A Clash of Wills...

  Kill Trinity?

  Did Aerin hear that right?

  An ominous and heavy silence follows Eos's words, as if the world freezes in shock at her statement. The weight of her tone also implies she's not joking, yet her body language is passive. Aerin tenses even though Eos remains calm and unassuming, the former stepping between her and the unconscious woman behind him just in case before speaking.

  "Why?" Aerin questions, furrowing his brow while keeping a tight grip on the now normal-looking sword in his right hand. Eos briefly focuses those eerie crimson eyes on the slumped-over female behind her Reaper, her gaze darting back to Aerin's a second before she answers him in that cold and apathetic tone; does she have emotions?

  "Her life is a direct violation of Thanatos' Rule of Death," the slightly smaller woman explains while calmly walking up to Aerin until she's in his personal space, her face inches from his when she speaks again with a sharp and focused look in her eyes; her conviction is profound. "As a Reaper, it is your responsibility to cleave her soul from her body and my obligation to harvest it for the River Styx," she explains. Yet, she doesn't push past Aerin to execute Trinity like earlier. Instead, she steps back from the Remnant and stands idle, still unassuming and harmless for the moment despite wearing the look of a seasoned killer. Aerin's overwhelmed with questions; this is too much to take in.

  "Reaper? River Styx?" Aerin repeats, shaking his head and stepping back in confusion; his head suddenly hurts again. "... Is that the river I constantly see in my dreams?" he asks, looking at Eos, who calmly nods in return. Aerin's vivid recollection of all the times he's seen that massive, endless river of ethereal energy that cuts through two infinite masses of land in his dreams, a sight he can't even put into words. "Why am I having dreams of a-" he abandons the question and shakes his head. They've got more important things to deal with.

  "I can't let you kill Trinity, Eos," Aerin says, then blinks in confusion; how did he know her name? His confusion fades as quickly as it comes, as he's back on topic, his voice and tone stalwart and direct; he's not backing down from this. "That's the end of this discussion. If you insist on trying to kill her, then..." he raises his sword at Eos, his expression showing he's true to his body language; he'll fight Eos if he has to. Whether he'll win that scrap is another story, though.

  Eos quietly tilts her head at Aerin for a few seconds after his threat, her expression reminiscent of a curious animal; she didn't expect that. There's a vivid confusion behind that mostly monotonous expression; she's contemplating something. Something that was said to her many times in her psyche before her physical awakening.

  If your Reaper ever betrays your trust, kill them.

  Eos flicks her left hand, summoning that wicked black scythe again, and Aerin readies himself...

  But before you kill them, ask yourself if you'd do the same in their position.

  Eos stays her hand, not attacking, but she still looks like she's having an internal argument; it's unnatural from Aerin's perspective.

  "Why?" Eos asks, mirroring the man's earlier question and tone, and Aerin's tense look twists into light confusion until Eos points the broadside of her scythe at him; he needs an elaboration. "Why won't you kill her?" she inquires, seeking to understand something. Aerin is silent for a few seconds, keeping a calm and collected appearance in front of this mysterious woman. He can't tell if she'll attack at any second; she's extremely hard to read.

  "She saved my life and I'm the reason she's out here in the first place," Aerin responds, his voice clear and resounding in his accountability. "I don't know much about Thanatos, or what a Reaper is, or who you are, but if anything is going to happen tonight on my honor, it's getting her back home," he says with conviction, raising his sword again at Eos in anticipation for a fight he's aware he's likely to lose. The weighted silence between them is thick and potent; the slightest provocation can start a violent encounter.

  Then, it happens; she moves like lightning, going for Trinity with a fluid lunge that seamlessly and effortlessly flows into a lethal decapitating strike at the woman's neck. Aerin reacts almost as fast as Eos attacks, his anticipation his saving grace; his sword sparks off the woman's singing scythe blade when he puts himself between the two. The imperfect parry deflects Eos's blade toward his swaying face, and the outer edge grazes the edge of his neck, narrowly missing his major artery. That shallow cut will leave a scar...

  Eos quickly backs off like a startled animal; she didn't intend to do that. She stares at Aerin for what feels like an eternity, but the injured Remnant keeps his blade ready and eyes on her despite his bleeding wound; he's not taking his eyes off Eos. The red-eyed woman tilts her head again like a beast, her expression hard to read. Then? The woman flicks her wrist and disperses her scythe, her animosity gone in a strange instant, just like that.

  "Very well. As you wish," Eos concedes, the look in her eyes softening into something more casual and tolerant. She turns and steps away, fading into thin air like a vanishing ghost without further explanation, but she gives a parting warning to the silver-haired man before she goes.

  "Stand by your word every time you make a promise. Or they will kill you..."

  She's gone in the next moment, leaving Aerin with the woman.

  "Hey, you still alive? Answer me, please..." Aerin intensely asks, wincing at the stinging burn of his neck injury. It's not deep enough to kill him, but it still hurts; it's like a large papercut on the side of his neck, and it's not healing like his wounds earlier. He gently scoops the unconscious Trinity in his arms while kneeling over her, gently shaking her side to side for any signs of life. He knows she's breathing, but that's the bare minimum at this point; he needs to make sure she's okay after passing out from cardiac syncope. If only he had more medical experience; he feels fucking useless.

  ".... Mmm..." Trinity weakly eeks out a response, her body limp and helpless; she lacks the strength to even tense up. Still, her whine was all Aerin needed to hear to elevate his mood; his tense expression instantly brightens into a smile of relief and an exhale of comfort. It's like a giant has stepped off his shoulders. As long as she's conscious, she'll likely recover. Remnants are very resilient.

  "Good. Leave the rest to me; I'll get you home..." Aerin assures before scooping the smaller woman into his arms like a princess and holding her close. His pale eyes scan the silent, ruined city next for danger, and then he glances at the empty, damaged church. He stares at the darkness within it for several moments while recalling the chaotic battle that happened mere minutes beforehand; an Abyssal Rift was threatening to merge the worlds a mere short while ago. Time is a constantly astounding phenomenon...

  Keep moving...

  Aerin blinks out of his existentialist thoughts and takes off into the city...

  He's heading towards where he and Trinity started this mission.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Aerin's rapid footsteps echo through the ominous darkness of the ruined city, bathing in moonlight; he's likely the only conscious living thing around for miles. The once prosperous foundations of an empire that spanned the entire world are now a shadow of their former self; a haunting reminder to those surviving few of what once was and what'll likely never be again. Aerin tries to keep these thoughts buried as he runs. He eventually reaches the same intersection they met up at and slides to a stop.

  "Huff... huff..." Aerin's tired and stops to catch his breath after gently setting Trinity down nearby against the same messed up car he's now resting against. Tonight's been rough on him. He opens one of his eyes and looks Trinity's way. "You still with me?" he asks, and the woman lets out another barely audible whimper of acknowledgement a few seconds later before she starts slumping over into a face-first fall.

  "Shit!" Aerin curses, throwing himself at her to catch her before she breaks her teeth against the pavement.

  The man catches her with an outstretched arm braced against her upper chest, then gently brings her closer to lean on his chest, realizing he should've done this from the start. He keeps attentive for danger while resting with her, but the thoughts and questions about everything won't leave his mind. Where'd Eos go? He can't sense her. Who was she? What's a Reaper? Why did everything Cyril said wind up coming true? Aerin's got a lot of questions he's going to get the answers to when he gets back. For now, though, all he can do is wait until Trinity's team sends for her again. Wait, how'd they send for her unless they knew she was done?

  "Fucking..." Aerin curses and pinches the bridge of his nose; he can't blame anyone but himself. ".... Trinity, I'm going to pat you down for your transmitter phone; is that okay?" he asks, not moving until Trinity gives another weak hum. He takes that as her approval, considering the dire circumstances; who knows how long she'll stay barely functioning till something goes wrong again?

  His eyes scan her pockets before his hands tentatively follow, eventually plucking the device from her back pocket with two fingers, only to groan in annoyance: the phone's broken. It likely happened during the fight with the Abyssal Knight. "Fucking..." Aerin curses, just dropping the inoperable device near his feet in disgust. The only other sensible option is hoping Trinity had a contingency should her transmitter stop working. If she didn't...

  "Will somebody come out here soon if you're gone for too long?" Aerin asks, peering down at the barely conscious woman leaning against him. To his surprise, though, Trinity starts moving. It's very weak and takes effort, but she's recovering from her exhaustion after that short rest. She's got enough energy to form sentences now when she answers him.

  ".... phone sends alarm... if broken..." she weakly says, and that sends a wave of relief down Aerin's spine. He helps Trinity sit upright nearby, using her regaining strength, keeping an attentive eye on her if she starts slumping over again. "Thank you..." the woman politely says in a weary tone that over time livens up; soon enough, she can talk in sentences again.

  "We just need... to ... go back..." She gestures in the air, likely alluding to where they set off, and Aerin nods.

  "We'll be fine, then..." the young man exhales, relaxing against the side of the car and closing his eyes for some much-needed rest. "We're already at where we set off; just need to wait..." he assures. While they're talking, Trinity is slowly regaining motor control functions; she's repeatedly flexing and tensing her muscles until she's sure fatigue isn't inhibiting her actions any longer. She's not capable of fighting yet, but she can move on her own if anything happens now. She steals a look at the silver-haired man next to her as whose eyes are closed, and she just stares at him for a time, watching him rest. It's then that she notices the several-inch-long scar along his neck near his major artery, and her expression tenses. He didn't have that before she went unconscious, and come to think of it, that other woman wasn't around. Did Aerin...

  "What happened to the other Remnant?" Trinity softly asks, not bringing up the scar. Aerin opens his eyes and pauses; that's right, Trinity likely didn't hear that exchange. The young man looks off to the side, away from her, before sighing, then dismissing the question with a lie of assurance. He'll worry about Eos and all of that later.

  "She's gone; we're safe," Aerin assures, and meets Trinity's eyes, giving a small nod. "She helped me kill that Abyss Monster; I think she'll come around in the future as an ally. Hopefully..." he jokes in a dry tone, and Trinity snorts, looking away. She'll buy Aerin's promise for now; she didn't know him enough to tell if he was lying or not. Either way, she quickly forgets about the scar and the scythe-wielding woman, her voice slowly breaking down into a solemn, empty tone drenched in fatigue. She's exhausted.

  "I... didn't expect to deal with all of this..." the woman softly sighs aloud without realizing it, running a hand through the bangs hiding away her closed and scarred right eye; she's tired. "Cyril told me this would be the assignment I've always wanted, but I think he was being a dick..." she scowls, and her comment raises a question in Aerin's mind that he promptly asks with an inflection in his tone.

  "What do you mean by that?" he asks, and Trinity gives him a passing glance before looking away with a sigh. She said a little too much; she didn't mean to do that. Still, there's no point in her beating around the bush now that the cat's out of the bag. So, after building up a little confidence, she glances Aerin's way and elaborates. Her tone is more vibrant and livelier than earlier; she's fully conscious, if not tired.

  "In a nutshell: I used to be the idealistic child who wanted to use my abilities to fix the world," Trinity talks like she's amused at her retrospective ignorance; what a stupid kid she used to be. "I quickly learned that the world is fucked no matter what I do and gave up on that idealistic dream. Cyril likes to occasionally try and reignite my 'childhood hope for a better world' with little jabs like what I mentioned," she eye rolls, not sounding mad, just upset about it all the more she thinks about it. Soon enough, her words fall into a more solemn and disappointed kind of tired; a mental fatigue she can never express right. Why's she suddenly venting to this stranger? Probably because they've already saved each other's lives.

  "I wonder how he'll react when I tell him that I died tonight, and you likely would've as well if I hadn't used Ra's power..." She sighs again; this time it's even more melancholic. She brings her knees to her chest and rests her chin on them after hooking her arms around her legs for support. "I sometimes question why I continue to live this lifestyle, honestly. But, the answer always hits me like a freight train seconds afterward..." she says, sounding defeated all over again. Aerin finishes her statement like he's reading her mind; he didn't need to relate, though.

  "It's because we don't have a choice, isn't it?" Aerin asks, and Trinity agrees with a curt nod and response.

  "Naturally..." she chuckles, her expression hollow and eerily reminiscent of what Aerin saw in Eos for a second. "Makes you wonder if the Gods are real, or if they're made up machinations used as a proxy to explain all the bullshit we deal with..." she scowls again, her pretty features soured with a briefly wicked look of irritation. This rushing torrent of emotions from her is something Aerin's felt himself many times over. The constant question that plagues him...

  What's the point of it all?

  Why do Gods and suffering exist?

  The two fall into silence together amidst the desolate ruins of a long-fallen civilization stretching for miles in every direction. The sense of isolation they share is a feeling they've endured for years. Aerin glances at Trinity, noting she's staring into space while still hugging her legs; he can tell at a glance she's mentally spiraling into an abyss of questions she'll never get the answers to. He needs to snap her out of it, but how?

  ".... I try not to think too much about it..." Aerin finally says something, and it snaps Trinity out of her downward spiral into existentialist madness. His words snap her from her thoughts, indicated by her blinking and snapping her gaze to him. He keeps talking; he has to. "All you can do is focus on the now and what you can accomplish," he pauses, then turns and meets Trinity's half-hidden gaze with a fatigued look of his own that's surprisingly stalwart and sincere. Trinity can't explain the emotions she feels when she sees Aerin's icy stare, that's a different kind of cold than usual. It's not harsh, unforgiving, and standoffish. No, Aerin...

  Why do you look dead inside... Aerin?

  Trinity thought it, but never asked...

  Instead, she has a different question...

  One that's more profound than Aerin anticipates...

  "If you could kill God, Aerin..." Trinity softly starts to say, but her words pierce Aerin's ears like lances, and his body tenses.

  "Would you do it?" the woman finishes her question after a pause.

  Was it a sin to even think about killing a God?

  If so...

  Why?

  Aerin is silent as the grave, but his eyes stay locked on Trinity's; she's waiting for an answer that he's unsure of himself. Eventually, he caves and breaks eye contact to stare off at the ground near his boots. Trinity doesn't rush him for an answer. Instead, she tucks her legs in again and gazes out at the ruined city standing before her. Images and made-up memories of a time she never got to witness flash through her thoughts while she speaks in a calm, sincere, and profound voice.

  "I don't know if I would..." she answers her question, and the answer surprises Aerin; he glances her way in mild astonishment. But, she doesn't see it, or chooses not to acknowledge it as she explains herself. "Having a conscious is such a pain... You're always questioning if your actions are the right ones, or if your motivations align with your intentions... It's a headache..." She tears up a little and wipes her face, deciding it's best to drop this conversation.

  "Don't worry about it. There's been enough misery and gloom for today," she dismisses, pulling herself to her feet. She wobbles a little when fully upright, her balance still off, but she's stable enough. Aerin follows her lead, hopping to his feet and stretching with a soft nod as the distant hum of a vehicle enters the still silence surrounding them. Trinity peers past Aerin's shoulder and sees the APC coming in from far down the road. She flashes the most sincere and genuine smile she's had all night; her ride home is here.

  "And there's the cavalry..." Trinity coos, her spirits dramatically brightened all of a sudden; seeing that APC dispelled all doom and gloom she had. The young woman elbows Aerin's side with newfound energy, giving him that same smile. "When we get back and everything gets settled, I want you to come with me somewhere. There's something I want to show you," she suggests, and Aerin lifts his brow in mild curiosity. For the time being, he's forgotten all of the crazy stuff that's happened tonight, just as Trinity did; in this moment, what she has in store is all he cares about.

  "Can I ask what it is in advance?" the man casually asks, his tone more relaxed and at ease. It matches his gaze; Trinity notices he doesn't look hollow inside anymore, either. He helped her out of her downward spiral, so she'll choose to help him in return. After all, that's one thing Cyril always got right about her, and it's something she can't hide no matter how much she tries. She answers Aerin with an expected denial matching her taunting tone as the APC pulls into view, bathing them in its headlights.

  "No."

  Next Chapter: We are Heavensfall