Folly & Agendas & Talulah

Chapter 56

Five Minutes After the Descent...
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The assault tore off the sides of the surrounding streets, tore up the streets beside it. Flames began to consume the surface. And in the midst of the attack, a white light expanded. Faust blocked his eyes from the blinding light. In its center, Kaiser Rye stood with singed clothes and glowing white arms. His veins glowed a violent shade of gray, and then it faded, leaving his arms discolored. 

A shade of red hovered in the sky. Countless breaths fought for their very lives. Faust was struck with awe. It wasn't the first time he saw those Arts. A cold chill climbed up his spine as he looked into Kaiser Rye's eyes, stained with a dirty yellow and a cloud of fog, marked by red lines coming out of the sides of his lips. His crossbow was on the ground beside him.

Kaiser Rye was defeated...

...and so seemed Faust.

The Reunion leader sat with his back against a broken I-beam. His oversized jacket was crushed beneath the weight of his body. His fingers loosely gripped his crossbow in hand. A bolt was loaded into the chamber, an explosive bolt, and it sat waiting to be fired, to fly. He looked at the projectile with uneasy eyes. 

The Draco in front of him collapsed. His back slammed against the ravaged ground. Debris made the ground below a terrible bed. His mouth was agape; a line of blood-stained teeth was visible. A bolt dug straight into his heart; broke past the ribs and into the organ itself. Shallow breaths echoed through their stalemate, accompanied by a ballad of cries and tears. 

"Not so soon," Kaiser Rye muttered. "Not so soon, Sasha–" 

Faust froze in place; arms quivered and hands trembled. 

"–I'm not done yet, Sasha. I'm not done yet..." 

A hand lifted into the air; a pair of eyes gazed up at the sky above. He didn't see how the clouds merged together into one vortex looming over them; he couldn't see them. Faust looked up too, filled with fear and regret. Kaiser Rye merely laughed to his dying self. 

"Ka... Kaiser Rye..." Faust stuttered looking his former friend he shot. 

"Don't worry, Sasha. I don't hate you, and you don't hate me," Kaiser Rye's pupils started turning a dark red. 

"Rye, I'm sorry... I–"

"Don't be. Come here, Sasha. Come here." 

The Draco dropped his arm onto the hard concrete below him. The Reunion leader gasped first, then he shut his eyes and lifted himself up. His body disobeyed him, wanted him to stay sitting far away from his fallen "enemy". 

"Sasha, please..."

---

"Where did Kaiser Rye go?"

"Did you lose him? How did you lose him?"

"He should be able to survive on his own! We have seen him fight!"

"He relies too much on his Arts to survive. Where did you last see him?!"

"When we reached the location where we thought he landed, we were immediately attacked by invisible enemies! They were crossbowmen with such pesky Arts; we couldn't get past them, so we had to retreat."

"So our best asset to fighting the Reunion is stuck in a fight with Reunion snipers? Does that mean that he'll be in the line of sight of their squad leader? Who is there leader again? Faust?"

"Yes it is. If Kaiser Rye can get close enough to him, then he can come back alive! We are being eaten alive over here, and we need some extra punch! We are currently engaging with Reunion Squad Leader Mephisto, and we are being eaten alive!"

"Kaiser Rye isn't our only Elite Operator on the battlefield! Where is Elite Operator Moonlight?"

CRASH!*

"Is he here?"

"Elite Operator Moonlight is here! HOORAY!"

"Wow! He took that entire building down and crushed so many Reunion soldiers!"

"We're saved! Now we just need to push the Reunion back and reclaim Lungmen! Onwards!"

"Wait? Why is there a storm brewing above us? What is going on!"

"Oh shit! We weren't told of any environmental abnormalities that were supposed to happen!"

---

Faust knelt down beside Kaiser Rye, he watched the Draco's eyes fade. He pulled out the bolt that pierced his chest. Kaiser Rye's mouth and arms defied death. A white light was pulling muscle and tissue together, but blood continued to seep through. 

"Rye, I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry..."

"I said don't be, Sasha. You just did what you had to do. I can't blame you for that, but you hit me too hard."

"Can't you just heal? You –you have survived countless times, Rye. You've been stabbed, impaled, burned alive, beaten–"

"There is a limit, Sasha. I can only heal so many times–"

Kaiser Rye's gaze narrowed. His chest was all repaired; a fresh surface of white skin and flesh. 

"—I can only heal so many times. I don't know how to retreat from a battle; you have seen it. When you fired the first shot, I should have ran. I could have made my way to Chernobog with all of this warfare here. I still plan to reach it however, there's no doubt about it."

"But how? How will you reach the city without getting caught by the rest?"

"I will need to keep moving, Sasha; it's as simple as that."

"But... But..."

"Sasha, don't come after me. Just let me go to Chernobog by myself."

Faust stared at him incredulously, but Kaiser Rye didn't waver. The Draco grabbed a clump of dust with his hand and dropped it; the flakes carried by the wind. Kaiser Rye lifted himself up and fell to his knees. Rose up and sank down to the ground. Faust watched in fear as he watched his friend stand up and walk away. 

Then Kaiser Rye turned to look at Sasha...

"So long, Sasha."

Dark again...

---

"It seemed so easy for him to say goodbye. His heart is constantly being torn apart. Marzanna may not have taken such a large space in his heart, but she certainly has taken a place in yours and mine. Such a shame, Haley. Such a shame."

Talulah held a broken Haley by the collar. Their shadows were lit by fires surrounding them. The latter had dim wings and an even darker halo. 

"We shall meet Kaiser Rye together. I know that you want to see him again..."

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 (A/N): The drive is slowly coming back...

- Expect another chapter up by the end of the week...