Marcus/Rocco
The silence that followed was heavier than any battle.
Malachar's ashes drifted across the frozen park before
disappearing into the wind, leaving only the sword marks carved into the earth
as proof that he'd ever stood there.
No one moved. The weight pressing against my chest
hadn't disappeared. It had only grown heavier.
The man standing beneath the tear watched us quietly,
hands tucked into the pockets of his black coat.
His crimson eyes wandered across the battlefield,
taking every broken wall, every pool of blood, every exhausted breath.
It felt less like he was looking at a battlefield and
more like an artist inspecting a finished painting.
"So," he said at last, his voice calm enough to make
my skin crawl, "this is what remains."
Noah instinctively stepped in front of Darren and
Livia who'd just arrived.
Callie tightened her around the handle of her whip.
Riley's breathing was steadier now, but I could still see the tremor in her
remaining hand.
Aldo noticed everything. Nothing escaped his eyes.
"You have all come very far."
His gaze settled on Callie's bandaged eye, "you still
stand," then Riley. "You learned to fight with less."
His eyes shifted to Noah, "you've become dependable."
Finally, they rested on me, "And you…" the smile
returned, "you've become exactly what I expected."
Without warning, he moved. I barely saw him. One
moment he stood beneath the tear. The next…
He was already in front of me. Instinct took over. My
swords crossed just in time. The impact echoed through my bones.
I slid backwards across the frozen ground, boots
carving deep trenches before I finally stopped.
Just one strike and my hands had already gone numb.
Noah lunged first, his tonfa came crashing down toward Aldo's shoulder.
Aldo turned slightly. He caught both tonfa between one
hand. Noah froze. Aldo looked almost amused, "you are stronger than you look.
You have the bracelet to thank for that."
He released Noah with a gentle push. Gentle…
Yet Noah was thrown two shattered trees before finally
crashing into the ground.
"NOAH!" Callie moved immediately. Her whip cracked
through the air, wrapping around Aldo's wrist before he could advance.
She pulled with everything she had. For the first
time, he actually stopped. I didn't hesitate.
Chains shot forward, wrapping around his free arm
while I rushed him head-on. He looked down at the chains. Then at me.
"I remember these. That assistant Azzurro created
them." I didn't answer. I planted one foot. The chains tightened.
He pulled. Exactly what I wanted. My body launched
toward him, midway through the pull I released one chain, spun around the other
and drove my knee toward his jaw.
He blocked but I expected that. The elbow followed
immediately, then another. My swords flashed beneath his guard.
Steel scraped against his coat. A shallow cut. Nothing
more. But, blood.
One black drop rolled down the fabric. Everyone saw
it. Noah smiled through bloodied lips. "We got him…"
Aldo stared at the blood resting on his fingertips. He
studied it for a long moment before wiping it away.
He looked at me, "There you are."
I frowned, "What?"
"That expression," his smile didn't reach his eyes
ever, "The satisfaction."
"I don't- "
"Oh, but you do." His words were quiet, "so do I." the
battlefield fell silent.
"You adapt,
fight and survive." Each word landed like a hammer. "You carry my blood, Rocco.
You belong to me."
I tightened my grip on my swords, "I carry theirs too.
And I do not belong to you." The wind seemed to stop.
For the first time, Aldo's smile faltered and it was
replaced with a cold glare. "Well then, prove it."
The ground exploded. Darkness poured from the tear
like an endless tide, swallowing the battlefield in black mist.
Shapes moved within it. Thousands of whispers echoed
through the air. The demon realm seemed to bleed into this one.
We fought as one. Noah charged first, drawing Aldo's
attention. Callie kept his movement restricted, her whip snapping around his
legs and weapon whenever an opening appeared.
After a few minutes of nonstop fighting, my knees
buckled as the chains snapped apart, the force throwing me several metres
across the ground.
Noah and Riley hit the earth while Callie struggles to
keep her footing, her whip slipping from bloodied hands.
Aldo stood unmoving. Not a scratch of effort showed on
his face. "is that all?"
The tear behind him poured more into the field. Every
instinct screamed that we were running out of time. I forced myself back to my
feet, chest heaving.
"There has to be something…"
Then someone stepped beside me.
"Rocky." Valen. He hadn't appeared once since the
battle began. His eyes remained fixed on Aldo. "Listen carefully."
His voice was lower than I'd ever heard it. "I am only
going to say this once." He lifted one hand.
Ancient symbols of pale silver light began forming
around his fingers, drifting through the air like fragments of stars.
"I never wanted to use this." I stared.
"What's that?"
"Do you trust me?" before I could answer the question,
Valen placed two fingers against the bracelet around my wrist.
The world went silent. Warmth spread through my entire
body. It felt as though every movement around me had suddenly slowed.
I could hear my own heartbeat. Feel every breath.
Every grain of snow striking the ground. Then Valen whispered words in a
foreign language I'd never heard before.
For the first time, Aldo looked up sharply. His eyes
locked onto Valen's golden ones.
Everything stopped. The smile vanished. "Impossible…"
His voice actually carried emotion. Disbelief.
"You…" Valen met his gaze without fear.
"It has been a long time, Morezzo."
Aldo took one slow step forward, "When my disciple
said she'd sensed you, I'd never thought you'd be interacting with mine."
Valen didn't answer. Instead, he looked at me. "Now,
Rocky."
The spell surged through my body. I didn't think. I
just moved. "Noah!" he moved immediately. Both tonfa slammed into Aldo's
shoulder.
"Callie!" her whip wrapped around his legs.
"Riley!" ignoring the pain, she drove forward with
everything she had, striking his chest and forcing him backward.
I crossed chains over his arm and pulled with every
ounce of strength left in me.
The glowing chains and my own became one. Aldo
resisted. The earth beneath his feet shattered.
Finally, the demon lord was losing ground. His eyes
never left Valen.
Together we pushed him back. Reality itself rejected
Aldo's presence. The tear roared behind him. Its pull became impossible to
resist.
Noah shouted. Callie screamed through clenched teeth.
Riley's legs trembled from exhaustion.
I felt my muscles tearing apart. Then, Aldo's heel
slipped over the edge.
He looked back at me one last time. "The things we
would have done together… son."
He smiled then the tear swallowed him whole. The
darkness collapsed inward. The battlefield became still.
Noah fell onto his back, laughing through exhausted
breaths. "We won…"
I looked toward the sky. The tear had stopped. Half
closed. A cold know formed in my stomach.
"Valen, we need to…" my voice trailed off at the look
on his face. He was still staring at the fading light where Aldo had
disappeared.
"I… apologise, Rocco." I frowned. He'd never felt the
need to call me Rocco before.
"For what?" he turned toward me.
"For keeping the truth from you."