A Union of Hearts: Repairing the Familial Pillar: Chapter 2 – The Cross of Being Supportive

*concept art of Estella

Chapter 2 – The Cross of Being Supportive

“Are you okay, Estella?” Absalom asks me.

It takes a moment for me to respond as I look back upon the ruins of the capital and our home.

“Yes, I’m fine,” I say.

He gives a reassuring smile and nod before looking forward and keeping his eyes open for any threats on the road. Right now, I’m sitting on a horse-drawn wagon with other people as everyone in the capital leaves it along with everything necessary we need. After so many attacks, our capital and home are nothing but ruins and wreckage. The prince and princess have talked to a nearby city so that we can live in it for the time being until our enemies are defeated and homes rebuilt. It’ll take a while to get there. I wish we could have a person who could teleport us to the next city, but apparently, all the people who can do it are busy helping other kingdoms and people around the world who are in similar situations to us.

This is not to say that I don’t trust the protection of the prince and princess and our army as we make this long and dangerous trip. I just feel worried about the safety of everyone who can’t defend themselves and most of all, I feel useless. Even my daughter, Mia, can defend herself and others and is now part of the force defending the carts thanks to proving herself in the recent battles. She stands proud with her father and is attentive just like him. My singing has helped them though, which they say was integral in us surviving the enemy's attacks. Of this, I have no doubt. Through my ability, I can feel the hearts of those that my singing affects rise in strength.

The princess and those who act as support for others have the ability to feel the hearts of others, and others, such as the princess, can even tell the destination of a heart to see if it goes to the heavenly Land of the True or the hellish Land of the Forgotten. My Heart Absolute ability isn't as grand as hers and is much simpler. I try to treasure it and believe that my singing does do good, but the temptation to doubt its helpfulness is always there. There was hardly a use for my singing before I met Absalom. I sang for those that I prayed for, the weak, the dying, and the soldiers fighting for our kingdom. After we met, the power of my singing increased and I felt as if my life's purpose was found. Still, I don't feel completely satisfied.

Perhaps it's why the Absolute brought Absalom and me together. Both of us want to do more for the people we love and feel like we can never do enough. Mia shares much of the same feeling as a result. It's a blessed curse as some say so that we remember to always rely on the Absolute and that we can never truly do enough for those we love. Instead, we must always do something for them no matter how small. These things are what I believe, know to be true, and what I keep telling myself to stay positive and not sulk in my own weakness. Despite me fighting these temptations, how I feel still shows on my face and it seems like Absalom and Mia have noticed as they look at me and whisper to themselves.

“Why don’t you sing and lift everyone’s spirits, Estella?” Absalom suggests.

“Yeah, show them what you can do!” Mia cheers me on.

Looking at the people in my cart, a couple of them are attentive waiting for me to sing while a few others seem disgusted. There are some in the kingdom who still distrust Absalom because of his past and even call me and Mia cursed to die a horrible death because of what happened to his first three wives and children. Nervous, I look back to Absalom and Mia who smile and nod at me. Well, if anything happens, I’ll at least have them to protect me. As I start to sing, I can feel the hearts of those that I sing for.

Many are stressed and many more are on the edge of despair. I am thankful that there are those including my family and the prince and princess appreciate what I can do while trying not to be offended by those that don’t want the comfort of my singing. In terms of my songs, I haven’t created any original poems, songs, or melodies of my own nor do I sing songs with lyrics since I find it difficult to remember all the lyrics exactly and when I mess up, I mess up the effectiveness of my singing. Because of this, I sing melodies without any actual lyrics.  Eventually, some who have hardened hearts relax and the air around us seems to slowly be relieved of the tension in it. That is until one of the people I’m singing for is disturbed by some people approaching us, which stops me from singing.

From where I am, I see a group of cloaked wanderers approaching us with many bags on their backs and hands. They seem like the homeless I’ve seen before who entered our capital seeking our home because of the conceited, however, they start to change when they are in the middle of our group. Many people come out of each person as if the person had portals to other places in almost every part of their body. In addition, the trees around us transform into groups of people all of which attack us. Soon after the same accursed dark fog that’s been kidnapping people falls over us as Absalom, Mia, and the other defenders try to fight off the attack. Despite their best efforts, the fog grows thicker and thicker until everything around me is darkness and I can’t even see my hands in front of my face.

The darkness eventually lifts and the noise of fighting subsides. I’m comforted for a second before realizing that I’ve been teleported somewhere completely different away from where I was, and I must be far away because I don’t hear anything around me not even the sounds of the ambush I was in.

“Absalom! Mia!” I call out.

For some reason, I think they’ll hear me. It’s useless. There’s no choice for me but to wander through the woods to find my way back to my family. The hearts of family are connected by an invisible thread that not many know how to use. I have some experience with being able to use these threads especially since I’m able to touch the hearts of people. There was one time I found Mia when wandered off to fight some kids who badmouthed her father and bullied her friends. Absalom scolded her for defending him but not so much for defending her friends. Remembering what it felt like to follow the thread, I use the faint feeling of it to find my way back to my family.

It's not long after wandering do I hear the noises of someone else in the forest with me. Unsure of who it is, I hide behind one of the trees to see who it is. A woman dressed in shadows glides through the shadows looking in every direction. She looks to be conceited because of the hole I can see in her chest and her grey and black eyes.

“Come out, wife of Absalom, and I will make sure that your family receives a place of honor in our kingdom. In fact, your family may be all we need to win this battle against the Absolute,” the woman says.

She knows who I am. It’s no wonder why I got teleported out here.

“I know you’re around here,” she continues, “The shadows are my domain. Even if you get far, I’ll bring my fog upon you and bring you back to me. Make this easier for both of us. I have a family of my own to take care of.”

That doesn’t make what you’re doing justified in any way. Right now, I’m slowly trying to get away from her even as she teleports from shadow to shadow in an instant.

“If that’s how you’re going to be, then so be it.”

The dark fog spreads from the woman’s mouth and covers everything around me in darkness. I can’t see and I’m defenseless without my family. My Heart Absolute can’t help me here…unless…maybe if I can touch her heart and convince her to stop. Since I have no other choice, I take this option and start singing and focus on touching her heart rather than amplifying her strength.

“What is this? What are you doing? Is this your way of saying that you surrender?”

“No, it isn’t. I feel your pain and your fear,” I say while I am able to sing at the same time.

“I’m not afraid of you.”

“But what are you afraid of? Will something happen to your family if you don’t take my family?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“But you did mention that you have a family to take care of. What will happen to them if you fail? Perhaps my kingdom can free them.”

“Your kingdom and God can do nothing. It’s more complex than just my kingdom and its allies.”

“Through the Absolute, all is possible such as me knowing the truth within your heart. You want to believe that we can help so let us.”

The woman appears right in front of my face and almost stops me from singing.

“You’re nothing compared to them, my masters that have enslaved and slaughtered many. You do not know their strength or their cruelty.”

“I can know it through your heart. I sense the fear for your children and husband. They’re in…much pain.”

“How do you know that?!”

“Because your heart is connected to theirs. What’s happening to them?”

“Why do you care?!”

“Because I care about the suffering of others, unlike your masters. You can tell me what’s happening to them and we’ll help. Feel the honesty and conviction in my heart.”

“…what you’re feeling is just a taste of the suffering I know. The men work twelve hours a day with little time to breathe in between. Children are indoctrinated and work much like the adults and are punished like adults if they resist. Women are prevented from having too many children or are used as breeding stock to have more. Everyone is punished severely for mistakes or rebellion and their punishments such as being forced to starve to death in public make them wish for the death penalty. All are subject to the desires and will of the masters. All are disposable and can be used for whatever reasons they have. If I didn’t take this role in the army, my family would’ve been forced to work harder or be punished for my actions.”

The pain from her heart causes me to recoil a bit, however, I don’t let go and embrace the pain instead to relieve her of it. This relief shows on her face as some of the anger on it disappears.

“We’ll save them and help you. Trust me.”

The woman's pained heart slowly breaks under the pressure of my honesty. Part of her heart is filled, color is restored to her skin, and her eyes become blue and white.

“Please...save them. Help us,” she says as she tries not to cry.

“We will. Can you get me back to my family?”

“Yes, of course.”

After the woman's dark fog comes over us, we appear not too far from Absalom and Mia.

“Absalom! Mia!” I call out to them while running to them.

They see and call out to me and run to meet and hug me. I almost cry from my happiness to see that they're still alive.

“I'm so glad that you've found your way to us,” Absalom says until he sees the woman behind me. He then holds me and Mia in closer probably because she still looks conceited. “Who is she?”

“Don't worry about her. She helped me find you and is no longer as conceited as she seems. I've convinced her that we'll save her family.”

“We can do that, but first we must regroup with the prince, princess, and the others.”

“We can try, but it'll be difficult, especially with the prince and princess whom I put somewhere dangerous,” the woman says.

“You what?”

“She controls the dark fog that has been teleporting us around because her masters forced her to with her family's lives on the line,” I say.

“I see. Well, I can relate to that motive. What's your name?”

“Leilani.”

“Leilani, we'll help rescue your family. First, let's see how many people we can reunite with so we can better do that, okay?”

“Okay.”

Leilani tries to help us find people from our kingdom, however, we’re only able to find a few with the fate of the others up in the air while some have tragically died. While looking for the prince and princess where Leilani teleported them, we find the place in ruins with the ashes and knocked out conceited around the area so it’s safe to say that they survived and left the area.

“I’m sorry we could hardly find anyone and I’m especially sorry for the ones that died,” Leilani says with her head down.

“Don’t worry about it. With all our abilities combined, I think we have enough people to free your family,” Absalom says.

“Do you really think so? The place where my family is isn’t exactly a city, but it is heavily guarded and even its citizens will be forced to fight with the threat of severe humiliating punishment looming over them if they don’t. Not everyone who will fight you wants to. You must be careful with these people.”

“We’ll do our best,” I say.

“We will and we’ll save your family, many of the innocent, and bring your masters to justice,” Absalom adds.

“Yeah! We promise!” Mia also adds.

Our fellow citizens that we found cheer and bring a smile to Leilani’s face.

She tries not to cry as she says, “Thank you, everyone.”

“Now, bring us to them, but not too close,” Absalom says, “We don’t want to immediately alert them to our attack.”

“Okay!”

Leilani’s dark fog comes over us. Absolute, grant us the strength and skill we need to save not only her family, but the many families that need our help, and thank you for letting my ability grow so that I know it’s not as meager as I once thought it was.