Disclaimer: I own nothing. The characters were created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo.

Chapter Six

Obelix was standing on a hill, looking at the remains of the village from a distance, unable to move. He knew he was supposed to run there as fast as he could, beat the Romans up and save everybody but he felt it was too late. He failed again. He remembered Getafix's words. Now he understood it completely – his lack of wisdom had led to a disaster, even more horrible than the very first one. Suddenly he felt so much pain and so much rage for himself and for his helplessness… he wanted to destroy everything, to make this madness stop, to punish someone… Without thinking he ran right into the crowd and fought like never before. Most of the Romans were lucky enough to escape, the others witnessed Obelix's true strength. That didn't help though. He looked around him – so many victims… And he couldn't have prevented all that. He didn't search for certain people this time – he knew their fate already.

He sat down on a rock. Dogmatix joined him, howling heartbreakingly. Obelix didn't pay much attention to anything. Suddenly the dog fell silent. The red-haired Gaul turned his head, looking for his pet. He didn't have to look far though – he was near, pushing the lying Asterix's hand with his little black nose, trying to wake the warrior up. Obelix sighed.

"Leave him, Dogmatix, he's dead," he said. Strange, now it didn't cause the emotions it had caused before. Perhaps it was because he had seen for several times already and always had the power to change it. There was a single question in his mind: "What now?" He had run out of ideas.

"I guess I will just stay here…" he said aloud, not knowing to whom he was addressing. "And then the Romans will be back, a lot of Romans… and I will join you all…"

And he just sat there, not noticing first Dogmatix's soft whimpering, and then his loud howling. Time passed but nothing happened. Obelix seemed to be oblivious to anything. Darkness fell, and the Gaul fell asleep unwillingly.

1010101

He found himself at the same forest again. Asterix was by his side once again. Well, Obelix knew now that it wasn't actually Asterix but only a part of his own tired mind.

"So… what are you going to do next?" Asterix asked without any particular interest.

"I… I don't know. Nothing…"

Asterix stopped.

"So you gave up?" he asked. His voice had never sounded so harsh before. "Now, when not only I but all the others are dead… BECAUSE OF YOU?"

Obelix's eyes widened with shock.

"You are so cruel to me!" he exclaimed.

"I'm part of you," Asterix answered. "You are blaming yourself. Anyway, you can't give up like this".

"But…"

"Answer me," Asterix looked directly in Obelix's eyes which made the well-covered Gaul shiver – that gaze was just frightening. "Who killed me?"

"Some Roman…" Obelix's voice shook badly – he was uncertain.

"Wrong answer. Who killed me?"

"I… it's…"

"What exactly was wrong when you were leaving the village to begin with?"

"I don't remember…"

"Who killed me?"

"I don't know!" Obelix was really tired, as though it was happening not in his dream but for real…

1010101

He woke up because of Dogmatix's loud barking. The Gaul looked around to see nothing but his dead friends and the Romans. Lots of Romans. Obelix didn't pay much attention on them, he tried to concentrate and put the ring on.

And there he was again, on the rock near the Druids' Forest. He knew he had to stay with the druids, and so he did. He repeated everything as he did for the first and the second times. He ran to the battle field. He beat the Romans. Only this time he didn't wait for Asterix to call him. He turned round on his heels and ran forward. He noticed Asterix was still standing with his mouth open and eyes widened with shock but that didn't last long – the read-haired Gaul pushed him aside and he fell to the ground at once. And then it was Obelix's turn to be shocked – he saw who had been standing behind his friend, ready to kill, to murder… However, his shock didn't last long, either…

Asterix stood up with great efforts – now he realized that he hadn't recover completely yet. He was so tired he could barely stand on his feet. But then he saw something that made him feel even worse: he saw his best friend. Obelix was lying on the ground, with a deep wound in his chest.

Asterix hurried to him. He was so exhausted that he literally fell to his knees beside his friend.

"Hold on," he breathed. "Getafix will come soon. He will help you".

Obelix couldn't help but smile at the reverse of roles… He wanted to say something but couldn't. He only opened his mouth without a sound. He only noticed that Asterix was becoming paler and paler as tears ran down his face. Obelix wanted to tell at least who the one who had done it was, but he was unable to talk. He felt cold. Asterix was shaking frantically, partly because of the sobs and partly because the disease was obviously coming back. Obelix gave his friend the last look and then everything went dark…