Chapter 42: Eyes

“Are you kidding me,” Damien exclaimed, “You can move the weapons with your mind now?! Also, you would’ve taken my leg off there if I hadn’t dodged it!”

“Well, I’m not very good at it, so you did dodge it,” Krista remarked, “Also, you don’t got much standing here Mr. ‘I can make my aura look like other auras.’ Plus teleportation! Did Amelia or Matilda never tell you that teleportation wattiez is a huge taboo? Don’t you know how dangerous that is?”

“Yes, and I actually learned first hand, literally,” explained Damien as he held his left hand up for Krista to see, but she didn’t notice anything different until he started waggling his middle finger.

“Vitnova, have mercy, your two middle fingers, they swapped didn’t they?!”

“Before, I tried putting my hand through the space link, then that happened. Why do you think I used the rope?”

“You’re really too much, you know that?” Krista shook her head but got back to her feet, “We will talk more about this later, why don’t we go ahead and finish this fight?”

“Can’t, I give up, you win Krista. Congratulations!”

“What?” Krista was genuinely confused. Damien gave up just like that? On the last point of their match? Actually, Krista couldn’t tell if she was just confused or extraordinarily angry. “You can’t just give up!”

Krista rushed at him, spear in hand, more inclined to force him to finish their fight than anything else, “No, no, wait! Pause!”

She did just that, holding her spear back just before it could pierce through her hair. Damien, rather than attempt to avoid her attack had stayed completely still. Not even opting to raise his hands to accentuate his choice not to attack.

“It’s not that I don’t want to continue,” Damien said, “Rather, I don’t think my body can.” Perfectly proving the point, Krista lightly pushed at Damien’s chest with her finger, and he fell over with no resistance. “Was really hoping the bow shots would be the end of things."

Krista could hardly contain her laughter, falling to the ground beside Damien in a laughing fit, “Are you serious?! Come on, really? I can’t believe it!”

“Yeah, yeah, go ahead and rub it in. I probably deserve it.”

It took a bit but eventually the laughter died down, “Okay, okay, I need to know something. Inside the mist, how were you able to clearly know where I was? It was really thick, but it really felt like you always had clear sight of me.”

“That’s because I did. My life affinity is sort of like a heartbeat sensor. Even if I was blind, I would have known where you were.”

“Then why didn’t you just keep the mist up and shoot arrows in. Better yet, why use mist instead of something more smoky. Make it hard to breathe inside the cloud.”

“That would’ve been no fun, and neither one of us would have learned anything if I did that. This was a duel, not a deathmatch.”

Krista smiled at her friend, “I guess you’re right, but now it really feels like I haven’t won. Why don’t we just call it a draw, and no one wins the bet?”

“Hey, a bet’s a bet and I lost kinda fair and mostly square. You should take your wins while you can because I can tell you that when you bet with me, they are few and far between.”

Krista thought inwardly as to what she wanted Damien to do for her, all ranging from him becoming her personal butler, forcing him to let Amelia mess with his hair, she had asked him on several occasions, but he’d always say no, to even forcing him to give her a straight answer.

“You owe me a date,” was the answer Krista finally decided on.

“A date? You actually had me worried for a second with the way you were looking at me.”

“Like you said, I won, so I get to ask for whatever,” Krista said with a slight blush. “I’ve never been to Soaring Sun before, so you’re going to take me sightseeing, and you’re paying for everything!”

Now it was Damien’s turn to laugh, “I’ve never been there myself, what could I show you? Also, if you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly rolling in your currency.”

“Well, if it’s all the same, I could be your tour guide for your little date,” a familiar voice called out from just behind them. A voice that neither party wanted to here, albeit for different reasons.

“Dante?” asked Krista

“Dante!” scorned Damien, but he caught himself, maybe Dante had only just arrived and they could still talk their way out of this. Using what little strength he had left, alongside a bit of help from Krista, Damien managed to sit up, “Dante, hey, how are you big guy? Krista and I were just, you know.” Damien’s mind was drawing blanks, not helped by the fact that Krista’s eyes were still black, “The black eyes? Yeah, she wanted to try some new contacts, and I had an extra pair.”

Dante just laughed, “I can tell, you’ve taken out your own pair. Your purple eyes are showing.” Damien immediately looked away and cursed at himself. His contacts must’ve fallen out while he was fighting with Krista. “So, it’s true, then. I was skeptical at first but your reaction kind of gives it away. For the record, I was lying.”

If Damien could lift his dagger, he’d have probably stabbed himself with it, “So, what now Dante? You already know who I am. Are you the only one?”

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Beside him, Animus appeared, “Long has time flown since last we’ve met, Damien Grayson.”

Dante held Animus back who looked ready to rip Damien’s arm from its socket, “For now, it’s just us three and Cleo. I could never hide anything from that girl.”

“Three?” Damien questioned before he turned around and saw Raven standing there. “They should put a bell on you.”

Dante laughed again, “You get used to it after a while, but I feel that you should worry more about yourself.”

Contrary to the calm way he spoke, Damien knew that Dante’s words were true. There was nowhere for him to go, nowhere he could run, “Well you caught me, Dante. What now?”

He called over Animus and whispered something into her ear. She nodded her head and disappeared to somewhere, “Well usually, I’d have to kill you, especially because I know just how dangerous you are.” Krista immediately moved to protect him, so Dante backed down, “Krista, I’m just being coy. I already promised you I wouldn’t hurt them, and I’m a man of my word.”

“Did she make him promise something?” Damien thought, “Wait… Did she know that Dante already knew who we were?!”

Seeing the confusion on his face, Krista quickly tried to cover her bases, “Damien, now I can see exactly what you’re thinking, but you’re missing a few key details.”

“Is that right?” Damien asked with far less fury than Krista expected, “Go ahead then, explain what I’m missing. Please tell me your relationship with Dante, my sworn enemy.”

Krista opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She had expected to be yelled at, not this quiet anger. Rage and fury, she could deal with, this, Krista wasn’t too sure how to handle this.

With great effort, Krista finally managed to form some words, “Damien I… I just want you to know that I wasn’t lying when I said I loved you, because I know this will hurt you. Dante had known about us since the very beginning, at least that’s what he told me, but it seems that he truly doesn’t want to hurt us. In fact, he wants our help, and I at least owe him enough to hear him out.”

An emptiness… a soul crushing emptiness wafted over Damien. He got to her. Krista’s eyes were begging him for forgiveness, but Damien had nothing left to give.

“Krisha! Darius!” Off in the distance, Amelia’s voice could be heard getting closer.

A glance in that direction revealed various vague shapes coming to their our direction. One in particular was closing in faster than the others, Amelia, Damien presumed. Damien wiped his eyes to clear his vision and noticed a wetness on his hands. Tears… he was crying.

“Darius are you okay? Krista what’s going on?” Amelia wanted answers, just like Damien, but Krista wasn’t in the mood to speak much more. “Krisha talk to me!”

Amelia grabbed onto her hand, but Krista’s eyes stayed on Damien. Damien felt a hand touches his shoulder, it was Dante who whispered into his ear, “You know it’s not too late. When Shining Twilight waged war against Acumenos, both sides suffered heavy lost. However, we need to look past the past, and gaze onto the future. To wallow in the past is to remain stagnant and burdened. I’m sorry about any pain I’ve caused you, and for the people you’ve lost, I’m truly sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” A rush of adrenaline surged through Damien’s body, an apology was the last thing he wanted to hear from Dante as he weakly rose to his feet. “You’re sorry, you piece of shit?! I don’t need your fucking apology! You know who needs it? General Carey, Private Cooper, Lieutenant Wong, Captain Lawrence… My mother.”

Dante listened quietly, but when Damien finished, he continued, “I… Shining Twilight did not send the assassin that killed your mother, and soldiers lose their lives in war. Us, the living, can only work to make sure their sacrifices were not in vain.”

“Sacrifices?!” Damien exclaimed. “Why did we fight in a war in the first place? We had never done nothing to you! You literally had to cross the fucking ocean to get there. Have I been to Acumenos lately? No! Would you like to know why? Because it’s become cesspool, where the governing body effectively gone! We were left defenseless against every other kingdom and criminal enterprise. If I step foot in my own home assassins, hitmen, revolutionaries, anyone who wanted to take the opportunity to gain power will be after my head!”

This time Dante got a little heated, “Shining Twilight had a mission in Acumenos, and our mission did not call for the lives of your people. It was your parents and your grandfather that pushed us so far. Even now your family sent you to take revenge!”

The tears wouldn’t stop flowing, Damien’s legs were losing all of their strength once again, and he was hurting his own eardrums with how loud he was yelling, “Would you like to know the worst part of everything! It was the best thing that ever happened to me”

Damien fell to his knees, in front of a bewildered Dante, “You don’t sound that way to me.”

“You took so many things away from me,” Damien continued. “My home, my life, people I cared about, but you freed me. You Freed Me!” It was shaky, but Damien managed to keep standing on his feet and walked towards Dante. “I hated that castle, I hated the life I would’ve had if I stayed there, but you gave me an opportunity to leave. To let go of my old life and start anew, and you forced me to realize that I like this new life more.”

Damien was hysterical, and he could barely believe what he was saying. Was he allowed to feel this way? When he spoke to Krista, Damien could play off that conversation as mostly a joke, but face to face with his enemy, he came to the same realization. His comrades died, his parents died, his kingdom was left in disarray, but look at Damien. Laughing and enjoying his time here, while making new friends.

“You were wrong about my grandfather; he didn’t want me to go,” Damien added. “He told me to not seek revenge, but I left anyway. Ever since I lost my home, I’ve had nothing but amazing experiences! While traveling with Krista and Amelia, I nearly forgot my purpose while I was here, enjoying my time. Sure, times were hard sometimes but I… I…”

Damien trailed off and walked past Dante looking towards the perfect night sky. Dante also walked up beside him, “You were happy.”

“Is that what I was?” Damien responded, “I can’t even say you’re wrong.”

Damien and Dante stood there for a considerable amount of time in utter silence. Further off, he could also see several other figures coming closer from the camp, assuredly looking for the other missing camp members.

Soon after Dante offered some more words, “Damien I-”

Before he could start, Damien lashed out, taking his dagger and aimed it directly towards Dante’s throat. He had never taken the life of another human before, but as long as it was Dante’s, it would be fine. Damien would never quite know when it happened, but a sharp prick at the back of his neck left him drifting towards unconsciousness. The last thing he saw before he got there was a tall, dark, and pale figure.