Inner City was left in a state of calm. Everyone was dead, the soldiers, the peasants, all of them were dead. The fire spread throughout the entirety of Inner City, even the neutral nobility were forced to flee or die.
Trojan was on the ground, trying to breathe properly. He calmed himself down, his heart beating too fast.
There was something about the fire that unnerved him. He was afraid.
The day of his birthday ten years ago, he had witnessed his parents' death. He remembered his parents' expression as they burnt to death in a carriage. The screams of his parents and those standing around.
Fire was a scary thing, and Trojan just noticed it. It was as if the adrenaline had had worn off.
He stared at the ground, feeling the heat on his back. He had two broken fingers on his left hand, but that pain meant nothing to him.
His chest felt constricted. He breathed through his mouth, but it was as if he was not breathing to begin with.
He looked up once before trying to crawl away. Everything around him was on fire, he did not know what he had to do.
His plan was not intended to be this way. He had thought that he managed to manipulate those around him, but in the end, his plans were used as a catalyst for Duke Phoenix and Domino to set out their own plans.
Trojan needed to fix it, at least redeem himself to an extent.
He tried crawling, but he struggled before he stopped, feeling as if he was not breathing.
He felt someone touch his neck.
Trojan turned around violently, trying to defend himself. When he saw who it was, he stopped, trying to register whether he was hallucinating.
"W-What are you doing here?" Trojan asked.
Emilia was there, squatting beside Trojan, a cloth over her nose and mouth. She looked quite worried while also looking slight mad.
"I'm not going to just let you die here!" Emilia shouted, desperately trying to get Trojan back onto his feet.
Trojan got onto his feet. Emilia noticed Trojan's difficulty in breathing and put her cloth over his nose and mouth.
Trojan managed to breathe slightly better, though not by a lot.
"Let's get to the carriage! We'll be able to leave Inner City!" Emilia told him.
Trojan saw the second carriage beside the one he had arrived in.
Trojan stopped.
"What are you doing? Hurry up! The fire's going to block the path soon!" Emilia shouted.
"I-I need to correct some wrongs," Trojan said to her.
Emilia stared at him as if he was insane. "What are you talking about? This is serious! We need to get out of here!"
Trojan looked back at Domino.
"Please, I need to correct my mistake," Trojan insisted.
Emilia stared at him for some time before slapping him. Trojan stared at Emilia after being slapped, stunned.
"I don't care about that! I just want you to be safe!" Emilia shouted, tearing up. "You said we were expecting a child, so don't try to act so selfish! Do you want a child that grows up without a father?"
Trojan stepped closer to Emilia.
"Please, I need to do this…" Trojan whispered.
"YOU DON'T!" Emilia shouted, shocking Trojan.
She walked up to him and got directly in his face.
"You think this is about politics, don't you? I don't care about that," Emilia started talking with a much softer voice. "I didn't marry you for politics, I married you because I loved you. You don't remember when you were young and visited me, but I do!"
She wiped tears from her face before grabbing Trojan's collar.
"So don't be so selfish! Leave this place to burn, run away with me!" Emilia continued. "We can go somewhere else, we can live a simple life as a family!"
Trojan hugged her close, feeling himself tear up as well.
"Please… don't go…" Emilia said, shivering.
"You go ahead," Trojan told her. "I'll need to do something real quick. I promise to be with you once I am finished with it."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
Emilia let go, not looking at Trojan. She turned around and started walking away.
"You better not lie," Emilia told him, not showing her face.
"I'll be done quick, so go ahead, it won't take too long," Trojan assured her.
Emilia walked towards the carriage while Trojan walked towards one of the fallen soldiers.
He needed to correct some wrongs.
Emilia went ahead.
Trojan had to admit that he did not remember much about his childhood as he grew up. He had mostly shut off most of his memories after the death of his parents.
He did not remember Emilia, but was thankful that she remembered him, despite the type of person he had become.
"I wonder what our childhood was like…" Trojan muttered to himself.
He looked at the cloth Emilia had left with him. He smiled and kept it in his pocket.
He felt calmer after Emilia left. He somehow felt as though the fire was no longer scary, no matter how fiercely it burnt.
Trojan painfully loaded in the crossbow. He held it up with his hands, right finger on the trigger. His left hand had a couple of broken fingers, but he could manage.
"Must have been nice…" Trojan muttered to himself again. "Probably should have married her earlier…"
He aimed.
His arms felt oddly steady despite what he was about to do. The heat and fire around him, the death that surrounded him.
The night sky was tinted orange, and the moon shown brightly. Trojan could tell that several monsters were headed in their direction.
Domino mentioned that he wanted to create something beyond human, and Trojan knew that something like that should never be made.
There was a rumour which Trojan heard from Domino himself.
Should a Phoenix ever be present in human form, it would lead everyone to their deaths.
How many peasants had died? How many innocent lives had died? How many soldiers had died?
Was it Trojan's fault?
Probably, but he did not care any longer as he aimed. He was going to do what he thought was right, and he was going to have to kill to do so.