High above the mountains, down below the valleys sprung the wilderness, the thick green pastures spread across the area, not a single human was in sight, it was an unlimited view of pastures. Although even as it was a pleasing sight, it was scary, the silence was disheartening, the atmosphere was gloomy, and melancholic. Wild animals cried, birds, live stocks and unknown species wandered. Trees were sprung higher than mountains, it leaves covered hundreds of meters around it. It was between two mountains below that 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜, 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 and 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 rested, after days of walking, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 fell to the wall lifelessly as he gazed above the mountains to the lonely cloud that stood in between the view of the mountains. The rest of them sat as 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 walked towards 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 and handed him a fruit he plucked a while back, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 turned his gaze away from him, refusing the offer.
"The kid doesn't wanna eat, let him be" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 spoke
"He hasn't eaten for days now, if he keeps going on like this, he's gonna die" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 claimed
"He also hasn't uttered a single word since that day" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 added
"What do we do? " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 asked
"There's nothing we can do, if the kid wishes to live, he will, if he doesn't desire it, he won't. But dare i ask; how shall you have your revenge in the realm of the dead? " 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 voiced, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 ignored. 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 sighed then sat and rested his back on a tree. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 unwillingly closed his eyes, he has been avoiding sleep for days but now it caught him unaware. He saw himself standing on the edge of the mountain, he looked down and saw nothing but a very high fall, he quickly shifted back in fear when he heard his name;
"𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊"
He looked back swiftly and saw a man, standing in the dark, he asked;
"Who is there?, show yourself "
The strange man walked out of the darkness and there was a beast, feasting on his head, half of his head was already eaten, and the beast continued to feast on it. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was frightened, fell to ground and started crawling away from him, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 looked back and the man was there no more, then he felt something in front of him, and he slowly turned, then he saw the man and beast abruptly, he was startled, about to get up and run when the man caught him, even though his head was still getting eaten. The man drew his head closer to 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊, and the beast looked at 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 and started gnashing his teeth, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was scared out of his mind and screamed. Then he brushed awake, immediately checking himself, his heart was breathing rapidly, he held his chest, he was panting and seriously sweating. It was already nighttime and when he looked around him, everybody was asleep, except 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 who was taking night's watch. 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 has been watching him, he then said;
"Still can't sleep huh? " , 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 didn't respond, as he stood and walked outside the space they were in , sat on the grass, starring directly into the moon, he completely froze and stared deeply into the moon, moving his head slowly, as the moon started to change form and suddenly it formed the head of the beast as it gnashed it's teeth, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 flung from the grass in fright as he screamed and felt a touch on his arm, he was suddenly startled and he vibrated.
"Calm down kid, it's me"
𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 looked, and it was 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗, he was breathing heavy, then looked at the moon and it was back to it's normal form.
"Take a deep breath" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 said as 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 started breathing slowly.
"Yet another nightmare, you weren't even sleeping this time" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 said as he shook his head. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 abruptly removed his arms from 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗's hands. He cleaned his face and lowered his gaze.
"Well, since you can't sleep, you might as well take night's watch, put your nightmares into good use" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 said as he patted him and walked back to the space.
𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 looked around him and in his mind he thought;
"Where do i go from here? , what do i do from here? , i find myself surviving the wilderness with the man who put me here and i can do nothing about it. I watched my whole burn but couldn't do nothing about it, now everything despises me, even the moon won't shine his light upon me, everything has become ashamed and disgusted of me. " as he was thinking, he saw a squirrel, he smiled and stretch his hands to pet it but it ran, the smiled ran with it and this fueled his thoughts even more, he lowered his gaze and when he rose up again, the day snapped, it was morning. He was surprised and then he realized the feeling that the morning sun wasn't shinning on him, even though it shined everywhere else, he felt as if he was still in the dark.
"𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 called, standing beside him, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 looked, and saw 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜, also saw the sunlight beaming down on his face. This made him even more sad and he looked away, he felt because since 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 could stand and fight as everything burned, nature and everything that hates him loves 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 .
𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 sat down with him and said ;
"You know, i had a dream last night... " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was interested and turned to him to listen.
"..... I saw my mother and my father, holding a baby which I'm guessing was me and they said to me 'come home safe-"
𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 stood up immediately and walked away, he felt like this dream was a good one unlike his and this was even a confirmation to his superstitions. 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 was shocked and he just sat there. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 kept walking and saw 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 and 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 talking, he turned and continue walking, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 noticed this and asked;
"Are you good? "
𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said nothing and suddenly started running, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 was shocked and ran after him
"𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 stop, what the fuck are you doing? " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said as he run after him. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 ran faster, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 wasn't close enough to catch him then suddenly, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 jumped out of nowhere and caught him as they both fell to floor. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was struggling, from his point of view, everybody around him was a beast.
"𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 stop, it's me, it's me, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜, you're safe, you're safe" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 assured as 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊's vision started to clear up and he saw that it was 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜, looked to other side and the beast became 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗, then he exhaled heavily and freed his whole body to the floor.
Moments later, they had resumed their travel through the unknown to the unknown, everywhere they reached was identical to everywhere they've passed, there were no beginnings and no endings, but they just had to keep moving. They had no thick clothing or even a cloak to cover when there was cold, they only covered with a bunch of leaves sticked together when there was rain but it really didn't make a lot of difference. They survived by fruits, herbs and leaves, thanks to 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗's knowledge as a farmer. 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 lead the way, creating parts with his sword, 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 tells him the way, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was behind 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 then 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 behind to watch their backs.
"What's happening to you 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊? " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 asked , 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said nothing.
"𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 say something, you haven't said anything for days, can you even speak?" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 questioned
"I can but what is there to speak about? " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 responded, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 hesitated and asked;
"Are you hallucinating? "
"Maybe, I can't tell which one is real"
"You just have to realize you're safe now or rather, safer than before" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 suggested
"Being safer doesn't change anything, certainly not the past, it only makes you feel death is far away even though it isn't, it's always creeping, closer than you expect" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 uttered, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 was shocked this was 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 speaking, 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 and 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 who just started listening was surprised too. Silenced grossed in their midst before 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 broke it;
"What the fuck are you talking about? "
𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 scoffed and 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 remained silent. 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 walked in front of 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 and stopped everyone, facing them, they were confused then he spoke;
"Yes, the past does not change, it is what you do with the future, and how you prepare for it in the present that truly matters. I cannot undo the things i have done that brought this wilderness upon us but it's what i do now to create a future that will matters. You all must survive, my mistakes has been inherited by you to fix, i have reached the point of not knowing what to do next. There has never been a time where I knew not the next thing to do, it always fell into place and I knew then that the time i know not what to do will be my end..... "
They were all confused.
"Why are you telling us this? " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 asked
"I'm telling you this because i want you all to live no matter what evil we face in this wilderness. I want you all to know you have a purpose and this wilderness is nothing but a test to buckle you up for that purpose-"
"Uncle, what are you saying? " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 pressed
"Shut up 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 said and as he was about to keep speaking, a huge shadow appeared behind him. He saw their eyes tear open, and 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 pointing behind him, before he could turn, he was hit and he flew, made hard contact with a tree, leaving him unconscious.
"Uncleee!!! " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 yelled. It was a giant spider that resides in the wilderness, it screamed, and hot saliver come out of it's mouth and burned down what ever it touched, they were frightened, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 quickly drew his sword, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 drew too, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 just stood there starring at it's face and it took different form. It looked so real this time, the face took the form of the beasts, he shook his head and when he looked again, it took form of 𝙳𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚜, then it formed 𝙽𝚢𝚡𝚊𝚛𝚊'𝚜 face. It kept changing faces and it got faster, it changed faces in a flash, it was such an unpleasant and disgusting sight, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 held his head, bent , started screaming and vibrating. Meanwhile 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 and 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 were fighting the spider, the spider's legs were long and sharp and he attacked them with it. The spider aimed it's leg at 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 , he pivoted and before he could balance, the spider aimed another one at him, he fell and luckily for him the leg just landed a little in between his legs, he was frightened and before the spider could raise it's leg and hit him, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 on the other side, cut through one of it's legs, it screeched, giving 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 enough time to move away. The spider immediately aimed three legs at 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 at once, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 shifted back to dodge one, swiftly shifted forward to dodge the other one and then jumped to the side to avoid the third one, he then looked at 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 and they both nodded. 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 then ran towards it, the legs were attacking him as he ran, he then ran on the tree, first step, the spider's leg took a step with him, piercing the tree. Second step, the spider took another step, Third step, as the third step from the spider got closer, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 flung himself off the tree, landing on the spider's leg as he quickly ran towards the spider and he jumped, the spider aimed at him, he twisted himself mid air, barely escaping but this made him missed the target, because he was originally moving for the head. Eventually he prepared his sword and stabbed the spider, on it's back just behind the head, the spider screeched and suddenly aimed his leg at 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 , who was still bending, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 couldn't do anything from up there, so he quickly yelled;
"𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗!!!! "
𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 who was about to stab the spider from under quickly noticed and ran as fast as he could, jumped and dived 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 away from the spot as they both turned over each other. The spider then waved 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 away from itself, he landed on the floor, still with his sword.
𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 stood up, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 stood up furious at 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 for ruining his chance at stabbing the spider but he didn't have the time to quarrel. 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 charged, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 charged, dodging the spider's legs, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 kept his sword and grabbed one it's legs, it swung the leg around but 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 held tight with all his strength, it then swung the leg upwards which 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 finally let go, because as he flew upwards and as he falls back, he fell to the direction of the spider, he quickly drew his sword and prepared to attack. Meanwhile 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 has been dodging it's legs, making his way under the spider. Four of spider's legs was aimed at him and then in a spur, he launched himself hard and the spider's leg standing landing behind him, one by one and the last on was coming in his direction, he prepared his sword to block it, it made contact with sword and broke it as he landed, but that gave him just enough time to roll away from the leg. He then stood up furiously and ran underneath the spider and jumped. As 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 sword landed on the spider's head from above, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 halved sword stabbed it from below and from there they continue stabbing, the spider started screeching, the hot saliver spread everywhere, melting anything it touched. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 quickly ran behind a tree to hide. After minutes of continues stabbing and screeching, the spider finally losed strength and started falling, while 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 was still under. 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 quickly climbed down to find 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗.
"𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗" he yelled, no response. He started trying to raise part of the spider up.
"Ohhh, strong pull you got there son" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 suddenly said from behind him, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 looked back and saw him, fell off relief as he exhaled heavily and then smiled, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 smiled too and offered him a hand, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 accepted and he dragged him up.
"Go get your kid, I'm gonna go look for my uncle " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 suggested, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 nodded and 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 walked away. 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 started looking around for 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊.
"𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊, where are you? " he started calling. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 crawled out from behind a tree, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 was relieved
"Are you hurt? " he asked
"Physically?, no" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 answered
"Thank goodness" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 said with a sigh
"Still got that fruit with you? " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 asked, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 was surprised and said;
"Uhhh, yeah, sure"
"Toss it... " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 requested, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 tossed it, he caught it and ate.
"What happened to you?, why'd you wanna eat all of a sudden? " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 asked
"I need food if i want to get my revenge" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 claimed, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 was still surprised but nodded in agreement.
"I need to exact my revenge on them, all of them, on 𝚁𝚘𝚖𝚎, the Emperor, on 𝙰𝚜𝚕𝚛𝚘𝚗 and i can't do that by chirping around, i need to get stronger " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 voiced, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 sighed, happy that he's finally seeing it.
"I realized this when i saw him, his betrayal might have hurt me the most, i must be ready to face him" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 continued. 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 was confused and asked
"Who?"
"The guy from the bar....ohh right, you don't know him, i met him the day i met 𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚎...." 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊, realized something, exhaled and continued;
".... Right, that's not even her real name. How brutal is that?, thinking you were in love with someone but you didn't even know her real name, and she was using you as a plot to ruin your whole life and there i was actually thinking she was in love with me "
𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 patted him on his shoulder and said ;
"It's okay 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊, we'll find them and make them pay"
"Will that even be enough?... " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 asked
"No, I'm afraid, it won't... " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 said , 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 sighed.
".....but it's better than doing nothing, we have to draw out of them answers and the other side of the story. If there's one i learned from 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗's story is that nobody is born evil but still, we shall avenge our fathers, take back 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚎 and make you King" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 proclaimed
"I don't care about 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗's story, the only thing i want now is revenge, they must pay for everything they've caused me. Please 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜, make me stronger, I'm done running away , make me a soldier " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said, looking deep into 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 with all seriousness that it even startled him.
"Hey, hey, relax...I'm glad you want to fight but becoming strong might not be as easy as you think it is" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 claimed
"I don't care, no matter how hard it is and no matter what it is takes, I must become strong, strong enough to slay all my enemies, the 𝚁𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚜, i shall slay every 𝚁𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 -"
"𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊! " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 interrupted, scared of not just words he was saying but his face when he was saying it.
"What is it 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜? "
"Nothing. alright , let's get up and find the others" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 said as they both got up and started walking, when they saw 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 getting carried by 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗
"Is he okay? " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 asked, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 had a strange smirk on his face, which startled both of them a little.
"I'm fine " 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 said
"Damn, how'd you survive that? " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 asked with the smirk still on his face, everyone was somewhat surprised, then 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 asked;
"Is he...okay? "
"I think so" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 replied
"I'm fine , shut up" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said. Everywhere became silent for a moment then 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 asked;
"Any broken bones, or....i don't know, maybe-"
"I'm okay, just a fractured rib" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 replied
"Just?, stop tryna look uncle, you're a little too old for that"
"Shut up, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗", they all chuckled except 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 who was still smirking.
𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was trying to sleep when he heard some rustling sound , he opened his eyes and stood up, looked for where the sound was coming from, then he looked at a bush part, the sound was coming from there. He slowly crept close to the bush and slowly stretch his hand to open it but before he did something abruptly ran out, he was frightened then shifted back and looked away but when he looked back it was the same squirrel he saw the other day. The squirrel started running and he followed it, the squirrel climbed a hill and he climbed with it, when the squirrel got to a dead end, he turned and look at 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊.
"You wimp, running with a squirrel like a pathetic little bitch"
He looked around and nobody was there, then he slowly looked back at the squirrel and realized it was it talking, he suddenly fell to ground from fright and started crawling back.
"Now you're running from a squirrel" it said and it started taking another form and 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊's eyes tore open. To his greatest surprise, he saw himself, standing over him with a strange smirk on his face.
"Who the hell are you, why do you look like me? " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said shivering from fear.
"You're even dumber than i thought, I am you, you stupid wimp"
"But.....how? " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 asked
"You don't worry little fairy, I'll get our revenge for us" it said as it drew closer to him, he screamed and then his eyes opened, and he saw a mouth of snake in front of his face and the scream increase. Then the snake was pulled away and he heard laughs. It was 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 trying to scare him, they were looking at him and laughing.
"It's like waking up from a nightmare to a nightmare" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said as he took the dead snake to the fire to roast , they laughed. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was speechless, felt weird, 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 noticed the uneasiness.
"Hey get up, time to train, you wanna get stronger right?, it's almost sunrise, let's go" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 offered, smiling.
"Train? " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 asked, confused
"Yeah, you wanna become strong right?, it begins from here" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 added, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was still confused.
"Look at you, you're finally coming to your senses, finally deciding to become strong" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said to 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 , 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 became more confused and he then said;
"I....i did not...say that"
"What? " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 said, in disbelief
"I fuckin knew it, there's no way he's gonna make that decision"
"Shut up 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 interrupted
"But you said that to me, yesterday" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 claimed, confused too
"I don't remember saying that, sorry" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said as he stood up and left, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 followed him. When 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 got to where he was sitted, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 saw him touching his stomach and then he asked;
"Why don't i feel hungry, i haven't eaten in days"
This was when 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 freaked out and asked
"What are you saying 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊, you took that fruit from me last night "
"Ohhh..... " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 expressed, and quickly admitted to de-escalate the situation, saying
"....yes, I remember"
𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 was still worried and sat with him.
"So....you don't wanna train? " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 asked , 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 shook his head.
"Hmmmm.....you looked so certain yesterday"
"What difference does it make?, I still won't be able to face them, it's pointless to train" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said
"So what's gonna happen now?, you're just gonna let them get away with it? "
"𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 , what can we do?, against the whole 𝚁𝚘𝚖𝚎, just the two of us, what can we do against 𝙰𝚜𝚕𝚛𝚘𝚗 who might now be the King of 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚎 , what can the two of us do against two mighty kingdoms. It's pointless 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜"
𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 shocked how different he's speaking now from the day before.
"So we just do nothing? " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 asked
"Yes, the earth hates me anyways, nothing I'll do will work, just let me live the rest of my life in this misery, it is what i deserve" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 responded, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 snapped and hit him, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 lowered his gaze and when he raised his head to look at 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 , 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 saw a smirk on one side of his face and sadness on the other, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 was startled, but he maintained himself and said
"Is this what your father died for?, you're not even gonna try fighting for his throne?. What about your sister and your mother, what happens to them"
The smirk disappeared and 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 turned his head to the other side, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 got mad, disappointed and walked away meanwhile tears fell from 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊's eyes and he was there till dawn in that frozen state and he slipped up and allowed his eyes close.
It was dark and silent, he could see nothing but darkness, hear nothing but silence. He tried talking but nothing came out, he tried running but it didn't feel like he was moving, then suddenly light appeared in a single part in front of him, like a stage light. A man with lowered gaze ran into the light, and slowly started raising his head and 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 saw his face rottened, warms swarming out of his face in thousands , 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was shocked and then light started appearing in different places with the same faces appearing everywhere and suddenly they became the soldiers that was getting eaten in 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚋𝚛 , fire burning everywhere, he saw himself in that battle again, he held his head and suddenly saw someone kneeling and crying, he walked to the person, touched him and the person was him on that day and suddenly his point of view switched to that version of him and he saw himself standing over him, smirking and saying;
"Get up, get upp!, Get Upp!, GET UPP!!, GET UPPPPP!!, you coward, get up and fight, you fuckin disgrace....."
He just held his ears and closed his eyes as he continued to scream. Everything snapped and he saw darkness again then a single light appeared, and a man walked into the light with a drink and said;
"C'mon, have a drink with us, we don't bite"
He got furious and ran to attack the man but the his hand passed through his body, he was shocked and when he looked back, he saw himself walking towards the man, looked back again and a bunch of friends in table cheering him to join them, then he looked at himself and yelled;
"Nooooo, nooooo, don't goooo, don't!, you fuckin dumb fuck, don't go, don't go"
But he ignored and kept going with the man and then they disappeared. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 fell to his knees and cried, when he saw theman walking towards him. He got up and attacked again , his attack once again fazed through. He looked at his hand and the man said to him;
"You'll never reach me, a century of training and still will never get to my level , you'll never be able to touch me, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊" the man said as he faded away. Then he saw himself again , both looking at each other, then his consciousness switched to the new one who just appeared and he saw the other one with that strange smirk.
"Which one is the real one? " he asked, the other then said;
"It is up to you to choose"
"What do you mean?, how can i choose? "
No answer
"How can i choose? " he asked again
No answer
"How can i choose !!? " he asked again, this time furiously.
Still no answer. He then bent down to catch his breath and suddenly, everything turned to black again.
"No, no, no, not again " he expressed.
He saw a lady, her back turned against, he walked towards her but before he got there she said;
"𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊, I'm sorry, please forgive me" then she turned, it was 𝙽𝚢𝚡𝚊𝚛𝚊.
"𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚎? "he asked
"Please, forgive me my love"
"𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚎 did you ever really loved me? " he asked, sadly, she started laughing, then the laugh seized and suddenly she was directly in front of him, kneeling and saying with a subtle, light and fast paced voice;
"I'm sorry for destroying your whole life , I'm sorry for sending you to your doom, I'm sorry for causing your father's death, I'm sorry for taking your mother away from you, I'm sorry for taking your sister away from you, I'm sorry for taking 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚎 away from you, please forgive me" then she bowed her head, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was confused. Then she rose her head with a smirk, and it seemed like her face was distorted, she bend her head to the side a little with the smirk and says
"Or am i?, I'm not sorry 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊, not at all, I'd do a thousand times over and still wouldn't have had enough of it "
𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 started getting really scared and was walking backwards slowly, then her head turned straight, then she had a pleading stare, a sad stare, a watery eye and said ;
"Aww, did i scare you?, okay fine, I'm sorry" then her face suddenly bent again, in distortion and she said
"Not sorry "
Her face straightened and she said ;
"I'm sorry "
Face bent and she said
"Not sorry"
And it kept happening
"I'm sorry "
"Not sorry"
"I'm sorry"
"Not sorry"
"I'm sorry"
"Not sorry"
And then it kept happening faster and faster, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 turned back and ran out if fear , then again he ran into darkness.
This time light rushed through everywhere and he saw someone inverted, he was confused and then he looked again and saw the multitude of people, all inverted, he was the only one standing straight. The people were walking then moments later he realized he was in 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚎 , then he immediately ran to locate the 𝙲𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚕, when he got there, all the guards at the gate were floating in air, still inverted , lifeless , dead!. He was frightened but kept going, as he went inside, he saw legions of soldiers, all floating lifelessly, almost covering the whole atmosphere, he got even more frightened then he quickly ran to the mansion. When he got there, the floor started rotating and the speed increase then suddenly he saw himself in a large room, but this time he was the one inverted, he was standing under the ceiling instead of the floor. The rotating stopped and he saw 𝙰𝚜𝚕𝚛𝚘𝚗, who he has never saw before but the dream just brought him out how he imagined him, a monster, the devil. Completely scarred face, with two red horns, and steam beaming out of his eyes, 8ft tall and muscular. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊'sheart felt like it was going to come out of his chest and he saw 𝙰𝚜𝚕𝚛𝚘𝚗 torturing two people and when he stretch to look, it was 𝙻𝚢𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚊 and 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚒𝚊,naked getting brutally flogged, marks all over their bodies and blood rushing out. His eyes became wide open as he screamed
"Nooooo, mother, sister!!! " he tried running towards them but it was pointless, he was inverted, he couldn't do anything. He tried jumping but the more he tried jumping the more he was sucked into the roof.
"Save us 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊" they both simultaneously said, he kept struggling with the roof and trying to jump but he just kept getting sucked in.
"𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊!!, do something, you fuckin disappointment, you failure, help us 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊" they both said simultaneously, with distorted voice this time. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was shocked and kept struggling, this time the ceiling had covered his whole lower body, he was completely stuck, nothing he could do. Then he suddenly saw the devil levitate to the ceiling and stood then in a flash, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 turned again, the ceiling became the floor and the floor became the ceiling. The devil walked closer to him
"You're weak, you're too weak, youre far too weak, how will avenge them like this" the devil said. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was scared, then 𝙻𝚢𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚊 and 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚒𝚊 both fell from up, swiftly rose up and joined the devil, he got more scared. They all simultaneously said ;
"You're weak, you're a disappointment, i should've never gave birth to you, you're not my brother, you're not my son, dieee, dieee dieee"
They kept saying as the devil whooped him hard, he folded himself on the floor and cried then a heavy wind blew pass and erased everything then he saw him self again, yelling
"How can i choose!!!, how can i choose!!! "
Then he was about to speak when a new him emerged from the side, he was startled, got mad and said;
"Who the hell are you!!! "
"I am you, i am both of you " the new him said
"Which version of us are you" the other him asked
"I am both you when each of you is needed, you're both special and both required in different moments, you are meant to co-exist and that coexistence is...simply ME" the new him claimed
"Noo, nooo, nooo, it can't be, noo, i was just about to kill this one and become the only me, the real me.... Noooooo" he immediately stopped shouting and then smirked and said
"Guess I'll just have to kill you too" as he ran towards the new him and suddenly everything turned black again!.
He saw himself kneeling before King 𝙷𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛, apologizing ;
"I'm sorry, I failed you father "
"You fuckin disgrace, i always knew you would fail me, I always knew you weren't fit enough to become King. Now the whole 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚎 cries because of your weakness, your mother and your sister are being tortured because of you and i am dead because of you, you're not my son, you will never be...you never was" King 𝙷𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛 said and he spat. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 kept crying and then he saw himself in beautiful green pastures, a field that stretched forever. A man held his shoulder from behind and said;
"Don't look back"
𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 who was about to look, suddenly stopped.
"Who are you? " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 asked
"It doesn't matter" the strange man said
"You're not me but I feel like I'm getting touched by myself, are you part of my family? " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 asked, then man chuckled and said
"That's funny, i once failed my son but now I have chance to save his"
𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was confused and asked
"Who is your son? , I don't understand"
"Hopefully, you will soon, my lips are tied" the man said and then continued;
"I failed my son twice but this is my only opportunity to make up for it. Listen to me young man, do not abstain from yourself, it's okay to seek revenge sometimes but do not insert that revenge on yourself before pouring it on others. Do not become revenge, become a man who revenges. Do not lose yourself, do not lose your friends, your friends are the only thing keeping you bound, keep all your personalities as one and step into the light"
𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was surprised, the man offered him a sword and said;
"Here, you must fight yourself this once to asset dominance over it not it over you. You might fight yourself now so that you may never fight him again. You must become the TITANIUM, and fight for yourself not on yourself"
"The TITANIUM " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said as he accepted the sword and the man disappeared. Before him appeared a door in the middle of the field and a heavy wind blew, pushing him backwards. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 took a deep breath, pushed through and walked into the door. When he got inside, he saw two of himself, one on the left and one on the right.
"Who the hell are you!!! " the one on the right said
"I am you, i am both of you " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 answered
"Which version of us are you" the one the left asked
"I am both you when each of you is needed, you're both special and both required in different moments, you are meant to co-exist and that coexistence is...simply ME" He claimed
"Noo, nooo, nooo, it can't be, noo, i was just about to kill this one and become the only me, the real me.... Noooooo" the one on the right said and immediately stopped shouting, smirked and said
"Guess I'll just have to kill you too" As he ran towards 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 drew his new sword, dodged a swing with ease, dodge another one and another one, it was easy for him, the right him got furious, charged again, swung his sword aiming for 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊's head, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 ducked, rolled, held his hands as he rolled behind him and pinned it to his back, leaving him in pain.
"Why are you so strong? " the him on the right asked
"I told you, I'm you" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said and rose his sword up to kill him when he realized something, he then dropped the sword and let him go.
"Why have you let me go? " the him on the right asked.
"You both have to co-exist for me to exist, I need you both. Please, let's get our revenge together, the three us, the real us" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 answered. They him on the left walked closer and stood by the him on the right, they both looked at each other and smiled, then looked at 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 smiled too and said;
"Let's do this" stretched his hand out and they both stretched theirs too and put it on top his.
"Let's do this " they both said as they faded. They smiled while fading and then 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 sighed and woke up.
𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 and 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 were eating the snake they rosted close the fire when they saw 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 walked out of the bush with a smile on his face, 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 asleep.
"What the fuck is funny? " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 asked
"Nothing. Weren't you guys going to train? " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 asked
"Why do you care?" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 pressed, scoffing. 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 was still mad.
"You're so dumb, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊, it's the next day" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 added
"Really?" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 asked
"Yup" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said, chuckling.
"Damn, no wayy, how come you're both still eating a snake" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 asked
"Son, they are billions of snakes in the wilderness, what the fuck are you talking about" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 scratch his head and said;
"You're right, you're right, my bad"
He then noticed 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜' silence, then he continued
"Can i join you two, damn, I'm really starving"
"Sure my prince, come as you are" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 replied sarcastically. He sat close to 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 as 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 offered him a stick of rosted snakes, he looked at it and said;
"Can't believe we're eating snakes"
"Can't believe it's this delicious" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 pointed, they both laughed.
"I'm definitely adding this to my list" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 added. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 took a bite and slowly nodded his head.
"I mean....it's not bad" he said
"You're just hungry " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 pointed smiling
"You didn't like it? " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 asked
"Well, I'm hungry too" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 replied, they all laughed.
Moments later 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 and 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 were sitted on a hill, enjoying the view from up there and discussing.
".....so that's how the dream went" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 concluded, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 was in disbelief and said;
"Damn, that's a lot. So that means if you haven't accepted the rage inside you, you would've become the rage? "
"You really are a good listener, that's one way to put it... " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 pointed, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 shrugged his shoulders.
".....well, who knows what would've happened." 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 concluded
"You know this story almost sounds similar to someone else's" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 claimed
"Who's that?, who?, ohhh....No it doesn't" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 defended
"I don't know, it just sounds like it"
"Nahh, nahh. It could just be a dream too" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said
"No, it definitely wasn't just a dream, the rage was already coming out of you, I saw it with my own eyes" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 claimed
"You did? "
"Yes, i swear it"
𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 sighed and said;
"I'm sorry for thinking the world favored you and hated me"
"Really?, you thought that?, why? "
"Well...it's hard to explain, you know, I was just down there sulking and you were just living and you were able to fight, I couldn't, I even left you in danger. I....just hated myself and assumed the earth hated me, I thought you were the opposite of me, so they must love you" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 narrated
"That is the dumbest shit I've ever heard you say " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 mentioned, and chuckled, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 smiled.
"It has been hard on me too dumbass, very hard, I just figured sulking wouldn't make it better or change anything. Do you know what my dad would do if he was here right now and he saw me sulking?.... "
"Damn, he'd have whoop your ass" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said laughing.
"Exactly, i know what he wants from me at a time like this, and i'm ready to do it. Doesn't make it easy, but I just try to focus more on that part" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 concluded.
"Damn, I hate to say it but you're perfect, seriously-" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 interrupted him with a slap on the back of his head, chuckled and said;
"Shut up, I'm far from perfect"
"Damn, come on" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 reacted, they both chuckled.
"That reminds me....you didn't finish telling about your beautiful dream about your parents. I'll be honest, when i heard it, it made me mad because it just added to my point but obviously -"
"You didn't let me finish, it wasn't a good dream dumbass" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 interrupted
"Really?, how?, you saw your mom again, right? " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 asked.
"Yeah, my mom and dad who are dead, asking me to come home isn't a good dream, that'd mean dying" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 stated
"Ohhh, jeez, my bad "
"It's fine. I also said they were holding a baby who i assumed was me but i was wrong, well it was gonna be me, if I'd gone to them but the clothe was empty. I wanted to join them so bad, my mom cried and begged but I promised her I'll back, I had to finish something first. It was crushing but i knew that wasn't really them, my real parents would never want me to die this early. I looked back and i saw you and I know you need me, because you're dumb, fragile, weak, so i came back" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 concluded. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 exhaled sharply and spoke;
"Damn, i was completely wrong "
"Yes, you were, but it's fine now, I'm glad you're back " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 said, they both smiled.
"Hey love birds!!" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 screamed from afar, they both looked at each with disgust.
"Time to go, my uncle just woke up and he thinks he found a way " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said
"Found a way? " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 asked
"Son, I don't know, just come fucking ask him yourself" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said. They both went and joined the rest.
"I recognize this mountain" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 said, pointing to one of the mountains in front of them from a hill, although it was far.
"Uhh, i think they all look the same" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 countered
"That's what i said" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 joined
"Can you both shut up? " 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 snapped.
"You got it boss" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 said
"Sorry uncle" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said, both holding off laugh.
"This mountain is visible from 𝚅𝚕𝚊𝚍, i recognize the huge amount of salt falling from the side, it's only difference from the other mountains and it stuck to memory because when there was no snow it still looked like it snowed" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 explained
"Ohh, now that you mentioned, i can see a little bit of whiteness on the side. Although.....i don't think the white is enough to say it looked like it snowed" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 pointed, 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 ignored.
"What is 𝚅𝚕𝚊𝚍? " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 asked
"You all don't know 𝚅𝚕𝚊𝚍? " 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 asked, they all shook their head. 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 sighed in disappointment and said ;
"Kids these days, don't read books. How come you don't know too 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 , you're from 𝚁𝚘𝚖𝚎"
"Oh it's in 𝚁𝚘𝚖𝚎, of course i remember, how could i have forgotten" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 claimed.
"It's outside 𝚁𝚘𝚖𝚎, you coward" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 said.
"Ohh shit" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 expressed, they all laughed except 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 who was disappointed.
"𝚅𝚕𝚊𝚍 is just outside 𝚁𝚘𝚖𝚎, my father and i worked there many years back. It's now under the Emperor, it's been so for decades " 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 said
"So this means we're close to 𝚁𝚘𝚖𝚎 " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 figured.
"Yes, that's if I'm right" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 said.
A little hope was born.
"So let's start moving, we must travel all day and all night. You all must be prepared" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 suggested, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 and 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 nodded.
"Really?, you guys are agreeing with him?" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 pressed
"Travel all night, really? " he added.
"Yup" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said
"Aren't you ready to leave this place, i mean, it's beautiful but when we tend to spend more time, the beauty fades and I'd like to keep it special" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 said chuckling
"Bull crap" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said.
"Relax man, you're making 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 look cooler " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 mentioned.
"Shut the fuck up" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said and they laughed as they got ready to continue the journey.
Miles deep into the journey, nonstop walking all day and night. It was the next morning and still the salt mountain didn't seem to get any closer.
"Are you all sure we've been moving forward?" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 asked. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 exhaled heavily and said;
"I was just about to say the same thing"
As they both started walking slowly and tiredly.
𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 didn't seem to be tired , he was in front with 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗
"We've been walking for hours" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 mentioned
"I'm old and still I'm injured but i still have more energy than the two of you, what a shame" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 stated
"Let's take a break then " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 suggested
"Great"
"Please" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 and 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 expressed
"No breaks till the mountain gets closer" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 exclaimed
"Oh c'mon man, hell" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 expressed, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 started fake panting, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 laughed.
"You okay there son" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 asked 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 , trying to play along, then he continued;
"Ohh no, he's gonna die, we gotta stop now", 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 kept laughing.
"Doesn't matter, keep going " 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 said, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊's panting slowly turned in to laughter
"Old people man.... " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 expressed and they laughed.
Another mile later, it became a dead end, there was a huge hill in front of them, the only way over it was to climb, which was impossible for them or go around it, which would take another week at least and that's if there's a way around it.
"Well isn't this just beautiful, fuckin perfect" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 expressed
"Complaining doesn't help anything 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 said
"I said it's beautiful, how's that complaining? "
"It definitely was complaining" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 returned and they kept arguing. 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 just sat down thinking how he's been so not like himself this past week, he felt clueless, for the first time since he could remember. He never thought his knowledge will fail him, it crushed his personality and his ego. He who was able to bend the two greatest kingdoms on earth to his will, is now nothing but a weak, dying man, trampled over by a mountain. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 noticed this, thought about walking to him to cheer him up but he refused, he sat down and watched 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 and 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 argue. Few moments later, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 felt hungry and decided to go look for edible fruits he could eat. On his way into the depths of the valley, he saw snake, crawling towards him, he was about to run but then quickly decided to take it on. He took a deep breath but he had no idea what to do, before he could think, the snake pounced, open it's mouth about to bite his face, then 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 aimed a small sharp stick on it's head and it stuck to the ground, died immediately.
"That was close, are you okay? " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 asked
"I- i definitely had that covered" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 claimed
"On your face, yeah sure, of course" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 replied and chuckled, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 smiled and shook his head.
"What are you doing here anyways?, hunting for meat? " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 questioned
"No, I have had enough of the snakes, i came for some fruits" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said
"You really hungry huh? " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 enquired
"You have no idea son"
"Son?, you think you're 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 said
"It just came out my mouth. I gotta say, it's pretty catchy though "
"Can't argue with that "
They sniggered.
As they keep looking for fruits, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 found a part where a huge bush seemingly covered something.
"I'm gonna go check it out" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 suggested.
"What are you, crazy?, it could be something dangerous" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 disagreed
"Well....that's why you're here, no? " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 pointed
"What the fuck does that mean? "
"I don't know, I'm going anyway" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 insisted
"Alright then, I'll go with you " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 complied.
They both walked towards the bush, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 drew his sword as 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 quickly opened it and shifted back. Turned out it was a huge hole, more like an entrance to a cave and it looked like it might lead somewhere.
"Ohh shit, this might be a way through " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 said, face lightened
"Really? " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 asked
"Obviously, because it seems like it lines up with the direction of the mountain, we might not need to go around it" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 explained.
"Ohhhhh..... " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 exclaimed
"C'mon, let's go tell the others" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 suggested, as he turned around to walk to the others but 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 held his arm. He was shocked.
"Don't go" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said
"Whatt, why? "
"We don't need them. THEY ARE NOT OUR ALLIES. Do you really wanna be saving 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 right now? , after all he's done? " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 stated, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 hesitated.
"Yeah but...we've been going through all of these together, wouldn't feel right to just leave them" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 argued, sighed and then asked;
"What about 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗? "
"What about him, he lied to us. Look, I just feel I'm doing the wrong thing, surviving with the same man that caused the tragedy. I'm trying to hate him and i want some sense of justice, that's why i want us to leave him, as a pay back or something, I don't know.. "𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 narrated
"𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 , if you don't hate somebody then you don't hate them. 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 saved our lives from those beasts, saved my life again in that waterfall. 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 saved your life against that giant spider and mine too. We both know we've made it this far because of them and them us. Let's just get out of this wilderness first then we think of what happens after, for now, we need all the help we can get " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 said. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 exhaled sharply and said;
"Fuck...i feel bad now"
"Don't, it happens, I get it, let's go get them" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 suggested.
Inside the hole was a tunnel that lead to a huge open space were rocks sat like buildings all over, the whole place covered with more rocks like a roof, light only burst through the small spaces between the rocks. There was a big pathway between two rocks and there, they walked through. After walking through the pathway, there was a dead end, before them, it was a wide and deep hole, they couldn't get through, the only way across was to attempt a jump.
"Damn.... " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said looking down the hole as his voice echoed through the emptiness, it was like a bottomless pit, the end was invisible.
"So what do we do now? " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 asked
"We jump" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 suggested
"Jump?, can't you see how far it is? " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 argued.
"Wait, you can't jump that? " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 pressed
"Not me....him" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said, pointing to 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗. 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 was surprised then he asked;
"Mee??! "
"Yeah, can you jump over that? " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 pressed
"Of course" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 claimed
"No, I don't think so " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 countered
"Don't push it old man" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said
"You two shut up, i can, I'm not even that old, my body still works properly" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 claimed
"Don't forget you're injured too" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 reminded
"Fine.....you kids watch and learn" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 said as he ran backward and got ready to run and jump.
"Noo, no, don't do that" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 warned
"One inch of and you'll fall and die, guaranteed "𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 warned too
" I said shut up, you two" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 said as he ran....and jumped, their eyes slowly followed him, opening wide as he ascends, to them it felt like he was on air for more than he was supposed to be.
"Ohh....shit" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 expressed
It felt like he was flying and their mouths started opening too, surprised. Then he landed and rolled, they were so stunned that they started clapping.
"Oh my goodness"
"That was beautiful"
"Wow, just wow" they expressed, clapping. 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 smiled and then spoke
"Who's going next? " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 and 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 quickly pointed to 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜, he was surprised and confused but accepted. He ran back, got prepared, ran towards the edge and flung himself, even did a flip just to show how easy it was.
"What a show of " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said, as he ran back and ran towards the edge, jumped and rolled mid air. Few seconds after 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 landed, he landed too, one hand on the floor, one hand behind him, then they both looked at each other and laughed but something clicked in 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 immediately, he looked at 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊.
"Damn" he expressed
"What? " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 asked
"𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 can't jump for shit" he claimed
"Well....how'd you know that? " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 questioned.
"Take a look at him.. " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 said, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was looking restless
".....does he look like he can jump? , if he could he would've jumped with us" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 concluded.
"Ohhh, now that you mentioned" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 expressed
"Have some faith in the kid" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 urged.
"𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 come on, you can do this" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 yelled
"Come on son, come on big boy" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 hyped. But this kind of made him more nervous. He started inhaling and exhaling, set himself up to run then remembered he has to run backwards, he stalled, then ran backwards, ran forward, as he got closer to the edge he quickly stopped, looked at them and shook his head.
"Believe in yourself 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊, you're more than you know" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 encourage
"𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 , you can do this, don't think about the hole beneath, just jump" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 added.
"Just jump...but really high, you got this" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said.
𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 nodded, went backwards again, took a deep breath about to run when he saw a big boulder rolling towards him, his eyes torn open and he immediately started running towards the edge.
"Come on, come on, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 run, run!!! " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 urged.
𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 started screaming and running , when he got to the edge he jumped and closed his eyes, expecting ,even praying for his feet to touch a surface but it wasn't touching anything, from there he just accepted his fate that he was already in the hole. That was before he felt a strong grip on his arm, he opened his eyes and it 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 holding him from falling, crashing out;
"What the fuck is wrong with you? , what the fuck is your problem, what are you doing? "
Then he dragged him up, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 quickly lied on the floor lifelessly.
"You were so close, all you had to do was hold the edge" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 said
"That was close, to be honest, i didn't think you would make it" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said
"Thanks for saving me son" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said to 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗
"Who the fuck is your son? " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 asked, they chuckled.
"Why were you screaming anyways? " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 asked
"The boulder man, i was so scared" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 replied, they were confused.
"A boulder? " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 asked
"What boulder?" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 asked too, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was confused.
"You guys didn't see any boulder? " he asked.
"No what are you-"
"Hey kids.... " 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 interrupted and called.
"....do you hear that? " 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 asked, they listened carefully and started hearing a rumbling sound that got louder.
"Ohh no, this place might be collapsing " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 said.
"Quick, let's run" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 suggested and they all started running and the place started to collapse.
"This way " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 said and they all ran towards a pathway, but rocks started falling down. A huge rock fell down by the side of the pathway, they all stopped, then the rock slowly started rolling over, covering the pathway and they quickly resumed running, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 was in front because he was the fastest, 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 was behind because he couldn't run fast enough, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 then slowed down to help him.
"Keep going, you stupid child, leave me alone" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 said
"Shut up, uncle" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 replied.
𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 and 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 had already gotten through when they looked back and saw them struggling. They both looked at each other and suddenly ran back to join them, 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 couldn't believe it.
"What a bunch of suicidal dummies" he said.
"𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 stay back and hold the rock" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 suggested, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was confused and said;
"Huh, what the hell?, i can't hold the rock"
"No shit, just try to slow it down or something" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 said.
"What the hell.... " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 expressed and he tried holding the rock back, effective?, well who knows. 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 joined 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 and they both carried 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 and ran but they realized they won't make in time.
"Let's throw him" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 suggested
"What? " 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 pressed
"You sure?" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 asked as they ignored 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗.
"Yes, yes" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 replied
"Let me go and save yourselves" 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 said, they ignored him. They threw, him through the pathway and they ran towards it. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 couldn't hold the rock anymore, because he would be blocking the pathway, so he went inside. 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 and 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 were running with everything they had in them, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 was faster and quickly got through, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 wasn't fast enough and it felt he wasn't gonna make it, then he added a little more force to his movement and slid under the rock, barely escaping it and then the pathway closed. On the other side, everything was still collapsing, they started running fast, dodging rocks it they fell. They got to a dead end and had to climb forward, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 climbed first, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 was climbing and 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 was waiting to pull him up. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was impatiently waiting to climb, he was patting his feet on the floor then suddenly he saw 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 charging at him, scowling, he was confused at first then he thought he was right about 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗, then quickly prepared himself to fight him. He saw a slight confusion on 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗's face then 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 pushed him hard to the wall and before he could react, a huge rock immediately fell on 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗, crushing his whole lower body. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was startled, he couldn't believe it, he eyes was wild open, some of his blood had even touched 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊's face.
"UNCLEEE!!!! " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 who was getting pulled up by 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 screamed. 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 eyes and mouth were wide open. With his last breath, 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 said to 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 ;
"....is your father.....for him" and he died.
𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 froze and then started panting, he was so confused, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 hitting punching the floor in frustration.
"𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊!!, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊!! " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 started calling. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 could hear his name indistinctly but suddenly he felt a stone on his head and he snapped back.
"Come up let's go" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 looked down on him and yelled, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 saw him, looked around and everything was still collapsing, he quickly got up, climbed, looking down at 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗's body as he climbed, then 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 pulled him and everything collapsed.
Everything was calm, birds chirped in the air, frogs sang, a soothing wind blew through the atmosphere. There was a river beneath the salt mountain but opposite it was a hill collapsing, and suddenly 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 and 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 burst through and kept running when the hill completely collapsed. They bent down to catch their breath, their body was full of dust and they coughed, they couldn't be happy because even though they survived, they lost 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗.
Moments later, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 and 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 just finished washing up on the river, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 walked to 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 and sat with him.
"We finally made it huh? " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said.
"Yeah, thanks to him " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said
"Yes, guess he was right about the salt mountain, it really has salt on it" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 claimed.
"And honestly, i can see why he thought it was snow" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 chuckled and asked
"Yeah? "
"Yeah"
"But he was wrong about something though"
"What's that? "
"He talked about having no clue, but here we are because of his clue"
"Yeah, he was wrong about that" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 responded, it got quiet for some seconds then 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 broked it saying;
"Hey, why did he save you?, giving away his life "
"I don't know, honestly I'm even more confused than you are.....his last word was something about my father, which didn't make any sense"
"What did he say? "
"I didn't quite catch everything but, it was something like, 'it's your father', I really didn't hear everything"
"He's dying and all could manage to say was something that dumb? " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 asked, chuckling.
"He probably wants you to keep trying to figure out what it means till you die, sounds like something he'd do" he added
"Really? "
"Uhh, i don't know but that'll be a funny thing to do honestly, I'll try that" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said
"You are nuts" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said and they laughed. The laugh died not long after and 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said
"I'll miss him though"
"Me too" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 looked at him with a doubting gaze.
"I've knew him since i was kid" 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 mentioned
"True" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 said, nodding.
"I'll also miss him" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 joined, they both smiled. 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 bent down to their level and said;
"He had his flaws but he was a good man "
They both nodded
"A good father too.... " 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 added
"He had a kid? " 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 asked, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was shocked
"Yeah, he had a girl, uhhhm.... 𝚃𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊, i saw her once when we were kids and i decided I'm gonna marry her, and i will" 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 claimed
"She is your cousin, no? " 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 said
"Uhhhhhh....well" he expressed
"That is disgusting son" 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 said, they chuckled and then 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 continued
"Well....it's not over yet, we still have to cross this river, we have to build some kind of boat or something. I believe this river leads to 𝚅𝚕𝚊𝚍" then he patted them on their shoulder and he rose up, they both sighed, got up to follow him.
Few days later, after they managed to build 'some kind of a boat' , it was shaped like a halved box they couldn't get the curves right. They had to get creative but no matter how creative they got, they are not carpenters and didn't have the tools for it but as long as it could float, it was a little hope for them. The name of this river was called the 𝚁𝚞𝚋𝚒𝚌𝚘𝚗. They were all dressed and ready to move, 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 was standing over a small hill, looking across the 𝚁𝚞𝚋𝚒𝚌𝚘𝚗, making up his mind for what he's going to do after. He reminisced about everything that has happened in his life and thought about every single possible outcome of the future he could think of, he clenched his fist and then raised it up over the horizon, and freed his finger as the sun reflected through them to his face. He picked up a small rock and then he came down to join the others. 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 and 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 entered the boat then 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 pushed it into water and jumped inside. 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 and 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 rowed the both while 𝙴𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚊 stood in front of it, one leg on the edge, the other on the surface, he stretch his hand forward, his fist closed and said;
"Today i decide my future and what i must do after this. I must avenge 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚎, eliminate 𝙶𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚞𝚜, take back my father's throne from the devil and become King like my father wished, I shall save my sister and mother from the hands of the devil and bring justice upon the deceitful. I shall then rule 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚎 with all my might and with my brother by my side, we shall take 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚎 to the highest of heights, even higher than my father took it. This future i decide and there's no going back on that decision, I shall train hard and go through every hardship and obstacles to fulfill it. I must not go back on that decision"
He declares while 𝑪𝑹𝑶𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑹𝑼𝑩𝑰𝑪𝑶𝑵.
𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 and 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 looked at him proud, 𝙰𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜 smiled, 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚓𝚊𝚗 nodded. Then he opens his fist and the stone he picked up fell into the 𝚁𝚞𝚋𝚒𝚌𝚘𝚗 and he concludes his words by saying ;
"ᚣᚳᛊᚣ ᚽᚣᛈᛘᚣ ᛊᛇ "
Which means TᎻᎬ ᎠᏆᎬ ᏆՏ ᏟᎪՏT.