The tear of a thousand year old burden

The fire flickered softly in the dim inn, but its warmth did nothing to ease the cold weight that had settled over Eclipse Zero as Hugo prepared to tell the next part of his story.

He exhaled slowly, his fingers grazing over the pendant and ring hanging from his neck. His voice was quieter now.

"The Eclipse War… we won."

That should have been the end of the story. That should have been their victory. But the way Hugo said it—as if the victory itself was meaningless—told them otherwise.

"…And then I lost everything."

The battlefield was silent.

The war was over.

The Perfect Life Forms had been defeated, their control shattered. Eclipse Requiem had won.

Hugo stood among the ruins of their greatest battle, bloodied and exhausted, but alive. And beside him was Mina.

She turned to him, a soft, relieved smile on her face.

"It's over," she whispered.

Hugo exhaled, nodding. "Yeah. It's finally over."

Mina's golden eyes shimmered. "We actually did it."

For the first time, Hugo let himself believe it. He let himself think about what came next—about the life they could have, about the future they could build.

But that future never came.

Because the next moment, blood splattered across his face.

Hugo froze.

Mina's eyes widened in shock, her lips parting as if to say something. But no words came.

Her body collapsed forward, falling into Hugo's arms.

And behind her—

Xander stood, his blade dripping red.

Hugo's breath caught in his throat. His mind refused to process what had just happened.

Then—Mina's voice came, soft and broken.

"…Hugo."

Her last word.

Her last breath.

And then she was gone.

Hugo's hands trembled as he held her close, as if he could somehow keep her there, as if she would open her eyes again if he just held on tight enough.

But she didn't.

And she never would.

A deep, suffocating emptiness filled his chest. His entire world had been ripped apart in a single moment.

Then, through the haze of his grief—

Xander spoke.

"The world needs someone strong enough to control it."

Hugo's head snapped up, his violet eyes burning as they locked onto Xander.

Xander stood there, calm as ever, as if he hadn't just murdered the woman Hugo loved.

"As long as people are free to do as they please, war will never end," Xander continued. "This world needs order. It needs control."

Hugo couldn't breathe. His mind was screaming, his heart pounding violently in his chest.

"…You did this?" His voice was barely more than a whisper, but it carried all the rage, grief, and betrayal burning inside him.

Xander met his gaze with cold determination. "It was necessary."

Something inside Hugo shattered.

"…I'll kill you."

Xander tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable. "Then come."

He raised Vengeance, the black blade humming with raw power.

And at that moment, the final battle began.

The Hero of the Eclipse… against the Solstice.

Hugo's voice had dropped to a cold, empty tone.

The room was silent, no one daring to speak.

Even Cosmos remained quiet.

For the first time, Eclipse Zero fully understood why Hugo had disappeared for a thousand years.

Why he had abandoned being a hero.

Why he had spent a millennium alone.

Because in that moment, Hugo had lost everything.

Hugo sat there, his voice barely more than a whisper now. He had taken them through the war, the betrayal, and the loss. But there was still one last part of the story left to tell.

"…I won."

Eclipse Zero listened in silence, each of them feeling the weight behind those words.

The battlefield was in ruins. The sky above had turned dark, the land scarred and broken from the sheer force of their battle.

Hugo stood over Xander's fallen form, breathing heavily, Cosmos crackling with fading energy in his grip.

He had done it.

He had defeated Xander.

His former friend, his rival, his greatest enemy… lay at his feet, Vengeance no longer pulsing with power.

But as Hugo raised Cosmos for the final strike, he hesitated.

His hands shook.

He could still hear Mina's voice in the back of his mind, calling his name in her final moments.

He had every reason to end Xander right there.

And yet… he couldn't.

Xander, still conscious despite his wounds, opened his eyes. His expression was unreadable, his face battered and bloodied. But his voice remained calm, steady.

"…Why do you hesitate?"

Hugo clenched his jaw. Why?

He didn't have an answer.

He wanted to kill him. Gods, he wanted to.

But something inside him—the last part of him that wasn't consumed by rage and grief—wouldn't let him.

Instead, he did the only thing he could.

He used the last of his strength… and sealed Xander away.

Cosmos surged with energy one last time, and in a flash of light, Xander was gone.

The battle was over.

But Hugo didn't feel like he had won.

Hugo exhaled slowly, his voice almost too quiet to hear.

"…That was the last time I saw him."

Eclipse Zero sat in stunned silence, no one knowing what to say.

Even Darius, who always had something to add, was quiet.

Nathan swallowed hard. "You… sealed him away instead of killing him?"

Hugo nodded. "Yeah."

Stella hesitated. "Do you regret it?"

Hugo closed his eyes.

"…I don't know."

That was the truth.

For years, he had asked himself that question.

Would killing Xander have made things different? Would it have brought Mina back?

Would it have made the pain go away?

He didn't know.

And maybe he never would.

His hand instinctively brushed against the ring around his neck.

For a long time, he had convinced himself that sealing Xander was the right thing to do.

But now, with Xander back, free once more, that doubt was creeping in again.

Had he made the wrong choice?

As that thought lingered, something unexpected happened.

A single tear fell from Hugo's eye.

Then another.

Then another.

He hadn't even realized it was happening—he hadn't let himself cry in a thousand years.

And yet, now, as he sat before his friends, the weight of everything he had lost finally crashed down on him.

The room remained completely silent.

Eclipse Zero watched as the man they thought was unbreakable sat there, silent tears falling one by one.

Not loud. Not dramatic.

Just a man who had carried his pain alone for too long.

For once, Hugo wasn't trying to be strong.

He was just Hugo.

For the longest time, Hugo had carried his pain alone.

A thousand years of grief. A thousand years of buried memories, regrets, and unspoken emotions.

And now, as silent tears fell one by one, for the first time in centuries, he wasn't alone.

No one spoke at first, but then—

A hand rested on his shoulder.

Stella.

Her grip was gentle but firm, her golden eyes filled with something unspoken. She didn't say anything—because she didn't have to.

She understood.

Then, another hand.

Ethan.

Then Lena.

Darius.

Nathan.

Even Iris, usually the one to crack a joke in serious moments, said nothing this time. Instead, she leaned against the table beside him, her silver eyes uncharacteristically soft.

Hugo stared at them—at the friends who had been with him since the beginning of this new journey.

A small breath escaped him, almost like a shaky laugh.

"…You guys really are annoying." His voice was hoarse, but there was no bite to it.

Darius smirked. "Oh, we're annoying? You've been brooding for a thousand years, Boss."

Lena nudged his arm. "Yeah, we weren't gonna let you keep that up."

Nathan crossed his arms. "If you start crying again, I'm leaving."

Iris smirked. "No, you won't."

Nathan sighed dramatically. "Yeah, I won't."

Stella didn't let go of his shoulder. "Hugo."

He looked at her, and she smiled—not out of pity, but understanding.

"You're not alone anymore."

Hugo exhaled slowly, closing his eyes for just a moment.

For so long, he had carried everything by himself.

But maybe, just maybe—he didn't have to anymore.

And as Eclipse Zero sat with him, a team that had become something more, something like family, Hugo finally understood—

He didn't have to carry it alone.

Not anymore.