----------------------------------------
> The purpose of reaching out in the dark is to draw someone into the light, but what if they ended up bringing you along with them? Who would then save you? Don’t you think that it was just a never-ending loop that drew more people into the darkness from the first place?
- Valerio Kono
----------------------------------------
As the night sky began to be obscured by heavy clouds, the atmosphere in the area grew more tense than ever, escalating the flames all around us as well as the fury of my former friend— now my enemy— who was growing furious with me. He stood there with a bloody, blazing sword in his right hand, and his tie was adorned with a glowing purple stone that matched his fierce purple gaze. Unmistakably reassuring me that the only options left are blades, powers, and spells, and that talking things out or using words would no longer be a choice. Why?... Just how did things come to this?... Valerio?
My grip on my blade was tight, but it couldn't stop shaking. As time passed, sweat began to drip from my forehead, and I was at a loss for what to do. But shortly, I felt a powerful and increasing aura originating from the Stone of Time buried underneath my red cloak. As I was ready to check it myself, its power suddenly surged through my entire body, as every emotion— every pain— and every hesitation that I felt during that moment faded away, and my mind eventually went completely blank. This was the first time this happened, but somehow, I didn’t even struggle to fight back to it.
"I truly hope you've stopped holding yourself back by now, Al... It would be quite unfortunate if that's the sole reason you die tonight!" He charged straight towards me with those last words. It was as powerful as his first strike when we first began fighting, but this time I was able to stop it while standing completely immobile and on my feet. His surprised gaze then met mine, and before he could react or do anything more, I was able to teleport fast behind him and deliver a heavy hit against his back with the hilt of my sword, causing him to collapse to the ground and create a brief but powerful quake.
When the dust settled, I noticed he wasn't on the ground anymore. Instead, he appeared from behind and was about to strike again when my sword blocked him, causing him to struggle. He then used his free hand to cast an Earth spell, but as soon as I noticed the ground cracking, I stepped back to avoid the sharp rocks. But without wasting any more time or not letting me land on the ground even, he had those rocks immediately thrown at me. With such an attack, it could have already killed me, but…
"Is that all you got?" I asked monotonously as he swiftly looked at me, shocked and furious to see me standing far on his left side. "I thought you said you weren't going to hold back on me, so what are you waiting for?... Isn’t this what you wanted?... So, what's suddenly preventing you from giving your all now, Head General Valerio Kono?"
"It’s not like you to suddenly be cocky when the fact you’re almost losing to me earlier…" He then abruptly stopped and gazed at me for a second before comprehending what had happened and answering in a more calmer tone, "Ah, I see it now... Though I must say that's such a really bland strategy of carelessly letting your Stone of Time control you instead to erase any emotions and hesitation… How pathetic of you, Alessio."
His comments, however, had no effect on me. Instead, I answered by casting a spell in my mind, "Replay", as my sword was surrounded by a gold aura and speeding towards him. Back and forth. Back and forth, I kept on striking him while the spell was still active, and unfortunately for him, he couldn't evade or deflect most of my blows. However, he was able to deflect my last strike and push me further away from him.
Slowly and carefully he stood up, plunged his sword on the ground and looked at me with such loathing. "Is that what you are now? Nothing more than a puppet to your stone and to that murderer of a King? Wake up and look at the monster you’ve become!"
"... Am I truly the monster here?" I asked, approaching him slowly. "How are you any different from me, Tyrant Head General, when you allow your emotions— your fury and hatred— your Stone of Power— control you most of the time during our battle here?" I clutched the handle of my sword fiercely, igniting flames on its blade mixed with a gold-colored aura. "TELL ME!" I yelled as I unleashed a massive strike on him before panting heavily and soon staring at the ground with my hand on my head.
What is happening to me? I only need to defeat him, not kill him! Why did I even—
My train of thinking abruptly came to a halt as my vision began to see things and my head began to ache slightly, prompting me to throw down my sword and close my eyes. When I turned to look at him, I found him in a different state, so I opened them again. He appeared younger, but he was terrified and badly wounded as he was surrounded by flames and burning debris. After seeing him like that, I was taken aback by the unexpected scenario I found myself in. V-Valerio? ... W-What happened to you?…
I lifted my hand and was about to help him when I realized, No— No, no, no, no! Not again!... This is just another illusion created by the Stone of Time! This isn’t the time—
"I've... I've lost everything, Al..." Valerio muttered in a weak and broken tone that brought me out of my thoughts. "... The village, the people here, my home, and even my daughter— even she wasn't spared by him..." he hesitated before carefully reaching out his hand to me. "... But we could change all of this, couldn't we? With the stone I gave you and the one that I have left, we could still save them all… if we worked together…"
I held my arm tightly as I stared at him. "Valerio, I… I don’t know about this…"
Come on, Alessio. This isn’t truly him. This is just an illusion. Why are you feeling so uneasy?... Wake up! Get a grip on yourself— You’re in the middle of a battle with… My train of thinking was once more derailed when I noticed a person's silhouette approaching Valerio from behind while carrying a blade. I grabbed him by the shoulder, pulled him aside, and took the stab without pausing to think it over. Unsure of how it was possible that I was experiencing such severe and real pain, but I briefly recognized Taro's face as I glanced at the assailant before blinking and seeing Valerio in his place. Soon making me realize that I was back to reality, and I was indeed stabbed by him on the side.
"W-What?... H-How?" were the only words I could speak of before coughing up blood and feeling him sink his blade a little further while his free arm wrapped around me and pushed me closer to him. I couldn't move as my breathing became heavy, and I could feel my energy draining swiftly, but he gripped my red cape tightly and laid down his closed eyes softly on my shoulder while murmuring something under his breath.
"Well, It seems that you’re back now… That’s good… Though, I must say, it’s quite unfortunate how I need to wake you up like this, since you’ve used the Stone’s powers too much and for quite some time now you began seeing illusions of the past…" he said as I closed my eyes as I could feel him holding me firmly, preventing me from falling to the ground and letting out a sigh. "… If you still truly felt that way, if you still cared so much about our past together, why did you choose to keep on fighting back against me— risking your entire mind and life even— instead of just letting me take you back home, Alessio?... Aren’t you… Aren’t you already tired of all of this bloody war?"
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"I am..." I muttered. "...I am terribly tired of everything, Valerio… But I still pondered and tried to make things happen, however wishful and selfish it may be, to reconcile the past and the now in peace. I suppose you're right about me being foolish."
"Well, we are foolish in our ways whenever we answer our desperate calls, but even so..." he said, tightening his grip on me even more. Not doing much to relieve the pain he caused me or the fact that he is still draining my energy until now. "Alessio, I…"
I could feel his hands on my back shaking as he came to a halt. Despite swiftly experiencing numbness across my entire body, I was able to sense the force originating from his stone suddenly growing. Not long after, that power erupted from him, sending me flying away from him, tumbling down on the ground, and even striking my head on the rock, but it wasn't enough to put me unconscious. I yearned to wake from this nightmare, to flee from this painful reality. But when I gently opened my eyes, it was a bit of a blur before I saw him slowly approaching me with the bloody sword on his grip, and with both of his purple eyes and stone glowing strongly from the distance.
"Valerio… please, this isn’t you…" were the only words that I was able to mutter.
But he stayed silent as he eventually stood before me, and gazed down with his face emotionless. That nightmare— that once-foreseen future— is now about to come true and will soon draw the curtains for me. I closed my eyes as he lifted his sword above his head, expecting a fast and painless release, but instead what I heard was…
"Y-You…" Valerio said annoyingly. "What are you doing here all of a sudden?!"
I pushed my eyes to open fast and looked up, my eyes widening with amazement as I saw her standing there, facing him and blocking his strike for me. "E-Endellion?…"
"Please— Step away!" she said, struggling a bit as she kept on holding the block against his attack. "I'm sorry, Valerio... But I can't let you hurt him any further…"
He gritted his teeth in rage and annoyance before she shoved him away from us. But he wasted no time and charged at her, shouting, "What is it, Endellion?!" before going for another strike, which she just blocked once more. "Are you really this weak to fight back against me?!... Even fully knowing your brother's life is already in danger?!"
"Things don't have to end like this!" she exclaimed. "There’s always another way to resolve this—" Her words were cut short when he suddenly slammed his head on her.
"Didn't you come here to protect him?... Then fight!" he insisted, raising ice shards and hurling them at her, which she blocked with her sword but some almost struck me, and it was enough for her to get distracted and immediately look at me.
"A-Alessio...!" she stammered very worriedly before returning her gaze at him and blocking his strike once more.
"Eyes on the battle, Endellion! I didn't train you all these years to be a wimp!"
Their battle goes on. And unfortunately, as much as I wanted to stop them, or at least help Endellion, there was nothing I could do at that time. I was very tired, couldn’t move my body that much anymore, and relying on my Stone’s powers once again would be a very terrible idea. And so I lie there, watching. As he continues to charge towards her, she continues to block and deflect his attacks, which frustrates him even more.
"Battle me—" one of his attacks was deflected, "Defeat me—" another was averted, "Fight me if you wish to defend the people who are very important to you!"
Soon, her grip on her sword tightened and not for long, sharp black rocks appeared from the ground. One of them hits Valerio’s hand and makes him lose his grip on his sword, but the rest were scattered all around the place before some began forming as walls that entrapped or protected the two of us inside.
It was dark, and only from the cyan-colored glowing veins on the rocks themselves were able to give off little bits of light. But it was enough for me to see her standing there with shaking arms and legs, terrified of what she just did. I tried to reach out my hand to her with what remained of my energy. "El… Endellion… Endellion!..."
"A-Alessio!" she exclaimed as she ran towards me. "Don't worry, Al. Y-You will be fine... I'm here now, I-I can heal your wounds... I could..." she abruptly stopped talking and shook her head before gently placing my head on top of her lap. Beginning to heal my wounds, especially the one on my side, but tears began to fall down her cheeks.
I couldn't feel the searing pain, warmth, or comfort that her healings provided. I couldn't keep my eyes open for long, or move much of the rest of my body... I was exhausted. Simply exhausted. Considerably still, I didn't want her to abandon her in this manner, especially when he is still out there and could cause her even more harm.
"I'm sorry for being so incompetent, Alessio; this wasn't supposed to happen to you..." she began. "I knew about their plans that night, and I could have stopped them right there if I hadn't been hesitating in the first place. If I wasn’t so weak and scared…"
"Don’t be… You don’t have to apologize for that." I said weakly. "I was aware of this from happening as well, and it was my choice to… head to this place from the start. I knew that there was a high chance that I wouldn’t be able to… return back to the kingdom tonight, or would be able to see you again… But I couldn’t afford for more innocent blood to spill either when I fully know that their reason for doing so is because they’re after me… Though, I just wished… that you didn’t have to see me like this, El…"
"W-what? Are you expecting to see me on your deathbed instead?!" she asked in a bit of a demanding tone, as more tears from her eyes streamed down on my body.
"I'm sorry if I worded that incorrectly... my mind isn't in the best condition right now. And perhaps making this decision would be another mistake but…" shakingly, I grabbed the Stone of Time underneath my red cape and placed it on top of her hand.
"W-Wait— This is your Stone! W-Why would you be giving this to me instead?"
"Please, try to understand that I truly don’t want to give you more burden with having my Stone of Time with you, especially knowing how powerful of a drawback it gives, and it is not my intention for doing so, but I couldn’t afford it being in the hands of anyone else either. Especially him…" I said, slowly opening my eyes to see her once more. "All I want for you is to be happy and safe. So use it as you see fit, to keep going… to keep living… and to keep on surviving… from Fate’s hands and this cruel world."
Her eyes widened in surprise before looking down at the gold-colored stone in her hand. "Don’t… Don’t worry about me... Just remember our lullaby as you close your eyes, and as the tears on your cheek soon fade away, know that I will be here 'til the sunrise..." She paused, feeling her tears begin to drip on my face, and gently closed my eyes shut while her left hand clenched tightly on mine. "... Please, my dear brother, do not be afraid... Because this is not our final goodbye… So hold my hand tight one more time, but please do not cry for me... 'cause I'll always be here, right by your side. And no matter how long the nights may seem to be, know that there will always be dawn…"
"... And remembering that I'll always come home... 'Cause with you is truly where I belong..." I finished her lines for her, squeezing her hand with the last of my energy before both of my eyes soon closed by themselves. I'm not certain what will occur to me as my body completely goes numb, or what will happen to her and the people I left behind in the kingdom of Ivory Moon. But the only thoughts I could muster before succumbing to the deep darkness of the unconsciousness or sweet death were a couple of words I wish I could tell them, remembering their faces and their names...
Garett… Taro… Rachelle…
Please, forgive me for leaving you all behind…
Endellion… Please, stay safe always…
It’s so cold… Everything is just so cold…
…
……
………
"Oh? You have returned here once again?... Have you come to stay this time?"
----------------------------------------