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Down With The Gods
Chapter 63 - Broken Souls

Chapter 63 - Broken Souls

The team, only just realizing the situation, screams in horror, crying for their friend. Wyn opens an emergency portal and urgently orders everyone inside. As they rush through, Wyn propels himself toward Anish, catching what’s left of him before it hits the ground. The cyclone hurls Wyn, crashing him into the mountains on the opposite side. Holding Anish’s arm, the one still wearing the band on his wrist, and body tightly, tears spill from his eyes as he checks on his friends across the battlefield. Once they’ve all escaped, Wyn summons a portal and exits, cradling Anish’s remains.

Wyn arrives at campsite number nine to find Cateta in the lobby, consoling the remaining team members. The moment they see Wyn holding Anish's lifeless body, the team, except Christine and James, rushes to him, enveloping the lifeless Anish in a tight embrace. Throughout it all, Wyn never lets go of Anish – instinctively pulling the body back whenever it feels like someone’s trying to take him away. The sobs and cries fill the room, but not a single word is spoken.

“You killed him,” Christine suddenly accuses, her voice choked with sobs as tears stream down her face.

“What are you talking about? He didn’t kill Anish,” Yu protests, his voice strained as he gasps for breath.

“You…could’ve, like, sent yourself. Instead,...you, like,....sent him to his death.” Christine’s words falter as she struggles to hold back her tears.

The team falls silent, their collective grief too heavy to break the tension. They don’t fully believe Christine’s accusation, but their sorrow leaves them voiceless in Wyn’s defense.

“You’re…right. I killed him. I panicked and misjudged the situation,” Wyn admits, his voice trembling with guilt and pain.

“No! It’s not your fault!” Mira tries to interject, her words breaking off as she’s overwhelmed by her emotions.

As the commotion draws other souls in the lobby to the entryway, the situation becomes worse.

“Is…is that a dead body? Get it out of here! Cateta, do something!” a stranger demands.

“FUCK OFF. I’LL KILL YOU ALL IF YOU TOUCH HIM,” Wyn yells, his voice a raw mix of rage and anguish.

“He killed his own friend. He admitted it. He’s a team killer!” Christine shouts, doing her best to not utter the word “like.”

The crowd murmurs in shock as Cateta steps in, trying to comfort Wyn and gently asking him to move Anish, all without a single joke as she speaks. Wyn, however, ignores the pleas. He carries Anish, carefully laying the arm over the body, and heads toward his tent.

Christine’s voice, heavy with unspoken accusations and raw sorrow, echoes as she calls after him.

“I…like, I can’t just be on a team with a killer,” she says, her voice still shaken. “Come with me, Yu. We’ll, like, find a new team.”

Wyn pauses momentarily but continues to carry Anish to his tent without a response. His team follows him closely, except for Yu.

“That’s enough, Christine. If you want to leave, leave,” Yu says firmly.

“Like, grow up already! James? Like, you want to leave too, right?” Christine asks, still unsettled.

James remains silent but continues to follow Wyn.

“You don’t deserve this team. You don’t deserve me,” Yu says, walking off toward Wyn’s tent.

Mira, limping and supported by Lisa, halts and opens her arms to Yu. Yu steps into the embrace, tears streaming down his face.

“You’ve grown so much. I’m so proud of you,” Mira says, her own tears mingling with his.

Seeing Wyn struggle to carry Anish, James steps forward and silently offers a hand. Together, they carefully bring Anish into Wyn’s tent. Once inside, Wyn swiftly sweeps the AI off the table with a kick.

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“Meow?!” the AI responds to being kicked.

The four members sit around the table, except for James, who rests near Wyn’s sleeping bag, leaning against the tent wall with a vacant stare. Anish’s remains have already begun to disintegrate, turning gradually into sparkling essence dust. Tears begin to flow as the four souls tightly hold hands. Wyn's head hangs low, his tears dripping onto the table. Worried about him, Mira keeps her eyes on Wyn, squeezing his hand a little tighter in silent support.

“It’s sad we didn’t get to say goodbye to him. Soon, we’ll have nothing to remember him by but our memories…not even his band,” Wyn says, struggling to finish his speech.

Until the final moments of the disintegration, all members watch Anish slowly vanish right before their eyes. The room suddenly fills with overwhelming emotion. James, still seated near Wyn’s sleeping bag, buries his face in his arms, his body trembling as he tries to contain his grief. Yu and Lisa, overcome by the weight of the loss, move closer to Wyn and Mira, forming a group hug as they all share the pain of losing their dear friend.

“It’s never easy to lose a friend,” Lisa says, crying. “Let’s honor him by absorbing his essence. We won’t let his death be in vain.”

“The big man will become part of us all now. We’ll be carrying him with us everywhere we go,” Yu says.

James quietly joins the team, his eyes red and swollen, remaining silent as they absorb the last of Anish’s essence. The shimmering dust finally vanishes. Officially, Anish is no more.

Wyn, overwhelmed by sorrow, asks his team to leave so he can grieve alone, but Mira and Yu refuse.

“I can’t go through this alone,” Yu says, his voice trembling.

Mira, though feeling the same way as Yu, is deeply concerned about Wyn's mental state. While she doesn't express it directly to him, she silently vows not to let Wyn out of her sight.

As the days of grieving pass, exhaustion settles in, and Yu, James, and Lisa eventually fall asleep on the floor. With Mira still by his side, Wyn sets the AI back on the table and begins asking the question he already knows the answer to.

“Is there a chance of life after this?”

“No. If you are not reborn, then you are done.”

Wyn, Yu, and Mira sit around the flickering campfire. They’ve been swapping horror stories, each rating the other's tale. Unlike Yu and Mira, who recount stories they’ve heard, Wyn shares a couple of his own direct experiences, ultimately securing himself the win.

As the night deepens, Wyn and Mira watch Yu perform with a guitar, singing tunes with his clean calming voice. Suddenly, a massive bear emerges out of the bushes. Yu and Mira scream in terror, scrambling behind Wyn for safety. Wyn, equally shaken, freezes, his wide eyes locked on the towering figure. But something familiar about the bear catches his eye. Upon closer inspection, Wyn realizes – he remembers that physique.

Sure enough, Anish pulls off the realistic bear mask, laughing as he reveals himself. Yu and Mira, their fear quickly turning to playful outrage, smack Anish on the arms for scaring them. Proud of his accomplishment, Anish settles by the fire and begins sharing scary myths from his home country.

Just as the group feels a sense of camaraderie under the stars, Wyn wakes up beside Mira near the table, tears streaming down his face. Soon after, the alarm goes off, waking the rest of the team. Mira, who had stayed up last, had set the alarm.

“Let’s go outside and do something together,” Mira suggests.

Yu and Lisa nod in agreement, but Wyn pauses, looking down at the floor, lost in thought.

“You know, I used to believe that funerals are for the living, not the dead,” Wyn says. “It’s where we come together to mourn and start to move on. This feels like that.” He pauses, then forces a smile. “Thanks to you all, I feel better now, but I still need some time alone. It’s how I cope. I promise we’ll do something fun later to take our minds off this.”

“You promise?” Mira demands, her gaze fixed on Wyn.

“I love you all. You too, slenderman,” he says with a big smile, though James remains silent and unresponsive.

The genuine smile eases the tension among the team, and they finally respect Wyn’s request for solitude.

“We’ll come back in five hours. Is that enough?” Mira asks.

“Let’s make it ten, please.”

As the four exit Wyn’s tent, Yu checks the membership menu and sees that Christine has removed herself from the team. Mira, limping toward Yu, wraps her arm around his neck and gives him a gentle nose kiss. Yu looks back at Mira, his silent smile showing appreciation. The group then heads into Yu’s tent, each seeking comfort in the company of the others.

Inside the tent, James silently leans against the wall, as he did in Wyn’s tent. Yu picks up his guitar and, sitting in the middle with Lisa, begins to play a song. The tunes, though in a language the others can’t understand, evoke deep emotion, moving the team to tears. Noticing James’ change from staring blankly to burying his head in his arms, Mira moves closer to him.

“How are you holding up? You’ve been awfully quiet,” Mira asks, gently patting James on the head.

James suddenly lifts his head and rests it on Mira’s shoulder, tears streaming down his face.

“I died once and came close to death here. Anish’s death, I don’t know how to react. I’m scared. I’m scared I won’t get to say my goodbyes again.”

Yu sets down his guitar, and the four come together for a silent group hug, finding solace in each other's presence.