Lost (Trequel to "Sight")

Destruction

Rose's heart raced as she turned around to see who had spoken. Of course, it was the one and only Oskar, his amber eyes burning into her green ones. How long had he been there? She wondered, panicking on the inside. But she narrowed her eyes at him, putting a scowl onto her face, trying to hide her fear.

She couldn't tell exactly what Oskar was thinking-- he always had the same scowl on his face. But there seemed to be a small twinkle in his eyes and... was that... a smile? Sure, it was small, but there was a trace of a smirk on the corner of his mouth. Was he content with himself? After all that he'd done to make them suffer? That just made Rose even more infuriated.

"What do you want?" Rose demanded, tightening her grip on her bow.

"Tsk, tsk, that's no way to talk to your elders, is it?" Oskar told her.

Rose gritted her teeth. "Quit the chatter and just answer the question."

Oskar ran a finger down the side of his dagger, without even looking up at her. "Fiesty. Alright, I'll tell you. I could sense that you were coming after me. I mean, there was no way you would let that go and just walk back home. I know you better than you think, Rose."

Rose's eyebrows quivered. What did he mean by that? She lowered the arm that held her bow, relaxing as thoughts passed through her mind. Did-did Oskar seem a little familiar? Like she knew him years ago?

She mentally shook her head. No. He was just trying to get into her head. Trying to confuse her. And it was working.

But in this moment of weakness, Oskar took a chance to strike. He flung his dagger straight at Rose, hoping to at least injure enough that she would be no more of a threat. With her out of the way, the others would be less confident in themselves. They wouldn't have a leader that could pump them up for a fight. No, they'd be weak.

Then chaos happened.

Time seemed to slow down. The dagger slowly spun in Rose's direction, her eyes widening as she noticed it aiming for her. But before it could even touch her, someone jumped in front of her, the dagger piercing into their side. The rest of the group ran out of the tent, standing at Rose's side, their weapons at the ready. But Rose dropped her bow, falling to the ground as she stared in horror at who laid in pain before her.

It was Varian.

The dagger was implanted in his side, barely missing his stomach. Blood poured from the wound, and he clutched his side in pain. But even though he looked terrible and in a lot of pain, he managed to smile at Rose. Tears clung to the corners of her eyes.

"V-Varian, why'd you do that?" Her arms shook, and she didn't know where to put them.

"Well I couldn't just let you get killed, could I? Now what kind of boyfriend would I be if I just watched my girlfriend die?" He let out a small chuckle, though he winced as his body moved.

"But what about you?" Rose inquired. "I mean, I know that's not a fatal wound, but you're still badly injured."

"Better than you being dead," Varian told her stubbornly.

Rose sighed in defeat, then put a hand on the dagger's handle. "Alright, this is going to hurt."

"What's going to- ahhHHHH!" He dug his hands into the ground as Rose pulled the dagger out of his side. Blood dripped from the metal, and she threw it to the ground beside her. Without hesitation, she ripped a large chunk of her sleeve off and wrapped it around Varian's side. Blood immediately seeped through it, but at least there was something there to put pressure against the wound.

Rose helped Varian to his feet, then led him back to the tent. He was stubborn about it though, saying that he wanted to go back to the fight (which, by the way, had started while Rose was helping Varian. She was just too focused on helping him that she blocked out everything else.) Rose then told him that he couldn't fight with an injured side-- that'd just weaken him more. Reluctantly, he said "fine," then sat back in the tent, watching the fight unfold before him.

Rose got ready to stand up again, before turning back to Varian once more. She planted a quick kiss on his lips before giving him a small smile. "Stay safe."

Varian returned her smile. "You too."

Rose stood up, quickly turning around to face the fight. Oskar had managed to retrieve his dagger again, but no one was face to face with him. He moved so quickly that he managed to strike everyone in what felt like a second. Rose rushed over to where her bow laid on the ground, then shoot an arrow aimed directly for Oskar. It whizzed past his face, cutting him on the cheek. A single drop of blood crawled down his face.

Oskar glared at Rose for a second before turning back to the others yet again. Yvette ran forward, swinging her longsword at him. It cut into his arm, causing his sleeve to stain with red. But Oskar was stronger. Even with his injured arm, he managed to crouch down and slice Yvette's leg, causing her to stumble. He did it so fast that it was unhuman-like. He stood back up, pushing her to the ground, before Viper ran up behind him.

The Society member brought out his dagger, then sliced downward, only for Oskar to put his own dagger behind him, stopping Viper's attack. But since Oskar was backwards, he was at a disadvantage. Viper kicked the inside of Oskar's leg, causing him to fall to his knee, and his dagger to scatter feet away from him. A huge smirk sat on Viper's face as he put his dagger next to Oskar's neck.

But they were only triumphant for a second. Oskar reached up to his necklace, ready to push it. "You leave me no choice. I will make this whole continent blow to bits. And it will be your fault. You 'heroes' are supposed to stop the bad guy every time, aren't you? So when the many innocent people's lives get taken in the next few seconds, it'll all be your fault."
Rose lowered her bow. "Oskar. You wouldn't really do that, would you? Knowing that a bunch of innocent people who are just minding their own business are getting killed for something that they're not even a part of. Could you live with that guilt?"

"Yes. Because I'd be dead too," he growled at her.

"You really want to kill yourself?" Rose inquired.

Oskar laughed. "Why not? No one cares about me. There's no reason to live. I'm satisfied with where I've gotten. I have the Heirloom, and it's unlimited power. And I'd be able to get rid of this awful world we live in. Maybe then we could start over, and actually have a good society."

"Maybe in your perspective, society is bad. Maybe you only look for the bad things. But if you look deeper, you'll realize that there are a bunch of amazing people. Not everyone is bad. You just need to realize that."

Oskar stared at the floor, deep in thought. Maybe Rose was right. Maybe he was looking at the world all wrong. I mean, after having a childhood like his, there was no way he could look at things positively. He was always overshadowed by his brother, his parents only noticing his brother's achievements. Oskar felt like he was nothing. That's why he ran away. Since that day, he'd never had someone to take care of him. He'd wander the streets aimlessly, looking for a spot to sleep or eat. It wasn't the greatest living style. Maybe that's why he thought so negatively.

Then he looked back up at Rose. She looked so much like her father. Had the same personality, too. But that only made his hatred worse. She reminded him too much of his brother. His brother, who was also Rose's father.

He growled. "No. You don't understand just how bad the world is. Your sight is blocked by your happiness. Blinded by your naivety. Lost in your positivity. You don't know what the real world is like."

Then he pressed the Heirloom.