14. Connection

"Okay...So how exactly do we kill the Apothecary? Any suggestions?" Cassian asked as he took out a throwing knife.

"Taking into consideration that he has multiple arms, it would foolish to just run at him and try to kill him in that manner." Jizabel responded. "We would have to immobilize it, or...Take it by surprise. We could also chop off all its limbs. That should work..."

Riff shook his head. "Doctor, I don't think you know about this but the Apothecary's healing power is real. He could most likely create new limbs for himself..."

"Then we'll have to immobilize it." Jizabel responded as he turned towards Cain. "Do you have any tranquilizers of the sort from your poison collection that you might have brought along with you, half-brother?"

Before Cain could answer, Cassandra interrupted him. "Look, I'll distract the Apothecary." He spoke, pointing at the Apothecary. "All the rest of you can kill him when he's not looking. If that doesn't work, I'm not sure what else could..." He trailed off, gritting his teeth as he turned to face the Apothecary. "Apothecary!" He shouted at the multiple-armed creature. "You want to kill me!? You'll have to catch me!"

With that being said, Cassandra ran as soon as he ended his statement. The Apothecary immediately bounded after him, intent on killing him. Everyone else exchanged quick glances, before running after the two.

Cassandra knew he couldn't forever, obviously. It would be a waste of his stanima. Instead, after running for a little bit, he turned and plunged both his swords deep into the Apothecary's neck, before pulling them out and jumping back.

Did I kill him?

Unfortunately, the answer to Cassandra's question was no. The wounds immediately closed up as soon as the Apothecary put a hand to his own neck. Cassandra cursed, holding up his swords and bracing himself for what could happen next. Right, right, he has healing powers. He can heal whatever he can touch, and-Wait. Wait...That's it! I know how I can disable him!

The Apothecary spewed fire from his mouth, and Cassandra did his best to duck underneath the flames, stabbing the Apothecary in what he hoped was the lower left leg once before getting kicked to the ground. He got up quickly, bringing his swords up to shield himself from the Apothecary suddenly trying to punch him with one of his arms. Cassandra immediately took the opportunity to slash at one of the Apothecary's hands.

The attempt was a sucess as the Apothecary howled in pain, realizing that he let one of his hands get chopped off. Cassandra grinned to himself and held up both swords for a moment, before throwing one of them at the Apothecary, who caught it with an arm that was not lacking a hand. Cassandra then lunged forwards, slashing off the hand that held the sword, and the Apothecary howled in pain again.

Cassandra grasped for the disembodied hand on the ground and took the sword from it quickly, before trying to move in closer to stab the Apothecary. This attempt failed to strike the Apothecary, who grabbed Cassandra by both arms and flipped him right afterwards, resulting in Cassandra dropping both swords. Cassandra let out a groan of pain as he hit the ground, and he got up quickly, resummoning both swords to his hands before trying to slash at his arms again.

He stopped suddenly, dropping both swords and holding his head in both hands. Dang it, it's hurting now!? It-ah-stop-no-

Cassandra realized that he was punched in the stomach, before he was thrown against a nearby wall. The ex-Hierophant slumped to the floor, weakened by the sudden attack. He tried to get up, but the Apothecary slammed him against the wall once more. Pain travelled all over his body, hurting everywhere. Cassandra didn't know if he was bleeding or had sustained any mortal injuries yet, but he knew that the Apothecary wasn't going to give him a painless death.

The Apothecary appeared to smirk. "So much for trying to play hero." He taunted, before two of his arms raised tight fists. Cassandra shut his eyes, expecting the pain.

And then everything just seemed to stop.

Cassandra's eyelids fluttered open as soon as he realized the Apothecary wasn't going to punch him again. He also realized that he knew someone was standing right in front of him. It wasn't Riff, it wasn't Cain, nor it was Jizabel or anyone else. It wasn't even the Apothecary. Cassandra didn't know how he knew this, but he could just feel it in his bones that it wasn't any of those people in front of him.

It was Justice.

"Justice?" He spoke aloud after a moment of stunned silence. "Why-how-" He started, but he closed his mouth, knowing that he must sound stupid. He then spoke again. "I'm sorry, but...Can I try to visualize you in my mind? I still can't...See..." He trailed off lamely, gesturing to his empty eye sockets.

"Yes." Justice murmured in response. "Go ahead, if it makes things easier for you."

Cassandra nodded once, and he immediately formed an image of her in his mind. The pretty-looking dresses she wore, the shoulder-length, wavy dark brown hair, those eyes that were often hidden behind the blindfold; Cassandra could imagine her completely, now. Last time he tried, he could only conjure up a blurry image. "Did time just stop?" He asked quietly. "Or did I already get knocked out or killed by the Apothecary?"

"Well," Justice started, and he imagined her fidgeting slightly before continuing. "You're not dead. Nor are you unconcious. And time did not stop, either. It's just that we have been sped up to the point that everything else around us is at a speed even slower than a snail. It's not something I can do, the Spirit Eaters, they.." He imagined that she appeared to pause when she trailed off, and he heard her take a deep breath before continuing. "Their leader agreed to let me communicate with you one last time before I'm dead."

"Dead?" Cassandra repeated the last word. "No, Justice, I can't let you just die! I can't-I won't let them kill you. I swear, as soon as I kill that Apothecary, I will go out and find you as soon as I can. Don't die yet." He responded a bit sharper than he hoped. He then paused, before speaking again. "I'm sorry. It's just..."

"I know. You're not the only one who can actually read minds, Cassandra." Cassandra nodded as Justice ended that statement. It was true; Justice was able to read his mind and he knew this, ever since the Ritual of Regeneration. The two had somehow bonded a little over that fact, that they could 'read' each other in such a way. Their abilities were quite similar, except for the facts that Justice couldn't read other people's pasts or use hypnosis in the same way Cassandra could. "You want to help me. I know that. As much as you are the legendary hero you are apparently meant to be, the hero...You can't save everyone, Cassandra."

Cassandra didn't know what to say in response to that. Justice was right about it. It wasn't like he was able to end the fight with Briana without killing her, and same went for when he fought those Cimmerians earlier.

"Well, if that is the case..." Cassandra trailed off, pausing before asking, "What is the point of heroes existing in the first place, if they cannot save everyone?"

He felt her hand touch his face gently, and he stiffened slightly, not expecting such an action to take place.

"Heroes are there to...To do what is right, for the good of others than themselves. Yes, it may involve being unable to save everyone, but think of it this way. Which would you rather have, nine out of ten people alive or nine out of ten people dead?"

Before Cassandra could respond, he could feel in his bones that she was already gone.

Before Cassandra even realized what was happening, he suddenly held up both swords, and the Apothecary let out a howl of pain as those two hands were chopped off. Cassandra stood quickly, realizing that he now had to focus on the battle right now, no matter how much he wanted to talk with Justice more.

How was I even able to communicate with Justice just now? I mean, it's obviously through a mental connection, telepathy, but...How? Was all of that in my head...Did time stop, possibly? How?

I can't focus on that right now. Right. I've got an Apothecary to take down.

"Where is Cassandra? Has anyone seen him?" Riff asked the others, who shook their heads.

"Dang it, we lost them!" Cassian muttered in frustration as he looked around. "The idiot...What was he thinking!?"

Before anyone could answer, a sudden roar interrupted them, and they turned to see the Apothecary, being forced back as Cassandra tried to slash at him with both blades. "At least they finally arrived." Jizabel muttered, taking out a scalpel and whriling it once in his hand. "Cassian, if you look carefully...I think Cassandra has done quite a bit of work to distract the beast."

Riff, taking heed of the mad doctor's words, looked closely at the Apothecary. Several of the Apothecary's hands were chopped off, and there were stab wounds all over the torso of the beast. It was obvious, though, that the Apothecary would not go down so easily due to such injuries. Riff turned to Cain, who exchanged similar glances with him. The two then took out the weapons they had on hand (Cain being the sword hidden in the cane he usually carried with him, and Riff taking out a revolver) before rushing over to help the ex-Hierophant. Cassian and Jizabel followed suite, realizing that it wasn't just the Apothecary that was suffering from physical wounds.

A crowd gathered as the fight continued, and the Apothecary was outnumbered five to one. Gunshots rang in air as various blades cut the Apothecary's skin, and limbs, forming more wounds on the body than anyone could imagine. Finally, the Apothecary was helpless, and the creature's eyes widened as Cassandra held up both swords above him.

"Apothecary...You were right." Cassandra murmured, with slightly dark chuckle emmanating from his lips before finishing. "Perhaps I'm really the hero all along."

The blades went downwards, killing the Apothecary instantly.

Cassandra collapsed onto the ground immediately afterwards, losing consciousness.

Author note: I hope that combat scenes were good enough...I think that was the hardest part of this chapter. Sorry for the delay in updates lately.