All I Can Do

Sending my first shot of [Bullet 3] at Zeus hit him in the arm and caused him to fall back a bit. After one measly attack, Zeus retreated off of the building to run away.

I weighed my options as I moved forward. I could let him get away and save the people hiding in the alleyway, or I could chase him so they would have a chance to escape. No matter how I looked at it, chasing him was the better option, so I analyzed the area around me to find a way up to the rooftops and made my decision.

I climbed up boxes and pushed my body to the limits while running after him. Pulling a stamina potion Tama gathered the ingredients for me to make and shoved it into my mouth while running kept me feeling 'hydrated' in a way, and left me with no fatigue. I even used [Blessing 3] on myself as I continued my pursuit.

Just as I assumed would happen, Ono began to circle back around, presumably to hit the citizens with attacks. However, I wouldn't let that happen.

I summoned [Slash] out of my Wand and hit the building he was standing on with it, causing it to cave in and throw Ono into the top floor right underneath the rooftop. Glass casually fell onto the floor in millions of shards as he cried out for help.

"Anima! Help me! Please, help me take over Zeus!" He yelled out to me, but I ignored him, throwing another [Bullet] at his opposite arm. He changed his attitude almost instantly to pick himself up, jump out of the broken window, and land back on the street.

"Your attempts to drain sympathy from me are futile. You made your decision when you shot at me. Ono, even if you can hear me and you truly do want help, you better come up with solid proof that'll make me stop, otherwise, I won't stop until you're nothing but dust." I told him,

The broken cement leaning into the top floor of the building Ono was just sitting on top of acting as a perfect slide with a lucky slope, so I slid down it and watched him struggle to pick his body back up on the street to run from me. Yet again, he was running in the direction of the people I was defending. I wouldn't let him get close.

"Cast aside your morality! If Ono gets close, cut out the backs of his knees and let him wallow on the ground. Ruby, Ipa, Ken, that's an order. Soul, Tama, if you don't want to witness your old friend die, then leave this city." I told them as I jumped out of the same window and used the Air Element to slow myself down.

That's right, Ono didn't use the Air Element. Was it a chance of stupidity? It had to have been because Ono wouldn't have made it as Zeus's Vessel without his mastery of the element itself.

"Anima! Quit it! That's our friend you're killing!" Tama yelled out to me. I stopped in my tracks while launching [Impale] at Ono through another building. It went through the middle and took out support beams, collapsing near the middle and causing him to trip over more debris.

"Ono is threatening the lives of several innocent people, and the closer he runs over to them, the more and more accurate I get," I told Tama.

"Anima, you said you would try to save Ono for us!" Soul shouted out in irritation to me as she stood between Ono and the civilians. He was getting far too close for comfort now.

"I lied. Now, step away so I can kill him." I told her, aiming [Bullet] at Ono's head while he was on the ground.

"You waited too long... see you later, Anima," Ono muttered before vanishing into thin air. I fired the skill into the ground anyway to see if his body remained, but it didn't.

As soon as everybody settled down, Soul pushed me into the wall and drew her staff while priming a skill aimed at my chest.

"You said you would help us! That doesn't mean killing Ono and Zeus! It means to find a way to separate their bodies!" Soul yelled at me. The civilians, guided by Ipa, were led to a weak point of the barrier, where Ken slashed at it and created an opening. All civilians were instantly told to leave the area and take refuge elsewhere.

"But... I don't care. I don't care about saving Ono because if he wanted to be saved, he would've told me." I said to Soul. She looked at me with baffled confusion and rage that was starting to spark behind her eyes.

"Anima, there's no logical way that makes sense! Ono can't beg for help because he doesn't have his memory! He doesn't know what he wants!" Soul yelled out again. She was getting close to my face and starting to piss me off with her volume.

"That's not what I'm talking about you, idiot! Ono and Zeus were fighting me, not just Zeus. There are different accents when each one talks, and Ono calls me Anima, not Potion Mortal. Zeus doesn't call me by my damn name, that's not Zeus fighting me! And assuming you're right, who's to say you'll ever have your friend back?" I told Soul. She seemed confused and stopped being so aggressive, so I saw this as my chance to elaborate and defuse this tension.

Look... I'm sorry about Ono. I really am. Ono, however, lost his memory. He's not the same Ono anymore, and he will never be. You can save him, but you would never have your friend back. You'd have a man who mimicked Zeus's personality until he created his own, and then, you would have Zeus. Soul, this is easy for me to say because I have no prior connection to Ono, but he's dead. Your friend that you once knew isn't coming back. This is all I can do for you and him. I will put him to rest officially. That imposter in his body will be set to rest before he suffers, you just have to let me." I explained to her.

"Even if... even if you're right... that's not what I want to hear. I want my best friend back... you really don't think there's any way for me to bring Ono back?" Soul asked me with tears welling up in her eyes. Her lip quivered and continued to do so as I shook my head.

I had never been a good person to console others, so when Soul buried her head into my shoulder and let out a crying shriek as her way to help cope with the death of her friend, I sat there, staring at the ground and holding my own tears in.

I couldn't do it either. If it were Soul to be the one to turn into somebody evil, I couldn't take her out as easy as I feel that I could take out Ono. It's the feelings you build up along the way that prevent you from doing the hardest things. I don't want to be held back by the feelings, but I also don't want to forget them.

I will put him down, and Soul will smile before she and I split to go on our separate journeys.