20 The Journey Way Home

"Guys, you know what would be good? A tea shop."

A moment then came when they heard nothing but the sound of hooves knocking on the ground. Charles looked at Melvin and froze, Roland was left with his mouth open, Maya's confused and Melvin was still in place, with his smile as wide as his arms now being spread like a bird. They all waited on someone to continue as the sun above gave them warmth through the thin streak of the clouds and as the wind whispered an awkward tune in their ears.

Roland then cleared his throat. "As I was saying, my dad had a dream about the sun turning black, the others believed him but then, the next day, he was found dead in his room with a smile and with a pack of dried leaves on the table, which is probably an overdose in narcotics since my dad was a real fan of those. Then, my mom saw the same dream just like how my dad described it to be and when she told our neighbors… she was taken as a priestess a-"

"My comrades, my greatest of friends," Melvin followed, without minding Roland as he turned his head to face the other three once again with the same crooked grin. "Imagine in our neighborhood, having a shop where people could enter and have fun with those teeny little teacups in their hands while giggling about the other boys… ah… imagine the brightness of our people's youth!"

"Everything was fine but then, a forest fire happened. It might be someone's fault like smoking those green weeds in broad daylight and after that, the townspeople began to panic and doubt our faith. It wasn't long before some rumors started to spread like, maybe those people that had that dream needs to be sacrificed and what happened was a warning, and so, they used them as a sacrifice and my mom was able to run but-"

"It'll be cool like, watching kids go in and out and have fun with the other little kids, you know what I'm sayin?"

"So then, the time came where the people who had that dream got culled with my mom and a few of her friends on the run but then, someone thought that maybe since all of them saw a man on that dream, it meant that someone would be a hero like how it usually goes with prophecies. But yeah, my dad died of overdose so, they looked into the second one who had that dream and they tried to see if she could produce her next of kin. That's my m-"

"Dude, what are you on about?" Charles raised his eyebrow gave Melvin an irritated gaze.

"Just my dream man, I wanted to have a tea shop and be like the boss and all…" Melvin scratched the side of his face. "My retirement plan, that's how I wanted to spend my reward for this mission."

"Guys…" Roland whispered as he looked at the two. "Are you still… nevermind."

"Dude, we failed the mission…" Charles replied. "Besides, we're not even gonna get rewarded in the first place."

"What?" Melvin gasped and pointed at the bag behind Maya. "They why the hell are we carrying his damn head with us?"

"Her…" Maya said under her breath.

"I know what I said. But should we like, get at least a piece or something? We basically saved a bit of the world at this point."

"No, we didn't…" Roland replied.

"The walls are screwed so basically, whoever lies beyond those walls, ally or foe is free to pick on us," Charles said after taking a sip from his water bottle. "Tinora would probably end up being a bastion or like a city full of warriors doing rounds because the wall has fallen…"

Silence came over to their party once more but when Maya was about to open her mouth and break it, Melvin raised his voice and shouted, "Which is why it would be perfect for us guys who would run a tea shop!"

"Errr…"

"That…" Charles' face started to crumple but he hesitated to speak.

"That doesn't sound so bad, to be honest…" Roland followed along with a whimsical smile as he faced the green road ahead of them.

"See? This guy gets it!" Melvin's crooked grin widened.

"I can't believe it," Charles said as he ran his palm over his face.

"That's why I love this guy, and his mom!"

"What?!"

"But really, imagine…: All of us growing old, on that old tea-shop with you and Maya tending to the shop and kicking out the people who can't pay while Charles handles the broom and the cooking… Yeah, we'll sell them potatoes… we need to think up some potato recipes that go along with the tea…"

"You… you're including me?" Maya said as she looked at Melvin while covering half of her face.

"Yeah, why not?" Melvin replied with a reassuring smile. "You could do your weird flute thing for our customers!"

Maya leaned back with her fingers touching each other and covering her lips as if she's in the middle of a prayer. She looked down and with her chest now feeling a bit lighter, she let out a soft chuckle and whispered, "Yeah… It'll be cool."

"I like where this is going…" Roland said with a stiff tone as he kept his eyes glued on the road.

"Yeah… and somehow, we managed to overlook the issue of money, thrice!" Charles raked the back of his head as he leered at Melvin. "We just had this discussion hours ago and last night, and you had to step in while Roland was saying something!"

"Hey come on, it's not that bad to have a bit of fun dreaming three times in a while, it's alright," Roland said as he raised his hands in an attempt to calm him down.

"But you're rich aren't you? I was hoping that you could let me borrow some of those… goodies… if you know what I'm sayin'..."

"I'm as poor as you!" Charles protested. "The only thing that makes my life better is that I live in the goddamn church and I get free meals!"

A moment of silence came once again which was then broken by Melvin who moved on with their shop's menu in mind. Time then flew by until they passed through the fields of grass that they've never managed to notice during their journey from the outpost to the vanguard and by the time they got back to the place where they spent their night, no one was there anymore. All of the bodies of those who died have been buried and they were left with a box containing a few pieces of bread and meat along with a note telling them that they've been called back to the city.

So with that happy thought in mind, the party continued their journey until they got the sight of their walled home now dressed with banners for war. With the sun above them beaming its light below in the afternoon right before it makes its fall, they soon got through the gates where they were greeted by the ranks and the lines of soldiers armed to the teeth as they made their way to the governor's hall. There, they met the governor, sitting on his throne with an ashen-haired man clad in a dark green armor beyond a group of people scrambling through a stack of papers on the table.

"So, care to tell me the good news, Roland, Charles, and… who might you be?" The governor leaned forward along with the green knight as the group walked in.

After a moment, Roland took the bag from Maya and stepped forward, carrying a grim tone that summoned a wave of silence that forced everyone's eyes upon him. "Okay, listen up you guys… the vanguard is-"

"The vanguard is fucked!" Charles announced with a merry smile. "But we sa-"

Melvin then jumped to Roland's side where he snatched the head out of the bag for everyone to see before following, "But we kicked the boss' ass so give us some fucking money!"