A Memory

My bare feet pounded against the firmly packed soil of the dark forest, propelling me forwards as fast as I could handle, as countless twigs and thorns tore at the rags plastered to my body. Ripping the tangled undergrowth apart with my arms, numerous tiny dots of blood flowed out from where my hands were pierced by thorns, mixing with the dark rain pouring down from above. My muscles ached and stung, but I kept on racing into the darkness, for I knew to stop meant certain doom.

“Find the little monster bastard!”

“It went that way!”

I could hear the coarse voices behind me calling out to each other, sounding like the ghastly conversations of beasts. The sharp wind lashed out at me, twisting the men’s voices into nothingness behind my scrambling figure. My breathing was ragged, and every intake of air felt like cold spikes being driven into my lungs. But I had to keep going.

Coming across a thick tangle of branches and thorns, I swept the wet hair from my face, feeling the droplets of brutal rain sting against my exposed forehead. My mind was in a panicked mess, and I knew that using magic would mean alerting the men to my position. But I had no other choice.

Gathering up energy within my body, my vision went red. Tendrils of crimson energy crisscrossed their way up my arm, and I flung my hand out with all my might. The murky night was illuminated suddenly by a flash of bright red, and an enormous wave of energy burned a red-hot gash into the brambles. As I forced my small body into the opened gap, feeling the burnt thorns tear at my skin, I heard the men behind me cry out in surprise.

“Over there!”

I pushed myself out of the net of vegetation, forcing my body forwards against the wind. At this rate I would go past my limit and be killed, but if I stopped, I would die sooner.

I cut through the small gathering and down a rocky hill, nearly tripping several times on the roots that erupted from the ground unpredictably. The bloody cuts on my palms had already healed into faint pink scars, only to be torn apart again as I cleared a small path ahead of me. In the distance, I saw the faint yellow light of oil lamps, and my squinted eyes lit up with whatever hope I had left. Light meant people. There was a chance those people would kill me, but I knew the men behind me would kill me for sure, with no regret or hesitation.

Crashing through a final set of thin saplings, I stumbled into a clearing, and my vision had no time to adjust to the sudden intake of light. Through the throbbing pain in my head, I made out a ramshackle wall made of scraps piled on top of one another, and two men standing guard outside what looked like a rusty entrance gate. The man on the right spotted me, and questioningly stalked over. I could see the twin machetes he held in his hands, and a face covered in poorly-shaved dirty blond stubble. The man stopped in front of me, and I could smell the bitter stench of tobacco emanating from his body.

“The hell are you?” The man asked gruffly, crossing his arms.

I tried to answer, to say anything at all, but my throat burned with such heat that no words would come out.

“You know, it’s disrespectful not to answer your elders, brat.” I felt a coldness under my chin, and felt the man lift my face up with the back of one of his blades, forcing me to meet his eye.

“You’re pretty beat up,” he scoffed. “You got caught stealing food or something, you damn little urchin?”

Again, no answer would emerge from my battered mouth. That seemed to annoy the man, as his features twisted into a growl.

“Hey, answer me!” He kicked me hard in the stomach, and as I flew backwards, I felt bile rise up to my mouth. I knelt on the floor, coughing uncontrollably.

All of a sudden, the voices of my pursuers drew closer, and my fear rose to even greater levels. They had not yet entered the clearing, but I could hear them approaching through the darkness of the forest.

“Hey, hey, where did that thing lead us?”

“Wait, isn’t this place…”

The man with the blades raised an eyebrow. “Got official knights of the kingdom after you? Blue hair, too… you ain’t just some run-of-the-mill street thief, are you?”

“Hey, maybe keep him alive for now.” The guard on the left noted, tugging on what looked like an azure whip on his shoulder. "If he’s got a bounty on his head, the boss might want a look at him.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Hey, blue-hair,” the bladed man said, gruffly looking down at me, before pulling the patched cape down off his back. “Follow my orders, or I’ll kill you. Hide next to those crates, and cover everything there with this.”

I did as he said, letting the scratchy material of the cape rest against my body. My heart rate and breathing finally slowed, as I stopped and settled down for the first time after what seemed like days of running. My eyes found a hole in the material, and I peered out cautiously.

Slowly, a group of around ten armored guards carrying torches and swords filed out of the opening I had created. They looked around, and one particular man with a purple feather on his helmet seemed to be issuing orders.

“What’s the big idea, huh?” The bladed man walked with the same leisurely pace up to the leader. “We’ve paid our share this month. Tryin’ to take extra from us?”

“We want no trouble with the Scrappers,” the leader stated. “Only your information.”

“The hell could we give you?”

“We’ve been looking for an escaped convict.”

My breath caught, and my calmed heart rate began to speed up again.

“The boy is around this height, and is wearing torn clothes with blue hair. If let run loose, he could be a danger to all in this area, including you.” The leader sheathed his sword, cordially addressing the two guards.

“You sayin’ I’d lose to a kid, bastard?” The bladed man towered over the leader of the guards.

“I am not doubting your skills, merely passing on a warning.” The leader stood his ground.

“What’s so important about this brat, anyway? So much it’s got your god-forsaken kingdom of Onimus all riled up.”

“Full information cannot be disclosed, but…” The guard tapped his stained purple armor. “He was part of a discontinued program to develop artificially enhanced warriors. To give anyone the powers of a naturally born blue-haired mage.”

“You call us criminals, but what you’re saying sounds mighty illegal under the Treaty of the Five Kingdoms.”

The leader’s voice hardened. “As I said, we want no quarrel with you. Help us find the failed experiment and we’ll provide you with the adequate funds to stay silent.”

“Keep talkin’ to me like that and I think it’s a quarrel you’ll find, fancy knight.” The bladed man pulled his machetes down to either side of him. Next to him, the other guard slowly drew his whip of energy from behind his back.

I could feel my heartbeats pounding against my chest. If a fight broke out here, I was sure to be discovered.

“What seems to be the problem here?”

A clear, commanding voice broke out from behind the entrance, and everyone froze. Then, the voice spoke again. “Musket. Whiplash.”

The two guards looked back, nodded, and backed down. “Yes, boss.”

Even the leader bent his head in what looked like respect. “Miss Crossbones.”

The gates creaked open, and a rather muscular woman stepped out into my vision. Her tan brown skin curved like bronze against her body, contrasting elegantly with the white paint that made an X shape across her face. A jet-black ponytail swept down from her head to her shoulder blades, where a torn jacket covered her torso.

“As I’m sure Musket has already made you aware of, we’ve already paid our due for this month. What else do you need here?”

“We entered this area looking for an escaped criminal from Onimus and happened upon your shelter,” the leader answered, still looking down. “We were wondering if you could provide us on information on where he went.”

The lady named Crossbones turned to the man on the left. “Whiplash, your report.”

“Around five minutes ago, I saw something break out of the forest and back into that area.” His tone was very different from when he was just speaking to the bladed man, Musket. “I supposed it was a wild animal and paid no heed, but it could have been your convict.”

“Your help is appreciated.”

One by one, the men stepped through the hole in the trees Whiplash had pointed out. As they left the clearing, so did the terrifying glare of their flaming torches. And once the last man was out of sight, Crossbones let out a long sigh.

“That wasn’t too hard, was it? Those Onimus guards are always so uptight.” She rubbed her neck, and glanced over to the pile of crates I was squatting next to. “You can come out now. I know you’re there.”

Slowly, I shouldered off the cape that had been hiding me. I shakily got to my feet, and looked up at the woman. She wasn’t quite as tall as the other two guards, but I felt an aura of power emanating from her.

Crossbones rubbed her chin with two fingers, examining me. “You’re in quite bad shape. What’s your name?”

Having spent some time resting, my throat was in a better condition than before, but not so much that I could speak properly. I whispered out a few burdened letters.

“What was that? Speak up.”

“E-eighty… fo…four…” My vocal cords strained to their limits, trying their best to focus and form coherent words.

“Well, that’s not much of a name,” Crossbones said, folding her arms. After a moment of consideration, she continued. “Tell me, have you had anything to eat today?”

I shook my head no.

“How many days has it been since you last ate?”

Not wanting to stress my throat any more, I lifted three fingers up, my hand trembling slightly.

“Three days?” Her eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Musket. Go to the kitchen and fetch some food from Gears.”

“Yesm’m,” Musket grunted, and started back into the base, sheathing his blades into his leather belt. A few minutes later, he returned with a large chunk of bread in one of his hands, not looking particularly happy in having to do errands.

“Here.” Crossbones tossed the piece of bread over to me, and I barely caught it with my quivering hands. I haltingly lifted the morsel to my mouth, and bit down on it. The bread was hard and a little stale, and the melted butter on top tasted slightly sour, as if it had expired around a week earlier.

It was the best thing I had ever tasted in my life.

I crammed the piece of food into my mouth, and as I savored the taste of it, warm tears unwillingly rolled down my face. I finished wolfing it down, and looked back up at Crossbones expectantly. While the two guards looked down at me in disgust, the slightest hint of a smile played on Crossbones’ lips.

“You ate that quickly,” she said, turning to Musket. “You got any more back there?”

Musket tossed a sack in front of me, and as I tried to undo the knot, I found my fingers were too weak to do so.

“Here.” Crossbones bent down, pulling the strap open for me.

I peered inside, and found a heap of roughly peeled boiled potatoes. I stuffed one in my mouth, and though there was no seasoning whatsoever, it tasted like the food of the heavens.

I dropped the empty sack and relaxed my body a little, finally satisfied. Turning my head, I looked up at the woman in the lamplight.

“Thank…yo…u.”

Behind her mask of white paint, I saw her expression soften. “Come in, now. You’re not safe alone at night, in this weather.”

Unable to contain his thoughts any longer, Musket finally spoke up. “But, boss. What if he’s –”

“Relax, he’s not going to hurt us,” she continued, seeing Musket start up again. “And he can’t be a Righard spy, either. Those dunces don’t have enough brains to coordinate something like this, especially considering the terms they’re on with Onimus.”

Seeing as he couldn’t think of any more responses, Musket slunk back, defeated.

Crossbones reached down and pulled me to my feet. “Let’s go.”

Together, we walked into the warmth of the camp, and the rusty metal gates slammed shut behind us.

###

On the dawn of the next day, I cautiously crept into what looked like the mess hall of the camp, a set of long tables covered by a tent-like structure. Rubbing my eyes in a somewhat flustered state, my eyes adjusted to the sights around me. I hadn’t been able to sleep well due the horrible visions that plagued my resting hours, yet I had not gotten rest in so long I managed to recover in small, scattered chunks. Peering past a corner, I looked to see most of the people filing out to do their jobs, with Crossbones giving out directions in the center of the room.

“Sophie, Whiplash, you’re on patrol duty around the base and in the town. Musket, find someone to patch up the westbound section of the barrier, near the woods. The fall season is coming on, so those ‘gobs around the area are getting more aggressive.” Her glimmering eyes drifted around the room, and settled on me watching from a safe distance. “And, you… I’d have thought you’d have left by now.”

I dragged myself out into the light, and felt several sets of eyes rest on me. I averted my own eyes away, not enjoying this feeling.

“Can’t go anywhere…” I mumbled, stirring up dust with my oversized shoes. Some people had halfheartedly pulled together a set of clothing for me overnight, so many of my garments didn’t fit me too well.

“You mean, you have nowhere to go?” Crossbones tapped her chin. “Right, then. You can start off by picking herbs for us.”

“Boss?” Musket turned suddenly to face her. “You’re not suggesting we actually keep the brat, are you?”

“Why not? It would be mighty beneficial to have a blue-hair on our side for once, if we can toughen him up.”

Tugging at his twin blades, Musket impatiently dug into the ground with his heel. It was clear that he was trying desperately to get rid of me, but he wasn’t willing to speak up against his boss. With an annoyed growl, he trudged off.

“Don’t mind him. He’s like that to everyone.” Turning towards the opening in the tent, Crossbones motioned for me to follow her. “I’ll teach him the basics, so he’ll learn to do it himself in the future. Whiplash, you’re granted temporary command once I’m gone.”

The tall man’s dark eyes glinted intelligently. “Yes, ma’am.”

As we picked our way through the vegetation, I found that the forest was not nearly as haunting in broad daylight, especially with a force like Crossbones there to guide me. It was filled to the brim with fresh new smells and sounds, from the chirping of unknown benign monsters to the scent of strange flowers in full bloom. As we headed farther down the worn dirt path, something surfaced in my mind.

“Why…” I tugged at the sleeve that flowed over my arm. “Why are you being so nice to me? Aren’t you supposed to be evil?”

“Evil, huh?” Crossbones tossed herself over a fallen log, before reaching down to help pull me over. “I’d say what’s good and what’s bad is pretty subjective. The way most people see it, we're the ruffians who steal and cause trouble, so we’re the bad guys. The guards at Onimus stop our antics from getting too large, and so they’re the heroes.”

She paused, and swept open a net of branches, revealing a circular open area, brimming with colorful plants of every kind.

“But the truth goes farther than that. True, we do occasionally steal, but only from those who can sustain themselves, where the loss of riches makes no real impact on their lives. And the only reason that Onimus hasn’t torn us down yet is because every month we pay them a quarter of our spoils, so that they don’t disrupt our lives.” Crossbones gave a light smile. “So that illusion of ‘heroes’ isn’t really as cracked up as it’s told to be.”

The tall grass ticked my exposed forearms. “Then why are you guys treated so harshly, and those guards are still so liked?”

“Well, I’d say it’s because people already have the mindset of a hierarchy in place. We’re the mangy scum of the world and the kingdoms are the shining paragons of justice, so who would choose to listen to us? It takes a lot for people to break that mindset,” she sighed, bringing me to a small hill in the middle of the clearing where we had a good vantage point over the forest. “Our group does commit minor crimes on a daily basis, but I’ll bet you’ve seen how horrible some of those Onimus higher-ups can be…”

At those words the nightmares that had been tormenting my dreams at night flashed in front of me, so much so that I feared to blink, fearing that they would resurface immediately. What those guards and men in starched white coats had been ordered to do to us, in those dark, inhumane cellars…

Instead of comforting me like I thought she would, Crossbones just stared at me wistfully, the sun casting golden rays of light over her tan face. “You get it, right? So, I’d say it’s up to you to decide who’s good and who’s bad, with your own eyes.”

As she spoke, it occurred to me that Crossbones was really quite beautiful. Not in the sense of ladylike fragility, like those girls and women I often caught a glimpse of that would visit the Onimus castle, packed to the brim with unnatural makeup; but beautiful in the same natural way a mountain was, emanating a sense of unshakeable power, a reliable source of strength that you could always count on. I think that was when I began to truly trust her.

Through the afternoon, we worked hard to find roots and leaves that would help with potion brewing. Crossbones’ experienced hands would always find the correct ingredients, while I just uprooted every new plant I saw, trying to do something to help. After a few hours, we regrouped at the small hill in the middle of the clearing. The basket that had been given to me was overflowing with colorful plants, and Crossbones was picking her way through them, teaching me what was good and what wasn’t.

“Gumtree Shoot.” She held up a twisting root, still dripping with soil. “Useful for upping defensive capabilities if brewed into a potion. This here is a Vanto Leaf,” a set of purple leaves attached to a vine were held up, “which can alleviate pain from bruises or headaches.”

“And this…” Crossbones grasped a warty mushroom between her fingers. “Wyrmkiller Fungus. You seriously couldn’t tell this was poisonous? The thing looks like a river troll.”

With that, she tossed it aside. Finally, she pulled out a branch with a few red bulbs attached to it, and her golden eyes lit up. “Oh…”

“Is that one rare?” I inched closer, staring down at the bulging sacs of red.

“Nope, not at all,” she said with a smile, breaking off two of the protrusions. “It tastes great, though.”

I caught one that was tossed my way. As I bit down, I found that the fruit was incredibly sweet and juicy. Stuffing the pieces of fruit down my throat, the syrupy globules dribbling down my chin, I looked up in surprise to see Crossbones doing the same.

“Hey, you’re not ladylike at all!” I spoke with my mouth full.

“Who says I have to be?”

As she chuckled with her cheeks stuffed with fruit, and I found it hard to believe that this was the same person commanding an entire gang. I couldn’t help but laugh back, the first in a long time. And not a forced smile like the ones I used to appease those syringe-carrying men in white suits, but a real, true laugh. It felt good.

Licking the tips of her fingers, Crossbones flicked away the inedible stalk of the fruit, waving a finger in my direction. “Come to think of it, I still don’t know what your name is.”

“I was called number eighty-four back at Onimus.”

“Yeah, I know that.” She brushed her sticky fingers on her pants. “But that’s no real name. Do you remember anything from before the testing?”

I tried my very best to recall, but my mind was pulling a blank. “No, it’s all a bit blurry…”

“They did use a memory wipe then, huh? Those bastards really would stoop so low…” Crossbones mustered a bit of magic on her fingertip and drew out a long rod from the earth, turning it around in her fingers. “Say, why don’t I give you a name? I’m not going to call you ‘kid’ all day.”

“You’re going to give me a name?”

“My father used to leave books lying around, so I know a couple stories. I feel like I have some names in mind that could fit you.”

“What would that be?” I pondered, absentmindedly flicking pebbles off the side of the hill.

“Legends say that there was one god in the heavens who wanted to get closer to the humans.” Crossbones closed her eyes, and her low voice mixed in with the din of the forest. It made me a little sleepy. “This god changed their form into one resembling the humans, but their hair color stayed blue, as a sign of heavenly connection. They tried to make friends with the humans, but the humans outcast the god, afraid of someone who was different.”

“Why would this story fit me? It sounds pretty sad.”

Crossbones bent down and ruffled my hair. “Your life hasn’t been the smoothest ride either, has it?”

“I guess –” Swinging my arm out, I tossed out a pebble as far as I could, “that makes sense.” I watched it soar through the air, before disappearing into the thickets with a rustle.

“The story doesn’t end there, though. When a great evil was cast across the land, no human could stand up to it. It was then the god unleashed their power, earning the respect of the humans.”

“So, the people only liked the god after they saw their power?” I asked. “Still seems pretty mean to me.”

Crossbones frowned, giving me a quick poke on the forehead. “Don’t go overanalyzing legends. None of them make sense if you read too far into them.”

“… Yeah. What does this have to do with names, though?” I rubbed my forehead, staring up at her. “Did this god have a name?”

“After turning human, they decided on the name Donnelius.”

“Donny-what now?”

“Don-ne-li-us.” Crossbones huffed. “You’re going to need to get used to it, since it’s going to be yours for the rest of your life.”

I was a little hesitant at first, but soon realized anything was better than being called ‘eighty-four’ all the time.

“But there’s one thing that’s missing here.” I crossed my arms. “If you get to give me a name, I at least want to know yours. I know that you weren’t born as ‘Crossbones’.”

Crossbones’ eyebrows raised at my question. “Well, I’ve actually never told anyone here… but I suppose you do deserve that privilege.”

Sticking her rod of earth into the ground, she turned to me and smiled; her amber eyes gleaming like twin jewels.

“It’s Eleanor. Eleanor Conqaide.”

###

In the coming months, I began to work for the gang to a greater extent, and started to understand the inner workings of everything a little more. The Scrappers were a group of fifty or so, and the one force truly keeping them all from anarchy was the powerful presence of Crossbones. I quickly got the hang of picking herbs, and was elevated up the ranks fairly quickly for a new member, though that might have been a matter of bias. Crossbones assigned me to help with patrol duty a little more than a month in, which was quite impressive to some of the other members, considering my age.

As I familiarized myself with the gang, some of the upper members got used to me more as well. A few of the female members like Gears or Sophie found me, being the small boy I was, ‘cute’ or ‘amusing’. But I actively found myself trying to evade them, just to avoid any awkward circumstances. Some members like Whiplash held me in indifference, treating me like any other person, but my relationship with Musket was a little strange. He never learned to like me, nor did I ever like him, but we gradually developed a sense of grudging respect after acknowledging each other’s strength. This may have been due to one of the patrol missions where we were assigned together, and were attacked by a stray band of robbers. I managed to take out three in one blow, and I remember Musket gave a quick smirk.

“Not useless after all,” he had muttered, and that was about the only form of acceptance he had ever shown towards me.

As for Crossbones herself, it seemed like she did look at me in a way different than the others. Maybe it was her maternal instinct kicking in, caring for a child and all. She would tell me to still refer to her as ‘Crossbones’ when in earshot of the others, but sometimes I’d forget and just call her ‘El’, which I think she secretly kind of liked.

But there was something else as well. As soon as she had tested my magical ability, she had realized there was a wealth of untapped potential just waiting to be unleashed. And so, for a few days each week, Crossbones would personally attend to helping me learn and control my strength.

“Not bad,” she had noted as I fired off a sweltering ball of fire. “It’s larger than the one from last week.”

“Hey,” I panted, wiping the sweat off my forehead, “do we really need to do all this? I feel like I’ve got the hang of fire magic already.”

“You’ve used it, not mastered it.” Crossbones tapped my shoulder with a rod of earth. “Your body needs to be forced to the limit with each form of magic before you become truly proficient.”

Through those lessons, my strength grew exponentially, and due to the alterations made in my body at a young age, my magical potential was already many times higher than the average person, and the limits of my powers just kept on rising. After maybe a year of grueling practice, my abilities were almost on par with the upper echelon of the Scrappers.

With a forceful yell, I swept my arm out as hard as I could. Mirroring my actions, a wave of giant stone blades erupted from the ground, spearing an enormous tree all the way through, lifting it up into the air.

Dropping to the ground, I clutched my arm, gasping for breath. I turned towards Crossbones. “H…How was that?”

Crossbones placed her hands on her hips, and smiled in satisfaction at the jagged towers of rock. “With that, I can say with full certainty that I have nothing left to teach you.”

“Huh? What… do you mean… by that?”

“I mean I can’t instruct you on how to use your magic, because you’ve grown stronger than me.” She pointed to the speared-through tree. “Look at that. I’m an earth Adamant, and that isn’t something I can manage.”

“But then, what about the lessons?”

“You don’t need them anymore. Your power will continue to develop on its own at this point, and you’re bound to grow even stronger than this.”

I cast my eyes onto the ground. “Oh… alright.”

Crossbones swept my hair back with the back of her hand. The blue tangle had grown out since I first arrived, and I hadn’t bothered to get it cut.

“Cheer up, Don. It’s not like you’re never seeing me again, right?” She stretched, pat down the dust on her pants, and offered me a hand. I took it, and she pulled me off the ground. “We are still in the same camp here, after all.”

“You’d better hurry if you want to get dinner.” Turning towards the glimmering of the camp, Crossbones slipped on her jacket. “I’ll see you around, kid.”

Nodding, I made my way back to the central tent. But after spending months with Crossbones, I had learned a little more about the way she acted. And from her ever-so-slightly stooped body posture, I could tell she was a little downcast as well.

After that, things came and left with a kind of monotonous flow. The next few months were peaceful, but I could feel the atmosphere of the gang shift. The air seemed to grow thicker as tensions rose, and I often heard whispers throughout the camp. Rumors that Onimus had upped the number of guards stationed around this area. Rumors that situations between the kingdoms were getting worse, and Onimus in particular was getting desperate in searching for something. And one cold night, all my fears were abruptly proven true.

What happened that night started with a sudden burst of screams, which were cut short. I had stumbled out of my small tent, and peeked out from behind the corner like I was accustomed to, in order to see what was going on. What I saw were gang members scattering in all directions, two men standing in front of the metal gate, and a jumbled pile of something on the ground. Before I could get a clear look, though, I was suddenly pulled aside. Looking up, I saw Crossbones cloaked in shadow, pulling me out of sight of the two men. She peered outwards like I did, albeit more stealthily, and what she saw made her instantly grimace. Curious, I attempted again to look, and Crossbones immediately moved to try to shield my eyes. But it was already too late.

Through my semi-covered eyes, I made out a mess of red and rags. But as my eyes focused, more details came into view. Stained white pieces sticking out of the pile. Straw-like strands of yellow hair scattered throughout. Two shattered blades, jutting out of the ground.

What was left of Musket’s body.

The urge to vomit raged up within me, and the hint of a scream issued from my mouth before Crossbones clamped her hand down firmly on it. Cold sweat dripped from my body, and I felt like my body was too heavy to be supported by my legs. Through this state of half-retching, I managed to sputter out a single word. “Why?”

“I have no idea.” I felt Crossbones’ hand gripping hard on my shoulder, and she wore a similar expression to mine. When she turned to look at me, her eyes were dead serious. “Whatever happens, stay here until I tell you otherwise.”

I felt my heart skip a beat. “No… no! You’re not going out there, are you?”

“I need to try to resolve this. If I can’t even do that…” Her other hand clenched into a hard fist. “What the hell kind of leader am I?”

Pushing me downwards with a steady palm, Crossbones stormed out into sight. Her voice rang out loud and clear. “What is the meaning of all of this?”

“Merely an act of self-defense.” I heard one of the men say with an irritated voice, brushing droplets of blood off his robe before readjusting the hood over his head. “He initiated the attack.”

“Was there any need to go this far?”

“No, there was no need.” A second voice emerged, and I saw with horror it was the same man leading the guards at my initial chase. But there was something different this time, and the cordial respect in his voice was gone, replaced by something else. Something that terrified me. “However, is there anyone here to impose consequences?”

With that, I saw Crossbones’ body tense, and she shifted slowly into a fighting stance. But she didn’t make any moves yet. “Why are you here? Was our agreement not that we would provide payment every month?”
“Yes, but this is a separate matter altogether.” The leader spoke with a voice that sounded drunk on power. “Onimus has made it clear that the search for the escaped experiment, Blue Phoenix Code 84, must come to an end soon. To do that, we are willing to take more drastic measures.”

“Measures to be imposed elsewhere.”

There was a hard glint in the leader’s eyes. “Oh, I’m not so sure about that.”

All of a sudden, a surge of movement erupted from out of one of the trees, behind the two strange men. I breathed. It was Whiplash, and his neon blue weapon carved a path through the air towards them. But to my dismay, the robed man merely glanced upwards, showing no sign of surprise.

“Minor Crystalline Barrier.” He lifted a hand, and the blue whip of energy ricocheted off of the faceted air in front of him, sending red sparks glancing off into the wind. Then the man closed his fist, and the dust underneath Whiplash’s feet swirled as he was held in place, suspended in the air by wind magic.

Crossbones threw out an arm, a desperate expression on her face. “Wait –”

Through the darkness of his thin hood, I watched as the man’s face contorted into an ugly sneer. “Disassembly.”

His outstretched hand twisted, and there was a sound like the air was being scraped open, as Whiplash’s body broke and folded in on itself. The man pat down his hands on his robe, and the mangled pieces of flesh dropped to the ground, staining the dirt a deeper shade of red.

This time, without Crossbones beside me, the vomit did arise in my throat, and it overflowed onto the ground, slowly being soaked in. Tears blurred my vision, and I pressed my back further into the metal wall.

I watched Crossbones clench her fist tightly, so tight that her fingernails dug deep into her palms. When she spoke again, it was with a strained voice. “That idiot…”

“It’s futile to try resisting.” The leader smirked. “This man next to me has graduated through mage academy with the highest scores in years, and has been promoted up Onimus’ ranks in a matter of weeks. There’s no use in trying to fight against him, so give up the location of the convict.”

“How…” Crossbones broke off, but tried again. “How did you know?”

“Multiple eyewitnesses have stated the fact that there have been glimpses of a blue-haired mage around here. Being the extraordinarily rare cases that they are, most local blue-hairs are widely known, and yet the blue-hair described always as a scrawny young boy could never be identified. We interrogated every last corner of the local area, and yet no unfamiliar blue-hair was found. Naturally, the last location he could be harbored is in the Scrappers’ home base.” He smiled thinly. “Though, as I recall, this place was suspect from the start. The boy ran right through this area all those years ago, did he not?”

At that, Crossbones’ will seemed to break, and her posture slumped down. “Then… if I bring him out, will you promise not to harm any other members here?”

Hearing those words, it felt like a steel spike had suddenly been thrust into my chest. I found it hard to breathe, but I couldn’t bring myself to run away either.

“Oh, of course.” The leader laughed seemingly to himself. “The kingdom of Onimus is only after that boy. However, if you choose not to…”

The robed man’s arm became slowly illuminated with purple energy, and the armored leader spoke again. “We will not hesitate to take him by force.”

“The result… isn’t going to change either way, is it?” Crossbones asked, her eyes cast on the ground. “Gears… bring Don here.”

In that moment I tried to force my legs up, but before I could do so I felt Gears’ steely grip on my wrist, and I was dragged into sight. But the pain of the betrayal was so heavy I couldn’t even attempt to struggle.

“You named it? How quaint.” The leader crossed his arms, and signaled for the robed man to lower his arm. “Then –”

The moment the men lowered their guard, Crossbones thrust her arms out, and waves of earth piled onto them. The ground warped like liquid into a dome shape, but the earth kept on stacking upwards, adding more and more layers to the wall that separated them from us.

“That should keep them for a bit,” Crossbones breathed. Without lowering her arms, she motioned to Gears with her head, not stopping her attack. “Gears, warn everyone inside, then get the hell out of here!”

“But, boss…” Gears stepped one foot towards Crossbones.

“Didn’t you hear me? Leave! That is a direct order!”

Forcing herself to turn away, Gears tore her eyes away from Crossbones’ figure, and sprinted into the camp. As she darted away, I ran to Crossbones’ side.

“Come on! Let’s beat the hell out of these guys together!” I roared, my blood still raging from the sight of Whiplash’s death.

Her eyes lifted to meet mine, and her voice softened. “Don, that includes you, too.”

“W-What?”

“I need you to look away and run, without looking back at me.”

“The hell are you talking about? Together, we have a much better chance at winning against –”

“I know that!” Crossbones yelled back, and she rolled her shoulders back, preparing to send in another wave. “I know, but if you stay here, there’s a chance we both die here too, isn’t there?”

“That doesn’t matter! It’s such a small chance –”

“A chance is a chance! I’m not going to risk…” Her voice seized up, and I only realized then how much she didn’t want to do this. “I’m not going to risk losing my best pupil.”

My eyes began to itch again, but this time not because of sudden fear. “You’re asking me to just abandon you?” It was so very hard to speak, like there was a painful lump lodged in the back of my throat.

“If it means keeping you safe, then yes.” I looked to Crossbones’ face, and my heart stopped beating as I saw two thin streaks of tears flowing down her cheeks, dissolving the white face paint. “God, when the hell did I become such a damn softie?”

“You can’t tell me to leave!” I tried to grab on to her arm, but it was so slick with sweat that my hand just slipped off. “You might be their boss, but you’re not mine!”

“You’re right about that.” Her words went back down to a melancholy softness. “We’re not merely boss and subordinate, are we? After all that time we spent together, I care for you more than anyone else here. Almost like… you’re my family.”

At this point, I couldn’t muster any more words. My choking sobs filled up the night sky, tears making tiny wet circles in the dirt.

“The bond we have can’t be broken by something as meager as this, right?” Crossbones, Eleanor, tilted her head and gave me one final smile.

“You’ve been a really great friend, Donnelius Conqaide.”

And then I ran.

I forced my body to move against my will, ripping my vision away from the scene behind me. If it were up to me, I would have never left her alone like that, but I wasn’t doing this for myself. As my legs pounded against the coarse dirt, my breath steaming up in the cold night, I realized just how sickeningly similar this was to the night of my escape, all those years ago.

It probably would have worked. There was more than a small chance that I could have escaped into the woods safely, if not for the guttural scream that suddenly echoed behind me like a spear through the silence of the night, followed by the soft crunch of something hard breaking. It was an unconscious movement, but my body moved without thinking. In that moment, I broke my promise to her and looked back behind me, just to see Crossbones’ lifeless body drop to the floor.

I don’t remember feeling anything in that moment. Maybe it was that my mind refused to accept what I was seeing, but that was the last horrible sight burned into my memory before my vision went pure red. I don’t have any recollection of what happened after that, but when I awoke, I found myself buried in a crater larger and deeper than my body, surrounded by dimly crackling flames. Taking a ragged breath, I felt the warm sensation of blood dripping from my fingertips, as strange red bolts of residual lightning flickered out of sight all around my body. The base was an ash-covered mess in the middle of a scorched wasteland, and in the distance the corpses of the two men were sprawled across the ground, enormous bloody gashes ripped diagonally down their chests. There were no voices to be heard, just the swirling of dark smoke and the soft popping of red-hot embers.

I was alone, again.

As the visions began to disappear and I started to regain consciousness, one final blurry memory hazily appeared before me, and I was suddenly lit up by the warmth of a golden sunrise. Within it, I saw the silhouettes of two dark figures: a tall woman and a small boy, sitting on the edge of a rocky cliffside. The boy leaned half-asleep against the woman’s shoulder, as she absentmindedly brushed her fingers through his light blue hair, smiling.

“As long as you carry that name, you’re always going to be my little god.” The woman’s voice rang out faintly, as she stared off into the distance. “Promise me you won’t let anyone tell you otherwise, got it?”

The boy dreamily nodded his affirmation, and he might not even have been listening to her in his half-conscious state. But the message got through to him.

And with that, the dream faded away.