Folly & Agendas & Talulah

(OLD) Chapter 9: "What Defines A Patriot?"

"I don't know!"

Kaiser Rye climbed on top of a ladder and dropped down on Patriot who pushed him out of it. The beams supporting the warehouse collapsed leaving smoke and waste in its aftermath.

Patriot and Kaiser Rye fought ceaselessly as the two of them start moving from place to place. They were moving farther away from the L.G.D and the Guerilla Squad.

Rye took the shield off his arm and swung it as he went for an aerial strike. Patriot moved out of the way and pushed Rye away. He landed on his feet and continued to attack.

Patriot spun his spear and slammed it into the ground; a precipice came out of the ground forcing Rye to move back. Patriot smashed through the precipice and jabbed his spear. Rye blocked the attack and pushed it back. He launched a beam of white at his opponent.

"Tell me, what you are doing!" Patriot demands as he blocks Rye's attack.

"I'm trying to put an end to the war!" Rye blocked Patriot's counterattack.

"And how are you going to do that?" Patriot states as he blocks a shield attack from Rye.

"I am trying to make Talulah stop!" Rye yelled as he was launched into a building.

Rye flew into a window, shattering it, and landed on the floor of the building. Blood lined the back of his head, his hood was ripped, his hands were tainted with dirt as he tried to stand up.

"Talulah is unbending." Patriot stormed inside. Rye got up and attacked with his shield pushing Patriot out of the building bringing the fight outside once more.

"Not if I can do anything about it!" Rye went on the offensive. He sent a flurry of spells at Patriot forcing him to defend with his shield. "She'll listen to me!"

"No she won't." Patriot caught Rye off guard and knocked him down with the end of his spear. "She will never listen to you! Every since you two lost your daughter."

A gaping hole opened up in Rye's heart. He was on his knees, deprived of energy awaiting his execution. His shield was shattered by Patriot's attack and now he was defenseless.

"I know that." Rye sighed ruefully as he stood up. "I know that I wasn't able to save my daughter. But what was I able to do?"

"You should've helped her. Talulah is your wife." Patriot states as he stood upright.

"Yeah." Rye said with an exhausted breath. "But I wasn't able to stop them. I wasn't able to stop the whole world from crushing us."

"We are all weak, when our loved ones need us the most."

"But did my daughter have to die that way?"

"Every father has to suffer, the pains of sorrow." Patriot sympathized. "But what you do after, makes a difference."

"Didn't you lose your son?" Rye asked as he wiped some blood off his face.

"I did." Patriot answered. There was a hint of sadness in his voice. "I wasn't able to save him either, but I had to move on. So did you."

"But what we're doing now -"

"Is unforgivable." Patriot declared.

"Are you still fighting is war?" Rye asked as the two of them get into their battle stances.

"War, is all I have left." Patriot states. The red glow from his eyes faded away for a moment before lighting back up.

He pounced on Rye who jumped backwards.

"I have no future left." Patriot says as he blocks Rye's Arts.

Rye concentrated his Arts into one beam of light; Patriot spun his spear and struck the beam. It flew out of its path and landed in a building behind him generating an explosion. Smoke bellowed from the impact.