5. The Power of Love

It was already early evening when they got to the tavern again. Feeling down, they re-entered.

This time the musicians were playing a rousing drinking song. The guests were cheering, applauding and some of them were dancing to the jolly tunes.
Even the innkeeper's wife was swaying to the music behind the counter but when she spotted the downcast Young Ones she immediately rushed to them.

"Good heavens! What has happened? Why are you still here?" she asked, looking worried.

An awkward silence followed this question.
They became aware of the undivided attention of all guests inside the tavern since the band has just finished its song.

"We... we've come too late. The whole village was burned down... all its inhabitants are dead..." the Ranger began slowly.

"Oh, that's horrible!" the wife covered her mouth in shock. "How did that happen?" she wanted to know.

Sheila nervously glanced at Hank who answered for them.
"It was Venger. He wanted to prevent us once more from coming home with this act."

A murmur went through the room at the mention of their arch enemy's name, revealing that he was both well known and dreaded here as well.

"It was bound to happen one day that this monstrosity will also bring fear and terror here to us. As if it weren't hard enough to live in immediate vicinity of this sinister sea..." the innkeeper's remark, who had joined them, verified this supposition.

"Could we perhaps...?" Presto started shyly.

"Of course you can move into your old rooms again. Be my guests! Just stay as long as you like." the woman beat him to it.

"I'm tired. I'm gonna go upstairs." the Barbarian mumbled, turning towards the stairway leading to their chambers.

He had already climbed the first flight of steps when Sheila called after him. "Wait, Bobby! What's the matter with you?"

He really stopped but didn't turn around and also didn't bother to reply.
The girl parted from the others, approached her brother and stood still at the bottom landing.

"Is everything ok?" she inquired. "I know it's bad that we've missed a portal yet ag-"

He wheeled around to face them, interrupting her rudely.

"You don't know anything. Nothing at all, not a darn thing!" his voice was bristling with rage.

They all paused and stared at him, startled.

And then he burst out with everything - even forgetting his own pledge to never reveal this secret.

"You all don't have the slightest clue what happened with me up there at the sea! But I know what you've done: you've killed me, I've died.
Yeah, I realized everything, downright all of it - not only that one thing at the sea but all the other stuff before that, too...
I was dead! I woke up as a ghost and saw you guys there at the sea.
The protector had known all this. He wanted me to follow him to a weird place.
I think it was heaven... and... I've seen granny... there... and I... I should go with him and stay there but... but I've decided against it 'cause I actually wanted to be with you so very much.
That's why I agreed to come back again, back over here... and now, we've just missed another chance of getting home... and I really don't know now if I'm supposed to be either glad or rather sad about it, 'cause you'd never ever have allowed me to take Uni along, right?
I should have left her here behind, but I can't do this - and also don't want to! I've gotta take care of her, she needs me... and I need her..."

Everybody was looking at the boy, entirely shocked by his words. No, they really had no idea what exactly he had to go through.
If only they had paid more attention to the protector's words! He had already informed them about this circumstance, after all.
However, they all were far too much engaged in rejoicing over the truly-raised-from-the-dead boy than to deal with this indirect hint - even less comprehend its true meaning.

Could it really be possible that he was in fact fully aware of everything that happened around him during his poisoning?
After this 'confession' one could only assume...

Not only Presto was feeling very uncomfortable in this moment when he thought about it with a cold shiver that Bobby, being in his right mind, possibly even registered his very own 'death warrant' - decided unanimously on their youngest group member by all of them - as well as the entire 'execution' of the same!

Not even the knowledge that, without this indeed gruesome but yet necessary step, the boy would just have died from the poisoning - being irrevocably guided over to the realm of the dead in this way - could help them at last.

"Uh, you... you were a... ghost?" the Thief was horrified by this thought. "You could have gone to heaven - being together with grandma Heather there... where everything would be all right and you'd be fine..."

She was reproaching herself for failing to notice how much her little brother had been burdened by those events.

"I... I'm so sorry, Bobby, I didn't know..." she stuttered, however he wasn't listening to her any longer because he already turned around again abruptly and was running up the stairs.

"Oh, Bobby..." his sister breathed and ran after him.

Hank wanted to rush behind them as well but the Acrobat gently placed a hand on his arm, shaking her head.
"Don't. I guess the two of them might want to sort it out among themselves, as siblings. So you better let them be on their own."

"Yeah, sure thing! However, I'm afraid that Sheila won't get through to him..." the Ranger pointed out.

"Don't worry, she'll make it." Diana said confidently.

"Could we perhaps turn our attention back again to a bit more important stuff now than to care about the highly doubtful mental state of the little squirt? Such as: do we get a 'compensation' for the went-down-the-drain portal?"

"Well, you know, with almost absolute certainty, a little more sensibility won't kill even you, Eric." Diana declared sarcastically, signaling the others to follow her.

The friends sat down at a table, nervously waiting for the two siblings to return.