Chapter 425 Reliving A Memory



Once they got inside Bucky Barnes's humble abode (or so that's how he expressed it), they came to a realization that the house wasn't humble at all. Despite its small stature from the outside, it was pretty spacious interior-wise. Some sort of space-warping was present inside the structure, and it enabled the area to seem bigger than it was.

"Does anyone prefer... a light breakfast or a heavy one?" Bucky Barnes asked with a smile on his face. Despite his light demeanor, he was actually prepared at all times to jump between Jonathan and Yun Zhe, just in case they got into another fight. As for Satoshi, he didn't worry about him too much since he was the most rational out of the group.

"A heavy breakfast..." Jonathan was the first one to reply, guiltily averting his gaze from Satoshi and Yun Zhe. He felt like he didn't belong to the group, and yet he wanted the situation to be known so he would feel welcome. While it may take some time for the wound between him and Yun Zhe to heal, he hoped that they would become friends just as they were once was.

"Same here. I need another round of breakfast, or else I won't make it past lunchtime." Satoshi said. Since he could feel the heavy atmosphere descending upon the two, he decided upon himself to lighten up the mood by speaking in a casual manner. It seemed to have worked since Yun Zhe relaxed a bit when Satoshi spoke.

"Heavy it is. It's still the same thing, though, whichever you choose. It's just the portion of the meal that would differ from each other." Bucky Barnes explained. With a wave of his hand, he led everyone to the dining area, where food was already prepared. Heaps of pancakes, eggs, and bacon could be seen on the table.

"Help yourselves. I made this extra special for the three of you. We don't exactly have these types of food in our dimension, so I had to get them from Earth before everything else." Bucky Barnes explained. He seated himself first before beckoning for the others to sit with him as well.

"Please take your seats. It would be relatively easier to explain all these and talk about these over a hearty meal, don't you think?" Bucky Barnes didn't bother waiting for the trio to take their seats. He started eating, grabbing three stacks of pancakes and a couple of sunny-side-up eggs, putting them on the side of his plate before squeezing a generous amount of ketchup on top of it. His pancakes were drenched in honey a couple of seconds later, and then he proceeded to eat.

Jonathan, Satoshi, and Yun Zhe didn't bother saying another word. A few seconds later, they seated themselves as well. Not before long, they proceeded to eat at Bucky Barnes's pace.

From the corner of his eyes, Bucky Barnes watched in relief as the three started eating. He didn't plan to feed them a hefty amount of meal at first, but after thinking about it, he decided to do so just so he could calm their nerves. Seeing their satisfied smiles, he couldn't help but smile. For now, they've forgotten about their strife against each other, and it brought a smile to Bucky Barnes's relaxed expression.

"Now, let's proceed to the matter at hand." Bucky Barnes said, clasping his hand to direct everyone's attention to him. Upon seeing the trio's stares, he then nodded his head toward Jonathan. "Before anything else, though, I need to talk to Satoshi and Yun Zhe first... would that be all right, Jonathan?"

After a few seconds of contemplation, Jonathan nodded his head. Without wasting a second, he stood up and excused himself from the room, telling everyone that he would be roaming outside in the meantime.

As soon as Jonathan headed outside and closed the door behind him, Bucky Barnes cleared his throat and extended his hand to the two of them. "I want the two of you to hold my hand. I'm going to show you something."

"Um... is it too late to be praying right now? We already ate." Satoshi reasoned. What Bucky Barnes said flew right past his brain.

"We're not going to pray. I'm going to show you something. It's quite hard to explain, so I'll just show it to you. You'll understand once you see it."

Reluctantly, Satoshi and Yun Zhe grabbed Bucky Barnes's hand, listening to his request. The moment their skin touched, however, Satoshi felt as if his mind was stretching and squeezing at the same time. Yun Zhe felt the same, and he couldn't quite put his finger around it.

Before the two of them knew it, the scenery changed before them, and a peaceful grassland was presented right before their eyes. The grassland was more beautiful than any picture Satoshi had seen, and he gazed in awe and wonder as he admired the view.

"What's going on?" Satoshi asked.

"Right now, we're reliving a certain painful memory. After we're done watching this life movie, you're going to understand everything." Bucky Barnes said.

That's when Satoshi and Yun Zhe noticed that the three of them were right there, holding each other's hands as they floated over the grassland.

"Jonathan!"

Satoshi and Yun Zhe's ears perked at the mention of Jonathan's name. Their head then turned to the edge of the grassland where a young teenager was running. She wore a thick skirt and a scarf on her head. Her white hair was tied into a ponytail, and she ran through the grasslands with grace, all the while wearing a smile on her face. Her face brightened up at the sight of Jonathan, who was sitting by the edge of a front porch.

"Lucy, look at you, running around so early in the morning. Where do you get that energy?" Jonathan greeted, patting the empty space beside him and prompting Lucy to sit there.

"I'm glad to see you as well. What are you doing?" She asked, setting the basket beside Jonathan.

"Just... taking a breather. How about y—"

In this memory, Jonathan wasn't the only one who cut himself short while he spoke. Even Satoshi and Yun Zhe gasped in horror as they saw the brutal scene that unfolded before their eyes.

That's because... before Jonathan could return his question to the girl, she was stabbed right through the heart... and what stabbed her was none other than the Scarlet Scythe, wielded by none other than Jana herself.