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"Mom's necklace?" Asked Lara in surprise. "It is so pretty…" She said, smiling adorably.
"The heart shaped crystal is made of a powerful Tier 4 Monster's Mana Crystal, imbued with the blood of a Wyvern." Said Lara's uncle. "It will protect you from danger, it was your mothers' good luck charm. She left it to you before… what happened in your village. It was supposed to be your birthday gift, but you ran away before I could give it to you."
"Thanks…" Lara sighed, grabbing the necklace, and wearing it. She gently touched it, feeling the necklace's Magic Power, imbued into her own body. There was certainly a small magical protection into it. "I'll treasure it with my life."
"Good." Her uncle nodded. "Now… How about you at the very least rest for today? Let's go eat something delicious for dinner, you also look so tired! You need to take a warm bath and get yourself some new clothes. Your aunt will make you something beautiful that can also protect you well."
"With Luck we've hunted some monsters, we brought tons of materials, maybe we could use those." Lara smiled.
"Alright then…" Her uncle nodded. "I won't let you go this time without properly preparing yourselves!"
Like that, days passed, and after five days of preparation, of talking with people, of helping the village expands the crops and more, Lara and Luck decided to depart. They couldn't even risk staying more than a week here, or their position would eventually be known by the enemy.
"Please, take care, Lara…" Her aunt began crying. "Don't die on us, girl…"
"Don't worry aunt, the spirits are there for us at all times." Lara smiled.
"Make sure to one day come back…" Her uncle sighed, clenching his fists. "I wish… I could be stronger to protect you, girl. I feel so ashamed I cannot even fulfill the promise I gave to your mother…"
"It is not your fault, uncle." Lara smiled. "And you've done so much for me and these people that such a thing is enough payment!"
"Sigh… We'll take good care of all of them, they will become our family as well." Lara's uncle said. "For you… And the boy too."
Luck was walking back to everyone else, after he paid a last visit to his brother's grave. At the end, they buried him in this peaceful village, away from his home. Using magic, Lara preserved his body so it wouldn't decompose quickly, and Luck was able to give his brother a proper, peaceful burial.
"Boy, you're back." Lara's uncle said. "Are you in peace now with your brother?"
"Hmm." Luck nodded, slightly saddened. "I did everything I could…"
Lara's uncle looked at Luck's eyes, feeling deeply saddened himself. Much like Lara, he was a young boy whose fate was cursed by the divinities above the sky. Granted extraordinary powers, but that also came with the curse of being chased down by their enemies to the ends of the world.
"I'll be trusting Lara into you, Luck." He said. "Please, be strong."
"I… I will." Luck nodded. "Thank you for everything, sir…"
"You can just call me uncle." Laughed Lara's uncle. "Please, I don't mind it. You both better survive so you can one day give me some grandkids."
"E-Eeeh? Uncle!" Lara said, blushing a bit.
"W-Wha…?!" Luck felt just as perplexed.
"Hahahaha! Come on, it was just a joke!" The uncle laughed. "Safe travels, you two." He hugged both of them tightly, as tears flowed from his eyes. "Please… please, survive! Find the other heroes, and ask for their help, don't do anything reckless by yourselves, okay?"
"We promise you we'll survive, Uncle!" Lara nodded.
"Leave it to us." Luck smiled.
Like that, after a delicious feast with everyone in the village, the two Anima Heroes walked away from the village, the farther away they walked, the more distant and small the village became.
Leaving behind everything, Luck realized how painful it was. Was this the same pain Lara went through? He wondered still, how could she smile now? Even after everything?
"How can you smile?" Wondered Luck. "Even after everything, your face is always smiling… Your eyes are always filled with hope…"
"E-Eh?" Lara felt a bit embarrassed, Luck didn't realized such words were like praising her to the heavens. "W-Well… I just… think positively. It is something my mom taught me." She gently caressed her necklace.
"Your mom?" Luck asked.
"Yep!" Lara nodded, as the two wandered across the beautiful grasslands. "She always said that we need to smile and look into the future positively, because if we don't do it, nobody will. She told me that the best way to help those that were sad was… to smile! To make them laugh, anything, just so they can smile, even if you don't feel like. As long as you see their genuine smiles, you'll begin smiling for real too."
"That's… sounds similar to what my brother used to say too." Luck sighed. "Hahaha, I guess you two aren't so different."
"See? You're laughing and smiling now." Lara giggled, touching his nose playfully.
"A-Ah, right… I guess you're right." Luck smiled.
As the two faced the horizon together, they traveled together. Through mountains and rivers, through forests and swamps. Led by the spirits of the Land, of Rivers, of Forests, of the Sunlight and even the Moon, they continued walking.
They explored many places together, slowly traveling across the great wastelands of the Continent of Atlanta. They came into contact with ancient ruins, now turned into dungeons, hunted monsters, ran away from powerful beasts, and were constantly chased down by giant demonic insects.
Slowly, and together, they made it really far, only a thousand and some hundred more kilometers before reaching the closest town that belonged to the Kingdom of Elves, Agartha.
"We're almost making it, Lara…" Luck sighed.
"Yeah… After so long…" Lara said, resting over a large tree root protruding out of the forest floor.
The two were so tired and exhausted from having used all their energy that they simply sat down and relaxed for once.
Their eyes… filled with hope.
Yet that hope was shattered once the ground below them trembled and opened.
RUMBLE!
And a being stronger than anything they had faced before appeared in front of them…
"This is as far as you go, heroes~"
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