Chapter 24- Keith

Keith stumbled onto the front desk, while Bob ran to immediately help him back up.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just…uhh…phew…I didn't know walking was this hard after staying in a bed all day." Keith said, trying to stand on his own.

"Sorry. The potion supply at the Foundation was used up to heal some of the more serious injuries and to be distributed amongst the townspeople after the attack, along with assisting some critically wounded Central Kingdom Guards." Silvia said, signing some papers that a staff member handed off to her.

"So, basically what you're saying is that I saved the town, but I'm not really as much of a priority as the people who just screamed and yelled the entire time while I was getting my guts cut in half? I'm hurt." Keith scoffed.

"Oh, don't be dramatic, Keith. Though I will say, I thought you would die immediately. You did better than I expected, even though a 12-year-old basically had to save your ass." Silvia remarked.

"You know, if you keep treating me like I'm absolute garbage, I might become a super-powerful villain hungry for revenge," Keith said.

"But, Keith; you are absolute garbage. I would even go so far as to say that you're scum."

Keith opened his mouth to retaliate before he shrugged. "That's fair. Plus, I wouldn't become a villain. Too much work and a lot of people would hate me."

Silvia chuckled. "So basically, the only difference would be the amount of work."

Keith nodded before she realized what she insinuated. "Hey! I'm a very likable person!"

"Hey, Silvia? Who am I supposed to give these bandages to?" Felix asked, holding a crate of bandages and other sanitized materials.

"Oh, just distribute them to anyone who needs them. You can ask Bob to help you" Silvia smiled at the blonde man.

Felix nodded and dashed out the door, without asking for Bob's help.

"Ok, how much are you paying him to help out?" Keith asked in surprise.

"Who? Felix? Nothing, he's such a sweet young man. When I asked him to help out, he just dropped everything and rushed to help me out with rounding up all the injured people around town. And he's very easy on the eyes too, I've got to admit." Silvia chuckled.

Keith blinked twice. Then he looked up at the ceiling for a long time, before blinking once more.

"I'm sorry, we're talking about the same Felix, right?"

Siliva laughed in disbelief. "Yes! Why? He's so helpful and kind. You should have seen him with the other kids. They all love his sandcastle tricks. Oh, it's so adorable, the way their faces light up when he just materializes a sandcastle out of nowhere."

"Ok, we're definitely not talking about the same Felix. Zimmi doesn't like him at all, I'll have you know. So, he's not that great with kids." Keith scoffed.

"Zimmi's a very…eccentric young girl. I have no idea why she dislikes Felix so much…though I do have my suspicions as to why that is…" Silvia said, glaring at Keith briefly.

"Yeah, it's because he sucks. Absolute worst. By the way, do you know where she is? The kid? I haven't seen her for a while now." Keith stated.

"Well…she's been having a rough time. Ruh talked to me a few hours ago…said she's locked herself in her room. I tried to go talk to her, but she didn't open up…I guess this whole thing has been really tough for someone her age." Silvia said, holding a hand against her head.

"Yeah…" Keith mumbled.

Silvia heard someone call her from outside and turned to leave the Foundation, cautiously stepping over the broken glass from the doors.

"Keith?" Silvia stopped in the middle of the doorway.

"Yeah?"

"I know this is probably too much to ask, but…Zimmi…could you…"

"Yeah. Yeah, I got it. I just…give me some time to think. I don't want to mess this one up."

Silvia let out a sigh of relief. "Sure. Thanks."

Keith sat on the plastic stool, watching the people outside the town rush to help each other with rebuilding. The guards from the Central Kingdom that had survived had purchased some chicken soup and a few beers, sitting on the corner of a bookshop nearby.

Limping outside the door, Keith lightly squinted as his eyes adjusted to the sunlight. Apart from the charred and broken buildings, destroyed structures and wounded people outside their houses, Kleise still managed to retain that sublime charm that disgusted Keith when he first came here.

The sounds of trotting grew closer towards Keith. Something nudged against his back.

Keith turned around to find himself face to face with Yurgen, the horse crouching down to check on its owner. It whinnied slightly and whipped its tail in the wind, glad to see Keith.

Keith chuckled, patting the horse on his head. "Hey there, bud. Sorry about ditching you in the heat of battle, things got a little intense. Emotional drama and all that, you know?"

The horse spluttered out saliva in response.

"It's good to see you too, bud. Missed ya. But, let's be honest, you just want another round of Moon Juice, don't ya?" Keith smirked.

The horse lifted its legs up into the air, neighing loudly, scaring the children nearby. Keith calmed the horse down frantically.

"Fuckin' hell, hold your horses. Eh? Eh?" Keith tilted his head.

Yurgen shook his head, spluttering.

"Yeah, I'm making horse puns. To a horse. And talking to it. I might need to check if that fight knocked more screws loose…" Keith mumbled.

Yurgen whinnied as Enteico approached Keith.

"Hey there, you two! Glad to see you didn't die in the middle of your nap with Yokubo." Enteico winked.

"Hey, at least I got a nap with the opposite gender and I don't hump my pillow in the middle of the night." Keith snickered.

"I don't hump my pillow in the middle of the night! Partially because I'm too broke to afford one right now…" Enteico muttered.

"We're all too broke to afford one right now, which brings me to my next question. The shop?" Keith asked.

Enteico sighed. "I don't think we'll be able to rebuild it at Spiti anytime soon. I've set up a makeshift stall here and tried to sell it to the townspeople, but most of them needed help and couldn't afford the healing vials, so…"

"So, you gave all our stuff to them. For free. Like a little bitch boy."

"Look, they needed our help, ok? Most of their shit got destroyed in the fight anyway, so I thought I could help them out, plus…plus, we still have our leftover weapons and some loot from…from all the Assassins and stuff…"

Keith shook his head. "Always the goody two shoes. Makes you wonder how I'm friends with you."

"You know, sometimes I wonder about that myself." Enteico smiled.

The two moved aside to let someone move a wheelbarrow full of hay to the stables. Yurgen followed the man, trotting behind him without making a sound.

"Should you…?" Enteico asked, pointing at Yurgen.

"Nah. He'll be fine." Keith shrugged.

"Oh, ok. That's good, I was worried that maybe Yurgen would kick the man…"

"No, no. Yurgen'll be fine. That man better give that horse some hay if he wants to stay alive." Keith said.

"Ahh, right. Anyway, I should probably get going. Stick around and help if you can." Enteico patted Keith on the shoulder.

"Oh, well, you see I have this severe pain in my…" Keith said, holding his knee.

"Alright, alright. Take the day off, dickhead. You've been through some shit, so I suppose I can dock your pay for today and let you rest." Enteico said.

"But you don't have any money to pay me," Keith said.

"Well, that's also true, but that's a matter of perspective, isn't it?"

"From my perspective, you're broke as shit," Keith muttered.

"Yeah. Shit, we still need to pay off Psoli's debt. And it's been nearly two days since we rode out. That golden plated rhinoceros and his bitch squad are probably going to be tracking us down now, to see if we ran to avoid the debt…"

"Somehow, I managed to take down an entire clan of Assassins, save two towns and survive in a mythical dungeon, but I still can't get rid of stupid money problems. Man, screw shadow powers, I'd rather get loaded, get a nice house, maybe open up my own personal strip club…"

Yokubo cleared her throat behind Keith, making him screech like a little girl.

"Hello, Keith Alysides," Yokubo said in a monotone voice.

"Uh oh. She used my full name. Enteico, she used my full-" Keith panicked, before noticing Enteico had left, leaving nothing but a dust cloud in his place.

Keith spun around to find Enteico halfway down the street, pretending to help out some people with lifting a large sign off the entrance to their restaurant.

Oh, fuck you, bitch boy.

"Jeez, can't you at least comb your hair when you come out?" Yokubo sighed, running her hands through Keith's hair.

"Hey, hey. Come on, hands off."

"No chance of that happening any time soon." Yokubo giggled, brushing aside the front bit of hair dangling in front of Keith's face. She placed a hand on his cheek, taking a deep breath and looking longingly at his eyes.

"There we go. Now I can see that stupid, derpy smile of yours properly."

"Alright, alright. I'll…try to remember to comb it next time."

"Hehe. Ok. You got some time to walk with me?"

"Well, I got a day off as a reward for…y'know, saving the day and stuff. Don't mean to brag, but I'm a pretty big deal now." Keith shrugged nonchalantly.

"I know, I was there. I was also there when you almost got killed by a blind dude in a loincloth." Yokubo chuckled, walking down the street with Keith.

"We don't talk about that," Keith whispered, making Yokubo snicker.

They walked in silence together, smiling and waving at the townspeople. Every once in a while, they would stop to talk to some people who expressed their gratitude to Keith for saving the town, or for Yokubo to play with some kids, kicking a football for them to run after.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Keith didn't even notice that she had hooked her arm around his when they walked together, although she wasn't smiling. She seemed regretful.

"Keith…I'm really, really sor-" She whispered.

"You don't have to be. If anything, I should be thanking you. I can finally sleep without Yurgen kicking me in the face." Keith said.

"Well, that explains…a lot." She said.

"Hey!" Keith smiled while she began to softly laugh.

"I…I never asked this but…what happened when I left? I always wanted to come back and…and check up on you…but...yeah." Keith said.

"Well, I came back from a mission. I think it was the day after…the incident…and then I find out Shujin's gone…Francy's livid, breaking down and-and then everyone just keeps asking me about you. At first, I thought someone attacked the Council…kidnapped you as a hostage. Then they told me what happened."

Yokubo shook her head, fiddling with Keith's jacket.

"At first I didn't believe it. I don't think anyone did. But then, Francy spoke out as a witness. People slowly began to believe Dairokkan and eventually, the order was given to hunt you down. Until that day…until the attack on Spiti, I hoped that it was all a lie…"

Yokubo immediately noticed that Keith's smile was slowly disappearing.

"But-but I knew there was another reason for it! It didn't add up…and-and…"

"And now you know." Keith finished.

"Yeah. You sure took your time with telling me though."

Keith looked at her in surprise and then burst out laughing. "Fair enough."

They reached the end of town, walking until they reached a small hill. Violet flowers were scattered along the grass, swaying gently in the wind. A lone tree stood at the top of the hill, the leaves rustling slightly, their green color fading into a light orange at the ends.

"Afterwards, I tried to track you down. Got close a few times, though you were always one step ahead. And then one day, I…kinda lost all reason to stay with the Clan." Yokubo whispered.

Keith raised an eyebrow in question, before realizing what she meant.

"Your dad."

Yokubo lightly chuckled. "Honestly, I'm surprised he held on for that long. Francy was deranged, obsessed with hunting you down, the others either became contract killers or left the Clan the first chance they got. I don't blame them."

"And then you tried to find me."

"Yeah. Wasn't easy. Then, one day, I managed to find this white-haired schmuck who reminded me of another certain schmuck. At first, I thought that there was no way that it would be you. I mean, white hair? There was no way you thought that white hair would be a good way to disguise yourself. And then, it hit me."

"Yup, perfect way to disguise myself since all the other Assassins wouldn't assume that someone as good as I would do something like that." Keith smiled.

"Hehe. Yes, exactly. Then, you know what happened next. I was expecting you to disappear again, but you stayed." Yokubo said, resting her head on Keith's shoulder.

"I'm so glad. So glad that you stayed." She whispered, holding his hand tightly.

Keith didn't say anything, preferring to enjoy this silent moment and keep it in his memory, locked away to remind him that there would always be a light at the end of the tunnel.

"Y'know, my dad kept asking me about you when you were gone," Yokubo said, smiling.

"Yeah? Did he tell you to warn me about staying away and getting you home before 10 PM?" Keith chuckled.

"Shut up, hehe. No, quite the opposite actually. He wanted to speak to you and…uhh…" Yokubo said, turning away.

"What? Come on, tell me." Keith said, tapping her hand.

"Well…he sorta…wanted me to…move in with you."

Keith's eyes widened, looking at Yokubo, who frantically shook her head.

"I mean, it was just something that he suggested, it wasn't like I said it would be great…I mean, it would be great! But…ugh…" Yokubo hid her face with her hands.

Keith smiled, shaking his head. "Unfortunately, I live in a barn right now. You're welcome to stay if you want, but you're going to have to bring a lot of shampoo. The smell of poop and piss are very prevalent. And maybe bring a mattress as well."

"Eww, gross. I think I'll move in when you've got a proper house." She laughed.

Keith gasped. "All you care about are my material possessions, huh? Wow, Yokubo, you've changed a lot since the last time I saw you."

"Keith?" Yokubo asked, a sly grin spreading across her face.

"Yes, Miss Gold Digger?" Keith huffed.

"Why did you look at my chest when you said that I've "changed"?"

Keith's face turned red. He shook his hands in protest. "I didn't mean anything like that! Yeah, they're bigger than before, but…ugh…did I just say that out loud?"

"Mhm. I mean, I don't mind…"

Yokubo wrapped her arms around Keith's neck, looking up at him as she pressed up against his chest. She twirled her finger in Keith's hair, holding him close.

"I could let you get a closer look. I don't suppose you would be interested, right?"

YES! YES! YES!

Yokubo giggled, putting her finger on his lips before he could answer. "Anyway, that's not the reason I brought you here. I made a little something on the top of this hill. I think you would like it."

NO! NO! NO!

"Well, before that, why don't you let me do that uhm…inspection that we were talking about?" Keith said with a cheeky smile.

"Ahh, that can wait. Let's head up near that tree, come on." Yokubo said, tugging on his hand while smiling.

"You're a bloody tease, you know that?" Keith grumbled.

"Uh-huh. I'm fully aware. But, good things come to those who wait, Keith. Trust me." She giggled.

Keith rolled his eyes, before wincing in pain.

"What's wrong?" Yokubo asked him, noticing him limping as he tried to walk up the hill.

"Nothing, just…leg's a little stiff. Don't suppose you could sweep me off my feet like a knight in shining armor and carry me to the top, could you?" Keith joked, fluttering his eyelashes.

To his surprise, Yokubo lifted him off his feet, carrying him up the hill, huffing and panting.

"Y'know, I thought that this would be romantic, but you're heavy as hell! Lose some weight, for the love of god!" Yokubo wheezed, breathing heavily as she stomped up the hill.

Keith frowned at her, poking her neck lightly.

"Keith, stop! You're going to make me…stop, come on!" She said, trying to move her neck to avoid getting poked by Keith, laughing all the way.

Yokubo stumbled on a rock that she couldn't see, making the two of them tumble onto the grass, with Yokubo on top of Keith.

Keith shook his head with his eyes closed as he laughed with Yokubo.

Opening his eyes, he couldn't have asked for the universe to have given him a more breathtaking sight to behold.

Yokubo was softly smiling, lifting herself off Keith, her black eyes staring into his. The orange-green leaves of the tree they were under slowly began to flutter to the ground, swaying with Yokubo's hair that had come undone from the fall. The cool shade of the tree that they were under covered them from the clear blue sky.

Keith felt a soothing, calming wind blow through his hair, making Yokubo's long purple hair sway lightly, brushing against Keith's face. The light danced from between the leaves of the tree, lighting up her face, the world around him a beautiful symphony of blue, green, orange and purple.

Her hands were still entangled in his. An impractical desire for her to never let go arose from Keith's core, prompting him to close his fingers around hers. Keith closed his eyes once again. He could feel her body slowly slide up his chest, her lips barely a centimeter from his, her hair dangling around him. Her breath was so heavy, so close to him, that he could almost taste…

"Uhh… I guess we're here." Yokubo said, suddenly getting off Keith.

Keith cleared his throat, sitting back up. "Yeah. Yeah. Ahem. Umm…yup."

"Yup." Yokubo nodded.

The two sat in silence for a few moments, looking away from each other.

"You…uhh…I thought you had something to show me…" Keith mumbled.

"Wh…oh! Right, yes. I did…umm…follow me, it's behind this tree." She said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

She walked around the tree, with her hands behind her back. Keith noticed nothing exceptionally different about this side of the hill, apart from the fact that the entire town was visible from the hill, along with the vast countryside and plantations outside Kleise.

There wasn't a cloud to be seen for miles. The clear blue sky stretched endlessly in front of Keith. On the horizon, he could see the faint outline of a large castle from a distant kingdom.

"Yeah, it's a pretty nice view," Keith said.

Yokubo rolled her eyes, pointing at a boulder sticking out of the ground. "No, dumbass, look here."

Keith bent down, inspecting the rock closely. It seemed to be just like any other rock, aside from a few words that were scratched onto the front side of the hard surface with a light white color.

"Shujin." Keith read, looking up at Yokubo.

"Yeah…I thought you could use some closure with him…" Yokubo said, trying to convince Keith about her intentions.

"Look, Yokubo, I appreciate that you've…done something like this, but I'd rather…" Keith said before Yokubo nodded.

"I know, I know. I get it. You want to leave all of this in the past, but this is for you. Just…give it a try. Talk about what happened for a bit. Ooh, I've even got this." Yokubo said, pulling out a bottle of Moon Juice and two glasses from her inventory.

"Thank you. I mean it. But…no offence. It's just a rock. I'm not going to drink next to a rock thinking my dead grandfather's there. There's no point in talking to it…him…anymore." Keith shrugged.

"Please, just sit down. Ok? Here, I'll re-introduce you two. Shujin, this is your grandson, Keith. And Keith, this is your grandfather, Shujin." Yokubo said, slowly pulling him down to sit on the ground.

"What are you doing?" Keith asked, smiling.

"Hey, I'm trying to re-connect the two of you. It's been a few years. Cut me some slack. Ahem. Anyway, Shujin, you'll be happy to know that your grandson is now the hero and saviour of not one, but two towns! Isn't that exciting?!" Yokubo asked the rock, a little too eager.

"To be honest, he would probably be disappointed," Keith said.

"Keith, come on. You know he would be…" Yokubo said.

"He'd probably be like, "Oh, only two towns? Pshht, that's all? Pathetic."

Yokubo bit her lip, trying to hold in her laugh.

"With your skills, I would've expected you to have saved the world for the third time by now, at least. You've gotten rusty, my boy. Oh, you were traumatized by my death? Tsk, tsk, excuses, excuses." Keith said, deepening his voice and shaking his head while stroking an imaginary beard.

"Hehehe. I mean, he's not wrong. You suck." Yokubo giggled.

The two laughed together, imitating Shujin talking to the two of them before Yokubo stood up.

"Umm…anyway, I'll let you two have some privacy." Yokubo smiled, walking behind the tree.

Keith waited until the sounds of footsteps stopped. He turned around to the rock, looking down at the grey stone. He poured a glass of Moon Juice for himself.

"So…so-uh, hey Gramps. How've you been doing in uhh…heaven or hell…or the ethereal void? If you're in heaven, I guess that's cool. If you're in hell, hope you…umm, I dunno. I guess you'd probably give the demons one hell of a time. Eh? Eh?" Keith mumbled, before clearing his throat.

He took a small sip of the Moon Juice. For some reason, the liquid didn't change anything. Keith looked in front of him, sitting next to the stone. He could see the entire town from here.

"I guess…you'd probably want to know what I've been up to. Yeah, umm…I've been working at a shop…well, technically worked at a shop. It kinda got destroyed when our…when the Assassins attacked the town it was located in. Turns out that my boss...though I don't really call him that, cause he's a dumbass, but-but a good one…he's got some super cool sword, so the Assassins were after him."

"Oh, yeah. Speaking of which, I managed to survive in a mythical dungeon. And uhh, save two towns, but you probably already heard that from Yokubo. Yeah, that's Yokubo. Yup. She got really hot. We're still good friends. Though, let's be honest, we both know there's something more. We're not stupid. Not in that way, at least." Keith chuckled.

Keith traced the mouth of his glass with his finger, staring at the liquid inside.

"I wish you gave me a choice."

Keith looked at the stone, feeling something sting the corners of his eyes.

"I wish we could've found another way to…some other way. Maybe at that time, it seemed like there wasn't, but there could've been. I just wish that you talked to me. That you told me what you were going through and how…just how much it really affected you. Though, I'm not really one to judge…heh."

Keith sniffed, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. "It's ok, though. There were a few people that told me…repeatedly…that I didn't have to go through it all alone like you did. Enteico…he's uhh…the guy I told you about-good friend. Umm…then Yokubo, obviously. And then, there's…I mean, Felix exists. I wouldn't call him a friend, per se. But he's around. Makes me feel smart."

Keith chuckled, before remembering something important.

"Ooh, ooh! And there's this one kid-her name's Zimmi. Now, lemme tell you something, ok Gramps? Kids? I hate 'em. They're annoying and small…and whine and cry so much, plus Enteico's already there for that. God, I can't imagine what you were thinking when you made my parents. Guess that sex was really worth it, huh?"

Keith cringed at the image, before smiling and softly laughing to himself.

"So-so, get this alright? Then, along comes Zimmi. She's like, exactly the type of daughter you would raise, y'know? Always trying to see the good in people, even when those people are trying to kill her. Man…and get this. She's something called a Gifted, which basically means she's got superpowers! And she's got these badass electricity powers! Sick, right Grampa?!"

Keith's smile slightly faded as he looked at the rock next to him, but still continued with his story.

"Everyone, in some way…even Felix…they sorta helped me move on from what happened. I killed Dairokkan, by the way. Tough fight. I…I could use some pointers on how to repay them, so…I guess some kinda…sign from the beyond or something would be great. I dunno." Keith mumbled.

Nothing happened. A violet flower blew onto Keith's lap.

Keith smiled. "Yeah, I guess I owe her a lot. Owe all of them. Maybe I can figure out how to handle the others on my own, but with Yokubo…it's a little complicated. I'm not really sure what she…wants…"

"Keith…"

Keith looked at the voice, coming from the rock. To his surprise, he saw his grandfather dressed in a white robe, glowing in a radiant light, his eyes closed as he exuded ethereal energy.

"Grandpa?!"

"Keith, my boy. I have heard your request and I shall grant you the answer."

Sujin's voice vibrated with energy, resonating within Keith's soul. Keith nodded, looking up at his grandfather. "Yes! Please tell me, Grandfather!"

Shujin bent down, looking closer at Keith, his tired eyes now at peace. He placed a hand on his grandson's shoulder.

Before he slapped Keith with a resounding thwack.

"What the hell do you think she wants, dumbass? She wants some of that Alysides di…"

"Ok, Ok! I get it! Geez, you didn't have to slap me like that. How did you do that anyway?" Keith asked, holding a hand against his stinging cheek.

"Even from the great beyond, grandparents retain their ability to knock some sense into their grandkids. Also, is this really how you see me? You couldn't get me some actual clothes?! Come on, boy!" Shujin sighed.

Keith shook his head, making the glowing Shujin disappear as he blinked his eyes. He took the Moon Juice bottle and studied the label.

Man, Yokubo must've gotten some extra potent Moon Juice.

Keith waited for a while, sitting next to his Grandfather. He could see the Monarch Foundation, the stadium and the orphanage. A little girl poked her head out of a window from her room, looking at the children playing outside.

Keith looked at the Shujin's memorial stone next to him and smiled.

"I won't let you down, Gramps. I'm going to make the final push, just like you wanted. It'll take some time…but I promise. I'll fulfill your wish, one step at a time." Keith said, pouring some more Moon Juice into his glass.

Keith clinked the glass against the stone, before pouring the Moon Juice over the stone. "Good stuff, right? I made it myself, improved upon your formula. I'll uhh…leave this bottle for you. I'll come by every once in a while and catch up."

Keith got up, taking one last glance over his shoulder to look at the memorial stone before he limped over to where Yokubo was standing.

"Hey."

"Hey, all done?" Yokubo asked Keith.

"Yup. There's uhh…one more thing I need to do." Keith said, looking in the direction of the orphanage.

Yokubo nodded, following Keith's gaze. "Of course. I'll help you get there, and then I'm going to go and help the others distribute the emergency supplies from the Central Kingdom. Oh, and Keith?"

"Yeah?" Keith asked, wrapping his arm around Yokubo's shoulder as they walked down the hill.

"When you're in there, try not to make any orphan jokes. Focus on patching things up with Zimmi, ok?" Yokubo smiled.

Keith chuckled. "Noted."

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