--- [Leo’s perspective]
Seth reaches up towards the ceiling.
Lightning keeps spilling out of his eyes.
He quickly slams his arm down on the ground, and a lightning dragon crashes down towards me.
I’ve never used done it twice in the same day before, but I have no choice…
“Hellfire!” – Leo
Hellfire forcefully erupts out of my body and blocks the dragon.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” – Seth
Seth keeps screaming as he pours everything he has into the attack.
My hellfire is getting pushed back…
I can’t let that happen.
I need to increase my output.
My entire body starts violently shaking as I use up every last drop of stamina I have left.
My hellfire continues to grow and grow, but the dragon keeps piercing through.
“AHHHHHH!!!” – Seth
“AHHHHHH!!!” – Leo
The lightning is so bright that it feels like my eyes are burning up.
My fire grows even more, and shortly after, it consumes his lightning.
The moment the dragon is stopped, my fire fades away.
I fall to my knees and start coughing up blood.
Seth is breathing heavy, but he’s still standing…
“I knew you were strong, but I would have never imagined that you could stop my Thundergod’s wrath in that condition… I could never beat you in a fair fight.” – Seth
He’s not gonna be able to use that anymore, but that doesn’t mean it’s over…
He doesn’t hesitate at all; he sends a thunderbolt right at me.
I can’t stop it in time…
“GHGHGHGHGHGHH!!H!G!H!GH!!!!” – Leo
I fall down on my stomach.
I…
It feels like I’m losing my consciousness…
No…!
I need to stay awake!
He walks over to me, and pick me up my hair.
My body is limp; unable to move.
“Goodbye, Leo.” – Seth
He launches his arm straight towards my chest.
No…
Not yet…
!!
Alex…
I’m sorry.
…
His arm pierces right through my heart…
With my last breath, I give it my all.
I grab his face with my hand, and I push my index finger right into his left eye.
“Hellfire…” – Leo
I use up my remaining life force, using hellfire once again.
He screams in pain and drops me.
The fire fades away, but he’s still alive…
The left side of his face is completely charred, and his eye is gone.
Even if there was one here, not even a B-rank healer could heal him.
That scar will stay with him forever.
But…
This is the end for me.
Alex, I’m sorry that I can’t be there for you anymore.
I know a lot of hardships await you now, and I desperately wanted to keep you away from this, but I can’t anymore…
I pray for your safety.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
I pray for your wellbeing.
But more than anything else, I pray that you’ll live a good life.
Find yourself friends that you can trust, people you can love.
I don’t have any more time, but that’s okay…
I trust that you’ll take it from here.
Goodbye, lil bro.
--- [Victor’s perspective] back at the guild hall
“He should have been back by now… This can only mean one thing…” – Victor
“You don’t mean…?” – Lexa
I look her in the eyes, but I don’t say a word.
She understands…
Tears start flowing uncontrollably out of her eyes.
“No… NO!!!” – Lexa
People start staring at her, but no one says a word.
We’re all hunters; they know…
I get up from the table.
She grabs me with one arm, and wipes away the tears with the other.
The tears don’t stop flowing, so she gives up trying to wipe them away.
“Where are you going…?” – Lexa
“I’m gonna talk to the guild master…” – Victor
“What…? The guild master?” – Lexa
The guild master isn’t someone that you can just go and talk to whenever you want.
She understands that it has something to do with what Leo told me; what I couldn’t tell her.
She lets go of my arm, and I walk away.
--- Almost three months later
I’ve tried my hardest for a while now to get a meeting with the guild master, and it’s finally happening.
I need to inform him of what Leo told me; he’s the only person I can trust with this information.
I’m outside the guild master’s room.
There are no guards, no locks, no seal made of Divinity to keep people out.
Nothing…
But it makes sense, he’s not someone who needs to be protected.
I knock on the door.
“Come in.” – Guild Master
I open the door, and enter the room.
He’s sitting right there in front of me…
I’ve never seen him in person before.
Not that I can see much now either…
He’s sitting in a tall chair facing away from me.
“I heard that you needed my help, Victor. I’m sorry it took so long before we could set up a meeting, I’m a busy man.” – Guild Master
He knows my name?
“I understand, there is no need to apologize, Master.” – Victor
“So, what did you want?” – Guild Master
“I have a request.” – Victor
“Oh?” – Guild Master
“There is someone I need to train, and I need your permission to bring an A-rank hunter to watch over him while he trains.” – Victor
“An A-rank hunter just to watch over someone while you train him? Do you understand what kind of request you’re making right now?” – Guild Master
“Yes.” – Victor
“…” – Guild Master
“His name is Alex Minima, he’s the younger brother of Leo Minima.” – Victor
“The C-rank hunter who sadly passed away after another one of our C-rank hunters betrayed us…” – Guild Master
“Yes.” – Victor
“I understand wanting to help the family of fellow guild mates, but I can’t just send out A-rank hunters like that. You know that…” – Guild Master
“He told me something before he died…” – Victor
“What did he tell you?” – Guild Master
--- Right before Leo and Seth started fighting
“Victor, come over here for a second.” – Leo
“Victor? You never call me that.” – Victor
“Just do it.” – Leo
“What’s this about?” – Victor
He continues to maintain eye contact with Seth while I walk over to him.
He leans towards me and whispers into my ear.
“Victor, if I’m not back at the guild hall within two hours, that means I’m dead.” – Leo
What?
Dead?!
What’s going on?!
“Seth is a part of an organization called ‘The END’, and they’re hunting down both me and my brother.” – Leo
“What do you mea-” – Victor
“Just listen!” – Leo
He’s serious…
“If I don’t return, I need you to go train Alex. He’s defenseless as he is now. If it comes to that, you can’t let him know I’m dead. It would break him… Make sure everyone in the guild knows, he can’t find out. Not yet at least…” – Leo
“Don’t talk like tha-” – Victor
“VICTOR!” – Leo
“…” – Victor
“The reason why they’re coming after us… The reason why all of this is happening… I’ve never told anyone this before. Not even Alex knows… But I’m going to tell you. I trust you. There’s only two people you can share this information to. It’s the Guild Master and Alex himself. No one else, not even Lexa. Me and Alex, we’re both…” – Leo
--- Back in the Guild Master’s room
“I see. Then I guess there is no other option. I’ll send an A-rank hunter there right away. He’ll arrive there before you, but that’s ok. With him there, you have nothing to worry about. No one will be able to harm either of you.” – Guild Master
“Thank you. Truly, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you…” – Victor
“Don’t worry about it, Victor. I’m sure Alex will be a great asset for our guild soon. Knowing what I now know, it’s in everyone’s best interest that we do this.” – Guild Master
Finally!
I was so worried about Alex that I had to check up on him a couple times myself while waiting for my meeting with the guild master.
I watched over him from a distance, but I never made contact.
They haven’t gone after him yet, but there’s no way to know when they might…
--- The day Victor meets Alex
“Absolutely not! Alex is not becoming a hunter. It’s way too dangerous!” – Alex’s mother
I let out a deep sigh.
“Alex, can you wait outside. I need to talk to your mother alone for a minute.” – Victor
“Okay…?” – Alex
He walks outside, and I close the door behind him so he can’t hear us.
“You should sit down.” – Victor
“I’ve already told you, I won’t let him become a hunter!” – Alex’s mother
“Just sit.” – Victor
“… Fine.” – Alex’s mother
We both sit down, and I look into her eyes.
I don’t want to drag this out any longer; I’ll have to be blunt about it.
“Your son is dead. Leo… Leo is dead.” – Victor
“Wha… What?” – Alex’s mother
She looks more confused than anything; it’s like she can’t process what I just said.
“I’m sorry. He was my best friend, I cared for him a lot.” – Victor
“No… Nononono… NO! NO!!!” – Alex’s mother
She starts hysterically crying.
“Listen… I know it’s hard to hear, but it’s the truth.” – Victor
Her sadness quickly turns to anger.
She stands up and she slaps me.
“HOW DARE YOU COME HERE AND TRY TO CONVINCE ME TO LET ALEX BECOME A HUNTER WHEN YOU KNOW JUST HOW DANGEROUS IT IS! I WON’T LET MY OTHER SON DIE TOO!” – Alex’s mother
“I understand, but-” – Victor
“BUT? BUT WHAT? I DON’T CARE IF WE’RE POOR, I DON’T CARE IF WE’RE STARVING! WE’LL FIND A WAY! I WON’T LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO HIM!” – Alex’s mother
“That’s not why…” – Victor
“THEN WHY?” – Alex’s mother
“Leo didn’t just die, he was killed… And the people who killed him WILL go after Alex one day too. It’ll happen sooner or later, nothing can prevent that. His only hope of survival is to become strong enough to defend himself.” – Victor
“… But…” – Alex’s mother
She sits back down and her anger fades away.
She once again starts crying.
“This was Leo’s last wish… He made me promise to train Alex, and I will follow through on that promise no matter what… Trust me, I won’t let anything happen to Alex. Right now, there is an A-rank hunter looking out for us. He’ll stay here until Alex is ready to become a hunter himself.” – Victor
“…” – Alex’s mother
“I know this next part will be hard, but… You can’t let Alex know about Leo. He told me that too…” – Victor
“What? But…” – Alex’s mother
“Your job for the time being will be to pretend like everything is fine. I know it’s hard, but you have to do it. Even now… You’ll wipe away your tears, and act like nothing happened. If he asks why you suddenly changed your mind, make up an excuse. He cannot know. Okay?” – Victor
“Okay… I understand…” – Alex’s mother
I give her a minute to collect herself.
She wipes away her tears and washes her face.
He can’t find out that she was crying.
When she feels like she’s ready, we open the door.
“Alex, I’ve got good news!” – Victor
We both walk over to him.
“Fine, I’ll allow you to become a hunter.” – Alex’s mother
“Really?!!” – Alex
“Yup!” – Victor
“AWESOME!” – Alex
--- Divinity: Part 1 THE END