There was a sound. The trudging of hooves in mud, and the creaking of the wooden wheels of a cart, slowly being pulled along. The green forest was dense. Droplets of fresh fallen rain rolled down oaken, chestnut and birch leaves, birds were singing their songs. A warm sun shone through the openings of the forest, casting down upon a horse-driven cart. The back of the cart was protected from rain by a well-spanned red tent. A young man, tall, bare-chested, as well as muscular, was seated at the front. He wore blue and white checkered breeches. His long blonde hair was drenched. He had a thick leather coat draped around his shoulders, to protect from the rain. But it too was beyond soaked, sticking to his skin. Unlike the usual customs in Gaul, he did not sport a mustache.

He shook the rain from his head, raising a hand to wipe the wet hair from his face. "We're almost here, darling. It's just beyond the trees now. I can see it already."

The voice of a young woman, sitting in the back of the cart, spoke. "I hope they're all alright."

"I hope so too, Panacea. But we have to be prepared for the worst."

"Tragicomix!" the girl scolded as she climbed to the front. She was beautiful and voluptuous, and had flowing, golden hair grown all the way down to hip-length. She wore a white dress, covered to the waist by a blue tunic she wore. "Don't talk about them like that. You make it sound like they would want to hurt us."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean it that way. It's just that they must've gone through some rough times. We're not sure what to expect."

At final last, the cart left the forest behind. The sun hung high in the sky, warming a peaceful green land below it. Dandelions and poppies, as well as other various wild flowers, bloomed in a field that stretched from the forest to the beach. Droplets of fresh rain and dew glistened in the sunlight. The distant sky was decorated with a hazy rainbow. Along the field, close to the sea, laid a small village, surrounded with sturdy wooden fortifications.

But there was also something new. Once, the road led to the village in a straight path. Now, it had to make way for something else, making a long turn around a small monument; both to the left and right. When she saw, Panacea gasped, a hand rushing to meet her lips.

A great flat boulder, carved with delicate Celtic patterns, and placed there with ever such care, laid before them. Heaps of beach sand was used to fill a gap surrounding the boulder, and smaller rocks were set around the site in a circular fashion. The young sprouts of grass that grew near the outer rim undisturbed made it clear that nobody was allowed to walk beyond it. Young flowers were laid near the rim, signifying that someone loved dearly was now no more.

Panacea could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks. She and her husband didn't want to believe it first. But now they had seen it. It really was true.

She still had the memories clear in her head. Back home in Condatum*, they were visiting Astronomix and Obeliscoidix, Asterix and Obelix's fathers, to aid them with their shop's clearance sale. It was then when the letter arrived. After reading it, Astronomix stared in pale disbelief. He had the shop closed immediately, not explaining a thing until he arrived home to his wife Sarsaparilla. Obeliscoidix was in utter bafflement at his old friend's sudden inexplicable behavior. While he rushed to get his wife Vanilla, Tragicomix and Panacea followed after Astronomix.

When they arrived, they found Sarsaparilla sitting on the bench at the front of her home, crying her eyes out and shaking her head, blubbering inaudible words. Her husband held her close with one arm, the letter shook in his nervous hand.

The news crashed down on them as though the sky had fallen on their heads. Nobody wanted or was prepared to believe it. They even wished to an extend that it was just a joke, a prank. No matter how cruel and distasteful it would have been. Both Astronomix and Sarsaparilla, and Obeliscoidix and Vanilla, left Condatum the same day to head to the village at the shore. Tragicomix loaned them a horse cart for the road. They came home after a long week, still broken and torn.

No parent should suffer losing their child. None.

Now, another two weeks later, it was Tragicomix and Panacea's turn to visit.

As the cart made the turn around the dolmen, they were greeted by the gate guards, one of which called the other Gauls together. Panacea first embraced Soporifix, her father. Vitalstatistix, the village chief, was the first to give Tragicomix a brief handshake, as they shared condolences with one another. The chief did not stand on his shield this time, instead being at a more eye leveled height with the visitors. Everybody was there, except for two.

"It's good to see you well, children," Vitalstatistix began, "It has been a dark, sad time for all of us these past weeks."

"Thank you, honored chief. Our hearts deeply sympathize with you all for this horrible loss." Tragicomix replied. "Asterix was a good man. I'm still thankful for what he and Obelix did for Panacea and I when I was conscripted into the Roman army*."

"Where is Obelix?" asked Panacea, when she noticed he wasn't among the collective of villagers.

"He is most likely withdrawn to his own hut, or in his quarry," Getafix the druid answered with a calm, yet forlorn voice. "Panacea, my child, won't you walk with me? Then we will visit him together."

"Yes, O druid. I would love to."

She waved her husband and her father goodbye, and walked with the druid. As they walked, Panacea glanced around.

The village looked different from the last time they visited. There were gaping holes in straw roofs, covered with planks as a temporary solution to the unpredictable weather of April, until they would be repaired. Cacofonix's tree was uprooted in the quake. They had been working on clearing the rubble that was once his hut, and they would eventually try to tow the tree back into place to rebuild upon it. In the meantime, the bard made his temporary stay with one of the neighboring villagers.

Despite the fact it now stood empty and available, nobody had the heart to make use of Asterix's hut, and it remained undisturbed. In the absence of people coming nearby it, it had become dusty, its open windows filled with cobwebs. A singular menhir stood near the closed door, slightly sunken into the mud. It was almost as if he weren't truly gone, but just away on another mission, and the village expected him to return, victorious and covered in glory after facing the challenges and dangerous endeavors laid before him.

Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. And everyone knew that this mission was one he wouldn't return from.

Finally, when the villagers were far behind, Getafix began to talk. "He looked so broken when it happened. Everybody was devastated, naturally, but the way he felt… It was by far the worst." He sighed.

Panacea turned to look at him. "How is he now?"

"Not better," the druid replied. "Even now as most people are carefully beginning to pick up their old lives again, he just continues to spend his time brooding, locking himself away from everyone. Losing Dogmatix in the same event just added more salt to the wound."

"Gods…" she muttered wistfully. She was anguished. Poor Obelix. He truly was all alone now.

"He rarely talks to anybody anymore, let alone eat. We've tried many things to help him, but his grief is just too great. It's affecting him in more negative ways than is healthy. I know these things need time, normally, but I fear he'll hurt himself if this keeps up."

"Is there nothing we can do?"

The old druid stopped in his tracks, and he turned to gently take Panacea's smooth hand with his old, worn ones. "I sincerely hope I don't ask too much of you, my dear child. But I believe that it's best if you talk to him alone. He likes you a lot. So maybe you can talk a little sense into him."

Panacea blinked. "Me? But, O druid, are you sure I'm the right person for this?"

"I'm sure," Getafix reassured. "After Asterix, you are the next closest friend to him. Just talk with him. It'll allow him to express his feelings, and hopefully, that will make him feel better."

Eventually, the young woman nodded obediently.

"Very good. Go on, then. Let me know how it went when you're finished. You know where to find me," said Getafix. Panacea nodded again, and turned. He watched her walk toward Obelix's living quarters.

"Let us hope it works," the druid muttered softly. He turned around, heading to his hut.

"Obelix? Are you there?"

Panacea peered into a darkened hut where Obelix lived. There stood his workbench. It looked recently used, tools and bits of rock scattered over the tabletop. A dusty collection of Roman helmets, - some dented, others rusty - laid neatly stacked nearby. The bed was untidied, and the dinner table was all but used. There was no Obelix here. Not a single living, breathing thing could be found.

"Obelix?" she called again.

Then, she heard the noise of a hammer, tinkering away against a chisel, which in turn shattered rock. It was coming from near the hut. Of course, he must be outside in his quarry. She turned from the doorway, making the short stroll to the quarry, and indeed. There he was, back turned, and completely lost in his work. He was already carving his eleventh menhir of the day. Panacea immediately noticed a difference in him; his breeches were looking a tad wider than usual, hanging slightly baggier around the otherwise round, sizable shape that was Obelix.

"Obelix-"

The big Gaul abruptly stopped in his work, letting the hammer fall against the chisel with a loud bang. A large crevice formed on the menhir's surface, crawling all the way through until the head cracked loose. He sighed, gritting his teeth and tensing his shoulders. An annoyed, bitter voice escaped his mouth.

"Can't people see that I'm busy? I have to get these delivered before Tuesday."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Panacea replied sadly.

But then, he perked up, turning around to see who it was. In an instant, the annoyed look on his face turned soft again, and his angry tone turned into a shy, uneasy one. He began to blush. "Panacea? How did you- So sorry, I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was-"

"Me?" she lit up and smiled. "It's okay, Obelix. I'm sorry about breaking your concentration."

Obelix looked back at the chisel and hammer in his hands and blinked. "Oh. No, that's my fault. I can make another one easily…" He slowly bent over to put the tools down, clapping his hands together to dust the gravel and sand off from him. "What are you doing here?"

She did not answer, and instead approached him calmly, noticing his face just kept on turning redder as she came closer. She carefully took his large hands into her own, examining them. They were overworked, were riddled with tiny cuts and bruises, and his fingers and palms had grown callus. She then scanned him up and down. "You look different, have you been taking good enough care of yourself lately?"

Obelix turned his face away. "Oh, well… I'm fine, really. I just…" He frowned in a way Panacea had never seen before. She had seen heartbreak in him before, but it was nothing like this. He was stricken with grief, not lovesickness.

"Why don't you take a little break? You look like you could use one."

"Honestly, I don't-"

But then Panacea tugged lightly at his hands, coaxing him to sit on the nearby bench with her. He followed hesitantly and sat down. The bench creaked lightly under his weight. Panacea sat down with him, and watched him fiddle around a bit with his hands.

"I heard about what happened. I'm terribly sorry, Obelix."

Obelix looked down at Panacea. "What did you hear, exactly?"

Panacea looked back into Obelix's sage-green eyes. They looked careworn and tired, but also worried. But she wasn't sure what for. Perhaps there was something she wasn't supposed to know.

"I…I heard of the quake, and how, well… he…fell down."

The large Gaul blinked warily for a moment, and shortly after he let out a short sigh of relief. It was a good thing, that she didn't know the whole story. "Yeah, that's what happened."

"Poor Asterix…"

Obelix looked away forlornly. "It should have been me," he muttered.

"What?" Panacea looked up at Obelix in utter disbelief. He looked back down at her, with tears in his eyes. "It should have been me. Asterix never deserved any of this… If there was something -anything- I could do, to redo that one moment, I would have fought…"

He suddenly stopped himself from continuing, and looked down at the ground. Tears dropped and mixed into the sand. "I mean, I…I would have…"

Carefully, Panacea placed a hand on his arm. He flinched, looking at the hand, then back to her half-smiling, half-saddened face.

"It's not your fault, Obelix," she reassured.

He sniffed, raising his hand to wipe some tears away. "Then why does it feel like it is?"

Panacea sighed and looked out at the quarry, then up to the sky. She could only imagine how horrible it felt to lose a best friend. Sure, Asterix was her friend too, but they never shared a bond as close as he and Obelix did, which was indeed rarer than twins. Despite all odds, they were born on the same day, the same hour and minute, and even in the same village. Yet they were no brothers in flesh and blood; they did not share the same parents. They were, however, brothers at heart. That was what truly mattered.

All their lives, they were each other's pillars to support on when things were at their worst. Now one was gone, and the other was broken.

But even broken pillars could be repaired. They just needed a little time and care.

Finally, she stood up. "Why don't we pay him a visit?"

"I don't really think I should," he answered dolefully.

"Why not?" Panacea questioned. "You were his best friend. I'm sure he would appreciate it if you visited him."

"Well…" Obelix hesitated first, but then he realized she had a point. "Yeah, you're right," he admitted, and stood up from the bench. The wood creaked again, relieved of the weight that rested on it. He and Panacea took a slow walk through the village, catching some of the villagers surprised. Obelix was out, talking with someone other than himself, for the first time after two agonizing weeks. They did not speak, though. They didn't want to be a bother. The two walked out of the village, and they both settled on the grass, looking at the monument that laid before them. The shade that was cast by the tombstone slowly disappeared, as the sun slowly found itself blocked behind a cluster of clouds.

For a long moment, no words came from either Gaul. There was just a soft breeze, leaves rustling, and birds chirping. It was oddly peaceful. Panacea plucked a small blue flower – her favorite – from the field, and kept it close to herself.

"The flowers are wilting," Obelix remarked eventually. Panacea looked at him, casting a confused look at first, but then she deduced he was talking about the flowers that were laid on top of the dolmen.

"We could replace them, if you want," she told to him.

"No, it's okay. I don't want to disturb him too much." He leaned back a bit, letting his hands rest on the grass and heaving a depressed sigh. "Besides, the area is still a bit unstable there. There's a chance it might sink again."

"I see," the girl answered quietly, looking at the small flower in her hand. Its tiny petals were as blue as the sky. She eventually looked back at the dolmen. "Did you carve that stone yourself?"

"Yeah, and the patterns too. I know I'm not much of an artist, but I only wanted the best for him."

"Well, it's beautiful," Panacea said as she smiled at him. "He couldn't have asked for any better."

"There were even some Romans who came to pay their respect," he chuckled lightly. "Who would have thought?"

Panacea grinned as well. It was good to see him smile, even if just for a second.

Obelix leaned to the front again, letting out a long sigh. He tried to gently wrap his arm around the girl, hoping she would let him. And yes, she allowed it, even shifting a bit to sit closer to him. He blushed lightly as she took his hand. He knew Panacea was married, and respected it fully, but he still had a crush on her, all the same. They were just good friends, but that was okay. He would rather be a good friend than to not know her at all.

"You know, the day before we began filling the hole, I climbed down there, at night. I just had to make sure…"

Panacea looked up at Obelix. He simply stared at the tomb site. "Did you…did you find him?"

Obelix smiled weakly. "No. Nothing but-" he choked up a little, unsure what words to use. "…his sword. I looked everywhere, but I only found his sword." He didn't see the point in telling her the grueling details about the monster when she wasn't aware of it. The memory of how the moss and fungus grew out of its mangled, broken corpse when he found it was still fresh in his mind. "I don't understand though. He should have been there… how is he ever going to join the gods and heroes in the Otherworld, if we can't even give him a proper burial?"

Panacea found that odd too. After some thought, she took a long breath. A chance had opened itself, and she was going to risk taking it. "What if he didn't want to go to the Otherworld?"

Obelix shot her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

Panacea looked down, silently cursing at herself. Great job, Panacea, now you have to explain yourself somehow. "Well," she hesitated. "Perhaps he wanted to stay here, so what if-"

"Why would he want to do that!?" Obelix interrupted, lifting his arm from her, and revealing a more depressed and worried tone than before. "He deserved his place among the gods! Why would he refuse to go there?"

"Maybe," she carefully spoke, "it's because he wants to make sure you'll be okay first…"

Obelix blinked dumbly. His eyes slowly began to water. "Y…You think? He really would go through all that trouble for me?"

"Oh, sweet big Obelix. Of course he would," Panacea answered with a heartwarming smile. "You weren't just his best friend, you were a brother to him."

"Yeah, you're right. I think I would have done the same…" The big Gaul raised a finger to wipe a tear from his eye. He looked back at the dolmen, and there was another short moment of silence. Eventually, he spoke.

"Asterix, if you can hear me," he sighed deep, "there's no need to worry about me anymore. I promise I'll be fine, so…so…"

Panacea watched him lower a hand to the ground, touching the grass ever so gently, as if he were stroking someone on the head.

"You can sleep now, buddy."

A soft warmth tingled both Gauls' skins, and they looked up, watching the sun reveal itself again between the clouds. It didn't seem that significant, but Panacea noticed that Obelix had taken it as a sign. For the first time in weeks, he truly smiled, this time for real. A heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and he looked relieved. Healthier, even. And that's when she knew her efforts were successful. He was going to be all right. They sat there for a little longer, absorbing the nature around them.

Eventually, there was a sudden peeping, gurgling noise. Obelix shot up, alerted from the sound. "I'm getting hungry." He glanced down at Panacea. "Would you and Tragicomix like to have dinner with me tonight?"

She laughed lightly. "Yes, Obelix, we would love to. I'll let him know we're invited." She got up gracefully and pecked the big Gaul on the cheek. She then began to walk.

"Oh, Panacea?"

"Yes?"

"You'll be staying a while, right?"

She looked back and smiled warmly. "Of course, Obelix. We're staying the whole week." She then turned again, and walked to her father's home, expecting Tragicomix to be there. Getafix would have to wait just a little longer, but she would tell him the good news soon.

Obelix smiled as well, keeping a hand close to the reddened cheek he was kissed on. He wouldn't be washing it for weeks. He turned to the dolmen again, looking at the wilting bouquets laying on top of it. The large Gaul got up, picking a single flower off the ground. Very carefully, he approached the monument, setting a foot into the sand and picking off the dying flowers, and when he was finished, he gently laid the fresh one on top.

Obelix patted the rock. "Thank you, for everything," he whispered. "Good bye friend."

* Rennes

* Volume 10: Asterix the Legionary