"Arata! Arata!" I try to shake him but it's pointless. His body has turned cold but not too cold. Judging from this he died only a few hours ago.
It's amazing... The person I love the most is dead in my arms but I'm still able to maintain control. No. That's not true. I'm not in control. My mind may be fine but the calmness is the mask of my rage.
---
"What happened to him?" Will asked as he and the others returned to my side.
"He must've stared into the eyes of the Ophiuchus." I answered as I tried to check Zhen's body for any injuries. "As I thought. He is trapped in a prison of his worst fear."
"How do we get him out?" Reina asked.
Just as Reina asked, Zhen begun to stir. He gets up and his eyes open. That's when I see them, colorless and lightless.
"Get back!" I shouted and jumped away from Zhen.
"Ah!" Zhen shoots out knives in every direction.
"What happened to him?" Hiro asked.
"He couldn't resist the vision shown to him by Ophiuchus. He is going beserk." I answered as I reached into my shadows for something that can help him.
"A-Arata!" He shouted as his knives began to circle around him.
"Zhen!" Reina tried to get closer but then suddenly his knives attacked her and she jumps back with a wound on her shoulder.
"Arata!" He continues to shout my name and that's when I see it. He has activated Madness Mania.
"Get away from him!" President Mayumi ordered.
When I finally manage to pull my hand out of my shadow what I find in my hand is lone carnation.
I understood what it meant when I looked at Zhen's state. I take one step towards him and the knives immediately lock on to as their target but they don't strike yet.
"Arata! Be careful!" Will shouted to me.
"It's fine." I turned to give him a smile.
Zhen... Wait for me. I'm coming to where you are. No matter what darkness it is that you are facing, I'll definitely be there to help you break free from it.
----
I will kill everything that harmed Arata.
This lone thought lingers in my head. It repeats over and over again in my mind.
Ah look at that. In the corner of my eye I see a shadow. Ophiuchus. I will hunt down every last one of them.
"I'll kill every last one of you!"
----
"I'll kill every last one of you!" Zhen's shout echoes around us.
He charges towards my direction without hesitation. I barely manage to block his attack with my petals.
"Zhen! Snap out of it!" I shouted.
"You will pay!" Zhen shouted as he breaks my barrier and sends me flying back.
"Arata, get away from him!" Theo shouted but I shook my head.
"Zhen! Please! Come back to me!" I called his name.
"Arata! Look above!" Mayumi shouted and I saw the Ophiuchus looking over the barrier.
"When did they get here?!" Liam shouted as he slammed his hammer to the ground.
"They've likely been around. Watching us." Van answered as he fired a barraged of spells into the mist.
"Arata look out!" Thanks to Ethan's warning I manage to dodge the knife flying my way.
"We need to knock him out!" Hiro exclaimed but I refused. "Why?!"
"I have a way to bring Zhen back, but you have to trust me." I answered.
"Arata... Alright we'll trust you." Andrew answered and I smiled.
Lowering my shields, I walk towards Zhen. I call his name from the depths of my heart.
"Zhen! Zhen!" I call his name.
Blades circle around me and slash me, my face, my shoulders, my legs, even so I walk closer to him.
"Zhen! Zhen!" I called his name again and again. "Zhen! It's me!"
For the first time I see his eyes, blood red,just like that time. Looks like I was right. It's his Madness Mania.
"Zhen! Please hear my voice!" I shouted but was blown back.
"Young one, he cannot hear your voice." I hear a voice in my head echo. "Zhen is a very stubborn-headed child."
This voice... Zhen's grandfather.
"I'll teach you a way to bring him back. It's something I used to sing to him to calm him down." He says. "So I leave to you my precious grandson."
Just as he says this, a song enters my mind. I see, I just have to sing this song.
[You're searching for a reason to keep fighting
Even if you're lost in the darkness of the night, afraid of what's to come
If there's a part of me that lives inside your heart,
I'll be the one that can make it shine in the dark somehow
And even if the shadows swallow you and you're lost wandering
I will sing this song so you can find your way home
So that you can smile without tears again
So that you can face the morning without fear
I will call your name! Like you did before!
Call this name that only you know
So that you can see that I am always here
I'll be waiting for you to come home]
As I sing this song, I begin to step closer to Zhen. In the last notes of the song, I arrive at Zhen's side without being attacked.
"Come home, Zhen." I press my forehead to his and I see the red light disappear from his eyes.
"...Arata...?" Zhen's gentle voice calls my name and I immediately hug him.
"Zhen?!" I'm taken by surprise when he hugs me tightly as if he didn't believe what he saw.
"Thank goodness! I thought I had lost you!" He cried as he hugged me.
"Save that for later!" Will shouted as the Ophiuchus began to swarm aroundthe barrier.
"Perfect timing. It's time these guys pay." Zhen said as he released me.
"Tch! There's too many of them!" Alexis shouted.
"Arata. Thanks for bringing me back." Zhen held my hand and smiled. "For the you that has never once given up on me. For the one who has supported me again and again."
Zhen kneels down and takes my hand, a golden light begins to swirl around us.
"I make this vow. To be faster than you enemies, to be sharper than any blade that you will cross." He says as he kissed my hand. "I, Zhen Jin, offer my knife to you."
As he says this, the two of us are engulfed in a golden light. When the golden light fades, Zhen stands before me with his new Crest. A Flower with a knife on the sixth petal.