𝐌𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐓

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐖𝐎

꧁꧂

     The war was hard.

    But the cleanup after was even more excruciating. Jannali was speaking the truth when telling both Adrian and (Y/N) that the people they were currently fighting were slaves and that the true Chalarian guard was scattered throughout both the palace and the twelve villages that surrounded it. Many died—men, women, and even children were all slaughtered in their homes just because their deaths were wanted.

    Just because they were a means to an end.

    (Y/N) could feel her ears ringing and her breathing slow as time itself seemed to have stood still, watching flaming houses crumble, children screaming for the dead parents or vice versa, and then the cruel laughter from the guards that weren't hunted down yet. After having locked Jannali and her slaves up in a holding cell, overseen by a beaten and bloodied Basile along with a couple others, Adrian directed his forces toward the villages. He wanted (Y/N) to go with him, so she complied, but never expected to see such horrors.

    "This... how is this possible?" She whispered, sinking to her knees.

    This was my home...

    Those people were my neighbors...

    And now they're gone as if their lives were... nothing—meaningless.

    Leaning down beside her, a heavy hand placed on her shoulder, Adrian closed his eyes and nuzzled her head with his own in a sign of comfort. He knew he couldn't say anything to relieve her of the pain, so he chose to just be there with her. But he couldn't help but feel relieved. Seeing this, he realized she wouldn't have anything to come back to.

    She'll stay in the palace with me... forever. Not that she had any choice to begin with.

    "(Y/N)..." he murmured softly, pulling away and gazing at her tear-stained cheeks. "I'm going now. Please be safe, love."

    (Y/N) could hear him exhaling heavily as he stood up, his footfalls light before fading away completely. After a moment where the silence became too much for her to bear, she too picked herself up and walked the familiar route to the place she had been going to since she was a teenager. Her heart shriveled when seeing the state it was in: a collapsed in roof, burnt walls, and the weapons that were forged so delicately and carefully inside now reduced to nothing as they lay scattered among the cobble stone.

    No...

    She shook her head repeatedly as the charcoal and dirt crunched underneath her boots.

    No...

    He can't have died...

    He's too strong and too stubborn for that...

    Pushing open the swinging door, its hinges clearly broken, she found that the inside was faring just as badly as it was in the outside, the only difference being a body lying in the center of it all. She cried in horror as she rushing forward, scraping her knees when kneeling beside Banco, her old boss, her fingers shaking as she wondered what to do. A new onslaught of tears could be felt the longer she stared at him. The man in front of her was like a father figure to her since she didn't know her own, and was the one that helped her during times when she was struggling the most.

    She couldn't stand seeing him like that.

    She couldn't lose another parent.

    "Banco..." she whimpered, falling onto his chest and burying her face in his shirt to hide her cries, the familiar scent of metal and fire wafting from the cloth. "Please don't go..."

     Her head snapped up in surprise when Banco's large hand brushed through her hair, her gaze flickering down to see that he had opened his eyes and was now gazing at her warmly. He didn't say anything at first, only listening as she sobbed how sorry she was for leaving him and how much she had missed him. More so, she was begging him not to succumb to death since she still needed him.

    "Oh, (M/N)..." Banco coughed, patting her hand a couple of times, his dark skin slicked with sweat and blood. "You don't have to be sorry. I can see that you've grown... better than what you'd have experienced here if you had stayed."

    "I-If I had stayed... I could have protected you," she sniffled, wiping her eyes of tears.

    "Or you would have been killed... as well," he coughed violently, speckles of blood flying from his throat. "I don't regret trying to defend my life's work. I only regret not being able to save it for you."

    "What... do you mean?"

    "I was working on a sword for you whenever you decided to come back..." he smiled, clutching his side when a sharp pang ripped through him, the action making her eyes wander to a prominent stab wound. "They ruined it though. So I apologize since I have nothing to welcome your return with."

    "No... it's okay," she said, holding his hands. "You just... you gotta stay with me, okay? S-Someone will be here to help you... I'm sure of it."

    "I've made my peace," he sighed, closing his eyes. "It's time... you did the same."

    "No! Banco, you need—" she started before his hand went limp in her own, her words falling short as her lips trembled.

    She unsteadily leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his forehead, pushing herself up and unsteadily walking out of the shop, finding that there was just too many tragedies and deaths to keep up with as she passed multiple streets and businesses. Finally, she came to a stop at the training yard she thought was her whole life. Collapsing against one of the posts, she looked out at the muddy field in a daze, wondering what Carmellia had done to deserve such disasters to befall it. It seemed like hours she had sat there, but in reality was only a few minutes when someone spotted her.

    "Sir!" A voice called, lively and feminine. "Are you okay? Sir?"

    Looking up, (Y/N) found herself staring into the most vivid green eyes that she had ever seen, even more so that Jannali's, being reminded of the forest when gazing into the bright color.

    "Scarlet!?" Another voice called.

    "Over here!" She answered, fretting over (Y/N) and her appearance as she used a cloth to wipe her face. "I found someone!"

    Someone ran towards them.

    "(M/N)?" A different voice spoke, this one being so eerily familiar. "Is that you?"

    (Y/N) glanced up.

    "...Leo?"

꧁꧂