Chapter 20 : An unforgettable autumn

I felt warm drops of water falling heavily on my face as if they were drops of dew (when did the sky start raining? And why don't I see anything?)

At the same time, I started to hear the sound of someone crying, "Why are you crying?"

He didn't answer me, but I started to see a light from afar, then I heard a voice whispering in my ear, "The time has not come yet."

"Huh!"

I started to open my eyes and I realized slowly that I was sleeping all the time and the first thing I saw was the face of someone I know, "Nina! What are you doing here?"

She was moving her lips as if she was saying something, but I didn't hear any word, it took a few moments before I absorbed what was around me and saw clearly, then I realized that it was Luna in the end.

"So you were the one who was crying."

She threw her face on my chest and I was lying on the ground and she continued to cry bitterly, I don't know what happened to her.

I felt some pain in the middle of my stomach and when I put my hand, it got dirty with blood.

"I'm glad you're okay, I wouldn't forgive myself if something bad happened to you."

"Elena! What happened?"

Elena was sitting next to me and she was covered with blood completely.

She said in a faint voice as she wiped her tears, "When I saw one of the iron bars that had crossed your body, I thought you were dead."

I said surprised, "I remember that moment, but how did you heal me, the healing power doesn't affect me."

She smiled lightly on her face and she carried Luna away from me after she fell asleep, then she said, "When King stabbed you, you fell to the ground and your blood flooded the place, I tried to stop the bleeding, but to no avail, then..."

"Why did you stop? What happened after that?"

The smile disappeared from her face, then she continued, "The mana that was around you formed the shadow of someone who pulled the metal rod from your body and then healed your wound, I never saw a healing power like this in my life."

(I must have that woman's hand in this matter.)

I got up from my place with some pain, but not like someone who was stabbed a few minutes ago, it was just a mark on my stomach as if it wasn't.

I turned right and left and realized that we were still in that basement.

I asked her in surprise, "What happened with King and the others?"

She said, "Don't worry, when we were waiting for you outside, we found Leon, he must have been looking for me and I was worried about you, so I had to explain the matter to him."

I said sadly, "I'm sorry, I was forced to tell him even though you didn't want to, and all because of me, I was weak."

She turned her face away from me and said, "No, it's not like that, I should have trusted you more, you were stabbed because of me, you lost your focus when I came, I hope you forgive me."

She looked really sorry for that, but I wasn't their match in the end, all I do is rely on the power of someone else.

"You didn't tell me what happened after that, where are they?"

"They are fighting outside with Leon now."

After I heard that, I gathered myself and carried my sword and started to walk.

Elena said in a worried voice, "Where are you going?"

I said firmly, "Isn't that clear, I won't let him fight them alone on my behalf, I won't run away this time after I got another chance."

She clung tightly to my clothes and said in a loud voice, "Fool! You might die this time!"

I said confidently, "I don't care what happens, I have to close this page of my past, otherwise there is no point in all this."

Her eyes sparkled with some drops of tears, while a wide smile appeared on her face, "I'll go too, this concerns me too."

I smiled too, a light smile, then I carried Nina away from her and we ran in the corridor, all the cells were broken and there was no one in the place, and as soon as we got out, I saw him again fighting, the fight was very violent and uneven in number, two masked men and King against Leon, but Leon was still standing.

"I didn't know that someone could control metal like King does."

Elena said, "This is called the sublimation state, a very limited number of people reach this stage, where the person can control the states of the other element or its derivatives."

I said in astonishment, "In my duel with Taro, he was able to coat his sword with ice."

"That's true, but even so, his use was limited and it varies from person to person, he was only able to coat his sword, but in a case like Leon, he can condense the fire in a way that resembles a beam, and this gives him destructive power."

(There are many things I don't know yet, maybe it's time to look at this world from a new perspective.)

I said in a loud voice, "I won't wait any longer!"

I woke up my left eye again and I ran fast and threw myself in the middle of the fight.

"Are you still alive!" Leon said that and smiled.

I said mockingly, "Death was not destined for me yet, don't worry."

King was controlling the metals around him, making a balanced defense and attack, and at the same time, Ryo was moving lightly among all that and attacking, while the other person was attacking from afar with powerful blows of water that could destroy anything they touched.

Leon said seriously, "I hate to admit it, but their fight is annoying, I can't get close easily without leaving my defense exposed to any of them."

"Don't worry, I'll make a gap for you, after that it's enough to hit with all your strength."

Leon started laughing loudly, ignoring the situation we were in.

"What's so funny?"

"Sorry, I didn't realize that we would cooperate like this after we were going to duel last time."

I didn't pay attention to his words and rushed towards King and said, "Be ready."

As I moved, dodging King's attacks, and at the moment Ryo appeared in front of me, I realized then what Leon was talking about, I couldn't focus on fighting him while King and the water user were attacking me.

"I thought I killed you a while ago!"

I said sarcastically, "Maybe you should worry about yourself."

(I have to find a solution, it's true that I can get past King and Ryo, but the water user is the problem, I can't follow his movements from this distance, if only I had a sub-element, I could have attacked him from afar.)

"Damn it!"

"Leon! Listen, I had an idea, but you have to follow me."

I rushed with all my speed towards King again and I heard around me the metal hitting the ground, causing great destruction (if those things touched me, I would be dead!)

And as I approached and Leon behind me, skipping everything in front of us, our cooperation was very consistent and our speed was close, then Ryo appeared again in front of us and I blocked his punch with my left arm, then I kicked him hard in the chest and grabbed him by the head and said, "That's enough, you won't stand in our way again!" I threw us both into one of the shadows and before we entered it, I threw my sword very fast like a spear towards the water user and I screamed loudly, "This is your chance, Leon!" I don't know if the sword hit him or not, but it made him lose his focus on us.

"Don't worry, leave everything to me from here." He said that and smiled a wide smile until his teeth showed.

The fire power gathered around him, forming a circle, then he raised his sword in the air, it was the same scene I saw in the competition, but his power and intensity of his fire were better (damn this person, how much stronger will he become)

The fire came out of him towards the sword and it shone brightly like a bright star and with a red color mixed with some blue, Leon hit his sword towards the ground, a huge fire power came out, burning everything and cracking the earth and melting all the barriers that King made, and before the blow reached him, I heard a voice saying, "I've seen enough!" Then a tornado of fire appeared, very blue, Leon's fire couldn't penetrate it.

We both stood in awe, the tornado was majestic, then after a few moments it began to fade and that person Draco appeared in the middle of it, surrounded by a black ominous halo.

"All that effort for that attack only?" He said that and laughed.

Leon said angrily, "Who are you?"

That man sat on some rubble proudly and supported his head with his fist, then said, "O fire user, if you want to reach this level, you have to find me."

The fire began to gather around him and cover him and King.

"Draco wait, are you going to leave them after they destroyed my work?"

"Shut up, you lost to them, luckily for you, her majesty still wants to benefit from you, otherwise I would have killed you myself."

King looked at us and said angrily, "You will pay a high price soon."

Then the fire covered them completely and I saw a beam coming out of the middle of it to the sky and as soon as it disappeared, they all disappeared.

I didn't see that worry and tension on Leon's face before, I was used to seeing confidence always on him, but I can't blame him, what I saw today exceeded my ability to imagine too.

I went to look for my sword, I found it covered with some blood, but the water user had disappeared (the sword must have hit him).

My strength was exhausted, so I threw myself on the ground, staring at Elena as she cried and hugged her brother who was unconscious, then Leon came and sat next to me and said, "You are still weak."

I closed my eyes and said, "You are right, I wasn't your match from the beginning, it was arrogance to think that I could fight you."

He stood up and reached out to me and said, "We'll postpone our duel when you get stronger." But I got up without his help and without saying anything after that, I approached Elena and said, "I'm sorry, but it seems that your brother lost his sight when I moved him with me between the shadows, I don't know if he can heal..."

She interrupted me, saying with tenderness, "I will find a solution, all that matters to me now is that he came back to."

At that moment, Luna woke up and started to stare at me a lot with a blank face, as if she hadn't seen me for a long time, I approached her and put my hand gently on her head and said, "Come on, it's time to go."

The cheerful features of her face expressed what she wanted to say, I really wanted to exchange these expressions with her, but I couldn't really.

As we left, Elena called me with broken breaths as she ran, "Jin wait!"

"What's the matter?"

She said, "I don't know how to thank you for helping..."

I interrupted her, saying, "No need to finish, all that was just a job, I didn't forget that you owe me something now."

She smiled a light smile and asked me, "What do you want? I will give you anything you ask for."

I turned my face and started to follow my path, "I can't tell you, but you will know it soon by yourself."

"Goodbye Jin and Luna, I hope we meet soon."

I kept watching her as she waved to us from afar until I couldn't see her anymore, even though the sun cast its bright rays on all that chaos and dispelled the darkness of that night, she looked really happy.

Meanwhile, I didn't know my feelings, this is because I didn't achieve anything from all that, but at the same time I learned a little about myself (maybe this is better than nothing) I said that in my head and I sighed.

"What's the matter?" Luna asked me that and she looked a little worried.

"Nothing important."

We walked a lot until noon, the girl was tired from all that walking and I didn't sleep last night either, so as soon as we got to a shady place near a small river, I lay down under one of the trees, the sounds of its brown leaves clashing with the wind movement were like scolding me, maybe because of the extreme drowsiness I imagined that, but I replied to it anyway, "You don't know anything..."

I woke up from the cold and opened my eyes while smelling the wet wood, I found that I was covered with all those leaves, they all fell.

Luna was sleeping next to me, leaning on that tree, I didn't want to wake her up and while I was removing some leaves from my clothes, I heard a sound from among the bushes, I approached cautiously and checked it out, then suddenly something jumped out of it and ran fast, when I looked closely I found it a striped rabbit, I said in astonishment, "What is this?"

"It's a rare animal, its meat is one of the finest types of meat." Luna said that and she wiped her sleepy eye.

"Really! That's good, maybe we can sell it for a good amount."

I grabbed a branch and a strong thread and started to clean that branch.

"What is this thing?"

"It's a bow, I'll hunt it with it."

She said in awe, "You look really good at making it."

"That's because I used it a lot in hunting in the past."

"Good, I'm done, it looks ugly but it will do the job."

I approached cautiously and hid among the trees one after the other until I got close enough, I tightened the bow hard and targeted it, then I shot at it, "Damn, I missed."

The rabbit started running but Luna followed it quickly, I followed her with all I had and I screamed, "Wait!"

No matter how fast I was, I couldn't catch up with her, "What!! Is she faster than me?!"

We ran a lot and I called her but she didn't hear me, she was getting closer little by little to it until it got close to the edge of a cliff and then jumped, at that moment she managed to catch it but she had already thrown herself with it from over that cliff, I used the power of darkness and threw myself behind them, with my left hand I caught her and with the other I stabbed my sword in one of the cracks.

We weren't far from the edge, so I said to her, "Climb on my back and hold on to me."

I was able to climb up until I reached the ground.

I said angrily, scolding her, "Stupid! Nothing is worth risking your life for like that!"

"But... I wanted it for you, so I..."

"That!..." I was going to finish but I didn't want to ruin her effort, so I shut my mouth.

"I'm sorry."

I turned my head away from her and said quietly, "It's okay, the important thing is that you're fine."

She was silent for a while and then I said, "You were really fast, I couldn't catch up with you."

She was walking happily, swaying right and left, hugging that rabbit, that day we arrived to the capital, it was a big and crowded city and you could see from afar the towers of that royal palace, in a cold weather and strong winds, all the people started to go to their homes, it was just like that day, the road was wide and there were a lot of big houses on its sides, even though we were in the outskirts of the city, it was in short a magnified version of Setal, one of the passers-by guided me to the place where I could sell that animal, it was a shop at the end of one of the alleys, I told Luna to wait for me in front of that alley while I went, I sold it for a hundred and fifty silver pieces, it was a good amount.

When I came out of the shop, I heard a voice I knew (impossible, this is Isabella's voice!)

I hid near them and listened to her talking to Luna.

"I saw you walking next to that man, do you know him?"

"Yes, he is..."

"He is a bad person, he must be exploiting you for his benefit, you poor girl."

"That's not true, I go with him willingly, he is not a bad person."

"He only shows that, but he hides his truth, all he does is hurt others after he uses them, I can't talk more than that because I'm in a hurry, if you want you can come to Longrad Palace, I will be happy if you join our family there."

Claudia was standing next to her but she didn't say a word, it really saddened me to hear that, they must think that of me, even though I expected that, but hearing it from her mouth hurts a lot (does Nina think that too?)

When they left, I went to Luna as if nothing had happened, but the expressions on her face were different, she must have some doubts about me (I can't blame her, maybe she is looking for answers now)

"Let's go." I said that while Luna followed me silently and after a while I stopped in front of one of the shops and while she was distracted she bumped into me.

"Why did we stop?" She asked me that while I was staring behind the glass, it was a clothing store.

"You will buy new clothes."

She said confused, "But why?"

"Your clothes are completely worn out and you are the one who caught it in the end, so this money is yours."

"I don't want..."

I interrupted her and said, "I'll wait for you outside, buy any clothes you like."

After a little while, a woman came out of the door and called me, "Sir, I need you for a moment."

"Yes?"

"Isn't that girl with you?"

"Yes, she is. Is there a problem?"

She sighed in frustration and said, "She insists on clothes that look like boys' clothes, even though this dress looks beautiful on her."

I approached Luna and asked her gently, "Why don't you choose something more suitable for girls?"

She stared at her right and left eyes and looked embarrassed.

"I..."

"I want to help you and this dress will hinder me."

I smiled and said, "It's okay, we'll buy both. We have enough money."

"That's great, you look really beautiful in this blue dress." The woman said that while Luna reminded me of someone as she wore it.

"How old are you, little girl?"

"Fifteen."

"What! You look younger than that because of your thin body. It seems that you don't eat well."

She looked at me with angry eyes that almost pierced my body. "You are her older brother, aren't you? Why don't you take good care of her?"

I said nervously, "You are right, I am very negligent."

She sighed heavily and said, "It's not right to neglect a beautiful girl like this."

"I'm sorry."

We left there and Luna was happy with those clothes like all the girls, but that only made me more sad. The words of the shop owner were the last drop that filled that cup of denial in me.

We boarded a carriage leaving the capital that day and got off a little far from the city of Setal. All that trip to the capital went down the drain. (I was foolish.)

We spent several hours on the road. Luna didn't ask me where we were going, maybe because she felt something coming that would change everything.

"We arrived." I said that as we stood near a large palace with a spacious garden surrounded by an iron fence. Yes, it was Isabella's palace.

"Do we have work here?" She asked me that hesitantly.

"Luna, listen, there is a place I have to go to and..."

"Stop, don't finish!" She screamed those words as tears poured down her face. It was hard for her and me, but I had to finish.

"You will stay here for a while until I come back."

"No, I'll come with you." She said those words with difficulty as she was about to cry.

"I can't take you with me. It's a journey I have to go through alone."

(After I saw all those people, I realized how weak I was, so I decided to leave this country and travel the world to become stronger and be able to fulfill the promise I made to myself.)

As soon as I turned my back to her, she burst into tears. "Will you leave me alone like my parents did!" Those words were enough to squeeze my heart, but she didn't stop there. "You will never come back, will you!"

I wanted to make this farewell short, but she didn't make it easy at all.

I turned back to her and pulled out my sword. "This sword is the most precious thing I have. A person I appreciate a lot gave it to me. Let it be a proof of my return. I will take it back from you when I come back." I said those words and smiled a smile behind which was a deep sadness. I didn't realize how attached I was to that girl until this moment. Even the tears almost spilled from my eyes, but I controlled myself.

"So you promise me that?" She said that as she hugged the sword and looked at me with eyes that almost gathered all my troubles in one moment.

"Yes, I promise."

I left her in that place while she screamed, "I will wait for your return!" I gave her the answer she was waiting for after I met Isabella. (In the end, maybe Isabella was right.)

On that day, the sky snowed. The snowflakes were like white pearls falling, announcing the turning of a new page of my tale. That tale that didn't end. This was the end of a new beginning for another story, but always and forever, this autumn will remain engraved in my memory.

***************************

Hello everyone, I am happy that you reached this point. This is the end of the second part of the story with the end of this chapter. I worked hard to write it and I think it is the longest chapter so far. On this occasion, I designed a new cover for the novel. I hope you like it. Anyway, thank you to everyone who read these words. I am really grateful. I enjoyed writing them and I will try to start the new part soon. I hope you tell me your opinions. Thank you.

The narrator: lostMan

Goodbye.