Chapter 9 - The Boy’s Dead Now

It was a perfect opportunity. Kuai Si had been extremely patient while waiting for Melos to slip up. And now that his chance had appeared, Kuai Si took advantage without hesitation. Which is why he was so surprised when Melos whipped around with a grin on his face.

“You finally showed up.”

Kuai Si jumped backwards, completely abandoning his attack. And just as he did, Melos’ sword cut right through where Kuai Si just was. Kuai Si looked at his enemy with surprise. And then he looked at the Sea Lion behind him.

The Sea Lion was unharmed and it had retreated back into the sea. With a low roar, it dove into the waters and disappeared into the Mist. Kuai Si glumly turned back to Melos.

“Well if it isn’t the Quiros family’s personal assassin.” Melos looked at Kuai Si.

“How do you know who I am?” Kuai Si asked.

“An assassin like me never forgets a face.” Melos’ grin grew wider. And Kuai Si felt a chill run down his spine. Kuai Si realized that he had made a mistake. Despite all his preparations, despite his patience, despite his caution, he had still underestimated Melos.

“You knew this entire time?” Kuai Si dryly asked.

Melos nodded.

“You faked that attack to draw me out?”

Melos nodded again.

Kuai Si chuckled. “You’ve been missing for ten years. I guess I had forgotten just how strong you are.”

Kuai Si felt very troubled. Because not only had he made a mistake, he had nowhere left to retreat. He was trapped on this boat.

Melos readied his sword. Kuai Si only had a few seconds left to react. So he made one last final effort. He dashed towards Kuren and Melodi. He pushed away Melodi and grabbed Kuren. Before Melos could do anything, Kuai Si raised his dagger to Kuren’s throat.

“Don’t come any closer, Melos. After all, I know that this boy holds some importance to you.”

Melos raised an eyebrow. “That’s true. But that boy also means something to the Quiros family. Why else would they keep him locked up in that cave? If you kill that boy, I’m sure your masters would be quite displeased.”

Kuai Si nodded. “That’d be true. But they’d also be quite unhappy if I went ahead and just died here without completing my mission.”

“It’s plain to see that neither of us want this boy to die. You’d fail your mission and I’d fail mine.” Kuai Si smiled. “So why don’t we make a simple agreement here? You let me live, and I’ll let the boy live too.” Kuai Si poked his dagger into Kuren’s throat a little harder. Blood began to drip down the blade.

Melos let out a deep sigh. “Fine.”

“There. That wasn’t so hard.” Kuai Si relaxed. And that’s when Melos moved. Melos instantly vanished from where he stood. Kuai Si’s eyes widened as he shouted, “You idiot! You want this boy dead?”

And then Melos reappeared in front of Kuai Si. And then Melos thrusted his dagger towards Kuai Si. Kuren had blankly stared as the blade pierced straight through his body. Kuai Si was too surprised to react as the blade continued its path and stabbed into his own body.

Kuai Si spat up blood. And with a growl, he plunged his dagger into Kuren’s throat. “I warned you!” And then he ripped the dagger out.

Blood gushed out of Kuren’s torn throat. A red, frothy mixture of blood and saliva began to gurgle in his mouth. He looked at Melos, tears of blood running down his face.

And then Melos slid his sword out of their bodies in one smooth motion. And Kuren dropped to the ground, a bloody mess. Kuai Si looked at Melos grimly.

“The boy’s dead now, you dumbass.”

Melos twirled his blade. “You don’t need to worry about that anymore.” And he cut Kuai Si apart. As Kuai Si’s body lay in pieces, Melos turned back towards Melodi.

“You alright, Melodi?”

Melodi turned towards Melos with wide eyes. She was shocked from what just had occurred. And she also felt a confliction of emotions inside her. She had been ignored this entire fight. Kuai Si had pushed her aside and went straight for Kuren. Kuai Si thought that Kuren was more important to Melos than she was. That made her feel sick inside. But now…

Melodi glanced at the mess that Melos had created. At Kuren’s lifeless body. “You killed him. Kuren’s…”

“Oh don’t worry about that.” Melos laughed. He walked over to Kuren’s body and picked it up.

“Hey, you’re up already, aren’t you?”

Melodi watched in horror as Kuren’s eyes moved to look at Melos. And then he spoke. “Yes.”

“See?” Melos threw Kuren onto his feet. Melodi’s mouth was wide open as she stared at Kuren. The first place she looked at was his throat. Aside from the bloodstains, there was no wound. Blood was smeared around his mouth, nose, and eyes as well. She looked at his chest. There was a tear in his shirt. But there was no wound left. She looked at his knees. She remembered how he had scraped his knees before Kuai Si attacked. But other than the bloody legs, his knees were perfectly fine.

“W-what?” Melodi gasped. “How are you fine? How are you still alive?”

“A little disappointed, Melodi?” Melos chuckled. “I guess I forgot to tell you what was so special about him.”

“I thought you said you didn’t know anything about him!” Melodi shouted.

“Well I just didn’t feel like telling you, alright?” Melos shrugged. He slapped Kuren’s chest. And then the area where Melos slapped began to glow. Melodi stared as an intricate pattern formed on Kuren’s chest. It was a circular pattern that glowed blue.

“Didn’t you ever wonder why this boy was kept locked up in that cave? Didn’t you ever think about just how long he’s been in there?” Melos looked at the pattern on Kuren’s chest. “Do you know how long you’ve been in there?” Melos looked at Kuren.

Kuren stared blankly, not giving an answer.

“I’d say, hmmm… about a few hundred years.” Melos mused.

“W-what? But he’s just a child! How could he have spent that long in that cave?”

Melos pointed at the pattern. “It’s because of this. This right here is a Seal. It’s a four-layered Seal to be exact. His consciousness, his emotions, his time, and his memories have all been sealed away. Though it seems that the Seal seems to be weakening. A little bit of the kid’s personality is starting to peek through.”

“What does that have anything to do with the fact that he was just killed? Yet he’s still alive?”

“His time’s been sealed away. Time doesn’t pass for him anymore. His body is frozen in time.”

“What does that even mean…”

“It means that his body will never change. No matter what you do, his body will always stay the same. Which is why years have passed, yet he’s still just a boy. And he’s suffered fatal wounds, yet he looks none the worse. He’ll always look like this, no matter how much time passes.”

Melodi looked at Kuren, a shocked look on her face. And Kuren still had a blank look on his face, seemingly unaware of the conversation about him.

“So the Seal… that’s why he’s like this? Why he’s so… dull?”

“Yeah, his consciousness has been sealed away. But as you can see now, he’s beginning to regain some of his mind back. It’s only a matter of time before he truly awakens from that trance of his.”

Melodi looked at Kuren glumly.

And what happens after he awakens? He becomes even more amazing than he already is?

And what about me? Will you abandon me like the others?

“Come on now. Help me get rid of this body.” Melos bent down and threw Kuai Si’s sliced off arm into the sea. But Melodi just stared at Kuren with a strange expression on her face.