Novel Full Chapter 1702: Memories Of Ancient Times
Chapter 1702: Memories Of Ancient Times
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After deciding to help him, Aquarina and her group led the feathered man to the small cave they were staying to eat. Finally, the battle was over, and they could resume their meal. Surprisingly, it was all like they left it as.
Agua and Pyuku had placed a double water and psychic energy barrier there, so the entire area and its surrounding walls and ceiling remained mostly intact. The food was also not burnt or overcooked as they had just finished doing everything and the flames were turned off. If anything, the food might be a bit cold now, but nothing that some reheating cannot fix.
Aquarina helped the man slowly stand up, as they made their way back to the cave, the man, who ended being actually an inch taller than Justicio, towered above everyone else. This made Justicio feel slightly uncomfortable though, as he was no longer the tallest, something he was actually secretly prideful of.
“This guy’s freaking huge! Are all Anima this size?” He wondered, glaring at the man, who had his leather jacket wrapped around his crotch. “Ah, and that jacket… it was my favorite, dammit. I guess he can just keep it at this point. I don’t plan on getting it back…”
Despite how intimidating and huge he was, the man still looked rather harmless. His sorrowful and beautiful eyes and his shy personality made him stand out as someone rather unique and that meant no harm to anybody.
“To think the curse warped such a gentle person into that monster… It’s crazy,” Silvia thought, sighing as she glanced at him. “But this is truly a one-time thing though! I want to know more about him! But… is Justicio jealous or something? Heheh… Should I tease him about it?”
Once inside the cave, Aquarina and Silvia quickly went to reheat the food and prepare to eat, the young bird man, or well, not so young, but with a youthful appearance, looked around, surprised about ancient paintings being present there.
“These paintings…”
He walked towards the cave, touching the walls with his hands, and feeling rather shocked.
Just how long has it been since he even felt the touch of stone like this at all?
His hands were finally back, after being forced to have enormous wings instead of them for so long…
As he saw the paintings of his people, he slowly fell silent.
He had cried so much he couldn’t cry anymore, but even then…
“Ah… this painting is…?!”
Suddenly, for a moment, he saw something…
FLASH!
A glimpse of his past, a memory of thousands of years ago.
In that painting he was there with his mother and his big brother, all of them looked like him, with talons, claws, and wings over their shoulders.
They had long, feathered hair, and had emerald eyes like he did.
“Mama, is this how it’s done?”
He remembered even what he said to his mother back then.
His little and innocent voice made him feel a nostalgia he never felt before…
“Yes dear, just paint away. Express yourself through these paintings. What do you want to leave for the future? Unlike us, paintings remain for many years. They’re a part of us, of our souls and our lives… So paint something nice you want the people of the future to see.”
“Okay mama!”
The gentle voice of his mother echoed through the caves, as he almost felt like he was reliving the moment right there.
As he painted, his big brother patted his shoulders.
“Haha, are you drawing yourself?”
“Yes! And mama and papa too!”
“Hey! What about me?”
“I’m drawing you later!”
“Haha, don’t forget about your big brother, rascal…”
These visions, these voices disappeared just as he remembered them, they were but a few seconds, perhaps less than that.
He looked at the painting, showing a family of winged people smiling surrounded by little birds, the species of bird monster his people tamed.
“…”
As he remained there looking at the wall, Agua slowly walked to his side.
“Um, are you okay? Nothing hurts, right?”
She was still worried about him, or perhaps she wanted to find an excuse to talk to him.
“Ah, yes… I… I’m fine, thank you.”
As the man gently smiled at Agua, the girl blushed, admiring his height and also his gentle personality. It was such an endearing combination that she couldn’t stop thinking about it!
But at the same time, as a priestess of the oasis spirit, she had to remain calm and composed.
“Y-You’re welcome… H-Heheh…”
Calm and composed?! She ended giggling nervously!
She covered her mouth, realizing what she did, but the man didn’t mind, glancing at the walls and gently touching the painting.
“Um, do you know this place? These paintings… I’ve been wondering what they mean.”
The man glanced at her for a moment, then at the paintings.
“T-These paintings… Are… they are my paintings.”
“Eh? R-Really?”
“Yes… I just remembered that. I was here… When I was but a small chick that still had white feathers and couldn’t fly. My mother and my big brother brought me here. They told me to draw whatever I wanted.”
“Oooh… S-So your culture already had such teachings… My tribe also does that! We paint in another cave, only one though, and we have the entire walls painted…! W-We… we usually leave there a small painting of each person, a record that we were there.”
“I see… I suppose our cultures were a bit similar. We did the same here as well… Just how long has it been? I don’t even remember people like you living around here- Ah, no… no offense. I’m sorry if it sounded rude.”
“It’s fine… Yeah, we came to live here only a few thousand years ago I think. We are half-elves, descendants of Desert Elves and a Human Hero.”
“A human hero and a desert elf ancestor? So you’re a tribe of half-elves… how interesting… Are… have you seen any more of my kind? With wings?”
“…No.”
Agua sighed, as she looked down for a bit.
“I… I see…”
The man gripped his hands tightly, looking down.
“Am I really the last of my kind…?”
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