Chapter 316 — The Distance Between Them
By morning, Brook has stopped looking back.
The road stretches beneath a pale sky, wet from rain that fell sometime during the night. The stones are slick, the grass on either side heavy with water, and mist hangs low between the trees.
The group moves quietly.
No one has called it a formation, but they have fallen into one anyway.
Crowley at the rear.
Gabriel near the middle.
Sera and Henry together.
Hutena close enough that Henry can reach her if something happens.
Athena several yards to the side.
And Brook at the front.
He has been there since they left the bridge.
Nobody asked him to lead.
Nobody told him to stop.
Crowley watches his back.
Brook walks without hesitation.
He does not look at the trees.
He does not check the road behind them.
He does not glance toward the others.
He simply keeps moving.
Henry notices first.
"He's doing it again."
Sera looks over.
"Doing what?"
"Walking like he's being chased."
"He is being chased."
"That's not what I mean."
Sera looks toward Brook.
Henry lowers his voice.
"He used to check on us."
Sera doesn't answer.
"He'd look back."
"I know."
"He doesn't anymore."
Sera watches Brook for several seconds.
"No."
Henry rubs the back of his neck.
"I don't like it."
"Neither do I."
Athena hears them.
She doesn't turn.
"Then keep up."
Henry looks at her.
"That was comforting."
Athena continues walking.
Sera almost smiles.
Almost.
Then Brook stops.
The entire group stops with him.
He stands in the middle of the road.
There is a body ahead.
A man.
Dead.
Face down.
Brook approaches.
Crowley moves faster.
"Wait."
Brook stops.
Crowley kneels beside the body.
He turns it over.
A soldier.
Young.
Maybe twenty.
A broken insignia is attached to his belt.
Heaven.
Gabriel comes forward.
He examines the corpse.
"No wounds."
Sera looks closer.
"There is blood."
"Not from a weapon."
Gabriel touches the man's neck.
"Internal."
Henry swallows.
"What killed him?"
Gabriel looks at Brook.
"I don't know."
Brook crouches.
He studies the dead man's face.
There is fear frozen there.
Not pain.
Fear.
Brook reaches toward him.
Crowley catches his wrist.
"Don't."
Brook looks at him.
"Why?"
"Because we don't know what happened."
Brook looks at the body.
Then at Crowley.
"He's dead."
"Yes."
"So it doesn't matter."
Crowley's expression hardens.
"It matters."
Brook's eyes remain on him.
For a moment, neither moves.
Then Crowley releases his wrist.
Brook stands.
He walks past the body.
Henry looks at Sera.
Sera looks at Crowley.
Nobody speaks.
They continue.
The body remains behind them.
Brook does not look back.
They reach a narrow valley before noon.
The road disappears between two rock walls.
Athena stops.
She raises one hand.
"Wait."
Brook stops.
The others gather.
Athena studies the cliffside.
"Tracks."
Crowley moves toward her.
"How many?"
"Six."
Gabriel looks upward.
"Could be scouts."
"Could be more."
Henry looks around.
"Can we go around?"
Athena points behind them.
"Three hours."
Brook looks ahead.
"Too long."
Crowley turns toward him.
"We don't know what's ahead."
"We know what's behind."
Crowley studies him.
Brook's voice remains flat.
"They'll catch us."
Sera watches him.
There is no fear in his voice.
No urgency.
Just calculation.
Crowley nods.
"We go through."
Athena looks at Brook.
"You're certain?"
"Yes."
She studies him.
Then nods.
"Fine."
They enter the valley.
The walls close around them.
Every footstep echoes.
Henry keeps his hand near his weapon.
Hutena holds the Book of Future against her chest.
She has not opened it.
Not once.
Brook notices.
"You're carrying it differently."
Hutena looks at him.
"What?"
"You used to hold it like you were afraid of dropping it."
She looks down.
"And now?"
"Like you're afraid of opening it."
Hutena's fingers tighten.
"I am."
Brook looks forward.
"Good."
She blinks.
"Good?"
"You should be."
He keeps walking.
Hutena watches him.
Henry whispers, "What does that mean?"
She shakes her head.
"I don't know."
The attack comes from above.
A stone crashes into the road.
Gabriel moves first.
"Down!"
Arrows rain from the cliffs.
The group scatters.
Brook rolls behind a rock.
An arrow strikes the ground where his head had been.
He pulls it free.
He looks at the arrowhead.
Heaven.
He stands.
The Devil's Instinct moves through him.
The nearest attacker is forty feet above.
Brook could reach him.
Michael's pressure rises.
A marked place would be needed.
There is no mark.
No teleport.
Brook starts climbing.
Sera shouts.
"Brook!"
He doesn't stop.
The cliff is steep.
Loose rock gives way beneath his hands.
He keeps climbing.
A soldier leans over the edge and fires.
Brook moves aside.
The arrow tears through his sleeve.
He keeps climbing.
The soldier drops the bow.
He reaches for a sword.
Brook reaches the ledge.
The soldier swings.
Brook ducks.
The blade catches the rock.
Brook drives his elbow into the man's ribs.
The soldier stumbles.
Brook grabs him.
The soldier looks terrified.
"Wait."
Brook pauses.
The soldier raises both hands.
"I don't want to fight."
Brook studies him.
"You attacked us."
"I was ordered."
"By who?"
The soldier hesitates.
Brook's hand tightens around his collar.
"Who?"
"Joshua's command."
Brook's eyes narrow.
The soldier continues.
"He wants you alive."
Brook's expression doesn't change.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"Who told you?"
"A captain."
"Where is he?"
The soldier points toward the ridge.
Brook looks.
Three more soldiers appear.
The man beneath Brook whispers, "Please."
Brook looks at him.
Then at the soldiers.
One of them shouts.
"Release him!"
Brook looks back.
The clean answer appears.
The soldier beneath him is vulnerable.
The others are watching.
One movement.
One broken neck.
Then the others hesitate.
Brook feels the familiar pressure.
Let me.
His fingers tighten.
Then loosen.
He lets the soldier go.
The man falls backward.
Brook turns.
The first soldier reaches him.
Brook blocks the sword.
The second attacks.
Brook ducks.
The third fires an arrow.
Brook catches the first soldier by the armor and pulls him into the arrow's path.
The arrow strikes his shoulder.
The soldier screams.
Brook releases him.
He kicks the second soldier over the edge.
The man falls onto a lower shelf of rock.
He survives.
The third soldier retreats.
Brook follows.
The soldier runs.
Brook catches him before he reaches the ridge.
He grabs the back of his armor and throws him against the stone.
The man gasps.
Brook presses his forearm against his throat.
"Where is your captain?"
The soldier struggles.
Brook increases the pressure.
"Where?"
"Lower road."
Brook releases him.
The soldier collapses.
Brook looks down.
"Leave."
The man stares.
Brook turns away.
He walks back toward the ledge.
The soldier doesn't move.
Below, the fight is already ending.
Gabriel has disarmed two soldiers.
Athena has dropped another with a controlled lightning strike.
Sera has bound one man's legs with a Word.
Henry is standing over another.
Hutena is unharmed.
Crowley has blood on his coat.
Brook reaches the bottom.
Crowley looks at him.
"You climbed."
"Yes."
"You could've waited."
Brook wipes blood from his cheek.
"We didn't have time."
Crowley looks at the wound on Brook's shoulder.
"You're bleeding."
"I know."
Crowley sighs.
"Of course you do."
Brook looks at the soldiers.
"Any of them know where the captain is?"
Gabriel answers.
"No."
Brook points upward.
"One does."
Crowley looks at the ridge.
"Alive?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Brook looks at him.
"He ran."
Crowley understands.
He turns toward the others.
"We move."
Sera approaches Brook.
"Your shoulder."
"Later."
"Now."
Brook looks at her.
Sera holds his gaze.
"Sit."
Brook sits.
She cuts away the torn fabric.
The wound is shallow.
But deep enough to bleed.
Sera cleans it.
Brook doesn't flinch.
Henry watches.
"You should at least pretend that hurts."
"It does."
"You don't look like it."
Brook looks at him.
"Does that matter?"
Henry opens his mouth.
Then closes it.
Sera ties the bandage.
"You're becoming difficult."
Brook looks at her.
"I've always been difficult."
"Not like this."
Brook doesn't answer.
Sera studies his face.
"You're angry."
"Yes."
"Who at?"
Brook looks toward the ridge.
"Everyone."
Sera's hands stop.
Brook looks at her.
She doesn't ask another question.
She finishes the bandage.
They leave the valley.
By late afternoon, the landscape opens.
There is a settlement in the distance.
Smoke rises from several chimneys.
People are there.
Real people.
Brook slows.
Crowley notices.
"What?"
Brook looks at the settlement.
"Nothing."
"That's not nothing."
Brook doesn't answer.
They continue.
The settlement has a wooden gate.
Two guards stand outside.
They raise their weapons when Xcution approaches.
"Stop."
Crowley stops.
Brook keeps walking.
Crowley catches his shoulder.
"Wait."
Brook looks at him.
Crowley nods toward the guards.
"Let me."
Brook steps aside.
Crowley approaches.
"We need food and shelter."
The guards look over the group.
"No trouble."
Crowley nods.
"We're not looking for any."
One guard looks at Brook.
"Is he with you?"
Crowley says, "Yes."
The guard looks uneasy.
"What's his name?"
Crowley doesn't answer.
Brook does.
"Brook."
The guard's face changes.
He looks at the other guard.
"Open the gate."
The other guard hesitates.
"Now."
The gate opens.
Brook notices.
So does Crowley.
They enter.
People watch from windows.
Children stop playing.
A woman pulls her son closer.
A man closes his shop door.
Brook walks through the center of the settlement.
He doesn't react.
Henry does.
"This is getting old."
Sera glances at him.
"What?"
"People looking at him like that."
Brook hears.
He doesn't turn.
"Let them."
Henry looks at him.
"You don't care?"
Brook continues walking.
"No."
The answer is so immediate that Henry stops.
Sera looks at Brook.
Athena watches him from several steps away.
Gabriel does too.
Crowley says nothing.
They find an abandoned building near the edge of town.
It has a roof.
Four walls.
A door.
That's enough.
Henry sets down his bag.
"Luxury."
Sera looks around.
"Don't get excited."
"There are walls."
"There are holes in them."
"Still walls."
Brook stands near the window.
He looks outside.
A child is watching him from across the street.
Brook looks back.
The child doesn't run.
Brook doesn't smile.
After a moment, the child's mother pulls him away.
Brook turns from the window.
Henry watches him.
"You used to smile at kids."
Brook looks at him.
"Did I?"
Henry nods.
"Sometimes."
Brook looks back toward the window.
"I don't remember."
Henry's face falls.
Sera sees it.
She walks toward Brook.
"You remember."
Brook looks at her.
"Yes."
"Then why say you don't?"
"Because I don't want to."
Sera doesn't respond.
Brook walks away.
Night comes.
The settlement becomes quiet.
Too quiet.
Crowley sits near the door.
Gabriel stands beside the window.
Athena remains outside.
Henry sleeps.
Hutena lies with the Book of Future beneath her arm.
Sera writes.
Brook sits alone in the corner.
He has been silent for nearly an hour.
Sera finally closes her notebook.
"You're doing it again."
Brook looks at her.
"What?"
"Leaving."
"I haven't moved."
"Not physically."
Brook says nothing.
Sera stands.
She walks over.
"You don't have to shut everyone out."
Brook looks at her.
"I'm not."
"You are."
"No."
"You barely spoke today."
"I spoke."
"That's not the same thing."
Brook's expression remains blank.
Sera studies him.
"You're angry with Crowley."
"No."
"You're angry with Silvet."
"Yes."
"You're angry with your parents."
Brook's eyes change.
Only slightly.
Sera notices.
"Maybe."
"You're angry with yourself."
Brook looks away.
She waits.
He doesn't answer.
Sera sits beside him.
"You don't have to carry all of it."
Brook looks at her.
"Someone has to."
"No."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because everyone else keeps trying to make it smaller."
Sera's expression tightens.
"I'm not."
"You are."
"When?"
"When you say I don't have to talk about it."
Sera looks down.
Brook continues.
"When Crowley says not here. When Gabriel says later. When Henry changes the subject."
Henry opens one eye from across the room.
"I do that."
Sera looks at him.
"Go back to sleep."
Henry closes his eye.
Brook looks toward the door.
"I don't want smaller."
Sera says quietly, "Then what do you want?"
Brook thinks.
"I want it to hurt."
Sera looks at him.
Brook's voice remains calm.
"If it stops hurting, I'll forget why I'm angry."
Sera doesn't know what to say.
Brook stands.
"I need air."
He walks outside.
Sera watches him leave.
Crowley watches too.
Brook stands alone beneath the night sky.
Athena is farther down the road.
She notices him.
Neither speaks.
The settlement behind them is quiet.
Brook looks upward.
No stars.
He thinks about his parents.
He tries to remember Elena's voice.
He can.
Adrian's face.
He can.
The child on the table.
He can.
The fire.
He can.
Silvet's hands.
He can.
The Maker's face.
He can.
Everything remains.
Nothing has faded.
That should make him feel better.
It doesn't.
He hears footsteps.
Crowley.
Brook doesn't turn.
"You should sleep."
"You already said that."
"I know."
Brook looks toward the road.
Crowley stops beside him.
"You're angry."
"Yes."
"You're allowed."
Brook looks at him.
"That's what Sera said."
"She was right."
"Probably."
Crowley studies him.
"You think I should have told you."
"Yes."
"I know."
Brook's jaw tightens.
"Stop saying that."
Crowley nods.
"All right."
Silence.
Brook finally asks, "Why did you leave them?"
Crowley's face changes.
"I didn't."
"You left after they died."
"Yes."
"You carried me away."
"Yes."
"You left their bodies."
Crowley looks at the road.
"I had to."
"Why?"
"The Maker was still there."
Brook looks at him.
Crowley continues.
"I couldn't protect you and stay."
Brook's expression remains cold.
"You chose me."
"Yes."
"Over them."
Crowley doesn't answer.
Brook looks away.
Crowley says, "They were already gone."
Brook closes his eyes.
"I know."
Crowley watches him.
"But I wasn't."
Brook opens his eyes.
Crowley continues.
"That was the choice they gave me."
Brook looks at him.
"Did you ever regret it?"
Crowley doesn't answer immediately.
"Yes."
Brook's face remains still.
"Every day?"
Crowley looks toward him.
"No."
Brook waits.
"I regretted that I couldn't save them."
Crowley turns away.
"I never regretted saving you."
Brook looks at him.
For the first time that night, something moves behind his eyes.
Not warmth.
Something harder.
He nods once.
"Okay."
Crowley waits.
Brook walks away.
Crowley doesn't stop him.
The attack begins at midnight.
No warning.
No shout.
The eastern wall of the settlement explodes inward.
Wood and stone fly across the street.
People scream.
Brook is awake before the others.
He is already standing when Gabriel enters.
"Wake everyone."
Brook grabs his weapon.
"What is it?"
"Heaven."
Crowley appears behind Gabriel.
"And Hell."
Brook looks toward the doorway.
Firelight flickers across the street.
People are running.
The settlement is under attack from both sides.
Brook walks outside.
A Heaven soldier lands in front of him.
"Brook Smith."
Brook stops.
The soldier raises his weapon.
"You are ordered to surrender."
Brook looks at him.
"No."
The soldier attacks.
Brook blocks.
The impact drives him backward.
He counterattacks.
The soldier is trained.
Brook takes a cut across his cheek.
He doesn't react.
The soldier swings again.
Brook ducks.
He drives his elbow into the man's throat.
The soldier falls.
Brook stands over him.
The man's hand reaches for his weapon.
Brook kicks it away.
"Stay down."
The soldier looks up.
"Monster."
Brook's eyes remain cold.
"Maybe."
He walks away.
Behind him, the soldier remains alive.
Gabriel fights three at once.
Athena tears through a line of Hell soldiers with lightning.
Sera's Words crack across the street.
Henry drags civilians toward cover.
Crowley fights at the gate.
The settlement burns around them.
Brook sees a Hell scout running toward a group of civilians.
He intercepts him.
The scout swings.
Brook catches the weapon.
The Devil's Instinct surges.
Kill.
Brook's hand moves toward the man's throat.
He stops.
The scout looks terrified.
Brook throws him aside.
"Run."
The scout stares.
"Run."
The man runs.
Brook turns.
A Heaven captain is standing behind him.
The captain raises a sword.
Brook doesn't turn in time.
Gabriel's shield catches it.
The captain is thrown backward.
Gabriel looks at Brook.
"You're getting slow."
Brook looks at him.
"No."
Gabriel studies him.
"You hesitated."
"I chose."
Gabriel says nothing.
Brook turns away.
He walks toward the next fight.
The battle lasts nineteen minutes.
When it ends, the settlement is still standing.
Barely.
The attackers retreat.
Some are dead.
Some are wounded.
Some are gone.
Brook stands in the middle of the street.
Blood covers his hands.
Most of it isn't his.
A woman runs past him carrying a child.
She doesn't look at him.
A man drags an injured soldier away.
Brook watches.
Sera approaches.
"You're bleeding."
He looks down.
A cut across his forearm.
"It's nothing."
She takes his arm.
"Sit."
Brook lets her.
She wraps it.
"You spared three."
Brook looks at her.
She continues.
"The Heaven soldier. The Hell scout. The captain."
"I didn't count."
"I did."
Brook looks away.
Sera tightens the bandage.
"That's still you."
Brook's expression changes.
"Don't."
She stops.
"Don't what?"
"Say that."
Sera looks at him.
"Why?"
Brook looks toward the burning edge of town.
"Because I don't know if it is."
Sera doesn't answer.
She finishes the bandage.
Brook stands.
He walks away.
Sera remains behind.
Crowley sees her.
He doesn't ask.
He already knows.
Before dawn, they leave the settlement.
The survivors stand at the gate.
Nobody thanks them.
Nobody asks their names.
They simply watch.
Brook walks first.
This time, nobody tries to stop him.
Henry walks beside Sera.
Gabriel follows.
Athena keeps her distance.
Hutena holds the Book of Future.
Crowley remains last.
As the settlement disappears behind them, Brook looks ahead.
The road is empty.
For now.
He doesn't know where it leads.
He doesn't know what waits.
He doesn't know how much of himself will remain by the time they reach it.
But he knows one thing.
He is no longer walking because he hopes the road ends somewhere safe.
He is walking because something is waiting at the end.
And if it comes for him again, he will meet it.
Not with anger.
Not with fear.
Not with the person he used to be.
With whatever remains.
End of Chapter 316