The light seeping into the room when Suwa opened his eyes was too dim for him to be able to tell what time of day it was, but even so, he recognized the room where he found himself. It was the home he lived in in the Endora village. After taking a few moments to collect himself, Suwa got up and walked outside.
Even outside, he couldn't tell if it was morning or evening, or even how long he had been sleeping. All he knew was where he was, but even that was questionable. From what he could tell, he was the only one around. Or at least, he thought so until he noticed someone standing a ways away from him.
“Rena!” Suwa called out, running to his friend, but as they turned around, the face he saw was Deia's. “Mom? What are you doing here? You're okay? I can't believe it! Rena said you were taken by Rashendala. I was sure … I thought …”
“Hello, Suwa. I'm glad to see you, too.” Deia spoke softly and with a smile. It was a voice that Suwa had been longing to hear for so long. “Feris should be here soon. I think she was looking for you.”
“Mom! Suwa!” Feris called out from the distance as she ran to them, waving. “There you are, Suwa. You really kept us waiting, you know?”
“Yeah, I'm sorry,” Suwa responded to his sister with a smile. Feris was hugging him as she looked up with a grin, a beautiful purple flower adorning her hair. “But I'm here now. And I'm not going anywhere again, I promise.”
“Suwa—" there was a voice on the wind, but it faded away as Suwa embraced his family.
“—I still can't believe that you helped build this place.” Much time had passed since Sezio's fight with Rashendala, and Rena was speaking to Suwa. “It might have been small when you first started it but look at it now: After convincing everyone from the Endora tribe to come here, there were even two more tribes who joined us. Since then, we've even had a few gehm who have found this place on their own.”
The village was busier than ever with all the new faces trying to learn how to participate within their new day-to-day lives. The things that Sezio's group had taught Suwa were freely being taught to anyone who wanted to learn as well, but with a test for aptitude, not everyone was given the spark right away. Even so, there were plenty of new members becoming capable of protecting the community.
“I've been receiving a lot of lessons from Sezio and Moiya, too, so it won't be long before I become stronger than you,” Rena laughed, but her smile didn't last long before her expression briefly became heavy. “I miss you, Suwa. Oh! I almost forgot—I'll be going out on the next expedition to find more gehm soon. Once I'm back, I'll make sure to tell you all about it. Well, I guess I'll talk to you later, Suwa.”
Rena turned around after wiping her eyes and left to search for Moiya to discuss their upcoming expedition. Left behind her was a small stack of stones that had been placed in Suwa’s memory.
From this point, there would still be a long way to go before the journey of the gehm of era finally reach its conclusion. But that …
That was a different story for a different day.
END
