5 The warmth of home and Contradiction

A luxury mountain home stood in front of the three. The cobblestone path that led to the building from the gated entrance was skipped as Chao exhausted herself. Furvus whispered in a low voice, "Lady Chao, we've arrived. Are you sure you want to enter directly through the front door?"

She didn't give him any answer besides a hum and a wave of her hand. Furvus looked at Gladys with pity. Although Gladys didn't have any immediate visible reaction on his face, Furvus still noticed that he tensed a bit with his protruding veins as evidence. Furvus audibly sighed as he silently prayed for the two of them.

Normally the home was quite bright and warm but at the moment, it felt like they were walking into the F0rtress of S0litude*. Furvus went up the two steps with steps as heavy as his reluctance and finally pressed the doorbell. Cla1r de Lun3** played through gentle chimes echoing throughout the entire area. Listening to how the piece reverberated through the air, both Furvus and Gladys finally began showing signs of distress. The door swung open triggering a reaction across the property. The windows opened, doors were swung, gates were shoved and people poured out from everywhere. Men, women, and children of all ages appeared out in the open.

The chilling aspect of it all was the fact that they had done so with little to no noise. The loudest noises that could be heard were pounding hearts. Chao, the cause of the silent ruckus, rested peacefully on Gladys' back while the two men were glared at. Gladys finally broke and sighed. everyone present had at least the lowest bond allowing certain messages to be telepathically transmitted. His usual growling voice spoke, 'Lady Chao has temporarily exhausted herself. I would like for her room to be prepared as well as her food. If Albus has finished, tell her to wait outside until Lady Chao awakens to check her health. When the check-up is done, it should be linner*** time, therefore all work in the house best be done by then.'

'Yes Sir Gladys.', they replied unanimously. As usual though, Chao woke up rubbing her eyes sleepily before calling out. "Wait." Everyone halted uniformly and looked to her. "After linner, I'm going on a walk. Gladys, Furvus, Albus and Bea will join me. Everyone has to prep themselves for the night." They looked at her confusedly while Gladys and Furvus caught the trademark glint in her eyes. 'Why does she have to cause a ruckus? Is it too quiet? Is she just bored? I want my overtime to be compensated!'

"Tonight after dinner, we're going to have a sleepover in my wing. You're all going to have the privilege of using the energy there to upgrade. That's all from me for now." She nonchalantly spoke before winking and saying "I look forward to our night together."

Finally when the thoughts settled, the ground rumbled and the air trembled. They collectively formed a barrier to contain their thankful roars. "WOAH!!!" People jumped up and down, an old couple who were in their 100's started dancing and laughing.

. . .

"I'll probably only be able to sleep for an hour. Tell Albus that my eyes were going blind as I was reverting earlier. I want you tow to get my drinks ready for tonight."

Gladys pursed his full lips before parting them, "Do I look stupid to you? I don't have the highest bond to you, only the second highest, but that doesn't mean my nerve receptors aren't receiving any pain from you." Furvus nodded his head in agreement while frowning. "I didn't feel what you did while sending them away, but I did feel the aftermath. Albus is probably feeling it too but unlike you, she can treat herself as soon as possible."

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Chao immediately crumpled in regret as she thought of her four dears enduring the pain silently while still supporting her. "Get out and get your treatment. I'll recover while I sleep. I want to walk a bit before I have some replenishing snacks." Her eyes were steely as they glowered at the two brooking no argument. Automatically, they bowed, saluted and closed her door behind them after leaving.

Outside the room stood a young lady older than Furvus by a year or two. She was the same height as Furvus with fuchsia eyes and pure, white hair that reached her hips, warm ivory skin, thin pinkish lips, wide set eyes and tall nose. Her features made her look a bit arrogant if not lukewarm. At the moment though she had bright pink coral lips, marmalade colored overalls and two lazy, messy buns on either side of her head. When Furvus leaned forward and kissed her cheek, she rolled her eyes feigning indifference.

"Where's Bea?" asked Gladys without even the slightest reaction. Furvus, however, was busy ogling at Albus' reddening face. "She said she would wait for you in the library." Gladys thanked her after grabbing the medication for himself and his little lady.

When Gladys was out of sight, Albus prepared to lecture Furvus on his behavior before she was stopped by an attack by Furvus. Specifically, all he did was hug her, rest his head on her shoulder and asked, "Can I just listen to you play the kalimba[1]?" Her heart softened towards the man clinging to her. "You're also taking the medicine. If you don't complain, you can also have baklava for linner." His ears perked up causing Albus to chuckle. 'Ahhh, I'll look dumb as long as she laughs for me.' Furvus grabbed her hand, raised it to his heart and smiled to himself. "Let's go to your lounge." They walked away hand in hand with hearts fluttering.

. . .

A man sat under a pergola with a woman. They heard footsteps and turned to the source. Before she could see their faces, everything melted like it was washed away with water. Chao laid in a bed inside a small chamber. People were shouting outside and her door was being unlocked. Dull, warm white light poured in exposing the dirt floor, mold and light frost. Someone's voice echoed "Time to go."

She turned her body over to get a look at the owner of the unidentifiable voice, but was only blinded by the yellow light. Similar to before, the scene changed once more. Over and over again, Chao saw many scenes around her. Sometimes she was a young child, at times she was an elderly man, other times she was a young woman, but in all her forms she never finished the story.

She did not know if she finished the race for her life. She did not know if she saved the innocent children. She did not know if she was killed. She did not know if she ended her own life at any point. She watched as everything passed her fleetingly. Only once did she get close to A TRUTH.

She sat on a cliff with two other people near her. The man sat under a willow tree while the other woman laid on her back. They all looked off into a distance they couldn't reach in that time.

"The sky is peaceful." said the man.

"The ocean is restless." said the woman.

"The air is still." said Chao.

"We can't die." said the woman.

"We do die." said the man.

"We live after death." said Chao.

"That is how we live. The infinite cycle of the end and beginning."

The three didn't reply to the intruder. After all,they were right and there was nothing they could do about it.

"You three are the paragon of parallel joy and sorrow. The three of you make up "contradiction". Three extremes that couldn't be more similar and different." The surrounding air warmed up while the three cooled.

"You three will exist this way even after time ends to begin anew. No matter where and when you run to, you cannot escape this. Let's try to get along until then." The voice seemed to be laced with malevolent happiness. The voice wasn't male or female nor was it young or old. Calling it "current" was fitting, but was difficult to describe otherwise. The intruder left after a short hum. Chao turned around and looked at the other two.

"We're one being yet we're our own beings. I am myself and both of you at the same time." she paused and the man continued, "We are three parts made of different personalities that fit together perfectly." Finally, the other woman ended, "You both are my anchor. You keep my in place and also weigh me down. We maintain our sanity through each other and fracture each other causing harm to ourselves."

'What a fate to live.' They smiled wryly as a small flame of trust and determination spawned in their soul. 'If we are to be like this, then we will learn to love this. Not to hurt each other, but to hurt them.'