Kestis landed squarely on his back, coughing up blood that landed right back on his face.
He remained down, the pain from his two broken ribs and dislocated shoulder settling in.
He took in slow, deep breaths, each one stabbing at his lungs. "Now... my... grand... act... will... be... more... believable." He mumbled, in between breaths.
His voice was raspy as he fell unconscious.
By his side, the beast's body twitched a final time as the life escaped from it.
Kestis remained unconscious for an hour. As the hours folded on each other, his breathing became more stable; the pained expression frozen on his face also began to thaw.
His eyes blinked open in subsided pain. He tried taking in a deep breath; however, it was still a Herculean task.
But that was good; the pain meant he was still alive, and most importantly, pain meant the result of his battle with the Cheshire Chimp remained.
That was the most important fact to Kestis.
Clutching his ribs, he tried standing. A simple act by itself, but for Kestis it was akin to lifting a mountain. Blood seeped through his lips.
With enough effort, he managed to stand, clutching his broken ribs, his dislocated shoulder swaying by his side, his uniform drenched in his blood and the Chimp's.
His face was a mess of dried blood and dripping blood.
Glancing at the corpse in front of him, his sword still wrapped around it, Kestis chuckled. Immediately after, he began coughing blood and groaning. 'Worth it.' He thought, savoring the pain.
As he watched the chimp's corpse, an image of his brother's surfaced.
'Just like him.' He thought, spitting out a mouthful of blood. 'I slayed you both.' He thought.
Remembering his brother's death, remembering how he dismantled his body, how his heart danced to his brother's screams of agony. 'A just punishment is what I call it.'
With a smile, he turned around and began limping away; each step producing a groan.
He hadn't the slightest idea where he was limping off to, or where he was to begin with. What he did know, however, was that being in the forest in his condition was suicide.
He continued limping, leaving behind him a trail of blood leading to the Cheshire Chimp, which was no longer visible.
Kestis kept limping, losing more blood; his vision began blurring and spinning around. His legs were on the verge of buckling; his broken ribs plunged deeper into his lungs, making breathing harder.
But the pain was not nearly enough to stop Kestis. 'I will rid the world of that trash.' He thought, clenching his jaw.
With each step he took, the hours of healing unraveled, and his condition became worse. Nevertheless, he prevailed.
Then suddenly he heard muffled voices ahead of him.
Kestis raised his head; he saw two tall trees, their leaves so thick he couldn't see beyond them. However, he could hear beyond them.
"Perfect." Kestis whispered, a bloody whisper.
Clenching his fist, he limped faster.
Each step turned into a crawl toward the light at the end of the tunnel; he saw his prey and he clawed to them in bloody desperation.
The closer he got to the trees, the more blood spilled, and the louder his groans became. But he didn't care, pushing through the pain with a clear and set mind.
The voices grew louder, and so Kestis grew closer to the two trees, until finally he reached them.
Letting go of his ribs, Kestis parted the leaves as he stepped through.
There he saw a long, narrow stream that seemed to stretch through the entirety of Planet Roku. In front of the stream were two people, one standing and the other sitting.
Kestis watched as the one sitting stood up; he was tall with long black hair. The one standing was of a fairly average height, with curly orange hair and green eyes.
The one standing turned around and began walking in Kestis's direction; their eyes met.
As their eyes met, both stood still. 'Henry.' Kestis thought, his heart beating with excitement. Dropping his head, he thought. 'Two for one.'
Raising his head, Kestis saw the second person. 'Talen.' He thought, with a vicious smile, blood dripping from his mouth. 'My grand act begins now.' He thought.
His grip on the leaves grew weak as he slipped into unconsciousness.
Talen and Henry watched Kestis's body fall to the ground lifelessly. Both were frozen, albeit for different reasons.
Talen was puzzled. 'Kestis? Here? Why? What kind of creature did that to him? Is it a trap or is it genuine?' Talen thought, chaotically.
Henry, on the other hand, was terrified, not of Kestis, at least not fully.
He was afraid of what had left him in such a state; whatever it was, he didn't want anything to do with it.
'Why him of all people?' Henry thought, reliving Kestis's match with Laura.
He wanted to run away the very moment; he wanted to escape from Kestis. Before... before what?
What had Kestis done to him? His match with Laura was simply a show of skill that she lost, so why was he so afraid?
Similar to Talen, Henry, for an unexplained reason, felt uneasy about Kestis; something primal inside him warned him.
'I have no reason to be scared.' He thought, swallowing.
He remembered his promise to Talen. 'I'm not going to be afraid anymore.' He thought, turning around.
"W-we should h-help... h-him." Henry mumbled in a trembling breath.
Talen shifted his intense stare from Kestis to Henry.
He was unsure if helping was the right way; Kestis wasn't a danger to him. He knew if push came to shove, he could easily handle Kestis.
However, due to Kestis's adept sense of manipulation, Talen was hesitant. 'Why would I help him? He is dangerous.' Talen thought, walking to Henry.
"Why?" He asked, his tone low as he stood next to him.
A tremor ran through Henry's body as he looked into Talen's empty eyes.
He gulped, clenching his fists. "Why did you save me?" He asked, his trembling subsiding.
Talen was surprised by Henry's question, as he himself had no answer. He never questioned why he saved Henry, or why he was traveling with him. It just seemed so natural.
What he did know, however, was that he could never do the same for Kestis.
Talen returned his gaze to Kestis."No reason. You should be grateful." he answered.
Glancing at Henry, he continued. "But I need a reason to help him."
Henry involuntarily stepped back, his heart beating rapidly, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. 'Why is he being so intense?' Henry thought, swallowing down his fear.
He raised his head, truly looking into Talen's eyes.
Empty was all they were; however, he could see a faint something deep inside them, but he couldn't discern what.
As he looked into the eyes, he blurted out. "One shouldn't need a reason to be kind." Stepping forward, he continued.
"Those were my parents' words to me every day."
Talen scoffed at Henry's words; his life wasn't exactly the best reflection of Henry's words.
However, the fraction of it spent in his village might have been. Nevertheless, whether his life could reflect it or not, his mother would have.
"Fine." He said, the words and intent foreign to him.
"Bring him to the stream." He ordered.
Instantly,color returned to Henry's face at Talen's acceptance.
'My journey to no longer being afraid starts now.' Henry thought, as he gently yet hurriedly dragged Kestis to the stream.
A fool's grin was plastered on his glowing face.
To Henry, helping Kestis was not just a simple act: it was the start of his journey, which he believed would be long; it was the first time he made a decision in his trembling state; it was the first time he pulled himself out of his trance.
"I'm going to make you proud, Mother." He whispered in determination, placing Kestis down.
Talen and Henry began treating him to the best of their abilities.
...
Downstream, far from where they treated Kestis, in the forest, Calistis and Valen sat in front of a fire in dead silence.
Following their discovery of Talen as their elusive slayer, the duo had sat in the dead of silence, contemplating.
Calistis had been silent, thinking of the impact Talen's existence would have on the Physical Realm.
'A dual enhancer; which Family he joins, actions he takes, which admiral he is under. Will it all be monitored and restricted, or the opposite?' She sighed.
Valen, on the other hand, was silent, thinking of all the adventures awaiting Talen and him, all the lives and Branch Realities waiting to be saved, all the Chaos Monsters they had to slay, and many more.
"We are to be great heroes of our time and beyond." He whispered, his eyes gleaming with his fantasies.
Taking in a deep breath, Calistis stood up. "We must find him." She said, her eyes on the Red Scorpion's corpse.
Valen raised his head, looking at her. "We must find the hero." He repeated her words with heart and passion, springing to his feet.
Glancing at him with a passive face, she asked. "Is he a hero?" Her gaze was intense.
Valen chuckled. "Anyone that slays Chaos Monsters is a hero, to me." He answered, three smiling faces flashing in his eyes.
Calistis scoffed. "Naive." She commented, picking up her knight sword. "We need an estimate of his location, not to travel blind." Calistis continued, as she began drawing using her sword.
Valen watched her drawing curiously; after a while, he was able to conclude she was drawing a map of Roku.
The map was rather simple: it wasn't very large, it had scribbles for the forest, scattered around were clearings of various sizes.
Done drawing her map, Calistis kneeled next to it.
"Based on the Chaos Monsters and the size of the clearings, I've deduced what sector of Roku we are in, the Northwest."
Placing her hand on a fairly large clearing, she continued. "We are here. Talen was also here." Looking around the clearing, she continued. "He landed here, slayed the Red Scorpion, and traveled here." She said, her finger moving to the larger clearing behind.
"From there he either moved towards the Bird of Plague's nest." She said, dragging her finger further back to another larger clearing. "Or he went to the stream." She said, dragging her hand to a scribble meant to be a stream.
Standing up, Calistis dusted her hands, her eyes still on the map. "What is the most likely passage?" She asked, glancing at Valen.
He remained silent, studying the map intently.
After a while of thinking, he replied. "He is a big ball of mystery to me." Glancing at her, he continued. "However, if I were in his shoes." He paused, pointing to the scribble of the stream. "I would get drinkable water."
It was her turn now to silently think. 'He is far too cautious to attack the Tempest.' Calistis thought, recollecting her observation of Talen.
"I agree." She replied.
Valen smiled at the response, reveling in his quite exceptional deduction skills.
Then suddenly a thought crossed his mind; taking in a deep breath, he asked. "Now we have an estimate of his whereabouts, but."
Glancing at Calistis, he continued. "Aren't maps of Planet Roku illegal, available only on the Underground Market?" He asked, a smug smile dancing on his face.
After all, Calistis's knowledge meant the princess of the Zyros was engaged with the Underground Market.
Calistis glanced at Valen, noticing his smug expression; she smiled. "That only applies to you." She replied, walking away.
Valen followed, his smugness no more.