The Second Survivor (An Ara x Reader Story)

Chapter 29

Yet another plot continuing chapter here to tell the rest of the story...
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        (Y/n) had never in his life felt so utterly helpless. He wasn't being directly harmed at the moment but the fact that he had no control over his actions greatly bothered him. Zhu forcefully led him out of Sander of course after scaring the remaining Sander citizens that were still out on the streets. He fought Zhu's control with every bit of willpower that he had but it was all useless and he continued to follow the fox out into the nearly endless desert.

         "I want you to know that I've never been your enemy and even now I'm not an enemy. You can think of me to be more like an obstacle that you can try overcoming if you have the power to do so," Zhu said as they walked. (Y/n) kept his gaze on Zhu the entire time since there was nothing more that he could do on his own. "You've been lying to me this entire time you damned fox," (y/n) bitterly thought.

        Zhu glanced back at him once again showing his newly changed crimson eyes. "I can still hear your thoughts. All of your emotions are also on display so there's nothing you can hide from me," Zhu said. (Y/n) simply frowned at him since he was still unable to speak while in Zhu's control. "From the very beginning, I've always been fond of the Zhen family even after I was locked in that shrine."
  
        "It was my fault for betraying your family's trust long before you were even born. I suppose you could say they punished me by forcing me to live out my days as a protector. I don't exactly have the time to tell you the full story though. Just know that I've been doing this for many years and had finally gotten my opportunity when you just happened to be in need of assistance," Zhu said.

        "What do I have to do with this? Why am I so important?" (y/n) thought. They were almost outside of Sander and Zhu didn't seem to have a particular destination in mind but it was clear that Zhu would not be stopping any time soon. "I've planned to kill you from the moment we met," Zhu said. Shock shot through (y/n) although such a detail wasn't as surprising as it would have been had he not known of Zhu's untrustworthyness beforehand.

        "I thought I had more time since you didn't know very much about me but then Ara showed up and with her came Eun who would tell you things about me that I didn't want you to know. Lucky for me, she had no clue that I kill my hosts but either way, her presence was a problem," Zhu explained as he came to a stop just before they left the village. He glanced behind him before locking gazes with (y/n).

         "All of that time spent at my side and you intended to kill me all along? You're...you're a heartless demon," (y/n) thought. For a long time, Zhu had been the only one that he could put his trust in but now that had changed to quickly for him to handle. He tried fighting against Zhu's control again but of course could not do anything. It bothered him that Zhu had likely always had the ability to restrict him in such a way.

         "Heartless? No. Demon? Perhaps. I wanted to kill you earlier but you hadn't fully gotten up to enough of your potential. You also didn't care if you died and that detail about you remained that way for a long time. It amazed me how a human such as yourself could continue living with such a thought constantly on your mind. Our time in the desert showed me that it's possible for a human to prove me wrong. You are the one host I will regret killing," Zhu said.

        It was then that (y/n) felt himself gain control. "Don't move. I'll kill them if you do. I told them not to follow so now you're going to make a choice," Zhu warned. (Y/n) did as he was told knoeing that Zhu could only be referring to the El Search Party. They were the best of people but they were provably the closest he was going to get to a third chance at a better life.

        "You either come with me right now or I'll kill them all. I need your soul intact since I've been separated from it but theirs will serve as a mere energy source. Nothing more, nothing less. If you so much as look at them, I'll assume you've chosen to defy me," Zhu growled as he glanced behind him. Making the decision was easy since (y/n) didn't want anyone else to die because of him, but he struggled with the commitment.

         It was because of his sudden thoughts to resist anything Zhu tried that Zhu took control of him again as they made their escape. It was because of this that (y/n) found himself facing the search party with the unwanted intent to kill each and every one of them. "I did say that I'd kill them but I never said I couldn't use you to do it. So how about it? Call them off. We have a conversation to finish," Zhu said within (y/n)'s head.

         "Can't you just leave them alone and just kill me already? Why is it so important for me to stay alive if you need to kill me?" (y/n) thought but Zhu just growled instead of replying immediately letting him know that there was a catch to Zhu's plan. It likely wouldn't succeed if (y/n) we to die but he also didn't want to die at the moment. He stared at Ara who watched him as if waiting for his first move.

        She seemed to be the only one out of everyone that was the most determined to free him. He had no plan. It was either call them off or kill them. Those were his only options since he couldn't break Zhu's control. "(Y/n), you have to fight him with everything you have!" Elsword called out as he slowly began to walk towards him. "You've lost your chance. Now they have to die because of your hesitation," Zhu growled making (y/n) focus on Elsword and step towards him.

         Elesis was quick to pull Elsword back and Ara immediately took action but neither of them could outdo both Zhu's and (y/n)'s speed. In an instant, (y/n) was scratching the air not very far from Elesis' face. Her earlier actions prevented both herself and Elsword from being hit by the attack but Zhu followed behind (y/n) and Elesis couldn't avoid both attacks.

         Zhu's outstretched claws were very close to reaching her but a flash of golden orange light temporary blinded both (y/n) and Zhu. (Y/) landed in the sand, quickly recovering and realizing that he had control over himself. He probably didn't have long so he focused on spotting Zhu. The fox was being bombarded by the flash of light that soon ended. Ara appeared at the end of the vanishing light but she had Eun's markings verifying that she was no longer Ara.

         Zhu's control returned as soon as Zhu was freed from Eun's attacks of shocking speed and (y/n) was forced to stand in Eun's way. "I don't know what you plan to do to that boy, Zhu, but I will stop you," Eun said glaring right past (y/n) and strait at the red eyed fox behind him. "It's a shame that we have to bring our hosts into this. Old friends like us shouldn't have to fight," Zhu said. Eun growled and darted to (y/n)'s side in an attempt to get to Zhu but (y/n) was forced to stop her.

         Luckily, she avoided his attack and Zhu was unable to follow up since he was too busy dodging missiles, arrows, and fireballs, some of which landed on their marks. The battle had officially begun and (y/n) was stuck in the middle of it with a decision to make. End his life now to save everyone from Zhu and the bad he seemed to always bring or let Zhu have his way? Either way, (y/n)'s only options were death or extreme sacrifice and he didn't like those options.
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So I may have dragged this out to delay things for the next chapter but you guys don't care right? Until next time you amazing readers!