There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)

After spending another day to do a thorough check-up on the baby, the Ishteras left the hospital. Their destination, however, wasn’t the house on the cliff--it was the Guardian Tree.

A symbol of Lucre and the Far East district, the Guardian Tree was a place of reverence as well as a sightseeing location. While people could not go past certain borders--which used to be the wall of the dome in the past--the area around it had been fashioned into a hiking area surrounded by natural parks.

With a museum built to memorize Operation Fallen Star as a center, a town was established around it, accommodating visitors who wanted to see the Tree and the wonder of nature surrounding it, including the dome waterfall falling between the Tree’s many roots.

If they were lucky, they could even see one of the Guardians strolling around or sitting on the ledge of the roots. On a certain bright day in June, however, the tourists could see a lot of them on the roots--standing and watching the forbidden pathway. There were five of them around the ledge, but some people with binoculars said there were seven more around the base of the trunk.

Twelve of the Thirteen Guardians were out; there was only one instance this had happened in the past: during the day of liberation.

Naturally, as the news spread, more visitors were flocking to places where they could see the roots and the forbidden path unperturbed, wondering if something was about to happen. Their answer came with two cars driving toward the edge of the border.

A thing about the border: it wasn’t that people couldn’t pass through due to guards patrolling around. People just couldn’t pass through physically. There was a repulsing barrier rejecting them, and the only way up was through the smooth, slippery roots.

A lot of people had tried to go to the Tree, but no one had succeeded in breaching the barrier, much less climbing the roots. That was why, no guards had ever been needed around the border.

They were wondering who these people were, who came in high-end cars with last-tech security systems and tinted windows. The ’forbidden path’ as people called it, was not suitable for cars, after all. As expected of a high-quality vehicle, however, the cars drove through the path without any problem.

The visitors rushed to the forbidden path following the cars, feeling curious about it. Naturally, some also pointed their commlink to record just in case it was something worth posting on link.

And then, they saw the famous Bassena Vaski--no, Bassena Ishtera--come out of the car, holding the door open for a pair of twin boys and finally, of Luzein Ishtera holding a baby.