Chapter 17: Everything is fine

'Everything is fine.'

Cassius stood motionless, his body rigid as he watched the hungry flames from Anna's fire arrows consume everything in their path.

'Everything is fine.'

Anna's lifeless body lay crumpled on the floor before him, her once vibrant eyes now dull and glazed over, staring blankly. But it was the gaping wound in her chest, a jagged hole surrounded by tattered flesh and spilled blood, that drew his horrified gaze.

'Everything is fine?'

Cassius chuckled as his mind finally caught up with reality, shattering the numb denial. Everything was fine? What a blatant lie. He had killed Anna with his own hands. And now the crackling inferno raged around him as he stood frozen, flames slowly closing in to entrap him in their searing embrace.

"I killed her," Cassius placed his hands on his forehead, "I killed Anna."

[Cassius, she tried to kill you.]

Cassius tore his gaze from Anna's still form to read Kar's message. "That's Right. She tried to kill me..." He glanced back at her body.

'She wanted me dead.'

His whole life, Anna had always held second place in his heart, (after himself); there was no one else he cared about as much as he did Anna. She was the one who took care of him when he was sick, comforted him when he was sad, and stood by him even when no one else did.

If there was one person he thought he could always rely on, then it would be Anna. If he couldn't trust Anna, then who could he trust?

...Nobody.

It was at this moment that Cassius finally realized that there was not a single person in this world that deserved his trust.

'Everyone I've ever known betrayed me. Not a single person was ever truly on my side.'

From the day he was born, everyone around him had started scheming ways to use him to their advantage. The boy who was an anomaly in the system. The one born between people of different classes.

For Anna, it was this 'Master' she talked about in her last moments. Who was he?

Was her master Lady Vanessa? But if that's the case, then why did she call her master? Was it someone else? Was she just trying to throw Cassius off guard? Was there even a real master to begin with? Why would her master abandon her?

Hundreds of thoughts raced through Cassius's head. What was he supposed to do now? How would people react to the fact that his room was on fire? How was he supposed to explain the gaping hole through Anna's chest?

'Ah, I suppose I won't need to explain the hole. '

Cassius stared at Anna's fire which burned her until there was nothing left of her body. Not even ashes. It was as if Anna had never existed in the first place. If he hadn't seen it for himself, Cassius wouldn't have known that he had killed her and that the fires had eaten away her remains.

Cassius looked back at his bed. Where was he supposed to sleep tonight? No, even if his bed was fine, he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

It had been 42 hours since he regressed back in time, and though he had spent a week inside Kar's realm, his real body, which was that of a ten-year-old boy, had yet to get any sleep.

Nonetheless, there was no way Cassius could sleep tonight. He would simply have to endure it a little longer. After all, what if Anna's 'Master' came to kill him? Sure, the master might be made up, but what if he wasn't?

Cassius felt anxious. He was resolved to live a longer life this time. If only he had someone he could trust to watch his back, but that was the same person who tried to kill him.

Anna's 'master' could be anyone. His father, mother, brothers, sister, anyone. Even the man who sells bread in the market.

He thought he had already lost all his trust in the world when Nathan betrayed him, but now he realized that's not true.

This was the true moment Cassius finally lost faith in humanity.

This was the moment he genuinely believed there was no one he could trust.

'They're all liars. They'll all betray me eventually. It's only a matter of time. '

That's why he was going to betray them first. That's why he was never going to let himself trust anyone ever again.

The second he'd feel trust creep into his head would be the moment he resolves himself to rip it out.

It's better to die than to feel betrayed like this ever again. Betrayal followed Cassius wherever he went, like a vengeful ghost.

Cassius started finding it hard to breathe; that's when he remembered his room was still on fire. Before he knew it, he found himself rushing towards the window, the only place with open air; he needed to escape before he suffocated to death.

In one fell swoop, Cassius jumped out the window like a diver. He was on the third floor, so it would usually be deadly, but thanks to the barrier, he would probably get away unscathed. Right?

[Barrier Deactivated]

"Kar!" Cassius yelled, falling towards the ground. "Why is the barrier deactivating now!?"

[Shit. It's automatic.]