Soulbreak - A MCYT 3rd/Last/Double Life FanFiction

Chapter 31 - Blue-Haired Reunion

Tilly had wanted to celebrate, but Pearl couldn't even smile. She had played over Martyn's death a thousand times, and every time it became more and more warped. Did she love him? But he was dead... he had been a red... Martyn was gone, it didn't matter. But he loved her...

Nothing made sense, Pearl was disassociating from reality. Only Tilly could help, and even Tilly was nervous. Tilly licked Pearl's hand for the thousandth time, her ears pricked.

"I'm okay, I promise I'll be okay," Pearl assured the little wolf, staring at the moon. "I'll be just fine as long as I have you. Tilly death do us part," Pearl smiled, stroking the wolf's head. 

Then Tilly cried, and blood spattered over Pearl's hand. Everything happened in a second. Pearl whipped around just in time to see Tilly hit the floor, and the world flipped upside-down as Pearl dropped to her knees. Tilly whimpered, her breathing labored. An arrow was lodged in her leg, but Tilly hauled herself to her feet.

The air crackled with tension as the assailants—Cleo, Ren, and the others—emerged from the shadows.

The clash of metal against metal echoed through the night, the moonlit clearing transforming into a battlefield. Tilly moved with fierce loyalty, defending her owner with unwavering determination. Each swipe of her claws and snap of her jaws sent the assailants reeling, but they pressed on, relentless in their pursuit.

"No, Tilly! You're hurt! GET BACK!" Pearl screamed in agonized horror.

Cleo, a cunning adversary, targeted Tilly with a malevolent intent. With a swift motion, she lunged at the loyal dog, her blade aimed for a fatal strike. Tilly, sensing the impending danger, intercepted the attack with a fearless defiance.

The moonlit clearing became a chaotic symphony of clashing blades and feral growls. Tilly fought valiantly, her fur stained with the blood of adversaries, her loyalty unwavering in the face of imminent danger. Cleo, Ren, and the others launched themselves at Pearl.

Pearl was completely driven by the desire to save her dog. No matter what she cried, Tilly was apparently intent on suicide and so Pearl fought harder than she'd ever fought. Pearl's axe cut through Ren's leg, taking the entire limb off and leaving the man to bleed out on the forest floor.

Pearl dodged a stab from Tango, returned the blow, and cut through the large man's abdomen. Tilly's wail immediately drew Pearl's attention. Amid the chaos, Tilly's eyes locked with Pearl's, a silent communication that transcended words. Tilly, aware of the looming sacrifice, fought not only for her survival but for the woman she had sworn to protect.

There was nothing Pearl could do to stop what happened next.

A moment of vulnerability opened up, and Cleo seized the opportunity. With a malevolent grin, she aimed a fatal blow at Pearl while she was distracted with her wolf's wellbeing. The loyal dog, sensing the imminent danger, threw herself in front of Pearl, taking the brunt of the attack. The blade struck true, a painful howl escaping Tilly as she crumpled to the ground.

Tilly breathed her last.

Pearl screamed, and Cleo died. The zombie crumpled to the ground clutching her neck as blood gurgled from the brutal axe wound before vanishing. Pearl fell to the ground next to Tilly, holding the dog close. Her entire body shook with sobs.

"T-Tilly death do us part." Pearl mourned, hardly able to form the words.

Tango glanced down at the woman, hesitating.

"Kill me." Pearl looked up at the man. "Please,"

Tango's face flashed with something that looked like pity. Then he, too, crumpled to the ground, an arrow sticking out of his heart.

Pearl didn't even turn to identify whoever had killed him. "Shoot me, too." Pearl's voice broke. "Whoever you are, just end this."

"Pearl, I'm not going to end you." A blue-haired man wrapped his arms around Pearl's broken form, and Pearl continued to sob.

. . .

Scott woke up holding the blood-soaked brunette, unsure what to do. The morning light cascaded into the hallow through the trees. In the new light, Scott could see what had transpired in his absence. Tango, Ren, a wolf, and BigB. All corpses. The two men bore matching axe gashes.

Scott was both impressed and terrified.

The blue-haired man took a good look at Pearl. Knotted, blood-matted hair. Bloody lips, bloody cheeks, just a lot of blood everywhere, really. Scott brushed the hair out of her gaunt little face. Pearl looked so young, so innocent. And yet her hands still gripped the axe that slayed countless of their own friends.

It's funny the heinous acts hope can drive someone to do. In this case, hope for life.

The last time Scott had seen the group alive Cleo had been with them. That meant she had run of somewhere or she had respawned and was now a red. That's one less problem to deal with. It was common knowledge now that something had happened to sever Martyn and Cleo's bond. Mojang was surely furious, and to be frank, Scott was too. Things would be a lot simpler if Cleo ceased to exist. Though he did have to hand it to her - beating Mojang at their own code was a game only Cleo could play and live. Scott blocked the memory of he and Cleo's fallout from his head. It hadn't been pretty.

You still love that little stalker freak!"

Scott grimaced. He didn't love Pearl, he couldn't love her. She was his little sister, his - Scott shuddered as he remembered his and Pearl's last interaction. How he had treated her. He knew he had been a terrible person, he knew what he had done. He knew Pearl, and he knew better than to think she would forgive him.

Pearl might forgive, on her own time when she chose to. But Pearl never forgot.

Scott tried to remember what had led him to do it. Why he had pushed her away. Perhaps it was to stop himself from being hurt when she inevitably died. He had long ago accepted that he and Pearl's destinies didn't line up. Scott had thought she'd had to die, and he would be left.

But now, as he looked at her broken body, Scott knew she had to live. What had she said - "Tilly death do us part"? Scott sighed... yes, Pearl had to live. 

And he had to die.