He gasps, his breaths coming in shallow, broken stutters, and the tears flow freely down his face as he grips the debris trapping his mother.
"I-I... it's... all my fault," he chokes out, the words tumbling from him in a desperate, trembling rush. His voice cracks, barely able to form coherent sentences through the sobs. "If- if anyone had listened, if you had listened, mom... none of this... none of this would've happened!"
Calista's heart aches at the sight of her son breaking down before her. She knows he's overwhelmed, and though fear grips her, she forces herself to stay calm.
"Yukio, it's... it's okay. You're just... scared, it's not your fault, I'm-" she tries to soothe him, but her words falter. She can see how lost he is, how consumed by guilt.But Yukio doesn't seem to hear her. His voice rises with the storm of emotions inside him, his hands shaking violently as they cling to the rubble.
"No! No! It is my fault! I-I tried to tell you, to tell everyone about the visions, b-but no one- no one believed me!"His breathing grows more ragged, and he stumbles over his words as he continues, "I thought... maybe the king would understand. I went to him, I tried, I told him everything!"
His eyes, wild and full of torment, lock onto his mother's, but it's as though he's speaking more to himself now than to her.Calista blinks, her mind racing to keep up with what Yukio is saying. Visions? What does he mean? She remembers something, faintly, but it was never like this. She watches, helpless, as her son breaks apart right in front of her.
"I tried-tried to warn them. I went to the king. I begged him to listen about the visions-the dreams-I wasn't lying! I didn't know what was happening to me. I wasn't trying to blaspheme, I just... I just needed help! But they kicked me out-they didn't believe me! They thought I was making it up, that I wanted something... but I didn't! I didn't want this! I just wanted someone to help me!"
"They... they said I was blaspheming!" Yukio's voice cracks, and he presses his hands to his head, trying to steady himself. "I wasn't- I wasn't trying to! I just... I just needed help. I couldn't take it anymore, mom. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't think... my mind was going insane! They threw me out, they said I was lying, that I was trying to become some kind of prophet!"
His mother gasps softly as the realization begins to dawn on her. The visions... the nightmares... but how could it have led to this?
Yukio continued, his words tumbling out as his breathing grew more erratic. "I ran to the woods, hoping... hoping someone could help! But all I found were monsters, talking about destroying villages, about their superiority. They chased me back, and now... now look where we are!" He paused, his face twisted in agony as he remembered his fallen loved ones.
Calista's eyes widen. The full weight of what her son is saying crashes into her. The attack, the invasion, the destruction... they followed him? "No, Yukio," she breathes, shaking her head in disbelief. "It can't be. You didn't mean for this to happen. You couldn't have known-"
"It's my fault!" he cried, louder this time, his voice cracking under the weight of his grief."Rome's dead because of me!" he sobs, his voice breaking as the images flood back into his mind.
His best friend's lifeless body falling from the rooftop, the blood splattering across the snow. "He was like my brother, and I- I couldn't save him! Uncle Kaito... his workshop- it's crushed. He's crushed! He's gone!" The words come out in stuttering bursts, the anguish so thick in his throat he can barely breathe.

YOU ARE READING
Avatar of the Frozen Behemoth: Volume 1
FantasyIn Volume 1 of Avatar of the Frozen Behemoth, we follow 15-year-old Yukio, a boy living a simple life in Spadia, a city blanketed by ice and steeped in tradition. His days are filled with the everyday joys of being with his family and friends, as he...