He marches forward through the darkness.
Pulsing with warmth.
His mouth a grim line of determination.
The darkness slowly begins to fade.
And a silhouette of tree branches forms a roof overhead.
Then...
The hum of voices.
The rustle of leaves.
He presses on.
…
…
…
Felix is silent as he leads a small band of men through the forest.
His dark brown hair hangs raggedly to just below his jawline.
A curved scar cuts across his cheekbone.
His is a face that has seen too much.
Twenty-six going on seventy.
"You know your places?" he whispers to the men behind him.
They nod.
"Remember, it is imperative that we take that gunpowder. Once we have that, we can threaten Tolbi into submission. If not by threats...then by starvation. If we secure this area, we'll be able to control all supplies in and out of the city."
They nod again.
And tread few more paces.
"We won't...use...the gunpowder, sir?"
Felix hesitates.
He shakes his head.
…
…
…
On and on they go.
Silent.
Weary.
They come to a fork in the path.
Felix makes a tiny gesture with his head.
The men scatter.
Hiding behind trees.
Or rocks.
Whatever they can find.
Felix is the last to take his place, flattening himself against a lichen-covered tree trunk.
He peers carefully over his shoulder, alert.
His hands grip the well-used hilt of Excalibur.
He controls his breathing.
Suddenly, there's a muffled curse from somewhere.
Felix mentally joins in.
He bites his tongue to avoid yelling out a reprimand.
But then screams ring out.
Harsh explosions crack the air.
And the forest begins to burn around Felix.
Men stumble around frantically, their heads half-melted off or unrecognizable with embedded clay shards.
More panicked shouts rush in.
Felix narrows his eyes.
"What the—?"
Arrows rain down from above in a sudden rush.
With a grunt, Felix dives to the ground and calls up a Psynergetic barrier.
The projectiles bounce harmlessly off the magical shield.
He jumps to his feet, unsheathes Excalibur, and sends a Gaia spell into the trees.
The foliage erupts in golden light.
Archers tumble to the ground, twitching and convulsing.
Felix hisses out a breath.
"Sir!" one of the soldiers calls. "We're being attacked!"
"I'm well aware of that!" Felix growls as he fends off another onslaught. "Someone...someone tipped them off. But who was it? Who?"
An arrow whizzes by the side of Felix's face from behind, almost leaving another scar to match his present one.
Felix whirls around and throws out his hand. "Rock Slide!"
A barrage of conjured boulders pelts the branches.
Men fall like shriveled fruit.
Somewhere in the distance, he hears the faint order of "Take out the sorcerer!"
There is a loud, resounding "Aye!"
But one response stands out from the others.
Felix snarls.
He knows that voice.
Two men approach Felix's back, weapons raised.
Felix slashes backwards.
Hands roll.
Mouths shriek.
The dirt is dyed red.
The soldiers trip, catching themselves on stubby wrists.
Felix lifts his bangs from his face and looks around.
Half of his men are already dead.
Half of the other half is mortally wounded.
The rest fight futilely.
"We need to retreat!" Felix calls. "We can't fight them off in this condition!"
Amidst the hail of arrows, the men nod a reply.
Felix turns around to flee.
But a familiar figure blocks his path.
Felix grits his teeth.
"Garet..."
Garet stands motionless.
His hands hang at his sides.
His back is stiff, his posture wary.
His eyes fix themselves on Felix's own.
Empty topaz sockets.
"Why, you bastard?" Felix demands. "How could you betray New Vale like this?"
"What is there left to betray?" Garet explodes. "The Tolbians raped what was left of our land! They ripped our wealth from us! They fucking stole my sister and sold her out as a goddamn prostitute!"
"And so you support those who have maimed you so horribly?"
Garet swallows painfully. "I...have no choice. My family is starving—you know that as well as anyone, Felix! Everyone in New Vale is suffering! I don't want to do this, but I need the money! What else is there left to do?"
"Anything but this!" Felix sneers. "What's happened to your rebellious spirit? You...you aren't the Garet I knew. What have you done with him?"
Garet's eyes fell.
"He d-died along with New Vale..."
The air heats up.
Felix sidesteps a surprise Fireball attack from Garet.
Behind him, he hears the remainder of his forces wheeze their last breaths.
He closes his eyes.
And the forest crackles to its certain doom.
"What do you fight for, Garet? The future of your family?" Felix gestures to the carnage around him. "Is this the future you want for them? Is this all they can look forward to? How can you fight for something so meager and pitiful?"
Garet bares his canines. "I can only give them the smallest of superficial comforts in this world..."
"Because you can't see past the surface! You won't see farther than that!"
"I can't go any farther!" Garet's fists tremble. "Why can't you see this, Felix? The Tolbians have won! They've taken control of the northern half of Gondowan and central Angara and they're advancing into the western part of this continent! Nothing can stop them!"
"Even if that were so, why are you so reluctant to die trying?"
"I already told you—my family needs me!" Garet glares. "I still have people that need me...unlike you!"
Felix's brown eyes flash golden.
The earth shakes and heaves up around them.
"You struck low, Jerra," Felix hisses, fingers curling. "You're a ghost of your former self."
Garet bites his lip. "W-we're all ghosts, Felix..."
He descends from a tree branch.
Light and airy.
And yet...heavy like a stale breath.
His toes touch the red-soaked ground.
The chains settle around him.
He sees Felix.
...he does a double-take.
The two stare at each other.
Still.
The land writhes around them.
A semi-laugh escapes Felix's throat.
"Well...you have your purpose," he says. "And I have mine."
He holds out Excalibur.
"At the least, we can fulfill those purposes to the best of our abilities. And maybe...one of us will be free today."
Garet nods ever imperceptibly.
Knowing.
Understanding.
He holds out a searing red palm. "Flare Storm!"
Felix hits the dirt as the blaze sails over him.
The edge of his cloak is singed.
He tears it off and continues the fight.
But he doesn't notice the blackened tree branch plummeting towards his figure.
It lands with a sickening smash on his back.
He lets out a yell of pain and falls to the ground, stunned and disoriented.
But he recovers and heaves the branch off of himself.
He summons the pure power of Venus in a swirl of energy.
The force of the attack sends Garet flying back into a tree trunk.
He grimaces.
Felix charges him with Excalibur.
Garet rolls to the side and onto the dirt.
Excalibur digs into the wood.
Felix yanks it out and raises it above his head.
Garet's heel shoots upwards.
Right into Felix's gut.
Felix gags.
And stumbles back.
Excalibur falls.
He grabs his side.
Red...
Red flows.
An old wound made anew.
He wheezes and sets his jaw.
There is the barest tinge of sadness in his gaze.
But he quickly snuffs it out.
He takes a chain in his fingers.
A cacophony of death rings forth.
He flings the chain out.
It screams into Felix's body and disappears.
Felix shakes.
Felix kneels on the ground.
Breathing heavily.
Pouring forth red...
A copper gaze settles on his figure.
"Get up, Felix," Garet says. "You know we're not done yet."
Felix obliges.
He limps up.
He raises his hands.
Jagged rocks emerge from the ground.
He pushes his arms forward.
"Rock Spire!"
The terrestrial bullets slice through the smoke.
Garet flees one.
Dodges another.
The third penetrates Garet's hand.
A nail through the palm.
He screams.
Red explodes and splatters.
Felix's form shimmers. "Summon Cybele!"
Vines sprout from beneath Garet, tossing him every which way as they reach for the sun.
They drop him to seven feet below.
Garet lies in a twisted heap, groaning.
Felix takes a step.
And another.
The tips of his boots almost meet Garet's nose.
He extends a hand.
He watches.
Garet stares at it.
It beckons without moving.
Tentatively...he reaches for it.
Their fingers wind around each other.
For a moment...they remember the spark of companionship.
A shared meal.
A round of good-natured jibes aimed at each other.
A sparring session.
A shoulder to lean on during an arduous part of an old journey.
All of it contained and recalled in a single touch.
And then...
Garet shines scarlet.
His fire Psynergy rushes from his body into Felix's.
And Felix's blood boils.
Literally.
Virtual lava rushes through his veins.
Burning.
Consuming.
Roasting.
His knees cave in.
His forehead sweats into the soil.
He screams.
"AAAAAGH!"
He can't see.
The veins have already exploded behind his eyes.
His breath stops voluntarily.
His lungs can't expand anymore.
The membranes are fried.
Tearing.
Cracking.
His tears do not relieve the blisters.
He is practically frozen by the heat.
Garet pulls out the Fire Brand.
He inhales.
Exhales.
For a moment...he falters.
His bloody grip on the Fire Brand shudders with uncertainty.
"Do it..." Felix begs hoarsely. "Oh, sweet Venus, do it now..."
Garet doesn't look.
The young man twitches.
The Fire Brand cleaves the infernal miasma and hits its mark.
A pause.
A thin line of quickly congealing blood forms around Felix's neck.
His head detaches itself.
It rolls onto the decaying forest floor.
Features forever warped into agony.
Garet stares wordlessly at it for a moment.
He turns his back and gazes up at the sky.
He's barely aware of the hellstorm around him.
The Fire Brand falls.
Garet swivels around.
"RRRAAAAAAGHHH!"
He grinds his knuckles into the bark of a tree.
Leans against it...
And grits his teeth.
A few water drops fall from the clouds.
More join the descent.
Then aquatic sheets blanket the new graveyard.
And the fire smolders away.
The forest melts into hot, dusty ground.
The young man sits on the warm, rocky floor above his grave.
The sulfurous fumes leak out to embrace him.
They dissolve into the sweat and slime.
In front of him...
Another young man stands up, naked.
Glistening with ooze.
Dripping.
Dripping...
He studies the stark landscape before him.
The sky casts a bloody glow on his dark hair.
He gulps.
His eyebrows scrunch up.
He exhales through his teeth.
Then he sees who is behind him.
"...heh." He tucks a sopping strand behind his ear. "Somehow I'm not surprised."
"It takes a lot to surprise you," his companion answers.
The image of Garet fades into the horizon.
Felix reaches out...but he's already gone.
He shakes his head and closes his eyes.
"We both did...what we had to do..." he mutters.
"I am here to kill you."
Felix blinks.
"Alex?"
"I am here to kill you, Felix."
"...is that so?"
Silence.
His umber eyes slide downward.
He wipes sweat from his moist face.
"Maybe Garet's right..." he mumbles. "I...I don't have people who need me. Not anymore."
Another pause.
"Mom was...raped and murdered during the first wave of assaults from the Tolbians. Dad died in a trap as he chased down those bastards. And Jenna..."
Felix swallows.
"It's probably best...that she's in the state that she's in. Hidden away from this horrible world, knowing only her innocent, pure spectrums of light. She's suffered enough...she deserves release."
He turns to a merciless sun.
"We've all fallen apart. Oh, Gods, we've all fallen." A frustrated tear mixes in with the slime on his skin. "Is this...the famed power of Alchemy? That which we unleashed? What we fought so hard to unleash?"
He sighs.
The young man looks on, pursing his lips.
"But we have made our decision," Felix continues, resignation crossing his features. "We cannot turn back. Even now..."
He gazes behind him.
"You made your decision. You, too, must stick to it."
"...must I?"
It was a challenge rather than a plea.
"Is there anything else we can do at this point but see things through to the end?" Felix responds.
The young man looks at Felix.
Felix holds his steady gaze.
The young man bows his head.
He slowly rises, blue hair sliding over his wet skin.
And he approaches.
The wind howls, humid and stale.
"You know, I've always found this rather...honorable, as odd as that may sound...about you..."
The young man stops.
Felix smiles a bit, though his eyes are grim. "For all the time that you traveled with us, you never once killed a single person. Injured, yes, but never killed. And yet, I know you could have. Very easily. You had the power. You had the motive. Why didn't you?"
Silence.
Then...
"They were dead even before they were born."
A dry laugh from Felix.
"I see...I suppose that's good an answer as any, especially from you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Felix shakes his head.
"Do what you came here for, Alex. I cannot feel anymore...yet I know something still burns painfully inside me."
Frozen eyes melt ever so slightly.
The young man reaches out.
His fingertips touch the other's shoulder.
And...
Felix turns to stone.
Dark, glassy obsidian.
There is no protest.
Only acceptance into eternal, dreamless sleep.
The young man lingers nearby, wondering.
He starts to reach out again.
The chains pull him away.
He lurches forward at the same time.
A new pair of ancient manacles squeezes his neck and wrists.
Chains long rusted with blood.
He stares blankly at them.
He glances at Felix's statue before him.
Then back to his added chains.
A moment of reflection...
...and he falls backwards into black.
Spinning and flailing his way through the abyss.
