image [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczOumRcHulEEZYJ6MVvX024hsavsvFH-GsEqsohpaVjiTu3YEXldCOwDkk6ILTKxUL5bKWuye_tw54iCUOuk-3NiBgDN4NsUFDR9gIJVudSOb3ieCRzbBe_qovQzOLgJoU7szrVpBvwO5uATGttNc5i1Ag=w612-h408-s-no-gm?authuser=1](Concept of the beach Leon wakes up on)
SPLASH.
Leon woke up with a start. Waves crashed against the shore beside him. He cringed and turned his head away from the sharp pain in his nose. Visibility was poor. It was a struggle for him to keep his eyes open. Wet sand slipped between his fingers. Something soft closed on his mouth, making his eyes shoot open as air was blown into it.
There were countless stars all around. No clouds plagued the sky as a long haired beauty sat over him. Her hands pressed on his chest repeatedly. He coughed and grunted as he grabbed the hands. "K-Katie? Is this supposed to be CPR? ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?"
"S-sorry!" Katie yelped, flinching at the sudden outburst.
Leon jumped up, banging their heads together. "Oww." Katie held her head as he was coughing out water. His throat was dry and sore. He rubbed it.
"Well congratulations.... I'm alive..." Leon said, grimacing. What a great vacation... He smacked the sand off his clothes.
"You weren't breathing and I didn't know what else to do," Katie explained, her eyes lowering. "God, this is more confusing than it looks."
"Wait, where are we?" Leon asked, his eyes widening. "And WHY does my nose feel like it's broken?" Any attempt to even touch it sent ripples of pain through his body.
Katie traced circles on the sand with her heel as she looked down. "That.... might be my fault. I had to jump quickly and I miscalculated my landing a little."
"A LITTLE? You had the entire ocean to jump into and you landed on my nose!" he shouted, throwing his hands up.
He spun around. His heart sank. They were on a beach. Nothing but a vast and empty ocean awaited the waters ahead. No boats, no towns, not even a goddamn bird in sight. ....Knew I should've taken that left turn at Alburqurque cause holy FUCK WE'RE LOST.
Katie flinched at how panicked his thoughts sounded. Behind them was nothing but jungle and rocks as far as the eye could see. The wind blew harshly causing sand and shells to fly up all over the place. Great. Just fuckin' great. Does this mean we have to live off of fish and coconuts like Tom Hanks in Casta- Castaway? More like Castafuckingoddamnit why are we here?
He took a deep breath, walking to the edge of the beach as waves crashed against his legs. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing but the night sky and cold waters that stretched on to no end. He kicked up sand and spun around toward the forest.
They stood there in awkward silence. A crab scurried against Leon's boot. It tapped it again and again. Almost like mother nature itself was saying, "HAHA, welcome to the jungle mother fucker!" Leon snatched the crab off the sands and chucked it into the ocean.
She jumped at how sudden he moved. "Do we at least know where we are?" he asked, looking back.
"M-my family attacked us." Katie looked down at her feet, grimacing. "It wasn't safe on the ship so I flew us away from it. Didn't have time to think about where..."
Feeling his pockets, Leon ripped out his phone. Well... I did say let's run away together. Can't be a little bitch when shit hits the fan. Aaaand, we've got phone connection. That's something at least, he thought.
"Leon?" Katie looked at him bewildered. "Your thoughts are kind of all over the place... you okay?"
"I'm fantastic!" Leon said, waving his hand sheepishly in a 'I'm fine' kind of way.
A light in the sky caught his eye. It was flying closer and closer. "Is that a plane? Hey!" Leon scrambled down the beach, waving his hands out.
The silhouette of the plane flew past them despite Leon's attempts. He looked at Katie. "Wait, why don't you fly after it? Get their attention God damn it!"
Katie looked at him. "Wait what?"
"Don't just stand there! Go get it!" Leon shouted, pushing her.
Without question, Katie flew after the plane in a hurry. She stopped a few feet above the air. "What do you need a plane for, Leon?"
Leon scratched his head in a frenzy. "Are you serious? So we can fly out of here! Go go go!"
Seeing her face scrunch up in confusion as she flew after it made Leon pinch himself. He chuckled under his breath. His fingers counted down to see how long it would take for her to realize what just happened. Three... two... one...
It took only a few minutes for her to fly back around. "What would you need a plane to fly for?" Katie asked, her hair all over the place from the wind.
It was more than he could take. Leon fell to his knees laughing, slamming his hand against the sand. He rolled back and forth, kicking his legs out as he laughed himself to tears. Katie watched this, at first confused. The next moment she was biting her lip out of frustration.
"Leon... you're evil," Katie said, crossing her arms and looking away as she landed.
It took another several minutes for him to regain his composure. Even as he got to his feet, he had to stop himself from restarting a laughing fit. "It wasn't even that funny," she said, grumbling.
As Leon took one step forward, his vision blurred. He slipped. "Leon!" Katie caught him, holding him up straight. "Will you be alright? We can still rest here if you need to."
"Don't worry about lil ol' me," Leon groaned, holding his head. "Just feeling a little dizzy."
"Are you sure?" Katie asked, her eyebrows creasing. This is not how I imagined this going... he's probably mad at me, she bit her lip and fumbled her fingers.
"I am not mad at you," Leon said, wrapping an arm around her waist. When her eyes lowered, he raised her chin softly so she'd look at him. His eyes widened as he screamed, "I'M FURIOUS!"
When Katie yelped and fell to the floor, he snickered. "Joking. We've been together for years already. I already know your family is... what's a nice way to put it? Coo coo for cocoa puffs."
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"D-don't call them that," Katie said, failing to suppress a giggle.
Leon shook his head, grinning. "Well, at least if we run away together, you don't technically have to fight them? Unless they catch up with us... We'll just worry about it when the time comes."
"But how? I don't want to hurt them," Katie said, frowning.
Leon scoffed as he stood up. "Katie, you've come to me bleeding head to toe. They literally torture you every day... you can't hide it! You've told me yourself the kind of 'training' they put you through. And for what? You've never explained why."
Katie continued to look past him, her eyes drifting. He crossed his arms. "Well? If we're going anywhere with this, you need to tell me the truth Katie."
She sighed. "Please be patient with me, Leon. This isn't easy.... can we find somewhere to rest first? I swear I'll tell you tonight, just please give me time."
His eyes drifted to a mountain ahead of them. It couldn't have been more than a thirty minute walk through the forest. "That looks like a good spot for us to hold up for the night at least. Not the most exotic castle for my queen, but... shall we?" Leon cast her a glance for approval.
Katie's eyes widened, but then she chuckled. "Lead the way, my king." She gave a small curtsy.
Under normal circumstances, it would've taken them roughly half an hour to reach the cave. Finding vines and monkeys added to that adventure. Katie watched with almost childlike wonder watching Leon swing from vine to vine. Unfortunately a childhood of being beaten to a pulp didn't offer any Tarzan or other Disney fantasies in her memories. Didn't stop her from laughing to tears seeing him fight over a banana with a tribe of apes. It was the part where he shouted, "Get back here you little shit!" that particularly had her on her knees.
image [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczNSZPfGk-ius3umQIsHr876rPz3i4vWBvSVXY0NJ-XyaDhE3vNmoyoywXpWPjTRfCwWSbHnpPJwCjHZi7hlvEe_QqtlkHQJ-3MRGA2_HgwhF9jF5DlsjyxL9f9fRb9GYTKB34RERHi7A-28RgCNc-hD3z2Qi1Xm36a8toges_vcWsJAQNalFjZuhAcELftZdCAjnaa-Ubow7d5n315cRRZ9aZs5IVOO8UC5icpagzYvAZzJdRPuXh1QMDpS-h_53Pcww3y8YJt6vdDYdAkR4By_lyAseSCLrajyakBMm3BliRUKZOmqcZeEWxX9p_83MpfXXtxz8cAehNgIEo6lERw9csrslj8vj0pIulWimeIqAL-RtMpCNKBcyw2dtqDhSpa-azF-vAYQTxo0ZT4EoceY2nHvXYjdU5Wjf4-mu_dUQ1XC0Dg1E33iWC-4d1W57DAOnb1f9NPCsjLrFZ2SgGJKLF92tCYagbRdJ8WhfAg-y5Azplw23CYaL0rVvYfgT3aS1aKEblAT8iR6awfLY-9EKrYqWmmAGjtd5qzn2pU_oxW0w365sqz89t48q5Y7uEzSklCS4p1Uw2mlrgR4GO06RynLnKV92iWpD1AzNm8Vhz2G-0H6JhO3VSpzTg-b48F5ZdQbXLjUA4s-ORO7AmPKEtgQj7r1-GH83m3IdoN70DKRg_mDX1VjN2FjyPMmrxGIvQveJ5Of-Xkeh7ey-dkNuwn-Z_sHlF_sEyWnEnng7aWxS0UGaOJLdeGVX52LZdwq7M7svv2CV9cFYVh_TaeZ80dJSYQRo2ikHZ2AyVAdyjJ5xwtCAzchoexs9QpxsN9pa4A6AENVSLgKq3E_FmeKuPsZ0vZ8ifdeKplfi8Oy-er6ozwJqFvsE7QPWVUk_T-9Q_P3Vo8OW4I4we5Gv0NrE_EttrfvcHOG9Ak-RzheJUWB4JdQOKr8o-iFsGHB=w654-h654-s-no-gm?authuser=1]
(Concept of the island)
They arrived at the aforementioned cave nearly an hour later. They built a campfire in the center of the room. Leon sat in his boxers, shivering. His drenched clothes were laid to dry by the flames. The pain in his nose flared less and less during their walk through the forest. When he felt if it was still broken, it wasn't. This can't be normal. Bones don't just fix themselves.
Katie placed her own clothes next to the fire [https://img.wattpad.com/7b9b2bd54dd20d61a7c34dc0369a9114fe7791ed/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f4a444f3046776e37447441436b673d3d2d3839393133343034392e313761386533656263613364653839393535383730363833313534382e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
(Concept of the cave they stay in)
Katie placed her own clothes next to the fire. She covered her chest, blushing as she avoided his gaze. Leon glanced at her and coughed. "Katie, sorry to change the mood, but I remember Isabella mentioning you're trained to kill the demon Diablos? Does that have anything to do with why I'm so strong? His soul is bound to me like Jalaiya is to you? Just what are they? What is so important about them? It has to be more than just senseless cruelty that your mother makes you live that way, right?" Leon asked as he held his hands against the fire.
Katie frowned and lowered her gaze. "How to begin...?"
A screech came from the ceiling. Katie yelped, moving to Leon as bats scattered above them. They flew in a frenzy out of the cave and into the night sky. "You good?" He asked, holding her close.
Katie nodded, turning her gaze to him. She stroked his face and leaned into him. They shared a kiss before she pulled away. "I'm sorry, Leon. This isn't how I expected things to be." Her eyes wandered to the fire. "Though I suppose that was naive for me to think that way. As always."
She pressed her lips together. The flames crackled throughout the cave. As if it were mocking her hesitation as it reflected off the stone walls around them.
"I understand this isn't easy for you. But, hey we have all the time in the world now... I'm ready to listen whenever you want to share," Leon said, hugging his knees as he looked at her.
Katie's eyes widened as she knelt beside him. "...I've never truly understood it myself, my mother's obsession. The little I know of her life is that she was raised by assassins. As you can imagine, that doesn't give one much empathy to anything, much less their children. Other than that, I don't know why she cares," Katie said, closing her eyes. Leon scooted a little closer to her, leaning in to listen better.
"You know I have two sisters. My mother doesn't care about giving us a normal life. She says he's a threat to the world. Someone inherited his soul and will rise once again. Diablos has been dormant for centuries with no signs of activity."
Leon frowned. "Diablos... is he supposed to be evil or something?"
"That's what we're told. He was considered a hero centuries ago along with the angel Jalaiya. She's my great great grandmother."
Leon's eyes widened. "Your great great grandmother? Just how old are you anyway?"
"I'm only seventeen, Leon," Katie said, frowning. "I'm not a century old relic like my mother."
"Oh, thank God. I thought you might have a pet dinosaur or whatever super old people own these days. Did you just call your mom a relic?"
"Leon, focus. My family is told to be the last of the angels. Diablos slaughtered them all before he and Jalaiya fought. It's funny.... They loved each other and fought to save the world once. They nearly destroyed what they were trying to protect in less than a few hours."
She took a deep breath. "No one knows why Diablos betrayed her or who stopped them from finishing the fight. All my mother knows is that their souls were sealed away. Jalaiya's soul was inside of my mother before I was born, and Diablos is in someone else."
"And if we had to take a wild guess, that person is me, right?"
There was a long pause. Wind howled almost as if nature itself was responding. It was the only rational explanation to their connection. "We don't know that for sure."
Leon sighed. "Alright then, let's do a little test. Your mother was training you to be the ultimate, right?"
"...Yes."
"Other than fighting your family, you took every lesson she taught you seriously. Including learning about other races and species."
Her heart sank, but she didn't deny it. "Yes."
"How many creatures in the world can share a connection through their minds? From across the world? From across space?"
Even as she sat there, she could hear Jalaiya's poisonous whispers. Feel her body tensing up. She'd learned to resist her taking control over the years. How safe could they possibly be if they stayed together? Katie's eyes watered. "Only two. Diablos and Jalaiya."
It nearly shattered her in two. She almost felt herself drift apart at that realization. That no matter where they ran, they could never be at peace as long as those two souls existed within their bodies. Even fate itself would never allow her to be happy, to keep him safe. Before a single tear fell, his hand already cupped her cheek and his thumb wiped it away. "If my life is all it took to save your family and this world... It's a small price to pay."
A trigger snapped. Katie jumped to her feet. "No! How could you say that?"
"It's the truth." Memories of running through that fog ran rampant in Leon's mind. The accusations. Poisonous whispers tearing at his soul. The guilt he felt. Hatred he had for himself that he'd never understand. It was one of the few times he couldn't meet her eyes. "If that was what it took to make you happy..."
"Leon!" Her voice sounded so panicked he couldn't help but look at her.
She held his face and all he could see were those emerald green eyes. It was as if all of that fog, all of that darkness. In one instant, even if for a fleeting moment, it ceased to exist. He'd never imagined the way anyone could look at him could feel so warm. Almost as if he were staring into the sun itself, but it felt like heaven. As if he could drown within that gaze, and if the world ended, he'd have died more than content.
"Nobody in this world... There is no one I have ever loved more than you! Every day was hell. I always questioned why I existed. How I could be born into a life where I feel nothing but pain... until I met you. You gave me a place that was comfortable. You gave me a home! Don't ever say that a life without you could ever make me happy!" Katie cried, and with those words, his own heart exploded.
They could've sat there for days, for centuries, and it would've never been enough. Leon smiled, and she returned it. "I won't. I won't say that again."