Bastian - Chapter 140 - The Only Beautiful Thing - WoopRead
8-11 Minutes
✧The Only Beautiful Thing✧
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Franz didn't know when the knife had been taken from him, but when he realised it was no longer in his hand, it was already too late. He was sprawled out on his back, Bastian leaning over him with the knife in his hand. It had happened in the blink of an eye.
Franz let out a hysterical laugh, even as the pain in his back burned. He knew he wouldn't be able to beat Bastian, but if he could take him by surprise then maybe. It had not worked, clearly.
"How the true nature of the lowly beast come forth," Franz said, trying to provoke Bastian as he lay facing the night sky. Even after the stabbing, he didn't budge an inch.
He realized he couldn't ever defeat this monstrous foe when Odette' shot shattered the car's window. That Franz Klauswitz's life had ended, a reality he had long accepted. He would forever dwell in his half-brother's shadow, perhaps even since the day he was born and couldn't become another Bastian Klauswitz.
"Do you want to know why I was contented to just watch you?" Bastian said, "you were nothing more than an accessory for your mother. There was no reason to treat you as your own agent, but now you bare your teeth to me, out of greed that has nothing to do with your mother. This is a different story." Bastian stared down at Franz.
Franz swallowed dryly. Bastian had never taken him seriously, not even for a second. But now he was taking him seriously and the horror of the realisation washed over him and fear gripped his heart.
He was sick and tired of living a life that felt more like a never ending death sentence, always living in another persons shadow, always expected to achieve and out do his counter part. He was done with it, he wanted to die and didn't care that Bastian would be the executioner.
Somehow, he was no longer afraid of Bastian. While he might not be able to reach where he was in the end, he had the power to bring him down to his own level on the ground. It was the first time in his life that Franz felt like his equal.
"Do you really love her?" Franz said as he giggled, out of breath and clapping his hands. "Do you have some longing for terrible traitors that don't love you back? That's what your dog did, right?
Franz recalled Bastian's hidden care for a stray dog. One day, while fleeing from a riding lesson he despised, he found a large, wolf-like wild dog in the forest and he saw his half-brother, Bastian, feeding the animal.
Once it had finished its meal, the dog sauntered over to the base of the tree where Bastian sat who was looking up at the sky.
Franz couldn't tear his gaze away from that peaceful scene.
