Chronicles Of Yositania: Of Demons And Men

Chapter 4: The Oddball's Realization

"Save me?" Cronos asked blankly; he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. Wun, in the flesh, was standing before him; with the intention of saving him. Just how was that possible?
"Yes Cronos, save you," Wun repeated smilingly.
"But h-how did you get here?" it didn't make any sense. Wun definitely shouldn't be here. This void was his mind and no outsider should be able to access it.
"I don't really know myself. I broke through the energy barrier and almost got you out; but then I was transported here."
He actually broke through the energy barrier! Cronos knew that his brother was extraordinarily powerful; but he had never quite expected his strength to reach this height. However, that didn't really matter now.
"Wun....... I can't go back," though he wanted to so badly.
"Sure you can. You just need to try."
"No Wun, I will not go back. Because this is the price that I have to pay; and I will pay it in full," though he didn't want to.
"Cronos, its okay. You don't have to shoulder it all on your own. That's why we are here," he replied in a kind and consoling tone.
He wanted to believe that, he really did. But he didn't have any other choice, "Wun, go back. Let me die peacefully and forget all about me. Its okay, really; I am doing this of my own volition," he suppressed his tears with every single bit of willpower that he had.
"I am not going anywhere," Wun replied in a tone so forceful; that Cronos immediately realized that he really wasn't going to be swayed away.
"Wun please, I am begging you- turn back," tears began to stream down his cheeks, "leave me alone."
Without replying; Wun began to walk towards him slowly; his face shrouded in silent and stern determination.
And in the next second, the black goo came to life; immediately forming and throwing a simultaneous barrage of three tendrils at him from three different directions.
He continued to walk forward without stopping, and just before all three were about to impale his head; he leaned to his left; and as they impaled the empty air where his head had been a second ago; he sliced all three of them into two at once with a single circularly curved chop from his right hand.
The tendrils disintegrated immediately; and the goo formed three more without any delay; throwing them at him the instant they were created; this time with different timings and aims.
"Wun, please, just go back. Don't hurt yourself for my sake," Cronos pleaded desparately. He couldn't watch his brother endanger himself like this anymore- while he was bound here, knowing full well that he was the cause for said endangerment.
Without replying; he quickly leaned to his left, then to his right and finally leapt back; precisely evading all three tendrils. And in the next second, he leaped diagonally towards the tendrils, while they were still in the middle of recovering; slicing them into two with a downward semi-circular chop from his left hand, once he was over them.
He landed on the ground just as they were disintegrated into nothingness. Acting like nothing had happened, he resumed his walk.
The goo conjured six tendrils and threw them all at him at once; from every frontal direction. This time, Cronos knew that it was too much for him to evade.
And so, he didn't evade. His hand became a blur and "touched" all of the tendrils just before they were about to pierce him completely; sending all of them rocketing in different directions in the next second.
It took Cronos an instant to understand that he had actually "slapped" them all away before they could impale him.
The goo continued to conjure up tendrils and throw them at him.  But he deflected them all effortlessly with his slaps and continued to walk forward without stopping.
It seemed like everything was going to be fine; that Wun was truly going to get him out; that the demon wouldn't be able to defeat him.
And then, almost as if to grind his hopes to dust; the goo conjured up twenty tendrils and threw them at Wun; who was now only a few steps away.
Their timings were different from one another (and so were their attacks); and Wun used it to his advantage. He leaned to his left, then to his right, then on his back and then leapt to his left; then immediately followed it up with a leap back, then ducked, then leapt to his right, then dived and rolled forward in one swift motion, then immediately leapt to his left,  then leapt back, then leaned to his right, then on his back, then ducked, then leapt up, then dive-rolled to his front, then leapt to his right, then immediately leapt back, then ducked, then dive-rolled diagonally to his left, then leaned to his left, and then finally; leaned on his back.
Cronos stared at him dumbfoundedly. He had actually managed to successively twenty tendrils without getting hit even once. That...... was truly amazing.
And then, just as he was about to begin his counterattack; two tendrils instantly rose from the ground and pierced his thighs.
With a grunt of pain, Wun fell on the ground;  and was immediately, out of nowhere; impaled by five different tendrils from the back.
"WUN!!" cried Cronos out in despair and horror. It was all his fault; all of it.
"I am fine, Cronos!" Wun shouted; spitting a mouthful of blood on the "floor" of the white void. And in the next second, before the dumbfounded eyes of Cronos; large wings of fire errupted from his back and with a single flap; burned away all of the tentacles that had impaled him.
He stood up slowly; with the fiery wings, and torn shirt giving him the look of an otherworldly, battle-worn warrior of immense power.
Just what did he have to go through to obtain that power?
"Wait for just a little longer," Wun blurted out reassuringly; coating both of his arms in flames; as the goo conjured up innumerable tendrils.
The battle had reached its final stage.
And both of the participants reacted at the exact same instant.
The goo threw all of its tendrils at him at once and Wun, in response; began to throw innumerable fiery punches in their general direction so fast, that they looked like a barrage of innumerable miniature comets.
The tendrils and the punches collided in a brilliant clash of black and orange. And a brilliant clash it was.
It was truly quite similar to watching a falling comet clash against the earth. Each punch collided with and destroyed one tentacle; like a comet creating a crater on the earth. And they clashed so quickly and so furiously; that it seemed like a very intense fireworks display in a starry sky- where the stars themselves were the fireworks.
Wun's range was incredible and he was actually holding his own quite well against a massive barrage of at least a hundred tendrils. However, he was still on the losing end; as a few tendrils had already created several cuts on his shoulders, arms and abdomen. And yet, he didn't pay them any heed; and continued his barrage without giving a single inch of ground.
Eventually, the number of tentacles thinned down to less than half of their original numbers. And Wun, without showing any signs of exhaustion whatsoever; continued to press on. The tide of the battle was slowly turning in his favour.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of furious punching; Wun destroyed the final tendril with a single punch.
And almost simultaneously, the goo that had been covering him; also disintegrated into nothingness. It was over. Wun had freed him and........ saved his life.
He fell knee-first on the ground; unable to move a single muscle. And just before he was about fall face-first from there; Wun caught him with a hug. "You are safe now," he said softly; pressing Cronos' head deeper into his shoulder.
"I- I am so sorry," he replied with a whimper; as tears flowed across his cheek and his body trembled violently. He wanted to say so much more. He wanted to say how grateful he was to them for not losing faith in him; how sorry he was for all the trouble that he had caused. But the remorse and relief that were dominating the entieriety of his being; only allowed more whimpers.
"Don't cry, silly. You are a man, aren't you? And men don't cry very easily," Wun reprimanded him with a light chuckle.
"Yeah, I won't cry so much anymore," he whimpered out; quite soundly contradicting what he had just said. However, that didn't really matter much now. Because he knew that even if he tried to; he wouldn't be able to control the tears, tremors and whimpers; as they came from his deepest and most intense feelings.
"I guess that's a promise then."
"Yes it is."
And just then, the entire void turned pitch black.
-x-
"Now, all that's left is to give them power," said the Queen; stepping away from the fourth and final reverse-summoning circle.
"And how do we do that?" asked her husband; looking at the quadrliateral formed by the four interconnected reverse-summoning circles, with the original summoning circle and the boys at its centre.
"We give our blood simultaneously to two of the circles," she replied a bit solemnly; conjuring two short knives with a bright flash from her right hand.
"So, what will be the indicator?" he grabbed the knife that was flung his way.
"Sestro. When I say Sestro, we cu-" the Queen was abruptly stopped halfway through by a sudden and terrifying change in the sphere and its inhabitants.
Its colour changed from yellow to black; and the markings trannsferred from Cronos to Wun.
"Oh no, it has started to switch hosts!" the Queen exclaimed in a horrified tone.
"Quick, we must do it now!" the King bellowed in an equally concerned and frightened tone.
-x-
"Wun!" Cronos cried out in fear and despair; as the black goo slowly started to wrap up Wun's feet.
He tried to approach Wun; but was stopped in his tracks by his shout, "Don't come closer, Cronos!"
"But the goo-" Cronos began in a deeply scared and very restless tone; but was stopped again by Wun, "I pushed you away for a reason! If it does devour anyone today, it will be me!"
Cronos wanted to jump into the pool of goo; to be the one to be devoured instead. But he held himself back and continued to watch in absolute despair and regret. Because he knew that if he jumped back in; it would make everything that Wun had fought for today completely useless.
The goo slowly trickled upto his neck; encasing everything in its path in itself, like a hungry snake wrapping itself around the body of a defenseless prey.
"Cronos, I want you to know that none of this is your fault," Wun said in a tone of forced calm; as the goo trickled upto his mouth.
Cronos wanted to shout out in reply that no, it was his fault; all of it. But he couldn't conjure the courage to proclaim this; to accept the responsibility for the full scope of his actions.
He truly was pathetic. His brother was on the verge of dying because of him; and he couldn't even find the courage to accept his part in all this?
"NO WUN, IT IS MY FAULT; ALL OF IT. SO, I AM SORRY........ FOR ALL OF IT!" Cronos bellowed at the top of his lungs; forcing his tears back. He was not going to cry; not anymore.
And then, the goo wrapped up Wun's face; completely encasing him in itself.
-x-
Wun couldn't feel anything; except an overwhelming sense of emptiness. He felt like nothing that would happen from here on out; had absolutely nothing to do with him. He felt detached, separated; like he was an alien entity from a different dimension; completely impervious to the affairs of this realm.
Was he...... dead?
The face of a young girl with pearly white hair flashed before his eyes. And with a grin, she said, "Hey, why don't you become the greatest king that this kingdom has ever seen? Then I can become your First Knight and together, we can protect this kingdom together!"
Yes, he had a goal; a dream. He couldn't just die here.
He couldn't  just die here.
-x-
Almost immediately after completely encasing him; the goo was completely absorbed into Wun.
And then, before Cronos' flabbergasted eyes; Wun's eyes-shut and most likely unconscious body started to absorb all of the darkness in the void like a hole in a vast infinity.
And within a few seconds; the void reverted back to its original pristine form.
Just as Wun's unconscious body; now containing all of the spiritual energy from the dark void, collapsed on the floor; a fierce flash of light blinded Cronos, and he pulled up his arms automatically to defend his eyes from it; which didn't really return very successful results.
And then, after what felt like an eternity contained in a second; he discovered himself on his back, lying on the floor of his room; surrounded by the extremely worried visages of his family members.
The unconscious body of Wun laid right next to him.
The way that all of them hugged him simultaneously in the next second; shedding tears of relief and brandishing shouts of concerned fury- was a memory he would never forget.
Yes, he was a true member of this family.
-x-