A whirlpool of emotions broke through. Sache grabbed ahold of even more power.

The illusion shattered once again. Valde wasn’t vigorously injured like before. Then again, it wouldn’t have mattered since there was no longer physical pain in the world.

“The Storyteller you took away my last personal chance.” Valde’s fury grew yet he couldn’t direct it at him. Such a whimsical Myth wasn’t something he could ever come to understand. Even until at this very point, he never knew why he was chosen.

“All that’s left is to see if Grayson managed to do something right. For the time being, let’s focus on… surviving.” Black mist formed all around him, creating a barrier of rot and decay. Everything that came in, air, soil, dust, it all turned to nothing.

Immortality is-

Sache continued on pushing through. Saying it no longer gave her any backlash. No matter what happens, she’ll get what she wants.

“Throw away your friends for that? Did they mean nothing?” Throwing out even more destructive forms of attack, it slowly crept up to Sache. Yet the most effective method truly was ruining her mind.

Shut up!

Valde’s mouth could no longer open. Words that he desired to speak were stuck in his throat. He didn’t fear it at all.

You don’t know anything!

Memories of his past life were cleanly wiped away, one scene at a time. Desires and hope, responsibility and duty, disappearing like smoke. Even as his mind was slowly turning blank, he still didn’t falter.

There are no longer lies in the world.

Sache might’ve used overwhelming over to forcefully enact such a reality-bending power but Valde only needed to use a single sentence to counteract it. His very body immediately felt the impact of such a devastating change.

Quivering uncontrollably, Valde stopped. “This would’ve hurt a lot if I could still feel it.”

As his body felt the recoil of overusing his power, he still persevered. He might have lost a part of himself yet he will never lose sight of what he must do.

“You killed your closest friends. And what did you do? You still want to go after a dream that killed them.”

I know!

Sache’s eyes widened open. The weight of such words finally burdened her.

And Sache realized what she had lost.

I lost my heart.

Her heart that she had thrown away killed everyone.

I did.

Even though she knew it was wrong, she still persevered going down this worthless path.

I don’t know where else to go.

She believed she could keep going and running away from everything just like last time. Losing so much for something she didn’t even want, she hoped for someone to reach out.

But I don’t want anyone to reach out.

A person to watch over her as she sleeps soundly at night. Someone to talk to her, telling her that everything will be alright. And someone…

“Sache… it’s fine to be sad.”

The last words were from Valde. He didn’t use the power of The Storyteller. He spoke out to her with his own voice.

Sache had spiraled, talking to herself this entire time. Her words were so strong that she even changed herself.

I’ve made so many mistakes. I pushed everyone away. All to live in a dream I never wanted to wake up from.

Valde had to be careful. One wrong word and she’ll lose herself once more. This was the task he gave to the rest of the Tales. All he desired to do here was to stop Sache.

“You no longer have friends to call. You threw away your heart. No one else even recalls your Tale. Yet I am here, a stranger, a foe, your enemy, asking you at this very moment. Sache, are you lost?”

I’ve been lost my entire life.

“Do you want to see a light to find a way out of the darkness?”

Do I deserve it?

“No. You don’t deserve it.” Valde’s fists were finally regretting it. He couldn’t lie. His godforsaken-created rule now came back to bite him. “The current you does not deserve it yet people can change. You can change.”

Silence.

Valde couldn’t lose her now. “You lost your friends but I’m here right now. Do you want to be friends?”

I’d love to.

“No one else knows you but I do right? Would you mind singing me your Tale?”

I can’t. I don’t have the heart for it.

“You might’ve thrown your heart away but I know where it is. Do you want to get it?”

I want it back. Even if Immortality is re-

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Valde and Sache made their way to the Endless Blood.

Valde and Sache made their way to the Endless Blood where Grayson was holding onto two pieces of starlight. He looked completely confused and scared. Once he saw two people appear out of nowhere, he started running away.

Especially when one of them was at death’s door. Valde’s body broke apart. His body was being held together by a desperate attempt from the black mist around him. Regenerating his body was taking up most of his mind. With each blue crack on his body, it was filled in with pure evil power.

Grayson, you remember me.

The running man fumbled his steps. He fell down on his face and started slowly turning back. “Sache? Dear goodness, what happened to you?! Are you alright?” He ignored that his nose was bleeding.

I don’t feel it.

The previously innocent and sweet-looking child was no longer there. In her place was a troubled girl, who wanted to run away from the world itself. She still had her signature sunset-colored hair and orange eyes yet it no longer sparkled like before.

“Valde wanted me to get you those!” Grayson came out and reached out to these two pieces of starlight. They made for perfect earrings. He immediately came and gave it to Sache.

“A Fool’s Wish.” Looking at it, Sache felt her very core shake. As it turned out, she had lost her heart a long time ago. What she disregarded was simply her burdens. No longer using the world to bend reality, she subconsciously held onto these two pieces of earrings.

“My old lyre turned out to be something pretty beautiful, isn’t it?” Sache smiled. “I guess this was where my humanity was. Everything became so cruel after that.”

Turning her head, she faced Valde. He was barely keeping himself conscious. The urge to close his eyes was overbearing.

“When I wrote A Fool’s Wish, it was something I wrote at the spur of the moment. It was fun.” Sache wore her earrings. It created a lyre made out of starlight, awaiting her to play it.

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A Fool’s Wish

Out on the horizon, I seek my salvation

Joy and happiness, travel until I attain

Troubles and dangers, I really don't belong

I’m a big fool, it was right here all along

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Sache wasn’t happy. Playing her lyre, it was cold and distant, perfectly mimicking her mindset. It wasn’t the upbeat song that she used to play and adore. Realizing it at the bitter end.

Yet she had come to face her own trauma.

“Valde. You’re someone I appreciate and loathe. You brought me out of my dream and out to reality.”

Struggling with it using his will, Valde muttered. “It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s over. If you want to thank me then… don’t destroy the world.”

Sache sighed. “But I haven’t grown up yet. I don’t want to go on alone.”

“It’s odd. I know and understand what's wrong with me. Yet I can’t stop running away. Even now, I still want to live in that dream world forever. Everything was just that easy.” Sache plucked her starlight lyre. It was serene.

“Valde, I’m still a little childish, you know? Oh my, would you look at that?” Sache came closer to Grayson. She cleared out Grayson’s collar. She then reached out for a hug. Grayson didn’t expect Sache to act like this. “Thank you for reaching out, hero. But you shouldn’t have done that at all.”

“Sache, what’s wrong?”

“I’ve committed sins I can never live with.” Her close friends she grew to care for were no longer here. She could never meet them again. “Next time you see another damsel in distress, don’t blindly rush in.”

“Sache… I don’t like where this is going.”

Grayson lived happily ever after.

Grayson’s body disappeared. He found his place in another place, not remembering his interaction with Sache. With a princess in one hand and a holy sword in the other, he became the hero that he had always wished to become.

Sache turned her head. She saw Valde on the brink of death.

Valde fully recovered.

Valde’s body returned to normalcy yet the recoil of stopping the creation of Immortality still bore into him.

Valde fully recovered and Sache took the consequences.

Small progress. His body still formed blue cracks all over his body yet it was much more bearable.

Valde fully recovered. Sache took the consequences and gave her friend a happy ever after.

Sache looked away. Yet there was an odd situation that appeared. Valde didn’t bend reality yet he was still here. What was his happy ever after? She took a step back, not understanding what he wanted.

“It won’t work. There’s only one thing in the world I want.” Valde was no longer bearing the pain. Not that he was feeling it. He stepped closer to Sache’s rapidly deteriorating body. Playing around with reality had its due consequences.

“The safety of the world. And by proxy…” Sache held her hands together. “It’s too late… huh? I realized far too late. I want to run too but… can I say a few more words?”

Valde shook his head.

“Yeah, I’m still childish, aren’t I?”

Valde cannot prevent my next sentence.

Sache lived happily ever after.

Fallen on the ground, Sache hugged herself. “There never was a happy ever after for me.” Yet she didn’t cry. Only a forlorn expression remained.

“I’ll make it quick.” Valde condensed a very lethal attack. “You took away the pain in the world. That’s good enough.”

“Do it. Like how you broke my lure. Kill me.” Sache gave up. If not even bending reality to her will, she could be happy, there was no longer hope for her. “Let only dust remain.”

“As you wish.” Valde prepared his hand. His had had turned sharper than the sharpest blade.

Immortality is a Myth. A Myth I’ll never see for the rest of my-

~~~

Within a dark and terrifying night, a young man traveled to and fro. He was enjoying the sights, though there wasn’t really any. It was just pure darkness.

He saw a young girl holding onto her lyre for dear life. She was frail, weak, and seemed to die at any moment. Carrying such a large lyre made her seem so small.

He went up to her and talked to her for a bit. Giving her some gold to happily live off with, she held his clothes. “Can you take me away?”

The young man’s response was relatively cold, resembling the weather, “Even if I take care of you today, I can’t do it forever. You need to learn to live for yourself.”

“But why can’t we live forever?” The little girl asked.

“It’s a Myth. Things that don’t exist. A dream that countless people have but could never achieve.”

“What if I search for it then? Will you take me away to live happily ever after?” Her bright black eyes shined like the stars.

“Ah, this reminds me of a pretty Tale, it’s not famous but something I feel like you can understand. A Fool Who Dreams Of Immortality. Do you want to hear it?”

“It’s so cold outside. Can we go to your place?”

“You are far too trusting of strangers. How about this, we go to the town square where there’s a bonfire and I’ll let everyone here know of the Tale. Does that sound fair?”

The black-eyed girl nodded.

With the stage set, he started singing.

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A Fool Who Dreams Of Immortality

Seek joy within this blissful dream

Realize the severity

Throw it all away, regret it

Please, learn from my mistake, young ones

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