Clouds gathered and rain fell heavily over the forest.
Lirik Khan never appeared leaving Agashi alone to soak in the rain and be sat still in the mud.
His breathing was ragged as the freezing rain-drenched every part of his body and filtered through the slowly healing cracks in his skin.
Tilting his face upwards, his vision remained blurred and his arms limp at his sides.
He dared not move too much, nor too suddenly lest he reopen healing wounds.
The Scarlet Qi worked tirelessly within to heal the many injuries.
He smiled slowly, "Sorry."
The Scarlet Qi paused it's work for a brief moment as though acknowledging his words before re-doubling their efforts.
Alone in the cold rain, drenched and feeling sick.
It's not too different from back then is it ?
Ahh...
In a dusty place, a sand pit slowly swallowing his small frame, Agashi twisted and turned reaching up for help.
A memory from long ago, he thought.
Stuck in the badly maintained sandpit which had turned lethal to his small form all those years ago, he struggled in vain to escape as it held him tightly.
It had rained then as it rained now.
Cold.
Freezingly so.
His skin crawled as the water's properties penetrated deeply even touching his bones causing a shiver to run through his body like ants running along his bones.
He had screamed that day, screamed in vain.
No one helped him.
Attention seeker, they called him.
Dramatic.
Foolish.
Idiot.
They called him everything but human.
They looked at him as anything but worthy.
Overcome with sickness, he almost died only awakening two days later, hungry, cold and wet.
When he appeared home, he was beaten and berated for worrying them so much, though they didn't ask where he had been and was immediately put to work.
Water fell from his eyes in the form of rain, for tears were not a thing which he kept in great stock nor sold with ease.
Sitting silently, shivering, he felt unimaginably small, like that child.
The mud beneath him became like that sand which had held him, and the rain became like freezing swords come to take his life.
The shape of the world collapsed towards him as memories surfaced like sharks come to feast.
Yet, not a tear was shed.
Yes, not a tear.
Not a single damned one.
I refuse it.
I will not.
Agashi silently felt his heart beat weaken and his bones tremble and shiver, pain rising sharply everywhere as a silent scream rose in his throat only to be swallowed back like a river reversed in full flow.
It doesn't hurt.
It doesn't hurt.
It doesn't hurt.
....
"Ah... it hurts." Agashi silently said with a pained smile.
He looked to the sky where clouds covered everything in a veil of darkness and lightning.
"What do you want from me, Veru? Do you want me to kill? Lead? Destroy? Conquer?" Agashi laughed joylessly, "Just what do you want from me...?"
There was a defeating silence filled only by the light, joyless laughter reverberating from the depths of his soul like a voiceless cry.
"I want you to live," Came the soft reply yet it was not Veru, "don't you care what I think, too?"
Agashi's joyless laughter came to halt, as his soul mellowed and the pain seemed to leave as a strong, yet not burning warmth enveloped his being.
Shion, wearing a corset and her rapier at her side held him in her arms.
His lips were blue, and he couldn't feel his fingers.
In favor of keeping him alive, both his body and his Scarlet Qi had chosen to focus on the internal organs and some first aid to his extremities before completely abandoning the limbs once the rain hit.
As Shion shared her Scarlet Qi through his body, she felt a deeper connection appear as though he had become an open book.
Fear.
Anxiety.
Sadness.
Her pupils shrank as she felt the emotions which connected so tightly to one another within him like a tangled, yet unbreakable web.
These emotions ran through him like fuel.
He was afraid of losing all he had gained and so fought tooth and nail for every inch.
He was anxious of the future and what would become of what he loved, so he laid down his life.
He was sad about how little he had done and could do, so he broke every other part of himself which was not required for the task.
As she felt deeper, she found only an even more strongly tangled web of emotions.
Yet, the closer she reached, the further she went, the warmer it became until eventually, the web revealed a small opening and her mind crashed through.
Within that place was a blinding light accompanied by an unbelievably comfortable warmth which shook her control over the mental connection immediately throwing her out.
As she tried to reach out once more, she felt a hand clasp her own and looked down.
Agashi's body shivered from head to toe and he held his eyes tightly shut whilst holding her hand as though desperately grabbing for something.
She felt her heart break a little as the one before her was not the Scarlet Demon which riddled battlefields with corpses and littered lands with the fear of his wrath, but a child.
A child who was not saved.
///////////
Atop a luxurious bed, Agashi's eyes flew open scanning everything immediately.
He touched his chest, his breath slowly returning to normal as cold sweat trickled down his face and formed on his back, the events of that day ran through his mind incessantly.
The memory felt conjoined.
Like he was both a child dying in the sand, and a man left for dead in the mud.
Though death did not scare him, it did not mean it held no sway for though he feared not his own death, he was terrified of what would happen to those he would leave behind.
Feeling a sharp gaze on him, he turned his head to find Shion laying close next to him, staring into his eyes like a predator at prey.
"Your awake." Shion's tone was low.
"How long have I been out?" He replied calmly, his gaze passing over hers and out of the window where sunlight met the lavish sheets of their bedroom.
"Two days." Shion replied as her eyes followed his every turn.
"Two days?" Agashi tried to stand only to find Shion's grip tighten around his arm and his body unable to move anymore than his eyes could swivel, "...what's wrong with me?"
"..." Shion looked him over once in a defeating silence before replying, "Your body is cracked."
Cracked?
Agashi's eyes swiveled as he found what she was talking about.
Spiderweb scars like cracks in a canyon lined his body from head to toe, thin but many.
His face looked like it was a mirror struck by an angry young lady, cracks spiderwebbing everywhere.
He slowly felt his Scarlet Qi awaken alongside his own slowly growing mental strength.
As soon as his mind made contact with his Scarlet Qi, he felt joy come from the connection as it began to move slowly through him.
Yet, it was no longer strands of qi.
The once abundant amount of Scarlet Qi had become liquid, like the very blood that flows through his veins refining his muscles and organs wherever it passed.
Craaack!!!
"Shishi!?" Shion's pupils shook as she rushed her Qi into his body to stabilize his condition only to be thrown out.
The spiderweb cracks had expanded and his skin was beginning to fall off like the withered leaving of ancient tree's.
"I'm fine," With what little strength he had, Agashi squeezed her hand, "I'm okay."
Craaack!!
He muffled a scream as yet another shot of pain ran up his spine like a hundred stampeding horses.
Skin fell off in great flakes.
His eyebrows furrowed as the pain wrecked his body yet he made nary a noise.
His Scarlet Qi in it's liquid form could move through many more places strengthening those muscles which were previously neglected and bringing forth a new layer of skin and bone.
His bones glowed a light red.
It was only after an unknown amount of time had passed that Agashi, who could not even hope to fall asleep to avoid the pain, finally stopped writhing in pain.
The spiderweb's along his body had fallen away revealing a new, flawless body underneath devoid of scars both big and small.
Strength did not return to him however.
The Scarlet Qi quietly circulated around his body.
Shion who had been calmly staring at him all along slowly spoke, "Is it over?"
"It is," Agashi had a light-hearted smile, "Did you miss me-?"
Before his sentence finished, he found a strong warmth course through his body like a summers breeze blowing through his heart.
Held tightly in Shion's embrace his smile felt as though it had deepened despite retreating into his eyes comfortably.
"I will not kneel. I will not fall. Durlivan will not fall," Shion's voice cracked as it drifted down into his ears, "Death is no great price to pay... was it? The city is prepared to go to war because of you, you know?"
"How?" Agashi bathed in the warmth she provided but did not fall unknowingly into it, keeping a certain frame of mind as he asked feeling not the slightest hint of embarrassment.
She smiled, "Dratan. Whilst I was in the plaza, he came with Hardvar in tow and began directly projecting a projection of you, that was how we found you so fast. At the same time... everyone saw and heard it."
"The people are prepared to go to war," Shion smiled softly, "They were ready to give it all up for you."
Agashi's eyes quivered and his heart sank slightly.
Shutting his eyes he quietly spoke in a voice so low one would think he was talking to himself, "How much?"
"All of it," She ruffled his hair, "Do you regret it? Not running away?"
"No," Agashi brushed her hand with his own, "I am not embarrassed by my own words. They are my exact feelings. As a lord, no, as the one to who bears the suffering of all the people of this city, I am proud for every moment that burden is lessened. They have not betrayed me, and so I will die before I betray them. This city and her people... they are like family to me."
"I was accepted despite not being from here. I was given respect despite doing nothing to deserve it. I was given command despite being inexperienced. I was allowed to lead despite being weak. They accepted me for who I am." Agashi continued slowly a shimmering pride rising in his eyes, "I am proud to bear this weight, and if I had to lay down my life, it would not be a price too burdensome."
"...you'd leave me behind?" Shion asked carefully as she lowered her head touching her forehead to his.
He smiled comfortably.
When was the last time we talked like this? So freely.
"...you'd let me go alone?" Agashi pushed his head out softly.
There was a moment of silence before they both laughed lightly.
"Even in death, I won't let you escape, you know?" Shion smiled.
"Who said I want to escape at all?" Agashi quietly brushed his lips against hers.
She put a hand on his forehead and shook her head, "No, bad. You are still injured."
"I'm full of life though?" Agashi pushed her down with a flirtatious smile.
Strength was slowly returning such that he was around a normal human, so, if Shion wanted to she could easily stop him though she did not.
In such a way, the evening turned to night and the lights of the city turned on as the crescent moon illuminated the world with it's melancholy light.
Agashi softly glanced at Shion who had fallen asleep beside him and stood up only to be caught by her hand which stretched out swiftly catching him by the waist and pulling him back into her embrace like a pillow.
"The injured carry no responsibilities." She held him tightly, "Don't leave."
He didn't have quite any choice, and so slowly fell away to bed, held like a pillow in her arms.