I am the one who will 'Remain'

Chapter 47

Ashan panics when he sees those half black, half red eyes that look like a predator's eyes mixed with insanity, that say, 'I will kill you, even if I have to bite you to death, you will still die.'

He calls for even more energy from the cube, and that is a very, very big mistake because the more agitated he becomes, and the more energy he takes, the easier it becomes for Melody to hack into the cube with her soul and quantum computers.

Now Melody has found a gate, and she is inside the cube, and the more Ashan loses control over his emotions, the more she gains control of the cube. She sees Terra as she screams and begs Ark to stop because it hurts so much:

"Big brother Ark, please stop, what did I do wrong? Why are you hurting me so much? I will be a good girl, I promise, please stop hurting me. Aaaahhh, it hurts, it hurts so much. Why, why do you hate me, big brother Ark?"

Melody looks at her and knows that she is a small child; she is only a few days old, and she doesn't understand anything. She only knows that Ark is hurting her; she is just a small girl who, instead of laughing and playing, is hurt by the one she trusts the most. And that makes the pain even more painful.

And while Terra is screaming and crying tears of blood, all around the planet, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, volcanoes erupting, and the earth splitting apart are seen everywhere, with people dying with each passing second.

And Ark knows all of that; he hears every word Terra says, and he can feel in the very air her confusion, her pain, her trust in him, how she loses it with each passing second.

His fists are so tightly clenched that blood pours, because his nails cut into his palm, and as much as he tries, a tear manages to fall down from his eye. The last time Ark Ember cried was when he lost his entire family. He has these cursed powers because of his family; they sacrificed themselves for him. And he swore that he wouldn't cry anymore so that his family would see him from heaven, always smiling.

But now he broke that promise, and he also broke the little girl's heart. For her, he was her entire world. For what is he so strong? For what does he have all this power if he can't even protect the ones he cares for? For what does he fight for if he is the one who is hurting those next to him? The bad guy is not even doing anything to her; the only one hurting her is himself.

He feels his heart break into little pieces; he feels how much pain she is in, and that pain is still growing. Can he even call himself a 'Big Brother, a protector' anymore? How can he even look her in the eyes after all this? How can he even tell her that he did all this because he wanted to save them all, and this was the only way? How can she understand that? All she will know is that Ark was the one who hurt her, and that's it.

And the most hurtful thing is that she would be right.

He looks at the one who planned all of this, and he knows that Ashan beat him. Even if he kills him, he still won.

Because all this time he played right into Ashan's palm. Why did he do that? Why did he think that he would solve everything easily? Why was he so arrogant and think that everything would work the way he wanted? Why wasn't he more careful and make plans for the worst-case scenario? Why did he trust so much in himself, where did that get him?

He flies towards Ashan and tries to punch him in the chest, but Ashan blocks with an energy shield, but not without taking some damage. The punch sends him like a bullet even further from Ark. But he doesn't mind.

Because the more Ark stays at this power level, the more damage is done, and that means that he will be hurt so much more at the end, and that starts to calm him a little bit.

And when he makes peace with his dying, and once he knows that he will die, a calm comes over him and makes him see many things that he didn't see before, like now Ark is agitated and making mistakes because his mind is not in the right place anymore, he is very much affected by the little girl's cries.

So, he starts to smile, and a new wave of power comes over him. He knows that today would be his last day alive, he doesn't care anymore, he only wants to do as much damage as he can. And that makes him ten, no, a hundred times more powerful and dangerous.

He looks towards Melody. Towards the cube, and feels something wrong with it, but he can't find anything. So, for now, he leaves this thought, and he also starts to fly towards Ark. He concentrates the cube's energy on his arm, and that makes the healing a thousand times faster. When he reaches Ark, his hand has already fully regrown. And he uses it to punch towards Ark's face. In front of his fist, a small magic circle appears.

Ark sees the incoming fist and fires a soul wave that makes Ashan stop for a second, and a painful look appears on his face. But Ark's fist continues towards his face. But before he manages to hit him, a flash of light appears on Ashan's fist, that for a second makes Ark close his eyes, and that gives Ashan enough time to back off with no damage taken. Then, when he is far away enough, he takes his staff out again. And he makes magic circles all around him, but now more than half are protective circles. That means that he wants to play like a tortoise in his shell and stall for time. Then the other circles start to fire again like a machine gun.

But Ark just raises his hand, and all spells just stop in front of him. Then they slowly fade away like snow on a hot day.

Now he is strong enough to dismiss this kind of spell easily.

But he sees that Ashan smiles at him, not really bothered that his spells were erased so easily.

So now Ark starts to make magic circles appear all around him, and then he also sends a wave of world-destroying attacks towards him. But Ashan also sends his defensive circles in front and around him, and a few circles are destroyed but new ones appear, so he also doesn't take any damage.

Ark stares at him and doesn't like this kind of fight. To just fight always on defense, of course, he knows what Ashan wants; he wants to stall so that the damages get greater and greater.

So, he raises his head towards the sky, and he can't believe himself, at what he is thinking, the only way he can finish it all would be to raise his power level even more. He himself says in his thoughts, 'You are a real a**hole, aren't you Ark Ember? Is it not enough how much pain you've caused her? You want to make it even worse. What a great big brother you are. You are a laughingstock.'

But just then, at the darkest hour, and at the lowest point, he hears something that is going to change the entire being of Ark, something insignificant for many, but in this moment for Ark, in this low moment, it is the thing that is going to lift him up again.

He hears:

"Ark, we are here, sorry that it took so long, what can we do? How can we help? Just say the word."

He blocks for a second; the things that he hears sound foreign. 'Who would come to help… ME? I must be imagining things.'

But again he hears something:

"Ark?"

Then he can't ignore it anymore; he turns towards the sound slowly, and then he sees something that is going to stay with him for his entire life.

In front of him, he sees familiar faces, but at the same time, they are complete strangers.

He sees Kyle Storm, Niobe Megara, Elion Ellisar, Zmaug Drakon, Leah Drakon, Aurora Ravenna, Ryker Valor, Almog Orroth, Claw Maugur, and Magnus Moldark.

And behind them, an army of a few hundred strong. Most are in bandages, with wounds all over their bodies, some are missing a limb, but with robotic prosthetics that look brand new, like they were just now instaled. But with smiles on their faces and not a shred of fear, only honour and pride can be seen.

Ark, at the sight in front of him, seeing all these faces and these people, he can't help it, but a real genuine happy smile. And for the first time in his life, a happy smile from the bottom of his heart, because he knows now.

"I am NOT alone. I really am not alone anymore."