After resting for a while, they continued their climb up the mountain.
Nana took the lead, using both her hands and feet to ascend. She climbed like a kitten, quickly putting several dozen feet between herself and her adoptive parents.
Though a child's strength was limited, her energy seemed boundless. Nana left the two adults trailing behind.
Rosalie followed, a faint smile appearing on her face. Although Nana wasn't her biological daughter, she was, in fact, a mother. After becoming a mother, seeing children always stirred her maternal instincts.
When Nana first called her "Mommy," she instinctively rejected it because the child had been brought back by Sebastian. But later, she found herself wanting to cry.
Sebastian noticed the smile on Rosalie's face. It seemed bringing this little girl back had been the right decision.
Suddenly, birds in the forest screeched and took to the sky. The treetops began to sway as a gust of wind blew through, and the ground rumbled and trembled violently. In an instant, it felt as though the world was collapsing. The ground shook wildly, rocks tumbled down the slopes, and cracks appeared in the stone steps.
Nana screamed in terror. "Daddy! Mommy!"
She fell onto the steps, crying out in panic.
"Nana, don't move! I'm coming!" Rosalie was about to rush forward when a massive boulder came rolling from the side.
"Rose, don't go!" Sebastian yanked her back just in time, dodging the rock and pulling her tightly into his embrace.
"Let go of me! Nana is up there!"
The mountain began to slide, sending rocks and dirt hurtling down. It was chaos.
"Rose, we have to go!" Sebastian held onto her tightly and started pulling her downward.
"Let go of me! Nana is still up there!"
A wave of falling rocks hurtled toward them. Sebastian cradled Rosalie's head, pressing her into his chest to protect her.
A sharp pain struck the back of his head. His vision spun, and in the next moment, he collapsed on top of Rosalie, unconscious.
Rosalie felt warm droplets falling onto her face.
She lifted her head and saw Sebastian lying still, his head covered in blood. His arms were still wrapped tightly around her.
The surrounding area was covered in soil and rocks from the mountain. Half of their bodies were buried under the landslide debris, with loose stones still tumbling down, threatening to hit them at any moment.
Rosalie was momentarily dazed, her mind nearly blank. When she finally regained her senses, she tried to struggle free. However, Sebastian held her tightly, and with most of her body trapped beneath the rubble, escape was impossible.
She turned her gaze toward where Nana had been, but there was no sign of the child anymore. How could a little girl possibly survive such devastation?
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