Reason to go on

I just kept watching as my mother continued to slide down the building while clinging onto the walls with her sword, all while still keeping her glare aimed at us.

As she continued to descend, her sword started to gain more mass and split itself into pieces covering her body until finally, she was wearing a complete silver armor bearing the appearance of a medieval knight.

The moment she landed on the ground the terrain exploded from the impact, raising a pile of smoke.

"Lance!! Let's move!!" Marcia shouted while grabbing me by the shirt and forcing me to got on Eclipse's back.

My mother locked her gaze on us and started to charge, and her stare told me that she had the complete intention of slashing us into pieces.

Fear began to take over me and I hurried to climb Eclipse, giving him all he needed to finally start moving as far away from her.

"This is crazy! This is crazy! This is crazy! This is crazy! This is crazy!!!!"

"Lance!! Calm down!!"

We kept riding on top of my lion on the street and dodging vehicles while trying to think about where we should even go while suddenly a silver object flew right over my shoulder.

"Jesus Christ!!!" I gasped in terror as all color started to leave my face.

I looked back and saw my mother, chasing after us while jumping on top of moving cars as if they were trampolines.

"How is she doing that!!!??" I yelled at Marcia while trying my best to lose my mother.

"Blessed metal makes the wearer faster and stronger! If she catches us there is no way we are surviving!!!"

"Why is this happening!!!???"

"I don't know!!! Stop asking pointless things and focus on escaping!!!"

Right! Right! I need to focus.

This isn't the first time today something crazy happens. I need to calm down and focus on just surviving.

Before I realized it, Marcia, Eclipse, and I had the light of the sun being blocked by something above us and had a shadow being cast moving at the same pace.

I looked up and saw mother leaping with her full metal armor and a sword aimed at us.

"I won't let you escape!!" she announced while throwing her blade at us.

I panicked and pulled Eclipse's mane, causing him to turn to the left and just barely doing her sword.

You would think this would mean she would be less of a threat but another blade appeared from her armor like it was nothing.

"She can do that!!??"

"Blessed metal can do many things! Focus!" Marcia shouted while trying to keep my eyes on the road, "The only way we are getting out of here is by making Eclipse faster than her!! Give him more power!!"

"I- I- I can't!! I'm too terrified to concentrate!!!"

My mother jumped on top of three more cars, one truck, leaped over a bridge, and finally started to run on the side of the buildings of the city again. She really was fast.

Eclipse tried his best to evade her blades but I could tell that even he was starting to get tired.

People on the street just glanced at the scene with no idea how to react. We were probably moving so fast that they couldn't even grasp what they were looking at.

"You can do it, Lance!! I trust you!!" Marcia shouted while blocking one of the flying swords with a small golden wall.

"You don't get it!! I really can't!! This might be normal for you, but this is all new to me!! I'm not like you guys!!"

We were about to reach the end of the road. In front of us there only was one incredibly tall building and two slightly smaller ones on the left and on the right. If we stopped now, my mother would catch us and turn us into minced meat.

"Yes, you are!! Your mother is one of the strongest blessed warriors that ever existed! And your father is one of the greatest cursed warriors that ever existed! You're their son!! You're just as amazing as they are! You just gotta believe in yourself!!"

"How!!?? I barely know anything about magic, blessing, or curses!!! All I have is this stupid piece of wood!!"

"Lance!!!"

The buildings were approaching. Either my mom would reach us or the three of us would crash against the constructions. What should I do!!? What can I do!!?? I have nothing!!

[You have me...]

"Miss voice!!??" I gasped.

[I'm always with you! Be it at your highest point or at your lowest low, I shall always stay by your side!]

My mother aimed her sword at us again and launched it one more time.

[My power is yours... All you have to do is trust in me!]

"I don't even know what you are!! How can I trust you!!??" I shouted while sensing my heartbeat accelerating. I could see my reflection forming as we approached the windows of the building. I could see people inside of it staring at us with panic.

[Please, Lance! Trust in me!!]

I didn't know if I should, but I pretty much had no other choice, and she did help me out once before.

No... Thinking back... She had been trying to help me out the whole day... I was the one that didn't realize it. She tried to warn me of Kurt. She gave me the power to summon Eclipse. Whatever she was, whoever she was... She was definitely on my side. I was sure of that.

"I trust you!!!" I finally cried.

[The my power is yours to command!]

Something happened after that. I felt my consciousness weakening out, my body began to move on its own, as if someone was controlling me. My hands grabbed my sword and a huge mass of power started to channel itself out of my body.

But it wasn't the same dark shadow magic from before. It looked like flames that kept changing color. One moment they were red, the other green, then silver, and finally red again, going in a loop.

"This is..." Marcia muttered.

The flames started to surround Eclipse giving him the appearance of a black lion set ablaze by a pile of multi-colored fire.

What was even more impressive was that in the last second, my body turned around, grabbed the sword my mother had launched at us, and threw it on the ground as if it was a frisbee.

But something wasn't right. All these things were happening without my command. It was like my arms and legs had strings attached to them and someone was controlling me like a puppet.

Eclipse had finally reached the building, but instead of crashing into it, he just took one large leap and carved his claws on the walls, followed by running upwards as if the rules of gravity meant nothing to him.

Honestly, it felt like many of the laws of physic had been treated like a joke lately...

My mother could simply watch as she landed on the ground and we finally managed to escape her by riding our flaming black lion to the heavens.

Once we reached the top, we started to hop from rooftop to rooftop and were finally out of her grasp for good.

------

------

A couple of minutes had passed.

My consciousness had finally returned and I was once again in full control of my body.

When I finally came to be, all three of us were hiding inside some kind of tunnel on a corner of the city even I didn't recognize.

I studied my surroundings and realized that we were in some kind of park, under a bridge, close to a river.

Nothing about the scenery was familiar to me. Just how far had Eclipse run??

"We should be safe for now... I hope..." Marcia whispered.

I dropped from my lion and landed on the sand. Unable to sustain my own weight I dropped on my knees and covered my hands and my sword with mud. At least now I looked about as good as how I was feeling. A total mess...

My bodyguard noted my state, "Lance...?"

"Don't say anything..." I begged, "Just... Just for one moment... Let me have some time to breathe..."

"Okay..."

My hands started to move, making me crawl from under the tunnel and into the light like a baby that had forgotten how to walk.

This was an accurate description of my mental state right now. A big useless baby that had no idea how the world worked and just kept getting dragged all over the place by people who knew far more than I possibly could.

Dragons, magic, knights, voices in my head, lions that could walk on buildings...

Everything felt so big... And I just felt so small...

What was even real by this point...? How much of what I've actually learned during my whole life so far actually mattered??

The hell have I been doing all this time??

How could... How could my father do this to me??

How could he put me in this kind of life and not prepare me for a completely different one appearing in front of me, making my entire old life feel completely pointless??

Everything... Everything that came before just felt so pointless...

School felt pointless... Laws felt pointless... Relationships felt pointless...

Just what am I even supposed to believe in by this point??

I stood up and walked towards the river, and saw my face in the reflection. I had the look of someone who had walked into the abyss and didn't know if it would be better to go back or to continue.

The entire life that I've lived so far meant nothing...

At that moment... While staring at my own complete loss, and thinking about how all my efforts to build a normal life were slowly crumbling one piece after another, the idea of just trying to escape from everything started to sound so tempting.

One jump into this river... And it would all be over...

Marcia was still tired... Eclipse as well... There was a good distance between us... They would never be able to stop me in time...

One jump... A couple of minutes of suffocation... And it would be over...

Just one jump...

[Are you sure about this...?] the voice asked me again while I considered my options.

"I'm not sure about anything anymore... My father put me in a fake life, my family tried to kill me, my best friend hates me, a monster is after me... And now I have a voice in my head that can even steal the control of my body...

Why not just run away from all this...?"

[If this is what you want, then I won't stop you...]

"You don't care if I die...?"

[I don't want to see you in pain... If this will allow you to be at ease, I won't fight you. There are fates worse than death...]

That last part made me flinch.

"What do you mean...?"

[My mother... She was just like you...]

Her mother...?? She has a mother??

[Every day she would face struggles that the world would throw at her. Day after day, struggle after struggle. She went through so much pain, so much suffering... There were many times where I wondered if it wouldn't be better if she had ended it all as well... ]

"..."

[She would get chased, stabbed, betrayed, accused, tormented, imprisoned, and even forced to abandon people she cared about... ]

"..."

[I don't want to see you suffer too, Lance... I won't tell you to live... Nor will I tell you to die... I will only stay by your side for as long as you need me...]

"... ... If I die... What happens to you...?"

[I live in you... Our lives are connected... Your fate will be mine as well...]

So... If I go on with this... I will be dragging miss voice down with me as well...

Can I do this...? Can I end someone's life just to escape my own...?

"Why do you care about me so much...?"

[Because... Once upon a time... A long time ago... You saved me when I had no one else...]

Me?

I saved her? I saved someone??

[You were very young... You probably don't remember... But for me... It is the fondest memory I hold within me...]

I could sense the tears dripping on my face. Whoever this person was, somehow, one way or another, I managed to do something for her. I meant something for her!

I want to escape this... I want to escape this so bad... But... To throw away the only good thing I ever did... To completely erase the only proof that my life meant something...

Do I really have such a bad life that justifies destroying that?

I sighed... For in that moment... I realized that my torment was far from over...

"Miss voice... Are you really gonna stay with me?"

[Until you no longer need me... Or until death do us apart... If you wish...

I can even free you from me... By erasing myself completely...]

...

"Sigh... That's not fair... I can't do that to someone that cares about me so much..."

[...]

I turned around and looked at Marcia, the girl that had placed her entire future on my shoulders by accepting being my guardian, and Eclipse, the friend from a long time ago that had returned just to help me out in my time of need.

Alongside miss Voice, they weren't many... But there were definitely people whose lives would be hurt by my absence...

Even my parents... My mother is under some kind of spell or something right now, but if she heard that I killed myself just because she confused me for a monster... Would her heart be able to take the guilt?

I have to keep going... Not for myself... But for others who would be affected by my decision...

"What happened to your mother...? Did she get a happy ending at least?"

[I suppose so... She ended up escaping her life of fighting at the cost of losing all of her powers in the process. She met a nice man and together they had three kids... Two boys and one girl... She might be living a boring life right now compared to what came before... But she seems to be enjoying every single day!]

"..."

[You saw her just now...]

"Eh...?"

[She stayed behind to protect my sister while we were being chased...]

"... ... ... Wha... What...? Aunt Evlin?? Aunt Evlin is your mother???"

[Yes...]

"Who... Who are you...?"

[My name is Termina... I'm my mother's living magic...]