Leo Lies

Sato would not understand the totality of Leo's plan until weeks later. As it turns out, Sato was no hero, no savior, no chosen one. He was just a gullible boy on a random street that Leo happened to find. He was a fool for ever believing he was some chosen hero. Him. He was a geek, less fit than most, brave perhaps, but naive as anything. That's why Leo's plan worked. Because Sato believed it every step of the way. See, turns out, there are no "Heroes", not truly. Not as Leo described them. As it turns out, anyone can wield the ancient relic. Anyone! He could have been literally anyone. 

Except maybe Rebe, but that was a different conundrum. Perhaps she was the real chosen one after all. Leo had accidentally found the one Æurean on Earth? Perhaps that meant the relics really could detect each other, or Wicc, or something like that. None of it made any sense to Sato. 

Leo had selected him especially because he was ordinary. A no one, a red shirt, an extra, a background character. Because he was from Earth, he had nearly zero Wicc radiation. This was integral to Leo's plan because he knew that the Reaper, the ancient relic scythe that Grimm had used to take Leo left arm and open Leo's chest to pop his heart.  Reaper operated on wicc even moreso than any other form of energy. 

Paired with his ability to heal himself while wielding Kintsugi, it was only a matter of time before Grimm ran out of steam, and he landed a fatal blow. It was inevitable. None of his hundreds of hours of training had saved him. Even his maegic sword only kept him alive long enough to get lucky. It was precisely because he was an ordinary outworlder that he had won.

Leo was perhaps the finest duelist in all the Isles. He never stood a chance against Grimm and Reaper, even with Wyrm's holes. Every time Leo struck, he made Grimm stronger and faster. Leo was destined to fail. In fact, only by being mortally wounded was he not a hindrance to Sato's destined victory. Leo had planned to get himself killed to motivate Sato to kill Grimm. Even if Sato was immune to Reaper's primary power, Leo certainly was not, and Grimm could unleash Leo's own power back on both of them. Leo was strong enough to make up for Sato's shortcomings. Leo had never believed Sato could be a mighty warrior. Of course, he hadn't. It was absurd. He had been a glorified nurse who was immune to the virus. That was how they won. 

Leo had come clean to Sato two weeks after the fateful duel in the library at Castle Hill.

"There's something I must admit to you. I don't know how to tell you this. We didn't win because we were stronger. We weren't. You train well and hard, but Grimm was unbeatable by any man of my world. That is why I needed you. I studied for months. I studied the ancient relics, Wyrm's holes, and Reaper. Sensei had given me Kintsugi years prior. Since I bonded with Wyrm, I planned to teach Sam to use it before I learned more about Reaper. I studied and learned that the only way to stop an unstoppable force of nature like Grimm was with an immune object. That's you. You weren't chosen for it in any way other than that I chose you, and that was as much chance as anything else," Leo let out. 

"You lied to me. I risked my life. I lost my arm. I left my mother. I skipped school so much that I'll probably get expelled. I got kicked off the baseball team. I thought I was the only one who could save your world. You said I was the only one! And we killed people. I killed a poor, hungry farmer for your tyrant father. I should have fought with Grimm, not against him. I killed him!" Sato screamed. His face was wet with tears. They streamed down off his face. 

"You're upset. I know this is a lot to process. And I am sorry, friend..." Leo let out.

"Friend? It was all lies. Everything you ever told us was a lie. I was a fool to trust you. You are just like your father."  Sato knew that comment wounded Leo deeply, but he didn't show it. He showed no emotion at all. He was a robot. Luci was a robot, and she had loved, sacrificed, laughed, and smiled with her friends. Leo was worse. He was a monster. He felt nothing. He was an empty suit of armour. A sword with no soul. He wasn't Sato's friend. He was his enemy.

"There's something else you should know," Leo added.

"Something else? This ought to be good," Sato screamed. 

"I did not tell you the full extent of the curse of the ancient relics. The relics bind the previous wielder inside itself until..." Leo was cut off. 

"So the voice I hear in my head. The one that moved my hand. The one that really defeated Grimm..." Sato trailed off in horror. 

"The shadow of the previous wielder... bound to the relic... until your death. In which case, a shadow of your mind is trapped with the relic until the current wielder dies. Then it sets you free and makes them the next prisoner. It is the curse all relic wielders bear," Leo let out.

Sato stared at the boy he once thought was his friend with contempt and disgust. He saw the monster under the wig and manners. The boy was a genius and a brilliant duelist, but he was sick of heart and mind.

"Send me back now! I never want to see you or this place again!" Sato demanded.

"But..." Leo was cut off.

"Now!" Leo did as he was bid. He opened a portal with Wyrm. Sato tossed Kintsugi down and stepped through. He saw the boy vanish on the other side of the portal. Steely faced. That was the last time he ever intended to see the prince. 

Rebe and Daniel had been home, recovering for a week. 

Sato walked down his block, where all of this began. He saw Mrs. Cho out in her yard and said hello. She stared at his mildly metallic stump. He came to his house and saw his name, first and last, carved in the gate. Satoshi Kobe. He opened the gate with his right hand and then the front door with his right hand. He removed his shoes with his right hand.

"Mom, I'm home." His mother rushed from out from the living room and wrapped him in a warm hug. She held him for three long minutes. Even now, his ribs were badly bruised, as was his skin and some internal tissue. It hurt like hell, but he said nothing. We hurt for people we love.

"You are so, so very grounded. Summer job, huh? Look at you! You look like your father did when he came home from war," his mother cried. Of course, Sato was coming home from war, but he couldn't tell her that. Not for a long time. She brushed his stump and collapsed onto the ground in a pool of tears. That's how a human reacts. 

"Your friends are here as well. You three join the same gang?" Rebe and a broken Daniel emerged. Rebe had taken some pretty nasty scrapes during her fight, but her crystaline chrysalis healed her up. Sato remembered the kiss. Daniel's wounds were much harder to heal. They were emotional. He had lost his first love and learned she was a robot. That was a lot to process. He would need some time. But they were all three alive, and they would never go back to that terrible Helll. The same place he had once believed that he had escaped to.