"I can do this all day." Damien then promptly fell from the sky. He hit the ground hard. There was only bare earth now, not even a tiny bit of concrete. The entire city had simply vanished. Only a gargantuan bowl of dirt existed for miles in every direction. It was a truly desolate land. 

Something inside him pulsed. Hard. A thing, unsteady stream of strength came. But as quickly as it came, it was used up. He'd overextended himself greatly, he knew. His core wasn't able to supply him with energy enough for it to matter. It was all being used just to keep him alive. 

For someone with as abundant a life energy as he was said to possess, that was saying something. He could barely heal from a bruise now and felt it. 

"Submit and I can spare you." The Knight had come to his side and spoke. It offered salvation. Damien snorted. 

"Let me plough your mother and I'll consider it." He coughed roughly, feeling like he'd spit out his lungs. 

"You were given a chance. Remember that." It's voice, cold, emotionless and hollow, resounded in his ears. 

Damien closed his eyes. He didn't mind dying. He had a bit of fun, at least. Had gone all-out. He may not have displayed his sword techniques, which would probably be useless against this damn turtle anyway, but he'd unleashed every bit of power he had and that was something he'd never done before today.

This was fine.

"Says who?" 

Hm? What? Who said that?

"Me, you idiot lizard."

Lizard!

Damien opened his eyes again and was stunned. To his surprise he was not greeted by the image of the Knight or the devastated landscape. instead he was looking at a great grassy field teeming with life. And in the center of this green world was a giant Willow tree. Or that's what had been here, before. Now there was only a small sapling.

Sitting in front of this sapling was Vera. Loli-Vera. And upon her lap was Damien. 

"Are you going to laze around all day? You have a big head. Get off if you're awake." The girl stood and dropped him to the ground. 

He blinked. "What the hell is this? How...?" He trailed off, shaking his head. "Vee, what're you doing here?" 

"What do you mean? I've always been here." She pointed to the tree. "That's me, remember?"

"Huh. Yeah...I guess. But are you really here here?" 

"Physically, yes. And no. My manifestation is still on our home world, but my spiritual self and true physical body are here. I came because I sensed you getting weak. Look, I can't even sustain my adult form because of you." She sighed. 

"Ah. Sorry. I got into a battle with a tough bastard. I'm probably going to die." He informed. 

"Well don't do that, then." She folded her arms.

"I don't think it's my choice at this point."

"You were never one to give up."

"The mind is willing but the body is weak." He countered.

"So, what?" The girl asked. "You're just going to let yourself get killed?"

"Let is a strong word. Like I said, it isn't a choice.  I really shouldn't have fucked around so much and actually trained."

 "Yes, you should've. Regardless, you have to find a way to live." She stated matter of factly. 

"Sounds like a lot of work. No thank--"

"Don't you finish that sentence!" Vera's face, for the first time since he could remember, underwent a drastic change. It took on a harsh, venomous appearance. "Don't you dare!" She all but snarled at him.

He shut his mouth. Then, after a moment, "I know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have--"

"No, you shouldn't have. You shouldn't have even had the thought, let alone had the gall to try and say it." 

"You're right." He agreed. "It was a bad joke."

She rounded on him. "A joke? A joke?"  Her teeth ached, she was clenching her jaw so tight. "You take something like that as a joke? Really?"

"Gotta have a laugh when you can." He shrugged. "I get it. Poor timing." 

Vera stared at him. She felt her chest tighten. "You..." She was so mad she could barely speak. "Why do you have to make light of every damn thing? Even your death. Why?" 

"Eh. It's going to happen. Instead of being all depressed, I prefer to handle my mortality with a sense of acceptance and humor."

"That's the problem!" She shouted at him, biting back a plethora of curses. "Think of ways to save your life instead, not about jokes!"

"Why?" 

"Because I love you, you bastard!"  The tree behind her trembled with the force of her fury. " I don't want to hear you joking about this! I want to see you trying to save yourself! Why can't you get it through your skull that people care if you die?"

A roll of the eyes. "I already talked about this with your mother. it's not that I don't know they do, I simply have every confidence you'll get over it."

Vera knew the honesty of his words as he said them. This was his truth. But she just couldn't accept it. "And you think that gives you the excuse to give up?"

"It's hardly giving up. I wasted basically all my strength fighting that guy. I'm spent. Kaput. It's over, Vee. I'm gonna die. " 

Vera hated him."The Damien I knew would never say something like that."

"Then maybe you never knew me all that well." 

The sentence hung in the air with a deathly silence. 

Vera's eyes turned dull. "Maybe not." But that didn't matter to her. If that's what he thought, it was okay. She just didn't want to be wrong. Because if it was, it meant he'd really given up on surviving. 

She didn't want to be here anymore. She didn't want to witness his death. She could leave now, this place. And not have to see, at least. But she didn't. If he was going to die, she didn't want him to be alone. 

"I guess we'll just die together then."

Damien did a double take. "Say what?"

"Idiot." She insulted, but her heart wasn't in it. "I'm here with you." She turned to look at the sapling. "What do you think will happen when you die?"

"What?!" He roared "No. Fuck that noise then. I ain't dying, goddammit!" His entire being seemed to radiate defiance and rage.

Vera felt a sense of whiplash. "What's with you? You were fine with it just seconds ago."

"Yes, well, I give not one fuck if I die. But I'm not letting you die, too." He wouldn't accept it! 

The girl wanted to hit him. Why couldn't he be as enthusiastic about saving his life just for his own sake? But she wasn't going to complain. 

"So, what're you going to do?"

"Unfortunately, there's only one move left to me with the juice I have left. But fuck if it's not a shitty hand."