Reaper's Crown

Ch. 150

"So, was it anger?" Rowan muttered. "I can't believe someone like you would ever get consumed by such a foolish notion. It was always the more rational approach, in my eyes. Maybe fueled by a sense of adventure, but in the end-"

"Shut the fuck up." Ennyou interrupted them. "You didn't care for these nonsense words back then and days ago either! What's the point of bringing them all up now?"

"You were fooled," Rowan spoke, exhaling nasally.

"Fooled? You're the one who keeps dragging in meaningless memories because you feel like you can fix everything now! You didn't back then and you won't now, either!"

Ingo turned to Rowan, curiously.

"Shi Hon fooled you," Rowan spoke, looking down. "...and you're angry because of it."

"I'M NOT ANGRY!" another bone came smashing in from the side, and it stopped, right near the Tributal's face.

Rowan put their hand on the white, sharp end and stared forward. "Yeah, maybe so. The Ennyou I knew was just everyone else in the family. When they were really angry, they were just as calm and indifferent as I am now. Still, you're not the same as you were back then. Weak, as you'd call yourself and resent what the world made you."

Another one came flying in, and it stopped near Rowan's body. Ingo gasped each time, with his mouth wide open.

"You're so damn strong that it scares me. It makes me angry that I wasn't there to see you grow." Rowan gazed up, as Ennyou's puzzled expression was soon replaced with another sharp end stopping before their eyes. "...and I understand why you wanted things to be like this. You always wanted to see it all, to know it all, but the flowers never bloomed on that day. In all scenarios, in all the paths I've chosen in my life, you should've been dead." they pointed.

"No." Ennyou uttered. "That's what you wanted me to be."

"Never," Rowan whispered. "I never wanted to see anyone die because of my decisions and now... everyone is dropping like flies. I'm furious, Ennyou. I've never been angrier in my life because it keeps pushing me on even though I should've been dead all along. It forces me to see the world's cruelty. Chichos, one manipulated by the other and trying to commit the unthinkable. Maybe, I should've taken your place in Orawood, and it should've been Ambrosia standing in my place now. Yet, for all the wrongs I did in my life, for all the anger I feel..." Rowan furrowed their brows, looking past all the bones surrounding them.

"It's you who held back."

"What?" Ennyou asked, almost gasping.

"You could've easily swiped me. I was weak and I'm even weaker than beforehand. Even my friend here won't help me with that, and I don't underestimate his power." Rowan spoke. "Then again, you're even holding back now. Letting me speak, because deep inside, you feel resentment. You wish that you were there to teach me a lesson, and not just... keep punching until I've taken your place. Fixed things that were my fault to begin with."

"Ghh..." Ennyou ground his teeth, as all the spikes around Rowan pushed closer, but none even dared to touch their body. Rowan almost chuckled, before covering their eyes again.

"Again," Rowan spoke, lowly. "You could've killed me just now, and you didn't."

Ennyou's eyes flashed red in anger, and as Rowan uttered these words, thousands of bones grew out of a small coup beneath the one the Tributal stood on, piercing through each other and almost building a tower for Rowan to stand on. They jumped, as everything else almost eloquently carried them upwards.

Ennyou breathed in and out, with a red pulsating through the barrage of the whites beneath his legs, and all reaching towards Ambrosia's body. It too, shook, but ever so lightly. Rowan looked at them, before clenching their jaw and turning to Ingo, who stood on the ground.