Emotions

66. Death

Will appeared there in the starry sky, hair disheveled, face pale. Although no more flames were visible on his person, they were there inside of him, eating away at the last bits of life force he had left.

He suddenly felt very calm. He was no longer thinking about Sophie , Aurora, or the countless living beings of the Earth. Nor was he thinking about his defeat. Instead... he was looking at a certain location on the Earth.

Will, is it worth it...?

I'm your brother!!

I beg you, Will. I beg you....

He heard Sam's words from years ago, back in the moment that he had attempted to destroy the city.

"Was it?" he murmured to himself. "Was it worth it...?"

All of a sudden, he felt a twinge of pain on the back of his hand, and looked down to see a drop of liquid there. It was a tear, and at the moment, he had no idea how it got there.

But as soon as it had touched his searing flesh, it caused pain to wash through him.

And then, as he looked, his hand faded away into ash. Then his arm. And the effects continued to spread....

"I wasn't always like this, was I...?" he thought. He closed his eyes, bitter and confused.

Gradually, his head turned to ash along with the rest of his body. As it did, his memories vanished, as did those final words that his brother had spoken to him.