Chapter 119: Grown, Though Still Heart-Driven

Chapter 119: Grown, Though Still Heart-Driven

Chapter 119

Grown, Though Still Heart-Driven

The trees seemed to split into a path, Sylas mused. It was different from his memory, though, admittedly, it had been a while since he last trekked beyond the wall into the northern hellscape. The night, however, was still as viscerally dark as was in his memories--it made the empty woods full of ghosts, as every howling of the wind became a wail of an apparition somewhere in its deeps.

A roaring fire, however, helped the darkness, beating it back. The two of them sat around the light in silence, with Agnes delighting in some rest. She was quite like him during the first few years of struggle, where no matter how hard he worked on his body, it would all be undone each time he died.

Part of the reason why he elected to go north was that very body--no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to push his blood together into a heart-like clot. It wasnt just the entire capacity, but even a few droplets caused a blockage in his veins, and adding more onto them... didnt really do anything. It was painful if anything, but nowhere near-lethal or deadly for him.

What he hoped to achieve by going north is to stimulate himself in a fight--to try and use the energy within and without. Not to coalesce a heart or even anything remotely close to it, but to sense a general direction that he ought to be taking. As it stood right now, he could only go by Derreks vague guidelines--as the man himself was not a Bloodstone Knight, he only had some shallow knowledge, especially when it came to the last stage.

According to him, it was about further reforging the body by displacing inner organs to form room for the second heart and then... making that heart. Though it was little to nothing, at least he could first focus on figuring out how to make some extra room for a new organ and worry about actually creating that organ a bit later on.

Im going to sleep, Agnes said suddenly. What about you?

Im not tired yet, he replied.

How?! Weve been walking all day long!

You havent realized it, he smiled faintly. But I usually go four-five days without sleeping.

... what?

It just takes a lot for me to get tired, he explained. Just walkin is nowhere near enough.

Youre a creep.

Ouch.

Want me to stay up with you? she asked suddenly. Will you get lonely?

Yes, please do, he took the bait on purpose. If you fall asleep, I might just lose my little mind.

Ill wake up naturally, she said, lying down flat on the ground. Just before she did, green grass sprouted out of nowhere and formed a natures bed beneath her. Though it wasnt the first time hed seen it, he was still shocked at the sight. Dont bother me.

Shouldnt you be worried about yourself?!! she finally seemed to have accepted the fact that it really was him, causing her to slowly walk back forward.

Ill be fine, he replied nonchalantly. Its you Im worried about. You suddenly went fuckin supernova. Look around you.

Huh? she finally paused and looked around, at last noticing the barren wasteland that surrounded them. What... what the hell happened here?! Did you fight someone?

What? No--this is you. Just... you, he said. Well, not you. Something inside of you.

...

...

I... I did all this? she gasped in horror. No. No. Impossible.

... Agnes? Sylas immediately picked up on something.

No, no, no, no, no, no!! NO!! This... no, no, no! she began to wail incessantly and crashed to her knees, tears streaming down her dirt-laden cheeks. They said, they said it wasnt me! They said... no, no, no! NO!!

... Sylas stopped in place, his eyes widening. Looking up to the sky, he spoke to the invisible in the voice only he could hear. Make er forget. I dont care what it is. Just... make her forget. he reached for his belt and took out a dagger, slashing his throat. It would still take a minute, he knew, but it was the quickest way he could kill himself since the beheading wasnt exactly possible.

"What are you doing?! No, Sylas! Why?! Why are you doing this?!" she yelled after him and ran forward, her tiny, shaky arm reaching toward his neck and pressing against the profusely bleeding wound. "Why?" she looked up to him, crying still like a newborn babe. Snot and blood and tears and dirt and sweat mingled and mixed to make a mess of her face, barely recognizable beauty shoveled beneath the layers of nature's makeup.

... I felt like dying, he had to gasp for breath to speak, but speak he could still. s all.

Please, please, she pleaded with him. Tell me. Tell me. What happened. Please. Dont hide it from me.

... I need ya to smile, he said. And laugh and bicker and roll your eyes.

...

It aint you, he said, gently wiping her cheek, though to dismal effect. They were right.

Sylas? Sylas? Youre an ass! An ass! I deserve to know if I killed my loved ones! her voice grew hazier as the world began to spin around him. Would you want to forget what happened? What you did?!!

... Gladly... he wanted to mumble, but neither the voice nor another breath left him. He turned stoic, cold, and dead, her strength unable to hold his falling body as it fell flat against the scorched, barren ground.

You have died.

Save point Death has been initialized.