Cross Worlds

Chapter 19-1: "The Following Day" (Side- Reality)

A lot of time passes before Riku Reality, Gina, and Haruto move from the places they stand. Riku's first act of movement is to toss the three murderers as far away as he can, into the forests beyond the city. "If they wake up and survive, good for them, and if they don't and some monsters kill them off for me...so be it." Those are his merciless thoughts as he throws them as hard as he can into the woods, and they fly quite the distance before their bodies flop onto the ground. They still do not wake however, though thankfully for them, there weren't any monsters nearby at the moment.

After that, Riku goes back to watching over Gina and Haruto, waiting for the two to finish their long, sorrowful goodbye. The sun falls from the sky and the moon rises in its stead. Gina and Haruto cry until they can cry no more, and by the time they do move, it's because Riku raises their sleeping forms away from the corpses of their parents. Just as Riku thinks to contact Artemis to help him through his watch, he hears her voice just a few feet away. "Riku..." Her tone is sad, almost silent.

"Oh, Artemis, you're here." Riku turns to her with a smile on his face. "Thank goodness. Do you think you can hold Gina and Haruto? I...need to bury them." He looks back to the bodies once more, and his smile fades.

Without a word, Artemis takes Gina and Haruto from Riku's arms as gently as she can. Riku tries to lift both of their bodies, but the feeling in his limbs is practically non-existent with the amount of injuries he has sustained. "Come on... I know it hurts, but I have to give them a proper burial. Come onnnn..!" He groans as he tries to lift their bodies.

As if responding to his wishes, his magic reacts, gently wrapping around the two bodies and dissolving them into energy particles, just as it had done to Aina's attack before. Riku's eyes go wide with both shock and sadness for a moment, but he simply turns his head away and bites his lips. "How...helpful." He chuckles nervously.

Artemis frowns as she watches the display, following Riku as he walks up to one of the plateaus that surrounds the city; the one that hangs just over where the slums used to be. Using his power, Riku fires two beams into the ground, and the dirt he shoots turns into magic energy. Two perfect, six foot deep rectangles have been formed under his feet.

Riku holds out his hand, calling upon his magic once more, and it slowly reforms the bodies of Reina and Makou. Artemis watches, quite shocked at what she sees, but she's smart enough to know that this isn't the time to ask about Riku's magic. He gently lowers the two bodies into the ground, not saying a word until he mentally prepares himself to cover them with the dirt he's just stored up as well.

"I know it wasn't for very long but...thank you both. Thank you for all the fun times, the excellent home cooked meals, the room I slept in..." He takes a shaky breath, clenching his fists. "Thank you for being the family I never had..." And with that, he summons back just enough dirt to perfectly cover their bodies and fill up the graves.

Artemis walks over slowly, leaning on him a bit since her arms are full, but she wants him to know that she is there for him. "Don't hold your pain inside Riku... I know you're trying to keep a brave face, but you'll only end up destroying yourself from the inside out..."

He's silent for a couple of seconds before responding. "I'll cry when I'm finished here. There's still more people...I need to bury..." He stares down at the slums, the multiple bodies and wreckage from the heroes' attack all left exactly where it all was. The statement that was given by the king was that it would all be cleaned up tomorrow during the early hours of the day, including all of the dead bodies.

The disrespect being shown to the dead made both Riku and Artemis feel sick to their stomachs, and boil with rage. Though, Artemis' concern for Riku was greater at the moment. "All that work...even with your magic, that will take you hours. You're not in any condition to-"