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Estella took repeated breaths, her chest rising and falling erratically as she struggled to maintain her composure. Her eyes shimmered with tears, betraying the front she tried so desperately to hold. Aries noticed—of course, he did.
Even while keeping an eye on Cato and Clover, who were still gathering themselves after the skirmish, he picked up on her barely contained sorrow. Without wasting another second, he grabbed Estella by the arm and tugged her away from them, confusion etched across her face as he pulled her further into the trees.
"Go! Go! I'll take care of them!" Aries shouted, just as Cato lunged toward them. Without hesitation, Aries intercepted the attack, letting the full weight of his body slam Cato to the ground with a grunt. He threw a hard punch into Cato's side, earning a pained groan as the boy's ribs cracked beneath his knuckles. With another forceful push, Aries shoved Estella deeper into the forest. "Go see her! You haven't said your goodbyes!"
It finally sank in—what he meant. The realization struck her like a bolt of lightning. She froze for a moment, torn between staying with Aries or running to mourn Rue.
Behind her, Aries caught sight of Clover's knife spinning through the air. He snatched it mid-flight, the blade slicing through his palm, but he didn't flinch. Instead, he hurled it back with perfect precision, pinning Clover's clothes to a tree. "N-No. I—I c-can't—" Estella stammered, her voice caught in her throat. Aries spun back and drove his fist into Cato's nose, hoping the impact would buy him a few more seconds.
Then he turned and rushed back to Estella, grabbing her by the shoulders—gentle this time, almost tender. "Listen to me. I'll find you. I'll never leave you. I promise—and you know I never break my promises. Go."
Her red-rimmed eyes locked onto his, and she gave a shaky nod. "Promise?" she whispered.
Aries offered a smirk, a flicker of his usual playfulness in that chaotic moment. "Promise," he said, and with one last push, she ran. This time she didn't hesitate—her legs carried her faster than ever before. "Tell her my goodbye too!" he yelled after her.
Aries remained still, his gaze fixed on Estella, watching her retreating form until she was no more than a minuscule speck against the vast landscape. Only then did he pivot, but not a moment too soon. A glint of silver flashed in his peripheral vision, and he instinctively recoiled as a knife hurtled toward him with deadly accuracy. It narrowly avoided his eye, missing its mark by a mere fraction of an inch, yet the near miss was far from harmless.
The blade sliced a deep, agonizing gash across his eyeball.
A searing pain erupted, spreading through his head and body with the ferocity of a raging inferno. The intensity of the agony forced him to buckle, collapsing to one knee. His hand flew to his face, fingers clamping down on the wound, attempting to stem the flow of blood that now streamed between his fingers. "FUCK!" he bellowed, the curse ripped from his throat, a primal scream of pure, unadulterated pain and fury.
