The night air was thick with the stench of ash and blood, the battlefield strewn with debris. Jolene's vision swam in and out of focus as she coughed, tasting copper on her tongue. She lay sprawled on the cracked asphalt, her body aching from every blow Kazane had dealt. Takeshi's lifeless form was crumpled a few meters away, and the sight of him sent a jagged wave of agony through her heart.
Tears blurred Jolene's sight, mixing with the blood that dripped down her face. She tried to move, but her limbs felt like lead, and every attempt to rise sent sharp, searing pain through her ribs. Her fingers twitched feebly toward Takeshi. No... Not him too.
"You're still alive?" Kazane's voice rang out, sharp and mocking. The woman's silhouette stood tall under the dim moonlight, her shadow stretched long over Jolene's broken body. Kazane's hair clung to her damp skin, her expression smug and unyielding. She glanced briefly at Takeshi's corpse with disinterest, as if he were a mere inconvenience. "How stubborn you are, Jolene Kujo."
Jolene's breathing hitched. She clenched her fists, trying to summon the will to push herself up. Her vision tunneled as exhaustion threatened to take her, but her heart raged with a fury she couldn't extinguish. She wouldn't give Kazane the satisfaction of breaking her completely.
Kazane crouched beside her, tilting her head with an air of casual cruelty. "You thought you could win, didn't you? Such a tragic delusion." She grabbed a fistful of Jolene's blood-soaked hair and yanked her head up, forcing her to meet her gaze. "Takeshi died believing in you. That's almost sweet. But in the end, loyalty isn't enough to save anyone. Not even him."
Jolene spat blood at Kazane's face, her chest heaving with effort. "You think... this is over?" she rasped. Her voice was hoarse, but the defiance in it burned strong. "I swear... I'll rip you apart."
Kazane smirked, unfazed, wiping the blood from her cheek with slow precision. "Such spirit. I almost admire it." She leaned closer, her voice dropping into a venomous whisper. "But it's wasted on you, Jolene. You don't know when to quit."
Jolene's body trembled with pain, but her eyes blazed with hatred. "You can kill me. But someone... will finish what we started."
Kazane laughed softly, the sound chilling in its cruelty. "Finish what? Your little rebellion? Yuto's grand dream of saving a world that never deserved to be saved?" Her gaze sharpened, and the mocking grin on her lips faltered. "You don't even know, do you? What he was willing to do. What I am."
Jolene gritted her teeth, forcing herself to focus through the fog of agony clouding her mind. Kazane's words were like shards of glass, cutting through her resolve.
"Yuto was always chasing redemption," Kazane continued, her voice a mixture of mockery and bitterness. "But what he never realized—what none of you fools realized—is that the only way to save this world is through destruction."
Jolene glared up at her, her breath ragged. "You're lying."
Kazane's lips curled into a cruel smile. "You still don't get it, do you? The truth is, I was never fighting for him. I am him."
Jolene's heart stuttered in her chest, her eyes widening in disbelief. "What the hell... are you saying?"
Kazane's grin deepened, her expression darkening. "I was born from the fragments of Yuto's soul—what little was left of him after he died. But unlike him, I've embraced what needs to be done. I don't cling to illusions of mercy or justice."
Jolene's head spun, her mind reeling from the revelation. "No... Yuto would never—"
"You don't know Yuto," Kazane hissed, her eyes flashing with dangerous intensity. "Not like I do. You only knew the version of him that clung to hope because he was afraid of what lay beneath it." She leaned closer, her breath warm against Jolene's ear. "I am everything he buried deep inside—his anger, his hatred, his fear. I am the truth of who he was."
Jolene's body trembled, both from pain and the weight of Kazane's words. Was it true? Could Yuto—her friend, the one they fought for—truly be the person standing before her, twisted into something unrecognizable?
Kazane straightened, her expression cold and triumphant. "Do you see now? You're fighting a ghost. A broken dream. And you'll never win."
Jolene's vision swam again, but she gritted her teeth, refusing to black out. "If you're really him..." she whispered, her voice a rasp. "Then why? Why do this? Why kill us?"
Kazane's smile was cruel. "Because love makes you weak. And weakness has no place in a world that must be reborn."
With that, she released Jolene's hair, letting her head thud against the ground. Jolene's breath hitched, her body unable to muster any strength to move. Blood pooled beneath her, her vision dimming, but she forced herself to stay conscious.
"You're pathetic," Kazane whispered, standing over her. "Just like Yuto was, in the end. But don't worry. You'll join Takeshi soon enough."
Jolene coughed, struggling to keep her eyes open as darkness pressed in around her. "Not yet... You don't... get to win."
Kazane tilted her head, a flicker of amusement in her gaze. "Still clinging to hope, are you? Cute."
Without another word, Kazane turned her back on Jolene, leaving her broken and bleeding on the ground. The sound of her footsteps echoed eerily as she walked away, her figure disappearing into the night like a phantom.
Jolene lay there, her breath shallow, her vision flickering in and out. She could feel the life draining from her, her heartbeat slowing. But even as the darkness threatened to take her, one thought burned brightly in her mind:
This isn't the end.
With the last remnants of her strength, Jolene reached out toward Takeshi's lifeless body, her fingers trembling as they brushed against his cold hand. Tears welled in her eyes, blurring her vision completely.
"I'm... sorry..." she whispered, her voice barely audible. "I tried."
The world around her dimmed, and for a moment, everything went still. The only sound was the faint echo of her own heartbeat—weak, but still there.
And in that moment, Jolene made a silent vow.
She would survive. For Takeshi. For Yuto. For everyone they had lost.
No matter what it took, she would find a way to rise again.
The city lights flickered in the distance as Kazane disappeared into the night, her expression cold and unreadable. The weight of her victory hung heavy in the air, but somewhere, deep within her, a flicker of doubt stirred—an emotion she had thought long buried.
Yuto's memories... why won't they leave me?
For a brief moment, Kazane's hand trembled at her side. Then, with a sharp exhale, she clenched her fist and kept walking. She had no time for ghosts.
The battle was over. But the war was far from won.