29 I'm a Bad Sister

EARTH: THE SAME TIME ASTER AND HIS FRIENDS WERE BUSY FIGHTING

It was already getting dark. They could see the beautiful Cresent moon. Some birds flew in the sky, probably returning to their nests after an eventful hunt for food. The cloudless evening sky had a faint tint of pink. The setting sun displayed a picturesque beauty.

Amelia sat infront of the cave gazing at the beautiful evening scenery. Her mind was fluttering about. Her face showed a serene expression. No one could read what was playing in her mind. After a moment, she took a small peek into the cave and saw Hogman and Schwann busy fixing the fire.

Amelia couldn't help but frown at their present condition. They were hiding from the outside world. Not knowing when they can go back to their normal lives. She felt that one night changed all of their fate. She still couldn't believe the fact that she was sleeping comfortably in her soft bed on the day the attack struck and next day, she tried comforting her brother and then, whatever happened, it happened so fast that she couldn't digest all of it yet.

She gazed at the sky again. She was busy admiring its beauty so much that she had almost forgotten the time. It took her a few moments before she realized that it was almost six. Aster and the others hadn't returned yet. It was almost time for their curfew. She grew tensed. They yet hadn't learnt much about the dangers of the forest. Would something have happened....

A sudden breathe near her ear cut of her chain of thoughts. She turned her head a bit, only to see Schwann right behind her. She could get a glimpse of his dark green eyes. Those eyes made her drool into him. He suddenly, hugged her from behind leaving her no time to respond.

"What happened?" He asked. Or rather whispered for only her to hear.

She managed a slight smile which vanished suddenly. Her face gave way to concern. She tried to hide it, but utterly failed. Schwann noticed her sudden change in expression and was taken aback. He pulled himself away from the hug and sat beside Amelia.

"What happened to you? You look worried."

His question was met with a deep silence. He tried to read her expression but he couldn't. There had not been many times that he had seen Amelia with such a face. He decided to leave the questions for a while. He gazed at the scenery for a while hoping that Amelia's mood would soon change.

Amelia was gazing at the sky too. But her mind was clearly elsewhere. She was bodily present in front of Schwann but, her mind was somewhere else. With someone else. He could see that.

She opened her mouth as if to speak something but closed it deciding against speaking. Minutes passed before Amelia opened her mouth again. This time, she did not hesitate to speak.

"They haven't come back yet. It's way past their curfew." She said to Schwann reminding him the time. That was when Schwann remembered the little fight he had with Aster earlier that day. Aster was too lazy to train that day and had gone away fuming with rage. It was now that he understood why Aster behaved so mean. He wanted to speak something privately to his friends. That bastard! He could fool everyone so well. He was thinking of the matter in his mind when Amelia disrupted his thoughts with another question.

"Why aren't you speaking? Where would they be?" Amelia stared straight into his eyes. Her deep blue eyes captivated him. He couldn't resist the urging temptation to kiss her right on the spot. He immediately cleared all those thoughts and decided to attend to the question. He hadn't even listened the question properly. Amelia blushed seeing Schwann caught in her eyes. But, she dared not show her shyness outside,

"What was it again?" Schwann asked.

Amelia felt angry that as hadn't listened to her question earlier. She punched him slightly on the stomach and pouted. Schwann could see that he had clearly angered the girl.

"C'mon.... Say it again. I was thinking of something else." Schwann tried to persuade her further.

Amelia chose to reply. But she still had that poker face on. "Where do you think they are? Why didn't they return?"

"They will come back. Anyway, didn't you ask them to come back before six?" Schwann asked.

"I did. They had agreed to be on time. But now.... It's already past six and they haven't returned yet. I fear something dangerous...."

She was stopped in between by Schwann's quick kiss that landed on her lips. For a moment, she was astounded. She hadn't expected this. Atleast not then. After pulling his face back, Schwann had a concerned expression.

"They will come back. You don't have to worry a lot. You are just overthinking the matters." Schwann tried to comfort her. But, deep in his mind, he was concerned too. He couldn't ignore the fact that the three of them hadn't returned until then.

"Should we go and check?" Amelia asked again. She was not convinced by Schwann's words.

"We can wait for some more time. Even then, if they do not turn up, we can go and search." Schwann declared. It was the only way by which he could make Amelua stop worrying.

They sat there like that for almost an hour. They were do quiet, so silent that Hogman who was inside the cave felt that they had gone away somewhere. He peeked out of the cave to take a look at the lovebirds when he saw them just sitting there wthout even uttering a word. Schwann had already intertwined his hand in with Amelia's. She didn't rebuke. They sat there holding hands. They were trying ro recollect everything that happened in the past few months. Amelia remembered the day when Schwann confessed to her.

That day she felt thafhe was insane. It was in such a strange circumstance that ge had confessed to her. Who would confess to someone when they were in the middle of a crisis?

As time went on, Amelia became more and more concerned. She got nervous too. She wanted to go and check on them.

"Schwann..." He heard her sweet voice calling out his name. Her voice indicated that she was deeply concerned.

"Mmm..."

"It's more than enough time. I'm scared. Let's go and see. Please..." Shd pleaded.

"Ok." Schwann got up and helped Amelia get up.

They told Hogman that they were going in search of the trio. Hogman, initially wanted to join them. But Schwann advised against it. He told that if the three were to return, they needed someone to check on them in the cave.

Hogman hence remained and the other two started their search.

"Which way did they go?" Schwann asked.

"I don't know for sure."

"You didn't notice them going?"

"I think, I missed it."

"Where do you think they-?" Schwann was about to scold her when she suddenly buried her head in his chest and started weeping.

"I'm a bad sister." She sobbed.

Schwann didn't know how to respond. This was his first experience with a sobbing girl in front of him.

"Bad sister"

"Bad-"

She was choking. She couldn't put out those words together. She was blaming herself for Aster's missing and his unlucky days in the forest. She felt that it was all her fault.

Schwann could do nothing more than hug her tight and tell her that it was not her fault.