5 ARC:BEGINNING-CH 5

When people came rushing to the mine, the mine was already in a very terrific condition. The entrance was almost blocked with crumbling stones, piling up the small space, a small gap remaining at its edge. The fire enlarged, blazing darker and hotter. With a look the people gathering could tell there was no chance of the workers inside surviving the explosion from the inside.

Ivar and Ibelina were amongst these crowd.

Screams of agony, sorrow, trauma and terror filled the crowd as the family members of the workers cried, some even trying to rush into the mine while some tried to hold them back.

"Nooooo.....Darling....he is still inside....let me go...! Let me go!"

"Sister...." Sobs sobs.

"Dad!!! Someone save my dad....."

"Mother....brother...."

Every person was calling out to their loved ones as they wailed with voices as if something had pierced their heart.

"J...Josh... Al....ex...Oh god....please. Please!"

Ivar heard his mother utter, tears rolling down her cheeks as she tried to hold back her cries.

He looked at his mother than at the people around.

Everybody had lost someone here! And they were one of them.

They....Dad and Alex....they were...they were....

As he processed this thought he felt his vision blur with liquid.

It was tears.

He was crying. And as soon as he realised he was crying the tragedy hit him hard making his heart tremble with an unknown emotion he was feeling for the first time.

Sorrow!

Al...Alex and Da....d...They were....

"Look!" A man shouted. "There is someone trapped near the entrance."

This caught everyone's attention, with lingering hope.

"It...its a boy....a child." Somone shouted with a gasp.

Ivar looked at the entrance and suddenly froze.

A small hand covered in bruises, the fresh wounds bleeding as his small fingers twitched, his black hair was covered with mud and dyed red with blood, his head bleeding heavily. His small frame was trapped underneath those fallen stones.

IT WAS ALEX!

"Alllexxxxx...!" Ivar uttered.

"Alex!" He then shouted as his legs began moving forward making a run towards the front. As he ran he shouted his brother's name over and over again.

Ibelina froze as she began to wail harder, finding it extremely difficult to maintain her composure. "Al...Alex! My dear dear son, please hang in there...please...."

"Alex....!" The small boy trampled underneath those rocks heard a familiar voice shout his name.

His vision was blurred with something red but he was still able to tell who was shouting his name.

It was his brother and his mother.

"M..om....Daddy...." He spoke but his voice came out in fragments, swallowed by the dizziness in his brain. He tried to speak raising his voice again but he was unable to do so as he felt something very heavy and painful weigh on him.

"Oh god. Alex, please be safe. Please....I will come to get you..." Ivar prayed in his heart as he began to walk out of the crowd at the front.

When he was about to take another step he felt four arms binding him strongly around his waist and his hands.

"Kid...you cannot go there. We don't know when there might be another explosion." A man spoke as he held him tightly, leaving no space to struggle.

"Let...let me go! That's my brother. I need to save him." Ivar tried to pry away the sturdy hands from him but the strength of an adult man won over his nine year old stature.

"Please! Please! Let go! I need to save him. Atleast him!"

But the man did not budge.

"I said let go! There isn't another explosion yet. We can still save him. He is only seven...." Frustrated, he started to shout at the man as he cried.

The man looked down at him before he reluctantly let go.

The moment he was free Ivar hurriedly decided to run but before he was even able to take a step forward he felt his legs frozen on the spot. He tried to move them again but they did not budge, as if they were stuck to the ground, chained by something invisible hooked on the ground.

It was for a split of second however he felt this feeling very clearly. He hadn't even registered what was happening before....

Booommmm!

Blast! Blast!

Another explosion occured. Followed by a series of eruption.

Ivar hadn't even gotten a chance to look at his brother's figure when he registered the explosion with his eyes from a very close distance.

"N....Noooooo....!" He let out a heart aching scream.

He....

The eruption continued until the heat of the flames reached his cheeks.

He...He could have save him. He could have save him.

He was so out of it that he did not feel his arm being dragged away by the man.

"Let the mages take over."

This sentence fell deaf to his ears as Ivar stared at the scene before him for a very very long time. The mages, the magicians flew up the sky, unleashing their water magic in an attempt to let the fire shrink. He stared and stared as he looked the scene ahead of him.

"Iv..." Ibelina choked on her words as she saw her foster son's face trembling in shock, pain and sorrow.

Ivar looked at her blankly. He did not knew when and how he came back to this distance.

Ibelina felt her breath hitch. She leaned over and took him in her arms, hugging him tightly.

"Its okay. Its okay." Ivar heard her whisper in his ears.

"You still have me and Bella."

Tears began rolling down his cheeks as he stared to cry.

"Mother...I...." He stared sobbing before his sobs became desperate cries.

"Its okay. You still have us." Her words resounded in his heart.

That's right. He still had mother and Bella. He still had them.

But he also lost Alex and Dad.

Ivar continued to cry in his mother's arms, the mother who was kind enough to pick him up, a baby who was left in the wild to die, and gave him a place called Home and a gift called Family.

But the man who called him his 'Son' and the boy who regarded him as his 'real brother', following him around were gone.

They were gone.

A few days went by. The sky that had shaken the whole village had subdued. The mine was rescued but there was not even a single soul that came back alive. All that came back were burnt dead bodies of people who were dear to the villagers. The mages left after taking care of the fire and retrieving the bodies of those they could find.

Sadly, some of the villagers even lost the right to bury their loved ones as many of the bodies were missing, no trace of their bodies being found even after further inspection, their bodies probably brunt to ashes by the fire.

An old woman cried out her wrinkled eyes when she had learnt of the truth that her husband's body was nowhere to be found.

A ten year old child cried when her only parent had left the world without leaving behind a body.

Ivar knelt beside Ibelina as they prayed for the two souls to rest in peace. The two graves engraved the names of their precious 'Alex' and 'Josh.'

This time Bella was also with them. She stared at them with confusion but did not say anything as she followed their actions, kneeling down putting her hands together to pray.

"Brother, where did Alec and Daddy go?"

Where she spoke it almost made Ivar tear up. He felt a pain piercing his heart.

"They are now in a beautiful place." He managed to squeeze out these words.

Ibelina picked her up and added. "They are resting in a beautiful place up in the sky."

"Will they not come back to see us?" She asked as she looked her lovely eyes into Ibelina's.

"No. Because they are watching us from above, looking after us from that beautiful place." Ibelina replied calmly. As she spoke she caressed Bella's cheeks lightly.

Ivar watched this scene in silence. As he watched he realized he still had them.

He still had Ibelina and Bella. His remaining family.

And he had to protect them at any cost, protect them so no harm would come to them.

He promised this to himself.

He began working to earn money doing some manual labour. Although the tragedy of that day remained the three found comfort in themselves feeling the closeness grow deeper. They were but poor souls who were happy to atleast have each other. And even when Ivar took over the bread earner of the family he did not forget to give his time and indulgence to his little angel girl.

Ibelina and Bella would stay back home, and every evening, they would stand outside the door waiting for him to come back. Bella, giving him a welcome home hug. And this hug made all the faitgue in his body melt, and instead filled his soul with joy and warmth. In this way a year passed by.

The desire to protect his family grew stronger with each passing day.

But.

Fate played a cruel game with him. And the promise he made that day shattered to pieces when he once again experienced the feeling of his legs and his body being chained with an unknown force strongly to the ground, refusing to let him free as he watched Ibelina being hit by a passing vehicle, who had managed to push Bella away from the spot in an attempt to save her.

Thud!

Her body fell to the ground with a loud sound. The crimson color from her wound spreading all over, drenching the ground red.

Ivar stared down at her with tears in his eyes, his eyelashes trembling heavily.

"M....ommmyy...." Bella started crying. This was the first time she had experienced this kind of terrific and unfortunate accident. Although she did not knew exactly what was happening but her mother was in a very bad state. She subconsciously knew for a fact that her mother's life was in danger.

Ivar wanted covered her eyes. "Bella. Don't look." Although he said this he did not act.

This might be a crucial time when...she...when she could see her mother for a last time.

Ibelina looked at her two children with worry in her dying eyes.

"L...look after her." She spoke these words in fragments. But it was enough for Ivar to hear. He felt that he should stay strong before the four year old child who was starting to wail louder but how could he!

His cheeks soaked with tears as he couldn't stop them.

Ibelina wanted to wipe away their tears with her hands but she was unable to move as she felt the strength in her body leave gradually.

"Look after Bella." She uttered as she made an effort to smile for a last time as she added. "And yourself too."

Her lips hadn't formed a complete smile yet when the life in her eyes fadded, becoming dull and soulless.

"Mommy...hic..hic....sobs..." Bella cried louder and louder. "Mommy...wake up....."

Ivar felt a part of his soul go empty. He looked at the vehicle that had went by without stopping to looking back not even once. He then turned his head back to his foster mother. Then back to the crying child.

Pang! Pang! Something sharp stabbed his heart as he took Bella in his arms, his little angel baby tearing out her eyes in his arms.

"Take care of Bella."

"Look after Bella."

Look after Bella.

Our little angel baby.

These words resounded in his empty mind as he hugged the little child tighter.

The words "And look after yourself too." never entered his mind, this sentence fading away from his consciousness.

However fate remained his enemy until the end of the road, as if it was set on making his life the most miserable out of all people.

He continued working during the day and return by evening to take care of Bella, who was in the care of the neighbours at daytime. His little angel was very strong, she never complained and never missed to welcome him back with a little hug everytime he returned. Whispering in her small voice saying,

"Welcome Home brother Ivar."

And this comfort filled a little bit of the empty space in his heart, making Ivar realise he at least still had her with him; his last dear person, his one and only family.

So when a pandemic hit the village and Bella fell victim to the disease his soul was shattered once again, this time with a much much more stronger momentum, an overwhelming feeling of helplessness, a fear that he would also lose her, the last remaining straw of his heart.

She laid on the bed and he was sitting by the bedside. Her temperature was still hot like fire, her bone cheeks burning red and the once plump round face had become thin. Very thin. It had been like this for over a week. The red trademark of the disease was beginning to spread down to to her bottom, upto her legs and was creeping up towards her neck at the same time. She rarely opened her eyes these days and this made Ivar's trauma shake more violently. A dreading fear lingering in the deepest part of his heart.

"Please!" He sobbed. "Please don't leave me too. Please...please don't leave me behind..."

His vision once again blurred with droplets , the liquid falling out from his red eyes tickled down to his pants wetting them as he cried more and more. He took the small, skin and bones hand into his palms.

He was helpless this time again. The whole village had been hit by the pandemic and no medicines available at the village seemed to work against this disease. Even the newly supplied medicines had no whatsoever effect. Becuase of this those who were going through this hell could only get their utmost effort to look after their sick ones twenty four hours.

"God....why? Why do this keep happening again and again? Why?" The more the hope in his heart staggered the more miserably he drowned in pain and sorrow.

Why wasn't it him? Why was he not the one who had died instead of them? Just whyyyyy!!!!??

He felt a little movement from the little hands in his palm and this brought his attention back to Bella.

"Bella? Bella? Are you....can you hear me?" His voice trembled as he called her out.

Her eyelashes trembled slightly as her eyes slowly opened.

Ivar froze on the spot as he was met with a pair of red eyes. He then noticed the mark on her body glow with a bright red color.

His mind went blank for a second. But before he could register the situation Bella's body flew mid air and then.

Boom!

She exploded. Her entire body exploded with a fierce sound.

Ivar did not have any idea that all the people who had caught the pandemic had perished in the same way Bella did. All of the victim's body exploded at the same time emitting a bright red color as they exploded.

Ivar felt the sticky liquid splash onto his cheeks very vividly. The crimson red liquid flowing down from his cheek then onto the ground.

"Ha.... Ha....." He breathed heavily.

He then lifted his hand and touched his face. When he brought his hand at the level of his eyes, he felt his soul empty.

It was blood. Blood! Blood! Bella's blood. His little angel.....his angel's blood.....

"...."

The last string holding his heart broke with a snap, replaced by endless emptiness and a pitch black abyss.

He let himself fall deeper and deeper into this pit of darkness.

At this moment he did not pay attention to anything. But his pair of red eyes were shinning very brightly, an overwhelming red aura oozing out from them. The red aura instantly escalated as it exploded vibrantly, erupting, as the aura waves spread all over, draping the whole village area into it, making the ground shake lightly. As the red waves travelled it enveloped itself to a strange creature with two mighty horns, reacting strongly to it as the red aura burnt the creature to ashes not giving it a chance to fight back. The red aura shone even more brighter to a darker crimson color before it instantly retreated at a very fast speed, seeping back into its master's body.

Ivar did not react to any of these. His mind and soul was empty as he stood still.

He did not even hear footsteps of the two people entering from the door.

"Well. Well." A voice spoke. "We have a big shot over here." It was a Man.

They were sent here by the report submitted to the guild. A pandemic breaking out without reacting to any of the magic medicines, it could only mean there was a high level demon residing here, feasting upon its human victim.

But he never thought the problem would be solved just with a wave of mana. Not to mention the wave just now was overwhelmingly powerful and pure.

"And it looks like he had just awakened." Another said.

Ivar stood sill, staring at the empty bad with lost eyes.

".....There seems to be a bit of a problem." The first man said as he glanced at the newly awakened Mana user.

"Not much." The other man replied. He then walked over to the boy who seemed broke.

He leaned over as he whispered in his ears.

"That pandemic was the work of a demon, he killed your sister."

The moment Ivar heard the word of a demon killing his sister, his eyes turned bloody red as he moved his sight. He looked at the man who had just spoke.

When the man met his red eyes emitting a darm crimson colour he froze.

The mana energy emitting from this kid's body grew heavier as the red waves stretched out towards the surrounding aggressively.

Holy shit! The two man's eyes widened.

This was the ancient magic belonging to the Duke's family. The Roselia household, the Duke of the RUAT empire! And that to of the purest and the strongest level.