Ty grasped the arrow, noting its lightness with a hint of surprise. "I-It's so light...?" he remarked, a touch of perplexity in his voice.
Yun-Jin, catching the bemusement on Ty's face, couldn't help but give a confused look back. "Well, yeah, it's an arrow. It can't fly far and true if it's a brick," she explained, her words accompanied by a light chuckle. "You probably carry a lot on your shoulders, don't you?"
Ty, exhaling deeply, simply replied, "Yeah, it's because I do. Sometimes I wish I could just go back and not take that stupid shortcut."
"Well, it's happened, and it's done with. We all make decisions we either love or regret, but we can't allow those to weigh us down forever, or else you will drown yourself before you can look forward," Yun-Jin offered, her words aiming to lighten the burden Ty seemed to bear.
As Ty took another deep breath and looked forward, readying himself to conjure the flame bow, a voice whispered in his head, challenging the solace he sought in Yun-Jin's counsel.
"You don't actually believe all that nonsense, do you? You know, at the end of the day, you will not make it without me!" The voice, unsettling in its confidence
Ty's concentration honed to a fine point, envisioning the bowstring light and true.
He aligned the arrow's notch to the flaming cord, drawing it close to his cheek before releasing his fingers.
A snap of energy burst forth, the arrow tearing through the air with a force that kicked up a gust of wind. Around Ty, sparks of gold danced momentarily, highlighting the power of his shot.
The arrow, with relentless momentum, slammed into the tree, piercing straight through it and continuing its destructive path through four more trees before it softly embedded itself into the trunk of a fifth.
"Whoa! Jun-Jin exclaimed, astounded by the display. "You just obliterated that tree!"
Ty, allowing himself a moment of pride, smiled at Yun-Jin. "Thanks, I didn't understand the weight of an arrow, so I've just been putting so much pressure into it. Letting go of all my thoughts helped as well to focus in on that one moment."
"Let's keep training to perfect it, so hopefully we can get you—" Yun-Jin began, her encouragement cut short by the sound of Lt Daemon's device ringing. He pulled out his phone, his attention immediately captured. "Yes, what's going on?"
Listening intently, his responses punctuated the conversation. "Really, that bad, huh? No way... I see, well, that is a surprising turn of events."
"I don't think so. I did bump into him on my way out, but I was gone before he could piece anything together. He also mentioned something about... I, I can't remember the last part..." The fairy's voice trailed off, her memory faltering under the weight of what she had witnessed.
"That's okay, little fairy. Just be glad you're in one piece and not turned to ashes," Lt Daemon reassured her, his tone softening in consideration of her ordeal.
Turning to Yun-Jin, who was grappling with a tumult of emotions, he cautioned, "Yun-Jin, I need you to not do anything rash right now, okay?"
Yun-Jin's tear-filled eyes gradually transformed into a gaze filled with burning rage. "He has to pay for this. You know that as much as I do!"
If the government takes him he will just be jailed for his entire life or hung by his feed until his brain fails... I need to have his head personally!.
The Lt tried to calm Yun-Jin, "Yun-Jin, it's not—"
But Ty interjected, "I don't know who this is, but I know if it was someone I loved, I would burn a hole through the earth if need be to get revenge... I think our best bet is to play this time wisely and see if he has been discovered. If not, we can lay a trap for him at some point, and you can get your revenge for this Realdo guy."
Lt Daemon, contemplative, placed his hand under his chin. "I'm not a fan of vengeance, but this might be the best direction to take things until I can piece everything together, regardless."
He turned to Yun-Jin, his voice firm yet concerned, "I will see what I can do on my end, but for the time being, Yun-Jin, don't do anything brash, okay? You're no good to anyone if you're dead."
Ty nodded in agreement. "If time permits, we can do this together. I don't have a bone in this, but—"
Before he could finish, the fairy spoke up again, "Sorry, I left out some information..."
Curious and concerned, Ty turned to Lt Daemon, then back to the fairy, asking, "What could that be?"
"Erebos was there, as I was leaving. He hovered over Realdo's body, smirking in my direction. I'm not sure if it was at me or the old general guy," the fairy explained, shedding new light on the situation.
Ty sighed in relief. "This is good news. Thank you, Fairy."