Heroes

The Epilogue

We'd taken over the country, and brought peace. The LR unit tried to take it back, but we stopped them.
And now, I was gonna relax!
Two weeks had passed. The country was recovering from the war with the LR unit, but now we were ready to get back to business as usual.
Reggie shouted to me when I was walking by his house.
"Alright lad! Tonight, me, you and Aria, we're going to a bar!"
"Really old timer? Think you can handle that?"
"I'll be handling your neck in a second, lad!" He grinned. Reggie was a bit of a prick, but could also be a complete legend.

I was wearing my tux. Rivio had laughed at me a while ago for wearing this damn thing. Aria and Reggie met me at the bar.
"What the fuck are you wearing?" Reggie guffawed.
"Jun....you look.....different." Aria giggles.
"Fuck you guys. This shows class, something Reggie could learn about."
The bar was busy, and we instantly ordered a round of drinks. Strong ones. A drinking competition? Yep.
I passed out second, with a loud Reggie screaming. "YEAH! I'M THE BEST!"

I woke up. In a pool of my blood. What?
I'd been shot twice. One in my shoulder, and one in my stomach. Who? And how? Ah fuck!
A masked figure grabbed me.
"Yes. That's Jun."

I awoke in a large room, with black walls. I recognised this place. This was the room where Rivio died. When the grenade went off. Shit!
Aria and Reggie were dragged into the room by a masked figure. All of our hands were tied.
And of course, the masked figure was Rivio.
"Rivio! Why won't you just stay dead?" I shouted, tears rolling down my face.
"I remember everything now. You two were my best of friends, and Reggie was my uncle. That was who I once was."
"How are you alive?" Aria cried. Reggie was unconscious.
"The grenade knocked me back. I lost the rest of my arm. Because of you!" He drew a knife and pointed it at me.
"Jun, Aria, Reggie. I am not Rivio. Rivio is dead. The Rivio you knew died a long time ago. He was weak, and I am strong. People like me deserve to run the country. Strong people."
He walked over to Reggie, who had just woken.
"Any last words, old man?"
"Go.....fuck....yourself."
Rivio slammed the knife into Reggie's chest. Reggie coughed blood, and fell to the floor, writhing in pain. Me and Aria screamed his name.
"Aria, what about you?"
"Please......please don't......"
He was about to stab her, but she head butted him. The knife dropped, and I lunged for it. My hands were tied, but I cut them free with the blade of the knife. I gripped it in my hand.
"Stop this! Jun, put the fucking knife down."
"You killed Reggie......you bastard!" I threw the knife at him. It hit Rivio square in the shoulder and he stumbled. I ran forward and slammed my fist into his face. He collided with the floor, and I sat on his chest, before punching him to hell and back. Rivio was bruised and bloody. To finish things once and for all, I pulled the knife out of his shoulder.
"Goodbye Rivio. We were best friends once. I'm sorry it had to be this way."
"Goodbye Jun. I can't fight the brainwashing. Just kill me. Kill me. Save the country. I can't fight it. It's not me anymore." My best friend was begging me to kill him.
"I'm......sorry." I stabbed the knife into Rivio's forehead. Done.
This time, he wasn't coming back.
Rivio had survived and plotted his revenge. We destroyed the LR unit and him, and had finally saved the country. He deserved a funeral.

I held Rivio's urn of ashes in my hands. I was sat on the end of the pier, the one we used to walk along when we were kids. Stupid kids, ones that skipped school just to watch movies, and played video games at the weekend.
Aria was sat next to me.
"The Rivio we knew. He would have wanted this."
"Yeah....yeah he would."
I twisted the top of the urn, and scattered Rivio's heart and soul into the beautiful turquoise ocean.
Then it was Reggie's turn. I held his urn in my hand.
"See ya soon, old man. We'll crack some heads again together some day." I said quietly before spreading his ashes. He'd join Rivio in whatever afterlife awaited them. One day, I'd see them again.

Aria moved in with me about a week after. No more threats. We often went out to the bar, and held drinking competitions. We never fully recovered from the journey, but we moved on.
Leaders of Alaria. We'd saved the country more than once. Now, it was safe forever.
Aria spoke to me one night.
"Hey Jun, do you like......wanna go out sometime?"
"To a bar? Sure."
"No I mean.....like a date."
"Isn't that a bit weird? Because of......stuff?"
"He'd want us to move on. Look.....just forget I sai-"
"Sure Aria. I'll go out with you. On one condition."
"What's that?"
"I get to wear my tux!"

Twenty years have passed. I'm now the grand old age of forty. We still live in Letti.
But now, we've got a kid. Yep, a daughter. Her name is Renée. We named her after Rivio's sister. She's nearly thirteen!

You know what? I think everything's gonna be okay from here on out. I've got a family.
And for some damn reason, me and Aria keep getting called the same thing by everyone. Just because we saved the country. Yeah, I'm very modest.
Anyway, people call us heroes.

This is the ending. Let me know what you think, and what other books I should write next! I started writing one, but I didn't find it interesting to write about. Tell me ideas for new books, or maybe even a sequel! Thanks for reading! This book has been a lot of fun to write.