16 CH15:G:Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

"I further research on why the nobility did cremation rather than the normal burial, and why the bastards of the nobility were extremely cataloged by the nobility. It as if, the bloodline of the Nobility was held in such high regard, that anyone with the noble blood was carefully monitored by the Regis Religion and other religious sects."Journal Entry #17 Radolf Altmata.

The misty night was eerie when Raicer buried his mother and father, together. Father fell to the Relcian plague two days after mother had fallen in her final sleep. Raicer did not know how his father caught the sickness, but his father's overabundance on binging with his depressive state did not help. The Regis temple priest continues his monotonous prayer, while the two boys stood in front of their father's and mother's grave.

"Oh Regis, take this man and this woman to your bosom and embrace them as who there were and are---"

Meanwhile, the hill beyond, a mass horde of corpses are being thrown into a mass grave by scarfed men. Raicer was fortunate enough to save some money for a ceremony for his parents. Out of the respect from the mayor of the town of Artuwel who was also a friend with their father allowed the captain of the town watch to be buried in the town graveyard.

"May they rest in peace in their final sleep." The priest ends his dreary prayer to Raicer's parents' burial spot.

Uninterested with quick rehash words the priest drawls out for the hundredth time, the two brothers just stood there. Racier nearly a man now at age 14 with his 10-year-old little brother, mourn the passing of their parents.

The priest left the children with their sorrows to continue his service elsewhere to other grieving families.

"Brother what are we going to do?" Gully tugging the sleeves of Raicer's cotton shirt, yearning for answers Raicer could not and cannot answer. 'What are we going to do?

Gully renews his sobbing when Raicer did not answer his plea. Gully's tears reopens Raicer's buried sorrows awake. He was holding it in with his despondency from his brother, he was trying to isolate his heavy heart from exploding from the pain of it all. But now, his grip is slipping, he feels as if he is dropping down into despair. An agonizing rage simmers down in Raicer's being, he slump his demeanor began, to prod out his gripping fury at--how unfair the world was.

"Shut up." He says to his bawling brother. His brother tries to hold his sobs by rubbing small hands On his puffy eyes, in attempt to halt his tears at bay. despite Gully's age, Raicer could not fault his little brother for crying. He did scowls himself, regretting the words he just said to his little brother.

The burial dirt trembles, sounds of scratches and pushes disturb the cold earth, awakening Raicer's perception into motion. The the two burial bed dirt are shaking as if someone is buried underneath their parents' tombs. Hope pierce his pain and rage-induced thoughts. 'Could they be alive?'

The recently disturb earth continues their shifting between the two graves, a muffled shout moves Raicer into action. Raicer's heart began to beat rapidly as newfound hope halts his growing despair. His fingers, dug into the earth as he continues to dig his mother's grave. Earth is thrown out of his way, as he haphazardly continued his exhausting burrowing to his mother's side. Finally, in the end, he grips his fingers between the edges of the casket--shoving it off so his mother can finally escape her wooden cage.

Dead-pale eyes greet him, a two days decay womanly figure was clambering out of the tomb. Raicer horrified step and stumble back into the dirt before the sight of his dead mother, animatedly moving. Hunger burns in her dead eyes, Raicer's brother Gully is silent behind him. The silence of his brother did not faze him, but this, he gawks at his undead mother as she clammers towards his prone self, horrifies him.

"Why…? Why… did you not...save--" His mother's dead monotone drawl inquires Racer's frighten state.

His mother grips his shoulder as she tries to hold him down, Raicer is frozen in utter despair. His hands began to push his mother away from him, but her grip still holds as she approaches closer, face to face. His left hand went straight for his mother's neck, whatever this is, this is not his mother.

"Hey, calm down. Argh, man don't!"

The voice of his mother change into a boy's voice, he does not recognize this voice. But it stops his fray mind, he prods himself into ferocity. He won't let some monster to take a hold of his mother's body, no way in hell he would allow that to take place.

Gulcasa's opening his eyes wide, at the scene of him holding the neck of a golden-eyed boy. The built-up ire in his heart continues his press grip into the young boy's neck. 'Who is this boy?' Whoever he is, he won't take his mother, Gulcasa growl out a curse as the boy struggles.

"It's me, hey!" The boy stiflingly chokes. Gulcasa grip is strong and fierce as the rage prod him to squeeze further.

"Super-super...supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!" The boy chokes out.

Gulcasa's grip tightens than it lesson from the confusion of the boy's words. Despite his internal rage storming around him, Gulcasa lessons his grip to flabbergasted confusion. Gulcasa total left off guard by the boy's words grew to realize the situation of it all.

"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious…"

Letting of Will's neck go-Gulcasa collapse down back onto the dirt grassy ground. His rage slipping into dark caverns built up in his soul. Those confusing words were to blame for his utter morose mood, the guilt he felt about what he had done to an innocent bystander sent him into a spiral of gloom.

"Thank you Mary Poppins, I can always count on you." Will in relief says. Gulcasa face distorting from Guilt to confusion, back to guilt than utter disbelief. 'What is wrong with him? What is wrong with me?' He dismayingly thought. The hysteria has got into him, somehow, or is he just plain insane from the loss of his eldest brother.

"I'm sorry…" Gully sullenly says--lying down on the grassy dirt.

"Terrible dream?"

"Yeah…"

"I thought so, it was the oddest thing I've seen yet from you." Will stands up tall while he rubs his red bruise of a handprint on his neck.

"Yeah…" Gulcasa gloomily gazing up the midday sky, the clouds were surly to his moods.

"It was strange, you got up… stood there for a moment, and start digging the ground." Will points to the ground before Gulcasa that was haphazardly dredged up.

"I tried to shake you awake--you were shouting about your mother. Luckily you woke up when you did, and of course Mary Poppins." Will says smugly as he folds his arms with a proud posture.

"Mary Poppins?"

"Uhm.. some lady that used to nanny me."

"Uh, okay?" Gulcasa glancing at Will's suspicious grin.

Will reach out a hand to pull Gulcasa on his feet.

"Come on, we gotta get moving, while we can. Them bandit slavers had friends close by from what I heard of them last night."

"Ah right." Gulcasa on his feet, the strength his tort form, cracking some stiff bones on his person. The rage inside him is dormant, so he can relax now. But an eerie suspicion that it will surface randomly, any time, harming anyone he is with. His mind is tormented by the idea of strangling and murdering anyone near him because of his madness. 'Am I going insane?'

Gulcasa shoulder slumps as they continue their hike uphill in the forest grounds, leaving the place they sequestered for the night behind. The haphazard pocket of earth he dug out behind him taunts his fraying nerves as they continue onwards in the forest.

"I was gonna say others words like 'a spoonful of sugar', but I thought it was too cagey for your native head."

"Why do you call me that?"

"What? Native?"

"Yes, that-" Gulcasa curse, nearly stumbling on a branch inside a brambled shrub.

"Well, It is cause you are native to this place."

"What do you even mean? And why do you say strange words that I have never heard of?"

"Well, Sonny boy…" Will ponders as he thought himself a circumspect reply to the inquisitive Gulcasa.

"Well, I come from a place far far away, from here."

"How far? Not of this continent?"

"Further." Will says, The golden-haired boy halts-then continues his light steps on to the grassy trail ahead of Gulcasa.

"What do you mean?" Gulcasa inquires, interested in where this boy is from.

"So far, that even the tiniest spec would be not far enough."

Gulcasa stumbles at the boy's wordplay. 'Is this boy insane as well as me?' He curses and grumbles at the thought of being paired with a lunatic when he is also going insane. Whatever on this boy's mind, at least he has some company with him. Gulcasa thought that WIll reminded him of his brother festive and somewhat wacky outlook of life.

"It's alright if you don't want to tell me." 'everyone has their own secrets to keep' Gulcasa reasons to himself as he follows Will. Will pausing to his words, halts his light steps from continuing. Not looking back at him, he says.

"You're a good kid, Gulcasa. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise." Will sagely says.

"Kid?" Gulcasa flabbergasted at the boy audacity of calling him a kid, he just saved his hide from a life of enslavement.

"What are you? Twelve?" Gulcasa says in exacerbation.

"Hey, I'll no-scope your mum." Will snidely replies.

Gulcasa remembers the decaying corpse of his mother clambering towards him. He froze at the shock those memories that cutting into his psyche. His left arm twitches-as rage rise to smolder out from his guts, his ire continues to burn with hatred but despite this, he holds in his rage.

Gulcasa focus his breathing as they walk, his rage was about to overtake him again, and then who knows what might occur. He faintly remembers what he did to those slavers as he brutally murders them as they camp. The horror of the moment, recently blocked by this morning's event rise up to his person.

"Hey man, sorry about that. I said that out of reflex." Will hesitantly says as he glimpses back to Gulcasa prone form.

Gulcasa focus his internal mind into any semblance of calm. 'Think of mother's apply fruit pie, with white glazing on top.' The memory of joyfully eating such tasty desert calm his build rage, deflating it back to his previous state. His stomach grumbles at his imaginings.

"Ah, it's fine. Just don't talk about my family…"

"No worries mate…" Will gingerly says, nodding as they continue their long trek pass the forest into a small clearing.

Several hours have passed by, Will whistling a tune Gulcasa never ever heard, the uniqueness of the sounds and how it was structure confounded Gulcasa on what music was. 'Maybe he is from far away?' Gulcasa wonders.

"Halt! There! This is uhm..uhmm ah?" A fat-bellied boy with a blue cap on his head call, he was rummaging his thoughts figuring out what the end of his line was meant to be. Gulcasa and Will stood still at the first sign of his voice piercing their ears.

"This is a stick-up! Eric, this is a stick-up! How many times I told you!" Will scowls at the boy named Eric.

"Will? Is that you?"

"Yes it's me, Eric, where are the rest of the boys? For heaven sakes."

"It is you! I am so glad we found you!" Eric says in utter relief, he was panting from stumbling down the hill they first spotted him upon. Three other boys around them also appeared out of the forest, holding a flintlock and a small rusty spade, one of them was holding a rapier in his sheath.

"Hello, boss." A stout boy says relief was plastered on the boy's face from sighting Will.

"Yes, Yes, you must miss me. Because from the sight of this ambush, you must of miss heaps." Will scowls at the four boys before him.

"We couldn't find you after you were toiling around with that farmer's girl awhile back. We tried to ask her, but she thought we were going to do something bad to her. We never found out what happened to you."

"Well boys, do I have to explain to you again what the birds and the bees do?" Will says in exacerbation. One of the boys scowls, and Eric groans at the idea of hearing one of Will's weirdly put lectures.

"Whos the guy following you?" The stout boy inquires.

"Oh yeah, where are my manners lately? Eric, did you steal my manners? "

"Uh no, sir I don't think I did."

"It was a Rhetorical question."

"A Rhe-Rhetor-cal wha?"

"Nevermind." Will sighs out loud at his confused fellow.

"Anyways, where was I? Oh right, Gulcasa! These are my minions."

"We aren't his minions." A redhead boy says, folding his arms.

"That fat guy, who eats anything he sees is Eric." Will points to the fat short kid.

"I'm not fat." Says the fat-bellied Eric.

"That stout sort is named Stan."

Stan folds his arms. "My name is not Stan, it's Stanford."

Will ignoring his minion's protest continues.

"The ginger boy is named Kyle."

The ginger boy continued folding his arms in resolute rebellion to Will's pet names.

"And that quiet boy, which I always tell him to put his hood on! Is Kenny!"

"It's the middle of the day! Why do I always have to wear my hood, it's so hot out here!"

The hooded boy protest.

"And I am Will Robin, of the Lost Boys! Tada?"

Gulcasa look upon the motley lot with utter bewilderment. Will the leader was some sort of madman, and these children that follow him must be all insane to group with this lunatic.

"So why don't you join us? The wages are fair, and we got a premium on unique smells!'

"You don't even pay us!" The ginger boy nicknamed Kyle protest.

"You are ruining my pitch!" Will rapidly whispers to the red face, Kyle.

'They want me in their group?' Joy blooms in Gulcasa mind at the idea of being a part of a group, he never was part of any children's group back in Artuwel, but now someone wants him to be a part of their group. Will rubs his red neck as he scowls at the ginger boy beside him.

Gulcasa then remembers what he did to Will during this morning, and also how he cold-bloodedly murdered those slavers a night back. Gulcasa joyful face distorts into despair to invite his violence to these boys.

"No, thank you, but I think I better go on my way alone."

Will dishearteningly faces Gulcasa's dejected response.

"Are you sure? We could use you around! You were quite useful when we fought off those bandits."

"You guys fought off bandits!?" Eric excitedly ask.

"We are bandits too, remember? You nincompoops were just about to rob Use?"

"Oh yeah, we are sorry."

"I'm not angry that you did, I am angry that you messed up your line!" Will thump Eric on the head with his a slap.

"Anyways… I'll be on my way." Gulcasa said as he makes an about turn to another direction away from the boys a soon as possible. His feat feels heavy at the moment of leaving the company behind him.

"Hey wait a minute." Will shouts out.

Will began rummaging into Eric's bag as he pulls out leather belts from the boy's bag. He handed over to Gulcasa. Gulcasa look at the bands with confusion plastered on his face.

"Wrap that around your arm, I've seen it twitch a lot. It might help you hold your arm from spasming away from you." Will wistfully smiles at Gulcasa.

This was the first gift, anyone has ever gifted him besides his brother. Gulcasa eyes began to tear up from such a thoughtful gift, it was a bizarre gift, but it broke a bit of his courageous mask of holding in all his woes.

"Thank you Will… I'll never forget this, thank you."

"They are just leather belts Gulcasa, It's not a pile of gold." Will sarcastically says with a brimming smile.

"They were my belts though." Eric morosely mumbles.

"Anyways you better take your leave." Will prodding Gulcasa to move along away from the depressed Eric.

Gulcasa smiles to himself at his new found friend Will.

"Thanks for everything…" He says.

"Thanks for saving my life..." Will Says.

They depart both in Silence, Will standing with his motley crew who were all staring at the back of Gulcasa fading form in the forest.