Goodnight, sweet child of man.
Good morning, you woke up again.
Tell me all your nightmares and dreams.
Because at night, all I heard was your screams.
"My head hurts."
The boat sailed back and forth, he could hear the voices of 2… no, 3 people. Two were panicking, the other was unusually calm.
He couldn't figure out what they were talking about.
And then, the pain kicked in.
He couldn't protest, yell, or scream. He felt too weak to do so.
His vision was blurry, but he could tell he was on the bottom floor of some sort of… ship. Eyes… his eyes started to close.
"He's awake!" Someone said. Pablo's eyes opened. His vision started to return to normal. At his side, Dante, Haisha, and Kori waited nervously. Haisha was the one to alert them.
"What…" Pablo breathed out. "...happened?"
"It's okay. Don't get up, don't try to use magic or anything. You're hurt." Dante placed a hand on Pablo's face, stopping him from getting up. "I'm… hurt? Why?" Pablo could barely speak.
"You lost a lot of blood. It's a miracle you're still alive." Dante started writing something in his notepad. "I did?" Pablo's voice shook.
"W-What's going on?" He raised his voice, looking around. "Hey! Don't move." Dante stopped Pablo again. "What the hell is going on?!" Pablo ignored his pain and yelled. "After your battle with the commander-" Dante was interrupted. "After my battle? What battle? I didn't even fight him!" He coughed up blood.
"I'm a bit confused…" Haisha looked at Pablo, puzzled. "...We fought together, don't you remember?"
"Together? The last thing I remember is facing Erik and then… then…" He trailed off, his eyes starting to tear up. "...I was here."
"Hey." Kori placed a hand on his shoulder. "I don't remember anything! I don't remember fighting him and I don't remember losing-" When he realized it, he gasped. "Tsuyoi! Where is he?!" He looked around frantically.
Haisha looked away solemnly. "We found you and Tsuyoi fighting Erik in The Hollow. You two were losing. A giant woman absorbed a portion of the barrier for some reason, allowing us to escape. You were about to die and… Tsuyoi didn't make it." Kori sighed.
"He died?!" Pablo yelled.
"No, he didn't make it with us. Horrible choice of words there, young woman." Dante side-eyed Kori.
"Erik caught him, but I used my Treasure to split the water from the concrete floor and trapped Erik in the cement, allowing us to escape. We ran in the snow and managed to make it to a ship. And here we are."
"I don't… remember anything." He repeated. "Holy shit." He started crying. "Why don't I remember anything?!"
His breathing became fast and hard, and his hands were shaking.
"I don't remember. I don't remember! I don't, I DON'T REMEMBER ANYTHING!" He screamed and his entire body started to shake violently.
"Stay still!" Dante tried to stop him. But Pablo didn't stop breaking down. "Even after all that… I was so weak I couldn't save him! And I can't even remember… I can't…" He sobbed.
"You didn't get hit in the head. I don't see any injury there. But you're telling me you can't remember it?" Dante checked Pablo's head again; there wasn't even a single bruise.
Pablo clenched his hands and dug deep into his own skin in anger, fear, grief, and guilt all at once.
"Calm down." Kori caressed Pablo's back and tried to calm him down. "It wasn't your fault. Nobody expected you to defeat Erik." She stopped him from hurting himself.
The words didn't even register with him.
"He is going to die and it's all because of me!" He screamed again. "They won't execute him. The only reason they did that was to lure you in." She started caressing his hair. "It's okay. It'll all be okay."
Pablo's shaking eased, but he was still crying.
"I don't remember anything, Kori… nothing…"
"I know. You need to focus on healing. Do not use your Sorcery; your soul is already very messed up. Some injuries may be permanent."
As he raised his left hand to wipe his eyes, something felt missing. He gasped quietly and looked at his arm.
It was gone.
"Oh." He stopped crying. "Like this one?" He looked at her.
"Uh… yeah," she said quietly. "That one," she added.
Pablo stared blankly. He didn't blink. His breathing returned to normal, and he acted almost robot-like.
"I see." Pablo took one last glance at his missing hand and then fainted.
Dante exhaled sharply and pinched his nose. "At least he won't hurt himself now." Kori smiled nervously.
"That's the least of our worries. We'll have to hope we won't run into the whole navy or the captain of this ship won't snitch on us." He sighed. "We did pay him very well, though." Kori scratched the back of her neck.
"It's not Pablo's fault. It's my fault we couldn't save him." Haisha broke the awkward silence. "Where are we going now?" The smile that had stayed with him this whole time was now gone.
"You three will return to Thalorien. I'll go home too." Dante put his notebook aside and sat down to relax. "Wait, why?!" Haisha protested.
"You're going home, young Ketsui-" Before Dante could finish his sentence, Haisha appeared in front of him out of nowhere. Dante didn't flinch. "Don't call me that, mister. I'm not going anywhere until I save my brother."
"You're lucky you didn't die. As the oldest here, it's my responsibility to escort you home safely. That's what Tsuyoi would've wanted," he said, exhausted.
"You don't know what he would've wanted!" Haisha yelled and clenched his fists. "I know he wouldn't want you dead."
"He's right, Haisha. After such a catastrophe, we can't let you sail with us anymore." Kori placed a hand on his shoulders. "You'll have to go home."
Haisha closed his eyes, stopping himself from crying. Blood poured from his palms.
After careful sailing and avoiding anyone suspicious, they arrived in Thalorien hours later. Pablo had woken up and calmed down, but he was still very distraught and quiet. As the ship reached the dock, Dante walked the trio out.
"We didn't get to know each other, but… thanks for helping me out, Dante." Pablo shook hands with him. Dante smiled. "No need to thank me. I just helped you because I could."
"I'm sorry things turned out the way they did, young Haisha." He looked at Haisha, his smile weakening slightly. "I'll chase my impossible dream, the same way you'll chase yours."
Haisha's grin returned, scarred with pain. He raised his hand for a fistbump. "When I become the world's greatest hero, we'll meet again!"
Dante breathed out a laugh, and reluctantly met his fistbump. "Until then," He didn't say anything to Kori, only looked at her and nodded. "Goodbye, I wish the best for all of you."