Chapter 269
CHAPTER 269
UNITED
Ashes, dirt, splattered pieces of rocks and uprooted trees made up the disfigured landscape which once was a valley stretch in-between two mountains . From full of life, now it seemed desolate, empty, silent, void of it entirely . At the epicenter of the destruction, where a ma.s.sive crater stretched for over five miles altogether, Lino stood, his shoulders sunken .
He stared at the nothingness beneath his feet with a dulled gaze, his soul seemingly ripped out of this realm . Occasional whizz of the wind would bellow his hair and cloak, yet he remained immovable like a statue, forever frozen in the time .
It was only hours later that some focus reached his gaze as he lifted his head up and looked at the shrouded sky . His face was dirtied, jetted in mud, lips dried and bursting . The clasp that used to hold up his hair together had vanished at one point, leaving his long, black hair to freely straddle down his slumped back .
He found little joy or relief in killing Eos, or even "killing" Aurora -- as the Writs were part of the natural order, it was almost impossible to kill them, so Lino settled on the next best thing -- practically "resetting" their state of being and forcing them to grow anew . From what Ataxia told him, it would take at least a whole century before Aurora could even be pa.s.sed onto the next Bearer of Light .
None of that, however, came even close to being considered "reparation"; not even looking down at the whole world and declaring the war brought him much joy, as it would on any other day . All he felt was . . . empty . It was an all-too-familiar state of mind, all-too-familiar sense of self .
He"d come to stare blankly at the sky for hours, through the night and the dimmed dawn . No one approached him, no one called out to him, no one tried to ask him anything . Many-an-eye stared at him from the distance with concern, yet none of the mouths made a sound .
Eventually, however, he knew he"d have to move -- he"d have to turn around and face the reality . Standing still there and staring at the sky didn"t freeze the time; it still flowed like a rapid stream . Unlike the past, the present was ever-changing; the former would always be there to look back onto, but the latter had to be grabbed lest it disappears before his eyes .
Sighing faintly, he turned around at last and walked away . He didn"t tidy himself up, didn"t tie his hair or clear his face, didn"t even bother was.h.i.+ng the dried blood from his tattered clothes . It was just outside the range of destruction that he"d met a familiar face -- he faintly glanced up and met Hannah"s eyes .
" . . . you okay?" he asked briefly and emotionlessly .
" . . . yeah . " Hannah replied .
"Where is she?"
"At your place . "
" . . . " he began walking slowly, pausing for a moment as he pa.s.sed her and whispering in a low tone, "I"m sorry . . . " before trudging toward the city .
Hannah turned around and watch his back fade into the distance, barely managing to hold back the tears . Once again, the burden fell onto him and there was nigh-nothing she could do past feeling guilt over feeling a tinge of anger toward him and what he did . Yet, she could not blame him audibly; she was more than certain that he simply saw no other choice but the one he took .
Ella and Eggor sat on top of the flying s.h.i.+p, looking down at the walking Lino . The latter still had quite a pale complexion, his eyes denoting even a faint trace of terror as they focused on the youth"s figure .
" . . . I have to go back home," Ella said in a serious tone . "And you -- you can"t let him out of your sight . "
" . . . that"s a tall order, right there . " Eggor grumbled but didn"t reject it . "They probably won"t let you leave once they figure out you"re pregnant, though . "
"I"d love to see them try and stop me," she replied emptily . "Especially when I"m going to save their a.s.ses . "
" . . . you won"t talk to him?" he asked .
" . . . there"s nothing to say," she said, getting up . "He"s no longer the kid we met, Eggor . He won"t break, at the very least . "
" . . . " Eggor said nothing, merely glancing down at Lino who stopped in front of a rather simple-looking, two-story building and remained standing nearly ten minutes before entering . Ella, on the other hand, appeared next to Hannah, startling her .
"You need to go back home . " she said .
"Huh?" Hannah exclaimed softly .
"He"s declared war on the world, Hannah," Ella said, glancing at her . "Go and see your loved ones and try to convince them . Take this," she then handed her a shoddy-looking talisman . "In case anyone tries anything funny, just activate it and you"ll be teleported next to me . By now, the leaders of the Grounds must have declared the hunt on him as a priority . The entire world will be swarmed by high-end cultivators, and I don"t think he has an inclination of playing it nicely with them . Just . . . do your best . "
" . . . will he be okay?" Hannah asked just before Ella left .
" . . . why not just ask him?" Ella glanced at her and smiled faintly . "He can take more than you can dish out . Trust me . It seems time has come for you to make a decision . Perhaps a bit earlier than you otherwise would, but, well, the world rarely waits for the perfect timing . "
" . . . " Hannah didn"t say anything, knowing full well already what Ella was talking about . "It"s hardly a decision," she chuckled, putting the talisman away and looking up . "I"ve lost him once . . . and once was enough . "
" . . . then you know what you have to do . " Ella smiled before disappearing .
Without pausing, Hannah suddenly disappeared and reappeared inside a dimly-lit room with only a bed and a bedside table decorating it . Lucky was lying on the bed, covered with a thin blanket, her expression terrible, while Lino sat in the corner, his head lowered . It was only when Hannah appeared that he looked up .
"What are you doing here?" he asked, seeming slightly surprised .
"Like I can trust you to handle a hysterical woman," she chuckled, walking up and sitting down next to him . "No offense, of course . "
" . . . it"s true," Lino chuckled faintly . "Sa.s.sy la.s.s? Flirty one? Dangerously maniacal one? I"ve got those covered . A hysterical one, however . . . eh, I"m not confident . "
"And for good reason," she added . "But, not to worry, I happen to be an expert in handling hysterical women . "
"So, what"s the secret?" Lino asked .
"You just feed them a lot of booze," Hannah replied with a shrug . "A lot of booze . "
" . . . well f.u.c.k, I could have figured that one out too . "
"But you didn"t . "
"A fair point . " Lino nodded as the silence fell between the two . "Are you angry?" he asked after a while .
" . . . a little bit . " she replied .
" . . . did I do the right thing?" he asked lowly . "Or just f.u.c.k everything up beyond repair?"
"I wouldn"t know whether you did right or wrong," she said, wrapping her arm gently around his neck and pulling him into her chest . "But I do know that you p.i.s.sed off a lot people . Probably more than you can even imagine . "
" . . . isn"t that just par for the course with me, though?" he said .
"Ha ha ha, yeah, I suppose it is . But, at the very least, you made a great show out of it . You both p.i.s.sed them off and scared them s.h.i.+tless at the same time . I don"t think many people can pull that off . "
" . . . I"m tired Hannah," he sighed lowly . "I know I keep saying that s.h.i.+t a lot . . . but, I think, for the first time in my life . . . I truly, truly mean it . "
" . . . I know . . . "
"I haven"t thanked you . " he said suddenly .
"Thanked me?"
"Yeah, for showing up when you did . " he continued . "And saving that girl . "
" . . . you wouldn"t have killed her even if I didn"t show up . " Hannah said .
"I would . Without a shred of remorse . " he said . "Just so I can "get even" . "
" . . . "
"I"d have killed a completely innocent girl," he continued . "For the stupidest reason imaginable . All the while I believed I was entirely immune to the world"s corruption, that no matter what I wouldn"t turn into one of those murderous maniacs who exterminate entire towns for the simplest of slights . That, no matter how bad things got, I would never involve innocents into whatever s.h.i.+tstorm I"m involved in . "
" . . . "
"Clearly, though, I"ve overestimated my ability to resist," he added with a sigh, pulling himself out of her arms and leaning back onto the wall . "When you grabbed my arm, back then, I"d realized: I"d already lost . I can b.i.t.c.h and whine about how the world handles s.h.i.+t for however long I want, but what of it if I"m no different?"
" . . . so what?" she asked after a few moments of silence, causing him to meet her gaze once again . "In the end, you didn"t . And, just like this time, if in the future you once again feel yourself slipping away, I"ll be there to pull you back . . . because I know you"ll also be there to pull me back . As they say, united we stand, divided we fall . "
" . . . they"ve probably figured out that you"re in bed with me, now," Lino said, taking a deep breath . "Well, most-likely they"ve yet to figure out you literally are, but they know you"re with me, so you pretty much have no choice . "
"Oh, that"s just terrible . " Hannah stifled her laughter . "Now I"m stuck with you no matter what! What will become of my life?!"
"Well, you know, a little bit of dancing," he said, smiling faintly . "A little bit of dining, little bit of fighting, little bit of s.e.x . So, you know, the standard affair . "
"So there"s gonna be dancing?! I can"t wait!"
"You"ll have to teach me first, though . " he said . "And then we can dance to your heart"s content . "
"And we will," she said, smiling . "So you better don"t skip leg days from now on . "
"I"ll try my hardest, m"lady . "