edelweiss - &team

44

After Gaku's passing, Euijoo took the only exit out of the dungeon, which was the doorway that Gaku had entered from.

Having been in solitude for what felt like eons, the throbbing loneliness in Euijoo was about to stifle him to death. He collected his snake but due to the dimness of the corridors, Euijoo also re-summoned his tiger to pace with him under the low dirt ceilings, the pulsating energy giving out a gentle warm light. The fight with Gaku drained him too, so he chose to make his way out slowly and gingerly.

As he hobbled out, the dirt merged with wood until he was climbing up entirely wooden stairs, creaking with age. When he emerged, he found himself in a flat, wide span of space. There were stone walls all around him, as expected, he noted some were partially destroyed but Euijoo reckoned they'd be re-erected by Kyungmin sooner or later.

If not for a few hints, Euijoo wouldn't have been able to figure out that he was at what was previously the temple grounds. Some ancient metal scraps were strewn around, marked with faded symbols, glinting weakly. Shredded cloth previously dyed vibrant colours lay in piles. Stone and wood chunks littered the ground, promising to be hazardous in time to come.

He had been kept underground for some time now, the sky inky black. He absently wondered if he had been left abandoned in the labyrinth but shook the useless thought off. His tiger, more sentient than usual, nudged him in the side with its head comfortingly, sensing Euijoo on the edge of despair.

But soon, he had another thing to worry about. A white light filled his peripheral vision, so he turned to take a look.

And the colour drained from Euijoo's face as he beheld the figure before him. A lovely young woman with rippling hair and skin that glowed slowly walked to him, the long, white dress she wore speckled with dirt and stains. Grief washed over Euijoo's face, the glow of his tiger flickering lightly as it backed away.

Life stood there silently, arms spreading out as though ready to receive a hug.

Euijoo felt the sword in his hands grow heavier, the metal weapon sinking to the ground.

Even after all the centuries, her likeness was still committed to his memory, and seeing her in the flesh felt like a stab straight to his gut. He released his hold on his sword, letting it fall away but his tiger pounced before him, snarling noiselessly at Life.

"You're not going to hurt me, are you, Euijoo?" The woman pleaded in a genuinely frightened voice.

The tiger faltered, turning to look at Euijoo, who was still frozen. As he dragged his hand over his face, covering his eyes, he suddenly let out a dry, exasperated laugh that was slightly closer to a sob.

"Why? Is this not torturous enough? Why must you use her image to sway me?" Euijoo asked as his voice broke, devastated.

"Hah," The woman rolled her shoulders back casually, taking a delicate step forward as her features transformed, continuing on in a deeper, harsher voice, "Well, this was a fun sight to witness. All these centuries and you are still so loyal to her. Even those cutesy little flowers remain. Should I cut one of your wrists off and see what happens?"

"Do you do this to everyone or just me?" Euijoo asked, ignoring Death's question while trying to sound confident and unbothered, "Am I the only one to be graced by not just my counter's but your presence?"

Death's signature smile was cruel as he replied, "Well, surely it's been enough centuries for you to know, I despise your mere existence."

"Doesn't take a genius to know that. But you know what I figured out after all these years? It's embarrassing that it took so long but..." Euijoo trailed off, his body sagging with exhaustion, before he straightened, "The edelweiss flower stands for devotion."

Euijoo was aware of his weakened physical state but he couldn't have anticipated the sheer force that met his own strike, sending him flying across the plain. He hit the ground hard, head ringing and back stabbed with the debris on the ground, as expected. As agony riddled his body, he lay there unmoving, paralysed in pain and dull shock. It hurt too much to try to get up, but if he didn't, he wouldn't be alive in a few minutes. His neck felt like chunk of metal, so instead he stared right up at the sky.

Up in the night sky, hung a full moon. The moon was beautiful tonight, perfectly round and striking in contrast with the dark sky.

Perhaps it would be alright to die under this beautiful moon.

Euijoo could sense Death nearing, his long shadow falling across his face, but couldn't gather the strength to pull himself up in time until-

Spikes of energy soared out, peppering at Death and landing in a tight semi-circle right at Death's feet, forcing the taller immortal back. Both Euijoo and Death jerked their heads up, searching for the hidden attacker. The corner of Death's lips turned up in a wicked grin when he discovered the other person, actually releasing a boisterous laugh of amusement as he said, "My, my. Kyungmin failed to inform me of this little critter."

Before Death could raise his hands, intending to drag out the mystery person by force, a slender figure darted out from behind the temple's wreckage, trembling slightly but eyes burning with anger.

"Riki," Euijoo breathed, too worn to yell the other's name but overwhelmed with emotion. Riki looked a little worse for wear, he was limping a little and he looked filthy, but it appears he had enough energy to attempt to protect Euijoo just a little more.

Taking the precious few seconds Riki had bought for him, Euijoo forced his weary body to move, propping himself up on his shaky arms. Riki fought as madly as he could, countless energy spikes extending from his back, even if they couldn't deal any damage to Death, at least they would shield Euijoo for just a bit longer.

"So Hikaru is dead, I see," Death barked a laughter over the cacophony of the fight, "Shame. I had thought he would perform better."

Once Euijoo had enough energy that he could move without his vision filled with stars, he channelled everything he had left into his tiger, which had been defending him from any stray attacks but now sprinted towards Death. With a simple wave of his hand, Death dissipated the energy tiger before it could plunge its fangs into him.

And now it truly seemed that this was the end, but at the very least, Euijoo wanted to choose how he went down.