The Unimaginable

  Nine people wanted him dead for killing their family. It was by no means the first time he was dealing with multiple opponents, yet there was still an aspect of danger. Blade had barely won against the unknown man, there was a chance they all had similar strength. Breaking his train of thought, however, was Leo.

  ?"You can’t seriously believe you can win this?"

  ?Leo asked, giggling from the idiocy before his eyes. His words broke through Blade’s thoughts, yet he responded likewise.

  ?"And what if I do?”

  ?His words didn’t come from arrogance, but curiosity. He himself wanted to know if he truly was capable of this or not. He couldn't say the same for his next words.

  ?“Can you tell me why you fight?”

  The question made Leo pause, though only for a moment, as he answered.

  “Why I fight? Why do you ask? It's like asking a wild animal why it hunts or a butterfly why it flies.”

  Blade could understand the question sounded dumb, but he pushed on.

  “Yet we still wonder. We want to know. Isn’t that what science is all about?”

  Another pause though this one shorter as Leo visibly mulled over his answer.

  “That’s an interesting thought, but one I care too little for. Sure science is built on curiosity, but I believe it's time to let that curiosity die.”

  Let curiosity die? The words made Blade wonder, what would he be if he let his curiosity die. Maybe that would be then he truly would become the tool he saw himself as.

  ?Placing a hand on the ground, blades suddenly sprouted from the earth, coming as a surprise to everyone but Blade. Some larger than trees, others the size of branches, yet they served the need of separating his opponents.

  ?Singling out the archer first, Blade charged at the woman. Noting her balanced physique and well-trained body, he went for her primarily because she was the farthest away. One look at her stance told him her level of skill was definitely higher than his, yet he still felt the need to comment on it.

  ?“Your stance is like a shadow to me.”

  The remark stung. She didn’t reply with words, but with shots. Three shot arrows ?that crossed the distance like shooting stars, hitting their marks with efficiency. Catching Blade by surprise was the strength more than anything else. The arrows carried heavier weight than what the woman’s frame would tell. Unable to properly cut through them, he resorted to dodging.

  What was more concerning was the path the arrows took the moment he began evading, no longer moving in a predictable path. Turns and twists, no matter how Blade moved the arrows followed until they hit their mark. And in his place an explosion arose.

  Giving up his coat for cover, he dropped down behind her. Arrows filled with the intent to kill, yet from her stance it was clear she was fighting to protect.

  “Why do you grow stronger?”

  “What type of question is that? Especially after bad mouthing my stance”

  She said, shooting more arrows that sought him dead. Picking up a few stones in his run, Blade threw them at the arrows, causing the explosion to go off prematurely.

  Despite the building irritation, she kept her cool to get a clear shot off.

  They both fought to protect, yet Blade was left wondering why she was so filled with intent, while he was left so blank. To Blade it felt like an answer and simultaneously the road to more questions.

  Creating a bow of his own he deflected her arrows with his own, even if it required them to come enough to where they wouldn’t shift trajectory.

  To know what to protect? To Blade it had always been about perspective, yet fighting here made him begin to question that.

  Stepping back the woman began shooting the arrows in the air, making them far more unpredictable as they fell like rain.

  “A bond… so that’s how…”

  Blade no longer sat back on the defensive, allowing the arrows to graze him so his focus remained on the fatal ones. Nothing had ever been for show, and neither was the hammer he made, purposefully hitting short. The moment the woman leaped back, he launched himself off the hammer, cutting off her head in a singular swift motion and piercing her heart.

  ?When he had made the blades emerge from the ground, he had formed a labyrinth. The chance was high they had a form of connection that let them know when one of them died, as it would explain how they knew Blade was the culprit.

  The true problem would be dealing with the increased anger they would hold against him. He had seen people do more when enraged, so killing them quickly would be ideal.

  ?Next, he met a burly man with an even larger hammer. Twice the man’s size, yet swung how a child would swing a twig. Blade’s first idea was to use his mobility to outspeed him, yet it was futile as the man proved to be light as a feather, creating devastating force.

  Evading the attack as he was pushed back by the raging winds that followed. If speed and strength were his strengths, what were his weaknesses?

  “You kill my brother, so I kill you. That’s what brother Leo says is right.”

  “So you fight for others?”

  Blade’s inquiry came from wanting to know more than anything else. To fight because someone else told you so, what was it like?

  “Of course”

  The man said, his swings coming faster.

  “Eldest brother Leo always knows what’s right. He said it's your fault. That means, I need to kill you”

  One fought to protect the other because of the words from someone else. Was either of them wrong for it was Blade’s main question, even as he avoided the next hit.

  The hits that only grazed or nearly missed still sent him flying. It was ridiculous, so he turned around and ran. He wasn't dealing with this musclehead yet, and so he found himself creating more blades and distracting him with some well-placed arrows to get away.

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  ?Neither a knight nor a mercenary, honor and sportsmanship had never meant much to him. But the little pride as a swordsman he held, didn't particularly like having to run away. Yet he could not abide by such rules under these circumstances. Pride was as much a poison as it was a source to fight.

  ?After gaining some distance, Blade was intercepted by another one, who was now carrying a pair of daggers.

  ?“I wouldn’t stand there.”

  Blade said, deflecting the dagger aimed at his neck, as he let the distance between them be. This time it was a figure he had a hard time making out under the hood, yet his words were those he could perceive.

  ?“A better question would be, why would I let you pass? You killed my brother and now my sister. Who knows who else you are going to kill if I let you be”

  For revenge and a desire to minimize potential deaths. Would it be considered a noble ideal, or a selfish one? Blade couldn’t tell, and this time he didn’t have the time to find out.

  Even as the figure studied every movement he made, from the smallest twitch to a reflex in his arm, Blade seemed unbothered as he ran towards them. Clashing his sword with their dagger, before flipping over them?. The figure didn’t get more time before they felt the cold of metal to their dome. And a heavy crush of earth followed after.

  A scene Blade found himself staring at, even as the voice followed.

  “No, no! Why make me kill them?”

  “Revenge clouds the mind. A saying my master used to tell me. I heard you coming, they did not”

  Even with the explanation, Blade didn’t expect to be heard as he pierced the remains of the crushed heart, and those were right as he felt his body be launched through the ground by the next hit.

  Though he had strength and speed, ?Blade realized the man was smashing through blades and nature all alike. A berserker that would destroy everything in its way the angrier it got.

  ?“You—YOU KILL MY FAMILY!”

  ?The musclehead shouted before slamming down, breaking the earth. Blade’s plan had only one flaw, and that was that this behemoth was so dumb, any damage towards his family would somehow be blamed on Blade.

  “Why you kill my family!?”

  “I didn’t kill them though.”

  Blade countered, leaping out of the way to dodge the strike. The behemoth's hammer crushing any obstacle in its way, stripping away all cover.

  “Yes you did. Fault is yours.”

  The next strike was like a streak of lightning, not giving him the chance to escape as he hit down Blade could only block with his sword.

  ?Keeping his distance was the best he could do, though he managed to destroy the other siblings using a similar method. Even so Blade continued blocking the worst attacks and dodging the rest, yet even he couldn’t run forever.

  Leaning under the next attack, Blade shifted himself, changing his trajectory. Blood dripped from the man’s leg as Blade’s sword cut into it, yet the damage was nothing but superficial even as it stained the clothes. Nothing more.

  “Where does your strength come from?”

  A question even the man could answer seemed to momentarily clear his head. Looking at Blade confused.

  “My strength? Well it-”

  Yet not a word more was said, as a hole replaced where the man’s chest used to be. The same would have happened to Blade’s own head, had he not deflected the spear.

  The spear lingered in the air, as if it evaluated if it should try piercing Blade again, before flying back to its owner, as Blade saw Leo step forth.

  As Leo took the spear, Blade noticed an orb on the end of it. His immediate thought was that it had come from the musclehead, yet never got to see it clearly as Leo broke it in his grasp.

  “Why did you kill him?”

  “Silence… even in death people should be given silence following their demise."

  The response was short and to the point, yet answered nothing of what Blade was looking for. So instead he asked another question.

  “What made you do this, and why do you seek strength?"

  “Didn’t I already answer this?”

  Leo asked as he wiped the blood from his spear with shaking hands.

  “Not really”

  Mulling it over, Leo deigned him worthy enough to answer as he sat down on a large rock in the area.

  “At this point I don’t even know if you are trying to mock me”

  Despite his words, after a sigh he deigned Blade worthy to talk to.

  “A makeshift family, that’s what this is. I never needed the bonds, only the power.”

  “Why go through the trouble?"

  To Blade it seemed irrational to build all this trust if all he sought was power.

  “To surpass those goddamn [Twin Stars]. No matter what you do, or where you go, nobody ever seems to tire of mentioning them. Oh you did something amazing, well one of them did it better. Oh you managed to surpass a limit, well they already did it twice each by accident. If this world is a story then it's damn unfair!”

  The words seemed to carry more emotion than he meant, as he paused, pushing his hair back and relaxed.

  “That’s why I built this ‘family’, yet you have proven they were far too weak. So I have an offer to you. Let’s start a new family, you and me. With our power together with whoever else, not even those twins will be able to ignore us. With your strength I doubt you like being constantly overshadowed.”

  Seeing the offered hand gave Blade nothing, because he didn't even know who these twins were.

  “I’ll have to reject.”

  With the vocal rejection Blade was forced to deflect another spear throw inches from his face, whistling past him like a rocket.

  Not wasting a moment Blade leapt forward, his sword at the ready, yet flipped as the spear came lunging back.

  It did not take long before Leo was in front of him, catching the spear as he went on the offensive. Parrying was all Blade found himself doing, unable to gain the upper hand before being launched back.

  It made no sense. Blade had blocked the hit, yet the force behind it was unlike before. Almost like fighting the muscles all over. But that would make less sense.

  Still given no time to think about it, he leapt in the air, and Leo’s eyes followed. Every twitch, every movement. Until he finally began to descend.

  With explosive speed the spear was close. Blade leaned as far back as possible watching the spear cut his hair and the air where he had been. Yet not finished as he grabbed the spear.

  Watching as dozens of spears were made around him, Blade twisted and slashed until the main spear threw him off and returned to Leo.

  “You truly infuriate me. I don’t understand why someone like you would prefer staying in the shadows.”

  His lunges came quicker, attacking Blade the moment he reached the ground, yet fooled as Blade managed to trap his spear under his foot and slashed his chest.

  Jumping back, he took a step before fully realizing the blood was actually flowing. This time the cut hadn’t been superficial. A memory of a time, long forgotten by those who shared it. Of a time where he trained relentlessly yet crushed by a flame that refused to burn.

  He had asked a single question to answer his doubts. Had he been strong? The answer had been quick. Profound yet simple, as the answered no was what he’d been given. An answer that had pushed him for one last attack, yet ended with nothing more than a slashed chest to the flame, and utter defeat to him. It was only then he realized he had been tricked, like a puppet on string. Made to attack, only to be destroyed. A cruel hand that would push him down no matter how much stronger he got.

  “You asked why I seek strength?"

  Leo asked as put a hand on the running blood. Blade only nodded in agreement as he stood wary.

  “To surpass the flame I couldn’t touch, and pierce the star only visible in my dreams. So thank you Blade, I don’t need you nor anyone anymore. I finally understood, my own purpose”

  With his words the spear changed, his blood running across it like molten ichor. Shaping the spear into a bloody gold bident. Opening his arms, he held his head high, welcoming the change and the world. His eyes closed not to block it out, but to embrace this feeling fully.

  “Thank you, Blade, for fueling my awakening.”

  The thrust that followed was only met with flesh, as it shredded through Blade’s side like it was wood. If not for the bare minimum of protection and a deflection reflex, Blade would be split in half, yet using the movement he followed through trying to cut off Leo's neck.

  Nothing but air was cut, as the graceful motion of leaning backwards was all Leo required to avoid decapitation, before thrusting his knee into Blade jaw, sending him away.

  Rolling, Blade spun out of the way from the crater that formed from the bident hitting beside him, only to be kicked up in the air. A blur of earth to sky was all Blade felt, before feeling his eyes stagnate as the bident came crushing into his side. Causing the wound to open even more, leaking blood like to signal demise. Yet even as Leo came above him in a flash, no end came.

  ?And at that moment, as Blade looked up, he saw it. A skull, practically the size of a moon, falling towards them. Only a few hundred meters above them, with its jaw unhinged and wide. Entirely made of flames that could incinerate the sun.

  ?How had he not noticed it? The heat, the light. Any of it should have reached him, warning him of this emanating death. But then the answer found him. It had dropped faster than any of those could reach him.

  ?The surroundings finally caught on and burned. Leo could only watch this hell incarnate fall closer. After all his boasting, all his talk, was this his end? And Blade? He had plenty of questions ringing in his mind, yet the one that reigned on top was.

  ?"Am I going to die?"