Ethan woke up gasping for air startled, it took him some time to get a hold of what had happened.
"NERO..." He cried out the next second... To ghost that was far away from him and their city.
"Well look whose finally awake..." A voice called out to him from beside the bed, it was Claudia.
"Claudia, what happened... Where is my brother....?" Taking a hold of Claudia's shoulders Ethan asked with shaky breath..
"Wow... First you got to calm down... I'll tell you about what happened after you had your lunch..."
"HUGH... lunch ho...how long was I out?.."
"Hmmm about five days..."
"WHAT.... but..."
"No buts put some proper clothes on and come downstairs to eat." Claudia said while getting up from the chair. After she left the room Ethan got up from his bed and reached for his clothes with a arm that was shaking without proper nutrition for days.
When he finally came down to get his lunch, Claudia was already waiting.
"Took you long enough... Come sit and enjoy I made it myself..."
As he sat down he couldn't get rid of the feeling that something was different. After finishing his food he looked at her and waited...
"Fine fine I'll talk... Something happened with your brother... The authorities are still looking for evidence for where has he disappeared to since he disappeared without leaving any tracks of any sort."
"No... i... is he dead?"
"No.. no one knows.. there wasn't even a body after all... They said he might have escaped before the explosion accorded..."
'If that is the case then I must start looking for him...' Ethan thought to himself.
"Before you go running around and start looking for him... You should get proper nutrition." Claudia's voice cut through Ethan's thoughts, But were they effective. Of course not.
No matter how weak he was, he is determined to find his brother no matter what pain he need to go through.
"No... Claudia... I must start looking for him." He said after sometime.
"Fine... But I'm coming with you..."
"Bu..."
"Shut up... he might be your brother but that doesn't mean I don't love him... He is after all my future brother in law."
After Ethan hastily agreed to bring Claudia with him, both of them set out towards his ruined house.
The place where their house was at previously now stood a half blown, half burnt house, Nero's beloved dog was burnt to a crisp, Ethan felt guilt and sadness all at once when he was shown it's burnt corpse.
"If... I was more stronger I could have saved both of them." He said with tear filled eyes and his fingers digging into his palm when squeezing his fist.
"Poor thing... I had a sweet spot for it as well." Claudia said kneeling by it's crops and covering it with a piece of cloth.
While they were saddened over this misfortune a soldier came up calling Ethan's name.
"Excuse me, good sir but are you the owner of this house?." He asked.
"Yes!" Ethan said without turning to look at the soldier.
"Oh that's great news... Fortunately you weren't harmed and I'm proud to say that your wife isn't either."
"Wife?... What on earth are you saying?" Claudia said while standing up in confusion.
"What... The ... My wife is standing right here..."
"Oh... Are you not Mr.Nero?." The soldier asked.
"No I am his older brother... Why don't you just take me to this woman..."
"Sure sir please follow me..." The soldier said taking the lead. Behind him followed Ethan with a puzzled face and a Claudia with a even more questioning look.
"Hay... Ethan, Nero isn't married yet is he." Claudia asked nearly in a voice tone that was close to a whisper.
"Claudia... I am just as puzzled as you are..."
"Who won't be... I mean how can a man who had the worst luck with women all his life hod himself a wife... Just in six nights... Right?."
The soldier took them into a tavern couple of houses up. And led them into a private room. And inside it were a small table and a chair and sitting on the chair was the most beautiful woman any living human could have seen,
A goddess of ethereal beauty, her form is a shimmering tapestry of stardust and moonbeams. Her skin glows like the soft luminescence of dawn, with an undertone of celestial blue. Eyes like pools of crystal hold the sparkle of distant stars, filled with an ancient, dreamy wisdom. Her hair flows like wisps of cirrus clouds, infused with the gentle sparkle of fireflies. Her presence brings a hush of reverence, as if the very cosmos pause to behold her beauty.
Seeing this beauty Ethan froze mid step between the door. And Claudia who was lost in her thoughts bumped into him and fell to floor holding her small nose.
"Watch where you are going you big dummy... Ethan?."
The soldier excused him self and left the room.
"Ethan... You okay my love?." Since Ethan was still standing in the doorway Claudia couldn't see anything. She hastily pushed him inside and went inside. Inside she could see what was the reason he was standing still like a broken clock.
"Oi you dumb man snap out of it... Your soon to be wife is standing behind you and you go drooling over your brother's so called wife that you haven't even seen before now.
Claudia slapped Ethan across the face bringing him to his senses finally.
"We finally meet.. miss Claudia... I am Cel... Mr. Nero's best friend." The woman in the room finally said breaking up intense atmosphere that had been building up between Ethan and Claudia.