The sun rays bounce off of the glistening Spiral Tree. Causing an almost diamond blue light to shine from it. On top of this skyscraper is a fight to decide the fate of mankind.
Kaitana and Hildreck stare at each other as they stand on top of the Spiral Tree way above the clouds.
They stare, and they stare, and they stare. Waiting on someone to make the first move. The wind howls as their gaze intensifies.
WHOOSH
Kaitana DASHES forwards, leaving nothing behind but an afterimage of herself. She quickly draws her long blade as she attempts to slash at Messiah's vital points. Barely missing with each slash. Hildreck BARELY manages to deflect her attacks as Kaitana uses the momentum from his deflects to slash even harder with every consecutive hit.
"Arghh!" Hildreck says as he struggles to keep up with Kaitana's movement.
Hildreck backflips in an attempt to gain distance but Kaitana refuses to let up on her attack. She dashes once again as Hildreck switches to a more defensive stance. Kaitana continues with the same attack. Yet something is different... Her attacks are being parried as she barely has enough momentum to keep up.
One of her slashes hits slightly off. "Shit!"
Messiah twirls his scythe around and hits Kaitana dead in the face with the back end of it which sends her tumbling across the ground. Blood drips from her mouth as she quickly gets back up. Fortunately, she did. Hildreck QUICKLY dashes towards Kaitana with killing intent. He gracefully maneuvers his scythe in a beautiful, yet abhorrent way.
With every slash, more power comes. With more power comes more speed. Kaitana struggles to keep up with Hildreck's intensity. Using Hildreck's momentum, she uses a grapple move and throws him across the ground. He takes his time getting back up and gazes at Kaitana.
"Th- There's no way we can talk this out... Is there...?" Kaitana asks.
Hildreck grits his teeth. "You...? You think I'll trust ANYTHING that comes out of your treacherous mouth...?"
"And you think that I would let you stay blind to the truth? I'm not going to let you die...! Not anyone else!" Kaitana says as she points at Hildreck.
"A-And... I know you hear this... I- I don't want you to be alone... NOT ANYMORE!"
Tears start to form around Kaitana's eyeballs. But for some reason, these tears seem... different? They're sincere. They're innocent. They're filled with sorrow. It is clear to see that Messiah isn't the only one hurting. These tears are a reminder that we are all human. And that we all hurt. And something about this tear... reaches him.
He drops his scythe and slowly makes his way towards Kaitana. Fist clenched and ready to fight. Kaitana drops her weapon as well and dashes at Hildreck.
Their fist meet as they stare at each other.
"I've... I've ALWAYS been alone...! I've been betrayed... I've been lied to! What makes you so DAMN SPECI-"
BOOM
Kaitana Interrupts him with a heavy right hook that sends him flying.
She breathes heavily and often due to the energy put behind that punch. "You...! YOU SHUT UP! I... I know what it's like now to be betrayed... When you said those things the other day! I felt... betrayed. But most importantly you thought that I'd do something so DESPICABLE! I wouldn't do that to you... When you looked so vulnerable... You thought... I did it...?"
Messiah runs at her once again in a blind rage. He winds up a powerful shot. Yet her demeanor is different. She stands with her feet planted firmly. An iron wall. An unwavering strength and courage to stand. A blood-red aura starts to surround her. The punch collides with her face. She doesn't move an inch.
They stand face to face as she gazes into his eyes. "I'm not letting you walk on this path... alone anymore..."
Something within Hildreck clicks as a tear rolls down his cheek. "A-… And what if I want to be alone...? Why do you want to help me...? Look... Look at what I did to this beautiful wo-"
"AAARRRGGHHHH" Kaitana yells as she pounces on Hildreck.
She punches and punches. As if she's trying to beat it into him.
"YOU'RE *PUNCH* NOT *PUNCH* ALONE!"
He kicks her off of him as she lands directly beside him. Due to her exhaustion, she collapses beside him. With his bruised and beaten face, he turns his head to look her in the eye.
She pants in exhalation. "W- Why would... you think that...?"
"Because... I've always been alone Kaitana... I feared betrayal... I was scared of being hurt again... I was such... a fool. I thought that everything and everyone I trusted has become my enemy. I thought my life had no meaning... I thought it was all over..."
The ground beneath him begins to crack as his tears seep through.
He looks Kaitana in the eye for the last time. "I'm... I'm so sorry captain..." He says with a smile.
The ground beneath him breaks as he slowly falls to his death. While falling, he reaches out to the blue sky above him.
He thinks to himself.
I... I was so wrong about everything. I've done... so much wrong. The truth is... The truth is that I was never alone... I was so ready to give up that I blinded myself to the truth. I ran away from Quinn... I ran away from Nana... I ran away from Captain... I ran away from Luminaire... I ran away from myself... I hurt everyone around me! Why am I so stupid...? And now... I can't tell them... So... much... regret.
I am sorry.
The falling sensation stops as he feels weight from his fingers. He opens his eyes and sees Kaitana. Struggling to pull him up. Her eyes twinkle in the sky as they shine so brightly for Hildreck.
He looks Kaitana in the eye and gives off a slight grin. "Your eyes... They shine so brightly in the sky Kaitana... So damn bright... *sniff* deep down... I knew that you wouldn't betray me... Deep down, I was... scared. I feared that you wouldn't reach out to me again. I feared that you'd let me go... But you reached out to me... Thank you for granting me... my last wish... Let me go."
Kaitana grunts as she continues her struggle to pull him up. "ARRRGHH! If you think I'm letting you go now YOU'RE DEAD WRO-"
"BUT IF YOU DON'T LET GO, YOU'LL DIE WITH M-"
Her grip starts to slip. "No...! NO! I WON'T LET YOU!"
"Kaitana... Why...?"
You...! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH YOU MEAN TO ME! I... I'd rather die than be without yo-"
SLIP
Kaitana's grip fails her as Hildreck falls.
"NOOOO!"
"Thank you... For everything..."
Everything in life has its meaning. All you have to do is find it. If you don't love yourself then everything around you will mean nothing. All you have to do is wake up, get up and get out there and change things to the way you want to see them. This small, malnourished heart can transform into a beautiful world that you can live in. All you must do is give it meaning... and believe. Transform this nightmare into a beautiful fairy tale kingdom. And maybe then you can finally carry the burden of this world. And use all our pain as a spear to pierce the heavens. Then at last we can reach out to the lustful stars above us with the bonds that we share.
Multiple footsteps can be heard as they rush to latch onto Hildreck's arm and hand.
Hildreck's sister Luminaire grabs onto Hildreck. "Brother! Please... please don't die again... I'm up now...! So please... FUCKING HELP US PULL YOU UP! YOU'RE SUCH A LAZY ASSHOLE!"
Messiah's eyes widen in shock. "Luminaire?!"
Nana grabs onto Hildreck's arm and starts to pull. "I'M NOT LETTING YOU DIE HILDRECK! We... We still have so many things to do together...! So help us!"
Quinn grabs onto Hildreck's hand. "Listen Hildreck... I know I said some things. ARGHHH! But... Damnit! Words cannot explain how... sorry I am. I'm not letting you die till you forgive me!"
They all pull together as they succeed in saving Messiah. He sits on the ground once again and looks at the four who saved his life once again.
He wipes the tears from his eyes and smiles. "T- Thank you all... So much!"
They all embrace Hildreck as he breaks out into tears. After a few minutes, they head back to Port Carter to rest for some time.
-Exactly one week later-
Hildreck wakes up from his bed for the first time since the events of last week. He struggles to stabilize his legs as he puts on his white coat and walks out the door. In confusion, he follows his gut and makes a journey towards the lounge.
-at the lounge-
He peeks through the door to get a view of who's inside.
BAM
To Hildreck's surprise, Quinn goes flying through the door.
He scratches his head in pain. "God damnit Luminaire! STOP TAKING MY SHIT!"
Quinn pouts. "You... know I can't do shit to stop you..."
Luminaire laughs maniacally. "HAHAHA! You suck! Just get better at fighting." She says as she sticks her tongue out.
Quinn looks towards his left as he finally notices Messiah. "Wait... You're up?!"
Hildreck nods.
The duo walks into the lounge fully to see Kaitana watching Bugarally while eating popcorn with Nana drinking beer next to her.
Nana motions towards the door. "Oh shit! Look who's up."
Hildreck walks over to the couch and sits down along with Quinn and Luminaire.
"It's about damn time... We've been waiting for a whole week to discuss our next course of action!" Kaitana says with a mouth full of popcorn.
"Wait already...?" Hildreck questions.
Quinn pulls out a tablet displaying images of the world. "Yeah, due to last week's events half of the world is in shambles. Luckily, we weren't tasked with repairing the world. Fenrir HQ is already on it. We've been tasked with carrying out our peace plan."
He pushes up his glasses. "Given that Fenrir was artificially ma-"
Kaitana interrupts Quinn. "Basically it's the same plan from before! Just... Not with all the risk of destruction."
"Oh, Uhm... I see... What happened to Fenrir HQ?" Hildreck asks.
Luminaire inches closer to her brother. "It's been completely remade! Fenrir has backed off once again and they no longer have jurisdiction over ports."
Messiah scratches his head in slight confusion. "Oh... I think I get it."
"You alright Hildreck...? You seem a bit off... Oh! I know! Let's take a group picture! Ya know... to remember the good ol' times!" Nana says as she pulls out a camera.
Everyone's eyes widen in surprise.
Kaitana whispers to Luminaire. "You're supposed to act surprised... She doesn't have good ideas too oft-"
"JUST SHUT UP AND GET OVER HERE!" Nana yells.
Lionell pops through the door. "I wouldn't mind taking it."
They all gather around as the group of five try to fit themselves into the frame.
"Alright... now say cheese!"
"CHEESE!" They all say in unison.
-later this night in Kaitana's room.
She lies on her bed and smile. "I'm... Glad he woke up today."
Hildreck knocks on the door. "Can I come in?"
"Y-" Before she can answer he opens the door and sits down on her bed.
He looks her in the eye. "First off... I'd like to say thank you... For being there for me when I needed you. I... I still don't know how to love myself. Or... even trust others for that matter. But I'm glad I was given this opportunity to try again with a clean slate."
Kaitana smiles. "The important thing is that we still have this bond, right? Along with everyone else too... This bond we share is eternal... It's unbreakable. I won't leave you alone... Ever again."
She playfully punches Hildreck in the arm as they both giggle.
They gaze at each other once more.
"Kaitana Rose... Thank you... for everything." Hildreck says with a smile.
She smiles back. "Anytime Hildreck..."
The stars shine brightly in the night sky. Brightly... You know, stars are kind of like bonds. They sit there... Oh so far far away... shining so brightly. But no matter how far away they are...
They will always shine brightly just for you
And they will always be there
For you.