Arc 6. A seemingly endless loss
Road to a Hero:
Three Chances in Another World
Chapter 75. Memory Snow
Gray Kyojin.
Sitting in the grass on a hill, a hill on the edge of Greenvale. A newly bloomed cherry tree blows in the hot summer wind, and it’s a very special tree. “G+R” is carved into its trunk, representing Gray and Rosemary, who are both together, having a picnic. Rosemary lays down a large piece of cloth, sitting down a basket filled with food alongside it, and the sound of the wooden basket pushing against the ground is music to Gray's ears, as well as his hungry body. Soku and Edward also sit down, completely fine, quiet, and hungry. Everything is quiet, the bugs that should be squeaking, the wind that should be whistling, the grass that should be rustling, all completely silent, other than his heartbeat. This constant soft beat plays lightly in the background, but Gray tries to pay no mind to it. Everyone seems to be in their prime, with no wounds, no bags under their eyes, and nothing to hold them down; Edward's right eye has even returned.
Gray also seems to be wearing the same outfit he was transported to this world in, finalizing this feeling of nostalgia, the golden era. As Rosemary pulls out the food, his heartbeat gets louder, grabbing more and more of his attention. Then Rosemary hands out everyone's food, she shoots closer to Gray, whispering something in his ear, which he’s unable to hear, and then scoots back to her original position. This throws Gray off, but he decides to play it off, with his want to eat the sandwich in his hand instead of undergoing any sort of stress. As he goes to take a bite, the heartbeat grows louder, but he still ignores it, simply closing his eyes, and taking the bite. Then nothing; the heartbeat just stops. When he opens his eyes, he’s sent into a panic the second he lays his eyes on Rosemary. She’s bleeding from the mouth, and her skin is pale and peeling, but then he sees it. The hole in her chest allows him to look straight through it, but his horror truly emerges when he looks at his sandwich. The heartbeat starts back up again when he looks at the meat, it’s human meat, an organ, a heart.
He stares at Rosemary’s heart and slowly stops beating, frozen in place. His eyes begin to twitch, his body begins to shake, and he feels something warm on his forehead. He touches it, looking at the blood on his fingers. Beside him, a Soku turned to stone as well as a mutilated Edward crawling toward him, and in front of him, something that his mind is rejecting. She tries to say something again, but he’s still unable to hear it, angering him. But his anger subsides, replaced with panic once more, so he attempts to run away. When he does, the tree bursts into black flames, and then when he looks at it, the ground beneath him crumbles. He’s now in freefall, down into a flaming world. All he’s able to hear is a mix of Rosemary's heartbeat and the screams of his friends. He’s now unafraid of the flames below, but worrying of what may come. Once he falls into it, his body is completely resistant to the black fire, mindlessly walking through it. As his body is consumed, it changes to fit the current Gray Kyojin. His hair grows, his body gets stronger, his scars form, and his permanent demeanor changes.
He becomes every version of himself before he reaches a wall. It was a mirror with the version of him that he started with, possessing the same look of nothing in his eyes. That version of himself forms into what he wanted to be, a well-groomed, strong knight with everyone by his side, with an entire country behind him. Then as the flames wrap around him, so does the darkness, consuming in both an inferno and a gell tomb. Then once he’s reformed, he stares into the mirror once more. Light silver armor, an updated mask made of metal instead of white ceramic. However the mask gives off a more crome assteic. The armor is made into pieces placed around his body, now fully consumed within the cloak of darkness, though the cloak still flows behind him, as well as the hood covering his head. A simple chest plate, side armor, leg armor, with no sword to be found and only Peter's wrist talons he had made for him.
This is him, this is Gray Kyojin.
Gray: “The Phantom Knight.”
As he says this, all of the flames disappear, leaving him to be washed over by the red sky, along with an eternal eclipse. Gray Kyojin, or what was building, died in Eclis in a bloody and angry mess. However, instead of giving up, he stands before himself; a new person entirely. Gray shuts his eyes, opening them to find himself standing in the snow, in the same spot he was in his dream. He looks to find the same tree with “G+R” written on it. He places his hand on the cold bark, looking to see all of its blossoms wilted away due to the current winter. Though at least for now it’s not snowing, not that Gray would care if it were. He finds himself bandaged up and wearing a light blue robe, reminding him of when he first awoke in Musashi's mansion. He then walks to the end of the hill, finding it to be a cliff overlooking the ocean. Greenvale is built upon Godrick's Mountain, the largest mountain range in the world which borders the southwestern sea. Down below are the rough waves smashing into the side of the mountain while he places one foot over the edge. Still, with nothing in his mind, he’s about to step off, until he hears the screams of a worried friend.
Edward: “GRAY!”
Gray quickly steps back, looking at Edward, stopping in his tracks. The sweaty, freezing Edward, wrapped in bandages, still moves forward. He’s quick to notice the prosthetic right leg, alongside a prosthetic right arm, causing all of the memories from Eclis to fill his mind. Edward uses his crutches to push through the snow, trying to get to his newly awoken friend.
Edward: “You’re awake! You need to come back down to the village, we have much to discuss.”
Gray: “Where is she?”
It was a monotone sentence that shook Edward to his core, stopping him in his tracks. As he looked into Gray's dead eyes he was unable to say anything, telling Gray all he needed to know.
Gray: “Why are we here, but she’s not?”
Edward: “Lincoln…he was unable to rescue her…like I said we need to get back to the village.”
Gray begins slowly approaching Edward, looking at his destroyed body. His body has begun to slim down, his hair is a bit longer, and the bite mark on his neck is aching. He walks right up to him, right at arm's length.
Gray: “Why are we here, but she isn’t?”
Edward: “I told you, Lincoln wasn’t able to reach her. We lost…but we’re fortunate to -”
Before Edward’s able to finish, Gray punches him in the face, cutting him off. This causes Edward to fall into the snow, as his already unstable balance is broken.
Gray: “FORTUNATE!? DON’T YOU DARE SAY THAT! ROSEMARY GOT HER HEART RIPPED OUT! YOU LOST YOUR ARM, YOUR LEG! AND SOKU…Soku…oh god…where’s SOKU!?”
His voice drops, as if he's on the verge of tears, though he pushes it all down, returning to his dissociated self. Gray begins quickly walking away, though Edward grabs onto his robe to get him to stop.
Gray: “Let me go.”
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Edward: “Don’t be rash! You need to calm down, we both do. Now please, let's go.”
Gray: “Is Peter here?”
Edward: “Yeah, he’s in his shop. Why?”
Gray: “Get who you want to be gathered, I need to go speak with him.”
Gray walks off, leaving Edward to struggle in the snow. As he wanders down the hill, he looks at his tracks in the snow, as well as Edward's messy trails left behind. He looks into the sky as he makes it into the village, expecting it to be a little more fitting to the sunken feeling in his heart. The clear blue morning sky, with the not-too-bright sun causing the snow to glow. Once he reaches the village, he no longer has to struggle through the thick snow, as it has all been shoveled out of the way. When he first came to Greenvale, it felt homey, but with this new view on life, his view of Greenvale changed as well. To him, everything is too simulated. Everyone that lives there is only there to train and have children to train, always working. With only a few stores for wants instead of needs, it’s not very lively. Even the houses look the same, all being old cottages with smoke pouring out of the chimneys. Once he gets to the center of the village, he looks to his right, staring up the dirt road and at the training grounds, but shifts his attention back to his home. As he walks into his backyard, he hears clunking coming from the barn-shaped building, Peter's workshop. He sneaks up behind him, about to knock on the already open door, but stops to watch Peter. His workshop’s a mess, with various gadgets and pieces of armor scattered everywhere. Currently, he’s working on the new vehicle, messing with something underneath it. Gray begins to think about all he could say, all he could ask, that he’s so happy he’s safe, but he doesn't. All he does is knock on the open wooden door, catching Peter's attention. Peter jumps, due to how Gray had scared him, causing him to hit his head on the underside of the car. Once he scoots out, he goes silent as he realizes Gray was the one who knocked. They both stare at each other, stunned at what they see. Gray's emotionless deminer, as if a dead body got up, while Gray notices all of the small scars on Peters's face, a result of the torture he feels he could have prevented.
Peter: “GRAY! YOU’RE AWAKE!”
Gray: “Please quiet down…you’re too loud.”
Peter runs up to Gray but stops himself. He regains his composure, trying to stay calm in his presence.
Peter: “What would you like?”
Gray: “You know that armor, the prototype?”
Peter: “Um, yeah? It’s around here somewhere. Sorry, it’s a bit cluttered…anything else? Wanna…talk? Or ask me anything?”
Gray: “No… actually… how long was I out?”
Peter begins rummaging around his things, trying to stop himself from answering. But, he gives in, telling Gray something that deeply triggers his anger.
Peter: “It’s been over a month…it’s February, February first.”
Gray: “I was asleep for that long…Rosemary’s been with them…or worse…for that long?”
Peter goes quiet, so Gray leaves. He walks into the house, into his room, staring at his bed. He finds all of the bags he had packed for Constal on the end of his bed, a bit glad he doesn't have to pack. As he undresses from his robe, he grabs the same clothes he had been transported to this world in, staring at them. His black jogging pants have begun to come apart, his shoes are wilting down, and his jacket is tearing. Even the black shirt has stains, and stitched-up holes, and is almost too small to wear anymore. The only thing that isn’t there is his socks because they were destroyed a long time ago. For a while, he had made a habit of sleeping in his clothes, but in the mansion attack all that time ago, his clothes were ripped up to all hell and needed to be fixed. Before he puts any of his clothes on, he removes the bandages on his aching body. While his healing factor should have fully healed him by now, he had used so much of his strength he’d barely recovered. This entire time, his OD has been developing, slowly healing itself. It was like he was going through a metamorphosis. When he removes the bangs around his head, he finds a scar on the bridge of his nose. It is a patch of rough skin going up his nose, stopping at his brow line, a mark of his loss. He begins putting on his clothes, and right as he puts his foot into his shoe, it falls apart.
His foot pushes the sole of the shoe right off, leading to him throwing a book from a bag to his side at the mirror placed on his dresser. It shatters and the book falls, opening up. When he picks it up, he realizes what it is, Rosemary’s journal! He’s about to read through it, but he stops himself, placing it back down. He stands up to find that the bag he grabbed it from was Rosemary's things. He then looks over to the light golden scarf already in his bag, sticking out, and he feels it for a moment before stuffing it back in. Right as he gets to the door he stops himself, turning around to see a small box on his dresser. This confuses him, as he didn’t even realize it before as his mind had rejected it. He goes to open it, finding a ruin symbol on the top, carved into the wood. He opens it to find the cursed charm in it, the cloak of darkness. So of course he grabs it, along with a pair of brown knee-high cuffed boots. As he’s about to walk down the stairs he looks to the other side of the hall, staring at Soku's closed door. He knows he shouldn’t, but he steps in any way. It’s fairly barren, not seeming much like her. A small bed, a closet, and a desk with paper on it. Gray thinks back to the few times he had gone into her room when she had kicked him out before he could look around. He takes a glimpse at her desk, finding a drawing of Ophelia, and a pretty realistic drawing at that.
He opens her closet and finds a stack of drawings at the bottom, so he begins to go through them. They were a catalog of every adventure they had gone on, even the smaller things, like eating dinner for the first time together. He gets to a drawing of just her and him sitting together in Til's carriage, back when they were leaving the Ever-Spirit forest, causing his hand to shake. As he goes through them, about every five to six drawings he would find one of him and her just talking, causing his hands to shake. He forces himself to stop but takes one important one with him. A drawing of himself, Soku, Rosemary, and Ophelia eating food on his first day in this world. He folds the drawing, puts it in his pocket, and walks downstairs. Standing in the dining room, he looks to his right to see Peter walking in through the kitchen door, while he can hear footsteps near the front door in front of him. He sets his bag down, watching Gordon and Ryo enter his house, holding up Edward as well. Edward walks away from them, getting face-to-face with Gray.
Gray: “Get out of my way.”
Edward: “We’re trying to help you.”
Gray: “Shove off.”
Gray takes his bag, along with the sack Peters holding, feeling his armor inside, and attempts to walk away. Edward then puts his hand on Gray's chest, so Gray pushes him. Once again Edward falls, though this time he catches him, letting him fall a little more softly. Then, trying to leave again, Gordon is the one to stop him.
Gray: “Alright top not, you’re not stopping me. Now without your bow at least.”
Gordon: “I know I might not be able to be unarmed, by Ryo here can. You need to stay with us and learn about those flames you were able to expel from your body. Then you need to help us figure out what the hell to do about the Sect.”
Gray clenches his fist but stops once he looks at the saddened look on Ryo's face. Ryo moves his silver hair out of his face, approaching Gray.
Gray: “What do you want?”
Ryo: “If you leave, you can have this.”
Ryo reaches into the inside of his kimono, handing Gray a small notebook. He then walks out of the way, letting Gray pass. This aggravates Gordon, who’s currently helping Edward stand back up.
Gordon: “You’re leaving? Really? You’re not even going to see Soku or Lincoln?”
Gray pays no mind to Gordons' words, leaving the house. He begins to approach the exit of the village, but the others follow behind him. Gordon speeds up, grabbing onto Gray's shoulder, and slapping him. Gray doesn't react, he just stares into Gordon's twitching eyes.
Gordon: “I know you’re hurt, I know you’re morning. But the facts are simple. Lincoln is barely alive, Soku is slowly being healed out of the stone state, though we don’t know when she’ll wake up, Edward needs to recover, and so do you. I’ve finally found and contacted people I think are ready to lead the Knights of Walgonia, and hopefully, I can find a king as well. But I need you here, I need your strength.”
Gray: “I’m going.”
Gordon: “WHERE!? If you want to find the Sect, you’ll have a tough time. And if you’re going after Julius, you’ll have to break into Valatrocitus, and since Lincoln broke a continental law by entering a country illegally, everyone’s on high alert.”
Gray: “I’m not going to Valatrocitus, I'm going to find wherever the Sect is and slaughter them.”
Gray looks at Edward, watching him struggle to stand upright. Though, without a second thought, he walks away, but suddenly Dema lands right in front of him.
Gray: “You’ve gotten a lot bigger since we first met haven’t you.”
Gray’s about to walk past his dragon companion, but she wacks him with her tail, stopping him. He turns to her, accepting some form of help. He puts his things on her saddle and gets on.
Gordon: “If you leave, you leave the knights. You leave the Leviathan army, so Walgonia will not be responsible for what you do. And if we have to, we’ll put you down.”
Gray: “Do I look like I care? Rosemary’s still alive, I believe Soku will be okay, and with Edward like this, he can finally stop moving and enjoy life. I’ll return with Rosemary, but until then, I’m gone.”
Without a word more, and without hearing anything else, he uses Dema to fly away. She flaps her wings, soaring into the air, and blasting out of sight.
Then that’s it, the end of this disaster of a trip. When they were invited, they were finding their place in life, slowly getting there. Peter had his hiccups, along with everyone else, but only Erin was able to stop the invitation from ever arriving to them. In two months, everything went downhill, their relationships, mental health, and physical health. Nothing went as planned, everything backfired, and now everyone is moving in the wrong direction, but nobody can fix that but themselves. And as things are going, Gray Kyojin is in no position to change so quickly. He has always pursued what he wanted with full conviction, putting everything into it. And this is no different, so for better or for worse, the Sect of Anarchy will suffer the consequences of their actions. Gray Kyojin is a force of nature, always getting back up, even if it’s not in the best way. And, just like always, he’s back up, even if it’s to the detriment of himself. But in his head, he isn’t Gray Kyojin, he isn’t Conner Kyojin, he isn’t a knight, nor is he a hero. He is the Phantom.
End of Chapter seventy-five