'H-How? W-Why?'
Nico's mind turned blank, unable to comprehend the sight before him.
There was no way it was true.
He had to be dreaming!
There was just no way… He had seen the bear's claws pierce his best friend with his very own eyes.
Cedric… Cedric was dead.
That was the cold, harsh, inescapable truth life had forced him to swallow.
Now, someone with similar features as his deceased best friend stood in front of him, gazing at him with dark glee and chaotic madness.
"W-Who are you…? Cedric… is dead." The brown-haired boy's voice came out as a dry croak.
"The old Cedric you know and love, perhaps… but rest assured, I am him, and he is me. The only difference is that now I understand the true reality of this blasted world, and this is all that remains." The black-haired boy motioned to himself, an equally sinister and equally mad smile forming on his lips.
Nico blinked, not daring to believe his eyes.
This was simply ludicrous.
Utterly preposterous, and the stuff of fantasy.
Yet, as he continued to study his peer in greater detail, the less and less convinced he became that Cedric had truly died that day.
A tiny worm of doubt wriggled in Nico's mind, bringing with it a flood of memories.
Peaceful memories.
Happy memories.
Serene memories.
As he continued to reminisce, a stray tear slowly slid down the brown-haired boy's cheek.
Had his best friend been alive all this time?
No!
Cedric was dead… Nico stubbornly shook his head and wiped the stray tear, snuffing out the tiny ember of hope flickering in his chest.
The Cedric he knew would have immediately returned and told him of his escape.
A wave of blazing anger roared to life in Nico's chest.
He had not spent so much time grieving for his dead friend, only for him to suddenly appear when he was finally at death's door.
How dare that person disguise himself as his best friend!
However, just as soon as the rage appeared, it flickered out and promptly disappeared.
For the brown-haired boy suddenly remembered what the cloaked figure had revealed in his story a few moments ago.
A tale of how he had felt betrayed by those he held dear… of how he had strived for so long and so hard, refusing to break, all so that he could be with his loved ones again.
Only… for those he deemed most important to let him down not once, but twice.
Nico's head throbbed with a dull ache.
'Confusing…'
This was all just too confusing!
As he grabbed his hair, an abrupt laugh escaped Nico's mouth.
Cedric frowned.
"Did you finally become insane just like me?"
"No," Nico continued to laugh, cough, and giggle, in that order.
Eventually, having grown tired from laughing, and the effects of losing so much blood making his mind spin, the brown-haired boy then leaned back and rested his head on the wall.
A complicated sigh echoed, kicking up a faint mist.
"Can't believe… Fate conjured an image of my deceased best friend to make me die with regret. Man, this sucks…." Nico muttered to himself.
"You can go now." He addressed the boy who claimed to be Cedric. "In my heart, I know my best friend is dead. Anything you say won't change that. I'd rather not spend my final moments thinking of the implications of this all."
Watching Nico chuckle to himself, a weird feeling welled up within the black-haired boy.
He had so desperately wanted to see the look of regret, shame, and sorrow on the brown-haired boy when he had decided to carry out the grand reveal right after their first fight.
He had been patient for so long… biding his time, waiting, watching, and anticipating.
All for that blasted fool to throw a wrench in it all!
Cedric gritted his teeth, a wave of fury roaring to life in his eyes.
He clenched and unclenched his fists multiple times.
His frame shook with his struggling self-restraint.
A few moments later, however, he forcibly released the tension in his body like a deflating balloon and sighed.
Perhaps… perhaps this development wasn't as bad as he first thought.
Nico was dying, and he guessed that was all that mattered in the end.
Sure, seeing the remorse on his former best friend's face would have been nice, and would have soothed a portion of the vengeance permeating his heart.
But he realised it didn't affect his end goal of destroying the world all that much.
He consoled himself, thinking that he would just pour more of his inner rage into making sure that Crelerath and all its inhabitants would one day turn into a vast ruin.
Cedric shrugged and donned his veneer mask.
He turned around, lifting his hood in the process.
The young boy hesitated briefly, then slowly started walking, his raspy whisper echoing in harmony with his fading footsteps.
"Farewell, old friend."
As death inched ever closer, Nico struggled to raise his arm to his chest.
Finally, after a moment of strenuous activity, his fingers clasped the edges of the wooden charm.
Then, with a slow blink, Nico's eyes closed shut, darkness enveloping both his consciousness and vision.
***
Seated in the living room, Beverly, Cynthia, Charlotte and Ross were idly winding down the time, waiting for Nico to finish the Ceremony.
The ginger-haired priestess took up a whole couch, her body relaxed to the extreme.
She yawned lazily, her eyes trained on the broadcast mounted to the wall.
On the furniture opposite the broadcast, a little silver-haired girl sat in between her two parents.
She held a tiny book in her dainty hands, a magical fairy with a star-shaped wand engraved on the front.
To her left, Ross fiddled idly with his cane, examining the news segment on the broadcast with a hint of mild interest.
To Charlotte's right, Cynthia tapped at the hologram in front of her, a mask of iron concentration gracing her dignified face. A closer look at the holograph revealed a rectangle filled with sixty-four squares, and sixteen dots assembled on each side.
A while later, a chime from the kitchen caused the silver-haired woman to snap out of her immersed daze.
"Ah, the baked goods are done! Charlotte, want to help me plate the cookies?"
At the mention of her mother's amazing cookies, the little girl perked up, her eyes sparkling like two radiant gems.
"Mhmm!" She nodded enthusiastically, hurriedly placing her book on the table, before bolting to the kitchen.
Cynthia chuckled at the antics of her adorable daughter, before shutting off the game on her holographic communicator.
She stood up and hurried after Charlotte, afraid her child would finish the fresh batch of treats she had just made.
A few minutes later, the mother and daughter pair each held a mouth-watering cookie.
"So good!" they exclaimed after taking a bite of the delicious treat, the morsel of food crumbling softly in their mouths.
"Let's go give these to your Father and Aunt." Cynthia smiled at the expression of pure bliss on her daughter's face.
The little girl promptly nodded.
The duo soon carried the tray of cookies as they headed towards the living room.
Charlotte held a smaller tray just for her, a thin line of drool escaping her lips; the heavenly smell of the treats unrelentingly wafting up into her nose.
Soon, they set foot into the living room.
Both Ross and Beverly craned their necks in their direction, the appetising smell invading their senses.
Just then, Cynthia and Charlotte froze.
The sound of clattering echoed right after.
Their faces turned deathly pale.
"Honey! Princess! What's wrong?" Ross's eyes widened as he struggled to get up.
He regretted the action a moment later; the pain flaring up so intensely he had to clench his teeth to stop a pained scream from escaping his throat.
"M-Mom… I don't feel too well." The little girl's voice rang out with a whimper, clutching for her chest.
"M-Me too, Honey. M-Me too…" came Cynthia's strained reply.
There could only be one reason why it felt like her heart had suddenly turned ice cold.
Something had happened to Nico…
Her pale face turned even paler.
Observing their reactions, Beverly bit her lip and turned her head, fighting against the slow dread creeping into her heart.
Her caramel-brown eyes rippled silently.
It was no doubt time for that little rascal to dig deep and cheat death.
She inwardly prayed to the Ancestor for his success.
After all, the very fate of the future generations of their world now hung in the balance.
"Awaken, kid. You still have a vital role to play in what's coming." The priestess muttered to herself.
Forgotten and abandoned, the cookies on the floor soon turned cold.