We finally made our way to the very top of the mountain.

 The top of the mountain was largely flat, minus the road that led up to the top which was surrounded by tiny forests. Even the top had a little forest, though, but further north of the top, there was a smaller place vacant of any trees. There were, however, naturally grown wildflower bushes that, in a way, surrounded the end of the cliff in a circular-like motion. Almost like it entrapped, or, perhaps, kept the cliff from being reached.

I stopped the carriage at the first sunflower bush that appeared. Gloria was the first to notice the view. Her eyes widened by the cliffs beauty. She was stunned. Gloria didn’t speak; she wasn’t able to.

The sky was a mixture of blue, pink, a light yellow, and orange signifying that the sun was about to rest for the day. The long and thick, pink, and orange hued clouds were covering the faraway mountains.

Honestly, it looks like a painting.

I smirked. It’s the same as before… “We’re here boys.” I called out.

Tadashi perked his head out the window. “We’re actually here. I thought our father was going to do something stupid again.”

Albus’s head, too, peeked outside the window, head underneath Tadashi’s chin. “Oh, we are. What a surprise.”

“Who do you take me for?!”

They both got out the back of the wagon, Albus took little shuffling-like steps towards the cliff, stopping next to Gloria. Tadashi was by me.

Albus stared, wide eyed and expressionless. “Holy shi- Ow!”

Gloria slapped the back of Albus’s head. “Watch your mouth.”

“This is really beautiful, father.” Tadashi said. “How’d you find this?”

I had originally found the mountain during the war. It wasn’t as beautiful as it was now, but it still granted the same view, but it gave a much more… unsightly perspective. I remember like it was yesterday. There was one thing that was absolutely breathtaking about this cliff, regardless of its unsightliness.

The sun.

The sun shined upon every inch of the land almost as if it were trying to show me the beauty of nature. Horrible or beautiful; the hue of orange that tore trees apart and engulfed the land; the cloud of black that rose without shape, dancing along the wind, negligent of its poisonous existence; and the rain that was accompanied with ash, that fell upon the land smelling of iron and smoke.

I hate to think like this, but on that day. 

Yes. 

On that day.

War was beautiful.

“I got lost. Teehee.” I said with my tongue out.

They all laughed and admired the new sight the mountain offered.

It’s incredible now that I think about it. The trees that were only ash were replaced with new life. The yelling and cries were replaced with the subtle tunes of birds and the sounds of animals brushing the leaves of bushes and trees; such animals that were hunted for nutrition, practically extinct around this part. But they’re alive now. Yes. They’re alive now and plentiful.

The new replaced the old, life replacing the dead, but still, the lack of awareness it all gives is alarming… and soothing.

“Ooh. Isn’t that Krumore?” Gloria asked, pointing her finger to the seemingly tiny walls whose buildings from within towered over.

“Yup, the capital city of Darcy, Krumore.” I answered.

“So that’s the capital city huh.” Albus said with a cunning smile. “It’s enormous.”

“Don’t get any funny thoughts. Not that you’d be able to escape from me anyways.” Tadashi teased, rustling Albus’s hair.

“Yes, yes. That’s not what I meant though.” Albus tilted his head, hair following along. “I didn’t know that the kingdom was built with a mountain in the middle.”

 I pointed past the walls to the absurdly ginormous structure that towered over even the buildings and perimeter wall. It was so huge in height that the top pierced through the stratocumulus clouds. “That’s the kings castle.”

“Seriously!?”

I nodded. “The castle was much bigger back then than it was now.”

“You’re lying!”

“Father’s right.” Tadashi added. “The castle is currently 1/5 its original size.”

“What happened to it then?”

“Who knows.” I answered. “There’s multiple theories as to what happened but no one knows; not even the king knows for sure. All that’s known is that the castle was cut to this size during the first great war, dozens of centuries ago… I thought Tadashi taught you the history of our kingdom. Did he not teach you about this?”

“He only taught me that there were other kingdoms that existed prior to the current four. He didn’t teach me what happened to the others or go into detail about each kingdom.”

I looked at Tadashi and he looked away.

‘Well, I’m sure Albus will learn about the kingdoms eventually.’

“You know I’ve never really liked the sun; In fact, I hate the sun.” Albus suddenly proclaimed, walking towards the cliff. “But when it shines on everything like this, highlighting everything; the beauty given its spotlight… it looks surreal.”

He widened his arms out, almost as if he were seriously about to embrace the sun.

The suns light bathed Albus in listless red. Everyone looked at Albus, saying nothing. We were awestruck at the display the sun was showing us.

In this moment, currently, the sun had favored only one person.

The sun had favored Albus.

Albus closed his eyes and breathed in the fresh air before speaking.

“It feels like heaven.”