Chapter 13: Heavy Handed

Pitou had rested quite well that night, better than they ever had before. It was one of the few nights where Pitou actually slept for the entire night. Pitou had rested so peacefully that Eli had managed to sneak out of the bed without waking them. They woke up two hours after sunrise. They stretched out, feeling satisfied from a good night's rest. They were surprised to see that Eli wasn't there. Pitou went out to the balcony, but Eli wasn't there either. They looked out into the palace courtyard and it was there that Pitou could see Eli. When Pitou saw the boy, they thought about yesterday. Today was Eli's birthday, a day to be celebrated. Pitou knew that they couldn't just throw a party for Eli, seeing as to how they were in a war, but they knew that they could at least give him a present. "The best present for him would be freedom. Today is the day that we free him from that parasite." Pitou thought to themselves. Pitou left the watch tower and gathered the others.

Eli quietly sat in the courtyard, working on his ability. He was drawing sketches of what the different aspects would look like, along with short descriptions of how it worked. Eli was creating an ability that was also versatile, something that could be used in multiple different situations. Eli didn't know much about fighting, but he knew that you always had to be ready for anything. You had to be ready for any situation and for every fighting style. He took that into account while crafting his ability. He was starting to make some finishing touches when Pitou came up behind him. "Eli." They said. "Oh, Pitou. You're awake. I'm surprised you slept this late." He said. "Yeah… you were right, I needed the rest. I feel great!" "Good to hear." "Hey, me and the others have something to show you." "What is it?" "It's a surprise." Pitou said with a smile. "A surprise?" "Yes. Now come on." Eli stood up and began following Pitou.

They came to the King's throne room, though the King was not present. Pouf, Youpi and Cheetu were waiting for the two. "Hey everyone." Eli said. "Hey Eli. Happy birthday." Cheetu said. "Thanks man." Cheetu walked over to Eli while Pitou walked over to the other two elites. "Say, Eli. I've been thinking about your offer to go to your island." Cheetu said. "And?" Eli asked. "Before I make a decision, I want to know what the island's like."

"Oh? Okay, well… I've heard that the island was once called, 'The Backwards Place.'" "The what?" "'The Backwards Place.' It was called that because of the weird environment. The island gets warmer the further north you go, and it gets colder the further south you go. The southern tip of the island is a tundra, while my village towards the center of the island is in a warm forest." "Wow… that's pretty crazy." Eli could tell that there was a reason Cheetu was keeping him distracted. Pouf, Pitou and Youpi were talking to each other behind Eli, and Cheetu's gaze would occasionally fall on Shroud. This was a plan to get rid of Shroud, and Eli knew it, so he went along and pretended not to notice the others.

"Are there any hazards I should know about?" Cheetu asked. "Well, when you're around my village, try not to fall into any holes." Eli said. "What does that mean?" "There are a few holes in the forest surrounding my village. It turns out that the ground there is hollow. There's an entire glade underneath it, but there's also a lot of really dangerous creatures down there. They almost killed me…" "Wow. Any people I should know about?" Cheetu asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"The Wise One, Amelia. She knows lots of things. She's the only one in my village that isn't infected with a parasite." Eli said. "How did she avoid that?" "When she was born, she was put into a glass chamber. I'm not sure why, but the Shades can't get inside." "Does she have nen abilities then?" "I think so. She can see into the future, or something like that." "She can?" Cheetu asked in surprise. "Yeah, it's how I found out about you guys." Eli said. "Okay, cool…" Cheetu said. It was obvious that he was running out of things to talk about, so Pouf and Pitou stepped in.

"Hello, Eli." Pouf said. "Oh, Pouf. You're actually acknowledging me without me having to make the first move." "Hmph… I was just being respectful because everyone else in the room likes you. I wouldn't be kind to a human like you." Pouf said, but Eli knew he didn't mean it; he was just acting tough. "C'mon, Pouf. Admit it, you like me." Eli said with a smile. "Well… I don't hate you." "Aw, love you too buddy." Eli said sarcastically. Pouf turned in a failed attempt to hide a tiny smile. "Well, now that we're all here, it's time for your present, Eli." Pitou said cheerfully. "My present?" Eli asked.

"Yes. Is everyone ready?" Pitou asked. "Ready." Said everyone else. "Ready for what?" Eli asked. "Now!" Cheetu shouted. Suddenly, Youpi swung toward Eli, trying to strike Shroud. Shroud caught Youpi's fist just before it made contact, but that's what they were planning. Youpi sprouted several more arms and grabbed the rest of Shroud's tendrils. Pouf and Cheetu grabbed onto Eli's arms, and Pitou wrapped their arms around his torso. They all started pulling in an attempt to rip Shroud off of Eli. The force of it all was causing immense pain to the boy. He shouted on instinct. "Hold on Eli! We'll get this thing off of you!" Youpi called to reassure Eli. "Don't stop… no matter what!" Said Eli. He could feel Shroud severing.

This wasn't about making the King stronger anymore. This wasn't about gaining the power needed to win a war. This was about freeing an innocent boy from his horrific captor. They were making progress, as there was space between Shroud and Eli's shoulder now. Eli was starting to get hopeful, but Shroud had a way out. Shroud suddenly let out a loud shriek. It was ear piercing, and it hit Eli's four friends like a truck. They tried to hold out, tried to keep pulling, but their bodies moved on their own, and on instinct they all covered their ears, letting go of Shroud and Eli.

That's when something horrific happened. Eli had been knocked out, and due to this, Shroud had an unrestricted flow of nen. With it, he was able to fuel his power. Shroud began to grow larger, and several tendrils wrapped around Eli, leaving almost his entire body covered. Shroud's body was beginning to take on a different appearance. A large, circular main body was held up high above the ground by several tendrils that were as big around as trees. Shroud's body had grown exponentially, and he towered above the four Chimera Ants around him. "Dear God…" Cheetu said. Shroud let out a horrific roar that bellowed throughout the palace.

It then attacked. It swung several tendrils around, crashing into everything in an attempt to kill anyone close. Youpi was able to grab one of the tendrils, but only for a brief moment. Shroud lifted him high into the air and slammed Youpi into the ground, leaving him stunned and smashing a crater into the stone floor. Pouf attempted to fly around Shroud and see if there were any openings, but Shroud simply swatted him out of the air. Cheetu tried running for Eli to see if he could wake him up, but Shroud caught him then threw him into one of the stone walls, knocking the wind out of him. Pitou tried to go with Cheetu's idea. They knew that Eli could restrict the flow of nen if he woke back up. Pitou was able to dodge a few of the tendrils, sliding under them and jumping over them, but Shroud eventually caught Pitou. Shroud then picked them up and started bringing them toward his dagger filled mouth.

Not knowing what else to do, and feeling completely helpless, Pitou called out, "Eli!" in a terrified shriek. That was enough to rouse Eli. He woke up and acted quickly. He restricted the flow of nen to Shroud, almost cutting it off completely. Shroud wasn't able to sustain his more powerful form, so he was forced to go back to the smaller parasitic form. Eli stood up and looked at what had happened. He saw Youpi, just barely conscious, freeing himself from the rubble. He saw Cheetu at the wall attempting to get up, but he was forced to stop due to the pain. He saw Pouf, struggling to stand up not far from him, and he saw Pitou right in front of him. They were trying to catch their breath, as Shroud nearly crushed them.

Eli was horrified by the scene. "I'm… I'm sorry, I… I'm so… I'm so sorry." Eli said. "Eli." Pitou said, but Eli almost didn't hear it. He ran away, not able to face the terror. "Eli!" Pitou said. They were about to run after him, but Cheetu said, "Wait… he needs… he needs time. Just give him a minute to himself." "But I—" "He'll get you when he's ready, but we're in bad shape right now." "I… right." Pitou said before checking on the wounds of their brothers.

Eli ran back to his room and locked himself in. He didn't want to see anyone… he didn't want to hurt anyone else. He knew that as long as he was around, everyone was in danger. "Damn it… damn you Shroud!" He mumbled. "Why? Why can't you just leave me be? Why can't you just leave me alone?" Eli could feel that Shroud was amused by his groveling. "Why me? Why does it have to be me?" He cursed his life; the life of pain and suffering. "I can never have anyone… because of you!" He hated Shroud with everything he had. Because of Shroud, nobody dared to be Eli's friend. Eli had no one, and when he finally did make friends, Shroud nearly killed them. Eli wanted, with everything he had, Shroud to just drop dead. Eli was not familiar with hate. Never in his life did he ever consider hating anyone, but that changed. "You bastard… you bastard…" Eli muttered to himself.

Throughout the day, Pouf, Youpi, Cheetu and Pitou tried to reach Eli. He refused to let anyone into his room. They would knock on the door, but they'd only be met with Eli saying, "Go away…" in a defeated tone. Eli couldn't stomach his existence anymore. He couldn't stand himself just as much as he couldn't stand Shroud. Eli hadn't come down from his room for several hours, and the sun was beginning its decent into the horizon. Since Eli hadn't come down, it was obvious that he hadn't eaten or even drunk anything. Pitou and Cheetu both made something for Eli, following a recipe book as closely as they could.

Once it was ready, Pitou jumped up to the watch tower with the food and a bottle of water. They looked into the dark room and saw Eli curled up in a ball in the corner. "Hey, Eli. How are you?" Pitou asked with a shaky voice. Eli was completely silent. "I, um… me and Cheetu made you something. We thought you'd be hungry… you hadn't come down to eat, so I decided to bring it to you." Pitou said with a smile. The smile fell like iron in water when Eli still didn't speak. Pitou stepped forward, their foot crossing the threshold into the room. Eli suddenly shot up and yelled, "Stop!" Pitou stopped and took a step back. "Just… just leave it outside, okay!?" Eli shouted. He said it with far more anger than intended. Pitou swallowed, feeling a knot forming in their throat. They set down the food then moved toward the edge of the balcony. Before jumping away, they took one last look at Eli. His face was obscured by the darkness, and he was turned away, not wanting to face Pitou. Pitou turned away and left, but not before placing Eli's thermos on the railing.

The thermos caught Eli's eye. He rushed over to it and grabbed it. He opened it up, finding that it was totally empty. Pitou had eaten it all. For a brief moment, that brought a smile to Eli's face, but ultimately it faded away as he began to cry. He knew now what he needed to do. He cared for Pitou and their siblings, more than he ever cared about anyone ever before. He was worried sick about the impending attack on the palace, but he was even more worried about what Shroud's strength could do. He was worried that Shroud would kill his friends at any moment. Shroud saw them as a threat now, so he wouldn't care about their death… he'd yearn for their death. Eli knew that as long as he was around, everyone in the palace was in danger. So, he could only come to one conclusion… he had to leave. He dwelled on this thought as he took the food that Cheetu and Pitou prepared for him. He ate it, and its wonderful taste made what had to be done so much harder.

The next day, the other human, Komugi, was making her way to the King's throne room to begin another game with him, but she heard something that gave her pause. She heard soft and restrained weeps. It sounded like someone was crying, but was trying their hardest to stop themselves. Komugi followed the noise to its source. Komugi was of course blind, but that didn't stop her from getting around places. She made her way into a vacant room. Pitou was the source of the noise. "Hello?" Komugi said to find out who it was. "Oh! Komugi… wh-what are you doing here? Did you get lost?" Pitou asked, trying to bring attention away from themselves. "No, I didn't get lost. Was that… was that you crying?" Komugi asked. "What? Me, crying? No, no, I-I wasn't crying." It was an obvious lie.

"What are you doing in this room alone then?" Komugi asked. "I… I…" Pitou was thinking of something to say to get out of this, but it was very obvious that Komugi wasn't buying it. Pitou sat down with a sigh and said, "I was crying." "I've never known you to be very emotional, Lord Pitou." Komugi said. "It's… it's nothing. You should go and see the King. I'm sure he's ready for another game." Pitou said, again trying to avoid the conversation. "With all due respect, Lord Pitou, the Supreme Leader can wait. Tell me, what has you so upset?" "Well… you've no doubt noticed that boy, Eli, who's been around the palace." "Yes, I have. He seems nice." "He is… he's very nice." Pitou said with a smile. "What's wrong then?" "You see… he has a monster attached to him. It feeds off of him. We tried to get it off of him yesterday, but it attacked us. We all got hurt, and when we were trying to separate Eli and the creature, it caused Eli so much pain. I'm worried… I'm worried that Eli hates me now… or worse… that he's afraid of me."

Komugi reached over and took Pitou's hand. "Pitou… you think fondly of him, don't you?" She asked. "I… I do. He's the only one who has ever truly cared about me." "It's deeper than that, isn't it?" "Well… when I'm around him… I always feel so strange." "Strange how?" "Well… like… like I could do anything. He makes me feel stronger, and…" Pitou didn't finish. "And what?" Komugi asked, chasing Pitou's thoughts. "And warm… safe." Pitou said with a smile.

Even though Komugi was blind, she could tell that there was a smile on Pitou's face. "I think you should talk to him. You should try to chase this feeling." Komugi said. "I… I want to, but he's locked himself in his room, and he's refused to see anyone. Pouf and Youpi have tried, and so has one of our soldiers, Cheetu. They became close friends while he was here. Eli… has refused to eat too." Pitou said. "You should try." "I have, believe me. He's just too afraid. He won't let me get anywhere near him." "I'm sorry, Pitou." "That's kind of you to say… I should return to my duties. I'm much more focused now. Thank you, Komugi." Pitou said as they stood up and left the room. Komugi made their way to the King for another game.

The day went on, passing by in a blink. Night soon came, and the stars littered the sky, lighting up the entire palace. Eli was gathering his things, stuffing his bag with all of his possessions. He hoisted his bag onto his shoulders. He left his room and headed out into the palace halls. He took a look around, making sure nobody would see him. Seeing that the coast was clear, Eli started moving for the exit to the palace. As Eli was leaving, Komugi happened to have finished her games with the King for the day. Eli saw her on his way to the exit, but he thought that because she was blind, he could just slip past her without her knowing. He hadn't even gotten closer to her before she realized he was there. "Eli? Is that you?" She asked. Eli, being the polite boy that he was, answered her. "Y-yeah… it's me." He said. "What are you doing out here?" "Uh… what are you doing?" Eli asked, trying to redirect. "You and Pitou are both terrible at avoiding subjects." "I… yeah." "What are you doing?" Komugi asked once more.

Eli didn't want to tell her, but he relented and said, "I'm leaving." "Leaving!?" Komugi asked. "Yes… I am. I have a monster hanging over me. It attacked Pitou, the other elites and Cheetu. While I'm here, they are all in danger. You too." "That's why you've been avoiding them?" "Yes. I don't want this curse of mine to hurt them. It's for their own good that I leave." "Pitou has the wrong idea then." "What do you mean?" Eli asked. "Pitou thinks you're avoiding him and the others because you're angry with them." "What!?" Eli said. "That's not the case, is it?" "No, it's not…" Eli groaned as he buried his face in his hands. "What will you do now?" Komugi asked.

Eli was torn. He wanted to keep the others safe, and he didn't want a reason to stay, but he didn't want Pitou to think that he hated them. "I have to make things right with her. I need to talk to her." Eli said. Komugi smacked Eli on the head with her cane. "That's right! You talk with her, and don't stop talking until everything is clear." She said. "Yes ma'am." Eli said as he ran off. Komugi then realized something Eli said. "Wait, 'she?' Pitou's a woman?" Komugi asked. "She's both!" Eli shouted as he ran off. "Oh my!" Komugi said to herself.

Eli went back to his room. He was ready to talk to Pitou, but he needed to do something first. He got a lantern and lit it and placed it above his desk. He lied his journal flat on the table, and at the page after his notes on his ideas for an ability, he wrote a message. Once he was done, he stepped out to the balcony and looked up to the center of the palace. He could see Pitou at their usual perch. "Pitou!" He yelled. Pitou looked over immediately and saw Eli waiting for them. Pitou, without the slightest bit of hesitation, made their way to Eli. They gracefully jumped onto the balcony with Eli and stood in front of him.

Eli immediately wrapped his arms around Pitou and began crying as he frantically said, "I'm so sorry! Komugi told me how you felt, she told me how I made you feel, and I want you to know that it's not true! I don't hate you, Pitou, I could never, ever hate you!" "Eli…" Pitou said softly. "It was so stupid of me to just lock myself in my room and ignore all of you! I didn't know how much I was hurting you, and there's no excuse for that!" "Eli." Eli still didn't listen. "I was afraid of myself! I was afraid of Shroud! I thought if I left, you'd all be safe, but that wasn't fair to any of you!" "Eli!" Pitou said with a firm tone. Eli finally looked up to Pitou. He saw a smile on their face, along with a trail of tears. "I've already forgiven you." They said. Eli smiled and hugged them even tighter, like he was never going to let go.

Pitou wrapped their arms around Eli in a hug as well, and they remained like this for quite some time. Once they were both satisfied, they let go. "You were going to leave?" Pitou asked. "Yeah, I was… but not anymore! I realize how stupid that is now." "Why?" Pitou asked. "Well… I thought that if I was gone, I would be protecting all of you… but I was just hurting all of you." "Don't worry. We're not going to let some parasite hurt us, not anymore. And we're especially not going to let it hurt you anymore." "You're all so kind now." Eli said proudly. "You taught us well."

"My original goal when I came here was to just get rid of Shroud and free my people… but that's not just it anymore." Eli said. "What's your goal now?" "I want your kind and humanity to get along. I want you both to live alongside each other." Pitou looked away and shook their head. "Do you really think that could happen?" Pitou asked. "I'm an optimist, what can I say? What's wrong with wanting you and humans to get along?" "Eli… I have killed and eaten a lot of people… innocent people that were just… minding their own business… they never did anything to me, but I… I killed them. What life could I possibly have?"

Eli got a smile on his face, which was already enough to surprise Pitou, but then he said, "Picture this: We go somewhere, we just get somewhere far away from all of this. All of the killing, the Hunters, the King, the war, all of it. We find a city, a place with kind, open minded people who don't mind having a non-human citizen and their overly optimistic friend living there. We set up a diner, and we cook together. We make delicious food for people from all over the town, and tourists and couriers who are just passing through. We get so many return customers that we start remembering their names the moment they walk in. We even memorize what their orders are and have it ready before they even open their mouths. We'll even have a little brown cat roaming around to greet people and make sure they're having a good time. We'll name him Peanut, and people will think it's a little weird that a part-cat-part-human hybrid has a pet cat, but they look past it because it's so adorable. Because of all this, we get known around town, and people come to us for good food and good times, and the people love us just as much as we love them."

Pitou was completely dumbfounded. They hadn't a clue on what to say. "Eli… what… what the hell are you talking about?" Pitou asked with a laugh. "I don't know, but I got you to laugh, didn't I?" Pitou smiled and said, "You did… Eli, do you think a life like that is possible for someone like me?" "Pitou. Those killings were from a person that didn't know right from wrong. You aren't that person anymore. You still have this entire new life ahead of you. You have all the time in the world to make things right. So, yes," Eli said as he took Pitou's hands and held them gently in his. "I think that a life like that is possible."

They looked each other in the eyes, and felt each other soften. They leaned in close to one another, their bodies taking control. They were close to one another, but before any action could be made, a flash of light in the distance interrupted them. Pitou and Eli suddenly looked to the source of the light. "What's that?" Eli asked worriedly. "It's an attack!" Pitou exclaimed. "What do we do?" "You need to get somewhere safe, now!" Pitou perched onto the stone railing and prepared to leap toward the approaching enemy. "Wait… Komugi was on her way to her room!" Eli said. "Go, get her. Keep her safe. We'll deal with the enemy!" Before hearing a response from Eli, they leapt through the air, speeding off like a bullet. Eli rushed out of his room and towards Komugi's room. All the while, he had the feeling that the worst-case scenario was about to come into reality.