“Although I said that…” the man muttered to himself, his eyes focused on the giant fallen trees that lay before him. “How am I supposed to lift these!” he cried out in frustration. His shoulders slumped and he fell back on the grass. “It would take ten…no, at least twenty humans to lift these massive trees…” He let out a sigh. “How am I supposed to do this alone!?”
“Y-you aren’t alone!” cried out an exhausted voice.
*************
It wasn’t long before the sound of the man’s footsteps disappeared deeper into the forest. The three of them had watched him go as he disappeared through the trees.
Once he was gone, Mirajane turned to Anya and Clarine. “By the way…” Mirajane said slowly. “I wanted to ask the two of you earlier, but it slipped my mind.” She stuck her tongue out lightly and bopped herself lightly on the head. “But how is your husband planning to bring back those trees?” She frowned. “They are far too heavy for any normal human to lift alone…”
Clarine brought a hand to her mouth as she gasped. “O-oh no!” she cried, flustered. She set down Anya quickly on the forest floor, who quickly crawled along one of Mirajane’s roots and faced her mother intently. Clarine was bouncing about in place excitedly. “Oh no…!” she said again. “I was supposed to help him with that!” she explained rather ambiguously. “I-I have to go help him!” she said worriedly. “Mirajane, please watch Anya for me!” she cried and dashed off in the opposite direction than that of the one the man had taken.
“Papa and Mama are absentminded.” Anya stated plainly after Clarine dashed off into the woods with her panicked expression. Anya was crawling along one of Mirajane’s larger roots.
Mirajane giggled. “It’s because they’re blinded by their love for each other, that they forget to pay attention to the details.”
Anya smiled. “Unnh!” she cried in agreement, and pointed her finger in the opposite direction that Clarine left in. “Papa went that way…” she raised her other hand, pointing in the direction Clarine ran in. “…and Mama went that way!” She put down her arms then, holding them together in front of her chest. “Mama is twice as blind as Papa.” She said calmly.
“How long do you think it will take her to realize she went the wrong way?” Mirajane asked kindly.
“Nnn…” Anya mumbled. “….um, this much!” she said, spreading her arms out wide. “Because Mama is blinded twice as much as Papa, so she won’t realize it until she gets back home.” She grinned childishly. “Then she’ll say ‘Kyaaa, Papa’s not here! I went the wrong way!’ and start turning her face reaaaaaaallllly red.”
Mirajane let out a small laugh. “How is it that your mother plans to help your father, Anya?” She tilted her head to the side. “Even with two people, I don’t think that those trees can be lifted to easily.”
Instead of agreeing with her, like she thought Anya would, she had a large grin on her face. “Aunty Mira, you shouldn’t think little of Mama.” She said cheerfully. She spread her arms wide above her head. “Because- Mama is really, really strong!”
“Huh?” Mirajane replied simply, shocked. “Y-you mean she can has enough strength to lift the trees?” She gestured with her branches to many of the towering trees around her, making sure Anya grasped the gravity of her words. Anya nodded. “That’s right!” she said, still grinning.
“B-but….h-how is that possible!?” Mirajane exclaimed, more confused than ever.
Anya paced a little on top of Mirajane’s root. “Because…” she said quietly, and then more loudly, “Because, Mama really loves Papa!”
*****************
Huh? The man thought to himself. The voice sounded familiar to him. The man stood, looking for the source of the voice. On the distant side of the shore, where he had met Solana and Meryl, he saw a small figure running quickly towards him. Behind her, attached by two golden chains around her waist, she dragged a large, round and familiar object.
“Clarine!?” he cried out in amazement. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Running towards him at full speed with the pot they had spent a year together in dragging behind her, Clarine ran towards him with a worried expression in her eyes.
“What are you doing here!?” he cried out to her as she ran closer towards him. “I thought you were with Mirajane and Anya!”
“I-I came to h-help you!” she yelled back wearily, slowing her pace as she grew closer to him. The man ran over to her, wrapping his arm around her supportively. She leaned over deeply, sucking in large gulps of air. He rubbed her back lightly with his hand, massaging her tired body. As he did, he glanced at the golden chains wrapped around her waist. They were attached to the large pot that Clarine had been dragging behind her, and were identical to the two that held up the pot that hung around her waist.
“Did you run all the way here, Clarine?” he asked, concerned. Still hunched over and breathing heavily, she nodded her head.
The man was touched by his wife’s efforts, but he was also concerned for her well being.
“Clarine…” he said softly. “You didn’t have to run the whole way, you know?” he said not unkindly. “I appreciate your effort, but you don’t have to push yourself like this.”
Clarine shook her head, lifting herself up while still leaning on her husband for support. She met his eyes with her own, full of determination and passion. “This…” she huffed. “…is nothing.” She managed to get out. Even though she was obviously worn out, she managed to smile as she blushed. “If it’s for the man I love, I can endure this much.”
The man returned a smile of his own, feeling himself blush slightly as well. “Thank you, Clarine.” He said and kissed her lightly on the cheek. He lowered himself to the ground, bringing Clarine with him. “You need to rest for a minute, and gather your strength.” He said, refusing to let her stand back up again when she tried. With a small pout, she gave up and let him pull her closer into his embrace. The two of them sat like that for quite a while, gazing out across the patch of sea before them.
“So this…is what the Dryads meant…” Clarine said quietly after a time.
“What do you mean?” The man asked, confused.
Clarine fidgeted in his arms a little. “The Dryads in the forest said to me ‘you’ll find your husband where Gnome meets Undine’.” She looked across the sea once more. “At first, it did not understand, but seeing this, it makes sense now.” She sighed contentedly, snuggling closer against him.
The man was still confused as ever, even more so now. “I…don’t get it.” He said after a moment. “What does that
even mean? And what’s a ‘gnome’ and an ‘undine’?”
Clarine laughed at her husband’s questions. With how he acted around the Mamono; as if he had known them all his life, she forgot that he wasn’t familiar with most of the terms and customs of her world.
“It’s ‘Gnome’ and ‘Undine’, dear.” She explained patiently. “Gnomes are the elementals of earth; rulers of the mountains and plains. Undines are the elementals of water; rivers, lakes, and oceans bend to their will.” She drew a circle upon the ground, marking six dots with equal space between them along it. “Then there are the Ignis,” she said, pointing to one of the dots, “elementals of fire; rulers of the forge; and together with Gnome, govern all Pot Devils.” She smiled, and looked at her husband. “Just as Gnome and Undine govern all humans.” She added. She turned back to her diagram, pointing to the next circle. “The Sylph, elementals of wind; come next. They rule over storms and the winds.”
Clarine frowned, tapping her finger on the next dot along the circle. The man noticed her discomfort, and asked her what was wrong. “The next elementals…the elementals of light…They rule over light and the sun, but their name…I can’t remember it. I’m sorry…” she looked away, apologizing.
“Don’t worry about it,” the man comforted his wife. He pointed to the last dot that remained unclaimed. “What about this one?” he said, hoping to distract his wife from her dark mood.
“Oh…” she said, putting her finger to it. “These elementals…the dark elementals…are called Dark Matter.” She explained. “They are also known as “the suns of darkness.”
Clarine quickly spun about, locking her husband’s gaze with her own. “They are extremely dangerous,” she said with a stern tone in her voice that he had never heard her use before. “If you ever run into one, you must promise me that you’ll run away as fast as you can!”
“But aren’t they a Mamono like you, Clarine? Surely they’ll listen to reason-” he tried to say, but she cut him off before he could finish.
“No!” she said strongly, instantly causing him to close his mouth. “The Dark Matter are very powerful, and very dangerous! They corrupt the land, converting it completely into a part of the demon realm! If one were to get its hands on you…” she shuddered, and looked away.
She was frightened by them, the man could tell that much. She was afraid what a Dark Matter was capable of, and worse, what it would do to him if he ever fell into one’s grasp. She was shaking, far worse than he had ever seen or felt her shake before. Mamono or not, the Dark Matter struck fear deep into Clarine’s heart. They were certainly not anything he wanted to get involved with.
“…Okay.” He said, and pulled her against his chest. “I won’t go anywhere near a Dark Matter…” he placed his hand on top of her head, rubbing lightly. “…and if I do, I’ll run as fast as I can. So fast, it will blink and I’ll have disappeared!” he said cheerfully, hoping to assuage his wife’s fears.
“You aren’t just saying that to make me feel better, are you?” she mumbled against his chest.
“Of course I’m not.” He replied, still rubbing her head. “After all, what kind of man would I be if I lied to my wife?”
She looked up at him, her lantern eyes examining him. “I promise, that if I ever run into a Dark Matter, I’ll run away on sight.” He said solemnly. “…But, in exchange, you’ll have to tell me what they look like, first.” He looked back at his wife tenderly. “Is it a promise?” he asked.
“Yes…it’s a promise.” She said softly, and buried her face against his chest yet again.
The man gazed lovingly at his small wife, and then out to the sea before him. “Gnome and Undine…huh?” he said to himself under his breath. He could feel his wife’s heartbeat match in tempo with his own. “I guess I should thank Ignis, too.” He said softly, referring to his wife.
“…Ah.” He said after a while, loudly this time. He looked at the long golden chains that trailed from his wife, to the pot they were attached to.
“Uh…Clarine?” he said softly. She stirred, and looked at him questioningly. “Er…weren’t we supposed to be doing something else right now?” He pointed to the pot that she brought with him.
“Aah!” she exclaimed, jumping quickly to her feet. The golden chains about her jingled lightly.
“That’s right, we were supposed to be working!” she fretted. She blushed wildly, embarrassed at her lapse in attention.
The man stood as well, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. “Well, you weren’t the only one that forgot, Clarine.” He smiled. “It’s my fault too.” Clarine smiled back, wrapping her own arm around his waist. “Well, shall we get to work, then?”
“Yes!” She replied happily.
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