Arc 4: What families entail

Road to a Hero:

Three chances in another world

Chapter 38. Two sides of the same coin

Gray wakes up in a soft bed, he quickly gets up to find himself in a dirty crummy cabin. He looks over to see a tall manly man washing the dishes.

Gray: “Um…hello?”

The man: “Hey Gray.”

Gray {That voice…no way…}

The man turns around, and Gray gets a good look at his rough face. The stubble on his face, messy black hair, the terrible brand scar on his eye, and the heavy bags on his eyes distract from Gray's thoughts. But the man's eyes, his stern, serious, and angry eyes.

Gray: “Edward?”

Edward: “Yeah…”

Gray: “You’re alive?”

Edward: “Yep.”

Gray: “And you’re living in a crummy shack?”

Edward: “Right again.”

Gray: “Damn…SHIT WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?”

Edward: “I was running towards the castle and I saw some Red Arrows coming out of a secret entrance in the sidewalk. They told me about tunnels under the castle so I went in the tunnels to get to the castle faster. Walking around down there…I found something important.”

Gray: “What?”

Edward: “I found a false wall that leads into the castle. I was sneaking around when I heard Caesar, Julius, and some guy with golden hair talking…and I think the man was holding Peter.”

Gray: “OH SHIT! I FORGOT ABOUT CAESAR!”

Edward: “Well I think he just walked out of the castle.”

Gray: “Oh.”

Edward: “I was going to save Peter but I think Julius knew I was there…and started talking about trading his life for Peters. He told the man to take him to the front gate and wait for you and the rest of our friends to get there. So I snuck back into the tunnels, Julius kept talking so I could find his voice, and I waited. I waited until the perfect moment…I heard you scream Cenic so I grabbed you and collapsed a part of the tunnels so they couldn’t follow.”

Gray: “That's pretty smart of Julius, like really smart. And you too I guess.”

Edward: “Yeah…so I guess you’ll be going now?”

Gray: “You’re not coming?”

Edward: “No…I got stuff to do here with the pirates.”

Gray: “Look, I don’t wanna sound insensitive but you gotta do that later. We need your help now.”

Edward: “I know…but I can’t.”

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Gray: “Why!?”

Edward: “BECAUSE I HAVE TO OKAY…and If I do Lincoln will come help you guys.”

Gray: “Lincoln? As in, THE Lincoln Valentine? World's Strongest man?”

Edward: “Yeah the one and only.”

Gray: “So where is he?”

Edward: “Out…and also I need you to tell Leo something.”

Gray: “You can tell him when you get to the base.”

Edward: “NO! I said…no…”

Gray: “Look I don’t care, we don’t have enough power to win the coming battle.”

Edward: “You don’t have to win this anymore…in a few months the volcano is gonna blow and destroy Athens.”

Gray: “WHAT!?”

Edward: “Yeah…and I can’t scare away the pirates or I might not ever find them again. This could be my only chance to get vengeance, you have to understand that”

Gray: “LOOK EDWARD! If you know this we have to get everyone out of Athens!”

Edward: “I KNOW THAT! But we have a while so…”

Gray: “SO NOTHING! WE GOTTA GO NOW!”

Edward: “Look Gray, I don’t know how many times I have to say it…we can’t…I can’t and you can’t.”

Gray: “EDWARD I GET THAT YOU’RE SAD AND ALL BUT YOU GOTTA SHUT UP AND MOVE, THIS IS LIFE OR DEATH SO NO PERSONAL SHIT!”

Edward: “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Gray: “What are you getting at?”

Edward: “I said what the hell is wrong with you?”

Gray: “Nothing…what the hell is wrong with you?”

Edward: “Why do you treat me like shit?”

Gray: “Dude shut up, I don't have time for this. The mission is more important, you of all people should know this. Mr. Helsing.”

Edward: “WHY DO YOU TREAT ME LIKE SHIT!? ALL I’VE DONE IS HELP YOU! AND YOU TREAT ME LIKE AN OUTSIDER! LIKE I DON’T BELONG! WHY, WHY, WHY!?”

Gray: “I DON’T KNOW!”

Edward: “Even now…you thought I was dead and when you figure out I was alive you don’t even flinch…You only use me to get further with what you want…you go out of your way for everyone else but me? No, let him die.”

Gray: “Okay what about in the mansion? I came back for you.”

Edward: “Because Rosemary talked you into it. I’ve known you as long as you’ve known Soku and Rosemary…with only a few hours difference. And yet when I first met you, you stood back obviously jealous.”

Gray: “Jealous? Of you? I’m laughing.”

Edward: “No, no you’re not gonna do that. You were standoffish back at the mansion and only talked to me if you had to. Same at Greenvale, and now here.”

Gray: “Because…IF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW IT’S BECAUSE YOU’RE STUCK UP!”

Edward: “The hell do you mean stuck up?”

Gray: “You this big strong guy, the black hair, the big sword, even your personality…you seem…I don’t know…fake, untrustworthy…expendable…But that’s what I thought…because I was jealous but then I learned about you…I don’t have those feelings anymore.”

Edward: “Oh, because you’ve changed? You haven't changed, you act the same way you always have. Loud, obnoxious, whiny, and like a child. You got lucky, you were gifted with immense mana, a great spiritual connection, and a you're damn prodigy at that. Then your giant ego gets stomped on, you bitch about it…you screamed at Rosemary and acted like some broken man…but you’re just…a loser. Your life was boring so you gave up, and then of course you got blessed. Get chance after chance, and waste it.”

Gray: “OHHHHH! YOU’RE JEALOUS! Your life sucks so much you’re mad that I’m better than you. You get born into a rich and famous family, you get gifted with wondrous strength and a great future. But you wasted it, and that’s not on me.”

Edward: “You know nothing about me…MY LIFE IS HORRIBLE; I HAVE NOTHING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I was raised without ever meeting my father, then I watched my stepfather and mother get murdered…I saw my mother's head get eaten off… watched my island burn to the ground, and then I trained and trained until I dropped with no luck…then I saw my grandpa get murdered, my home burn down, my cousin get turned into a pool of blood by a madman, and my last family member get his soul ripped out…then I see the man that set me on this endless path…and he tosses me out like trash…I mean nothing to a man that means everything to me. I have talked to other kids born into high wealth and they all talk of wanting exciting lives, lives like story books…all I’ve ever wanted was a calm, boring, no-stakes existence… something you had and gave up.”

Gray: “DON’T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT!? I gave up because I was stuck, I had no hope, no want, I had nothing…but in hindsight, I abandoned everything I needed…I LEFT THEM! AT LEAST YOU KNOW YOUR FAMILY IS DEAD, I’LL NEVER SEE MINE AGAIN! MY MOTHER, MY FATHER, MY HOUSE, MY WHOLE GODDAMN WORLD WAS TAKEN FROM ME! I WILL NEVER GET THAT BACK DAMMIT!"

And for a moment, they were quiet. What they had said, true or not, was everything they had held in until now. The stress, anger, sadness, regret. The question Gray had kept asking himself, "What should I do now?", continued to be answered by, "Follow the mission". The problems he had faced all resulted from his eternal struggle, so if he did all of the things people told him to do then he could never mess it up by being himself. A solider, instead of a person. But Edward's lived this life, but Moro, that man that took everything, it was a source of rage and pain he had held as his goal for so long. But being a solider meant to push that down, however, he just couldn't. So with Edward and Gray standing at opposite sides of the line constant they just seemed to need to meet in the middle, and they did this by screaming at each other until they and absolutely nothing left to say.

Gray: "We both lost everything, but you gotta keep your world…this isn’t even my home…and my family in my real home just think I took all they gave me for granted…and left them alone forever…they’ll never hear from me again…worrying about me, missing me, hatting me…I don’t know but I do know that I have to use all they gave me to live.”

Edward: “THEN MAKE IT! STOP TAKING THINGS FOR GRANTED, STOP OVERTHINKING, STOP GOD DAMN WHINING!”

Gray: “I’M TRYING! I AM A DIFFERENT PERSON THAN I WAS! HE WAS A FAKE, A LIAR, USELESS AND BORED…I’M HAPPY NOW! I HAVE A PURPOSE, A FAMILY I BUILT! I’M HAPPY! I…have to be…I love Rosemary more than I’ve ever loved someone…and Soku’s my best damn friend…I’ll make sure that they’re safe. If you really want me to think of you as family…as a brother…then you have to do the same. You…we’ll have to act as a family…we both have all lost so much…and we’re still here, wanting, and trying to move forward.”

Edward: “I agree…and I’m sorry…I want to be a part of this family that’s been building…we will be brothers in war…but we need to win this damn war first.”

Gray: “Yet...you're right. And I'm sorry.”

Edward: “I’ll…come with you. Because you're right, the mission is more important”

Gray: “Then we better get moving, and I promise, you'll get your revenge someday."

Edward: “Thanks. Oh, I gotta leave a note, would be rude if I didn’t.”

End of Chapter thirty-eight