The Reviver’s Passage: Chapter IV
By: Prappies
Hestia was sitting by her friend’s bedside, reading a book about a story of gods while idly tapping her foot, One leg folded on the other, bouncing up and down as her foot on the ground bounced. She rested her book against the thigh, back leaned against the wall. The man next to her laid silently on his bed, staring at her. She flipped the page.
Noticing his stare from the corner of her eyes, she turned her head slightly to look at him, but not changing her overall position.
“What’s wrong?” She asked him.
“Hmmm, nothing,” he answered, turning back around. Hestia frowned and closed the book. Then leaned on her thighs to get a good look at him.
“Something’s wrong, is it the man from yesterday? He meant no harm, I don’t know why you’re so upset about him.” She said, sighing. Even Hestia herself had thought the man to be odd. But even then, if he wanted harm upon her, he could’ve just stood back and watched. Instead, he chose to step him, saving her from a very painful blade to the neck.
“Of course I dislike him, he just…rubs me the wrong way. Something about that man. I don’t like it. Stay away from him, ok? Do it for me.” He said gently. He grabbed his friend’s hands and looked into her eyes. Hestia could see a sort of vicious plea in his gaze. She immediately folded under it.
“If that’s what you want, fine. I’ll do it to make you happy. I won’t talk or even get near him anymore. Is that good enough for you?” She said, raising her arms in defeat, eager to please him.
The man next to her smiled, as he put his hand on her head, in an affectionate way.
“I simply want to keep you safe, dear. You’ve seen how everything’s been the past few years. You don’t know who you can trust anymore. Please keep safe.” He told her, Hestia, once more, melted under his gentle touch.
“I know Wally.” She said, “Do you want to go outside? You’ve been cooped in this tiny shed for days.”
The man laughed. “ I would love to.”
He sat up with his friend’s help. She grabbed Wally’s legs and threw them gently over the side of the bed. Hestia then proceeded to crouch down, her back facing him.
“Here, can you gently fall on me?” She asked.
“I’m sure I can,” Wally huffed out.
He placed his palms on his friend’s shoulder blades and used her to steady his fall. As soon as his front touched her back, her arms scooped both legs, and she stood up quickly to help pull his weight up.
“Up we go,” she said, almost buckling under his weight. She shifted his legs to get the best possible grip on the sickly man. After a minute or so, she was able to stand without buckling. She grinned in triumph.
“You’d think after all this time, you’d be able to carry my weight on your back,” said Wally as he chuckled.
“Oh be quiet would you?” answered Hestia as she managed to kick the door open. The man on her back gave a slight sound of approval as he looked at the sight of the outside world. The sun got in his face, and Hestia could see him squint his eyes. He pushed himself up slightly, and looked up into the sky. It was blue and clear. He was smiling from head to toe.
“What are you looking so happy about? It’s miserable out here. Yes, a river and some trees, but it gives the place a tragic look. Everything is dying out here.” She said, walking.
She made it to the river, and gently waded in its water. She frowned.
“It’s cold, and I forgot to make sure my clothes don’t get wet.” She said with a disappointed hiss. The man laughed slightly.
“Well might as well keep going, you’re already wet anyway.” He mockingly. Easy for him to say, since he was on Hestia’s back, his feet didn’t even touch the water. He was dry all around. But even then, Hestia knew she couldn’t argue with his happy mood.
“I know, you don’t need to tell me.” She said, laughing.
The water under her feet created soft, gentle ripples. Creating rings and eclipses as she waded in the knee-high water. Her friend looked down at the water and ran his toe through it. Making sure not to get any of his own clothes wet.
He pushed himself upward (much to his friend’s chagrin) to get a look at the forest in front of him. He whistled in surprise.
“She’s really deteriorated since the last time I saw her, huh?” He said.
“What are you talking about? you were here just a few days ago. Besides you lay by a window. You’ve seen this place everyday.” She said back to him, she turned to look up at him.
He gave her a sideways grin, not bothering to answer her.
After a few grueling minutes, Hestia managed to get out of the murky waters. Filth sticking to her wherever the water touched her. At this point she was used to the weight on her back, and managed to keep the pain to a minimum. She then began her descent into the woods.
The woods were black and dark. A sense of dread would be felt by travelers whenever they crossed the woods. Trees were dying, with little to no plant life. Soil dead and flaky to the touch. A simple kick would be enough to send dust flying into the air.
Hestia was careful not to step in places that seemed very dusty to avoid any dry dirt sticking to her already wet body.
“You’re walking too rashly, calm it down. It’s painful for me, love.” He asked her. She slowed down and looked at him with an apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry,” she answered him as she slowed her walk. “It’s nice to see you not bedridden for once.” She grinned broadly.
“Hmmm, oh yeah. Yeah it’s really nice to not be bedridden for once too. The air may not be fresh, or even smell good.” Wally added, nose wrinkling in disgust. “Aye, but don’t jinx anything ok? I’ve been bedridden for years. I fear my time is coming soon. I want you to be ready for when that time comes. Please.”
Hestia stopped in her tracks, and then turned once more to face the man on her back, while making sure to to not topple him over.
“Stop talking like that! I’ve worked so hard for years on years of my life to make sure you see this disease through. I gave up my entire youth for you! It’s not going to end in vain. I worked and sacrificed far too much to stop now. You won’t die until I say you can. You got that?” She growled out.
The man above her was silent for a good minute or two. Then he let out a laugh. A loud, and harsh laugh. His friend simply stood there surprised and furious.
“You get to choose when I can die? I don’t think death works like that sweetheart. Death comes suddenly. You can’t choose. That’s ridiculous.” He exclaimed in between laughs.
His friend looked slightly embarrassed by her outburst. “I was just mad, stop teasing me like that.”
“Hmmm, you put that upon yourself. You were asking for it.” He said with mirth.
“If you weren’t so ill, I’d walk back to the river just to drop you in. I would’ve loved to see you struggle to stay afloat.” She retorted back.
He simply continued to laugh. His friend kept walking, feeling the vibrations of his laugh spread throughout her entire body as well. After a moment or two, she too was laughing out loud.
She fell to her knees and laughed loudly. The man on her back gave an audible little shriek when she fell so suddenly. But then continued to laugh as she slowly rose to her feet. She pushed her back up first due to the heavy man on her back, then raised her head after getting the hard part done. Then suddenly…
She stopped.
Her head and back slightly curved down. She turned her head both ways, looking to her right and to her left. But in her sight of vision was nothing but dark, filthy trees and a devastating looking landscape for what seemed like miles ahead.
Wally noticed this sudden change in demeanor, from joy to suspicion. And patted her head gently.
“Is… something wrong?” He asked her, speaking under his breath, mouth to her ear.
“I have a weird chill running down my spine. It’s almost as if we are being followed. I feel like we are being watched by someone. Do you see anything?” She asked in just above a whisper.
Wally sat a little taller, and scanned the surroundings around him, just as his friend had done before him. His playful expression fully gone.
“No, but I think…” he stopped. His eyes narrowed.
“What?” Hestia asked him, her eyes following his gaze.
And she stood frozen, her eyes widened and her stomach dropped.
A shadowy figure of a man stood behind a tree. His sharp, cold, and cruel demeanor was enough to send Hestia’s heart into a frenzy. She stood breathing heavily. She could not make out who the man was, but she knew one thing.
His hostility was pointed their way.
She fell backwards, forgetting that there was a man on her back. She tried to crawl backwards, just to have Wally’s body block her escape.
“Calm yourself,” said the man behind her as he touched her shoulder. “Make no sudden moves, lest you wish to anger him.”
Hestia nodded slowly. She slowly met the man’s eyes. She could just make out the color of them. They were red…
It couldn’t be
Hestia couldn’t move, her mind whirling. Because for a second, the moment she saw those eyes… she could’ve sworn she’d seen them somewhere. She recognized that man.
But the man in her mind had been a sweet, weird man. A few years older than her. The look of animosity on his face, just seemed so foreign on his face.
Her brain told her to not make any sudden moves, but her curiosity said to look closer.
Was the man in the shadows really who she thought it was?
Against her better judgment, she used her right arm to lift her body off the ground, slowly.
“What are you doing? We have to leave!” Hissed her friend, from the ground. She paid him no attention. She gently walked towards the shadow, slowly yet surely.
But as she was beginning to make out the colors of his clothes, and the contour of his face. A sudden gust of wind blinded her. Her arms flew to her eyes to cover her face from the flying dirt and leaves. After a minute or two, she lowered her arms. Looked to the tree, and…
The man was gone.
“What?! He was just here! He couldn’t have gone far!” She turned around, thinking he may have run off in a different direction, but she saw no one.
Suddenly, a loud hacking coughing sound came from behind her. She whipped around to see Wally on all fours coughing out blood.
She slid down to his side, looking panicked.
“What happened? I turned around for one second and… and… this!” She said in shock. She sat there, not sure what to do. She then grabbed his arms and threw them over her shoulders, attempting to carry him on her back once more.
As she began to stand up, he began to fall backwards, having not the capacity to hold onto her as he did before.
“Oh come on!” She shouted out loud.
No, no, no, no. What now? What now? We’re in the middle of the woods, it’s going to be a while to get back to the house, while carrying a man heavier than me. Even then, I am unsure if we have the medication to make this stop. And there’s no way we can get to the village quickly. It’s too far, much too far.
In the end, she simply had no choice but to throw his left arm over her shoulders and drag the sickly man along.
The woods proved to be a formidable maze. Usually, Hestia is able to easily navigate her way around the woods, having traveled in them for many years. But panic clouded her judgment, she ran in circles, wondering which way would be the right way. The heaviness in her heart outpowered the sensibilities of her mind, as she got lost in the forest she knew like the back of her hand.
Circles, on circles, on circles, on circles. Nothing mattered in her mind except for the man slung across her shoulders.
He would make it tomorrow.
He had to make it to tomorrow.
He will make it to tomorrow.
Then a splutter of blood coated Hestia’s face. The man was paler than he had ever looked before. His feet no longer moved at the speed that his friend’s did. His feet were being dragged. His blood-scented clothes, tired eyes, and lethargic behavior held a story different than what Hestia had been hoping.
He would not make it to tomorrow.
He would die in these woods, on this ground, at any moment now.
And there was nothing Hestia could do about it.
All she could do was run around in circles, desperately trying to find a way to make the inevitable avoidable.
“Come on, come on. Stop coughing, just breathe in and out. In and out. That’s it, in and out. Can you do that?” She told him hurriedly, as she ran. Just ran in whatever direction her legs could carry her.
The man merely began to cough even louder and harder.
She kept one arm around his waist, and another pulling his left arm around her shoulders tightly.
“You’re going…much…too fast for me to keep up,” the sickly man coughed out.
“Well I can’t go any slower, unless you wanna die ”The woman seethed out in a panicked voice.
“Go at this speed and the wind will kill me,” he blatantly said.
“This is not the time for jokes!” angrily admonished Hestia.
“I am not joking,” he said with a sad voice. “I simply want to live. I am simply a coward of a man who cannot look death in the eye and accept his hand.”
Wally suddenly fell from her grip. Blood spewed from his mouth at a rapid and alarming rate. He fell to the ground.
“Wally!” his friend called out, she then knelt in front of him. She reached out to him, but then stopped.
The man brought himself to a kneeling position and sat there in a sickly daze. The playful expression he originally had, completely gone. Instead it was replaced with a look of fear and sadness. His eyes wide and his mouth hanging. He turned to his friend with a petulantly horrified expression on his face.
“I’m dying, I truly am dying. Aren’t I?” he asked his friend. A child-like fear was plastered on his face. He looked at Hestia with a look that reminded her of a scared child looking to his mother for guidance and reassurance.
“No, no, you will not die. I will not allow it,” she said, reassuring him as much as she was reassuring herself. She looked around her for what seemed to be the tenth time, hoping that maybe the gods would take pity on her—just once, just for him.
Maybe there is some herb that can be ground and given to him. Maybe….
Suddenly, she was interrupted from her thoughts when she was suddenly enveloped by a large pair of arms. Wally leaned onto her, clinging onto her as if she was his very last hope.
“Please Hestia, don’t let me die. I don’t want to die.” He begged her. Tears flowed down his face, pain and fear of what was happening, digging at his very being. “Please save me, you can save me right? I don’t want to die. I really don’t want to.” His face was looking incredibly pale. He coughed blood onto her.
He weeped into her shoulder as she sat there in awe. She wrapped her arms around the broken man.
“No, you will not die. If I had wanted you to die you think I’d have been by your side for all these years. I will not let a decade’s worth of pain go to waste. You will live, you will be healed. Do not worry. Put your trust in me. I will not fail you.” she said.
The man in her arms rose, and looked in her eyes. He smiled.
“You will save me?” He asked.
She looked at him, and then slowly nodded.
“Then I am safe, I will be fine. I will live…” he said, slightly swaying.
“Wally?” asked his friend in confusion and fear, she reached out to grab him. But before she could grab him, he fell. His head laid on her lap. Staring up into her eyes, was the final glance of a dying man.
“Wally?…Wally….Wally!” She yelled out, realization slowly dawning her. Her hands moved to shake the man.
“I will live…” he gasped out. “Can we go home now?”
He breathed in and out. His breaths slowly yet surely were slowing down. His eyes remained on his friend for a few more seconds, until he turned his head. He looked into the musty, murky forest.
And he laughed. He laughed hard and well. A psychotic look on face, blood splattered face, cold glance, and one last glance at his friend. He groaned, and his chest stopped lifting up and down.
He died with a smile on his face.
In the seconds that followed, hestia froze with her hands on his shoulders. As soon as he took his last breath, Hestia could’ve sworn a light, silky piece of what looked to be fabric coming from his body. In her delirium, she believed it to be his soul leaving his mortal being. It was so light that she almost missed it, her brain just managed to comprehend what she had seen, but chose to focus on other things at that moment. Namely the fact that her only friend had just died.
“Wally… wake up… wake up,” said Hestia. She gently held the body of the man she had befriended and cradled it with a yearning.
“Oh please, love, wake up,” she pleaded to his corpse. No reply came from it.
“Wake up, there are things to be done. You can’t go now. How can I live without you.” She said in a silent sadness and pain. Tears were freely drifting down her face, just as they did his not long before.
She pressed her grief-stricken face into his chest and cried uncontrollably as she hugged the corpse tight.
Finally, she screamed and turned upwards towards the heavens.
<– The Reviver’s Passage: Ch. III The Reviver’s Passage: Ch. V –>
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