The blood moon still watched the once lively battlefield. The palace was completely in rubble.
Ash and snow filled the air, smoke slowly rising.
Bodies lay flat everywhere, all completely still.
Slaves, Iskari, Ashkari. All of them. Blood pooled around their bodies.
The ice pieces that broke from the castle were huge chunks
They all clustered on one side
The air was silent
As if something predatory lingered in the unseen parts
Briefly, a chunk of the ice was pushed outward
It was pushed again
This time it rolled away
Leo leaned upward
His eyes scanned the desolate environment, blood leaking from his forehead.
He turned frantically, searching for the slightest sign of life
No movements
Leo stood up quickly, eyes scanning again
He stepped forward on huge chunks of smooth ice
Some crumbled under his weight, others didn't.
The huge moon reigned above him. Its heat could almost be felt
Maybe it was the environment
Leo cupped his hands
"Autumn!" he shouted.
His words echoed a few times
No answer. Only echoes
He wandered into the melting chunks of ice
"Autumn!" he called again
No answer, only echoes
He cupped his hands to call again, but stopped
Slowly, he froze, eyes locked onto something that made his heart skip a beat
It was a hand, sticking upward with huge chunks of ice covering the rest of their body
Leo walked toward it, body trembling
Each step made his heartbeat unpredictable
He crouched over the hand, gripping the ice chunks that crushed it underneath
He lifted them, looking at the lifeless body
His eyes widened instinctively.
Looking at the ice particles trapped inside their hair
Bruises and a slightly crushed body
Leo's eyes never left the body, but he briefly sighed
It was the guy who apologized to Leo before the palace collapsed
He closed his eyes and knelt
Gripping the chunk of ice that once covered the body
Gently, he covered the body
He stood up again
Not once did anything move. His ears twitched at the slightest sound of crumbling dust
Instantly
Leo jumped over to where the sound originated
He began digging, chunks of rock getting thrown aside quickly
Pretty quickly, he found someone
It wasn't Autumn.
An Iskari guard lay flat below, his legs completely crushed by piles of ice
Relief flickered on his face immediately
Until he saw Leo, his face slowly hardening
He held a chunk of ice between both hands
Slowly, the guard's relief turned into clenched teeth and rage
He aimed his hand directly at Leo
Leo didn't even wait. He could already feel the air getting ice cold.
Quickly, Leo slammed the huge chunk of Ice into the guard.
The sound of crumbling bones rang out
Then silence
Leo sighed, exhaling a little more heavily
The air itself held its breath.
Everywhere around him was destroyed, except farther out.
Where only a tall building stood
Some were destroyed, but not all
Leo began walking toward the path leading to the buildings
He jumped from ice chunks to ice chunks
At times, he was slipping, but he held his balance.
Before he could even exit the ruins
Someone shouted
Leo turned. An Iskari was running toward him.
Not to attack but to escape.
Leo tensed, fist clenched.
The guard didn't even get close. His whole body ignited mid-run.
"Aaaaagh!" he screamed as he fell to the ground, rolling.
The fire didn't even get close to being extinguished
In a matter of seconds, the guard's skin had already melted
The guard stopped moving entirely
Instantly, Leo's breath went silent
Eyes scanning the ruins, but nothing moved
It never does
He could feel it. Someone watching. But where?
Leo never realized it until it surrounded him
Smoke slowly floated around the whole area
Each batch was small and travelling in opposite directions
But they all surrounded Leo
The smoke smelled just like cigarettes
Leo watched as a batch of smoke made contact with a dead body
The dead body was impaled into a house wall by steel
It was an Ashkari
The moment smoke made contact, their body ignited
Quickly burning to a crisp
The smoke surrounding Leo slowly drifted closer
And he couldn't move
He looked up, and even more smoke floated above him.
His breath hitched as he glanced around
A wooden structure just caught fire
Something breathed down the back of Leo's neck
He froze
"Don't move," a voice said.
The moment the person spoke, smoke drifted past Leo's face from behind
Leo couldn't even turn his head
A figure he hadn't heard creeping up from behind earlier began making his way into view.
It was a man. Ginger hair, a calm low gaze, and a cigarette between his lips
Edd
"Ahh," he breathed lazily.
"That figures, you're the other one," he said, smoke exhaling from his lips
"Who— who are you?" Leo asked
Edd didn't answer. Instead, he looked at his hair.
"At least you look mostly normal... The girl doesn't look so well," he muttered
Leo tensed, his body ready to move toward the man
The smoke got closer to Leo as Edd exhaled new ones
Leo hesitated, his body trembling as he stopped moving at an awkward angle.
"What did you do to her!?" Leo shouted
Edd didn't answer
"Where is she!? Where is Thomas? Where are they!?" he asked quickly
Edd took the cigarette from his mouth
"Relax, the war is over," Edd answered
He looked at his cigarette, briefly igniting it with his finger, then he noticed.
A slight sniffle from Leo. There were no tears at his eyes, though.
Leo's gaze fell to the ground
"You know... I've hurt them a lot before," he said
"But I've never actually said sorry," Leo said, squeezing his fists together
"I just... don't know how," he muttered, voice low.
Leo raised his head, looking at Edd.
"Just tell me, are my friends alive?"
Edd's reaction remained the same as before
His calm gaze locked onto Leo's wandering face
"I see..." he muttered. "Well, you're gonna be disappointed."
The smoke surrounding Leo began to disperse
"What?" Leo asked
"I suggest you leave now," Edd said. "To wherever you came from."
"What?" Leo asked again "What do you mean I'll be disappointed!?" Leo shouted.
Edd didn't answer
"I suggest you leave..." he said again
"What the fuck do you mean!?" Leo shouted while getting closer
But then
Another voice rang out
"Oi! Edd! We got a runner!"
Both Leo and Edd turned
An Iskari guard was running toward them, heavy breaths escaping his lips
Eyes wide
Behind him, a group chased.
Len, Kado and the rest
The Iskari running didn't even notice when smoke came into contact with his skin
"Waaaagh!" he screamed as he fell
The flames spread over his body as if he was doused in oil
He rolled on the ground as the flames ate him alive
The chasing man slowed to a halt
"Nice one!" Len shouted
Suddenly, their gazes fell on Leo.
Silence
"Yo, who's that?" Craig asked
Kado's eyes widened in recognition
"The outsider," Edd answered, taking out a new cigarette
But Leo didn't even realize they were talking about him
He was busy looking farther behind them
Something made his body tremble again
Edd followed his gaze
It was Sato
Walking calmly toward them, an octagon-shaped object resting between his hands
It looked crystalline, like the ember Leo was forced to dig up in the cave
The same blue and Red colors, split in half
But Leo was looking at what was inside the object
It was Thomas
Frozen completely inside with a face of pure shock
Eyes wide, while half his face morphed with a beast
Marquez was on the blue side of the object
He had a similar reaction to Thomas
Sato locked eyes with Leo as he slowly walked toward them
Leo's breathing changed, as if its natural rhythm was broken
"I told you to leave.." Edd calmly whispered
But Leo didn't hear
End