ETERNAL INSECT SYSTEM

006 - THE MYSTERIOUS FIGURE

"Be quiet! It's better if you go to the horse stable now, and feed those horses!" shouted Hilda from behind the door. 

Once she made sure her husband's voice wasn't audible, she gave Arte a meaningful look. Then she asked, "At this moment, is there anything you wish to do, young Arte?"

Responding to his mother’s query, Arte just bowed his head. With his sincere smile, he could feel the warmth of family from this incident. 

"You remain silent and smile like that, instead of answering your mother's question," Hilda said, observing Arte's lack of response.

"But didn’t Mother say earlier that I should be quiet since I was constantly responding?" Arte remarked, still smiling.

"You’re right ... well then, go to your room. I will take care of your father, if he's not in the horse stable, he must have gone to the neighbor's house," ordered Hilda, who, it turned out, was quite concerned after scolding her husband earlier.

Arte nodded and began to leave. He walked slowly to his room, his legs a bit stiff from kneeling for so long. 

He saw his mother leave the house in search of his father. He smiled briefly, before sinking into melancholy once again. 

In what should have been a joyful childhood, Arte was aware that he was not the biological child of these foster parents. He realized this fact just a few days ago. 

He grew up without resembling his adoptive parents at all. Even physically, his perfection, good looks, and his unique magic power set him apart.

Reaching his room, he murmured about these thoughts. “I found my baby basket. It says that I am the child of a God, is it possible? If so, where are they?” 

Arte looked up at his room's ceiling, recalling a whisper during a quiet night, while he was asleep.

Unfortunately, that night he had a nightmare. A shadowy figure told him about it. 

“You do not belong to this world, the parents you know now are not your true parents. And, you have a destiny that risks this entire world…” 

That was the whisper Arte often heard. Everything became clearer when he saw the contents of his baby basket in the attic. 

“I want to ask Mother and Father about this. But, I fear their response. What if my question hurts them? I'm not ready!" he murmured, staring at his ceiling. 

Engulfed in thoughts about his origins, Arte felt drained and soon fell into a deep sleep until nighttime.

Unexpectedly, he woke up before dawn. It was a habit of his, knowing he could communicate with insects. He even considered them his truest friends. 

He sat on his bed and casually spoke to the bugs that came bearing gifts for him. 

"How are you both, Mr. Mosquito and Mr. Bee? Are you lonely?” Arte spoke, allowing the two insects to gracefully land on his shoulder. 

They seemed to empathize with Arte, vibrating their wings as if to comfort the saddened boy. 

“Can you sense my current turmoil?" Arte asked the fluttering insects before him.

Seemingly understanding Arte’s words, the bee and mosquito seemed to communicate back, and Arte responded, 

"So, you occasionally feel the same way I do? And now, you all are trying to comfort me? You truly are kind creatures." Arte spoke enthusiastically.

He sighed deeply, looking at his wooden ceiling. “Yes, but I cannot continue with this uncertainty!” 

"And do you also know that in my nightmares, that voice keeps saying I don’t belong to this world? I’m really confused about it."

Arte poured his heart out to the surrounding insects. Ever since he started hearing the mysterious voice in his dreams, his connection with the bugs intensified.

Soon after, Arte wanted to get off the bed, feeling quite thirsty. 

He walked towards the kitchen but stopped right beside his parents' bedroom. He overheard something that deeply shocked him.

*** 

Meanwhile, Gunnar and Hilda were in their room. 

“Did you hear it, my husband? Our ten-year-old innocently conversing with a mosquito and a bee,” Hilda whispered, leaning her head on Gunnar’s shoulder. 

"Day by day, he's becoming a stranger, talking to numerous bugs," Hilda continued, worried about Arte. 

"Indeed, especially now that he's begun to piece together his true identity, realizing he's not our son. Isn’t that shocking?” Gunnar replied, stroking his blonde wife's hair. 

“I also overheard that Arte learned all this from an unknown figure. How can such a young boy think so deeply?" Gunnar pondered. 

"He also mentioned that strange voice in his dreams. Could it be the same voice we both dreamt of?" Hilda asked in disbelief. 

"Is it time for our dear Arte to understand all of this? This is beyond our expectations." Hilda said to Gunnar, looking sorrowful. 

"If so, we cannot continue to hold back his destiny in this small village. We must show him the vast world. Let’s remember our promise to that voice in our dream," Gunnar said, looking deeply at his wife.

Hilda nodded in understanding. "I get it, our role is just to protect him. Little Arte isn't truly ours. I understand, but..." She couldn’t continue, tears streaming down her face. 

Her affection for Arte was genuine, just like any mother's for her child. But she had to accept that she wasn't his real mother. 

One day, she would have to let Arte go, in search of his biological parents, as the mysterious voice had told her in her dreams. 

“I’m still not ready to let go, my husband!” Hilda whispered, unable to contain her emotions any longer. Raising Arte had brought so much joy and pain.