Chapter 28

As everyone stood around Jason’s fallen body, the air suddenly grew heavy with static.

“You.”

Biji grabbed Yuzo by the collar, tears still pouring down her face as she screamed.

“How could you!? Even after everything, all the things you said you were going to do, claiming it was for the greater good, even after he went through hell and back to save you, you still killed him… Was your ego that important to you? Was everyone knowing that you’re better than him that important? Do you feel superior? I hope you do, because otherwise you killed your brother for nothing!”

Suddenly, Yuzo shot up from the ground, pulling Biji up with him.

“Who are you, Raksha, to talk to me about Jason? You’ve known him for what, a month at most? I spent my life with him, and still you grieve, like you knew him so well! Don't make me laugh!”

Biji gritted her teeth, beginning to channel electricity into her hands, but Yuzo continued, his eyes glowing hot with rage.

“Did he ever tell you the name of our father? How about our mother? Tell me my mother’s name if you think you know him well enough to cry for him!

Ice grew at Yuzo’s feet.

“You’re merciless, you brat.”

“Come say that to my face, Pretayan.”

Stopping for a moment, a smile grew on Loba’s face before she broke out into hysterical laughter.

“... What's so funny?”

Loba’s laugh faded into a soft, mournful smile.

“You’re just like your brother was when he got here. It's almost poetic.”

Yuzo paused. Then, with a fist clenched, heat began to rise from the ground.

“I’m… I’m nothing like him. Who do you think you’re talking to?!”

As the two behind Loba began to ready themselves for a fight through tears, suddenly, the sky itself seemed to warp around them.

In a flash, Ukali had arrived, bearing down on the group.

“I’ve come for Jason.”

Yuzo then began to ignore the group, facing up to and pointing his sword at Ukali.

“You! Vile goddess, today is the day you die for corrupting my—”

In the matter of a moment, with the swipe of her hand, Yuzo was sent flying backwards into Yama’s palace, slamming through the wall and into a bannister.

While the rest stared up at the goddess with awe, Biji simply fell back down, holding Jason’s lifeless body.

“... I don't want to give him to you.”

Ukali placed her finger into Biji’s head softly.

“I don't wish to take him.”

Crawling from the wreckage, Yuzo watched as Jason was pulled into the goddess’ hands. A soft light emitted from her clasped hands before being released, softly floating to the ground.

For the first time in a long time, Yuzo’s eyes were filled with the light of life.

“For the time he has remained here, I have dwelled in the mind and body of this boy. And for perhaps the first time in my eternal existence, I found myself bonding with him: I felt his suffering, his joy, his sorrow, and his elation. And now, I don't wish to part with him. Despite the part of me dwelling within him being small, I do not wish to lose it.”

As Biji looked down at Jason, the holes in his torso had healed; even the scarred tissue had faded away into healthy skin. “I have given him a new life as a vessel for my power, even more so than before. By doing so, in a partial way, he has become more Deva than human, and in doing so, there will be many trials awaiting him in the future. I trust that you all will take care of him for me.” She said, a hint of hope in her voice.

“... Yes, goddess.” Biji nodded to Ukali. “Thank you.”

Despite the goddess’s facelessness, a warmth seemed to emanate from the stars before the form she had taken once again became energy, fading into the sky.

Jason didn't awaken, but a soft whimper and a cough escaped his body as he was lifted onto Panka’s back. Using his sword to hold him up, Yuzo began to walk towards them.

“... No… I won't let you take him. Despite my hatred for the gods, they’ve finally returned something I've lost to me after all of their machinations! After all they’ve put me through, I deserve at least my brother back!”

The rest of the group continued to walk away, besides Panka giving Yuzo a solemn look, but Uddi stayed behind. “I feel sorry for you.”

Yuzo paused, raising his hand to pull his blade from the ground before hesitating.

“If you believed in yourself just a bit more, or even put your faith into Jae, you might have actually been able to come out on top of all of this.”

Yuzo lowered his hand as Uddi turned away from him. “I hope you find what you were searching for. It'll help you realize it wasn't worth all of this.”

Yuzo continued standing before, one final time, falling to the ground as he watched his brother be carried off by a group of strangers. The look on Jason’s face was more content than he had seen him in a long time as he rested.

Yuzo looked down at his hand, stained with his brother's… With his blood.

He could only muster one squeak of a phrase as he began to weep once more.