Castlevania Nocturne: A Guardian's Tale (Part 1)

The Old Orchard

"Who told you about Caleb?" Emma fidgeted with the lanyard inside her pocket.

"Who's Caleb?" Maria asked, but Richter placed a hand on his sister's shoulder. "Your mother said you lost someone in the war. That was his name?"

"Yes." Emma sighed. "He was a good man. He followed me throughout the campaign, we went through so much together."

"I can imagine." Richter sympathized. "He followed you. It wasn't the other way around?"

"No." Emma fidgeted. "When Washington recruited me, Caleb enlisted as a soldier so we'd still be together. He had experience and definitely the background; His father was a soldier in the French and Indian War, so you can imagine how thrilled he was about his son joining the enemy rabble."

"He must've liked you enough to join enemy lines." Maria noted.

"Well, he was a big supporter of independence ." Emma clicked her teeth. "But he was also in love with me, and I fell in love with him too."

"You had a boyfriend!?" Richter gasped. "Jesus and I thought I've learned everything about you."

"What's so surprising?" Emma raised her brows. "There were camp followers in the army. Many wives joined their husbands. My scenario was weird only in our roles being switched. Caleb followed me, not the other way around."

"Yeah but....You don't seem the kind of person who would have a boyfriend." Richter admitted.

Emma stared at Richter in a mix of shock, offense, and dash of anger. "Excuse me? I was happily married with three children."

"My God Richter! Can you be more rude!?" Maria exclaimed outraged.

"I didn't mean!!!" Richter stammered trying to save himself. "I meant....you don't seem like the person who would fall in love again after your first one."

"You're right,I'm not." Emma sighed, thumbing over the ring on her lanyard. "Caleb was different, I'll never meet anyone like him again. At least not in this lifetime." For the first time Richter saw the age in his mentor's eyes. The years passed by and the people she loved and lost through her immortal lifetime. She outlived her children, seen people come and go, and served in a war that would eventually only be known in history books.
Yet there was still a light in her eyes, a joy of being alive in a world that was beautiful. He wondered how she could do it, retain that light in a forever changing world while she stood unchanged.

Emma stopped and sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?"

"Smell what?" Richter turned his nose to the air.

"Apple trees." Their blossoming scent brought back memories.

"Where are you going?" Maria asked when Emma stepped off the main path.

"To find the apple trees." Emma trotted on happily without turning back.

"Apples aren't in season now Em!" Richter followed her.

"I know, but the peaches are." Emma turned her head. "Let's check it out!"

"Emma wait." Maria shrugged catching up to Richter. "We're seriously going to follow her?" Maria murmured quietly to her adoptive brother.

"If it takes her mind off swordplay and makes her happy, why not?" Richter rolled his shoulders.

Emma led her relatives down the road, through the blossoming trees to a patchwork of farms in Machecoul's northern end. Walking among the rural farmlands reminded her of central New Jersey, where the army confronted the fleeing British forces. If she closed her eyes, she could envision herself in the farmlands surrounded by orchards and rich earth.