Chapter 20

I walked into a small courtyard that lead to a decently sized house, I had let my prisoners go freely in return for them leading me here. I knew this was the place it felt like a strong spirit was here the last one I had to cut down before my life's work was finally made whole. A shiver went down my back as it sunk in that this was the last thing I had to do before my journey was complete and I become able to live my life out in peace. Small steady steps were guiding me inside the house and I felt dread and pure joy welling up inside of me. This was it, the moment I was waiting for but contemplating about; what is my purpose after I do what I was destined to do? I heard the creak of a door ahead and it snapped me out of my thoughts. I raised a sword and a pistol towards the sound and I heard footsteps drawing near. I looked up and saw a familiar face that I thought I'd gotten rid of at the battlegrounds. "You?" I asked to myself and to the figure in front of me. Guise looked towards me and tilted his head down. "You thought you'd killed us all didn't you? You probably felt like someone was missing but couldn't quite figure out who." He raised his arms up showfully, "It's me!" I remembered looking around the battlegrounds at everyone but I was in such pain from all the loss that I lost track of my victims. He continued, "Everyone else was so sure that you wouldn't betray them but I knew better, you're nothing but a murderer and you're going to burn for what you did!" His eyes glew like a raging forest fire and I felt like I was burning from the inside out, "Aaaaggghhhh!!!! Stop! I had to!! Can't you see it hurt me more than anything else I've done?! I'm not a murderer I'm here to save everyone!" I cried out in pain and anguish. "You're not anyones savior, and you never will be! All you've done is kill good people for fun, and I'm putting an end to it." His face was seething with anger and the pain intensified even more and I gasped multiple times and was laid out on the floor spasming in pain my skin bright red. I tried to fight it but it was too late I was starting to die, my mission failed I couldn't keep going any longer. My mind went back to a moment when I was still in mourning for my wife and I saw a passage she wrote that stayed with me, it said: "I killed someone today and she was the wife of the leader of the group I joined after I won. I apologized to him over and over, I knew it wouldn't bring her back but I never stopped trying to make it right.The difference between a heartless killer and someone who just made a mistake is that one will never try to right their wrongs or care that they took a soul from this world;and the other will never forget the ones that they ended the lives of and won't stop trying to do what they can to give back what was lost no matter how hopeless it seems." Chills went up Bloodshed's back and he was glowing with a white frost about him, turning his skin a more pale white to fight the fire inside. "I've never killed for fun, I feel every life that I take leave this world and my heart grows colder knowing that it was my fault, but their lives will not be taken in vain." I grabbed Guise by the collar and lifted him up and his spirit began to fade, his eyes returned to their normal warm brown color and I let him go and he fell on the floor. "You didn't kill me.." he looked at me astonished that I'd given him mercy. I replied, "I didn't know how to take spirits when I was younger; had I known it was possible I never would have killed my friends, they were like family to me and they made the world seem like a better place." My head was leaned down in reverence of everyone I lost. Tears slowly dripped down my face and I could tell that Guise was suddenly aware that I wasn't the monster he made me out to be. His mood changed and he grabbed my hand and pulled me up. "I'm sorry Bloodshed, I thought you were evil and that you had to be stopped, but in truth you were just doing what we Soul Searchers do best, hunt down our own kind." He shook my hand and left me alone in the house that I believed to be my end. I left and started walking towards the City of Claret I had nowhere left to go I had been all over the Blood Ruby Nation and now I could finally be free and go anywhere I wanted. The only thing I wanted was a place to rest and to go back to the life I had before all this had started. Back to when I was just an 18 year old boy who wanted to live my life and have fun exploring the world with nothing to lose and to find the love of my life and live together peacefully. Now I have nothing. My journey is done and I have nothing to show for it. I made my way to Pirouette's family's home and knocked on the door knowing that this was the last stop before everything was accounted for. A little girl answered the door, "Hello?" She looked confused as to why I would be there. I said, "My name is Bethelod Shed and I knew your mother Pirouette, can I come in?" She nodded her head and I made my way inside and two men were also there one small frail man sitting in a chair and the other one was taller and had on glasses. I introduced myself hesitantly, "Hello, my name is Bloodshed. I knew Pirouette before she past away I was a friend of hers and she asked me to tell you all something." The room got stiflingly quiet and the taller man ushered softly, "Go on, tell us what her last words were." I cleared my throat in preparation, "She said to tell you all that she loved you and that she's sorry that she wasn't able to be here for you. That she'll be waiting for you and that you'll always be with her." They all became sorrowful and the little girl started to cry and the father picked her up barely containing his sadness himself and comforted her. I felt terrible but decided to keep going. "She didn't say this but I believe it's true, you all meant everything to her and I promise that as her friend I'll make sure none of you come to harm." The two men thanked me for the kind words and I told them that I was sorry for their loss and said my goodbyes and left.