I opened the door and entered the room, a loud creek erupting from the door as the lock turned. The light of flickering candles illuminated the room as the shadows danced upon the walls. I opened the chest that sat next to my bed and I pulled out a bow. The weapon that killed my friend. No- The weapon I used to kill my friend. His agonized screams echoed in my head as the memories came back to me.

"Do it." The voice stated, it was getting demanding.

"If it has to end like this...I guess this is farewell..." The last words of my friend.

I shifted my stance. I pulled out my bow. The words: Kronog's Defender whispered in my ear. I drew the string back slowly, loading the arrow. My friend gaped, then shut his eyes; preparing for the blow. I followed his example, squeezing my own eyes shut, not wanting to see his inevitable downfall. I hesitantly let the string go, a quiet whimper turning into a broken cry. I couldn't make out any of my thoughts, overwhelmed by emotion. I had just killed someone- I couldn't believe it; I was a murderer.

"Good work." The voice broke the silence.

"Good work?! I just killed my friend!" I yelled back.

"Yes, good work. One less threat to deal with." One less threat?

"What do you mean?" I questioned, but I was too late.

After all this time, I still never found out what happened. All I knew was that my friend was gone because of me. He didn't deserve to die... I deserve to! Why did I listen? That question continues to haunt me to this day. Why would he have to die? For what purpose? I felt tears starting to well in my eyes, and I quickly wiped them. I sat down on my bed, my head buried in my hands. I'm sorry...

"Hey." I turned my head to see a figure at the door.

"Hi," I responded, trying to hide the fact I was crying, "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to check on you," They replied, "You haven't been yourself since...it happened..."

"I-I'm fine.." I sniffled. They walked over and sat next to me, putting their hand on my back. "Thanks... I needed that."

"No problem," They reassured as they sat up, and I soon followed their gesture. "Should we check on the rest of the group?"

"Sure... why not?" I lightened up a little, "We should go to-"

"Yeah." He cut me off, "I was planning to go there first... it was his closest friend that... y'know..."

"I know," I continued, "Let's go."

We closed the wooden door behind us as we trailed to the house. It was pretty quiet for the whole trip, besides the noises of mobs. Luckily they didn't bother us, so the trip was quicker. We knocked on the door and hoped for a response. After a few seconds of silence, we decided to let ourselves in, "Mitch! It's me and Log!" I yelled, as Log and I ran up the stairs. We came to a partially opened door, and went inside. Inside the room laid Bajan, and the hard to miss blood splattered on the walls-and a note. A note?

To whom is reading,

If anyone is reading this, I have already stabbed myself. I couldn't take the pain of not having biggums with me, so I ended it. I'm sorry, it was so overwhelming. I still love you guys, and you know that. But I couldn't let Jerome go alone.

~Mitch

I looked away from the note to see Tyler staring back at me. Without a word, I handed him the note. He began reading, and I kept my eyes glued to Mitch, tears ready to spill. You didn't have to do this! I know you loved him...even if it was more than a friend relationship...he would still be with you-and you know that! Mitch... I sighed, and glanced at Log with beady eyes. He just looked back at Mitch, then to me. "It'll be alright, Seto."

I slowly nodded back. It wouldn't be okay. But I had to be strong. "Could you try to heal him?" Log inquired, and I looked back at him. With a nod, I knelt next to Bajan and put my hands on his chest and stomach. A purple aura emitted around my palms, and I felt a heart beat, "He'll make it," I muttered, and grabbed a health II potion. Mitch drank it, then his eyes flew open. He jumped up and started panting. "Thank you..Seto...Tyler..." His pace slowed down, "...Jerome..." I saw tears fall from his face onto his hoodie.

I patted his back and Tyler also knelt down, and started to comfort him. "Jerome is with you, Mitch. And he always will be." Mitch sniffled and sat up, us following. He wiped the tears from his eyes, "I know." He tried to sound brave, and we believed him. "I need to avenge him. I have to."

"You are part of a...more important rank. A rank that is above mortals. The mortals must be exterminated so that we can rule."

"Me? B-but...I'm like everyone else! Nothing different. I'm won't do it!"

"It is mandatory! You must! Haven't you ever wanted to be stronger? Smarter?"

"Have...I...?"

"You have. That means you want to be better. Better than the rest. That will only happen if you decimate the mortal rank."

"I'll do it."

The three of us walked down the stairs in silence. I wasn't sure if I should have said anything, so I didn't. I heard Mitch let out a small cry as we passed a picture of him and Jerome on the wall. I heard him mumble something, but I wasn't completely sure what. I glanced over to see Tyler whispering words of support into Mitch's ear. I bit my lip. "Stay strong, you guys." Mitch kept his eyes on the ground, and Tyler switched his gaze at weird intervals. I continued to only look ahead. I felt like if I didn't, I would stop completely from the pressure.

The grass was still wet from the morning dew, though it didn't really bother us, seeing as we had a bigger problem on our hands. We were nearing the forest we planned on staying at momentarily. Being out was probably better for all of us. After Jerome's...death...I think we all need it-Especially Mitch. It bothered me of what he really thinks about. Even in that kind of situation, I still did kill him. I regret it everyday. "Seto, stop." Tyler's words scared me as I swiftly turned around to meet his gaze, "We're here." I turned back and realized I was about one step away from having a head on collision with a tree. I sighed and rubbed the back of my head. "I didn't notice."

We had made it. We were at the Forest of Solitude. The name was a bit cliche, but its true meaning was only among magic users like me. Most people went to the forest to be alone, but us sorcerers went there to be with the spirits. There were good spirits; but with an up side, there was a down side: there were bad spirits as well. The two followed my lead as the trees covered us from the falling sun's rays. "Where are we going?" Mitch asked, his voice calmer than before. Looks like the forest was doing its job. "It doesn't matter where we're going. Only when we get there." Mitch glanced at me with a trivial look on his face. I knew he was confused, and I bet Tyler was also. He hadn't said anything since we left the house. "Tyler, are you alright? You haven't said any-" I turned to see him a deathly pale color. I can't believe that Mitch didn't notice! "Tyler!" We called as he seemed to fall backwards onto the dirt path. We repeatedly called his name, but to no avail. He wouldn't respond; physically nor mentally.

"Sire. He has come."

"Good, good...now we can manipulate him into our bidding. 'Tis a shame. He was so innocent."

"But not anymore."

"He is too easy to predict. As soon as he answered me, I knew I could use him."

It must have been a spirit. It's normal for that to happen here. Mitch was still confused, and I could understand why. Tyler was probably affected by them. Luckily I knew what to do: Use magic. I closed my eyes and began to concentrate, my hands became surrounded in a purple aura. Mitch was in awe as Tyler regained his color and soon calmed down. I exhaled as I stopped the spell, and Tyler sat up. "Wh-what exactly happened?" He asked as he rubbed his head where he bumped it when he fell. "I think you and Mitch deserve an explanation...first off, this isn't any regular forest. This one is special. Among us sorcerers, it is called the Forest of Solitude; where the spirits rest. But when I say spirits, I mean good spirits and bad spirits. I was hoping that because this place is sacred ground with magic intertwined in its roots..." I paused for a breath and my expression changed, "...That it could be the place where we could bring back Jerome."

Mitch jumped up in ecstasy, but also in shock. "Y-you could do that? Really?!" I nodded subsequently. Tyler smiled at Mitch's words as he slowly got up, simultaneously being helped by us. "We better get going...it has to be exactly midnight for the spell's and the forest's magic to work." They followed my lead, constantly eying the rising moon.

"11:46." Tyler luckily carried a watch with him and kept telling us the time the closer we got to midnight. "Will we make it in time?" I nodded and he began to murmur to himself. At least he was doing better, same for Mitch. I think this small bit of hope can get us there in time. Don't worry, Jerome. We'll be there soon.

"Send the assassins. They should be able to kill them with ease."

"Sir, yes, sir."

"Oh, how nice. He would make a fine apprentice if I do say so myself. The magic only adds on to it, don't you think?"

"Yes, yes."

"Hurry up. I don't want them to get away and do their bidding."

After walking for a bit, we finally made it to the heart of the forest. I began chanting the spell to revive Jerome, but I was stopped as I spun around at the sound of leaves bristling. There were spirits coming at us from all directions. We took evasive action and immediately fought back. At times, I had to put up individual force fields on Mitch and Tyler, but other than that they were fine. I guess that the spirits only want vivid magic users. One of the many times I had to save the other two, the force field broke without warning. I stood there shocked, until a millisecond later I felt an excruciating pain in my spine. I plummeted forwards to the ground, the impact also doing a number on me. I let out a yell, the surroundings began to distance and blur into black. The last thing I heard were Mitch and Tyler's calls.

Darkness. Completely pitch black. Everywhere I looked was nothingness. I was startled by the sudden voice that seemed to boom from all directions. "We meet again, sorcerer." It was the same voice. All these years...and the same one. The same one that led me into killing Jerome. "What do you want now?" I scoffed. "Oh, just our agreement." It shot back. The agreement...how could I have forgotten the lie that led me here? I growled at the thought. "I won't do it!" I have to redeem myself after this. I almost imagined the growing smirk on its face. "You could have took the easy way, but no. Alas, you must be forced." I flinched at the sudden pain in my whole body. I lost my balance and fell down, letting out a loud cry. The pain was unbearable. I clenched my fists so much that I think I bled. I kept my eyes shut tightly as I tried to outlast the pain. I continued to bite my lip to stop from unwanted screams. I have to stay strong. The others would want me to. They wouldn't give up on me.

I slowly pushed myself up, ignoring the pain that continued to shoot through my whole body. "This is for Mitch!" I yelled as I let out a energy wave around me, the voice wincing as I did so. "And this is for Tyler!" I punched where I heard the yell with a purple aura surrounding my fist. "And this..!" I smirked as I raised my hand level to my shoulder. "This is for Jerome!" I let out a yell as a huge energy wave blasted from my hand, eradicating anything that was left of it. I saw white particles flying up from where I had practically annihilated it. At that exact moment, the black seemed to fade in the same direction as the particles, leaving me standing in front of Mitch and Tyler. "Seto!" They called out in unison. They ran over and we all hugged. I pulled back. "We still have a responsibility." I turned and walked to the direct center of the clearing. There was the bottom of a tree, and weird character scribed into it. It was the Galactic alphabet. All sorcerers were required to learn it. The script said: The holiest place for thy to cast.

I summoned my spell book and held it in the air in front of me. "αναβίωση σου χαθεί από τα χέρια μου!" As I chanted the spell, the carvings in the log began to glow. I suddenly felt the same pain I had when I was in the darkness. I plummeted to the ground again, repeating the same process as before. I watched horrified expressions on my friends' faces. That's when it all went dark. My eyes shut and my body loosened from the previous tense it had. I opened my eyes, finding myself staring at my body on the forest floor. I saw Mitch and Tyler begin to run up to me, but they were stopped by an invisible energy field. I rose up from the ground, my eyes fluttered open, and to my surprise: They were amethyst purple, not brown. The smirk on my face wasn't bliss.

Oh no, quite the opposite. It was hatred. I fell backwards in shock. This couldn't be me! But somehow it was. As I raised my arm, seemingly to charge up a spell, I caught a glimpse of fur. More specifically: Jerome's fur.

I jumped in surprise. Jerome! The spell must have been delayed! The sound of static snapped me back to reality. Jerome was silently floating to strike behind me. As my body fell to the ground from the impact, I watched as Mitch and Tyler's faces changed from horror to confused. They must not be able to see him. I suddenly felt a tugging feeling all over. I yelled out as I was launched towards my seemingly passed out body. I saw Jerome wave to me as I flew past him. I shook off a numb feeling as I pushed myself off the ground. I turned back to see that Jerome was gone. I set my gaze back to Mitch and Tyler. "H-h-he was here...he was the one who saved us...wasn't he?" Mitch stuttered out as I sent him a reassuring smile. I saw his face light up with joy. Tyler also smiled, patting Mitch on the back as I slowly trudged over to them. We silently exchanged looks of sincerity as we hugged again, only tighter this time. We began to leave the forest, only to be stopped by Mitch saying he forgot his bow. He ran out of sight and Tyler and I chatted while he was gone.

That bow. The one that killed him.

That bow. The one I regretted using.

That bow. The one that saved us.

That bow. The one he used.

That bow. The one that reunited them.

That bow. The one he held as they kissed.

That bow. The one he gave him.

That bow. The one that killed him.

I turned at the sound of footsteps. I saw Mitch run back. "Wait...where's your bow?" Tyler asked him, following my gaze. Mitch's expression changed completely. "Jerome has it." He said simply. I knew what he meant. I couldn't help but smile as the guilt lifted. Jerome had his final goodbye with Mitch. "We better get going then." I turned around and continued down the dirt path way, Mitch and Tyler following closely behind. As we trailed through the forest, I could sense another presence.

I still believe to this day that it was Jerome watching over us.