Heartache by Moony1 | World Anvil Manuscripts | World Anvil

Chapter 41

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Vesh and Adam walked side by side in this starry night as the gleaming moon illuminated their path forward. The only sounds were those of their footsteps on the snowy ground and the faint breeze rustling the trees around them. Adam looked up at the sky, seeing the beautiful twinkling stars, but then his gaze turned downward again to the blue alien beside him, "how far until we reach him?"

Shrugging nonchalantly, "don't worry about that," he responded casually with a calm demeanor, "we will reach him soon enough." Adam couldn't help but sigh at the alien's lack of proper explanation but then he shook his head, realizing he shouldn't even bother trying to ask in the first place as it would get him nowhere. They continued on their way for what seemed like several minutes before finally, he stopped and held up his hand, signalling Adam to do the same.

"Were here," said Vesh, pointing towards a lone cemetery where countless tombstones lay before them in short distance, each with different names written on them. "There is someone waiting for us there," he continued, his tone remaining unchanged from earlier, "follow me," moving through the entrance gate of the cemetery while Adam silently trailed behind him.

Once inside, they found themselves with the said tombstones all around them, looking upon each of them one by one with their names and age displayed on each stone. However, just as Adam was about to take another step forward, his pilot quickly turned around and placed his hand over Adam's shoulder, scaring him completely.

"Christ!" Almost jumping in surprise as he backed away from the alien who now stood directly in front of him, "what are you doing?!" Seeing no change in his expression, he merely gave him a quick shrug and pointed towards one of the tombstones at their right, there stood adult man not far from them with brown slicked back hair and beard, green eyes and dark reddish or brown robe over his green gown.

"Is that him?" Was Adam's first question to his companion who only nodded in response, causing him to shake his head in disbelief, "wait...you mean he's just standing there? Like a statue?" Nodding again at this, "okay...I get it." Feeling uncertain about this entire situation but willing to trust him for now.

Approaching them with look of importance, "this must be your friend," asked Cain, his eyes focused on Vesh before glancing towards Adam, "the one you told me about," Noticing that the alien only stared at him in silence before looking away, "introduce yourself," repeated Vesh with slight hint of irritation in his voice.

Getting his message, he raised his arm for handshake to the man that saved their lives, appreciating the man for his generous deed in helping them when he didn't have to, "my name is Adam," offering his hand towards him, Cain did the same before shaking it firmly, however, the man's eyes was surprised when he heard that name.

"Your name...is Adam?" He repeated with curious look on his face, resulting the both of them to focus on one another in deadpan silence of almost an minute until Adam was the first to speak up, "is there something a matter?" Giving him a awkward smile, not understanding what the problem was.

Nearly snorting out loud from amusement and amusement from the awkwardness of this man, "I had father with the same name of yours," his expression unchanging from confusion and bewilderment before shaking his head as if denying this statement altogether, "I apologize for the silence," explained Cain with sincere look on his face, "but I just didn't expect you to be someone with the same name as my father."

Releasing his own hand from the man's soft grip, "its no problem," grasping the meaning behind this conversation now, "however," Adam began after clearing his throat, "did you have any family? Brothers or sisters?" He inquired further in curiosity, trying to lighten up the mood but he failed to do so when the man gave him a sorrowful look before sighing in regret.

Cain then paused for a moment as if remembering something painful in his past life, "yes...long time ago," staring up at the night sky with almost nostalgic expression on his face, "a younger brother," pausing again, resulting the young man to not pry deeper in his past so he remained silent for the moment.

"Sorry for bringing bad memories," Adam scratched the back of his head at his own foolishness, believing he should be more careful in this type of situations, "but uh," trying to change the topic in haste before it became more awkward than it already is, "anyway," taking a deep breath to calm himself down from messing this up further, "thanks for saving us back there," his words meant with honesty.

Sensing the gratitude from his actions, the man's eyes widen for a brief moment as his lips curved into smile, "I did nothing that others wouldn't do," shaking his head to deny this notion, "besides," waving his hand to dismiss this notion altogether, "God taught me that everyone has a role to play in this world," smiling at his own beliefs.

Adam frown for moment, mentioning religions and deities is something he dislike heavily despite how important they are for humans to grow. Its just that they haven't done anything to help or save his life during all the years he has been suffering and having no one to turn to except for himself and only himself. He can't believe there's a higher being who can solve all of his problems by begging or believing in something this ridiculous.

"God, huh?" Wanting to angrily spit those words out in a most insulting manner, but decided to remain friendly, "he sure didn't do good job of keeping humanity prosperous," Cain raised his eyebrow at his comment as he pondered what did he mean by that. However, Adam ignored this look from him and continued with his own statement.

"People keep saying this or that, their deity is going to help them and what not," continuing his spiteful speech about believing into higher being, "and yet, all these gods do is make people suffer and do nothing else," trying to calm himself down while thinking how ignorant these people are, "when did your god even saved anyone?"

Cain stared at him for a moment, shocked and in disbelief from hearing this young man of few years old talk about the supreme being in such manner, "the word God doesn't have an age," looking up to the night sky with pride, "and no matter how long or short someone's life is, it's the responsibility of their identity to fulfill the purpose that they have in this fleeting life."

Not much to their surprise, Vesh agreed with his companion's statement, "indeed, those who blindly follow a make believe thing like this god would only cause their own destruction," scoffing at this absurdity of people's mentality, wanting to point out that if people do believe in a higher being and couldn't help themselves then that is their own fault for it.

Much to their disappointment, the man only chuckled, "how foolish of me," looking down with sadness and pity, "to think that you're so intelligent, only to have some naive beliefs in God," Adam blinked twice as he looked at the three, unsure what does he mean by that, "every religion has some truths and fabrications, their doctrines may be right or wrong," pausing for a moment as he pondered something before continuing on his words.

"You're the most perfect example of how ignorant we can be," giving him a sincere smile, "if I told you that God exists, you'll still try to deny it," shaking his head at the absurdity of it all, "we believe in these false or true things and do not even know what they truly mean," taking a deep breath, letting out a sigh.

Adam frowned, feeling somewhat confused from this comment, "what is your point, old man?" His companion turn to look at the man, intrigued of this answer for Vesh is atheist at heard and sees logic or reason as the most important factor to be in believing or disbelieving something. Atheism is also commonly associated with science and rationality, and this is also seen in him as well.

The man stared at them, still with the same smile on his face, "in other words, God is only real if you accept it," raising his hand up the sky, pointing towards the heavens above, "we strive for reason to have faith in something so we could understand and give ourselves hope," closing his raised hand into fist before lowering it down to his chest.

"But it doesn't matter what is the truth, it's how you feel about it," nodding as he spoke the truth, "without them, the very definition of community and purpose will crumble to dust," closing his eyes for a moment, pausing before opening them once again, "why don't I show you?" He turned and walked forward, resulting the two to follow behind.

Moving through this path was full of ice and snow on the ground, passing many tombstones of all sizes while the crickets and birds sung their melodies. This graveyard was vast, covering miles and miles of land that no one dared to go into for it was haunted. Many of the dead that had been buried here, lost in a sea of souls and memories that were long forgotten by the living.

The man walked without stopping, going straight towards a grave at the center of this place, looking down upon a specific tombstone if it was nothing more than a normal stone with some engravings on it, "this grave was once belong to a boy," glancing at the two behind him before staring back at the grave, "he was innocent and young, not knowing anything about the world he lived in," smiling softly, continuing to speak in this moment.

"And he didn't had home or family," walking to the grave and kneeled down in front of it, gently touching the engravings of the tombstone, "but he did have someone to share his pain with," lowering his head down, closing his eyes shut for a moment, "with all the people that treated him cruelly or denied his existence, he knew one thing," slowly lifting his head up.

Vesh tilted his head in confusion, "Which is?" Asking the question that came from this man's mouth, wanting to know about this story of his. Adam only watched in silence, waiting for this man to finish explaining it as well. Their savior then responded with a gentle smile on his face, chuckled softly in response, "to believe in humanity," he stood up and stared in the horizon ahead of him.

"The boy had nothing in his life but he did have him; God to believe in," Cain express a gentle expression on his face, speaking the truth to these two people who stood in front of him. A cold wind blew by in this graveyard as he continued to speak those words of truth that only a few can hear, "do you have something to believe in, Adam?"

His gaze staring straight toward the young man's very soul, wanting to know if he would believe in himself like the boy he spoke of had believed in someone, making Adam more conflicted than ever, his face staring down with almost painful expression from thinking too much about it, unable to give out a proper answer.

"I...I can be sure if I'm right or wrong," answering in uncertainty while turning his head around to stare at this man named Cain, "but there is one thing I believe in," his hands balled into fist, making his knuckles turn white, "to see beyond what's seen and accept what cannot be changed," speaking those words in absolute certainty if his body felt hot, burning from within, the heat radiating off of him was strong enough to be felt by his companions.

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