Chapter 8: Bloody Aftermath

~ Back in the present, on the surface of M3096. ~

"I said STOP!"

A sensation unlike any other that Ting felt before coursed through his body, like the ripples of a river torrent. The world around him became engulfed in a blinding light as the screams of men were drowned out by thunder that violently shook the ground beneath his feet. The boy felt his muscles tighten, forcing his veins to nearly pop at the seams.

He cried out to the heavens, filled with the unadulterated rage and betrayal he had felt over watching his brother slaughter the soldiers in cold blood. His screams echoed back down ten fold, as though the god who heard his pleas had damned him to the deepest depths of hell.

Ting then opened his eyes. As quickly as the pain took hold of him, it disappeared. The all encompassing light had dissipated as well, but surrounding his immediate vicinity were small sparks of the same substance. The short-lived sparks seemed to dance magnificently between arbitrary points in the air.

'What's happening?'

Awestruck, his gaze wandered to the setting beyond. Trees no longer stood where they had only seconds ago. In their place were charred stumps. Ting narrowed his eyes at one in particular that was sprawled out.

Upon realizing what it was, he gasped. Lying on the ground, torso and legs nowhere to be seen, was the very soldier Heian was moments away from piercing through the heart. His entrails were spread out on the ground before him as he let out convulsing breaths in a desperate attempt to stay alive.

"Mama...I wanna go home..." he uttered meekly. Ting forced himself to look away, but soon realized that there was no escape from the macabre scene. Bodies, torn apart and burned beyond recognition, littered what little remained of the ruined landscape. It was then that a possibility hit him.

'Did I...do all this…?' The very thought was starting to become surreal. The atrocities his brother committed were mere child's play compared to what he had just done.

Ting began to wail. His eyes welled up with tears as he collapsed onto his knees. He began striking his own face, first with his fists, but then with the ground itself, in hopes to put an end to all the madness.

"Ting…" a calm voice sounded from behind. He straightened up. Warm blood seeped from the fresh wounds on his forehead, dripping past his brows and into his eyes, causing him to wince. 'Am I hearing things?'

"Ting, can you hear me?" the voice uttered, this time more sternly. The boy felt a large hand place itself on his miraculously untouched shoulder. He turned around to see his scarfaced brother. Despite all odds, Heian stood there with little more than a few superficial wounds, the most prominent of which marked the skin beneath his right ear.

The man looked down upon him. Though it was clear that he was trying to hide it, the amazement on his face was as clear as day. With his eyes wide, he said, "I can't believe it, brother. You did all this?"

He received no verbal response. Only a look of complete and utter horror from the traumatized boy answered in its stead.

"Come on, stand up—"

"Get your hands off me!" Ting screamed, swiping Heian's hands away. "I'm a monster! Even more so than you! How could you stand there so nonchalantly with all these…"

His voice trailed off. "These dead souls...all around. Please, just leave me be. I'm cursed..."

Ting let his head fall onto the dirt. His own soul was crushed, even more so than the ones who had just departed this world by Heian's estimation. The elder brother was left with no other choice.

"Like hell I will," declared Heian with newfound resolve, "Your power is divine. It's a blessing, and I'll make sure everyone from here to that slumlord's craphole of a palace knows."

With a cheeky grin, he kneeled down. "Our chance to restore our clan's former glory has finally come. All these years spent licking the boots of scum like these Zhou are over."

Heian's lips curled in disgust as he uttered the name of the accursed fallen kingdom. Taking a deep breath, he hoisted Ting onto his feet and patted the dust off of him.

"I'll hunt us another rabbit for dinner tonight. My treat."

The sun snuck one last peek before disappearing behind a lonely hill, on top of which a late blooming cherry blossom stood. A single surviving petal detached from its bud and fell gently toward the blackened earth. As it began to crumble, its rose hue faded into a sickly black.