Chapter 55: Final MOON
It felt like I was in a dream. I can float around like I am in some third person camera or something. But I could not see my body nor my hands.
There was someone in front of me. He was getting beaten by a man. The boy tried fighting back but his strength could not match that of a man. The man laughed at him and told the boy that he will need to become stronger than him if he were to survive in this world.
I blinked and the scene changed. The boy was a bit older now and the man was teaching him how to shoot a bow. Every time the boy misses, he would get beaten for it.
The man brought the boy to hunt. At first it was to hunt small games, but then it grew larger to hunting boarette and eventually daarette. The boy came close to dying multiple times as the man just stood by watching the boy hunt. He refused to save the boy despite him coming close to death so many times.
The scene changed once more. This time the boy is a teenager. He had to hunt a human that the man forced him to accomplish. He succeeded but in doing so, he was being hunted for it as the human he assassinated was a very important person in the city. The man congratulated the teenager and told him that this is the life that he will have to take, in order to succeed his own.
Jump forth to when the teenager became a young adult, the man congratulated him and passed him his bow as a graduation gift. However, he was told that he needed to kill the man in order to take over his position. The young adult hesitated but the man started insulting him and ordering him to finish the job. The man knew that by making the young adult hate him, it would push him over the edge to murder him. This will allow him to take over as he knew that he only had a few years left to live due to a poison that he was forced to drink when he was captured previously. The young adult eventually caved and released the arrow, hitting a vital mark on the man. He is now an official member of the four great powers.
The young adult grew up to be a man. He was always on the hunt or being hunted himself. He only trusted money as anything else would betray him eventually. The number of times he almost got himself killed were numerous whether it was by women sent to seduce him but plotting to kill him or lords that called him over offering huge amount of rewards but was secretly plotting to capture him. The man knew that he would never be able to live a normal life ever since he killed his first human on that day.
The scene changed to the man talking to an old man tied up in a cell. The old man was missing a hand. He interrogated the old man but the old man would not budge. The old man offered to give him money in exchange for letting the information go but the man thought it was a trick and refused to believe such lies. Why would the old man offer money in exchange for information when he should be bargaining for his release instead?
At first the man stood firm, refusing to even give food or water to the old man. Another reason was that he was hurt really bad, causing sleepless nights or on the verge of death due to self treatment on himself rather than looking for an actual doctor for medical treatment. But he eventually caved and began feeding food and water to the old man after he had recovered properly. He took up the offer of the old man and it turned out to be true. There were a lot of money stashed at the location that the old man had mentioned.
Confronting the old man, he asked him why is he willing to give so much money in exchange for just some information that he was not willing to give? The man was not broke, he had a lot of money himself as there were not a lot of things that he could spend on in the first place. He was not some greedy bastard that would follow money blindly. He just did his job because it was the only thing that he knew what to do in life.
The old man was surprised. He commended the man and told him that his perspective had changed about him. This caused anger to the man and he was furious that the old man thought so little of him. He kicked the stack of gold aside and started shouting. But the old man apologised to him causing the man to slump to the ground in a confused state.
The man released the old man but he refused to leave. He said that he wanted to listen to his story on why he became like this. The man refused at first but eventually gave in. He told the old man his entire life story which somehow calmed him. He had never had anyone to talk to that he could trust, not to mention willing to listen to him.
The old man gave the man a hug and told him to rethink his ways. He was still young and can make good of himself. He was lost but now someone was willing to guide him to a better path. The man pondered in the forest alone. He was torn on deciding which path to take. It had been years since he took up any job and was hanging around the forest for the past few years. He was contemplating on what else he could do in this world besides being an assassin. That was when another man showed up in front of him demanding for his death.
***
I opened my eyes. Rose and Lily were in front of me.
“He’s awake,” said Lily. Who is she talking to?
“Onii-chan, are you okay? We did a quick check-up on you and did not find any physical wounds,” asked Rose.
I pushed myself and sat up to see what was going on. There were elves surrounding me. Oh boy, am I going to be tried for destroying a part of their forest?
“We saw your battle from afar. I’ll have to say, we were all certainly impressed by it, Mister Zen. We were having trouble getting rid of Tom in the first place. To think you actually managed to kill a member of the great powers on your own. The world will know of your victory and welcome you as the newest member of the four great powers. Congratulations,” said a male elf as he bowed to me.
“T.. thank you? You can just call me Zen by the way. Is Tom really dead?” I asked him.
“Yes, we are certain. We found his body at the bottom of the cliff where he had fallen. It was in pieces due to the explosions from his bombs but there were several parts that we could identify. Here is your dagger, by the way,” handed the male elf.
“Wow, the dagger survived the explosion intact? I’m amazed,” I wowed as I retrieved the dagger handed to me.
“It was made from genuine elven smithing, what do you expect?” said Lily as she placed her hand on her hip.
“Zen, Rose, I might be away for some time and I do not know when I’ll be able to meet with the both of you. But I promise that I will come back. Please trust me on that,” she said while holding both of our hands.
“Y.. you’re going somewhere? Where are you going?” asked Rose in a panic.
Lily dragged Rose somewhere away from prying ears and spoke for a time. I couldn’t really see much as Rose was blocking me from seeing Lily’s expression. But I was certain that Rose wiped her eyes a couple of times. They hugged and Rose came back to our side.
Lily gestured me to come over with a smile. Something is wrong. Did she do something or is she being punished for my trespassing and partial destruction of the elven forest? I went up to her with a concerned look.
“What’s going on, Lily? Is it something wrong that I did which caused you to be punished?” I asked her with genuine concern.
“No, it is nothing like that. As a matter of fact, the elves are actually happy that you eliminated Tom. They are willing to pardon you for the things you did. Don’t worry about it,” she smiled at me.
“Then why are you leaving us? It sounded like you’re being punished or something. Please let me know what I can help,” I said to her.
She shook her head and just smiled at me. She told me there was nothing I could do. There were things that I she needed to sort out with the Moonshine family and the death of a great power. It is something only an elf can do.
It felt that she was hiding the truth when she gave me one of the saddest smile. I gave her a hug and told her that I will be waiting for her in the City Of Pines and she will be welcomed to my future house whenever she wanted.
I whispered something to her which gave her a genuine surprise. She smiled and gave me a hug. I know it was probably not the right time to inform her about it but I have no idea when I will see her again. It’s best that she know of my decision rather than who knows when. I promised that I will tell them when it is over and I intend to do so.
We walked back to where the others were. A part of me wanted to reach out to Lily and drag her back to the city. But she was determined to stay and sort out whatever she needed to do.
“We’ll be waiting for you, Lily. Don’t worry about it. Do come and find us once you get back to the city,” said Rose. It felt more like a pleading than an offer.
Lily gave a bow to both of us and left with a few of the other elves. Do I regret not stopping her from leaving? Perhaps a little bit.
I stood up and did a quick body checkup of my own. There was indeed no wounds at all. What happened during my fight with Tom? I remembered very clearly I had some serious wounds when I fought with Tom. Something must have happened when I blacked out for some time but I have no recollection of it.
“There is somewhere we need to show you. Let us guide you, Zen,” said another female elf.
“I know. It is where my grandfather is being held captive, right? Lead the way,” I told the elf and she made a genuine surprised face.
I asked Rose to tag along as we headed deeper into the elven forest. She was hesitating to meet him as she was in a bad condition with her clothes and hair being a mess. I told her this might be the only time she can meet him. If grandfather is still alive, he should be at least around a 100 years old by now.
I have so many questions to ask this female elf who is guiding us. Why did Tom decided to hide in the elven forest? And why did the elves even allowed him to roam in their forest unrestricted?
“You probably have a lot of questions and I will try to answer them pertaining to Tom. But before that, how did you know that your grandfather is still alive?” asked the female elf as though she had read my mind.
“I had a hunch. And also a dream showed me that he was still alive,” I told her.
“A… dream? You sure are full of surprises, Mister Zen. Allow me to explain why Tom was out here in the elven forest,” she said.
She started her story by saying that Tom had an existing pact with the elves. The pact was carried over from his father which is to allow him to seek shelter in the elven forest. How his father established this pact in the first place was because he helped the elves with a very important task a long time ago. This was when his father was still respectable man. Things changed after he obtained the title of being the fourth great power. He became an assassin right after his wife was murdered, leaving him a child to care for. The female elf warned me of the potential dangers waiting for me ahead when the world knows that Zen Hawthorn is going to be the new fourth great power.
Tom’s father went on a killing spree ever since that day and the elves were obviously troubled by his sudden change. If the world knew that the elves were giving a free pass to an assassin to seek shelter in their forest then it would give them a horrible reputation.
So the elves had to take matters into their own hands. They tried denying passage to Tom’s father at first but he knew a few of the high ranking elves that will support him in seeking shelter so they had no choice but to obey. Then came the good news of Tom’s father hitting the grave. Now they can deny passage to Tom as the pact was only applicable to his father.
Sadly, that was not the case. Tom had leverage given by his father. As it turned out, that pact was actually applicable for any direct descendants belonging to Tom’s father. Such was the strength of the pact given to him. The female elf mentioned that she had no idea what Tom’s father did that gained him such a pact with the elves. Usually it would had taken something extremely noble or some impossible task to warrant such a pact to be given by the high ranking members of the elves.
And so, Tom had entry into their forest. There were some elves that took matters into their own hands and tried to eliminate Tom but he was called one of the great powers for a reason. Truth be told, Tom had not used his full powers when fighting against me. She had seen what he was capable of doing in the past but that was before he fought my grandfather. Perhaps grandfather had weakened him somehow in ways that helped me with in his defeat.
Do I regret killing Tom? Absolutely not. The fact remained that he almost killed me, robbed me of my time that I could had spent with my grandfather. I promised to tell him of the tales and adventures that I had been through. It doesn’t matter why the Gods decided to show me his story from his perspective. He was my revenge goal and I had to finish it. Now I can finally move on.
We reached some ruins that was made of stones. There were a few pillars but there was nothing around to indicate anything aside from.. well, stones. The female elf crouched down to look for something. Rose and I decided to look around the pillars as it had some form of art drew on it. There was nothing fascinating about it but one art stood out among the rest for me. It looked like a sword that was protruded slightly more than the others. I guess you can call it a.. stonesword?
I stroked the sword and gave a little push just for kicks. I did not expect it to slot in and started making rumbling noises. I turned around to see what other destruction that I wrecked in this forest but a part of the stone floor starting moving aside, creating a sort of secret passage into an underground area.
“Oh, you found it. How did you know where the trigger is?” asked the female elf.
“I… guess I got lucky? Call it beginner’s luck,” I told her with an awkward smile.
She gestured us both to head in. I asked her whether there was any possibility of traps when we go inside and she said it is up for us to determine on that as her duty was only to guide us to this location. She smiled and wished us luck.
It was dark going in but thankfully there was an unlit torch close to the entrance. Rose took out some animal oil, poured some over it and lighted it with a flint. Her survival skills had improved significantly from the time I taught her when she was young. How much had she grown.
I passed the torch to Rose and took a look at her face. She was taken aback by my sudden behaviour and looked away. I moved her face back by grabbing her chin. I took some water out and wiped some of the dirt that was on her face and combed her hair with my fingers as best as I could. I tried my very best to make her look more presentable before meeting grandfather.
I took back the torch and headed forward. Rose was confused by my sudden caring behaviour and stood confused looking at me. I had to gesture her to follow to snap her out of her confusion. The stairs going down was steep and small so I instinctively held Rose’s hand to make sure she does not slip as she was wearing boots. This once again sent her into confusion mode.
We came upon a simple room. There was a bed at a corner that was bloodied and ill-maintained, and other wooden furnitures that looked really old. It was minimalist at best but at least the place was clean. There were two doors, one ahead and another to the right. Based on the smell, I suspected the right to be the toilet. I ignored that door and proceeded to the one up ahead.
Once again it was a flight of stairs leading to another lower level. I braved myself and headed downwards all the while keeping an eye for traps. Thankfully, there were none. Upon reaching the lower level, it was very clear that this was a jail of some sort to keep someone in as there was another door with bars to peek in. Is grandfather inside?
I assumed the door would be locked but surprisingly, it was not. I opened the door and pointed the torch in. There seemed to be no one around that I can see. I guess grandfather is not here? It took me a second later to see someone extremely frail sitting in the corner.
I rushed as quickly as I could to that person. I did a quick check on this person while crouching down. His right hand was missing, but his head was lowered. Was I too late? I lifted his head to see whether if it was really grandfather, and indeed he was. I checked his pulse but felt nothing.
I closed my eyes and look upwards. Fuck, I was too late.
Rose stood next to me and took the torch from my hands. She shook me rigorously while calling out to me. I opened my eyes and grandfather’s eyes started opening. What is going on? I thought he had no pulse?
“Ojii-san? Do you recognise me?” I said to him while shaking him a little.
“B.. boy? Is that really you?” he asked with a very soft voice.
“Y.. yes! It’s me, Zen. Let me bring get you out of here!” I said while grabbing his arm trying to lift him.
“N.. no, you don’t have to do that. The above had granted me my wish to speak with you one last time. Now please, tell me all about your adventures. I wish to hear what you’ve been through,” he said with a smile.
“What are you talking about? We can get you to safety for medical treatment. You’re still alive and you can make it. Please don’t treat this as though this is the last time that I’ll talk to you,” I said hastily.
“Onii-chan, his pulse is weak,” said Rose as she tugged on my cloak as she checked his pulse.
“Come boy, I wish to hear your story. And who this lovely lady might be as she called you her brother,” he continued as though he ignored me earlier.
I thought of dragging him out of this small dungeon but something is telling me that in doing so, will ruin my one and only opportunity to talk with him one last time. So I sat down and talked with him. I introduced Rose to him as my little sister that I saved. Then I told him all of my adventures. From the guild I’ve chosen, to the discovery of my gauntlets, and the visit to the Demon Continent where I eventually found Tengu-kaze. I continued my stories about how I met two of the great powers and actually got acquainted with them. Then I told him about the war that I waged with the City Of Pines and eventually killing Tom for revenge.
All the while he just smiled at me without saying much. It was as though every word from me was precious enough that it deserved no interruption from him.
“You really had come very far, my boy. Who would had thought that you would end up becoming a member of the great powers. I guess I had taught you well. A shame that Tom did not changed for the better,” he said while coughing badly.
“Your teachings shaped me to who I am today, Ojii-san. And I am forever thankful for it,” I bowed to him.
“Young lady, please take care of him for me. I understand if he is not ideal for you as he is shorter, but please indulge in my request,” he said to Rose with a smile.
“I will. It is an honour to finally meet you,” replied Rose while she bowed to him.
“I am so sorry grandfather, if only I knew you were still alive then I would had came for you. I really had no idea,” I apologised to him with a dogeza position.
“Arise boy, you do not have to be sorry. All I want is for you to be better. Come closer and let me take a look at how much you’ve grown,” he said with a smile.
I obliged and came closer to him while crouching. He placed his left hand on my cheek and smiled happily.
“I am so happy that you still turned out to be a good person. You really are…. a.. miracle child,” he dropped his hand.
“Ojii-san? Ojii-san?!” I shook his shoulder and checked his pulse. There were none.
I punched the floor. I did not even realised I was crying until Rose came over to give me a hug.
***
I kneeled in prayers near a cliff next to a tree. This location is not far from where I stayed in the forbidden forest when I was young. Grandfather loves coming here to meditate as there is a clear view of the sunrise and sunset. Hence, I decided to bury him here as I am sure that he would be happy that he was laid to rest here.
I placed his katana next to his tombstone that I found in Tom’s hideout hanging on a wall. Was he keeping it as a trophy or something, I do not know.
Q poked his head out of the ground holding a flower and placed it on grandfather’s grave. I am so glad that he survived. It would seemed that they were not indestructible at all. As it turns out, they have a weak point at one specific location which either Tom happened to know or just got lucky. Who knew that Q’s belly was actually his weak point when he allowed us to rub and tickle it so often.
I sense my wife to be standing behind me. I stood up and held both of her hands. It was here that I confessed and asked her to marry me in front of grandfather’s grave. She hesitated at first but I told her that she was the only one for me and I had made my decision. Unless she decided to reject me then I’ll end up alone in this cold hard world.
Giving some thought, she finally said yes. I gave her a tight hug and told her that I will never let her go. Rose started sobbing at my words. I chose Rose and she will forever be my wife.
***
“And that’s the end of the story of how I met your mother,” I told Daisy.
“Yay! Mommy won! But how come I don’t remember it being so long the first time?” asked Daisy with a thinking face.
“I did not finish it previously as you lost interest mid-way,” I told her with a speechless face.
“Then how was I born? I wanna hear that story,” asked Daisy with a curious face.
“Umm.. now that, I will leave it to your mother,” I gestured towards Rose.
“What? Hell no, I am not going to be the one who tell her about that. Your dad is the one who is an expert at it. Let him do the honour,” Rose pointed at me.
“I just told the entire plot of a story. I’m not about to start another,” we continued arguing back and forth.
It has been a long journey but I am glad that things happened the way it did. Speak of the time, I should get ready for the council tomorrow. The guildmasters will throw a fit if I did not show up. Things will be rough moving forward and my gut is telling me that there will many more things to accomplish in life. I guess the peaceful life that I had enjoyed for the past 15 years is about to end.
