The small walkway I stood on swayed as one of the ballista bolts crashed into the living quarters before me. The small huts exploded, showering shards of coral down around me. Screams from the residents were quickly silenced as a second round impacted what was left of the tiny houses. I clutched onto the railing, knuckles white as I struggled to maintain balance as a second bolt impacted behind me. Panic washed over me as I realized there was an excellent chance I might die here.

The potential for imminent death made me think of home and all the people I left behind. The realization that other than my parents and possibly my college roommate Joey, nobody else would remember me made me instantly depressed. I wasn’t exactly the popular kid in school. I spent most of my time playing computer roleplaying games and watching anime to be noticed by anyone, much less anyone popular. I thought once I went to college, that would change, and I would find people with similar interests. I don’t know if that would have happened, but realizing that I was attending a college way beyond my price range meant that I spent most of my time working and studying. This didn’t leave as much time as I had hoped for socializing. The only person I had had a chance to meet was Joey; the only thing I knew about him was that he slept in the bunk above me.

“Brodie!” The screaming of my name halted the trip down memory lane my brain had been taking and snapped me back to the pressing matters at hand.

“Brodie!” It was Tee’s voice.

I turned my head away from the advancing army towards the sound of the screams to see Tee flying toward me as fast as his tiny wings could manage. If not for the fact that we were facing impending doom, I would have laughed. His pudgy body swung back and forth, his wings beating like a hummingbird. Tiny beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he tried to reach me as fast as possible.

“Tee, what the fuck is going on?! Why is Aqua Marine attacking the village!?” I yelled as I ran towards him, two bubbling mimosas flying overhead as I ran.

“I have no idea. Every conflict between the guiding star and Aqua has always been small skirmishes in the past; neither has ever been so bold to attack the other like this.”

“It’s because of me; she knows I can use the power of the club, and she wants me dead because of it. I’m the one who brought all of this on; these people’s deaths are on my hands.” My stomach did a backflip as the realization that I had caused all this dawned on me. I had to get away from here. I had to stop this senseless murder. This world certainly had its problems, but nothing like all-out war, at least not until I showed up.

Tee followed behind me as I started to run towards the exit of the tree village. I had to escape the town and try to lead Aqua Marines’ forces with me. I couldn’t allow innocent people to be killed because of me. I didn’t even know why it mattered that I knew how to use the clubs or why I was even here. The bolts from the ballista continued their relentless assault on the village as the stairs leading down from the trees came into view. I wasn’t sure exactly what my plan was when I got out of the village. I just knew I had to get away from it.

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“Where are you going!?” Duncan’s voice bellowed behind me as I ran

“I’m leaving. This is my fault, and I must find a way to stop it!” I screamed, tears streaming down my cheeks.

“While it may be true that your being here caused Aqua to finally mount an assault on my little conclave, the truth is this day was going to happen with or without you! At least with you and your powers, we may have a chance to stop her!” Ducan bellowed over the sound of yet more houses exploding.

“She’s sent an entire army. There is no way we can defeat an entire army! Everyone here is going to die, and it’s going to be my fault. I should have just drowned in that lake!”

“You’re right, the village is lost, but that doesn’t mean we can fight back!”

“Fucking, How!” Duncan slapped my wrist

“Follow me!” Duncan yelled as he ran back in the direction I had just come from. I glanced at Tee as he shrugged and flew off behind Duncan.

This was suicide. We were headed right back towards the army and the collapsing village. The walkways groaned under our feet as we ran behind Duncan. The barrage of fire from the ballista had severely reduced their structural integrity. I expected the supports would collapse at any minute and send us crashing to the forest ground below us. This fact did not bother Duncan as he continued advancing towards the center of the village and the advancing army of Hags. I heard the loud twang of the ballista strings as they let loose another volley of bolts toward us.

“Jump!” Duncan yelled as the ballista smashed into the walkway behind us

I did as Duncan said and jumped towards what remained of the dining building. The building was nothing but rubble and dust, but the foundation it had been resting on still held firm to the tree it had been built into. Duncan and I landed on the foundation face down as the bolt tore through the walkway, sending it smashing into the ground. I picked my head up to see Tee hovering beside me, pointing to what used to be the kitchen of the building.

The first wave of the Hags had made their way to the center of the village, and at least a dozen of them were advancing on us from where Tee was pointing. They looked identical to the Hags I had encountered before, with their bottle-blonde hair and designer purses. I stood and took the club into my hand as I watched Duncan unsheathe his knives.

Duncan shot me a quick nod and ran straight for the woman as I felt the golf ball materializing in my left hand. The hags let out a loud hiss and charged towards Duncan. It was then that I noticed their nails. Every one of them was wearing what looked to be fake fingernails that were entirely too long. I let a golf ball fly toward the closest one. There was no need for fire on this one. The ball struck her in the chest, the force of the impact sending her off the edge of the tree. I heard the loud crunch as she hit the ground below.

Duncan was on top of them before I had a chance to summon a second ball. He ducked and weaved like a ninja out of a movie. His hands darted back and forth as he went, cutting and slicing the women. A symphony of screams, gurgles, and chokes filled the air as one corpse after another hit the ground around him. I suddenly felt really pathetic.

“There’s going to be a lot more of them coming. We need to get to the tree trunk!” Duncan shouted at me as the last of the attackers slumped off of his blade.

The tree trunk would have been in the dead center of the building if the building had still been standing. Duncan was already off and running towards it, and I blindly followed. We reached the tree trunk, and Duncan stopped and laid his hand on the tree. As he pressed against the cold coral, it began to give way, revealing a dark passageway into the tree’s center.

“Come on, we gotta get out of here.” Duncan stepped through the passageway

I looked at Tee. Tee shrugged at me and flew into the darkness behind Duncan. I sighed, took a breath, and walked in behind them.