Pompeii (4)
The salamanders had never intended to harm Pompeii from the start. The ones gathered in this basin shared a single heartfelt wish.
'I want to be your strength.'
They wanted to comfort him. To pat him warmly. They yearned to let this young Spirit King—who had suffered such a grievous wound and sealed away his heart—know that they were by his side.
Those feelings manifested as gentle touches, caressing every corner of Pompeii's body and soul, enveloping him in warmth.
[…….]
Pompeii, drained of his will to fight, reverted to his childlike form. As he stared blankly at us—at the salamanders—tears suddenly welled up in his eyes.
[……Huh?]
Pompeii wiped at his eyes in confusion. But once the dam broke, the tears wouldn't stop.
[Why... why am I...?]
Having received such tender comfort, Pompeii shed tears he hadn't even realized were there. Those tears pounded against his chest, shattering the emotions he'd buried deepest within, spilling them out once more in fresh streams.
[Ughhh!]
Pompeii hunched over at the belated ache in his heart. The salamanders flocked to the young Spirit King, who couldn't even contain his own sorrow. They surrounded him, sharing their warmth and licking away his tears.
Chit chit.
Mandu perched on Pompeii's shoulder, lapping at his eyes.
[I... I'm...!]
Even as tears streamed down his face, Pompeii instinctively gathered the baby salamanders into his arms. Those who couldn't fit clung tightly to every empty spot on his body.
The bond between a Spirit King and spirits was akin to that of parent and child.
'Parents aren't beings who only give to their children unilaterally.'
It was the children who made parents into parents. Without children, parents couldn't exist. Just as parents were forever on their child's side, children were eternally their parents' allies.
[Chit chit.]
[Shaaah…….]
The salamanders poured endless warmth and love into Pompeii.
[Pompeii……!]
Aqua sniffled, arms outstretched, and toddled toward him.
[Come here!]
With a voice thick with emotion, Aqua hugged Pompeii and the salamanders tightly.
Terra had already wrapped her arms around him too.
[No... gah...]
Pompeii tried a few times to push Aqua and Terra away but gave up and hung his head.
[How hard it must have been all this time! I'm sorry for not realizing, even though we're friends!]
Aqua wept fat tears like chicken droppings, squeezing Pompeii even harder.
Pat pat.
Terra patted his back, her own eyes misty.
Pompeii's tear-filled eyes trembled. His mouth opened as if to speak, but he only bit his lip.
[You...]
His choked voice slipped through trembling lips.
[You abandoned me.]
Disarmed by the tears and warmth, Pompeii's true feelings poured out.
[The Wind Spirit King picked humans and abandoned me!]
His wounded voice quivered pitifully.
[You humans took my family from me! You killed my family!]
Pompeii's tears fell even harder.
[Give him back! Bring back the Wind Spirit King! Save my family!]
I couldn't say a word. Sia, who had drawn near, Niagara, Aqua, Terra—none of us could answer that sorrow.
I approached Pompeii. Even through tear-blurred eyes, he glared fiercely at me. His lips pressed tight in a heartbreaking effort to hold back sobs amid hatred and rage.
I forced my mouth open.
"450,000."
I poured all my strength into suppressing my emotions, lest my voice shake. Pompeii deserved to hear this clearly and cleanly.
"The number of lives the Wind Spirit King sacrificed himself to save."
[……!]
"Shizuoka Prefecture, Yamanashi Prefecture, Kanagawa Prefecture."
Never had I been more grateful for studying hard than in this moment.
"The names of the regions that hold festivals every year on the Wind Spirit King's memorial day to honor him."
No one had ever told Pompeii this story. But it was one he should have known.
Pompeii should have learned first why his family died—whom he saved, what glory and honor he earned—before any obituary.
"Hundreds, thousands of towns and shrines in those regions—across all of Japan—honor and mourn the Wind Spirit King."
Pompeii's eyes stared blankly at my mouth.
"In Japan, the name 'Wind God' now refers to the Wind Spirit King."
I stepped closer to Pompeii.
"Pompeii. The Wind Spirit King became a hero. In Japan, he is revered more than any human, more than any being."
Did words like these even matter? Could telling a son who lost his father that the Wind Spirit King was a true hero—who saved hundreds of thousands and sacrificed nobly—hold any meaning?
'Even if it doesn't, it must be said.'
Pompeii deserved to know. He deserved the truth of his father's death, whom he saved, how grateful people were.
"The Wind Spirit King didn't abandon you."
Pompeii's eyes met mine—searching my mouth, peering beyond to the Wind Spirit King's heart.
"He loved you so much—loved all you children like you—that he chose the path to save you."
So if you rage at humans for his death, the Wind Spirit King would grieve, I said.
Pompeii said nothing. He only shed endless tears carrying more meaning than words.
[Pompeii.]
Niagara, who had approached, draped a mint-colored muffler around Pompeii's neck.
Pompeii pressed his lips to the Wind Spirit King's keepsake. Burying his tears, his breaths.
I could say no more. I simply held Pompeii tight.
Pompeii didn't push me away—the human. He welcomed my warmth into his chest.
We comforted Pompeii and wept together. We filled the consolation he should have received long ago. We applied balm to his tender, wounded heart.
* * *
We left the basin for the cave. The basin's salamanders and sylphs came with us.
[Sniff, sniff…….]
Pompeii followed us in silence, sniffling. Or rather, he was being led. Terra was manipulating the earth beneath our feet to carry us all.
[Chit…….]
Mandu sat on Pompeii's shoulder, endlessly licking his face.
An elderly salamander nestled in Pompeii's arms, murmuring softly in a low voice. I couldn't make out the words, but it was unmistakably warm.
[Mm, mm…….]
Pompeii nodded to the voice, shedding tears and sniffling.
Aqua and Terra, watching Pompeii with concern, exchanged nods. Those were healthy tears.
The sylphs and salamanders from the basin moved with us too. The salamanders were busy comforting Pompeii and licking the newly born hundred baby salamanders.
We arrived at the Giant Cave where Uluru waited. She had been watching for us from afar.
[Oh! They're back!]
[Pompeii's with them!]
[Whoa! So many baby salamanders!]
[Waaah!]
[Lady Aqua!]
The spirits who had been waiting near the cave entrance flew and ran to us.
[Were you waiting?]
Aqua beamed, hugging the welcoming undines.
[We knew you'd do it!]
[As expected of Lady Aqua! The Spirit Queen!]
The undines rejoiced brightly, rubbing their faces against Aqua.
[Eek!]
[Lord Pompeii!]
Many spirits hugged Pompeii and the salamanders enveloping him. Most were sylphs bearing the same wounds as Pompeii.
Terra went straight to Uluru. Her brief explanation covered everything.
[I see.]
Uluru nodded quietly to Terra's tale and approached Pompeii. All the spirits parted for her.
[Poor child…….]
Uluru gently embraced Pompeii. Tears welled in her eyes too.
Rather than relief that it wasn't corruption from some evil force, she empathized first with Pompeii's pain—a testament to her pure, kind spirit.
'As the mother of all spirits, perhaps she aches even more for his pain.'
That's what mothers were.
In Uluru's warm embrace, Pompeii wept again. Niagara had drawn near, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
[I'm sorry, Pompeii. We lacked consideration.]
[We forgot you were closer to the Wind Spirit King than anyone—and that you weren't ready yet.]
Pompeii said nothing. His own tears sealed his voice.
'This hasn't completely changed Pompeii's mind.'
Pompeii was exhausted from the sudden emotional outburst and release. His heart softened in that vulnerability by the salamanders' comfort and his friends' worry.
It had created an opening to accept the Wind Spirit King's death, but he could revert to his darkened state anytime.
'The real work starts now.'
Of course, it wasn't my role anymore. The salamanders and Uluru's mattered most.
Aqua wiped her runny nose and looked up at me, sniffling.
[Now it's our turn!]
"Our turn?"
[After a big fight, don't we need an afterparty?]
Aqua seemed to recall how we'd treated the Spirit Knights after her fight with Niagara.
[All of the Spirit Realm helped us!]
As Aqua said, our 'Spirit Realm tour' wasn't a quest we'd cleared alone. Everyone who aided our tour and shared joyful memories deserved a share.
[So, an afterparty! Let's feed them tons of human-world snacks!]
Aqua's eyes sparkled. True to her big-sister spirit, she wanted to treat the spirits to something delicious.
A smile tugged at my lips too.
'She's so kind.'
I'd tried not to leave human traces in the Spirit Realm. But human snacks? They'd leave such a mark that baby spirits would throw daily tantrums to visit the human world.
'But if it's what Aqua wants, no reason not to.'
Aqua covered her mouth with both hands, giggling in anticipation. I explained to the puzzled Terra.
"It means we'll eat delicious things and play together. We'll open a path to the human world and bring back snacks."
[Human-world snacks…….]
"Ice cream for the salamanders, chocolate for the gnomes, and for the undines……."
I grinned at Aqua's expectant eyes.
"Dogwood tea, of course."
[Of course! You know me so well!]
Aqua beamed, slapping my arm excitedly.
Spirits favored different snacks by element. The ones I listed were their absolute favorites among favorites.
Undines who drank dogwood tea got tipsy, slurring and extra cuddly. Aqua had tried it a couple times and always delivered beyond expectations.
[Let's go get them!]
Aqua shouted gleefully.
[Chocolate……?]
Terra mouthed the unfamiliar word awkwardly.
"They'll love it. Gnomes like it as much as nuts."
[Oh…….]
Anticipation slowly bloomed on Terra's face.