Chapter 425: What Little Time Remains
Azriel stopped talking abruptly.
Celestina did not change her expression. In fact, she looked almost expressionless as she stared at him in silence. Only after a few seconds did she seem to realize he was finished.
Then she said,
"...Huh?"
Azriel cracked a smile.
"Too much?"
"Too little!"
"What did you not get?" Azriel asked, frowning.
"Everything!" Celestina shouted. "I don’t understand anything! What do you mean the gods are trying to break you? Why would they even want that, for starters? And how about you explain what that girl had to do with any of this, and why she had to die!? Who was she really? What did she mean when she said you defied the God of Time for me? And what about those gravestones? And the truth of how you actually killed more than thirty masters? How do you know anything even about the scenarios? And why hasn’t Jasmine woken up yet, dammit!? Why did she fall unconscious in the first place!? Do you have any idea how worried I am? I’m so confused!"
’Well, that makes two of us...’
Sighing, Azriel simply said,
"Listen. I don’t know why the gods are trying to break me. All of this is new to me too, and I am also extremely overwhelmed. I don’t even think it has properly hit me yet, with everything I’m discovering by the second. Or maybe it has, and I’m already broken. As for the little girl... she was possessed by an evil, powerful being who might as well be called a god. His name is Pollux. He tortured me inside the Forest of Eternity. The only way Jasmine would wake up was if I killed the little girl, so don’t worry. She should wake up soon. He was also responsible for making her fall unconscious in the first place, it seems. And I truly don’t know how I killed thirty masters. That is the truth. As I said, I’m losing my mind here. As for how I know all of this—the deeper explanation about Pollux, the gods, and everything else—you’ll have to ask Jasmine. She knows a lot, and I am too exhausted to repeat all of this when it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours."
Like a goldfish, Celestina opened and closed her mouth several times.
Finally, she shut it and said,
"F-fine..."
She looked toward Jasmine, then spat,
"The moment I’m free of these chains, I’ll ask her. But not before I behead that purple-haired trash myself!"
Azriel grinned weakly.
"You do you."
Celestina looked back at him and frowned.
"Are you not angry? He put your sister in danger just because he wanted me dead, Azriel."
"I am," Azriel said. "But he also shot himself in the foot because of it. Besides, I once made a promise that I wouldn’t get between the bad blood you, Jasmine, Anastasia, and Caleus have with each other."
"Even now?"
"Yes."
Azriel looked down.
"But..."
He leaned a little closer and whispered,
"Considering how much time I have left... and not because of my promise, but simply because you want it... all you have to do is ask me to kill him, and I will."
Celestina stared at him in shock.
"You would really do it? Not because he almost got both me and Jasmine killed, but... because I asked?"
Azriel lifted his gaze and looked straight into her silver eyes.
"Yes."
She did not break their gaze.
Then, as though afraid of the answer, she asked,
"...What do you mean by considering how much time you have left?"
"..."
"...If this is about the scenario and those gods, then we can... we can figure something out, right? All we have to do is complete this scenario before they break and kill you, right?"
"Yes," Azriel said. "You do that, and all the participants will go home."
He gave her a faint smile.
"Aside from me, of course. There’s no way they’ll let me escape their clutches."
"...!"
"And even if I do, there’s no point. I’m as good as dead. So if you want me to kill Caleus, I’ll do it. The least I can do with my remaining time is get rid of your and Jasmine’s annoyances."
"Just what are you saying...?"
Celestina’s voice trembled.
"Stop that, Azriel. I don’t like it. You... you can’t speak like that."
"Look at my wounds and scars."
Celestina did.
"I know why you’re so curious about the scar beneath my bandaged arm."
"What...?"
She uttered the word weakly, pure shock draining the strength from her voice.
"There might not be many humans as knowledgeable as you when it comes to healing scars and wounds."
Azriel gazed down at the cracks running across his body.
"Look at this. Do you really think I can live with this?"
"Unless..."
Celestina swallowed.
"Unless you have a time machine..."
Her voice faltered.
"No... but... but you said there was a cure. You insisted. You convinced Jasmine that you knew of one! She told me! Did you lie!? Please tell me you didn’t lie, Azriel!"
"...I didn’t."
"Then—"
"But my illness has progressed too far. No miracle cure will help me now."
His body was in constant pain.
From everything.
And it would only worsen. It would worsen and worsen until he either died, or his body crumbled like broken stone.
"You liar..."
Celestina glared at him angrily, but her voice sounded like that of a wounded child.
"You told Jasmine you wouldn’t die! Do you know how much it hurt her the last time you died!? You’re going to leave her again!? You can’t! You can’t leave Jasmine again, Azriel! It will break her forever this time! Think about her! Your mother. Your father. Think about Iryndra! After all the effort you made to come back to them, you can’t just give up now!"
"...You think I want to give up?"
Azriel’s words came out slowly, forced through his throat with effort.
"I don’t want to die either, you know."
"Then fight!"
"I have been fighting."
His voice grew quieter.
"And I have been losing miserably."
"Then... then let’s think of a way, all right? You can’t let it end like this. If you, me, and Jasmine put our minds together, surely we can figure something out."
Azriel watched her in silence.
A small, delicate smile touched his face at how desperate she sounded.
Then he said softly,
"This actually isn’t the first time I’ve come to this underground colosseum."
Celestina stared at him, tilting her head slightly. The pleading look had not left her eyes.
Azriel looked around, even though there were only walls surrounding them.
"I should have died before I ever reached the Void Realm, but I cheated death then. When I was in the Void Realm, I eventually found my way here. I cheated death then too. This colosseum had been turned into part of a facility run by Neo Genesis. The only escape from it was dying."
He gave a faint, bitter laugh.
"And even there, I cheated death."
His eyes lowered.
"In a way, this place is where I should have truly died. But I didn’t. I mean, I ripped my own goddamn heart out."
Azriel closed his eyes and let out a small laugh.
"Now, being back here... it feels like this place is reminding me of all the coffins I escaped."
His smile faded.
"And now I’ll get what I deserve."
"...Azriel..."
Letting out a shaky breath, Azriel opened his eyes and looked at Celestina.
"I returned to Earth and found my way back to my family. Honestly, I’m not proud of many of the choices I made after that. I regret so much. I wish I could redo so much..."
Then a gentle, warm smile appeared on his face as he looked at Jasmine.
"But I suppose, despite never learning from my mistakes, despite being given a millionth chance, I am still grateful for the little time I got to spend with my family."
His voice softened.
"My greatest regret is that I should have spent more of it with them. If only I had not been so naive."
Azriel finally stood with a groan and walked toward his sleeping sister. Then he knelt before her.
Celestina followed him with her gaze, biting her lip as she yanked at the chains a few times, clinging to some fleeting hope that they might shatter.
Gently, Azriel took Jasmine by the arms and lifted her enough to see her face.
He wanted to say something.
But he could not bring himself to say it.
So he settled for something else.
He pressed his lips softly to her forehead.
When he pulled back, he whispered,
"...Be well, my dear sister."
"Azriel...!?"
He laid Jasmine down carefully before standing again and looking up at the hole he had jumped down from.
"There’s no point in me staying here with you. There’s a bounty on my head. If I remain here in my current state, it will become too risky for everyone."
He looked at Celestina.
"I’ll trust you to keep my sister safe."
"Azriel! Don’t go! We’re not done yet! Azriel!"
"Your words remind me of the first time we met—how angry you were then, too."
"W-what are you saying...!?"
"It’s alright. You don’t remember."
’Because your mother erased your memory of that day.’
He bent his knees.
A jolt of pain tore through him.
Then Azriel jumped.
He left Celestina behind without a single word of farewell, even as her desperate shouts and the violent rattling of her chains followed him from below.
"Azriel! Azriel! Come back, Azriel! Azriel!"
But her words received no answer.
Because Azriel was already gone.
...Unable, in the end, to say goodbye to either of them.
