Chapter 126 — The Ones Who Stayed
The streets of Remus had become quiet again.
Too quiet.
The fighting had stopped.
The guards had secured the damaged district.
The people had been moved away.
But nobody inside Xcution felt safe.
Brook sat on the edge of a broken stone wall, his arms resting on his knees.
His shoulder still hurt.
His body hurt in several other places too.
That wasn't what bothered him.
He kept hearing the voice.
Shoyo.
Then Vaelor's words.
The First Witch died.
Brook looked at the ground.
A pair of boots stopped in front of him.
He didn't need to look up.
"You're bleeding on Hades's wall."
Henry.
Brook looked at the stone beneath him.
"I think the wall will survive."
Henry sat beside him.
"Good."
For a while, neither spoke.
Sera stood several metres away.
Crowley was farther down the street.
He hadn't said much since they left the underground chamber.
Brook understood why.
Vaelor had remembered Crowley.
Crowley had remembered only fragments.
A face.
Anger.
A deal.
Nothing complete.
Brook looked toward him.
Crowley stood alone, staring at the buildings of Remus.
Henry noticed.
"He's taking it badly."
Brook nodded.
"I would too."
Henry looked at him.
"You've never forgotten anything?"
Brook gave him a look.
Henry smiled.
"Important question."
Brook looked away.
"Forget something that happened centuries ago?"
Henry's smile disappeared.
"Yeah."
Brook looked at Crowley again.
"Imagine someone knowing you."
Henry followed his gaze.
"And you don't remember them."
Brook nodded.
Henry was quiet.
Then he said:
"That's horrible."
Brook agreed.
Before either of them could continue—
a horn sounded.
Brook stood immediately.
Hades's guards moved through the street.
Several took positions near the northern entrance.
Henry stood beside Brook.
"What now?"
Brook didn't answer.
He felt something.
Not with Death.
Not a lifeline.
Recognition.
Sera had noticed too.
She was already looking toward the entrance.
Two figures appeared.
Brook stopped breathing for half a second.
The first was Rick.
The sword across his back was familiar.
The way he walked was familiar.
Rick's eyes immediately searched the street.
Then he saw Brook.
His expression changed.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
Relief.
Behind him—
Shoyo.
Nobody moved.
Brook felt his body become still.
He had seen her in visions.
He had heard her voice beneath Remus.
He had learned that she was a figure from a history so old that entire civilizations had forgotten her.
But standing there—
she was still Shoyo.
The woman who had raised him.
The woman who used to tell him that fighting while injured didn't make him brave.
It made him stupid.
Shoyo's eyes moved across the group.
Henry.
Sera.
Crowley.
Then Brook.
She immediately noticed the blood on his shoulder.
"What happened?"
Brook looked at her.
For several seconds, he couldn't answer.
Then:
"You knew."
The street went silent.
Rick looked at Shoyo.
Shoyo looked at Brook.
Brook stood.
"You knew about this place."
Shoyo didn't answer immediately.
"You knew about Word Magic."
Sera stepped forward.
"You knew about me."
Shoyo's eyes moved toward her.
Sera's expression was different.
Brook had seen Sera angry.
But this wasn't just anger.
It was hurt.
Shoyo had been her teacher.
The person who had taught her how to understand magic.
And now Sera was discovering that Shoyo had known more than she had ever said.
"You taught me those symbols."
Sera said.
Shoyo nodded.
"I did."
"You knew what they were."
"I knew some of them."
Sera laughed quietly.
"That's not what I asked."
Brook watched Shoyo.
She didn't look away.
That mattered.
Sera stepped closer.
"You knew Word Magic existed."
Shoyo nodded.
"Yes."
Sera's hands tightened.
"And you never told me."
"No."
The answer was simple.
Honest.
Sera's expression hardened.
"Why?"
Rick moved slightly.
Shoyo lifted a hand.
He stopped.
Brook noticed.
Shoyo wasn't asking Rick to protect her.
She was going to answer herself.
"Because you weren't ready."
Sera stared at her.
"I wasn't ready?"
"No."
Sera's voice rose.
"And you decided that?"
"Yes."
The answer hurt.
Brook saw it.
Sera looked away.
For the first time since Shoyo arrived, Brook felt something inside himself calm.
Not because the answer was good.
It wasn't.
But Shoyo wasn't trying to escape it.
She was taking responsibility.
Brook stepped forward.
"What else didn't you tell us?"
Shoyo looked at him.
"Brook."
"What else?"
Rick finally spoke.
"Careful."
Brook turned.
Rick's voice wasn't angry.
But it was serious.
Brook stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because you don't actually want an answer to that question."
Brook frowned.
"How do you know?"
Rick looked at him for a long moment.
Then:
"Because I know you."
That stopped him.
Rick walked closer.
Brook didn't move.
Rick stopped in front of him.
"You've just found out that someone you trust has lived an entire life you know nothing about."
Brook's jaw tightened.
Rick continued.
"Actually."
He glanced at Shoyo.
"Several lives."
Shoyo gave him a look.
Rick ignored it.
"You want to be angry."
Brook looked away.
"Maybe I am."
"I know."
Rick nodded.
"But being angry doesn't mean you stop listening."
Brook looked back at him.
Rick's expression softened.
"You can be angry at Shoyo."
Shoyo remained silent.
Rick continued.
"You can be hurt."
Brook's eyes moved toward Sera.
Sera was still looking away.
"And you can ask questions."
Rick took a breath.
"But don't turn the woman who raised you into a stranger just because you learned something about her you didn't know."
Brook stared at him.
The words hit harder than he expected.
Because that was exactly what was happening.
The moment someone called her the First Witch—
Shoyo had become something else.
A title.
A legend.
Someone from another world.
But she was still standing there.
Looking at him.
Not defending herself.
Waiting.
Brook looked at Shoyo.
"Why didn't you tell us?"
This time his voice was quieter.
Shoyo took a breath.
"Because some things in this world are dangerous even when they remain buried."
Nobody spoke.
Shoyo continued.
"I have lived long enough to see what people do when they discover something they should not have found."
Crowley looked toward her.
Shoyo met his eyes.
"They seek it."
Crowley said.
Shoyo nodded.
"They want to control it."
Henry folded his arms.
"And usually get themselves killed."
Shoyo looked at him.
"Usually."
Henry nodded.
"Fair."
Sera finally looked at Shoyo again.
"But you taught me."
Shoyo's expression softened.
"Yes."
"You taught me magic."
"Yes."
"You knew there was something different about me."
Shoyo hesitated.
"Yes."
Sera swallowed.
"Then why?"
Shoyo stepped toward her.
Not too close.
She gave Sera space.
"Because teaching you was not manipulation."
Sera stared at her.
Shoyo continued.
"I never trained you because I wanted something from you."
Her voice remained calm.
"I taught you because you had magic. You were afraid of it. And you deserved to understand yourself."
Sera's eyes lowered.
"But you still kept things from me."
"Yes."
Shoyo didn't deny it.
"Because there were things I hoped you would never need to know."
The silence returned.
Brook looked at Shoyo.
That answer felt more honest than anything else.
Not good.
Not comforting.
But honest.
She hadn't kept secrets because she was playing some game.
She had kept them because she had wanted them to stay buried.
And now they weren't.
Crowley walked toward them.
His eyes remained on Shoyo.
"First Witch."
Shoyo sighed.
"Please don't."
Crowley stopped.
For a second—
Brook expected an argument.
Instead, Crowley looked genuinely tired.
"I don't remember."
Shoyo looked at him.
Crowley shook his head.
"I remember enough to know that I should."
Nobody interrupted.
Crowley looked toward the distance.
"I remember your face."
Shoyo remained quiet.
"I remember knowing you."
Crowley continued.
"But the rest…"
He stopped.
His expression tightened.
"Nothing."
Shoyo looked at him with something close to sadness.
Crowley laughed quietly.
"Don't."
Shoyo frowned.
"Don't what?"
"Look at me like that."
Crowley turned away.
"I wasn't cursed."
Brook said.
Crowley looked back.
Brook shrugged.
"You've told us enough."
Crowley waited.
Brook continued.
"You've been alive for too long."
Crowley stared at him.
Brook looked down the street.
"Maybe some things just disappeared."
Crowley was quiet.
Then he said:
"That doesn't make it better."
"No."
Brook nodded.
"It doesn't."
Sera sat down on the same broken wall Brook had been sitting on earlier.
Shoyo approached.
Brook watched.
Rick stood beside him.
Neither interfered.
Shoyo stopped in front of Sera.
Sera looked up.
"You should have trusted me."
Shoyo nodded.
"Perhaps."
Sera frowned.
"Perhaps?"
Shoyo almost smiled.
"Yes."
Sera stared.
Shoyo continued.
"I trusted you."
Sera's expression changed.
"Then why hide things?"
"Trust and protection are not always the same thing."
Sera looked away.
"I don't need protection anymore."
Shoyo's smile disappeared.
"No."
Sera looked back.
Shoyo's voice was quieter.
"But that does not mean I stopped wanting to protect you."
For a moment, Sera said nothing.
Brook looked away.
He didn't feel like he should be watching.
The conversation belonged to them.
Rick walked away from the others.
Brook followed.
They stopped near the edge of the district.
For a while, they watched Hades's guards move through the streets.
Brook spoke first.
"Did you know?"
Rick didn't pretend not to understand.
"Some of it."
Brook looked at him.
"How much?"
Rick smiled slightly.
"Enough to know I should avoid giving Shoyo advice."
Brook stared.
Rick's smile faded.
"I knew she was old."
Brook raised an eyebrow.
"Helpful."
"I knew she had history she didn't like talking about."
Brook nodded.
"Still helpful."
Rick laughed quietly.
Then he became serious.
"But I didn't know everything."
Brook studied him.
Rick continued.
"Shoyo has been in my life for a long time."
"How long?"
Rick looked at him.
"Long enough."
Brook frowned.
Rick smiled.
"I'm not immortal."
Brook almost laughed.
Rick continued.
"But when you spend enough time around someone, you learn when not to ask questions."
Brook looked back toward Shoyo.
"That's convenient."
"No."
Rick shook his head.
"It's survival."
Brook smiled slightly.
Then it disappeared.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Rick turned toward him.
"Because it wasn't my secret."
Brook stared at him.
Rick continued.
"And because the Shoyo you knew was real."
Brook frowned.
"What?"
Rick looked toward Shoyo.
"You think learning she's the First Witch changes who she is."
Brook didn't answer.
Rick looked back at him.
"It doesn't."
The words were simple.
Brook needed to hear them.
Rick placed a hand on Brook's good shoulder.
"You don't have to understand everything about the people who raised you to know they love you."
Brook looked down.
Rick removed his hand.
"And before you ask—"
Brook looked at him.
Rick nodded toward Shoyo.
"She's terrible at saying it."
Brook smiled.
"That I already knew."
"Good."
For the first time since entering Remus—
Brook felt something loosen inside his chest.
Not disappear.
The questions were still there.
The anger too.
But Shoyo wasn't his enemy.
She had never been.
Sera stood.
Shoyo looked at her.
"I am still angry."
Shoyo nodded.
"That's allowed."
Sera folded her arms.
"And I have questions."
"Ask them."
"All of them."
Shoyo almost smiled.
"One at a time."
Henry quietly laughed.
Sera glanced at him.
He immediately stopped.
Crowley stood apart from them.
Brook walked toward him.
Crowley didn't look at him.
"You alright?"
Crowley raised an eyebrow.
"That question is becoming irritating."
Brook nodded.
"So no."
Crowley looked toward the sky.
"I've forgotten people."
Brook said nothing.
Crowley continued.
"I knew that."
His voice was quiet.
"But I never thought about what it meant for them."
Brook looked at him.
Crowley laughed once.
"They remember me."
Brook understood.
Crowley remembered almost nothing about Vaelor.
But Vaelor remembered him.
Every deal.
Every choice.
Every conversation.
Crowley had continued living.
Vaelor had stayed behind.
And now their memories belonged to different versions of history.
Brook stood beside him.
"I think you remember enough."
Crowley looked at him.
"Do I?"
Brook shrugged.
"No idea."
Crowley stared.
Brook smiled slightly.
"But you're here now."
Crowley looked away.
"Terrible advice."
"You're welcome."
The group stood together again.
Not because everything had been fixed.
Nothing had.
Brook still had questions for Shoyo.
Sera still felt betrayed.
Crowley was struggling with pieces of a past he could no longer reach.
And Rick—
Rick was still clearly keeping things to himself.
But nobody was hiding from anyone.
Not now.
Shoyo looked at Brook.
"I am sorry."
Brook stared at her.
The words were unexpected.
He knew Shoyo wasn't someone who apologized easily.
"I should have told you more."
Brook nodded slowly.
"Yeah."
Shoyo waited.
Brook looked at her.
"I know why you didn't."
Shoyo's expression softened.
"But that doesn't mean I like it."
Shoyo nodded.
"Fair."
Sera walked toward them.
"So."
Everyone looked at her.
She looked at Shoyo.
"When do we start getting answers?"
Shoyo glanced toward the underground ruins.
Then back at them.
"Now."
Brook looked toward the darkness.
The questions were waiting.
The past was waiting.
And whatever Shoyo had spent so long trying to keep buried—
had begun moving again.
Brook looked back at her.
This time—
he didn't see the First Witch.
He saw Shoyo.
And that was enough.
For now.
End of Chapter 126