MLTP Part 14- "South Of The Border"

"South Of The Border" is the fourteenth and penultimate Part of "MIracula Luxia: The Prequel". It was released on 24.01.2020.
== Plot ==
Aleks's journey continues. There are only two days left before he finally reaches Paris and sees if his friends and family are there.
Every step brings him closer to this safe haven and makes him more and more impatient. However, he knows that he shouldn't let the impatience take over his soul, because even the slightest mistake may lead towards a tragic ending.
The nightmare that we call a "journey" is almost over.
== Story ==
Aleks continued his journey. He began searching for actual signs that a city is near.
His attentiveness was rewarded when he noticed a road nearby.
He walked on the road that was leading (Possibly) towards Paris, but saw no one else on it. He wondered where they were.
He wanted to search the nearby forest for clues, but decided to stay away when he heard growling from deeper inside.
Probably a wise choice. He didn't want to get attacked and killed by wild beasts. Not when he was so close to the city.
Walking on the road, he reminded himself of what his mother used to tell him before she died.
"Family is what you make it, son. I can see that you love that girl. Soon, you will become a family and you will have to take the full responsibility to protect her and your children at all costs. You must always be with them. That way, she will always trust you to make the hard calls. Trust, my child, is what all good relationships are relying upon. It is built to last. So, build your trust, make the hard decisions. Be a good husband and father. Only then you will truly feel like a man. Remember that."
Aleks clenched his fists and looked down.
"If only you could see me now, mom. You would think that I am weak and unable to make my own decisions effectively."- He mumbled to himself- "Seiko and the others? I sent them away. I just... couldn't do anything to protect them. I remained at the forest to save my own skin when they ran for their lives without me. I left them alone. And afraid."
"You thought that I would become a hero one day, mom. No. I am no hero. I am just a weakling. A disgrace to the Kaos family. Nothing more than that. Nothing!"
Suddenly, a voice inside of his head spoke. It was very familiar:
"You shouldn't blame yourself for your past mistakes. You should prevent yourself from making future ones. You are not a disgrace to anyone, son. You are just a confused child, who became a father and lover at the wrong time and at the wrong place. Your mistakes did not hurt your friends or family, so you shouldn't feel ashamed for making them."
Aleks sighed.
"If only you could really tell me that, mom. I would feel more comfortable. But... "
"It's okay, son. I may just be a fragment of your imagination, but that means that I am still alive. That I still exist, even if it's not physically. I am still here to guide you. And I will, until both of us cease to exist."
"So, what do you think I should do? My allies are gone and I am alone. I still need your advice."
"I would gladly give you some advice, my dear child. But you must listen to your heart first. Your wild heart, hungering for adventure and glory. You need to listen to its heartbeat, how its strength resonates with yours."
"I can feel it. Your heart is like a broken arrow- useless, unable to do anything, but still exists. And you are the only one who can heal its wounds and make it feel alive again."
Having said that, the presence of the voice in Aleks's head faded away. He was alone again.
He thought about what his mother told him. About his heart. About its resemblance to a broken arrow.
Finally, he realized what she meant.
"A broken arrow!"- He exclaimed- "That's right! I need to find a broken arrow!"
Surely enough, he found one. It was sitting on the ground near a small glass bottle.
He picked them up and opened the bottle. Inside he found a small piece of paper. Something was written on it.
He began reading what was written on the paper and had another flashback, this time dating to not a very long time ago.
He saw Seiko, Kayla and James on the road in front of him. He tried to wave at them, but to no avail. He approached Seiko and tried to gently touch her shoulder. However, his hand appeared to be translucent and simply passed through her.
Seiko looked at the road behind her and sighed.
"He's not coming with us, is he?"- She wondered.
Kayla and James shaked their heads.
"You heard him. He told us to run. That he will be here soon. But we can't wait for him. There are too many hostiles for us to defeat."- James said.
"Can I leave him a message, at the very least?"
"As you wish."
Seiko pulled out a glass bottle, a small piece of paper and a pen from her backpack. She tried to write on the paper, but realized that she needed something solid to write on. James pulled a book out of his backpack and gave it to her.
She began writing about how much she misses him and wishes to see him again. How he is more than just a boyfriend for her.
"Aleks, you're not just a boyfriend to me. You're much more than that. You are my world. My guardian angel without whom I cannot continue existing. I just can't think about how the world would be without a wonderful person such as yourself. So, if you're reading this, don't give up. Know that we love you and we wish to see you again. Especially me. I want to hug you, kiss you, call you "honey", even if it's only once. God, I would do anything for that to happen. I would even... you know. Anyway, don't worry about us. We are headed towards Paris. We're safe and sound. I'm going to stay there with James and Kayla and see if you'll come back soon (I really, really hope that you will). I love you, honey. Please come to Paris as soon as possible. Don't give up hope, I still need you! xoxo - Your beloved Seiko"
Aleks put the message in his pocket and started to cry.
"Oh Seiko, I would do anything so I can see your beautiful face one last time. So I can hug you. Comfort you. Make you feel safe and warm. God, you know I would! But now? Now only Fate can tell whether I will see you and the others again or not. Fear not, though. I will not stop searching for you, not until my last breath is spent. I will keep on fighting, because I know that you still believe in me. I'm coming, Seiko. I'm coming."
Having found a new resolve to keep going, he continued walking towards the city of Paris.
"According to my calculations, I think that I am still two days away, but a little more south than usual."- He said to himself- "I can only hope that this road actually leads towards the city. Or at least close to it."
He continued searching for more signs that a city is nearby.
He did indeed find more, but they weren't the happy, peaceful signs he was hoping to find.
Ruined farms. Brokened weapons scattered on the floors of the open buildings. Signs of magical explosions.
It seems like the area around Paris is not exactly the peaceful place Aleks thought it to be.
"Oh, dear."- He said to himself- "This could only mean bad news. The folks at Paris are barely controlling the riots happening inside of them, let alone the folks here. Who knows what they had to go through to build those farms. And for a single, destructive riot to take it all away from them. Such dishonorable people deserve to be imprisoned for many years, and for many more if they actually hurt anyone. There is no other explanation to this, those are signs of Paris's leader (or leader) not doing their job well."
Having said that, he looked around a nearby house's porch. He noticed a small doll lying on the ground.
It was a doll with beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes with fancy clothes, partially burnt by the explosions that happened outside.
He picked it up and realized that he had given a similar one to his little daughter when she was only one year old.
"Such a beautiful little doll."- He said- "It is a shame that no one will use it ever again."
After looking at the doll for twenty minutes straight, he felt a presence behind him and turned around.
He saw a little girl. Or, more specifically, the ghost of a little girl. She was looking at him with her adorable, ghostly eyes.
"I sensed a kindred presence behind me. It must have been you."- He said to her- "Can you talk?"
The ghost girl looked at the doll in Aleks's hand and then looked at Aleks.
A tear went down from her eye to her cheek. Somehow, the ghost of the little girl was able to feel emotions. How intriguing.
"MIster... "- She began- "... can you give me my doll back? Please?"
Aleks looked at the doll. He noticed how closely it resembled the expression of the ghost girl, as well as her hair and eyes.
"You are... the owner of this doll?"- Aleks wondered.
The girl sighed.
"Was."- She corrected him- "Daddy gave it to me three years ago, when I was still little. I have been hanging around with it ever since then. But then the bad guys attacked us and tried to kill mommy and daddy. They told me to run, as they tried to escape ahead. They didn't realize that I was trying to take my doll from the ground after one of the bad guys kicked it. That's when I heard a boom and... I didn't remember much after that. I just remembered that mommy and daddy cried a lot when they saw me on the ground."
He looked at the ground near the doll and realized that there was a bit of blood.
"That explains the blood on the porch."- He said to himself.
"So, how old were you when you... you know."- He asked her.
"Eight."- She responded stoically- "Mommy and daddy tried to save me, but I died way too fast for them to even try to move me away from the big booms."
Aleks sighed and gave her the doll.
"I have no need of it, sweetheart."- He said- "It is all yours."
The ghost girl smiled and hugged him.
"Thank you, mister! I won't forget what you did for me today."
"Well, you're welcome, but... I didn't do much. I just gave you back your doll, that is all."
"Well yes, but you also spoke to me. Nobody ever wanted to talk to me. Not even my parents. They just ignored me and tried to pretend that I wasn't there with them."
Aleks gasped.
"That... that's not how parents should treat their children!"- He exclaimed- "It sounds like they were abusing you. Is that right?"
"Not exactly. The only thing they were doing was not paying attention to me. I was alone and afraid because of that."
The little girl started to cry, holding the doll close to her.
Aleks realized that this is the reason why she still hasn't moved on to the Afterlife. Because she remembered how she was ignored by everyone around her, and it makes her feel uncomfortable. Those concerns are carried over to the grave and she cannot forget them.
He has to do something.
Aleks realized that there was one thing he could do to calm her down. He kneeled down and smiled.
"You see,"- He began- "I have a daughter. I gave her the same doll one year ago. I told her that I would never abandon her. But... the problems which occured recently separated us. I still feel bad about what happened, but I know that I will see her again one day. Being a father is a hard task, but also very rewarding, because you know that your child might become like you one day. So, I fight for my family and I wish for them to become at least somewhat like me. People who do good deeds. No, not heroes. Just normal, good people. That's all I wish for."
The girl smiled.
"You... you're a good daddy, mister. I wish you were my daddy. You would have been much better than my daddy, that's for sure."
Aleks "patted" the ghostly child on the head.
"I know that you do. But a sad twist of fate made it otherwise. I am sorry to hear that you had such abusive parents and also about your unfortunate death, but all I can say is that you must move on. I know how hard it must be, but living such a miserable existence is far worse that going to the Afterlife. But I won't choose for you. The choice is yours. If you want to move on, go ahead. If you don't, well... as I said, the choice is yours. I hope that you make the right one."
"Thank you, mister."- The girl said- "I think that I've been here for too long and that I need to move on to the next world. Maybe I will see my parents there. Maybe they have changed after we all died."
"There is only one way to find out. Good luck, little girl. I hope that your life will be better up there than in this miserable wasteland."
"I hope so, mister. Good luck to you as well. I hope you find your daughter and give her the love that my parents never did for me."
She started to fade away, but before she did so, she gave Aleks her doll.
"But... this is your doll!"- He exclaimed.
The ghost girl smiled.
"I know, I know. But I think that it's better off if you have it. To remind you of me."
Aleks held the doll in the palm of his hand and smiled. Tears started to come out of his eyes.
"I will never forget you, sweetie. Never."- He said to her as she faded away.
She smiled and started to cry as well.
"I really don't wanna move on. I want to be with you. But... "
"Shh. It's okay. I know that you don't want to. No one of us wants to go in the world up there, but we cannot make that choice ourselves."
The girl smiled and faded away.
"Goodbye, mister. I'll be thinking about you!"- She said before her last fragment faded away.
Aleks looked up and smiled.
"She's in Heaven now."- He said to himself- "She will be much happier up there. Have a good life, little girl."
He looked at the doll, smiled as he held it in the palm of his hand.
He walked forward and saw a sign on the road. It was saying:
"Paris. A one day walk to the north of here. You can find a safe refuge for you, your family and even your friends. Don't miss out this opportunity!"
"I'm almost there."- He said, smiled and moved on.
At this point, there was only one day left. He was a little south of the city, but it was almost certain that the road was going to lead him there in no time.
It was almost time for him to see of his allies once again.
== Trivia ==
* Aleks meeting the ghost of the little girl and giving her the doll may be a reference to the game "West Of Loathing" where in an area near the starting point (a farm) where the main character has to give the ghost of a little girl a special item (this time a photo) to appease her and let her rest.