✎ to you, who swallowed a star 「 ed•v 」

20 |

𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖙𝖚𝖎 𝖛𝖎𝖛𝖊𝖘.

ー・ー

Ardent light blindingly overwhelmed his vision— so bright, that all he could do was shield himself and foolishly hope that its dissipation wouldn’t also mean V’s vanishing.

Perhaps, for the final time, Khun Eduan was crushed with the reality that the Tower of God had yet again favored Arlene Grace. Not a single strand of hair, nor traces of the teleportation circle, even existed. How loved by God must she have been, that the very Being had arrived to her rescue at the most opportune moment?

Eduan’s mind whirled, but the quest for answers had become irrelevant. All that mattered was the scene before him, a surreal blur of chaos and despair. His gaze fixated on the motionlrss figure, seemingly trapped in a cruel stillness. Once luscious chestnut locks now lay matted and charred, framing a face etched with exhaustion and pain. With trembling hands, V reached out to touch the fatal wound, an inaudible “Oh.” escaping his lips as crimson began to seep forth, marking the final moments of a life now slipping away.

“V!”

The name echoed through Eduan’s mind like a desperate plea. He thought he’d never felt such urgency— such raw fear propelling him forward, more than he did while scouring throughout the carnage for a sign of life. But, in that moment, with the wavecontroller’s broken form, gasping for air amidst a sea of red, he realized he had never been more mistaken.

His heart hammered against his ribcage as he caught the man.

“E-Eduan—” V’s voice faltered, choked by the relentless flow of blood, each word a struggle against the inevitable. “I... t-told you to l-leave... didn’t I? W-Why don’t you—” he coughed violently, the liquid staining his lips as he fought for breath. “— ever listen to me?”

The Khun’s grip on the bluenet’s torn hanbok tightened, his own anguish rising like a tidal wave.

‘What about you?!’

He wanted to scream. To unleash the devastation coursing through him.

‘Why do you always have to embrace death so willingly?!’

But, all the words, the rage, and the heartbreak, remained stuck at the tip of his tongue. Unspoken. Swallowed by the pulverizing weight of the absolute as he held V in his arms, each stolen glances a painful reminder of their mortality.

“This brings back memories of holding my lifeless child,” the man remarked with a chilling calmness, a hollow chuckle escaping his lips despite the imminent spectre looming over him. ‘Is he insane? He’s laughing as he’s dying!’ But, at this point, none of them were in their right minds. “Funny how fate has its twists, doesn’t it?”

The spearbearer’s world ground to a halt. “I didn’t...” He gasped, his breath coming in ragged bursts, his sins flashing back at him like a whiplash. “I didn’t—!”

“I know you didn’t sound us out.”

The words cut through the tension like a knife, spoken with a steely resolve that brooked no argument.

“I know you didn’t sound us out,” V repeated firmly amidst the weakness in his voice, squeezing Eduan’s arm to reassure him. “I know you like the back of my hand.”

Of course. Subconsciously, Eduan knew that V had always seen through him. That he couldn’t find it in himself to betray the latter, even if he so desperately wanted to. He had always fought tooth and nail to prevent them from drifting apart— to defy fate. As much as it was unfortunate, the child’s death, as well as the events that had transpired after it, were tragic aftermaths of the reality that he wasn’t the perfect strategist he had pridef himself as.