When everything is ripped away from you...
When you are nothing more than an impotent figure, invisible in the eyes of those around you...
What does that make you?
— '' Serin? ''
Her voice came out as a mere whisper, low and defeated, a sound so low that it made you wonder if your vocal cords were actually working, but her voice was only quickly drowned out by the sound of an arrow passing through the body of her one and only... best friend.
That arrow was headed your way, it should have killed you, but in the end the result is that no matter how much you want to deny it, it is not you who is seriously injured, but your best friend, so selfless that she always comes to your rescue to protect you simply because you are so weak.
— '' Serin! ''
Your friend disables herself and trips over her own legs, almost falling to the ground, but luckily you act quickly and catch her in your arms, laying her carefully on the ground. You place your hands on her wound, trying to stop the bleeding caused by that damn arrow.
— "Shit, it's a lot of blood. Don't worry, okay? You'll be fine, Serin! We're going to fix this, we just need to - ''
Your words are interrupted by the warm touch of Serin's hand, she strokes your cheek gently as a way of comforting you and you don't mind at all that her hands are smeared with blood.
— "It's all right. We did our best, Auren...''
— '' No, don't say that! You did your best! I was just... useless, as usual...''
If before you thought you weren't crying, now you are. You feel so useless and powerless, your best friend is about to die in your arms and it seems there's nothing you can do to change that. If only you were a little stronger.
— '' Auren... if I had more time, I would say that I... ''
She begins to choke, coughing up blood, unable to finish her sentence. The hand that had been gently caressing her cheek before was now cold as ice and lying next to her body.
— ''No! No, no, no, Serin! Please wake up! You can't do this, you can't - ''
Die.
You know it's useless, you know that shouting and begging her to wake up is completely pointless, but even so, what can a weak person do? Weak people like you can do nothing but beg and cry out to stronger people for help, and you hate that fact. Wow, you really hate being weak. What's the point of doing your best if you can't even protect the people who are most important to you? You hate feeling so powerless.
And with that in mind, you just hug your best friend's corpse one last time, not caring that the world around you is on fire. You just focus on apologizing, even though you know she's not listening to you anymore. Not a word from you, you hope she'll forgive you for not being strong enough.
— '' Serin?... ''
You hear a faint whisper coming from behind you and, before you can turn around, you are abruptly thrown to the ground, away from Serin's corpse. The person squeezes your neck tightly, strangling you, and when you look directly at your attacker, you see none other than Kael.
Trying to get away from him proves to be extremely futile, he lifts you off the ground and holds you tightly by the neck, choking you and preventing air from getting to your lungs and your chance of escape. You use all your breath to whisper his name as a way of making him come to his senses.
— ''K-kael, what's gotten into you? ''
— ''Shut up! You killed her, if only you weren't a dead weight, she wouldn't have died because of you! ''
His words hurt more than a thousand stakes in your heart and the worst part is knowing that what he's saying is the naked truth.
— ''Kael...''
— ''I told you to shut up! You should have died in her place! ''
And with that, he practically hammers the last nail into your heart. You can see his angry gaze mirroring yours. You know he didn't mean it, you believe he didn't.
It's a bit ironic if you stop to think about it, the person who once saved you, cared about you and was your first and only love... unrequited, would now end your life with his own hands even though he knew your love for him would never have a chance of being reciprocated, it still hurt to hear all those cruel words coming out of his mouth.
Maybe you deserve that kind of death.
When his hands around your neck begin to squeeze much harder than before, your vision begins to darken and, just as you start to see stars, Kael abruptly lets go of your neck.
— "I can't! ''
Kael shouts as you cough, catching your breath and sucking all the lost air back into your lungs, but your gaze never leaves him.
—'I can't! I'm sorry... '' — Kael repeats the same word, he looks upset, I don't know if it's because of his actions or the weight of almost having taken someone's life. He frantically runs his hands through his head, messing up his blond hair, and continues to apologize.
— ''Kael, is everything all right...? You don't have to- '' — You walk with slow, careful steps towards him, but even before you blink, Kael suddenly falls to the ground and a puddle of dark red fluid forms around him.
Because a black sword has just passed through his chest.
— "No, no, not you too... '' — You whisper, trying to understand what happened, where did you go wrong? Kael was by your side a minute ago and now he's lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood and with eyes that once had life, now so empty and dead. But someone important to you is going to die in front of you because of you, again?!
You grit your teeth and look with pure disdain at the traitor, the initiator of all this chaos and Kael's murderer, he acts with a cold countenance, stomping on Kael's body and withdrawing his black blade as if it were nothing, as if taking someone's life were a mere insignificant job to be done.
Acting out of pure rage, you grab him by the jacket and, before he can react, push him to the ground, hitting him hard in the face and chest.
— ''Why the fuck did you do that! We were allies!''
You scream, hoping for answers, a reason, anything! Even though you know that nothing could justify his actions, you at least want to know if all this bloodshed was really necessary, if the sacrifice of your friends served any meaningful purpose and that they didn't die for nothing. But you still just want answers and no matter what reason he gives, you've already made up your mind that you'll never forgive him for what he's done!
You strike him weakly across his broad chest in an attempt to demonstrate the anguish you are feeling at that moment, but your fist locks as you hear his empty laughter echoing across the empty battlefield, making your blood run cold. All your senses are telling you to run, but you can't or simply don't want to.
— ''You know... you've always been a nuisance''
He declares coldly, getting tired of your pathetic display, so he easily pulls out his fists and changes your positions, he grabs you by the neck with one hand and lifts you up, leaving your feet far from the ground, strangling you.
— ''If my beloved Serin hadn't cared so much about you, I would have gotten rid of a worthless worm like you a long time ago'' — He speaks without showing any mercy or empathy for you or your life. He picks up his black sword, raises it and points it straight at your heart. You don't feel like fighting anymore, why would you?
You've lost your best friend, the love of your life, your mentality and sanity, what do you have left?
You've even lost what you didn't have.
— ''Now die, knowing that your mere existence was as insignificant as that of an insect or the dirt beneath my feet''
He plunges the black sword through your chest without even letting you say your last words, you begin to see your vision darken and you know that this is how you will die.
Maybe you really do deserve to die like this, at least you can say you had no regrets...
Who are you kidding? Your life has been written in regret, you certainly don't want to die... at least not that way.
You don't want to die a weakling!
If only there were a chance, even the smallest possible one among so many variables, you'd like to be able to go back and do things differently.
But in the end, the gods always win.
◆:*:◇:*:◆
— ''... How dramatic''
The god of time declares with a frown, placing his hand on his chin as he looks at the 'spectacle'. Not in the mood to celebrate or sympathize with the joy of the other gods who were celebrating the hero's death and his glorious victory over the humans, not that some of them had doubted this outcome, no, never, but how could the God of Time do that? That wasn't the ending he wanted or expected. He might not admit it, but he was certainly disappointed.
Among so many gods, he was one of those who didn't want humanity to disappear, at least... not like that.
Unless...
It was then that the god of time noticed a heavy, persistent gaze on him, as if someone knew exactly what he was thinking and was reading his every thought like a book. And he knows that there is only one 'being' who would have the courage to cast such a threatening glance at him and the only one who would dare to impede his future plans.
— "Overseer.'' — The God of Time declares, using the title given to 'him' by the humans, although now used with a venomous tone — "Are you going to stop me?''
The overseer, his countenance unconcerned, speaks, standing shoulder to shoulder with the god of time.
— ''Are you by any chance aware of the consequences that your power can cause when used so recklessly? Please tell me I'm right. ''
The god of time sneers, but then they turn to face the burning earth below them. Or what was once the earth, once its beautiful crystal blue oceans were now dry and its beautiful green vegetation was dead, with only craters and magma left, and the only living color left on that planet that was once called blue and full of life was painted only one color... blood red.
But... what if you weren't in the game?
The gods always win, that's a fact, and they won fair and square, but has anyone in this game ever played fair?
His heroine deserved better than that, after all, didn't she?
Ignoring the look of judgment and disappointment on the face of the supervisor who had done nothing to stop him, the god of time smiled a little and uttered the blessed word that would change everything, but little did he know that it could bring a much crueler end to humanity and that perhaps it would even? hit the gods.
— '' Again, where it all began... ''
I think even gods can be fools.