Goodbyes

Chari did not know how he started running, all he knew was that he was running towards Jericho as fast as he could. When he got close enough Chari kicked Jericho with as much strength as he could muster and knocked him to the other side of the roof. 

He knelt next to the bleeding girl unsure of what to do. She was bleeding heavily from multiple cuts, barely clinging onto life. 

Vera was about to die, she knew this but she couldn't go, not until she had said her farewells to Chari. Her eyes weakly searched for him but it was to no avail. The darkness had already taken her vision and was now knocking on another door, the door to her soul. 

Then she heard a voice call her name weakly, a subtle guide in the midst of the darkness. It was full of sorrow. 

"Vera."

She used the very last ounce of energy she had in her dying body to reach for his face and when she made contact a weak smile appeared on her face. 

"Ch–i, ta–taa–take care of yourself, b–oth of y–ou."

Her hand slowly fell from his face and her eyes lost their beautiful light, forever. 

Jericho ran furiously toward Chari not even caring one bit about the situation in front of him. He moved like a mad man, a psychopath that had lost every little grain of humanity he had left. 

He didn't slow down when he got closer to Chari, instead he ran into him, and that is how they found themselves falling from the top of the hotel. 

Chari grabbed onto Jericho's neck, tears welling up in his eyes as his face contorted with rage and with his free hand grabbed one of his daggers. Then immediately, a light sensation took over him and felt himself get dragged to the back of his mind. 

"The time for this has passed." Came a gentle voice filled with repressed rage.

With an unholy anger Chari grabbed on to Jericho's neck and brought the head of the smiling man forward but it was not Chari anymore, It was his alter. 

Normally switching with Chari against his will was next to impossible but this time his alter found it easier to forcefully switch because of Chari's unstable mental state. It was not as though he felt like Jericho deserved to live, he just didn't know how killing Jericho would impact Chari, especially when Chari had already lost Vera due to his inaction. Killing him now after everything…

The unpredictability of the entire thing was what prompted him to act out of turn. That and the fact that he was itching to get his hands on Jericho.

Throughout his time as part of the special forces Chari had never killed anyone, but that was not because he was a special exception, no. It was simply because his alter did all the killing. 

Jericho placed his arms in front of him in an attempt to block the attack but the dagger instead found its way into his shoulder severing his nerves. The arm fell backwards leaving him only guarded with one arm.

His alter viciously ran his second weapon right from the top of Jericho's head down to his body inflicting as much pain as he could with the time he had and then before Jericho could even react, he plunged the dagger right into his eye. Adding another layer of blood to his clothes. 

As Jericho fell he slowly drifted in and out of consciousness.

'I can't feel any pain, I feel cold, very cold. So this is death?' 

A sad smile found its way to his lips. 

"I finally understand." 

Jericho died before he ever hit the floor. 

***

As Chari came closer and closer to his inevitable death all he could do was constantly replay the memory of what had happened in his head, it would haunt him forever. 

Shortly after the darkness took him. 

***

Chari felt his body suddenly jerked downwards as though he was getting pulled deep into the earth and then there was a sharp turn which propelled him in another direction and then another. It was as though he was moving through a strange otherworldly maze unable to see anything throughout the process.

At some point he lost track of time, he didn't know if he had been drifting for a few minutes, hours, months, or even years. But somehow he was strangely calm, almost unfeeling. He could feel his alter's presence around him but he was strangely quiet. Neither of them could say a thing to each other, all they could do was helplessly sway. 

And then suddenly Chari could see again, well not exactly see per say but something akin to it. What he and his alter saw was an expanse filled with countless glowing stars that dotted the entire space. It was as though they were now in a fantasy version of space but strangely different. The entire environment gave off a gentle radiance of divinity. 

There was a gentle hum of energy that filled the space around him and countless small tongues of pristine blue flames with a bright red tip floated all around them, all ascending. And then suddenly the environment shifted once more. 

He was now in a room full of countless books that towered up in beautifully crafted shelves. The shelves were made of polished gimering wood that were adorned with golden highlights at their edges. In front of him someone sat down cross legged on a swaying wooden chair, a large book was clutched within his grasp and he chucked loudly as he flipped through the pages. 

It didn't take a genius to know that this guy was a book lover.

The individual closed the book and turned to greet his guest, but not without placing a golden book marker to note his progress. 

Now Chari and his alter were placed both under his scrutiny. His skin was the first thing Chari noticed, it was unnaturally smooth dark skin that had whispers of shiny particles slowly emerging from it as though his body could no longer contain the energy. His eyes were even more outstanding, it was a deep gold colour and within them were little white flames that swayed whenever he moved. 

Draped over his shoulders were long white curls of hair that although appeared unkept seemed still managed to look beautiful. It might have been because of the energy particles slowly coming out of his skin or the lighting in the room but the hair appeared to possess a soft glow of its own. 

As for clothing this man or whatever he was, wore a long white robe seemingly fashioned for nothing other than confort, Chari could tell by the sheer size of it. Everything about him exuded grace. 

There was a faint tune that lingered in the air but there was something strange about it that made Chari and his alter uneasy. No matter how much they strained to remember, it was gone the minute they heard it. It was almost as if the strange tune did not exist. 

The ethereal figure stared at the burning blue flame for a moment and sighed. The soft tune slowly came to an end. 

"It seems you have had a hard life." Came his smooth musical voice. 

"Welcome to my Library, I am Genth&#_ysu#^jks."