Return of the Fallen Volume 5 Chapter 6
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Author: Blue_Rat
ch6
“KAZUKI! COME OUT!”
This voice covered the entire mountain range and echoed out again and again. The air shook and you could feel reverberations in the chest from this powerful yell.
The world fell silent but barely a moment later, the wind picked up once more and unnatural winds screeched and howled as a storm of ice and snow raged overhead.
Hearing that voice, everyone shared a look of dread with each other. Kazuki’s heart sank into his gut as well. He didn’t even need to see the owner of that voice to know exactly who it belonged to.
(Garn!)
Kimi paled and clung to Sam.
“Garn’s here! How, how did he find us, how does he even know where to look!?”
Kimi’s attitude had done a complete 180. From someone who was angry and ready to sink her teeth into any that gave her a nasty look, she now appeared fragile and terrified. She had considered going back to Garn at one point but after everything that’s happened, after losing an arm as well as Danny, she knew that Garn would not receive her with pleasantries. The way Garn sent killers after all of them so easily just to get to Kazuki. Would he not use her as well just to get to Kazuki and worse.
Her shoulder where her missing arm used to be, began to throb in pain. She unconsciously looked at Kazuki seeking help. However, the confident and usually unfazed man she’s come to know was nowhere to be found. Kazuki stood there pale in the face. He did not expect this at all. He couldn’t beat Garn, not now. He needed power, enough power to be on equal footing with Garn, only then could he face Garn and at least defend himself. As he currently stood though, there was no chance.
Kazuki’s thoughts ran at a million miles a second as he tried to figure some way out of this disaster.
(Run! Hide, where, how? How did he come to know where we are? Have to get away, have to escape!)
Kazuki sat down in the middle of the mountain and shut his eyes.
(Maybe Danny or brother can help me come up with something.)
As soon as he tried to enter his soul world, once more Garn’s voice exploded outward.
KAZUKI! I KNOW YOU’RE HERE! COME OUT RIGHT NOW OR I’LL BRING THESE MOUNTAINS DOWN ON TOP OF YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS!”
Garn’s yell was so loud that it shook Kazuki’s mind. It shattered his focus and prevented him from entering his soul world. Kazuki tried again but his concentration was no longer there and his mind was rattled. Without focus, one could not enter their soul world easily.
Kazuki stared at everyone else and they as well stared back at him, looking, no, hoping for an answer. Kazuki though was silent. He had no answer. He had no plan.
Asuna grabbed his hand.
“Kazuki, what…what do we do now?”
Kazuki was still quiet. He pulled his hand away and avoided her.
Asuna stepped back in surprise. Her head lowered in fear. Not from Kazuki but from what was to inevitably come.
“I…I’ll go.”
Kazuki almost whispered these words but they struck everyone like a bolt of electricity.
Nunully and Mei immediately protested.
“Kazuki you can’t! Garn will kill you as soon as he sees you!”
Mei grabbed Kazuki’s leg and held it tightly and pleaded.
“Big bro don’t go. You said that Garn mister is too powerful before. I…I don’t want you to die!”
Kazuki looked at everyone again. There was no way someone wouldn’t die here today. Why should it be any of them he thought. Kazuki’s heart burned with rage. He hated Garn and he hated himself. He hated himself because he was too weak. He hated the fact that he couldn’t get revenge for his brother and himself. He hated his sister and mother for killing his brother and killing his Master Granny. He hated the fact that his path was sealed.
(Dammit all!)
Kazuki slowly breathed out and gently pat Mei on her head.
“It’s ok. Mei Mei, do you really think your big bro will die that simply. I have a plan so let go already before I lose all feeling in my leg.”
Mei raised her little head up, a few tears streaming down her face.
“Really! Big bro, you really have a plan?”
Kazuki nodded.
“Yes, a super-secret plan but I do need your help to accomplish it. Actually not just you, I need everyone’s help. Do you think you can help me?”
Mei wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled brightly.
“A plan that needs us. I can do it. We all can, right mama?”
Tsura nodded.
“Of course. Kazuki, what’s the plan? What do you need us to do?”
“Well as I said it’s secret so I can’t tell you all the details.”
Everyone scrunched their brows in frustration. Kimi almost grabbed Kazuki by the collar to lift him up but Sam held her back. Asuna had no one to stop her though and almost yelled but quickly stopped herself so Garn wouldn’t find them. Still, her tone was beyond cold.
“What do you mean it’s secret? Stop playing around you asshole and just tell us what the plan is so we can get out of here.”
Kazuki shook his head.
“I can’t tell you everything. All you all need to know is that when I confront Garn, don’t come out, don’t make any noise, and stay put.”
Kimi snorted.
“Hmph, you call that a plan, what kind of bullshit are you spouting right now?”
“It’s not bullshit, just listen to me, please.”
Kazuki’s voice softened and everyone but Mei could tell he was being serious.
“After I meet Garn, stay put. Bunker up for a few days until things settle down. Garn will probably believe me and give up and leave.”
Everyone became curious at that sentence and Kazuki continued.
“I’ll tell Garn I abandoned you all and left you behind. I’ll tell him we are no longer related and I don’t know where or what any of you all are up to. I believe he’ll take those words into consideration and when he’s done, I believe he’ll wait around for a bit and observe the mountains. As long as you all don’t come out or make yourselves known for a few days, he should give up and leave. In the end, he only wants me. This…This should work.”
Kazuki barely finished explaining what he was going to do when Nunully pointed her staff at him and shot a large ball of water at him. It had been so sudden and unexpected that Kazuki had no time to dodge. As soon as it hit him, Nunully’s eyes glowed with blue light, and the water wrapped around Kauzki’s entire body and froze over almost instantly. The ice thickened in that small time frame and encased him in more than a foot of ice around his entire body. The only thing exposed was his head.
Everyone was confused and shocked at Nunully’s sudden behavior and didn’t know what was about to happen next but what she did next threw them off once more.
Nunully collapsed on her hands and knees and began to cry like a child.
“Don’t do it! You can’t…You absolutely can’t go to him!”
Everyone was baffled by this but Nunully didn’t stop there. She looked at them with eyes full of fear and sadness.
“Don’t you all get it? Don’t you realize what he’s trying to do? Kazuki…He…He’s planning to go to Garn to die. He’s trying to sacrifice himself to give us a chance.”
Nunully cried harder and harder and Mei joined in as everyone finally understood. It’s not that Kazuki was being a secretive asshole about a plan rather he didn’t have one in the first place.
Asuna walked over to Kazuki and stared at him deeply.
“Is…Is this the truth?”
Kazuki said nothing at first but eventually nodded.
“We all know Garn’s true strength. There’s no way we can beat him.”
Asuna could see that there was no hesitation in Kazuki’s words at all. For some reason, her body moved without her thinking.
*Smack*
Asuna slapped Kazuki straight across the face. She felt a stinging pain in her chest.
“You idiot!”
Kazuki was stunned. Not just him, everyone was taken aback. Tears began to fall down Asuna’s face but she didn’t care.
“This isn’t like you. This isn’t like you at all. You wouldn’t give up like this. You wouldn’t just roll over and surrender. Why…why won’t you even try.”
(Is this how she saw me?)
Kazuki looked around the room and everyone looked at him in return.
(Is this how they all looked at me?)
Kazuki felt something warm within. It was something familiar yet it was hard to identify but he remembered what it was.
Asuna didn’t say much but he knew what she meant. Kazuki recalled his father, he thought about his brother and his Granny Master.
(This feeling… isn’t this?)
Kazuki shook his head.
(It’s too late.)
“Thank you, Asuna, Nunully, all of you.”
Kazuki gathered his power and heat began to rise up. Cracks quickly formed all over the surface of the ice encapsulating him. Nunully was startled and raised her staff, reading to fire more magic.
“Nunully.”
Nunully paused for a moment as Kazuki called out to her.
“Goodbye.”
As soon as he said those words a black cloud of energy surged up and blocked everyone’s vision.
*Crack*
Nunully heard her ice shattering and she screamed out in pure defiance.
“NOOOOOOOOO!”
She fired her magic directly in front of her and Shin slapped at the air. A torrent of wind kicked up and swept all the dark energy away as though it were a simple puff of smoke. The dark energy was cleared away almost instantly and everyone could see once more but Kazuki was already gone.
They all looked in every direction but Kazuki’s figure couldn’t be seen anywhere.
Just like that, he had disappeared into the storming mountains.
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