"Helix!"
"It's okay now."
"No! It's—"
"I know."
"Helix, I'm…."
"Don't cry. Do you remember the promise I made you?"
"I…. No, please—"
"I told you I'd protect you at the cost of my life."
"No! Not like this…."
"Marie…. Do you remember what you vowed?"
"I…."
"You're not going to break our vows now that things are difficult, are you?"
"I…. Hey! Don't sigh, you bully!"
"I'm sorry. I'd rather see you frustrated than crying.
I promised myself I'd never make you cry."
"..."
"Will you please hug me? I look okay and sound confident, but I feel like you do."
"Of course…."
Marie fell into Helix's arms.
He gripped her slender body close and pressed his cheek against her hair.
Flickering light from fires illuminated their expressions.
"Marie…. I need you." Helix confessed with a cracking voice.
Marie pulled away enough to look at Helix's expression.
He was difficult to see because her puffy, bloodshot eyes blurred her vision.
The flickering fires only exposed a portion of his expressions at any time.
"I need you to help me like you are right now.
We can't make it through this alone." He continued with a low voice.
Marie's heart crumbled.
"We need to help each other.
That's why we made our vows.
I vowed to protect you with my life, and you vowed to do the same for me." Helix reminded her with light tears streaming from his cheeks.
"In a scenario where one of us might die, one gets left behind.
Instead of falling victim to fate, we vowed we'd live or die protecting one another.
It increases our chances of survival.
It prevents us from having regrets.
And while someone may die, the person who lives will forever remember the other's love and carry that forward.
Tyrene…."
Helix started crying lightly, and a warm smile washed over his face.
Marie's trembling eyes matched his gaze.
"She embodied our ideal." He continued with a choking voice.
"The last thing I saw after she kicked me was a look of relief on her face.
There was no regret in her eyes and…."
Helix pulled Marie close to his chest and held her right.
"We will forever remember how much she loved us."
Marie burst into tears again and squeezed him.
"I… want her back. She… can't leave us…
She needs to come back here…." She cried while gripping him tightly.
Helix nodded silently.
"Marie. When we get to Alzeria, we need to plan a celebration fit for Tyrene.
Will you help me with that?" He asked with a trembling smile.
Marie looked into his eyes.
"Yes! I can, but…." She pushed her head to the ground.
"Do… you think that people will hate that I'm part of it?"
Helix pulled her close again.
"Marie. You and I are the only people that can do it." He whispered.
"Tyrene… she died protecting us."
Helix's eyes welled with more tears.
"Only we can repay that gratitude.
Only we can show how much her sacrifice means to us."
Marie's tears poured steadily from her eyes.
Helix looked Marie in the eyes with a serious expression.
Firelight was flickering in his pitch-black eyes.
"And if anyone has a problem with that.
If anyone blames you, me, or the others for her death…." Helix prefaced with a determined gaze.
"I'm going to drop that thing's eight-ton skull on their fucking house."
Marie burst into laughter in between her sobs.
Her beautiful smile started showing for the first time.
Helix smiled gently and wiped tears from her eyes with his thumb.
"Come on, Marie. Let's meet up with the others." Helix requested.
Marie nodded hesitantly.
"We're limited to two hours of sadness a day.
Otherwise, our master will say: if you have time to cry, you have time to swing that sword!" He reenacted with a cheeky smile.
Marie responded with a mocking smile.
"You're right. Master would probably say:
Girl! If you don't stop crying, I'll give you a reason to cry, capture your tears in a jar, and then brush my teeth with them!"
The two burst into bitter-sweet laughter together.
Charlotte ran up and wrapped a bear hug over the two.
"You've both got it wrong!" She declared.
Helix and Marie looked at her with confusion in their eyes.
Tinker followed and pushed his head between them to open the circle.
Helix patted the large white dog's head and opened up the circle for Charlotte and him.
"Teach would start with the same thing she always does, dummies!
She'd ask: so, what did you learn, idiots?"
Helix and Marie's eyes gilded to the left in thought.
They chuckled after realizing that it was likely the first thing Tyrene would ask if they were able to speak with her.
"I'd reply: fighting fifth evolution Level 387 Colossus Stalkwalkers is hard.
Then she would give me that [guuuuuuurl, if that weren't a rational answer, I'd beat the laws of common sense into you] look." Charlotte gave a Tyrene impression with her hands on her hips.
The three burst into laughter.
Tinker barked in confirmation.
"I… think she'd say something like…." A voice called out.
The three turned in the voice's direction and saw Riley approaching hesitantly.
"You did well, kids. Your fighting was incredible. Your teamwork was stunning." Riley claimed.
Tears started rolling down their cheeks when they heard Riley's sweet voice reenacting the sappy part.
"But… you're all still idiots!" She added with a light chuckle.
Helix, Marie, and Charlotte were stunned for a moment.
Then Helix chuckled.
Charlotte chuckled.
Marie chuckled.
Then all four burst into laughter.
"Riley, get over here." Helix requested with a gentle smile.
Marie and Charlotte opened up one of their arms to allow her to enter their hug.
Riley quickly joined them with a smile on her face.
"Hoh? You all think that's what Tyrene would say?" A smooth voice called out from Helix's back.
Helix gave the girls a wry smile.
"What would she say, Tilo?" He sighed.
"Hmmm? You don't know?" Tilo asked mockingly.
"No, Master. Please inform this humble student." Helix chuckled with a defeated voice.
The three were smiling, knowing they still had a teacher with the same personality as always.
"She'd say: What's this? You just fought and killed a fifth evolution level 387 Colossus and flipped off the Mad Queen.
You passed our stupid test, got stronger, and [survived].
And you brats are still finding things to complain about?
What more do you want? A reward?
Hah. Ungrateful brats." Tilo chuckled.
The five burst into laughter and hugged each other tighter.
"Yup." Charlotte laughed.
Marie nodded with tears streaming down her closed eyes.
Riley giggled lightly.
Helix smiled while looking at nothing in particular.
"Then do you know what she'd say?" Tilo asked with a mysterious voice.
The four heard his inflection and researched each other's arms.
"She'd say, fine! I'll reward you, you ungrateful brats."
The group's eyes went wide when they heard the words.
Everyone finished turning around to face Tilo, whose expressions were hidden.
There was a large bonfire behind him, so they could only see a silhouette with subtle features.
However, they knew he was smiling.
The man touched his neck and pulled an item out of thin air.
"She'd say, Marie. Here is my sword; use it to lead the weak into battle, you big softy." Tilo began.
Marie's eyes went wide when she saw him handing her the sword she used during the battle.
"I-I… I can't accept—" She stuttered.
"This isn't a question, brat. I spent two hours enduring Tilo's nonsense to give him instructions, and you're going to take this thing whether you like it or not.
If there's one thing I hate, it's when people waste my time.
If you waste more of it, your arms won't work for a week." Tilo reenacted with a mocking smile.
The group burst into laughter.
Tinker circled Marie and nudged her butt to move her in Tilo's direction.
She took small steps toward him and reached out hesitantly to accept the sword.
Marie accepted the sword with trembling eyes.
It was extremely light, and its silver sheen shined brightly in the darkness.
The blade had a commanding aura that demanded respect.
Engravings on the sword and hilt told a story with the artwork.
"Everyone has a role. As a strong leader with power, you must inspire those in battle and tell them that they can make a difference.
This sword symbolizes that. It's why Tyrene planned to give it to you, regardless of this battle." Tilo explained with a slightly cracking voice.
Marie looked at the man with trembling eyes.
"While she would scold you for your decision to make such a taxing demonstration, she would praise you for inspiring those jumping the chasm." He continued.
"That trait is what earned you this sword."
Helix, Charlotte, and Riley cried in joy at the declaration.
"Charlotte." Tilo called out.
Charlotte's eyes trembled, and she approached the man hesitantly.
She didn't want to approach but feared Tyrene's wrath for disobeying.
"This is her battle cloak." Tilo announced while handing it to her.
"It's highly resistant to fire and heat.
Her words were: that girl is going to burn herself to death!
If I didn't know she'd only end up like that if she were helping others, I would have given her a beating instead."
Charlotte burst into laughter, and the group followed.
She gripped it tight against her chest before slipping her arms into it.
The cloak lit up and magically resized itself to fit her body.
"Wow…." She whispered.
"Don't let me forget to give you Tinker's present later.
He didn't have much training, but he was an apprentice for a week." Tilo chuckled.
Tinker barked, triggering chuckles from the group.
"Riley." Tilo asked in summoning.
Riley walked to him without hesitation.
Helix found her approach graceful and smiled while watching her back.
"Tyrene gave you her armor because it was light enough for you to run at full speed.
We are sending it to the best blacksmith in Alzeria to have the chest armor repaired."
The group choked up after being reminded of the wound Tyrene had received.
"She said to tell you that your sweetness cuts through the darkness.
Your role is much more important than any other.
People like you can heal in dark times and keep their humanity alive because of people like you.
Tyrene told me to thank you for being truly selfless and kind to the people around you."
Riley's eyes trembled and filled with tears.
"In the meantime, this is her leg armor, helmet, and gauntlets."
Riley bowed and graciously accepted the undamaged armor.
"Lastly, Helix." Tilo called out.
—
Power stones and grammatical errors = more content. :)
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