Life And Death Decision

"Funeral? They"re..." She trembled, her fury bubbling and close to boiling over. "They"re dead!" She ran at us while throwing a punch towards our scaly brawler. He brought his arm up to guard, widening his stance so that he could withstand her blow; it was just how she wanted. She followed the momentum of her punch, getting low on the floor and slipping past Baz"s feet. "Help! Stranger danger! Kidnappers!" She yelled into the empty town, running down the street toward the Church"s cemetery.

"Quick, after her!" Tyme yelled, sprinting down the road after her. Baz and I were close behind her, unable to catch up. "Get back here!" Our archer yelled, reaching out her hand as the kid vaulted up a tree and over the wall to get into the graveyard. "What...she just did that!" Stunned a bit by the kid"s display, she stood there until we caught up with her. The three of us entered the building and found her on the gra.s.s while looking at us with fisticuffs poised for battle.

"Stay away from me!" She screamed at us, taking steps backward cautiously. "There"s no way they"re dead! I don"t believe you-ooaahh!" She stumbled a bit, tripping over a gravestone.

"Would you calm down and tell us what"s going on? Why are you acting like this?" Baz tried to calm her down, but I stopped him. She turned around to see what she tripped over, reading the names on the grave and lowering her arms.

"No..." She gripped onto the rock, trying to shake it to see if it was fake. "Mom, dad..." I walked over, placing my hand on the top of the stone, using some magic to fix it.

"I"m sorry," I said, trying to ease her stress. I extended my hand out to her, but she slapped it away.

"Get away from me! Murderer!" With tears in her eyes, she clenched her fist and threw a punch at my face. One after another, she unleashed her rage on me by pummelling me with her knuckles. "You killed them! You killed my family! You even killed Rose!"

"Mary, please stop. These people tried to save us." A familiar light lit up the area, a gentle cyan tint now shone off of my armor. Hovering beside the grave, a spectral copy of the girl that was beating me to a pulp smiled at us. "Hi, guys." She waved her hand toward the others, who just watched in stunned silence.

"Rose! Rose!" Mary turned around, attempting to hug the ghost but pa.s.sing through her form. "What happened to you?"

"I died, Mary. We all did. I"m sorry I..." The ghost knelt down, wiping the tears away with some magic. "But believe me. These people, they"re good people." Mary continued to weep, her tears soaking the ground where her sister"s body rests. "Sage, everyone, please take care of her. So, Mary, you"re on your own from now on..."

"No..."

"What?" Rose recoiled at her sister"s stubbornness.

"No...I...I"ll go around the world until I can find a way to give you a new body!" She tried to grasp her sister"s hands, but she couldn"t touch the incorporeal. "I promise to get you back! So please watch over me!"

"She sure has a one-track mind..." Tyme muttered, having recovered from the shock.

"That"s my sister for you, she"s stubborn to a fault." I saw Rose sigh disappointedly at Mary, though the smirk on her face meant that she was at least partially happy. "Well, I know I can"t convince you to change your mind. Tyme, Sage, Baz; take care of my her..."

"No! I"m doing this alone!" Mary crossed her arms, stomping off into the church before a tangle of vines snagged her ankle.

"No, you"re not! It"s dangerous!"

"Then come with me!"

"Should we interrupt them?" Baz asked me as we watched the two siblings bicker for the better part of five minutes. Mary kept insisting on taking Rose with her, telling her to try and possess her body again so that they could be together. Rose, still unsure and wary of the dangers that sharing a body entailed, tried in vain to change her twin"s mind. "So, exactly how do you plan on traveling the world?" Having grown tired of being a spectator, our draconic warrior stepped in and asked one of the many important questions.

"Ah! I"ll become an adventurer! I can fight- Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" Mary felt Rose"s disapproval physically, having her leg caught in the plants" vines.

"No! It"s too dangerous!"

"Then why not be a merchant, like your dad?" I suggested, walking away. I gave them a second glance, finding that both of them seemed to like the idea. "Let"s talk about this in your home, a cemetery isn"t exactly the best place to have a conversation." I reached out my hand, healing whatever minor injuries Mary sustained from Rose"s spell.

We returned to their home, Rose reluctantly entering her sister"s body, to begin the talk of these kids" futures. Mary said that she"d stop at nothing to get her sister back, but how is an eight-year-old kid going to do that? I suggested the life of a merchant or a trader, but they currently had no wares, no money, and no way to travel. And, considering the way their family died, it might not be that safe, to begin with. I was stumped. "I know you can do it." Thalis whispered into my ear. I could feel her with us, watching over the twins. It seemed like she"s had a change of heart. "I"ll take care of them."

It was then that an idea came to me. "How about...I stay behind with them?" But somebody beat me to the punch.

"Baz, are you serious?" Tyme tilted her head at him, but our fighter just smiled back at her. "Do you really want to leave?"

"It"s not like I want to leave, but..." He let out a long puff of smoke. "These kids need someone to protect them, right? Who better than one of us?" The dragon leaned back in his seat, looking at the kid with two souls. "And you two work better together than with me, so you two should stick together."
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"Baz, come on man. What"ll we do if you aren"t around? You do as much work like the rest of us. I"m sure we can think of something..."

"Tyme, stop." I finally spoke up. "Good luck, Baz. Take care of them. And Mary, if I find a way to bring her back, I"ll come running to wherever you guys are." I gave them a big smile, slinging my arm over Tyme. "Oh, right. You guys can take the cart, just let us get some of our stuff out of it first."

"You"re giving us the cart?" Mary"s eyes changed from green to blue, so I guessed that it was Rose speaking.

"Of course we are. After all, how are you guys going to go around the world if you"re stuck here?" I got up, heading for the door. "I hope we meet again. Let"s go, Tyme."

"O-Okay. Right." She looked up at me in bewilderment, following me out the door as the two of us headed to the cart as the sun began setting. "Are you sure about this? It"ll just be the two of us from now on, or until we find someone else that wants to join us."

"Yeah. I am. After all, I made that promise, right? I"m going to see that through to the end." We reached the cart, rummaging through our things and taking what we need for the next chapter in our adventure. "And, I think having some time for the two of us might make that easier for me." I gave her the brightest smile I had, noticing some red come to her cheeks. I left my bag of gold in the cart for them, giving a little boost to start off.

"I...think I"d like that...thanks, Sage." The two of us slung our bags over our shoulders, making our way to the exit of the village when Tyme stopped me. "Wait...if we"re giving them the cart, are we going to keep the horses?" I nodded, heading for the stables to get one of our horses.

"Hop on." I rode up to her, extending my hand to get her to ride the animal with me. She just looked at me for a few seconds, blinded by the light of the setting sun behind me. Though, the sunlight doesn"t explain why her cheeks were so rosy. She got on, her arms wrapping around my waist as we left town.

"Are those two a thing. What was your name again...Baz?"

"I don"t know, Mary. But those two have been acting a bit differently recently. Maybe something"s there, maybe something"s not."

"I think she likes him. Tyme can"t hide her feelings well when you talk to her one on one."

"Rose, you sure are perceptive."

That chapter of our lives came to a close, as the distance between us grew with every pa.s.sing hour. Without Baz, I had to stay on the front lines more often, but I didn"t mind. So long as Tyme was safe to do her thing behind me. The two of us toughed it out, though we did join up with other adventurers from time to time for some of the more dangerous quests.

Wiltop and Thalis kept talking to me in my dreams, though much less frequently now that the trouble with the twins was behind us. I may not know what happens in the realm of the G.o.ds, but they say they find enjoyment in the small moments they share with me. They even contemplated introducing the other G.o.ds to me. Does it get lonely in the land of the divine? Maybe I"ll find out, one day.

As for the twins and Baz, we didn"t run into them for a long time, seven years if I was counting right. I did hear rumors of a special caravan that sold some of the best equipment in the world, even rivaling those from smiths on other continents. Weapons forged with dragon"s flames, scrolls of spells that shifted the ground, and some special acrobatics training sessions on rare occasions. It was them, I was sure of it, but our paths never crossed until that day.

"h.e.l.lo? Is anyone here?" I asked, knocking on the door of a cart that was outfitted to turn into a wagon.

"Yeah? I"ll be right there! What can I do for you, si...r." A teen pulled open the door, olive-green hair tied into a ponytail and emerald green eyes that stared at me curiously. Wearing a green wool tunic and brown leather pants, she stood there stunned. "Sage!"

"Mary? Is that you? You"ve grown up so much!" I legitimately couldn"t recognize her, so I was at a loss for words. I heard shuffling from inside of the wagon, seeing a familiar dragon"s head pop out with a wide smirk. "Baz, how you been buddy?"

"We"ve been good. Things were tough at first, but we"re making a living. Anyway, what"re you here for? Want a new shield? Maybe some scrolls?"

"Actually, I"m about to retire from all of this adventuring stuff. So I was looking for...a ring..." I scratched the back of my head, blushing slightly. "You see...Tyme and I..."

"Will this work then?" Before I could finish speaking, footsteps came from behind the wagon that got closer to me. Cyan hair and piercing blue eyes, wearing a navy dress with a staff strapped to her back. She looked just like Mary. "h.e.l.lo." Rose greeted me with a smile, before running up to me and pulling me into a tight hug. She broke the hug, showing me what she brought out: a gold ring with a dual-colored gem as its main attraction. It was beautiful. This entire scene was beautiful, except for one undeniable fact.

"You didn"t tell me you got her a new body! I feel betrayed." I joked. After a while, I called Tyme over with a spell, having her arrive in five minutes; I told the others not to spill the beans. We had a lot to catch up on, so we spent the night eating together while sharing our stories. They offered to let us join them as some extra hands during their travels, which we happily accepted; it would be nice to be together again.

I sometimes wonder what would"ve happened had I pushed through with my original plan of cleansing Rose out of this world, but I know for certain that my choice that night was the right one.