Chapter eight: Shadows of Regret

Brain hesitated as he looked out the window of the truck, watching Ludachel's unconscious figure in the dark, torn between his loyalty to Rin and his duty to Ludachel. As he was about to reach for the door handle, Rin's desperate cry stopped him in his tracks as she latched onto him.

Her tear-streaked heart-shaped face and trembling voice betrayed the deep trauma she was experiencing in that moment.

"Brain, don't go out there! I can't lose you too!" Rin's voice quivered with fear and grief, her once defiant demeanour replaced by raw vulnerability that pierced through the death around them.

His heart aching for his friend and the weight of the situation bearing down on him, Brain turned back to Rin, his own eyes filled with unshed tears. "Rin, it's alright now, didn't you see what happened? Ludachel, he saved us. I need to check on him, make sure he's okay," he reassured her, his voice a soothing balm amidst her pleas.

The tension between them thickened. Rin's fear and uncertainty clouded by grief, "No Brain, don't risk it! We don't know what's out there. It could still be dangerous. It's probably all his fault this all happened; he could be dangerous..." her voice trailed off, a plea tinged with desperation.

In a fleeting moment of anguish and blame, Brain's anger spilled over, his words sharp and stinging. "Let me go! This isn't his fault! This is all your fault! Jax is gone because of you!" The accusation hung heavy in the air, leaving a bitter taste of regret and sorrow.

Stunned by his own accusation, Brain felt a surge of guilt and remorse wash over him. Panicking, he tried to explain, his voice shaking, "No, Rin, that's not... I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry, I'm just scared and hurting. Please, forgive me."

As Rin recoiled from his words and his touch, her expression a mix of pain and disbelief, Brain's heart clenched with the weight of his mistake. Regret flooded through him as he fumbled to find the right words to mend the fragile bond between them, a silent plea for understanding in his brown, reddened eyes.

Rin's voice cracked as she spoke, her words weighted with guilt and grief, "It's okay, Brain. I understand. It should have been me who died... not J-Jax."

Before Brain could reply, the loud grinding gears of gates 11 and 12 opening filled the air, signalling the soldiers' arrival. The survivors pressed against the gate were being captured, with soldiers brandishing guns and issuing threats, sending a wave of shock through Rin and Brain as they watched on, hoping to evade notice.

In that moment of uncertainty, Rin and Brain realised the situation before them. This attack had been deliberate, but the question lingered—why? How did they know about the Deathtems? It was as if the people in control of the city knew about the large scale attack and were now covering their tracks by targeting the last of the survivors.

"We need to get out of here! I think they're going to shoot any survivors!" Rin's voice carried a note of desperation, urging them to act quickly in the face of imminent danger.

"Okay, but we need to get Ludachel into the truck first," Brain insisted, reaching for the handle once more, only to be stopped by Rin's hand that grabbed the handle as she shot out of her seat and over to Brain, keeping the door shut.

"We have no time! They're already coming!" Rin's voice was tinged with fear as she spotted two army tanks approaching, their direction clear—towards Ludachel.

Realising the threat, Brain weighed his options. Rin's words rang true; their survival was paramount. With a mix of regret and resolve, he acknowledged Rin's assessment. Ludachel's fate was sealed, and he owed it to Jax to prioritise Rin's life and escape.

"I'm sorry, Ludachel," Brain whispered to himself, a solemn farewell to a stranger who had become a fleeting part of their lives.

Focusing on their survival, he ensured the car lights remained off hidden away in the dark as he steered the vehicle away from the chaos, accelerating as fast as the vehicle would allow, leaving behind the unfolding tragedy and uncertainty engulfing the city.

——— ——— ——— ——— ———

Ludachel's eyes snapped open, greeted not by gentle light but by a crushing darkness that smothered him, heavy and stifling. Cold metal chains bit into his wrists, a stark contrast to the memory of the bonfire's warmth. Panic surged through him, his movements jerky and desperate as he struggled against the unyielding restraints. The chaos of the recent events flooded his mind, mingling with confusion and unexpected sorrow, each emotion a sharp blade twisting in his chest.

With a groan, he forced himself upright, the clanking of chains a harsh reminder of his confinement. His hands, numb and trembling, searched the blackness around him, seeking a shred of familiarity in his surroundings. The oppressive gloom pressed down on him, chilling him to the core, a cruel mockery of the warmth he had known. Memories of Jax's friendly smile and the promise of what could have been friendship flickered in his mind, only to be snatched away by the harsh reality of his situation.

Fingers tracing the rough stone walls of his cell, Ludachel moved towards a sliver of light, hope mingling with fear in his heart. Peering out into the dim corridor beyond as far as his restraints would allow, his breath quickened, the sound loud in his ears against the backdrop of eerie silence. The emptiness stretched before him, a mirror of his own isolation, and dread clawed at his chest.

Struggling to form words, his voice a mere whisper, Ludachel called out into the oppressive silence. "H-h-...hello," he choked out, the sound feeble and alien to his own ears. A wave of helplessness washed over him, a bitter taste in his mouth as he grappled with the questions tormenting his mind. Why was he here, shackled and alone? What had transpired at the gathering to lead to this circumstance? The memory of Jax's death loomed large, a gaping wound in his heart that refused to let up.

In the cold silence of his cell, Ludachel grappled with the uncertainty of his situation, the flickering memories of Brains terrified face, the tragedy and the screams mingling with the stark reality of his imprisonment as he tried to remember what happened after Jax died. Alone, thirsty, and consumed by a gnawing sense of dread, he knew that answers would eventually come for him. But for now, he was adrift in a sea of shadows, a prisoner of his own despair.

——— ——— ——— ——— ———

In the early light of the rising sun, the remnants of a shattered world passed by in a blur as Brain navigated the broken roads, his mind heavy with the guilt of his decisions. Rin, exhausted from tears and emotional turmoil, had drifted into a fitful sleep beside him, her troubled dreams a stark contrast to the quiet desperation that gripped Brain's thoughts.

His weary eyes scanned the desolate surroundings, lost in a whirlwind of doubts and regrets until a sudden jolt brought the vehicle to an abrupt stop. A massive Deathtem loomed in their path, blocking any chance of retreat. Before Brain could react, the creature, far larger than any they had encountered last night, charged at the truck, its sheer force shattering the front windscreen with a deafening crash.

Rin's terrified scream pierced the air, echoing the fear that gripped both their hearts as one of the Deathtem's monstrous head loomed closer, threatening to snuff out their fragile hope of escape. But in a twist of fate, just as the creature's gaping maw was mere inches from Brain, a sudden intervention halted its lethal advance.

An arrow of vibrant green light pierced through the back of the Deathtem's head, emerging triumphantly through its bloodied mouth before repeating the feat with its other heads, a macabre spectacle that splattered crimson across Brain's stunned face. The once imminent threat now lay lifeless on the hood, felled by an unknown saviour's precise aim.

Shaken but spurred into action, both Rin and Brain hastened out of the now-damaged truck, their eyes falling upon a striking figure amidst the backdrop of the sun behind her. A woman with dark skin and elegant cornrows stood before them, her gaze intense with startling green eyes that seemed to pierce through them, leaving for some reason a reminisce of familiarity of someone they know. In her steady hands, she held a bow and arrow that shimmered with an ethereal green energy, a weapon of otherworldly magic that had just saved them from certain demise.

As the haze settled and the weight of their near miss lingered in the air, Rin and Brain shared a silent moment of gratitude and awe towards their mysterious saviour, knowing that their perilous journey had taken an unexpected turn, opening the door to a realm of possibilities they had never dared to imagine. As the mysterious woman stood before Brain and Rin, her gaze piercing and her demeanour a mix of concern and wariness.

"I don't see many city folk that aren't soldiers around here much, why are a couple of young kids like yourselves playing amongst these ruins? This is no place for you, go back home," she stated, her voice tinged with a hidden turmoil as she struggled with the revealing of her celestial powers in a moment of panic while searching for her son, Ludachel who didn't come home last night.

Realising the gravity of her actions, she internally cursed at her impulsiveness, contemplating erasing the memories of the teenagers before her.

Caught in the midst of confusion and curiosity, Brain, his voice tinged with urgency, cautiously approached the woman, his mind racing with memories of her being seen with Ludachel in the city.

"Wait," Brain began, his tone frantic yet determined. "Are you perhaps acquainted with a young man named Ludachel?"

The air around them was snuffed out as her words shook them both.

"He's my son."