Chapter 77: The Pain of Loss

I woke up the next day and got ready for this... depressing day. After me and Ringo recovered a little more in the morning, we got a knock at the door. It was Lemres and Feli, who came to us. "Yo, um... We should all prolly look at the damage that Primp received ourselves; it looked pretty bad from a distance last night." Lemres frowned. "... Yeah, we should... Ringo?" I nodded, then turned to her. "Yeah... I'll come too." She sighed. Me and Ringo fully clothed up for the winter's wind chill and stepped outside. "D-Dave…" Feli got my attention. "...? Yeah, Feli?" I turned to her. "... ... My mansion was burned badly on the outside... but thankfully the inside was completely intact." She told me. "I-I see... ... So, are Baldanders and your parents okay?" I stuttered, then asked her. "E-everyone's fine, they all happened to be inside the mansion when the outside started burning. The outside structure must've been tough to resist the flames like that…" She answered. "Thank God… … Lemres, is your place alright?" I sighed in relief, then turned to the comet warlock himself. "... No, it's mostly ruined... but my family's safe and sound at the very least." He said. "... Then where did you rest up for the night?" My eyes widened. "At Feli's place, Dave. Her parents were kind enough to let us bunk in for the night after the fire was put out." He told me.

Damn... now we REALLY need to see how badly things burned. "... Let's get to Primp then, Lemres." I request. "Right." He made a portal for us. When the four of us arrived at Primp Town, we were able to see the burned state of buildings and homes more clearly than before. Some structures were as black as ash on the outside. We started checking out the places that we care about the most in the town. First, was the bowling alley in the case of me and Feli. "... It's pretty much gone…" I observed it with a sullen expression on my face. "Y-yeah…" Feli tried looking away from what was left of it. "Now what's Oshare Bones going to do aside from selling clothes...? ... That's assuming his shop is still around after last night's events…" I briefly looked down on the ground without moving my head. "... We should go see if it's still standing…" Ringo slowly grabbed my hand with hers. "O-of course... And I wanna see if he's okay…" I said before turning away from the former bowling alley.

We made our way to the shop's location, but we ran into Amitie, Raffina, Klug, Lidelle, and Tarutaru on the way there. "Oh... hey, guys." Ringo said to them. "H-hi, Ringo... This isn't a happy time, that's for sure…" Amitie appeared to be just as glum as the rest of us. "W-were you guys checking out the burned homes and buildings too...?" Lidelle asked us. "Yeah, we were…" Lemres answered her question. "I... haven't ever felt this kind of loss from others before... probably because I was a jerk up until this year. God, I just... can't even begin to describe how atrocious Primp Town's destruction was last night. Even the aftermath is nearly unbearable to stare at..." Klug expressed. "Are your guy's homes and family okay?" Ringo asked them. They all nodded, but none of them were happy. "Well... we were just going to see if Oshare's shop is at least okay. Do you... wanna come with us?" I said before asking them. "... It's not like we have anything else to do that's urgent. Besides... we need each other at a time like this." Raffina answered for the others.

Without saying another word, we collectively walked over to where Oshare's shop would be... Thankfully, it was in better condition than we had hoped for and the owner himself was standing outside, looking nearly devastated. "D-Dave... my shop was almost consumed in flames. ... It was the most scared I have ever been with losing something precious to me. It's a good thing that only the outside burned... Can you imagine how ruined I would be if all the clothes for sale burned to ash?" He saw me come by. "... Yeah... it would have ruined you, and your business. ... You are a lucky skeleton, Oshare Bones... not many people can be as lucky as you in most cases." I nodded slowly. At least one place survived fairly well aside from Feli's mansion... "O-of course, I can't even begin to imagine how many other people were affected more by the fire last night… just because they weren't as fortunate as I." He took off his hat.

I can't imagine how much worse people had it in other areas in town... "Well, we have to go and see how other places are faring... Bye." I briefly waved in sadness. "Goodbye…" He did the same. We found the library in a similar state that Feli described her mansion to be. It was burnt on the outside, but the inside was fully intact. "... Ah, if it isn't Dave... it's been a while since we first met, ma." A familiar figure showed up in front of the library. "...! Akuma… ... This doesn't seem to be the happiest time for a reunion…" My eyes widened before I frowned. "Yes... the town was blanketed with what seemed to be the flames of fury last night, ma." He agreed as he made his way to us. "A-Akuma…" Amitie looked at him. "Amitie... it is not good to see you looking so glum. I have always known you for being bright and cheerful, ma." Akuma turned to face her. "... …" She continued to look sad. "Th-this is different, unfortunately… Even Amitie is having an extremely difficult time looking on the bright side of this whole thing." Ringo said.

That couldn't be any more spot-on... None of us are taking what happened last night well. I wish that we were able to stop all that fire early… "... I see... I understand that none of you were able to put out the fire at the time; there was simply too much, kuma. Not even the hero of Primp Town himself could do so, ma..." Akuma told us. "Well, it's somewhat nice to see you again, Akuma... but we have to check other places around town." Amitie started walking away. "Of course, Amitie. Just remember that there should always be a bright side to something... even if it seems to be dark and hopeless, ma." He spoke his last words to her. The rest of us said goodbye to Akuma and continued our watch of the burned places around town. The next location was something that Lemres was particularly attached to. "Oh, the sweets shop... Why'd ya have to burn up...?" The comet warlock lamented. "... I didn't even know that Primp had a sweets shop like this…" I felt a little worse. "So ya feel the loss for a place like this too, Dave? You must really like sweets on a similar level to me…" He turned to me.

I do like sweets... but love and eat them every day? I dunno... "S-something like that, Lemres…" I answered. "... Y'know... I wasn't just attached to this place 'cause of my love for sweets, dude. Nah, I also had nostalgic ties to it as well." He informed me. "Wh-what…? Nostalgic ties?" I questioned. "Y'see... this place was the reason how my magic became dependent on sweets. I discovered this unique... quirk with my body: I sustain my magic power by eatin' candy 'n other sugary stuff. As far as I know... I'm the only magic caster that has this quirk. I don't wanna say that it's a handicap of sorts, 'cause it doesn't feel like it most of the time… but it's definitely not normal. ... Anyway... I would come here in my younger years and buy whatever I could to eat and then work on fine tunin' my magic. I had a dream that I could be the best comet warlock in this world at the time. This dream pushed me to become the powerful spellcaster that I am today. And then there was this one female server of sweets that also came to know my condition... At the time, she was about… six years older than me? If so, that would make her around twenty-five at this point, since I'm currently nineteen. That's assumin' she's even still alive..." He told his story.

Really? Huh… "Lemres… You never told me about this…" Feli came up to him. "... I know, Feli... In fact, I don't think I said anythin' about this to anyone..." He realized. "... Do you know her name? Maybe we can find her if she's not a pile of ash…" I suggested. "Yeah, maybe you can reunite with her." Ringo nodded. "Uh... 'kay. ... Her name's Chloe. I'll ask anybody else I know to find out where she might be at. You guys should keep lookin' at stuff without me. Oh-! And let's meet up at Primp Magic School in about an hour or so to see how badly it burned..." Lemres said. "... Alright. See you later, Lemres…" I waved to him. The others did the same and we continued looking around. We soon encountered one of the places that Feli brought me to a while back: The Writer's Playground. This was another building that couldn't withstand the flames of the Yog. I saw the outside of it, but I never got to go in it.

Safe to say, I regretted not going in there when I had the chance. "... I never got to recreationally write stuff down there…" I spoke my thoughts. "Dave…" Feli knew that this also affected me. "... …" The others watched me with sadness. "... Wait... what about that old park, Feli?" I remembered and asked her. "... I don't know…" She turned into the direction where it would be. "Maybe we should check it out too…" I began walking to that old park. The others naturally followed behind as I made my way. When we got there... Sig was squatting down in the nearly non-existent area. "S-Sig...?" Amitie quickly noticed him. "Hm...? Oh, hey guys. Are you all sulking like I am?" He stared at us. "Y-yeah, we're feeling sad, alright… That fire ruined many places in town, Sig…" Raffina told him. "... I don't think I've ever seen you look so genuinely depressed before. I think you should get it together and stay tough." He got up as he told her. "... It's kind of hard to do that when there's so much in Primp that was affected by the fire…" She continued to make a sullen face like the rest of us.

Sig continued to stare at us, and eventually came up to Amitie. "Ami, what happened to you? You never look this sad either… Aren't you always showing that positive outlook of yours? Why aren't you showing it now, when other people need some hope?" He gently asked her. "U-um... … …" She went, but soon stopped. Amitie just couldn't say anything about that there. "... Damn... It's really been that rough for you, huh?" He said before hugging her. "Y-yeah, it has, Sig…" She admitted. Another figure arrived as we looked at the area for a while. The figure was Arle, and Carbuncle was on her shoulder. "H-hey, everyone... I can see that you're all upset too." She joined us. "...Yeah…" I sighed. As we all continued to look at the burnt up old park around us, we stayed silent. A few minutes later, someone spoke up. "So... perhaps we should head over to Primp Magic School and wait for Lemres to meet us?" Klug suggested. "Y-yeah... We've spent enough time here, as is." Feli nodded.

So, we made our walk to the school on foot and saw the state it was in. Ms. Accord and Witch were standing near the front of it. "...! Kiddies…" Accord noticed us come by. "Hello, Ms. Accord... We decided to see how badly the town was burned. ... After visiting specific places, we came here and we're just waiting for Lemres to arrive and see the school's current condition..." I spoke up and told her. "How has much of the town fared then, kiddies?" She asked us. "... Some places are fine, but many other locations have either entirely burned to the ground... or have almost been burned to ground. We don't know of any number of deaths or such though…" Ringo answered. "... Oh dear…" Accord made a visible frown. "... Nothing's been happy in this town since the fire went crazy... and this is supposed to be a joyous and fun time of year. Geez, what the hell...?" Witch sighed and sat down on a nearby bench. She must be pointing out the fact that it's nearing the holidays… "Th-that's right... Christmas is not that far away. … If only Primp wasn't set ablaze by that damn Yog…" Raffina lightly punched a tree.

Some snow fell down from the force of the punch, and it lightly coated her curly pink hair and coat. "We can rebuild things, but the town won't be the same as it was before…" Tarutaru said. "I-I mean, that's certainly a true statement, Tarutaru… but here's a question for all of us: How are we going to take in reconstruction as soon as it's finished?" Klug turned to the big lug, then to all of us. "... I don't know... I haven't even been in Primp Town for that long... only a few months at most." I lightly kicked some snow. "That's also true…" Another voice came by. "...! Lemres…" I immediately recognized. "Anyway... … Guys, I just found out that Chloe's alive! The shop may be gone, but that woman's still alive. I was fuckin' grateful for that…" Lemres appeared happy for that moment before reverting to a solemn face.

Accord turned to me specifically before speaking. "Dave… the school is in rough shape, to the point where the outside structure is weak and the whole thing could collapse in a moment's notice. And to think, this happened when we were about to reintroduce academics to the school... Why...? Why did it have to go up in flames last night of all times? ... When we encounter the remaining three Yogs... I will show them the hell that this last one gave to us." She spoke with a frown, then eventually displayed a face of rage. Woah... She's more than upset about the school burning up, that's for sure... But, it makes sense for her to be like this right now. "... Yeah, they will know just who they have messed with... but let's put that anger aside for now. Now's not the time to be angry when we have to rebuild what we love." I told her.

This seemed to be a good thing to say to Accord, because she calmed herself. Never had I seen her that furious before... and I hoped for her to never be like that again after this whole Yog nonsense is done and behind us. "... Yes, that's right, Dave... Nothing will come from me being furious at this apologies, kiddies... You never really see me like that and I'm sure it must have scared Lidelle. ... It looks like she hid out of fear when none of us were looking... Does anyone know where she went?" She sighed and looked around. "Y-you don't have to look for me... Here I am, Ms. Accord…" Lidelle came back to us, shaking. "Lidelle…" Raffina slowly came to her. She offered her hand to the shorter girl. Lidelle hesitated for a moment, then took it with her hand. "R-Raffina, thank you for caring about me..." Lidelle said, shedding some sad tears.

Raffina pulled Lidelle into a hug and the two didn't let go for a bit. "So... how's the school looking on the inside, Ms. Accord?" I asked her. "... It appears to be quite damaged... but not unsalvageable. However, this means we might have to push back the reintroduction to academics in Primp Magic School to the next school year, starting in August. The rebuilding of the school will simply cost too much for us if we try to implement what we hope to place for the second semester. ... I'm sorry if the principal says that it needs to be pushed back." She explained. "Which I will sadly have to say that the reintroduction of academics needs to be pushed back to the next school year…" A new voice popped in. "...! Mr. Zier?" Feli noticed. "Well, THIS is a surprise…" Klug's eyes widened. "Children, how could I not come to this school, knowing that it burned last night?" Mr. Zier walked over to us with a serious expression. "... …" We didn't say anything in response.

The principal shifted his hat a little and loosened this long scarf he had. "Well... shall we go inside and survey the actual damage of the inner structure?" He suggested. "S-sure…" We nodded. As we all went inside the school, there was a smell that equated to a fusion of burnt wallpaper and charred wood. It was like we were in a giant campfire that burned out recently. The depressing smell of those two things only reminded us of the feeling of loss. Without a doubt, none of us liked the current state of the school, even though it could have ended up in a much worse condition. We went into the Potions classroom and Witch was devastated. "My God... … These potions have all gone bad 'cause of that fire…" She grabbed a vial and showed us. "... …" We silently looked at it with frowns. "All those ingredients... have gone to waste. *sniff* *sob*" Witch teared up. "Of course... This is just about what I would expect from potions that have stayed here at the time. It certainly was a waste… ... Come, let us examine Ms. Accord's room." Mr. Zier said before walking away.

We followed him into Accord's classroom, and the smell of burnt wallpaper was prevalent here. Some desks were also charred, having a black coat over parts of them. "This is how my classroom fared…?" Accord looked at the room's state. "It's horrible, meow…" Popoi finally decided to speak from Accord's arms. "You have my sympathy, Ms. Accord... You couldn't get to this school when it started to burn and that's unfortunate, considering you ARE one of the best instructors here." Mr. Zier placed a hand on her shoulder. "Um... should we also check the faculty office as well?" Amitie suggested. "Yes, we should, Amitie… Come then, everyone." The principal nodded, then gestured to us all. We made our way to the room and discovered that it was in poor shape from the fire. "Doesn't look like we'll be having a proper staff meeting here any time soon..." Witch commented.

With the way that this room looks now, I wouldn't put it past me that it'll be abandoned for quite some time... "Nope, absolutely not... This is probably the room that had burned up the worst. ... There's a lot of ash here as well, just waiting to be cleaned up. We might have to lock out this room to normal people for a while, since the ash could be a health issue. We certainly don't want anybody to be breathing in those particles." Mr. Zier examined a pile of ash. "I agree." I said. "Th-then we should get out of here…" Klug added. "That's probably for the best, children... Inhaling ash damages our lungs and we need them to breathe." The principal led out of there and closed the door. "... Thank you, Mr. Zier. I do believe that we have seen everything that we needed to see... haven't we, kiddies?" Accord bowed to him before turning to us. "Pretty much…" Lemres admitted. Yeah... there isn't really much left that we can look at.

And so... we all left Mr. Zier and the school, going our separate ways after saying goodbye. Me and Ringo got back home and waited for nighttime to roll in. We ate dinner with Ms. Ando and Serilly, telling them about the kind of destruction that was visible in Primp after the fire went out. "From what you two are telling me... it could've been far worse. So please don't be too sad, especially when your friends' homes and families are all safe for the most part." Ms. Ando told us. "... You're not wrong, it could've been a lot worse than it ended up being…" Ringo said. "But... we still need some time to recover from that." I added. "That's understandable, Dave and Ringo... Just let us know when you two aren't feeling sad anymore." Serilly said to us. "Okay…" Me and Ringo nodded. Night progressed with a quiet tone and after bathing, I went straight to bed.

We still don't know how many people died in that damn fire... I just hope that a majority of them escaped before they could be burned alive. … ... I should get to sleep now so that I can be awake for tomorrow. After all, the last bit of school days for this semester are here before Christmas Break rolls around. And then, we'll get into the new year and the second semester. I'm upset that the academics have to be pushed back to August for the next school year... This was supposed to be a positive change for Primp Magic School, and it's being pushed back because of that Yog. Goddamn it... A couple of minutes after I had that in my mind, I fell asleep.

Author's Notes: Dave and his friends surveyed the damage the day after that fire came from the fifth Yog. Even though it could've easily been a lot worse... it still looked bad. And, suffice it to say: It didn't take a detailed explanation to show why Dave and the others remained upset throughout the day. However, Christmas Break is approaching them and that should be a good enough reason to become cheerful once more. What will they do when the break starts? Chapter 78: Christmas Break Begins.