Bab 270: [54.5] Heavy Clouds and Heavy Hearts
Rain pounded on the ground, bouncing off the puddles forming on the ground.
Moni stood next to a pyre, preparing to set it ablaze. After he placed each item delicately and precisely, he stared at the body resting in the middle.
The rain dropped down his face giving the illusion that tears were streaming.
But whether it was real or just rain, one couldn't tell.
Hazel stumbled through the mud wearing nothing but bare feet and a pastel dress covered in dirt. Her hair was hanging down in her face as if she had just crawled up from hell. She pointed the Holy Sword in her hands at him, "Fight me!"
Moni didn't even raise his eyes to look at her. He let out a heavy sigh, "Alora. What are you doing on the day of my sister's funeral?"
Hazel looked at the pyre with Rose placed in the middle. Her bloodshot eyes trembled as she stared at the pale figure placed delicately on top of the wood and every item she had ever loved. The flowers from all of her fans were laid around her, giving color to the otherwise colorless scene.
Rose lay elegantly poised with her eyes closed and her hands folded over her chest. She had a slight smile on her face giving the impression that she was having a pleasant dream.
Hazel clenched her jaw and shouted, "FIGHT ME!"
Moni's eyes slowly swept to Hazel. She looked like a wraith seeking out revenge for her death as she pointed her blade.
He muttered, "You're not in your right mind."
"I said FIGHT ME!" Hazel charged forward, ready to impale him in the chest.
However, he casually caught the sword.
The blade trembled in his grip as blood slowly dropped down from his palm.
He whispered in a threatening tone, "Get lost before I take your head."
Hazel stared at his hand with an unreadable gaze, "You… Back then you did the same thing."
Moni tossed the blade to the side, ignoring the blood dripping from his palm. His voice was firm, "Alora. Enough of this. I'm not in the mood."
She ignored him as she stared at her tossed blade, "Back then you had an opening, but you didn't take it."
"Alora-"
She sneered, "-You were always better at fighting than me because you never let your anger shield your judgment. Even on that day when we were fighting to the death, you never intended to kill. It was just me with killing intentions that day."
He clenched his fists, "Alora."
She glared at him, "You had the chance to kill me, but you didn't DO IT! Instead, you let ME! You let ME fatally stab you!"
Finally, Moni let out a disparaging laugh, "Alora. Do you really think I wouldn't take the chance to kill you?"
He took a step toward her, towering over her. He scoffed, "Don't get all cocky because you managed to stab me that one time. If I had the chance to deal a fatal blow to you, I would have taken it."
"Liar…"
His lips turned down into a frown.
She screamed out again, "LIAR!"
Hazel grabbed onto him, shaking him until his high-quality clothes got wrinkled. She screamed, "TELL ME WHY!"
His orange eyes merely looked down at her as if she wasn't even worth being concerned with. He calmly smoothed out his clothes with no intention to humor her.
However, Hazel was desperately looking for an answer, "Why did you let me fatally wound you?! Why didn't you try to stop my attack!? And why haven't you died yet?! That attack should have killed you that day!"
"Did you forget about the curse I placed on you?"
She loosened her grip, "..That curse. Did you really intend to give it to me?"
"Obviously."
She bit down on her lip, "Liar. Your curse wasn't intentional. Just like how you never intended to kill me that day."
His laugh reverberated through his chest, "Maybe you're the one who didn't have killing intentions that day."
Her hands trembled as she forced out a pained laugh, "You're wrong. I'm the one who has nothing but killing intentions. Haven't you figured it out!? I'm a murderer! It's all I will ever be!"
Finally, she broke down into sobs, her hands dropped from his clothes.
Moni merely watched her making no move.
Hazel clenched her trembling fists, "You… I'm going to tell them who you are unless you fight me."
"Go ahead." He continued to stare down at her without expression, "I'm sure they'll believe the words of a killer."
Hazel flinched back in surprise. Her eyes darted side to side as she hectically pondered his words. She bit down on her lip before turning around and leaving without a care about how much dirt splashed on her.
He watched her leave and mumbled under his breath, "You did deal a fatal blow that day… I just haven't died from it yet."
Moni finally turned back to Rose and reached out to touch her freezing-cold hand. He whispered, "Atta has the Swordmaster. Zephyr has Reika. Astra has that weird boy… Now I just need someone to watch and care for Lene…"
His dull orange eyes brightened frighteningly.
He spoke through a clenched jaw, "Then I will have no hesitation in destroying this world and everything in it."
___…..___
Billy stood at the edge of the trees scratching his ear in boredom. He wore a black cloak matching the girl beside him.
He watched the tall flames and clicked his tongue, "If you wanted to see a fire, I could have started one for you. Why did we have to come this far just to watch from this distance?"
He turned to look at the small girl beside him and was immediately taken aback. Her red eyes glistened, reflecting the distant fire. A single tear rolled down her stiff and expressionless face.
He panicked upon seeing such a face, "I-It's just a fire! Is it really that scary?!"
She didn't take her eyes away from the flames as she whispered, "My sister's dead body is in those flames."
He flinched.
He slowly reached out to take her hand and averted his gaze with a guilty expression, "...Sorry."
"It's okay. Rose is reunited with Koale now." She forced herself to smile, but it only helped the tears escape, "At least we have a body to burn this time."
In the distance, four hooded figures also appeared at the edge of the forest but none dared get close.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
Nekoru
Nekoru That's all folks!
Don't start fires this week while you wait for me to post more chapters next week~
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone