Part 21

TRIGGER WARNING:

The following part contains disturbing content, including graphic violence, and self-harming. Please do not proceed if you are sensitive to any of these subjects.

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Two weeks had passed since the brutal fight with Rune, and the scars—both physical and emotional—still lingered. Eucalyptus, Shaya, and Zephyr had spent the days healing their wounds, though the mental weight was far heavier than any cut. NaïKu had vanished without a trace after Moki’s death, and the silence left behind felt like a gaping hole in Eucalyptus’s chest. Every day that passed, she hoped to see him return, but as the days stretched on, hope grew thinner.

The rebellion had grown quiet during this time, a strange and eerie calm before the next inevitable storm. They couldn’t afford to rest for long, but their bodies had been pushed to the brink after facing Rune. Eucalyptus had used her powers sparingly, her future vision only coming in flashes during her sleep, but the glimpses she caught of upcoming battles were hazy and unclear—only confirming that more danger awaited them.

The three of them spent their time preparing for the next battle, training every day, pushing themselves beyond their limits. They knew that another Sub-Boss of the Cross would be coming for them—it was only a matter of time. Eucalyptus had tried to focus on any leads they could find, piecing together what little information they had about the Cross’s hierarchy, trying to figure out who might come next. Rune had been dangerous, but there was an unpredictability to the other Sub-Bosses that left her on edge.

It was Shaya who first sensed something was wrong. They had been scouting near Nicosa, still in Syrena, where the Cross was rumored to be regrouping. It was eerily quiet, and there was a strange heaviness in the air. Eucalyptus, Shaya, and Zephyr moved cautiously through the forests, weapons at the ready. Shaya, with her heightened senses, caught the faintest sound—like the scrape of metal against stone.

They turned a corner and stopped dead in their tracks.

Standing at the edge of a shadowed alley was a tall figure, dressed in dark, tattered clothes. He had his back to them, but the unmistakable Cross-shaped scar on his thigh made Eucalyptus’s heart sink. This was him—the next Sub-Boss. Eiji.

He didn’t move at first, his head slightly bowed, like he was waiting for something. The tension was suffocating as the trio approached cautiously, their hands gripping their weapons.

“Eiji…” Shaya whispered, her voice barely audible.

At the sound of her voice, Eiji stiffened. He turned slowly, his cold, strange eyes locking onto hers with an intensity that sent a chill down her spine. His face was a mask of bitterness and pain, and for a moment, Eucalyptus saw the hurt behind his fury. But that moment passed quickly. His gaze sharpened, and his lips twisted into a cruel smile.

“You’re still alive,” he said, his voice dripping with venom. “I thought Rune would have taken care of that by now.”

Shaya took a step forward, her heart pounding. “Eiji, I never—”

“Don’t,” he snapped, his voice rising in a dangerous pitch. “Don’t you dare speak like you know anything.” His hand moved to the twin daggers hanging at his waist. “You killed my brother. You killed Nakuji.”

Shaya froze, the words like a knife to her heart. She had been dreading this moment, knowing that nothing she could say would change Eiji’s mind. He had seen her standing near Nakuji’s lifeless body all those years ago, and in his grief, had condemned her for it.

“Eiji, it was an accident,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

“An accident?” Eiji’s voice cracked as he laughed, a bitter, broken sound. “An accident doesn’t slaughter an entire clan.”

He drew one of his daggers, the blade gleaming in the low light. Then, with deliberate slowness, he sliced across his own arm, drawing blood. Eucalyptus’s eyes widened as the blood began to move on its own, swirling and hardening into deadly, crystalline shapes.

“I won’t let you escape this time,” Eiji said, his voice low and filled with malice. He held up the blood-formed blades, his expression wild and unpredictable. “You’ll feel the same pain I’ve carried all these years.”

Eucalyptus knew there was no reasoning with him. The only way out was through, and she could see the storm of emotions raging within him—a storm that would tear them all apart if they didn’t act fast.

“Zephyr, get ready!” Eucalyptus shouted as she prepared for battle. Zephyr, sensing the urgency, shifted into his deer form, his antlers glowing with a faint, magical energy as he moved with precision. Shaya drew her sword, her movements fluid but heavy with the weight of what was to come.

And Eiji—he moved first, launching his blood-blades toward them in a terrifying flurry. The fight had begun.

Eiji’s blood-based attacks were unlike anything they had faced before. The crimson blades flew through the air with deadly accuracy, striking from all directions. Shaya’s gravity control allowed her to deflect some of the attacks, forcing the blood constructs to veer off course, but Eiji’s power seemed limitless, as more blades formed from his own body.

“You can’t win this!” Eiji shouted, his voice breaking between fury and desperation. He moved with fluid, erratic grace, hurling daggers and summoning blood weapons in a whirlwind of violence. His multi-weapon mastery kept them all on the defensive, each strike pushing them further back.

Eucalyptus barely had time to react as she stopped time, freezing the moment for just two minutes, but it wasn’t enough. Even in that brief window, Eiji’s erratic movements made it difficult to land a blow. When time resumed, she had only managed to scrape his arm, and he laughed through the pain.

Shaya, in a desperate move, shifted the gravity around him, trying to pin him down. Eiji faltered for just a moment, his body dragged by the heavy force, but he slashed his own leg, summoning more blood to break free.

Zephyr leapt in, firing arrows with unerring precision, but Eiji was too fast, dodging each shot and countering with another wave of crimson death. The ground beneath them became slick with blood, both his and theirs, as the fight dragged on.

Eiji’s eyes never left Shaya, and the hatred in them burned like fire. “You killed him,” he hissed, his voice trembling. “You took everything from me.”

Shaya’s heart ached with every word. She knew that nothing she said would heal the wound in Eiji’s heart, and that truth weighed on her as heavily as the gravity she controlled. But she wouldn’t stop. She couldn’t.

With a burst of speed, she closed the distance between them, her sword aimed directly at the red crystal hanging from his neck—the one Nakuji had given him, the last tie to his brother.

“Eiji!” she shouted, her voice cracking with emotion. “This isn’t what Nakuji would have wanted!”

For the briefest moment, Eiji hesitated. His eyes flickered with something other than rage—grief, maybe, or confusion. But then the fury returned, stronger than ever.

“I don’t care what he would have wanted!” he screamed, and the ground beneath them shook as his power surged. Blood erupted from his wounds, forming jagged spikes that lashed out toward Shaya. But before they could reach her, Zephyr, in a desperate move, leapt in front, taking the brunt of the attack.

“Zephyr!” Eucalyptus cried out, panic gripping her as her friend collapsed to the ground, blood staining his clothes.

Eiji’s expression twisted in satisfaction, but before he could strike again, Shaya, with all the strength she had left, swung her sword in a wide arc, slicing through the blood-whips and severing the chain that held the red crystal around Eiji’s neck.

The crystal hit the ground with a soft clink, and for a moment, everything stopped.

Eiji’s eyes widened, his entire body trembling as he stared at the crystal lying at his feet. The blood weapons faded, dissolving into nothingness, and he collapsed to his knees, his hands shaking uncontrollably.

The battle had come to its horrific, inevitable conclusion. Shaya stood over Eiji, her sword still buried deep in his throat. Blood gushed from the wound, soaking into the ground beneath him, his life ebbing away with every drop. His eyes, wild with pain and confusion, locked onto hers, searching for answers in the final moments of his life.

Eiji’s trembling hand reached up, grabbing a fistful of Shaya’s shirt, his grip weak but desperate. His voice was a ragged whisper, filled with agony. “Why… why did you kill my brother?” He gasped, struggling to breathe as blood bubbled at the corners of his lips. His eyes, those strange, haunting eyes, were wide with fear, disbelief, and something that looked almost like regret.

Shaya felt her heart shatter into a thousand pieces. She wanted to drop her sword, to erase everything that had just happened. Instead, she knelt in front of him, her entire body trembling. She couldn't stand the sight of him like this—broken, bleeding, lost in the storm of his own pain and hatred. She gently wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a tender embrace. Eiji’s eyes widened in shock, unable to comprehend the gesture as his life slipped away.

“I didn’t kill Nakuji,” Shaya whispered, her voice cracking with the weight of her sorrow. “I loved him, Eiji. I loved him like you did.”

Eiji's breath hitched, his gaze fixed on her as though the world had stopped spinning. “No… no,” he stammered, his voice hoarse. “You… pushed him. You… you killed him.” His voice was frantic, broken, but growing weaker by the second as he clung to the belief that had defined his entire existence—the belief that Shaya was responsible for his brother’s death.

Shaya shook her head, tears streaming down her face as she tightened her hold on him, feeling his blood soak through her clothes, the warmth slipping away from his body. "No,” she said softly, her voice barely audible through the sobs threatening to consume her. “He fell, Eiji. It was an accident. I never pushed him. I… I never wanted to hurt him.” Her voice broke completely, a raw, agonized sound that echoed through the empty street.

Eiji’s body shuddered in her arms, his breathing growing shallow, his grip on her shirt loosening. He stared at her, his face a mixture of disbelief and dawning horror. “But… but I…” His words faltered as his mind tried to grasp the truth. He had spent years consumed by rage, by a desire for vengeance, believing that she had stolen everything from him. And now, in his final moments, he realized that he had been wrong. Horribly, irreparably wrong.

His chest heaved as a sob escaped him, his eyes flooding with tears, a desperate, broken sound that tore through Shaya’s soul. “I… I didn’t… want this,” he whispered, his voice barely audible as his strength faded. “I didn’t… want to lose him.”

Shaya’s heart ached as she felt his body growing heavier in her arms, his life slipping away. “I know,” she whispered, her own tears falling onto his blood-streaked face. “I know, Eiji. I’m so, so sorry.”

His breathing slowed, the rise and fall of his chest growing more and more shallow until, finally, it stopped. Eiji’s eyes glazed over, the light fading from them as death claimed him. His body went limp in her arms.

For a moment, everything was silent. The world seemed to hold its breath as Shaya pulled back from the embrace, her hands trembling as she gently laid Eiji’s lifeless body on the ground. Blood still trickled from his throat, pooling around him, the vibrant red contrasting against the dull gray of the earth beneath him. Shaya’s breath came in ragged gasps, the pain in her chest so overwhelming that it felt like she might collapse.

With shaking hands, she reached for the red crystal that had hung around Eiji’s neck—the last piece of Nakuji he had clung to all these years. She held it in her palm, staring at it for a long moment, the weight of its meaning pressing down on her like a crushing weight. Slowly, she placed the crystal on Eiji’s throat, the blood from his wound soaking into it, turning the red even darker.

Her hands moved to his face, closing his wide, unseeing eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice breaking entirely as the tears fell freely. “I’m so, so sorry.”

She sat there for what felt like an eternity, her hands still resting on Eiji’s now motionless chest, his blood staining her skin. Everything inside her felt hollow, broken. The truth had come too late. The years of hatred, the bloodshed, the pain—it had all been for nothing. And now, there was nothing left to say.

Shaya looked down at Eiji’s lifeless form, her heart aching with a grief so profound it felt like it might tear her apart. She had never wanted this. None of it. But the past couldn’t be undone, and the truth, though finally spoken, could not heal the wounds that had already been carved too deep.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered one last time, her voice barely a breath as she gently touched the red crystal one more time. “For everything.”

And then she sat back, her arms wrapped tightly around herself, as if trying to hold the pieces of her shattered heart together. But no matter how tightly she held on, the pain would never go away. It would never stop hurting.

Part 22