Folly & Agendas & Talulah

Chapter 39: Kinship

"I want... to go... home," Skullshatterer coughed up a wad of blood. 

"I want... to live... in our small house again....'

"With... mother...'

"When father was still... alive...'

"Before we... became Infected...'

"Misha... I... love you...'

"Please... live..."

Alex turned his head to his sister who hopelessly tried to wipe her sorrow away. He smiled and closed his eyes. Kaiser Rye lifted his hand off of him, and moved away, allowing Misha to grieve.

"Alex? Brother?" 

She wrapped her arms around his body and put him close to her heart. The last of Alex's breaths came, and then their world became silent. Kaiser Rye stood there with his hands down without saying a word. He turned around and picked up Alex's gas mask, the one that made him Skullshatterer. All of his comrades were on the ground dead, with nothing to them except their Reunion uniforms.

"What... now?" 

Kaiser Rye looked at the mourning Ursus; her aching heart was taking everything in too soon. She laid her cheek on her brother's hair, taking in the last remnants of warmth in his body.  

"What now?" Misha croaked. "You killed him, but you stayed. You didn't run away... why?"

The Draco sighed. "Don't worry about that. Live for your brother."

"But you killed him. And I have nowhere left to go. My only home is gone. My family is gone. All I have left is the Reunion. I don't even belong in this world. How am I supposed to live on?"

"Live. For your brother."

Misha looked up and gazed at Kaiser Rye. He held his hand out and released his Arts. A white light clouded her vision, but she seemed more relaxed. The air turned still, and the tears on her face slowly dried. A translucent light slowly enveloped her.

"You can hate me all you want. You can blame this world for treating you this way. But don't go on the path of revenge. Don't stay with the Reunion, leave. Alex wants you alive; he doesn't want you to die. It's not too late to start somewhere else."

And with those words, Kaiser Rye turned away, allowing the grieving sister to sleep with her dead brother; the two looked so peaceful together. Misha was still breathing and the last of Alex's body turned cold. A white mist accompanied them, a warm breeze washed over them, and the night raged on. They were just two siblings separated in life.

Kaiser Rye walked away with Alex's mask in hand, leaving them to dream. 

---

"So the little bears died huh?'

"That's not unexpected given how strong Kaiser Rye is,'

"And the fact that they are not hardcore survivors.'

"But I expected him to hold back; he's a softie on the inside.'

"The dragon lady married a weirdo, that's for sure.'

"It wasn't so bad, they did have a sweet little daughter.'

"Too bad she's dead now."

---

Each step the Draco took led closer and closer to an opening in the city. He climbed over rubble and steel and repulsed at the sight that laid before him. Corpses were rotting away, maggots crawled in their wounds. A white powder decorated them, a metallic smell was in the air. The aftermath of true carnage was displayed before him.