Barely anyone out on the streets and I don't blame them; it's a hellhole outside," said Reed, wiping the sweat off of his brow.

This isn't normal at all. The temperature here usually peaks at around 20 degrees Celsius, or so… and that's during the summer.

Reed summoned his tome and pulled up the weather forecast for Cem-Elle and his expression darkened when he saw the information it had displayed for him.

43 degrees Celsius. Last I checked, I had settled down in a temperate, scenic country, not in the fucking desert!

Lu'um peeked over Reed's shoulder and said, "…That's not good. I think tha—"

Without warning, everything started to shake violently as if it were being thrashed around. The ground trembled with such fervor that it had even unearthed a couple of the street lights outside by the bakery.

It happened so suddenly, neither of them had been able to react properly. Reed and Lu'um stumbled around and fell on top of each other as the bakery groaned in protest. A few tense, heart-gripping minutes passed until the tremors finally passed and a semblance of normality returned.

The bakery itself had sustained a moderate amount of damage in the process. The bakery's foundations had come undone and a part of the second-story ceiling had cracked open. Shattered glass littered the inside of the store. It was a mess.

"Agh, are you okay?!" said Reed. For the most, he had taken most of the damage from the fall. Lu'um who'd been behind him at the time ended up falling on top of him, turning him into a human cushion.

"Ah, yeah… Sorry about falling on you, dear," said Lu'um and she picked herself off of the floor, granting Reed some measure of relief.

…I thought this was supposed to be one of those romantic events that every story has…! The prince catching the fair maiden… not THIS!

Lu'um, to much of Reed's horror, had not been the light, weightless feather of a maiden that most love stories seemed to love depicting. No— she more of a warrior princess, out of the old, heroic myths of yore than a kidnapped maiden in some castle.

Put simply, she had been trained and raised for war as much as she'd been for dainty, noble parties. She was a true-to-life Cinderella on the outside but was a majestic-class warship on the inside.

Lu'um's weight wholeheartedly substantiated her true inner nature. Although Lu'um looked as dainty and elegant as could be, in truth, she was actually heavier than Reed himself, something he had now come to learn…

But it wasn't as if he could just lay there in pain like a weakling, as that'd be too embarrassing for him. He knew that it was rather childish of him, but he preferred to not look a wet noodle in front of Lu'um…

"T-That's good," Reed said, "Well, at least we're alright… That's good enoug—"

When Reed leaned over the bakery's counter he said, "Oh, come on…! We just made those croissants, not even an hour ago!" More than half of the pastries that they'd made had tumbled or spilled out of their containers and fallen on the ground. An entire day's batch had been ruined in a matter of minutes.

My beloved croissants and cinnamon rolls!! MY BAKERY!! First the goddamned weather and now this…?!! Great, just great…!

While one of them was more concerned with more trivial matters, the other one was preoccupied with more pressing concerns.

Lu'um stared out at the ruined town and said, "...Do you think that the Hartfords are okay, dear? That tremor was extremely violent even for us, you know…. I can't imagine an old, frail couple like them fairing any better than us…"

Her frustrated lover abruptly stopped picking his beloved pastries and said, "You don't mean that…"

Lu'um said nothing and simply stared at Reed with a worried expression on her face.

…It's entirely possible. Aren't they almost eighty years old? They're mortals, too.

Shit, shit, shit, shit…

Reed dropped his ruined pastries and said, "We leave NOW. We don't have a second to spare!"

As soon as the words came out his mouth, he and Lu'um bolted out of the bakery in a mad rush. Many obstacles hindered their way, be it destroyed infrastructure, ruined buildings, and lost, hurt people who were outside looking for help.

It was an awful scene to witness. Blood, glass, and broken concentrate littered the streets in abundance. Screams for help echoed across the ruined streets of Cem-Elle. Children crying out for their parents, lovers calling for one another, some not receiving replies…

Reed's stomach started to churn in dread as he and Lu'um rushed past the overflowing streets filled with misery. His heart started to beat faster and faster the closer they got to the Hartfords' residence, an old single-story house that... had seen better days.

The house had collapsed; the left side of the house had fallen in on itself, burying everything under it in a mountain of wood, stone, and shattered glass. The right side had fared better after the tremor but had become inaccessible because of the way it had collapsed.

No, no, no, no, no, no…! FUCK!

He rushed into the wreckage and shouted at the top of his lungs, "OLD MAN HARTFORD, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!! MISSUS HARTFORD, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!!"

There was so much rubble, it'd been nearly impossible to discern where one part of the house had started and the other began. Reed immediately thrust himself into the wreckage and started pulling out the heavier pieces of rubble, one by one.

"GRANDMOTHER, ARE YOU IN THERE?!! GRANDPA HARTFORD! CAN YOU HEAR OUR VOICES?!!" screamed Lu'um.

Each one of the heavier pieces weighed at least 45 kilograms or more, a daunting weight for the likes of a normal mortal. Reed turned red at the face as he struggled with the weight of a single broken part of rubble, but continued digging along with Lu'um.

They had helped them so much, even when they had no reason to do so.

They were good, honest people. Reed and Lu'um felt incredibly indebted to for them what they had done for them. Had it not been for their help, their relationship would have never progressed as smoothly as it did.

To them, they'd become something akin to mentors, but in actuality, closer to family over the two years that they'd gotten to know... and learn from them. 

Together, Reed and Lu'um continued to yell out for the elderly couple as they desperately attempted to uncover whatever laid at the bottom of the rubble.

They received no reply, but that did not deter them in the slightest. Reed and Lu'um continued to dig, pulling out broken rubble until...

Chapter end