Kat opened her eyes slowly. Whiskers sat on her chest. She felt his weight. He purred, and she rubbed his head and cried.
“Thank you,” she repeated again and again.
“Katarina,” he said softly. “I am sorry it took me so long. I was… with Rukia and Kaizen.” Kat sat up quickly, too quickly. Whiskers hopped off her and landed on all fours. Her neck wound, which hadn't fully healed yet, bled. Dark green acid boiled out while she Regenerated. All of her attention for the past few hours had been consumed by her living nightmare. She could now think about what had caused it.
“Jules.”
“He is… safe,” Whiskers said. Kat studied his expression for any clues to Jules’ wellbeing, or the state of the town, or—
“Cy!?”
“I’m afraid I do not know. But I wouldn't dare doubt he weaseled his way into surviving somehow. A cockroach, that one.”
She looked around. Bodies everywhere.
No. These can only be described as…remains.
Kat wobbled to her feet. Her synapses hadn’t fully healed yet, and she crashed to her knees more than once. Bones laid all around her on the podium. Scorched bones, melted bones, and pools of coagulating blood surrounded her. No one had survived Wrath’s fury. He burned everything.
“The rain.”
Kat remembered a period of her endless death cycle, near the beginning. She would awake to a terrible sight, red rain that burned her flesh off. Luckily for her, it would only last a few seconds before her brain was starved of oxygen. Best to not think about it.
“We need to look for Cy," Whiskers said.
“And Jules?” Whiskers looked away from her.
“He is in Rukia and Kaizen’s hands now. They requested that we… Leave him be for now.”
"Whiskers…" What are you hiding from me? She found it best to leave the matter alone for now. She looked her Familiar over. “Your tails…”
“Yes, Katarina. But I am fine.” Whiskers whipped his fluffy tails around. All three of them.
“You didn’t make it out any better than I did…”
“I wouldn’t say that. I only died once.”
“I am sorry." Kat stood on her own two feet again. "Now it'll be harder for you to blend in.”
“That ship has sailed. I’m afraid we’ll all be notorious after today.”
Kat wiped away a single tear. I can handle dying, but Whiskers…
“Don’t worry about me. You’re not the only one who can die for this team.”
Kat reached out an arm. “Come. Let’s go find Cy.” Whiskers jumped onto her arm and climbed to her shoulder. This feels…nice.
A warm smile crept across Kat's face. The moment was ruined, completely shattered, when she looked down and saw a group of children, their charred ashes etched into the ground, curled up into the fetal position.
JULES
Rukia licked his face. Jules couldn’t remember what he’d done to feel this way, but he felt guilty, like he shouldn’t be happy right now or enjoying this moment. Kaizen, manifested by Rukia, floated in the air between the trees, sitting with legs crossed.
“Jules, what do you remember?” Judging by that look, must be bad.
“I came here to capture the Shrine. I remember that much.”
“What happened inside it? What did you agree to—”
“Kaizen,” Rukia warned. Jules studied them both.
“The Warg…I forgot about him. And then I slayed a Leshen. I ripped a sword from its antlers. But I still had to fight the Warg—”
Jules' memory flooded back. I made a deal with Wrath.
[Shut the Damn Door — Quest Objective ADDED: Find a way to shut the door again.]
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Beyond that, everything remained hazy and obscure. Jules glanced around at the forest. “I didn’t wake up here by accident, did I?”
“No.” It was the way Kaizen said it that stung Jules. The harsh tone, the shortness of the sentence. As if there was a lot more to say, but that was all the samurai could say without exploding.
“I was going to die. Really die.” Jules glared at Kaizen, but held his tongue. “So I agreed to give him control if he’d save my friends.”
“I see.” Kaizen looked at the stars. No shooting stars tonight, you bastard.
“Jules,” Rukia said. Jules just looked at her. He couldn't speak. He could only wait to hear about the fallout. Her expression didn’t help him. There was no blame, no judgment, just sadness, though Jules wasn’t sure who she felt for. Surely not me.
“Was it… Was it worse than last time?” Jules asked. Rukia nestled her head into Jules' laps.
“Yes,” Kaizen said. “You gave him full control. He saved your friends, so I hope it was worth it.”
Jules felt relief. Then he felt guilty for that, too. His heart raced and his stomach dropped. “I wish I had died in that Shrine.”
Rukia whimpered. Kaizen remained silent for a while, then spoke again.
“Jules. What’s done is done. You can’t go back and change what you’ve done any more than I can. I won’t sit here and lecture and judge you. I won’t tell you this was or wasn’t your fault—”
“But it is.” Jules wished they’d lay into him, that they’d deal him the punishment he deserved.
“Only you can decide that. And your opinion on the matter will change with time.” Kaizen averted his stargazing to look at Jules again. “And that opinion will change many times over.”
Why do I feel like that's happening to you, right now? Regretting something you've been at peace with?
“However, you made the choice. Now, we need to move forward with the wisdom of that experience.”
Jules sat and wondered about all the people he might have killed. Smitty. Hal. Sal… Oh, Salvos—
“My family? What about my family?”
“Jules,” Rukia whispered.
Jules finally realized where he was—just a short walk from his house. I must have…Wrath, that is, must have been going to them. Are they safe? Have I already been there? Jules shot up.
“I’m going home.”
Kaizen dropped down from his levitation and put his feet firmly on the ground. It was the first time Jules had ever seen his feet. “I don’t think you should go back there. I think we should head for the ship.”
Jules ran toward his home, straight through Kaizen's ethereal body.
CYRUS
Cy awoke to someone yelling his name. His crusty eyelids stuck together and felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. Eyes open or shut, he saw the same thing—darkness.
“Jules?” Cy lifted himself up slowly. He felt some type of large pressure in his chest, like an elephant sat on it. Am I having a heart attack? Instinctively, he reached for his chest. He froze when he felt the cold metal handle of the dagger. Do not. Touch it. Cy moved his hand away, as slowly and purposefully as he could muster. Through slow, shallow breaths, he experimented with how much he could inflate his diaphragm without disturbing the blade.
About half capacity is my absolute limit, just to be safe. He stood up and hit his head on a rough stone.
“Agghh!” He sat down hurriedly and controlled his breathing. “Shit shit shit!” Another shallow breath to calm the nerves…
? Light ? [?3,200 // ?10,000]
The stone jail cell lit up. The front half, including the gate, was closed off by the caved-in ceiling, composed of all rock. One boulder looks safe enough to move.
? Force ? [?1,900 // ?10,000]
The Rune applied leveraged pressure against one side of the boulder. It rolled toward Cy and—
CRACK!!
A larger stone collapsed behind the boulder and brought down parts of the ceiling with it. Light poured in from the evening night sky, and Cy looked into the cell adjacent to his own. Its ceiling had also caved in, but the rocks had shattered and left the cell open to the night air. And the rain.
Cy inspected the corpse. He vomited. Whoever Isolda had incarcerated in her place, who Cy had hoped would be freed the next time the Guards checked on her—
No. Don’t think about it. Cy averted his gaze from the falsely accused, the falsely imprisoned. Crawling through this hole without shifting the blade in his heart would be difficult enough—he didn't want to be further weighed down by guilt. The ledge of the rock he planned to climb out with was wet. Fuck fuck fuck. OK—
One. Two. Three—
He grazed the wet surface with a fingertip, then sighed with relief. Nothing.
"Cy!?" they called again. Cy clambered out of the jail.
“Kat?” Cy shouted back. “That you? I’m over here!” He was filled with more relief that someone else had survived. Someone who doesn’t want to kill me. He sat down and leaned against the stone.
“Cy,” Envy cried. “I can’t believe it’s you—Oh, Salvos!” She covered her mouth. Her gaze fixed on the jagged dagger.
“It’s OK, Kat. I’m OK. It’s Enchanted. Selene said it would only harm me when removed, so—No, listen! Don’t touch it.”
“OK, OK! And Selene…?”
“Yeah. The purple-haired chick we met at the Hydromage Tryouts. She’s been working with the Iron Maidens. She's who I’ve been fighting. She—don’t give me that look—She saved me, I guess. In the end. Well, actually I'm not sure…"
“I’m just glad you’re alive!" Envy enwrapped him in a side hug, careful to avoid the dagger.
“As am I,” Whiskers said. Cy laughed.
“You look different. Get a fur-cut or something?”
Whiskers furrowed his brows. His irises turned sharp and narrow. “Now’s not the time for humor, Cyrus.”
“Yeah.” Cy thought about getting up, but figured a few more minutes wouldn't hurt. “And Jules?”
“Jules is Jules again,” Whiskers said. “Rukia has assured me.”
“Where is he?” Envy and Whiskers looked at each other.
“Close by,” Envy said. “We're supposed to meet them on the ship.”
“Our ship? Think there’s anything left?” Cy asked.
“Only one way to find out,” Whiskers said.
Cy grunted, then he stood up. “Alright, let’s go. I can rest there.” He walked away.
“Cy,” Envy whispered. “It’s best if you don’t—"
"Smitty…" The rain melted most buildings to the ground. Only those made of stone survived. A few streets over, half of The Halberd remained standing, the other half reduced to rubble. One body lingered by the Forge, turned to ash. "Hal…"
Never even thought to question if Smitty was your real name…
Cy turned to the sky, for the Apothecary and the bell tower, but nothing remained. Everything was reduced to ash.
"You’d better let us lead the way.” Envy touched Cy's elbow.
“Oh.” Cy looked around at what little remained of his hometown. “Right.”
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should will finish the draft of volume 2 next friday 1/3