Chapter LXXIV – Tragedy

The howling wind rattled the leaves of the tree that Irene and Arthur were under. She sat against it with her legs fully stretched while Arthur rested his head on her thighs, laying on his back, looking to the sky. Looking down at him, she kept playing with his soft hair, thinking about what questions to ask.

“May I know your name?” she whispered with a pleased smile on her face.

“Arthur?” he acted confused.

“You know what I meant. . .” she pouted, entangling her fingers spirally in his hair, her nails gently scratching his head. “The name you went by before you reincarnated, or I guess all three.”

“There was only one. . .” he sighed before looking back up at the night sky. “It was a name given to me by a prophecy that stuck. Andras. . .”

“Sounds powerful,” she chuckled. “Though why do I get the feeling you’re not too happy about it?”

“Cuz I’m not?” Arthur closed his eyes, tilting his head to the side to face her. “It was symbolic and it cost me so much that I grew to hate it in a way.”

With her other hand, Irene caressed his cheek before resting it atop his chest. “Arthur fits you better anyway, so we’ll just stick with that,” she smiled.

“If it’s not too weird for you, I’d like that a lot. . .”

“Why would it be weird?” she looked confused, untangling her fingers and running them through his hair again, continuing to do as she did before. “It’s your name.”

“It wasn’t given to me, but somebody else.”

“Ha?” she looked puzzled. “Oh, come on. . . You’re overthinking it. If that’s what’s troubling you so much then. . .” she cleared her throat and tried to sound as posh as possible. “I, Lady Irene Jones, hereby grant you the honorary name of Arthur Park. May it serve you well.”

They burst into laughter.

Opening his eyes, he could see the winsome smile on her face. Without a second thought, he placed his hand on hers that rested on his chest.

“Lady Irene, I’m bewitched by your lovely smile,” he whispered, making her blush.

“Dork. . .” she mumbled, clearly flustered. “So. . . How old are you anyway?”

“Uff. . . I was waiting for that one,” he sighed. “Depends how you look at it. . .”

“Damn. . . When you say it like that it sounds like I kissed someone who was hundreds of years older than me. . .” she teased, but a part of her wondered if it were true.

“Would that weird you out?” he asked curiously.

“I don’t know. . .” she looked toward the sea before glancing back at him. “Somehow, I can’t look at you and imagine someone older than me. To me, you’re just the current you. Besides, you still act just like other guys our age. . . Otherwise, you wouldn’t get along so well with all of us.”

“Well, that’s true. . . Besides, I didn’t really get to experience life normally, so it’s safe to say that I still lack experience. Anyway, I wish I managed to live to a hundred, but even if I add all of my lives together, it wouldn’t reach even a hundred.”

“You don’t have to tell me if it makes you feel uncomfortable,” she said, realizing that his average lifespan was shorter or around thirty years, a short life by today’s standard.

“Nah, there’s nothing I wish to hide from you. But yeah, I don’t think adding them together would be right, so don’t worry you didn’t kiss an old man,” he chuckled. “Besides, the oldest I got was during my third life. I turned twenty-two just prior to my death. . .”

“Twenty-two was the oldest?!” she finally stopped stroking his hair as her expression gave away her shock. At that point, Irene truly understood how tragic his life must’ve been. “I’m sorry. . . I didn’t mean to react like that. . .” she gripped his shirt while his hand cupped hers.

“Why are you apologizing? It’s okay,” he lifted his hand and cradled her cheek. “Besides, if I didn’t go through all of that, I wouldn’t be here with you. If anything, I’m just thankful that you don’t think I’m insane. . .”

“I wish we could’ve met like this without you going through all that.”

“But then I wouldn’t be the same man I am now and you might’ve not liked me,” he smiled. “Besides, we cannot change the past so no need to dwell on it. However, I must ask. . . How come you don’t doubt me even the tiniest bit? I imagine most people would at least want more proof or would be in denial.”

“Why wouldn’t I believe you?” she started stroking his hair again. “You’ve never given me a reason to doubt you. Besides, you’re probably one of the soundest people I know.”

“I could just be crazy. . .”

“Why are you doing that to yourself?” she chuckled before flicking his forehead, forced to briefly stop playing with his hair.

“Guess I’m being dumb, ain’t I?” They both laughed, staying silent afterward for a bit before Arthur spoke up again, “Anyway, I partially answered your question. . . My second life was the shortest. I got assassinated just before I turned twenty. My enemies quickly learned of my existence and acted swiftly after countless rumors started spreading when I was taken in by the church-. . .”

He stopped talking after feeling her hand tremble. Looking up, Arthur saw her minty-colored eyes full of tears. She was struggling to hold back after hearing how he died, as she found it a bit too much to handle, the idea of the man she cared about dying over and over again.

“Irene?” he whispered her name.

Arthur tried getting up but she pinned him down with her hand that rested on his chest, a few tears escaping her, sliding down her cheeks.

“Sorry. . . I’ll be alright,” she rubbed her eyes and brushed her cheeks against her shoulders before taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly.

That was the first time he saw someone genuinely crying over his death. Even his parents that gave birth to him saw him as nothing more than trouble, let alone experienced grief on his behalf. Seeing that, Arthur realized that he couldn’t have chosen a better person to share his secret with.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you for everything.”

“You shouldn’t be thanking me. . .” she failed to keep her tears at bay as they slid down her cheeks again. “I should be the one thanking you, for sharing all this with me.”

“Are you sure you want me to keep going?” he hesitated, knowing she might end up crying even more. “I don’t wish for you to cry. . .”

“No, no! Please. . . Go on, I’ll control myself,” she brushed her tears away again and cleared her throat, hoping that did the trick.

“How about this, I’ll refrain from going into too many details and you’ll later get to ask me for more when you feel ready. Okay?” She nodded in agreement. “And Irene. . . I’m truly fine, so don’t shed tears and instead just smile for me.”

His words managed to get her sobbing again, but she wasn’t willing to give up. Using his thumb, he caressed her cheek, wiping away the tears.

“Dammit, what a time not to have a tissue. . .” she complained about her stuffy nose.

“Want me to give you my shirt?” he chuckled.

“What? No, no. . . I’ll be fine,” she said, managing to keep her voice from cracking. “So, what about the rest of the story?”

He paused for a second, waiting for her to be ready.

“Well. . . During my first life, I managed to reach a few months into my twenties during which I died on the battlefield. I don’t know if it’ll make you feel better but I wasn’t killed during my third life. . . I simply sacrificed myself to put an end to it all. It was a selfish way of ending it all quickly as I was sick and tired of it all. Otherwise, I could’ve kept on fighting and potentially survived longer.”

“At least it was by choice,” she mumbled, still unhappy to hear such tragic words come out of his mouth.

“That’s the point,” he smiled. “Anyway, I guess if you add them up, I am almost sixty-three years old, but I don’t remember much of it and I certainly do not possess an old man’s wisdom. If anything, I’m constantly struggling to keep my impulses in check.”

“Definitely a teenager. . .” she mumbled jokingly. “You keep saying things that make me believe you were reborn each time. Does that mean that this reincarnation where you got a different body is different?”

“That’s because I was, and yeah. . . That would make this reincarnation quite unique.”

“Do you know why that is?”

“No clue. . . I’m just as confused,” he sighed. “Could be that my wish just got granted and that this was the perfect vessel.”

“Wish?”

“As I said, I just wanted to be free of my accursed fate and get a chance to actually enjoy a life full of love.”

She stopped playing with his hair for a second as she went completely silent.

“Irene?” he whispered but was surprised when he felt her knees bending slightly while leaning down to him.

She got them close enough to where she could comfortably plant her lips on his. Closing their eyes, they allowed for their warm and slippery tongues to meet, gently pushing against each other. The hand that kept playing with his hair firmly gripped him, keeping him in place. Their tongues danced around each other gracefully before she broke away from the kiss, stretching her legs out again.

“You mentioned a prophecy. Does that mean you were forced to fight?” she asked, giving him no time to think about the kiss.

“You could say that. . . I was an orphan so I had nowhere to go. The church took me in and trained me in both magic and swordsmanship. I picked up martial arts on the way as it proved useful when fighting in anti-magic fields. I’m not gonna bother explaining such terms since the shows you watch often describe them fairly accurately.”

“You mean stuff like Grancrest?” she looked surprised.

“Yeah, but since I don’t know much about it I can just assume.”

“So does that mean that you lived in a medieval-like world?”

“Yeah, but more like the late fifteenth European century. Loads of castles and knights all around. It wasn’t all that bad if you looked far enough.”

“That would explain your abysmal tech skills as well as your weird set of skills. . .” she smiled once again, managing to fight away the sorrow she felt.

“Hey! There’s no need to bully me, now is there?” he tried making her laugh, but the best he got was a chuckle. “That’s more like it.”

“Huh?”

“You. Smiling. . . I told you already, I love to see it.”

She blushed, smiling before covering his eyes with her hand, refusing to let him see her all flustered.

“Stop it you flirt. . .” she laughed before moving her hand back. “I promise to at least try and not cry, but I must know, at what age were you forced to fighting?”

“It was around the same each time. . .” he let out a sigh. “Of course, my skill varied drastically each reincarnation. During my first, I was forced to carry weapons and armor to knights that fought in a battle at the age of ten. Bringing them food and water was also part of my job whenever we traveled. I wasn’t much older before they gave me a sword to fight. . . As for my second life, I was around twelve when they sent me into battle, but I had elite escorts following me around so I was a lot safer for the first few years. Finally, in my third life, I started fighting at the age of ten again, but at that point I was stronger than most adults, even the elites.”

“How is that even possible?” she asked, managing to keep her promise.

“Each time I was reborn, I grew stronger. Not only that but I got to retain my memories to a certain extent. While I don’t remember much of the life I lived, probably from the shock after death, I still remembered how to wield a sword and use magic. That alone was enough to fend off most enemies as soon as my powers awakened.”

“So does that mean you remember very little about yourself?”

“Another somewhat difficult question to answer. . .”

“Sorry. . .” she averted her gaze but he used his hand to guide her gaze back to him.

“Stop apologizing. Besides, I say it’s difficult only because it’s hard to answer correctly,” he smiled at her. “Also I like it when you look at me, so how about you stop averting your gaze all the time.”

“You’re so enticing with your words and you expect me to believe that you’ve never been with a woman before?” she raised an eyebrow. “Not to mention that your kissing drives me crazy. . .”

“Maybe it’s the buildup?” he chuckled. “Trust me, I would’ve remembered something like that.”

“I’ll believe you. . . So maybe you leeched the previous Arthur’s memories. He obviously had more experience,” she teased.

“I ugh. . . I don’t know how to respond to that,” she left him speechless. “Doesn’t that make you jealous?”

“Not really,” she smirked. “Besides, now I know that she didn’t kiss the real you.”

“I don’t know, I think I’d still be jealous. . .”

“Like you were when we met my ex?”

“I wasn’t jealous back then?” he became overly defensive about it.

“Oh, please. . . I was so worried after I saw the look on your face that I didn’t know what to tell you. But hey, at least we won’t be seeing him again.”

“Why’d you jinx it?”

“I thought you weren’t jealous?”

“I wasn’t!”

The two burst into laughter.

Arthur felt relieved seeing her laughing so hard after just learning the truth.

“So tell me, what do you remember?”

“As I said, it’s a bit more complicated than that. I hardly remember much, but my third life is still fresh in my memory. Maybe it had something to do with the way I died or the fact that I didn’t have to go through being a clueless baby again.”

“So if that’s true then how do you know you never kissed anyone?” she grinned.

“You’re awfully persistent. . .” he teased. “I know because of the loneliness I felt each time I died. I remember my regrets clearly, which is exactly why I’m not willing to waste away my chance at a new life this time around.”

“I see. . . Sor-. . .” she stopped herself. “I’ll just take it as fate decided to keep you untouched just for me.”

“Must be,” he chuckled repeatedly.

“So. . . Who did you end up fighting? Who were these chaos forces that you mentioned?”

“Monsters and demons that dwelled within the underworld. Plenty were commonly depicted in this world’s mythology and fiction. However, sometimes it was wars between humanoid races that joined their side with the promise of power.”

“Does that mean stuff like elves and orcs were real?”

“Yeah. . . Which got me thinking that maybe others reincarnated into this world as well and used that inspiration to write.”

“Maybe. . .” she smiled thinking about a fantasy world full of magic.

“May I ask you something?” he looked into her eyes.

“Sure?”

“How come you didn’t ask me any questions about the afterlife and so on? Those were common questions even from where I come from.”

“Do you know the answer?” she raised her eyebrow.

“Well. . . No, but I have some ideas. Especially if I compare it to what I know from my world.”

“Your world had magic so the same rules might not apply. Besides, I thought about that too much when I was little which got me depressed. It took a lot for me to realize that death was inevitable and since I can’t do much about it, I should just enjoy the life I have. That’s why I want to live by the choices I make.”

“That’s. . . That’s a very mature way of looking at it,” he let out a sigh, feeling foolish that he asked her such a question.

“Don’t get me wrong, I have many beliefs and I believe in god as well, but if you told me he was real for sure, it wouldn’t change the fact that I can’t see him or interact with him. However, knowing that he sent you to me is more than enough for me to be thankful.”

“I don’t know about your god, but there were certainly deities of incredible power within my old world. Luckily, I never had to clash swords with them directly, but their strongest servants were already beyond most of what the mortal world could handle. I’m talking demon lords and their commanders which were ruled by Lords of Chaos that tried to descend upon us.”

“You fought demon lords?” she looked at him in awe, innocently listening to every word he said.

“You’ll truly believe anything, huh?” he chuckled.

“Are you making fun of me now?” she didn’t look amused.

“No, I just find it baffling how much faith you have in me. Besides, I told you I wouldn’t lie and I didn’t. So yes, I did indeed fight demon lords, but at that point I had little to worry about since that was only toward the end of my third life.”

“So when was the first time you had to kill a human?” she dared ask, knowing that she had to eventually learn the truth.

“Are you sure you want to know?” his expression darkened.

“I feel like I must. . .”

“Very well,” he let out a sigh before closing his eyes to recall the event. “I was fourteen when it happened. It’s one of those memories that stuck with me forever. There was a war happening between two powerful empires looking to expand their borders and I got caught up in it to protect my country. It was a brutal battle and I was mostly still carrying supplies since the church demanded that they keep me away from the fighting due to inexperience in human wars. . .”

“Why were they fighting such a war when the threat of demons existed?”

“You tell me. . . This world’s history is no different. War was as natural as it was to breathe. If one nation had interest and power, they would wage wars. The monsters that attacked the mortal world were hardly organized until midway into my third life. That’s when fighting became the bloodiest. Still, about my first kill. . . It was in a camp just outside the settlement the army besieged. Some of the prisoners managed to escape during the night and one of them met me in between tents. Scared that I’d give him away, he tackled me to the ground since I was just a kid and started to choke me to death. That’s when I defended myself by taking his life, unable to control my desire to survive.”

“I won’t ask you how you did it, but it was self-defense. . . Don’t beat yourself over it,” she tugged on his hair, making him look her in the eyes.

“I’m not. . .” he denied her claim. “It’s just war. . .”

“You might be a skilled fighter, but you’re an awful liar. . . That’s also why I trust you,” she smiled softly. “Your eyes have a hard time hiding things when you’re hurt or feeling sad.”

“Then I wonder what sort of expression I made my whole life. . .”

Irene realized that if what he said was true, then that would mean that nobody offered him a helping hand. She found it hard to believe that a hero would be so mistreated, but that was a question for another time.

“Alright, I think I know everything that I need to know for now. . .”

“Too much?” he asked, worried that something upset her.

“No, I still want to know everything, but we have time and I want to be fully focused when I listen. Besides, that was a lot to take in.”

“Sure, feel free to ask me anything at any time. I mean. . . Apart from when we’re with others.”

Arthur slowly got back up before offering his hand to her. She gracefully accepted, allowing him to pull her up, close to his chest. She didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around his neck and give him a gentle kiss on his lips. It wasn’t as deep or passionate as the other were, but was instead a loving quick peck on the lips. Her eyes kept staring into his, showing just how happy she was that he trusted her with his secret and that he was hers.

“That reminds me. . .” she whispered. “Do you plan to keep this a secret from others forever?”

“Who knows. . . I thought I’d never tell a soul, but here we are talking about it.”

“Well, I am your girlf-. . .” she stopped herself realizing that they never specified their relationship. “Art. . . I know this is weird to ask after kissing you a few times already, but does this mean you want to be with me?”

“Is that something you typically need to ask nowadays?” he looked at her confused with her arms still wrapped around him. “However, I did want to talk to you about that.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to tell me no now?” she squinted her eyes jokingly.

“No, nothing of the sort. . .” he chuckled, pulling her in for a quick kiss.

Each time their lips met, she melted into him.

“I could get used to these. . .” she whispered, gasping from excitement.

“Then I’ll make sure to spoil us,” he smirked. “But for real, I wanted to talk to you about everything now that you know the truth.”

“I’m listening,” she leaned into him, biting his neck and gently sucking on it with her lips.

“How is that listening?” he blushed with his arms now wrapped around her waist.

“Trust me. . .” she said after briefly stopping what she was doing, diligently returning to it right after.

“Fine, fine. . .” he had a hard time thinking knowing that she was so enthusiastically making love to his neck. “While I want us to be together, I don’t want you to tie yourself down to someone you barely know.”

She pulled away with an annoyed look on her face.

“You want us to be in an open relationship?” she looked displeased, squinting her eyes trying to figure out what he meant.

“What’s an open relationship?” he looked confused.

“Where we get to see other people. . .”

“No, no! That’s not what I meant. I don’t want you seeing anyone else. . .” he panicked which made her chuckle.

“Then what do you mean by that? Do you want to keep our relationship a secret?”

“Just let me finish. . .” he let out a sigh, unable to deal with her constant interruptions and her wild assumptions. “No, I don’t have an issue with people knowing we’re together. If anything, I’d love to see the look on their faces once they find out,” he smirked just thinking about it. “What I meant was, I want you to have a guilt-free freedom to break things off if you happen to not like who I am by the end of the year.”

“That just sounds so stupid. . .” she didn’t even amuse his idea.

“How can you be so certain that you’ll like who I am once you learn more about me?”

“Because if you were an asshole that wanted to trick me, then you would’ve done a better job trying to hide things from me.”

“What if I wanted you to believe that?”

“Dude, stop making things harder for yourself. Seriously. . . While you’re certainly impressive in more ways than one, lying and deceiving just ain’t your cup of tea. If anything, you’re too gullible sometimes. . .”

“I ain’t that bad. . .”

“You are.”

Her sharp response silenced him.

“Fine, fine. . . But still, I’d like you to take your time before you decide that this is truly what you wanted.”

“A year right? After that, I’d tell you if I want to stay with you or not?”

“Exactly. . .”

“Sure, but my answer won’t change so this is just dumb. . .”

“That’s fine,” he said smilingly.

“If you start to panic about it in a year, I’ll kick your ass,” she had no intention of even thinking about his proposal, but it was easier to just agree if it put him at ease.

Arthur knew that what he said might’ve sounded dumb, but to him, it felt fair giving her a choice once she let the burst of emotions she currently felt settle down. Though, he hated the idea of her rejecting him after. Still, she showed him so much trust that it would be foolish to stress over it now.

“Kiss me,” she whispered.

He crouched down and wrapped his arms around her butt, lifting her in the air. She entangled her legs around him before their lips touched. With one arm letting go of his neck, she flipped her hair over to her right side, making it fall across his shoulder as they passionately kissed once more. With all the time in the world, the two enjoyed each other’s warmth, completely oblivious to their surroundings.

“Can you show me something more using that energy thing?” she asked once he set her down. “I believe you called it Qi?”

“Yeah. . . But what would you like to see?”

“I don’t know. . . What can you show me?”

“Hmm. . . Follow me,” he said, grabbing her hand firmly and leading her toward the water.

The two were barefoot the entire time, the sand making their feet feel tingly. He approached the water and gestured for her to stop.

“What are you gonna do?” she looked excited.

“You’ll see,” he answered before approaching the water.

Stepping into the shallow part, to the point where the waves reached up to his knees, he took a wide stance and focused on passing the Qi through his body.

Kaisa Second Form Jade Splitting Palm!

He swung his open hand down like a sword, using a slashing Qi technique that was often used for showing off power by splitting hard objects. The Qi released was invisible so it seemed as if nothing was going to happen, but that’s when the water parted ways as a large amount of energy struck. There was no sound other than the waves hitting the shore as the split was about three meters long and about half a meter wide, revealing the ground below the waist-deep water.

Irene looked in awe as he walked back to her.

“That was amazing!” she yelled out. “How did you do that? Why didn’t you show me that first?”

“Cuz my feet are now wet. . .” he complained.

She looked down to his feet and then back at him before bursting into laughter. Her smile warmed his heart.

“I’m glad you find it amusing,” he whispered after getting closer to her.

“I’m sorry. . .” she hardly managed to control herself. “So is that the extent of what you can do?”

“Not impressive enough?” he raised an eyebrow. “Well, you’d be right. There are probably loads of people within this world who are capable of doing just that.”

“No, no. . . Not what I meant, and I doubt there’s anyone like that.”

“Oh, there is, I’ve met at least one.”

“You have?” she looked confused.

“It was only natural that someone would’ve also figured out the existence of Qi within this world. The monk at the temple during our school trip was one of those people, same as Tjay’s master.”

“Tjay has a master?”

“Yeah, but he wasn’t too interested in learning since he didn’t understand what Qi was.”

“Does that mean that Tjay could’ve potentially learned how to do that?”

“If he trained hard enough. He has a talent for it since he already utilizes it a bit during his fights when he gets emotional. It’s subconscious but nonetheless impressive.”

“Right. . . You mentioned that when emotional, you could activate Qi.”

“It’s a bit more complex than that, but theoretically yes. Still, it’s something you have to train constantly. However, you must be careful who you show Qi to and need to make sure that they first have a calm mind or they might end up abusing it.”

“So is that why you train daily?”

“Actually. . . I haven’t cultivated nearly at all. If anything, I’ve severely neglected it.”

“Ah. . .” she looked down to his lips then back to his eyes. “I imagine you’d want to stay away from all that considering everything.”

“That was the plan, so don’t go around telling people,” he chuckled.

“I wouldn’t do that. . .” she sighed.

“I know.”

“So, hypothetically if I were in danger, would you come to save me using your powers?” she smiled, looking at him with eyes full of hope.

“They aren’t exactly powers, but yes, I’d come rushing over. I’d do it for all of you, especially Sophie and you. . .”

“Good,” she hugged him, leaning her head against his chest. “Though I don’t want you to ever have to fight again and I especially don’t wish for you to ever have to take a life again.”

“I promised myself that I wouldn’t, not unless it was absolutely necessary. . .”

“I believe you,” she whispered, enjoying his tight embrace.

“Hey, Irene. . .” he whispered into her ear.

“Yes?”

“Let’s go back. I’m sure the others are waiting for us.”

“You’re right. . .” she whispered, hesitant to pull away from the hug.

The two shared a kiss before walking back to the house side by side holding hands.

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.