"Die you stupid turtle!" Caroline said
She was playing Super Mario on a brand-new Nintendo Switch she bought after the fight
While failing to defeat one of the bosses she heard the bell ringing
It was Destiny
"Good morning Caro, I'm sorry for coming here so early... I just wondered..."
"Don't worry Luck is sleeping, it has been days since the operation ended but he refuses to go outside or see us, I have checked on him many times so he isn't doing anything bad to himself but what happened there might have damaged him internally" Caroline explained
"But he wasn't the one that killed all those people..." Destiny said with a sad expression
Seeing Destiny sad Caroline decided to grab her hand and go for a walk, it was Saturday so they needn't worry about school or any other thing, UMP also gave everyone a two-week break after the big fight
"Why did we come here? It's a bit cold plus we can't really sunbathe now..." Destiny asked confused as she was sitting near Caroline on the rocky beach where they often sunbathed
"Things are bound to get complicated from now Destiny so I want you and Floga to get ready too"
"What do you mean by that Caro?"
"Lucifer and the sins are planning on acquiring every single Shard so they can control the dark mana spirit "Skotos" and in order to do that they will go to extreme feats, they will not hesitate to kill and won't hesitate to do many other bad things so I want you to stay strong and get ready for a war" Caroline said calmly to Destiny
A moment of silence followed as the morning waves stuck the rocks again and again
"I thought that was the case from the start" Destiny said as she started warming up her hands
"You don't understand me, Destiny, the war will take part on this island because there is a Shard hidden deep down in this island"
Destiny was confused
"What do you mean?"
"This island shouldn't be here, the beginning of its creation was a result of mana warriors fighting each other and then preserved by one another for ages, the one that preserved the island used both his life and also one of the strongest things in the world, the Shard of Destruction by making a binding vow, a vow that said he will die for the shake of the island's life and he gave the Shard of Destruction to protect it. How? I hear you asking, by creating a massive eruption if somebody tries to get the Shard, Lucifer will try to take the Shard and he will activate the volcano, destroying the whole island"
Destiny didn't believe what she heard at first but then it all made sense
Many experts that had visited the island throughout the years always left confused and wondering the same thing, "Why hasn't the volcano erupted yet?" there were many signs that showed that the only logical thing that could happen was the island exploding, they all warned the citizens that it could erupt at any moment but they were all wrong
"Does Luck know?" Destiny asked
"He doesn't, Floga probably doesn't know it either, I wasn't aware of this before Kamira told me some days ago, they were going to tell you a bit later but I thought you had to know it too"
Caroline's words sounded anxious, she was one of the strongest but even she doubted her ability to protect everyone she loved, she was willing to try hard though and nothing could change that
"It's that all?"
"Yes I have nothing else to tell you" Caroline said as she got up
Suddenly Destiny grabbed Caroline's waist and started tinkling her
"AHAH WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!!!" Caroline asked as she laughed
Apparently, Caroline is very ticklish
"You forgot to congratulate me for beating an enemy both Luck and Floga lost to!" Destiny said as she laughed at Caroline laughing
…
"What training? We told to relax for 2 weeks, not four days"
Floga showed up in the UMP base way too early
"Is there any point resting? Daniel beat me so my SMZ is useless so I had to work on a new one, plus now the enemies will be way more aggressive toward us since they know we are strong" Floga whined to Kamira
"That's not the only reason they are going to be aggressive..." Kamira said as she looked at her feet
She then proceeded to explain the situation they are in and the war that is about to take part in many weeks from now but didn't mention the Shard, only the incredibly high-quality mana items that can be made on this island
"I see... Then we are truly wasting time here" Floga said as he looked stressed about the situation
"Don't rush Floga, you can't become stronger in a matter of some weeks, you are getting stronger day after day, the reason you are failing to see that is because at the point you are your growth will be small compared to someone that just started, at the point you are now only practice and time can help you grow, so don't be rush, you can figure out a SMZ for you if more time is given to you, for now, try to relax, you and the others were missing from your homes for many hours every day for the past weeks, don't you think you should spend a bit time with your family or as students? I mean doing this isn't your full-time job or something, you are forced, Luck and Destiny are willing to help for the money and Caroline is choosing to help and considering her situation is not strange" Kamira explained to Floga with calm and rational words
…
Long after the conversation Floga and Kamira had Floga decided to return back home not for his family but for his friends
It was already night so he wasn't sure if anyone was willing to go out
Thankfully for him, he spotted Kamira and Destiny through a glass wall of a beauty store, the only beauty store on the island, so they quickly reunited
"Where is Luck? Didn't care to invite him?" Floga asked confused
"I mean it is a girls' outing but even if we did invite him he wouldn't come outside" Caroline told Floga
"Why?"
"Didn't you see what he did at the ship Floga? He killed so many people, do you think Luck would be okay about that?" Destiny asked Floga with a sad look on her face
"I see so he is bitching out..." Floga mumbled to himself as he started walking toward Luck's house
The girls were confused about what Floga said and the direction he took so they followed him
DING DONG
The door rang but there was no response
DING DING DONG DING DONG
After many presses of the ring Luck opened the door
"You look like shit you know that?" Floga told him as he noticed his features
Luck had lost some weight and his hair was a mess, and the most obvious change was the look on his eyes, they looked soulless and he also had black circles indicating that he didn't sleep much if at all
"What do you want Floga?" Luck asked with a mad look on his face
"Oh did I make you mad?"
"I said what do you want asshole?"
The situation got tenser and tenser after every exchange of word
"Caroline and Destiny told me about what you did, so what? You were out of options and ended up killing everyone on board, they were going to kill you anyway so why not see it as self-defense?"
As soon as Floga said that Luck pinned him to the wall
"They weren't going to kill me, they were all knocked down, I simply asked for the light spirit for help and then murdered even those that gave up fighting, those that ran away, those that had wives and kids, do you understand how it feels?" Luck asked as he held back tears
"You said it yourself, you lost control and the light spirit killed everyone, how is that your fault?"
For a moment Luck paused but then he let go of Floga and showed Floga his hands
"These hands, these fucking hands killed everyone, I saw it with my own two eyes, it was like I killed them Floga don't you understand, I felt the warmth of their blood and the pain of their scream while trying to run away from me, how is it not my fault when I was the one that called for her to help my ass? If I only..."
Before Luck could continue Floga slapped him
"I would have killed everyone on board too if it meant you guys or I survived! You were about to die right? That's why you used the spirit's help, you are the most prideful person I know and will ever know, you would never ask for help if you seriously didn't think that your life was on the line so why don't you simply move on? Yeah, you felt like you killed the defenseless people but you couldn't do anything to stop it right? So how do you think they would feel if they could see you act so pathetic? Get up and learn how to control this mana of yours so a massacre like this never happens again because if you stop right now, you will be nothing more than a murderer"
Destiny and Caroline couldn't believe their ears, they never expected Floga to try and help Luck by talking to him, he expressed multiple times his hatred toward Luck but at this moment it was as if everything that happened before was a bluff
A big fat lie, a fairytale
"Hope wouldn't want to see you like that Luck and despite how I acted after her death I don't want to see you like this either, so get up and fight, you are much stronger than I will ever be so don't let your potential die because of one screw up, the past you would never let that, so smile"
"The past me wouldn't have made it this far though..."
"I guess her leaving us wasn't so bad because none of us would have been able to grow otherwise" Floga said as he smirked
"NOW YOU TWO RATS GET OUT OF YOUR HIDING SPOT" Floga yelled
Caroline and Destiny got out of their hiding spot with tears in their eyes
"See Luck? You couldn't even sense two idiots hiding" Floga said as he turned around
In reality, he didn't notice them either but once he did he got very embarrassed
"FLOOOGAAAA" The two girls said while trying to hug Floga
Floga quickly pushed them away, he was pure red from embarrassment
A moment that resembled the old times made even the broken Luck crack a laugh
"You actually said that, right Floga? It wasn't a dream right?" Luck asked as he couldn't catch a breath from the laugh
Caroline teared up even more
"LUUUUCK YOU LAUGHED!!!" Caroline screamed as she tightly hugged Luck
"Get off me!" Luck said as she spanked Caroline's head
"Don't hit her" Destiny schooled Luck as she rubbed the pain off Caroline's head
"So do you guys have any plans for tonight?" Floga shily asked as he scratched his head
Everyone became silent because it was Floga's first time he asked others about
"My father has left for a trip to Germany so I have the house all to myself and I still have my two Ybox controllers, Luck you have two controllers also so..."
"YOU BET!" Luck said as he quickly went to pick up his controllers
The four of them then quickly went to Floga's house and they turned on the game console, plugged every controller in, and opened a game that created many great memories for everyone except Caroline
They played a party game where it was basically a free-for-all that occasionally made the players randomly team up in different pairs to win mini-games
The squad gamed all night until everyone faded out on the couch or the floor near the couch
Randomly Floga woke up during the night and went to the roof of his house by using his powers and lit up a cigarette to smoke
"Sometimes I miss you Hope..." Floga said as he reminisced about the old times
He stared deeply at the stars as if Hope got lost in them and he was trying to find her
Suddenly Luck also came to the roof and lied near Floga
"It was a beautiful night, wasn't it? It kind of reminded me of the old days when us and Hope would come to your house "against" your will to have lessons with your mom and then play this party game with you" Luck said as he too started staring at the stars
After some time of silence, Floga spoke up
"Do you see her in Caroline?" Floga asked
"No way, Caroline could never replace Hope, and she doesn't even need to... I like Caroline because of the person she is, I don't need her or anyone else to pretend to be Hope in my life, Hope was a unique person and her actions came from the heart and her pure intentions on doing good, honestly, she was one of a kind and is irreplaceable" Luck said as he smiled
"Do you feel the same way guilty about Hope's death as you did with the people on the cargo ship?" Floga asked
"Not really, like you said I killed her and I will live with this for my whole life, knowing I killed the best person in the world and the one I loved the most..."
After what Luck said the two of them remained silent for a long time once again, but this time Luck spoke the silence
"Staring at the stars I'm remembering this fairytale Hope wanted to publish... It was about a girl that sewed the stars or something... Looking back at it she kind of resembles the main character she wrote, she left our lives but made sure to create the best world she could for us..." Luck said as he smiled
A smile of happiness that quickly turned to a smile of sadness, Luck teared up in front of Floga
It was the first time he allowed himself to be so vulnerable in front of someone