Chapter Thirty-Five: Burden to Bear

"You...You cannot be serious."

"You wanted the truth, Tomas. This is it."

Tomas was speechless. Of all the things he had expected Pyros to say...well, he was not sure what he had been expecting. But Smoke had not thought that an actual demon was living in his body and trying to take his soul. If that was the case, then did this mean that he was possessed? Every action he did, every word he had spoken...had it all in some way been influenced by Enenra?

"If what you are saying is true, then...what does that make me? I mean with this...demon...I am nothing more than its puppet."

"No. Do not think like that, my boy."

"How can I not? You saw how easily that thing overpowered me. If you had not appeared..."

"Is everything alright back there, dear?"

Elder Gods, why? Tomas peeked around the bookshelf and saw the old lady heading his way. He quickly backed away and looked at Pyros.

"Please do not disappear on me again."

"I was not planning on leaving you. And by the way, I do not just "disappear.""

With a snap of his fingers, Pyros telported himself and Tomas out of the library just before the elderly woman turned the corner of the bookshelf. She stopped before the shelf with the books about mythology, where she had left Smoke, and readjusted her glasses.

"That's funny. I could've sworn I heard the young man's voice over here. Where did he go off to?"

The woman had heard some murmurs coming form the back and assumed that it was the "student" talking to himself. But, she also thought she heard another voice besides the young man's.

"Ha, ha. I really am getting old, aren't I?"

As the old lady went back to her desk, Tomas and Pyros reappeared in a different, yet familiar location. A pleasant breeze passed by as the two men stood on the roof of Johnny's apartment building. Pyros took a few steps forward and stood beside Smoke.

"I tried to tell you that you were not ready for the truth. But I knew deep down that would not wait. You have waited long enough. Twenty years is a long time, especially when you lived in that hellhole of a temple."

"I..."

"Yes?"

"I...I am not sure how I should feel about this information."

"Well, how do you feel now?"

Tomas ran his hands through his hair and leaned against the railing at the edge of the roof.

"Even more confused than when this whole journey began. A little relieved too."

"Relieved?"

"Because now I know why these strange things have been happening to me. And that demon is also the one responsible for my powers, right?"

Pyros nodded.

"But I also feel...feel..."

"Go on."

Smoke shook his head.

"Forget it. It is nothing."

Pyros did not believe Tomas' statement and the way the silver-haired man gripped railing, as though his life depended on its stability, really did not convince the telepath otherwise. As he looked closer, Pyros could see that Smoke was trembling slightly and his eyes never left the ground. He could not even look the telepath in the eye. Pyros sighed and pried Tomas' hand from the bar, and was a bit surprised when he saw that the man had almost completely crushed the railing. Smoke had not realized how much pressure he had placed upon it until he too saw the damage he caused. But they both quickly ignored it.

"I have told you plenty of times before. You can trust me. If there is something that you need to get off your chest, do not keep it in. Tell me."

Not wanting to break anything else, Tomas folded his arms and kept his hands close to his body. He then lifted his head up to face Pyros. What the telepath saw in the other's eyes was not what he wanted to see. The sight of tears forming in Smoke's eyes made Pyros' very soul hurt. He reached his hand up to touch Tomas' face with a look of disbelief.

"My boy..."

But Smoke quickly batted the hand away and tried to turn around. Pyros, however, grabbed his shoulders and forced him to stay still.

"Stop. Please, Tomas. I do not know what exactly is going through your mind right now, but..."

"I said it's nothing."

"And I think we both know that it a lie. You bury your feelings and keep them away from people who care about your well-being. Why do you not tell them when there is something troubling you? When you are hurting?"

"Please don't..."

"Don't what? Desperately try to pry the answer from you? I do not "want" to force you to say anything, but the more you bottle up your feelings, the worse it will be for you. As well as the ones you love."

A moment of silence passed between the two. After some time, Smoke unfurled his arms and let them drop to his sides. And then something not even Pyros had expected happened. Tomas took a few steps forward until he and Pyros were a mere inch apart and stopped. And dropped his head on the telepath's chest.

At first, Pyros was not sure exactly what to do, but he hesitantly wrapped his arms around Smoke in an awkward hug and held the man tight. Sort of like what a father would do with his son when something had upset them.

"Hydro used to tell me that if I ever needed a hug, that I could always go to him. I used to think that was stupid."

Tomas laughed, but the tears he had been trying to hold back ran down his face like rivers. He did not attempt to wipe them away.

"You are right. About me hiding my feelings from others."

"But why do you?"

"...I do not know. I suppose that when I was a Lin Kuei, I did not want to seem weak. Like I was not capable of dealing with things on my own. No one should have to be unhappy because I am unhappy. We already lived a cruel life and I did not want to make it worse."

Hearing Tomas' words, Pyros had become upset. He was not mad with Smoke, of course, but the fact that it seemed that the silver-haired man thought of himself as a burden to those around him. He understood that emotions were looked down upon by the Lin Kuei and it had been better for Tomas and his friends to keep their feelings buried. But even after leaving the temple, after living in Earthrealm and befriending Raiden and his champions, Smoke still would not truly open up to anyone. Not even Kuai, and Pyros suspected that the cryomancer knew that his best friend was keeping secrets from him. It was not right.

"Tomas, you cannot handle everything on your own. Sometimes, you have to go to your friends for help. That is why I am always telling you that you can come to me for anything. No one thinks that you are a burden."

"I do not think Enenra would agree."

"No."

Pyros finally pulled Smoke off of him so they were face to face.

"That demon is the burden. One that I wish you never had to bear."

"And there is nothing I can do about it."

"Not now, no. But that does not mean you have to fight this battle on your own. Kuai, Cyrax, even Johnny will be there for you when you need them. Do not let Enenra win. You cannot."

Tomas nodded and Pyros patted him on the back a few times before letting him go. Seeing the tear stains on Pyros' shirt, he quickly wiped his eyes and the remaining tears on his face. He felt a little embarrassed about his breakdown, but Smoke also felt better, like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. To think that he would break in the presence of Pyros, a man he had only known for less than a week, yet it felt like Tomas had known him much longer than that. How could it not when Pyros has practically been living in Smoke's head?

"So...now what?"

"What do you mean "now what"? You were crying and allowing me to hug you less than a minute ago, and now you believe you are ready for anything?"

Tomas laughed again, but it was a genuine laugh. He did not think that Pyros was going to let this go so easily.

"I amnot a child. I just...had a moment, alright? You have to admit, this is a lot to take in in such a short amount of time."

"Yes, for a child. And compared to me, Tomas, you are indeed a child."

"How old are you exactly?"

"Do not try to change the subject, young man."

Wow, Pyros really sounded like a father. Much like Hydro had when he was around. It was incredible how much the two were alike. Smoke put his hand in his pockets.

"But really, what now? As you clarified before, my soul is in danger. And as I said before, Enenra was easily able to overpower me. How can I possibly defeat something that strong?"

Tomas did have a point. As much as he hated it, Pyros knew they had very limited time. That thought brought something else to mind.

"Tomas, do you know why Enenra has not attempted to leave your body yet?"

Smoke shook his head.

"You see, Enenras need suitable hosts in order to survive here, as well as other realms besides the Netherrealm. The host that Enenras prefer are those with pure hearts."

"Pure hearts? You mean...like children?"

"Yes. Like children."

That explains that memory Tomas saw of himself as a boy and his hair was changing from black to silver. That must have happened right after Enenra possessed him. But what about the men in the red cloaks? Did they also play a part in his bondage with the demon? And...

"Why me? There must have been plenty of other children out there that Enenra could have gotten to. Not that I wish that had happened, but it is somewhat strange that I was the one Enenra chose."

"What if I told you that there were children who the Enenra tried to possess before, but they did not survive?"

"...How many?"

"There were a few, but..."

"How. Many?"

The change in Tomas' turn made Pyros regret what he had said. He could tell he had unintentionally made the silver-haired man angry. But he could not lie. That would really upset Smoke.

"...Eighteen. Eighteen children had died before Enenra found you."

Eighteen. Eighteen children were now dead because of one bastard demon. How many more will have to die before Enenra was satisfied? Thousands? Millions? The thought made Tomas absolutely livid and for a split second, the man thought about killing himself if it would mean getting rid of this monster. This cruel and sinister being that Smoke was forced to share his body with.

"...Zasranej bastard."

"I know. But there was nothing you could have done. No one even knew of Enenra's existence until recently."

"But I thought you said there had been other Enenras out there."

"Yes. I thought they had gone extinct, but when I discovered that one had survived all these years, I..."

Pyros put his hand over his mouth and turned away from Tomas. Smoke tried to look around the telepath to see his face.

"Pyros?"

The telepath waved his other hand and shook his head.

"Just the thought of this demon killing innocent children and hurting you makes me sick. None of you deserved to suffer because of such a monster."

Pyros turned back around and dropped the hand from his mouth and placed it on his hip.

"Tomas, let us not think of this now."

"But, what about...?"

"I know, I know. But you already have enough on your mind. Negative emotions, like sadness and anger, they fuel Enenra. It makes your mind weak and more susceptible to the demon's influence."

Tomas was about to protest, but thought about what Pyros had said and it did make sense. If he lets his guard down, even for a moment, that could give Enenra the opportunity to take control. Smoke had to do everything in his power to keep the demon from taking over. With that in mind, the silver-haired man nodded.

"Alright. Can we discuss this later?"

"Whenever you are ready to talk, I will be there. I promise."

As the telepath was about to walk away, Pyros suddenly stopped.

"My boy, could you...could you turn around?"

Tomas frowned.

"Turn arou...why!?"

"Just for about three seconds. Please."

Rolling his eyes, Smoke did as the telepath asked and counted to three. Once he did, the man turned around and saw that Pyros had disappeared. Tomas could not help but facepalm himself.

"So dramatic."