《Of Life and Death》Chapter 14

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I don't want to accept it.

My father, King Oberon, is the person who killed Hametsu’s father, Romeo of the Death Fairies.

My father's sword drips with blood, both his own and Romeo’s. Father lay there moaning in pain ten feet in front of me.

Hametsu’s cold eyes bore into mine and I swear I can see that painful memory of his.

He was screaming and shouting at my father to spare him. His mother, my aunt, was holding him trying to quiet him down and lead him away, but he just kept going back.

“DON'T KILL HIM!! PLEASE DON'T KILL HIM!!” The five year old Hametsu screamed. Romeo looked very deranged and was about to slice my father in half.

That's when I saw my father stab Romeo.

The young Hametsu went silent and then he started screaming and crying hysterically and ran straight to his mom.

Then I could see him growing up. He closed himself off to everyone. Literally everyone, except for Lilly. He constantly told her how he felt. I know because of the body language. She seems to be his rock, even now. He did enjoy living things and tried to be nice to people to hide the fact that he is depressed and lonely.

Then I saw him two years later finding his mother dead on the floor.

Again he screamed. He ran into his room and cried. Lilly ran after him crying too. They hugged each other and cried.

Another figure arrived and took them to what seemed like a different world. They didn't even complain or get scared, they must’ve known the person already.

“This is the Netherworld, where lost souls go.”

I continued seeing Hametsu develop a passion for torture and saw all the people that ridiculed him. He ended up being better than them, but they still gave him a hard time. His sister and guardian were there to comfort him and help him.

“You're a freak,” the bullies said to him.

Then I saw him being crowned king of the Death Fairies, and starting war on everything in Fae.

I forced myself away from his gaze.

He threw the sword down and stormed off. I thought I saw tears in his eyes. Does he see what he's become? Or are they tears of the sorrow of missing his parents?

Gripping his scythe, he flew away quickly. Well, he would’ve, if someone didn’t slam him against a wall. I couldn’t see who it was since they moved with blinding speed.

“You leave my family alone!!” The voice shouts. I recognize that voice… and holy crap I am now extremely confused.

That voice was also Hametsu.

Ummm W H A T?!

“Kal go! Hurry!” he orders.

“I thought I trapped you in the Human Realm!!” One Hametsu says.

“Think again,” the second Hametsu says.

I don’t know what’s happening. Is one of them a fake? Or is this another trick? Whatever the case, my father and I need to get out of here.

I call the guards. I’m trying to pick up my father. One of them helps me carry him back to the castle. They didn’t seem to notice the two Hametsus fighting each other. I don’t know how since it’s obvious. One of them tried to get to me, the other one held him back.

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“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET OUT OF HERE!!” the Hametsu holding the other one shouts at me.

I want to stay a little longer to find out which one is the real Hametsu, but I can’t. I need to get help for my father. The guards and I race home as fast as we can.

“GET A HEALER QUICK!!!” I shout. We lay him down on a bed in the castle infirmary. A few seconds later, some healing fairies rushed in and began trying to stop his wound from bleeding so much. They did eventually stop most of the bleeding and wrap some bandages around that gaping wound of his.

“We tried our best to heal him.” One of them says. She speaks in a calm voice and a soothing tone. Her voice is also fairly pleasant to hear. Her wings are aqua blue.

“But we don't know if he will live or not. His fate rests in the hands of the Mother Goddess.” The other says. Her wings are pink and her voice was a higher pitch.

“Thank you for your help.” I say. The two fairies curtsy.

“Our pleasure, your highness.” They say. They left. If Adair was here, he would’ve helped him even more, maybe even get it to a point where it would heal on its own, but I doubt it. The wound is horrible and not even my magic could help it, so I doubt Adair would be of much help, even if he is more advanced. I look at my hands and try again. No luck. This wound is beyond my current healing capabilities.

Mother comes rushing in.

“Oberon,” She says, her voice cracking and full of worry. She kneels by his side. Father touches her cheek and moves some hair out of her face.

“I will not pass, until I see my son Adair again,” he vows.

I want to stay with him all night. But I knew that I couldn't.

“Father... please don't die.” I whisper.

“My time is near, Kal, I won't pass today or tomorrow. It won't be for a while. But I fear that this wound won't heal.” He says. He sighs and coughs.

“I don't want you to leave.” I say, on the verge of tears. “I wish I could do more to heal… but I’m too weak.” I start crying.

He manages a weak smile.

“Don't cry my boy,” he says, reassuringly and wiping away a tear from my eye, “I'm not going to leave yet. The Mother Goddess decides if I should stay or go.”

“I thought that the Spirit of Death decided the death dates of everyone.”

“He does, but the Mother Goddess can change it. She wants her people to live as long as possible,” he explained, “the Spirit of Death understands that, but the Dark Spirit changed it to make people die at all ages.”

I nod in understanding.

“Although sometimes people die young. It's rare though,” he explains. He takes a deep breath and continues talking. “The Mother Goddess and the Spirit of Death do all they can to prevent it however.”

“But, why did you kill Romeo?” I ask. It’s a completely off topic question.

“I had no choice. He tried to destroy Fae and broke the peace treaty we arranged.”

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“What was the treaty?” I ask.

“The treaty stated that he could keep his kingdom, on the condition that he was to never attack Fae or Earth again.”

“And he broke it by trying to destroy Fae.” I clarify. Father nods weakly.

“My boy, you must go to bed. It's late.” He says.

I nod. Tears begin running down my face again. I leave the room to get ready for bed.

Once I was ready, I flopped on my bed. I stayed awake for hours processing everything that just happened in the past couple of hours. My father got stabbed and is most likely going to die. Two Hametsus were fighting each other at the temple. One of them must be a fake. But if that’s the case, how was I able to see his memories? There’s no WAY Hametsu has that ability. Somehow, his memories were projected onto me. Was it the Time God? If so then why did he show me all that? I don’t know what’s happening.

It takes a while for me to calm my brain down enough for me to sleep.

I wake up the next morning to thunder. There’s a storm outside and from the looks of it, it’s a torrential downpour. Rain came flooding down. I reluctantly get up and try to visit Father again. The guard stops me.

“The king is still asleep, my prince,” he informs.

“Is he still alive?” I ask.

Relief floods me when he nods his head.

“The good king still breathes,” he says gravely.

I walk away into the dining area. Aidan is asleep at the table and mother is praying silently.

Everyone is quiet, aside from Aidan's occasional snores. The servants are busy bustling about preparing breakfast.

We heard another crack of thunder. Aidan jolted up immediately with a loud snort. It found it a bit funny, but I can't even force a laugh.

“WHOWASTHA?” He shouts, ready to fight. He looks around and groans. “What time is it?”

“Time for you to wake up.” I say, attempting to be playful. My voice sounds flat and I can't even make a smile. The sky betrays how everybody is feeling. Gloomy.

The servants try to cheer us up with a lively looking breakfast of a variety of colorful fruits, eggs, bacon, waffles, and juice, but they’re also feeling the same way we were. We appreciate their efforts though.

Their king, my father, is dying and we can't do anything about it.

Mother and Aidan silently eat, however I have absolutely no appetite. I just sit there and drink tea, not feeling hungry. I’m too depressed to even think about food. My mind is also still occupied about yesterday’s events. Mother snaps me out of my thoughts by speaking to me.

“Kallan, at least eat some fruit,” Mother says.

I take the smallest berry I could find, and eat it.

“Eat more,” Mother says sternly. I take a small piece of watermelon and eat it. Like I said, I have no appetite.

Mother walks up and takes a banana and an apple and puts them in front of me.

“Eat them,” she orders me.

I sigh and reluctantly eat them. After about five minutes the banana was gone and another ten minutes the apple was eaten. I had to force myself to eat them.

“Happy?” I ask grumpily.

“Kallan, I know how much you're worried about your father. Believe me,” She sighs. “We've been married for over 700 years.”

Aidan chokes on his food. I quickly do the heimlich maneuver to dislodge it, which he does, then he swallows it properly. I sigh in relief and sit back down.

“You've been married for THAT LONG?!?!” He asks, totally surprised. The look of shock on his face is priceless. However, I can’t even force a laugh or a smile. I feel so dead inside.

I saw Hametsu stab him. I saw memories of Hametsu’s childhood. Then a second Hametsu came flying out of nowhere and fought the first one. One of them stabbed my father and I don’t know which one is real and which one is fake.

I suddenly feel very bad for him. I pity him actually. I remember what he told me a while ago when he was pretending, or actually trying, to be my friend.

“Don't pity me. I hate it. I hate being known as the poor little boy who saw his parents die in front of him”

It doesn't occur to me until this point that Hametsu may actually be hurting inside. Very badly. To counter it, he developed a passion for death and torture. A very unhealthy passion. Unless… he actually is getting help for it? God this whole thing is so confusing! Two Hametsus! One is fake that's for sure. But which one is it? Why did one of them help me? There is something bigger going on here… I can feel it.

My thoughts were interrupted by someone pounding at the castle doors. I ran over there to see who it was.

“PLEASE LET ME IN!! PLEASE I'M BEGGING YOU!!!”

I recognize the voice. I open the doors.

It’s Lilly. She looks terrified and is soaked. She’s carrying someone with someone else's help. The person with her looks vaguely familiar. He also looks exhausted, as if he’s been carrying something for hours. What surprised me was this other guy’s attire, consisting of all black and dark grey clothing; black hooded jacket, dark grey shirt, black jeans, black converse. His hair is black and the bangs cover his right eye and his left eye is a light grey and my god he’s incredibly pale, like almost completely white. There is a very slight tinge of color in his skin, barely noticeable but it’s there if you look hard enough. The guy clearly isn’t from fae and looks vaguely familiar. He’s helping Lilly keep the person’s legs straight. I see another, older, man walking towards us and carrying someone else. I have no time to focus on that guy since the person in front of me is far more important.

The person they’re carrying has many large cuts and very dark bruises. His wings, his beautiful emerald wings, were torn off. One of his arms was in splints to keep them in place. His legs and right hand had splints.

His hair is a familiar shade of brown, but his skin is deathly pale.

I’m looking at my horribly beat up older brother Adair.

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