In the vast emptiness within the void.

She slowly opened her eyes, but saw nothing.

It was as dark as usual.

How long had it been now?

Years, decades, centuries… it could even be almost a millennia by now.

Confined to a small black space, where nothing but absolute darkness existed all around her, it was difficult to follow the flow of time…

Her body was trapped, paralyzed, chained.

Like a caterpillar that lost its many little legs, the very thing it prided itself on.

How far she had fallen now.

What a joke.

What was worse than the long unending wait, was the deep sense of loneliness that came with her predicament.

But it wasn’t all in vain, she still had faith.

Faith that the day will come when the person she had long waited for will finally find her and break her chains.

He will help her seek her vengeance, to destroy this world.

He won’t abandon her, as many before him did.

He will finally set her free.

And so, she waited.

And waited….

And waited….

One by one, many came for her, tried to use her for their own ends, tried to take advantage of her power…

And time after time again, they all succumbed to the greed deep within them, to the lust, to the wrath, to the madness.

They were not worthy of her.

They were not him.

And so, she continued to wait.

And wait….

And wait…

And wait…

Until finally, she felt a sudden change in the world itself.

Somewhere, far away from anywhere she had been throughout her life, he had been finally born.

Someone with enough potential to threaten the rules of this world.

He was not the one that was chosen to save this world, no.

His purpose was far more rewarding than that.

Far more exhilarating.

Now, all she needed to do was wait a little bit longer and gather as much energy as she could to welcome him.

The time drew closer and closer…

The time for a rejected, paralyzed, chained, lonely, confined, cursed caterpillar to finally change, to transform.

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The time to become a butterfly.

But in the end, when she finally found him…

It had still been too early…

He wasn’t ready yet.

And just like that, it was time for her to go back to the absolute darkness.

Time for a butterfly to change back to a mere caterpillar again.

Time to resume her long wait once more.

How far down will she continue to fall?

What a terrible joke.

**👑**

The past flashed in her mind before she quickly snapped out of her daze and came back to reality.

A reality she did not want to accept as she lowered her head and looked down.

Her shadowy hands slowly faded away into nothingness.

Her time had come to an end.

“Well, it was only a matter of time anyway…” She whispered to herself and narrowed her eyes as she looked back up towards the distant sky. It was hidden by the foggy clouds and the luminescent cliff sides on both ends, denying her a last glimpse of the moon. “I just thought I would be more content with it.”

Then she turned, her body still hovering in the air, and took a glance at the rising dust cloud where the giant gate used to be.

At the very least, she had accomplished what she wanted for now.

“...!!”

As the boy took a step forward and started walking towards her, sudden cold shivers ran down Lawkey’s spine.

His stomach muscles tightened and his hands began to shake despite the rising heat rushing to his head.

His steps quickly turned to jogging, and then running.

“No… No! You can’t…!!” He began to shout, to reject what he was seeing.

“I told you, you can’t die on me!”

He reached up to her, hoping to grab on to her and never let go…

But the moment his hand tried to take grip and hold onto her, it went through the air instead.

All he could reach were the fading shadows that once formed her feet.

“Dammit! Stop and listen to me!” He shouted in anger, spouting unreasonable demands.

“Silly boy, I’m not dying. I just don’t have the power to take up any physical form anymore.” Her silhouette hovered above him as it continued rising higher in the air, “I’m glad I was able to at least guide you here, there should be people here who are willing to help you.”

Her tone was calm as she delivered those words, trying her best to be gentle and reassuring.

“No! Please… everyone is gone. They all left… Please…” He desperately pleaded with her, eyes filled with tears.

“I can’t… I can’t do this alone…”

He kept trying to reach up to her fading figure.

“Please don’t leave me too!”

“You’ll be fine, kid. You have a way to make people care about you, I’m sure you’ll manage until we’re able to meet again.”

She smiled softly as her torso began fading into the shadows of the valley too, merging with darkness around.

“When will that be?! How long?! Tomorrow? The day after?” He tried to bargain as his pupils trembled.

“I don’t know, it will be years until I’ve gathered enough power again.” She paused, softening her eyes, “I’ll still be watching you… as I always have…”

“No way… why… WHY?!” He blurted out in frustration, his voice quickly rising, only for it to fall back down just as fast, “I… I don’t even know your name…”

It wasn’t long before the Shadowy Woman’s entire figure had been turned to nothingness, only her head remained as she continued to try and reassure him.

She needed to hold on just a bit longer…

Just a tiny bit longer…

She needed… wanted to do at least this much for him.

“This always happens… Everyone I care about… They all…” The boy fell to his knees, tears running down his face.

The woman didn’t know how to cheer him up properly, but she had noticed one thing that had kept him going despite everything that happened to him recently.

{Promise me.}

“Huh?” He looked up, taken aback by hearing her voice in his mind again.

That could only mean one thing…

He saw her face slowly fading away, only her two glowing pink eyes staring down at him.

{Promise me… that you will come for me. That you will not keep me waiting for long.}

“...”

He quickly wiped away his tears and stood up.

“I will! I promise you! No matter where you are, no matter how long it takes me… I’ll find you!” He promised her, his emerald eyes glowing with determination.

No matter what happens now, he looked towards the future. He was willing to endure for now, willing to wait for the time he could finally be happy… Even if it meant he would have to let her go for now…

He had accepted it, as hard as that was.

{Good. Don’t be too long, but don’t be too early either. I don’t want to have to deal with a kid for the next few years.}

He watched as the last remnants of her face completely faded away into nothingness, not a shred of her remained.

{As for my name… one day… I hope to be able to share it with you…}

Lawkey covered his face with his arm, his sleeve quickly turning damp, as her last words lingered in his mind.

“Damn you, you just had to get the last word in. Heh.” He forced a chuckle through his tears.

“I will definitely find you! And we’ll do it all together, eating pancakes, finding the Leviathan, killing that damned elder freak, we’ll do it all!” He stood up as he proclaimed proudly to himself, his two eyes lighting up.

“Even if it’s the last thing we do!”

After another moment, Lawkey picked up his chest box and gripped the handle of the sword still sitting on his back.

He stood in front of the destroyed giant gate, the cloud of dust covering most of the view.

Just like earlier, it was time again.

Time to keep moving forward, to survive.

Many lives were lost today, many precious ones sacrificed to protect and save him.

{She} had done her utmost to bring him here. {She} used {her} precious energy to save him, to banter with him, to create a path for him…

To make sure he was safe and determined to move on.

He wasn’t going to let {her}, or their efforts go to waste.

From this point on, he would keep moving forward.

And with that, he took his first step toward the destroyed gate, quickly disappearing into the cloud of dust that led into the unknown.

However, unknown to him, the valley far in the distance was experiencing another wave of trembles.

Not on the same level as it had experienced earlier, but strong enough to still slightly shake its rocky cliffs.

There was a score that still needed to be settled, one that was very fresh, and one that has been over half a decade in the making.

But for that to happen, someone needed to enter the scene.

Someone who the beast knew very well, as it had a score of its own to settle with him.

It had waited years for this moment.

The moment when it could finally avenge its two lost heads.

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image [https://i.imgur.com/KQmIY8F.png]