Everyone cheered for his heroic adventure of how he'd save the world from doom. He heard the calls and shouts of people gathered to the castle for the party. They were all so happy in an instant once the evil had been banished.
So
damn
happy.
So how was it that he wasn't? Why was he not as joyous as the people he saved? The people progressed from despair to jolly in a matter of minutes, and that scared him. The fact that humans could forget about their loved ones so easily and go running towards happiness terrified him. It was as if they didn't care.
But he cared. He, the hero, drowned in despair as it was eating him away. Slowly. Seeping into his very soul where he locked away his sorrow. Many sacrifices. Many death. So many in the grasps of his hands that he'd carried. It weighed him down like stress. He had held so much that
he
was
breaking.
"For the world." They all said and Anthony looked to his demons who appeared all too similar to them. His comrades who had aided him during his adventure and helped him through. They sacrificed everything to help him save the world. They didn't have to come. They didn't. If they hadn't they wouldn't have died. Images of their individual deaths replayed in his mind.
Over
and
over
and
over
and
over...
John, acting as bait to get them into the castle.
Galm, staying behind to stall the mobs that crowded.
Tom, using up all his magic to save them from a bomb.
Aphex, pushing them to safety as they were about to fall.
And Ze...
Ze, who'd sacrificed himself to save him from an attack.
And, as if he'd finally let their deaths sink into reality, he cried out. Tears stained his cheeks and snot dripped from his chin. He buried his face in his hands and locked himself within his room. The bustling people in the village drowned out his sobs and screams.
The weight of the world may have rested on his shoulders, but the guilt of their deaths killed him more.
