if the world can let go of ____

In-between the splitting pain, the sensation of the knife yanked out of Zane’s chest sent his brain into panic mode, like he up and ripped his heart out instead. The wound had to be deep, enough to make them useless vessels—enough to release the gods inside.

“Zane!? What the hell!” Shay grabbed Zane while Effie caught Lucian, who somehow betrayed more of a sailor’s mouth than any of the guys ever did. But a new problem peeled out of their bodies; a swarm of energy oozed from Zane’s flesh and accumulated above him.

If faceless energy could appear disappointed, this mass did an amazing job of it. It touched the ground, taking the shape of Zane, albeit without detail or features, like someone made him out of red gelatin which crackled with waves of energy. Across from Zane, he caught glimpse of a green mass much the same, though with Lucian’s appearance.

Ah, shit…

Maybe once Zane closed his eyes, he’d find everything taken care of. Or maybe Vitam would win, or maybe—the other god would win and kill Zane for failing his mission.

Either way. No one deserved to wield such power, right? So he’d leave the gods to figure it out for themselves. No more pushing magic and duty onto people. No more scapegoats or easy villains.

Call it a stupid, impulsive choice. Zane knew. But he saw no other way. Nothing but—

Hands.

Hands, over wounds. A few deep breaths, and the ground traded with the sky, before he landed, and—

“Wake up.”

Leon slapped Zane across the face. “I know the wound’s closing. Open your eyes and explain yourselves.”

Zane shot up, rubbing his face. The tower stood, now far above them as they rested at the door. Him, Lucian, Effie and Shay—and that guy. A few knights armed with healing staffs stepped away, before hurrying off in the other direction. The other Guardians didn’t seem present, at least. But that might’ve had to do with what occurred at the top of the tower.

Green and red crashed against one another. With all their strength the Untitled God tried to crush Vitam, but he fought for his life with equal vigor, putting them at a standstill. Neither could deal the killing blow. If anything, their battle only battered the tower, knocking off chunks which cracked the land below.

If the gods came down, Belva might end up wiped off the face of Auliam. Assuming the destruction stopped there.

Which… Zane knew better. He took a deep breath and put aside his feelings on Leon. “Took you long enough. We’ve gotta do something about them.”

“Them?” Lucian sputtered. “But… isn’t the other one good? We can’t just—”

“Nah, they both gotta go,” Zane said. “That god wouldn’t’ve let me use their power the way I did if they thought them sticking around helped anyone. I think they went into this fight knowing it’d take their life to stop Vitam. After spending an eternity keeping the guy sealed, least we can do is respect that, right?”

“But—we can’t just—”

“Live in a world without magic? It’s possible.”

“Not for me!” Lucian put a hand to his heart. “I can’t do that!”

Effie coughed, eyeing Leon as he drew a knife, putting herself between him and Lucian. “I think you can. I spent my entire life not using it. So did Shay, and we both turned out fine.”

“But—” Lucian chewed on his lip, but this time Shay hit him.

“Quit it, you’re bleeding enough already,” he grumbled. “…Shit. Sorry about what I said back there. Kid, you’re more than magic, and frankly from the sound of it you’ll be better off without all that weighing you down. Zane, got any bright ideas?”

“Uhhh…” Zane knocked the side of his head. “Dunno. I’m kinda tired.”

“Hey!”

It was the truth. After what happened, it was as though someone sapped his strength. Climbing back up that tower, destroying those gods all seemed impossible with fatigue weighing him down… well, good thing they had someone around to shortcut it. “Leon. Where’re the other Guardians?”

Effie piped up as Leon opened his mouth. “They’re close to the barrier! The apparitions stopped, but there’s a lot of injured, so—”

“Great, get them over here. We’re gonna weaken Vitam and give the other god an opening to end this. Leon, you think you can get us all up the tower again? I mean, you got us down, up can’t be much harder.”

Leon pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know that’s not—ugh, fine. There’s no time to argue. Miss, can you?”

“Ooh, miss?” Effie giggled, before a massive cloud of rubble burst behind her from a stray shot of energy. “Oh. Shit. Okay, bye!”

She took off after that—smart girl. Zane patted Shay on the shoulder. “Get people as far away from here as possible. I’m sure we’ll find a way outta this, but y’know, just in case?”

Shay hit Zane’s shoulder. “You better. I’m not burying anyone else today.”

“Promise. Ultra promise.”

Zane laughed, but stopped when Shay didn’t. He nodded, finally offering Shay some real comfort before the man departed for the barrier. He knew Shay cared, but for once, he wished the other man didn’t care so much.

“I think I remember a move we used to do,” Zane said. “All of us Guardians. Lucian can buy us time while we charge up.”

“Can you still manage it?” Leon said, eyes narrowed. “Our last resort relies on you.”

Zane rolled his shoulders. “We won’t know until we try. And we have to try. Remember, though, after this, I’m done with the Guardian crap.

“Speaking of it… I really thought you died there.”

Leon frowned. “So did I. The knights discovered me at the foot of the tower on death’s door after you all foolishly stormed it. Pearce brought me back, and I’ve mustered everything I can to make it worthwhile.”

“…That’s cool.”

Zane almost wished Leon died. That wound might never heal, but for a moment, he resolved to push it down if it meant something good came out of it. “When everyone arrives, get us up there. Then we’ll end this.”

Leon nodded, then turned away. Zane tried not to look at him, while Lucian hovered by Zane’s side. He kept sparing glances as if wanting to say something, but Zane was glad he kept his mouth shut. Not that he didn’t want to talk, too—but there was too much going on, too little time to spare.

Better to wait.

They’d have a chance, even if it almost killed them.

Footsteps caught Zane’s attention. Addison and Pearce stopped, Pearce struggling to catch his breath while Addison gave a lopsided salute. “Hey! Wait, what’s Lucian doing here?”

“No time,” Zane said, “we’ve gotta hit Vitam where it hurts. Leon’s gonna get us up there and—”

“Seriously!? You think you can skip the explanations on me? No thanks, Zaney, after I almost died for you and your dumb friends I think—”

Zane grabbed her shoulders. “We don’t have time for this, just shut up and listen!”

…

“…Kay.” Addison went bug-eyed—maybe even blushed, though Zane tried to ignore it as he let go of her and cleared his throat.

Stepping away, Zane turned to the tower. “We’re gonna hit Vitam with our group attack and give the other god an opening to destroy him. Lucian’ll keep him distracted in the meantime.”

“Can we trust him?” Pearce said, clearly not believing otherwise.

“I—” Lucian began, but Zane put a hand over his mouth.

“You can trust me, trusting him. There.”

Addison cooed. “Oooh, Leon, you’re being usurped! How’s it feel? I dunno if I can muster any Sadness after seeing this in action.”

Leon glanced at Pearce, who sighed and nodded. Without giving a response, Leon walked in a circle, tapping his staff against all of them, granting them a piece of Happiness. On his cue, they jumped, sailing high above and landing at the top of the crumbling tower.

The tower stood on shaky foundations. The battle between the gods tore in in half, then in quarters, leaving small slivers of safe footing. Lucian jumped to action—he leapt onto another pillar, then another, until he landed on the other side and held his staff up. Light crept up and flashed, again, again, eliciting noises from the green haze choking out the other god.

“I may have been your avatar,” Lucian said, “But I just want to be myself! I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore! I—please, just leave us alone!”

He jumped as Vitam sent a current of energy down which destroyed his footing. Zane turned to the other Guardians.

“Now or never,” he said. “I’m doing this with or without you guys.”

Addison nodded. “I’m in. I’ve always kind of hated this guardian crap, anyways.”

“For the sake of the world,” Pearce muttered, albeit with his usual annoying pity. Leon opted for silence, regarding Zane with one last judgmental gaze before closing his eyes, focusing on his staff alongside Pearce.

As they did so, Addison splayed her hands, summoning a barrier of Sadness which wrapped around Zane, the strength of the other Guardians seeping from their staffs and into Zane’s shadow. He channeled their hope, their pain, all their conflicted feelings into his two fists.

Rage was only good at destroying things—so it was only right Zane was the final piece of this special attack.

Lucian stumbled. Vitam pulled all his attention towards his former avatar, the planet itself rumbling from the god’s rage.

The Untitled God sat by. It did nothing to save or change fate—it waited, as any god of its nature would.

Zane straightened himself.

With one graceful leap, the power of a complete Soul behind his fists, he punched Vitam hard enough to send it through the tower, rattling back to the planet’s surface, smashed underneath the rubble of everything it built. The Untitled God pursued it, a horrible screech meeting another scream as the two met in the dust cloud.

The rubble exploded as though atomized by a force with enough determination to break the planet in half. Zane landed in an endless cloud of gray, with nothing but people to fill the space. No rubble. No towers.

Not even a pebble.

Not even the gods—destroyed alongside the cursed structure.

The power in Zane’s fists flickered, then went still.