"Daddy— is dead?" asked Daisy with a confused look.
"Yup," I told her with an upbeat tone.
"Daddy— is really dead?" she turned to ask her mother with a more concerned look on her face.
"Yup," replied my wife with the same upbeat tone.
"T— then, who is this?" pointed Daisy as she started to shiver a little.
"I'm your daddy," I answered with a cheerful voice.
"H— huh?" Daisy was confused as she began to alternate her gaze between me and her mother.
"How is that even possible?!" shouted Daisy as she placed both her hands on her head.
"Alright, I think I'll take over from here, dear. We had our fun teasing Daisy. Let us continue with the story. I doubt you remember what happened after you died. I'll try to remember what the other person told me from her perspective," said my wife with a thinking face.
I gestured her to continue while I sip on my favourite tea. Ahh, my throat was parched from talking for such a long time.
***
I opened my eyes. Rose was staring at me. Was she trying to wake me up? What happened to Zen?
I stood up quickly but was struck with a head rush. As I struggled to gain some form of semblance, I noticed that Rose was holding Q in her arms. It looked pale and I noticed that she had applied some healing gel on him. What is Q even doing here in the first place?
"Onii-chan is, fighting. But— he seems different. It's like he doesn't care about himself and just kept charging towards Tom without any regards for his own safety. I'm— scared what might happen to him, Lily," said Rose as she started shaking while holding Q.
I noticed that our surroundings were getting colder. What's going on? I don't remember our borders ever had such a drastic change in temperature before. This feeling somehow feels familiar. I stood up and saw Zen fighting rigorously against Tom. Indeed, his fighting style feels different. Even though he was still avoiding a lot of the arrows, some of it still graced him or outright struck him. Wait, is that— steam? Since when can he use Bloodlust?
"Were you aware that Zen is capable of using Bloodlust?" I asked her.
"Huh? No, I didn't know. He never told me about it," said Rose as she placed Q on the ground rested against a tree trunk and stood up.
Zen was fighting tenaciously, trying to stop Tom from flying upwards with Tengu-kaze. I'm worried about him as he seems to be receiving more and more injuries while disregarding his safety. But Tom was losing ground. Frenzy must be affecting him somehow when it's affecting us. I'm surprised that Rose was able to remain calm despite the effects from Frenzy, had she cast a spell on herself or something?
Zen was swinging Tengu-kaze's wind pressures like a madman which causes even Tom to be afraid. Is he— really going to be okay? No wonder Rose was worried about him. This is not his fighting style at all. Don't tell me he lost himself again like before when they found his grandfather's dismembered hand?
Massive winds were accumulating around Tengu-kaze before he swung it towards Tom, destroying even more trees. Ugh, my kind aren't going to like this. I don't even know if I'm able to vouch for him when the elves comes for him after the fight had ended. But more importantly, did Zen finally get him?
We awaited for the dust to settle. I saw the first silhouette, it was Tom. He had some extra wounds but none as bad as the dagger sticking out of his pelvis. Where's Zen though? I looked around and finally saw him. Wait— wait, is that?!
"Zen!!! / Onii-chan!!!" both of us shouted at the same time and ran towards him.
There was an arrow sticking out on the left side of his chest. I had hoped I saw wrongly as I began praying to the Goddess that it was not true. Zen fell backwards to the ground when we finally reached him. My prayers were not answered as he was indeed shot in the area where his heart was. I crouched down to try and stop the bleeding. Rose, on the other hand, started screaming madly and ran towards Tom.
"You have wings too?!" shouted Tom. Rose must be using sacred wings to fight Tom.
What should I do? What do I even do?! If I remove the arrow, he's gonna bleed to death! Blood was pooling in his mouth. Nothing in our medical supplies can stop a heart from bleeding.
"Zen! Zen!! Don't you dare die on me! Don't you fucking dare!" I shouted at him with a quivering voice. I knew full well I was scared; scared of losing him before my very eyes.
I didn't even realised that tears were dripping down my eyes as I placed more pressure on his wound. He started chocking on his own blood.
"No— no no no!! Zen!! Don't you dare, don't you dare! Rose!! He's dying!! I don't know how to save him!!" I shouted out loud.
"I know!!!" shouted Rose as I heard her sobbing voice while fighting Tom.
Shit!! What can I even do?! Healing gel doesn't work in recovering organs or critical wounds. It only worked with flesh wounds. Am I— just gonna watch him die? Am I going to see Zen die in my very arms?
Zen moved his hand to my cheek and wiped my tears. He smiled, despite knowing that he's dying. His hand dropped in a split second and his eyes closed.
"No— no no no!! Zen!!! Nooo!!" I shouted while checking for his pulse. There was nothing beating.
"Zen? Z— Zen??" I placed my hand on his cheek. My tears were dripping on his face as I felt his body getting starting to get colder.
"R— Rose.. ROSE! HE'S GONE!!! I couldn't save him!!" I shouted as hard as I could.
There was no reply despite the sound of them fighting could still be heard. Shit!! Zen's— gone? He's gone? What the— hell am I doing? This man saved my life three times and I couldn't even save him once? No— No! I refuse to let that happen!
I dug into my pouch and took out a vial. I noticed my hands were shaking as I held onto this vial. I don't know whether it will work but I have to try. My nostari, I'm so sorry for what I'm about to do. Please, find it in your heart to forgive the sin your daughter is about to commit. I'll gladly accept any form of punishment if it means saving him.
I started removing all the arrows that was stuck on his body, making sure to remove the arrow on this chest as the last one. I quickly removed the vial and poured the contents into his wound where his heart was. There were only three drops so I had to make it count. After pouring the contents, I sat down and prayed to the Goddess. I even told the Goddess that I was willing to trade my life if it meant exchanging for his. Just the thought of losing Zen makes me want to follow him in joining with the Cosmic Tree itself.
His wounds started glowing. Is it— healing? It's healing! So it does work! Zen can be saved! But— he still looked pale and there is no sign of movements from him. I placed my ears on his chest. There— was no heartbeat, no pulse. Damn it! I quickly removed my gauntlets and started doing chest compression on him. Come on, Zen. Come on! We need you, I need you!
***
Where— am I? This place— looked familiar. That bright light above along with that white ceiling. My vision started to fade white. I saw someone standing in front of me. It was a young woman with red long hairs that was about my age. She was smiling at me. Who is this? M— mom? Is that you? I had never seen her before, yet here she is in front of me. We didn't exchange any words. I just smiled and approached closer to hug her. It was a brief hug, but for the first time in my life, I finally had some form of closure with my mother that I had never met. After we stopped hugging, she stood aside and gestured another woman forward. Who? Who is it?
It was then that I knew. This person standing in front of me is my wife to be. I had already made my decision all along and this dream is showing me. She was smiling at me with tears flowing down her cheeks. I walked up to her slowly and held up her right hand. I gave it kiss and bowed politely to her. Then I proceeded to hug her tightly as I know full well in my heart that I'll never ever let her go.
***
I continued doing chest compression on Zen while blowing air into his mouth. I don't even know how long I was doing this as my arms were starting to burn from pain and aches. I was close to giving up when I noticed his eyes were opened. Huh? I— thought his eyes were supposed to be closed? It looked and foggy and white.
He sat up all of a sudden and scanned his surroundings. He took a good look at me and smiled before giving me a head pat. His eyes looked so unreal with the colour being so dull. He proceeded to stand up and rushed towards the sound of combat. Zen is back. He's alive!
***
Fuck! Why is this asshole so hard to kill?! Are you telling me I can't even avenge Onii-chan?! This person sure likes to fly around so I used sacred wings to pursue him. But even though both of us can fly, he certainly has more combat experience. Even fighting in close combat, he still knew what to do despite being a ranged combatant.
I was about to use Fa Jin Zhòu when he took a quick shot which knocked my rapier out of my hand. Damn it! I need to concentrate myself and not allow my feelings to distract me. I must avenge Onii-chan!
"Why are you attacking me?! I have no qualms with you!" shouted Tom.
"You killed my brother!!" I shouted back at him angrily.
"Oh for— crying out loud! One after the fucking other! Why can't you all just leave me alone!" he shouted out loud.
I dived down to retrieve my rapier. I knew it will leave me vulnerable but I had no choice. It's my only weapon. I thought I'll be able to perform a quick swipe to pick up my rapier but arrows suddenly landed in front of me causing me to crash onto them. I lost my balance and skidded across the ground. I regained my bearings and looked at Tom hovering above. It was then that I saw showers of arrows coming down from above. I wanted to dodge but my wings appeared to be in bad shape after I crashed earlier. The arrows were right above me now and I don't have enough time to dodge it. Onii-chan, I guess I'll be following you after all. Please forgive your little sister for not being able to avenge you or your grandfather. I closed my eyes and accepted my fate.
I felt someone's hand pet my head. It felt familiar, warm and I knew it was Onii-chan. So he came to greet me into the afterlife after all. I'm so glad that I won't be venturing the afterlife alone.
Numerous loud clanking caused me to open my eyes. Someone was— deflecting all the arrows away. But— how? There were thousands of them showering on us but none of them made its way through.
"Rose, stay here. I'll be ending this soon," said Onii-chan as he turned his head a little to peek at me. His eyes— they are muddled. It looked as though he's between life and death with those pale looking eyes. But it is him; he's still alive. But how?!
Tom flew down to see what actually happened to his arrows. His face started turning pale and angry after seeing that Onii-chan was still alive and standing.
"What the actual fuck?! How are you still alive?! And how are you able to use Focused Meditation when you were using Bloodlust earlier?! What trickery is this?!" shouted Tom.
Focused Meditation? Is that why I'm feeling so calm right now? I feel so warm and peaceful when I was feeling distraught, furious and pure anger just moments ago. This is Onii-chan, right? I hope I'm not dreaming or this is just some illusion from the afterlife, giving me hope that he's still alive when he's not.
"Tom Snapdragon, your time has come for you to face the consequences of your actions. Today, is the day you die," said Onii-chan calmly.
"Just because you had activated your Higher State of Mind doesn't give you the right to spout bullshit. You're not the first person that I've killed who was able to use Higher State of Mind, and it certainly won't be the last!" shouted Tom as he drew his bow.
Blue particles started forming at the tip of his bow into a large arrow. This must be what he used to pierced through all those trees earlier. We need to dodge this or we'll be killed!
"Onii-chan!" I shouted at him but he stood firmly in place.
Tom released his arrow and it flew towards us at light speed. But— something miraculous happened. Onii-chan deflected the arrow one-handed using Inazuma, causing it to arc back towards Tom. How did— he even do that?
A loud explosion erupted where Tom was standing. A silhouette appeared out of the dust to attack Onii-chan. Tom used his Rend armour again and flew towards Onii-chan trying to grab him. But Onii-chan reacted almost instantly to it and smacked Tom's hand away with Inazuma. Tom then attempted to slice Onii-chan with his bow but it too was blocked.
Lightning started wrapping around Inazuma and he swung with precision. Tom tried to avoid it but he still ended up getting sliced a little on his chest. He had a semi-circular chunk of meat missing on his ribs area, possibly due to his own arrow being deflected back at him.
Tom was panting hard now and decided to fly up high. How is Onii-chan going to reach him? I'm gonna need to carry him to fight Tom if he were to have the advantage. But Onii-chan did the unthinkable. He stabbed Inazuma on the ground and leaped on it with one foot. Seemingly as though he was weightless, he jumped straight up directly towards Tom with insane speed.
Tom was caught off guard at the sudden speed that Onii-chan displayed and left himself opened to an attack from Onii-chan. They fought up above and moved deeper into the forest which I no longer could see. I deactivated my sacred wings, in case I needed to use it for emergency later. Deactivating a spell before the duration ends quickens the cooldown faster.
I heard someone running towards me and I knew who it was without looking. I ran towards the direction where Onii-chan went and Lily rushed to my side. I need to see how this fight ends.
More explosions could be heard ahead of us along with showers of arrows falling from the sky. Please be fine, Onii-chan. I can't— bear the thought of losing you again.
We reached the location where they were fighting. Tom was covered in new wounds now. How is he still even standing with all of those wounds? It looked as though a part of his wing was sliced off cleanly. I didn't even realised that it was possible for anything to destroy the spectral armour when Lily's devastating punch was nullified by it. Even my rapier couldn't penetrate his wings earlier. Is a legendary weapon needed to counter Rend? Or is it Sunder that made it possible for Onii-chan to slice through it?
They were fighting on solid ground now. Tom was certainly on the losing edge without his wings. Without proper armour and all the injuries he sustained, it's only a matter of time before he succumb to his death. They fought until they were at the edge of the elven forest close to the edge of a cliff.
"There's nowhere left to go, Tom. Perhaps if you surrender, I might consider sparing you," said Onii-chan.
"Puhahaha!! Surrender? Now that's something I never thought someone would say to me. But fuck no, there's no way I'll surrender. It's not even the end yet!" he shouted.
He summoned a multitude of bombs covering himself with it. Is he— planning to commit suicide? Or is he planning to kamikaze onto us?! Onii-chan turned his head slightly to glance at us, as though he was warning us to step back which we obliged. He summoned his spectral cloak by pulling his left hand across his right shoulder. I can never get over how cool that looked, I want to learn that too.
"It's just you and me, Hawthorn! Time for you to choose. About time we end this for the both of us! You attack me, you die. You deflect my arrow towards me, you die. You do nothing, well, only you die," he grinned as he drew his bow and blue particles started forming a large arrow. It's that penetrating arrow of his again.
Onii-chan summoned a scabbard with his left hand. He proceeded to sheathe Inazuma slowly and slotted it at his hip. What's he planning to use? Dark Slash can't hit him from that range. Onii-chan can deflect the arrow elsewhere but Tom can just continue to shoot more arrows at him. Is there some range attack that Onii-chan can use? Lightning Strike perhaps? But at that range, the lightning will trigger the explosion from the bombs and it will certainly reach him as well.
Onii-chan readied himself with an iai-goshi stance. Tom's arrow was getting much larger than what he used previously. Is Onii-chan capable of deflecting such a strong attack? Both Lily and I stood as far as we could from both of them while still able to see what was going on between them.
"Let's end this," said Onii-chan calmly.
Things were relatively quiet as wind blew across the forest. It was as though there was a calm before an explosion.
What happened next was in a span of a couple of seconds. Tom released his arrow which flew directly at Onii-chan with ludicrous speed. Onii-chan unsheathed his kodachi which at first had no sign of lightning on it, but mid-way through his swing, numerous lightning started arching all around it. With a calm voice, Onii-chan said "Kirin's Thunderbolt" and a flash of light blinded my vision.
After gaining back my sight, Tom was sliced in half from his pelvis to his shoulder. The giant arrow that was flying towards Onii-chan was sliced in half, causing it to fly in a complete different direction. But the bombs somehow did not trigger.
Tom fell off the cliff as he was in disbelieved at what just happened. He seemed to be mumbling something that I think it spelled 'I haven't even decided yet'. Both Lily and I started cheering as we knew that Onii-chan had won the fight. However, explosions started erupting even though we could no longer see Tom.
The ground that Onii-chan was standing on started giving way and he was in a free fall towards the ravine. Without thinking, I somehow did something unthinkable. I knew I had a fear of falling but I decided to ignore it. What was in my mind was to save him. To save my one and only Onii-chan. I quickly rushed towards the edge of the cliff and leapt after him, chanting Sacred Wings spell as I dove towards him.
He smiled as he saw me leaping after him to save him. I think I heard him saying "White Angel" as I reached out to grab his hand. Now— now it's my turn to save him, for everything he had done for me.