Shadow Slave | School Days

Tension was thick in the air as Revel's initial onslaught was defended against with supreme precision. Each one of them were stronger than her from the looks of things, and three stacked against one seemed like impossible odds.

For most people.

Solvane moved first, she didn't hesitate for even a moment as she silently began her blitz towards the dark-haired woman. Despite Revel's vast expanse of knowledge, the woman who blitzed towards her was an utter enigma, managing to shroud her strength in a deep veil only being broken by her reputation.

She was the queen of the east, not to say that she ruled any specific territory, rather, it was far more insidious. She had gained her reputation through systematically crushing all those who had stood in her way, rumours had it that she had even survived a clash with Valor's White Ghost.

Undeterred, Revel watched calmly as Solvane slammed her foot into the dirt and threw a right hook meant to pierce through her throat with immediate efficiency. But Revel couldn't have that, even if all her limbs were to be cut from her body and thrown to the wind, she must be able to speak before she died.

It was her role, her duty to remember, her duty to speak for those who could not speak themselves and pass on their final words to those worthy of hearing her voice.

Revel slipped past her strike, her body flowing like water enough for the punch to skim past her cheek. Solvane's momentum carried her forward, a brutal mistake one should never make against a honed opponent. Revel's knee shot upward, a brutal clinical strike to the ribs landed as a sickening crack followed.

Solvane snarled, staggering but Revel was already moving, twisting into a second strike as her elbow blitzed towards Solvane's chin, snapping her head backward. 'Not enough.' She had done no significant damage, in fact, Solvane wasn't even bleeding yet.

Despite this, she was dazed, vulnerable.

Before a follow-up could come, Noctis was behind her. His blade whispered through the air—a seamless, perfect arc slicing toward her spine. Revel spun, yet the attack that blitzed toward her was far too quick to dodge.

--

As Orion looked at the fight with baited breathe, he slammed his fist into the ground, shaking the entire house and eliciting looks of shock from all around the house as the man gritted his teeth in silent agony. "She's killing herself; this is suicide. And for fucking what!?"

Turning to him with a puzzled expression, Nephis could only frown at the furious man as his eyes remained intently fixed on the screen. "If you think it's suicide then why aren't you going out there to help her? Are you afraid?" Her last remark came out unconsciously, a jab that remained seated in her mind since she met him only spilling from her lips with venom now.

In a moment, two hands grasped her by the shirt firmly, Orion stared her in the eyes with blazing fury as his expression as he stared at the woman with murder on his mind. Their faces were now inches apart as Orion's ugly grimace made way for the venom within his soul.

"Don't you fucking get it? Nobody has the right to interfere with the way that woman has chosen to live her life, and nobody gets to choose how she ends it! If she wanted to ask us for help, she fucking would have! Who the hell do you think you are to meddle in the business of such a woman? Tell me, why do you think she hasn't run?"

Nephis was left stunned into silence as she ran through the possible options as to why she hadn't run, there were many opportunities given to her, many opportunities for her to dart into the forest and make an exit, Sunny was surely on his way meaning he too would further boost her odds.

And yet she didn't.

"She's fucking atoning! Atoning for god knows what, but you can see from the way she's fighting how sad she is! Don't you think I want to help her? That I want to stick my head where it doesn't belong? But I can't, I fucking can't. This is a family affair, and I won't let a dumb fuck like you ruin it!"

--

Steel kissed Revel's side, cutting shallow but sharp. Blood seeped through the fabric of her blackened shirt, yet she didn't hesitate for a moment. Hesitation was defeat. Hesitation meant death. It was only pain.

Twisting her body at an impossible angle, Revel encroached into Noctis' space, he was far too close now—his sword useless. Her fist collided with his throat with a shockwave that could be heard for miles, Noctis choked, staggering back slightly as his grip on his sword faltered.

The man before her wasn't entirely focused on the battle, if he was, she would have been dead from the initial slash. His movements only expressed uncertainty and regret, and yet she lacked the time nor the interest to endorse emotional therapy as she turned her eyes to Sevirax.

Sevirax hadn't moved from his initial position, his steel gloves settled around his palms as his golden hair flowed through the air gently. The man's eyes were distant and unseeing, almost looking past her as his lips parted with pity.

"You're strong Lightslayer." A silent mumble, praise given to his adversary. "But your death is certain, it appears you know it too. Are you stalling?" Revel cracked a confident smile as she pressed her hand against her bleeding side, stemming the wound with pressure as she tensed her stomach muscles.

"I'm a mother now, what sort of mother would I be if I didn't give it my all?"

Noctis' grimace only grew further as he steadied himself, almost immediately recovering from her blow as he failed to meet her eyes. "I'm sorry, if I were stronger, if I were faster, if I were smarter...I would be able to capture Lost from Light without involving you. It is my weakness that killed you."

Revel's smile only grew further as she stared impassively at Sevirax's sheathed blade. The gloves were a ruse. Meant to lure you into certain doom by making mistakes about his presumed fighting style. "Save the speeches for my son, he won't be happy to see you."

In the same moment, Sevirax's sword whistled through the air—but not at her. His sword collided in the space behind her as she jumped upward on reflex, in the same moment, he twisted his body, raising his sword from the floor as he flicked it upward at immense speed at her head.

Revel was forced to lean backward midair as the blade blitzed past her, the blind swordsman quickly following after it as he appeared within the air. A kick collided with her guard as she was slammed into the floor, barely having enough time to roll out of the way of Solvane's straight punch as Sevirax's blade landed where she had once been.

Barely moving in time, Revel twisted as Sevirax's sword hunted for the wound in her ribs that Noctis had created. However, her movements were far too slow as Sevirax's blade licked at her skin once more, drawing another flurry of blood from her as Revel gritted her teeth.

Lunging into Sevirax's range, his blade was unable to follow him into such close quarters combat as she appeared inches away from his face. "Boo!" Her fist collided with his ribs—one, two, three brutal attacks landing nearly simultaneously.

Yet, Sevirax didn't flinch, nor block. Not even a single gasp of pain escaped his lips as he slithered backwards, a turn of his shoulder redirecting the force of her blows with terrifying precision. "I can hear your muscles tensing, it's a bit unfair, no?" Sevirax called, his voice impassive.

Her leg snapped up in a sharp kick. Not at his head, but at his ear. A direct hit to the one thing that made his echolocation function. Her kick collided with his head with murderous force as he was forced to bend his head to the left slightly upon impact.

Staring at her impassively, Sevirax allowed a murderous grin to split his face open as he grabbed his chin. "They always go for the ears." Laughing murderously, he brought his sword down towards Revel's stunned form only for it to be parried by another blade. Noctis stood before him with a firm expression riddled across his face as his attention became split between the two.

"We will not kill Revel like a dog. Fight her properly." A simple, stern warning.

As he blurred away, allowing for the fight to continue, Revel took the opening to lash out with a flying knee intent on slamming against his jaw. Leaning back slightly, Revel's knee only flew past his face as the two gained distance from each other.

'Huh... when did it get so cold?' Was Revel's only thought as she looked down at her stomach. Her abs were exposed, barely holding back her intestines as a torrent of blood escaped her lips. She was cold.

Cold.

Cold.

Cold.

So very cold.

She was dying.

Alone.

Unseen.

The final words of countless people were about to die in her lips.

And yet, she gritted her teeth, charging forward as Noctis leapt before her to replace Sevirax. He hadn't attacked once since their initial engagement, full well knowing his capability to end her life at any moment. He was giving her a chance, to dance her final dance. Show the world what the Lightslayer could do.

And now, he struck.

His blade lashed forward, fast and clean with perfect form, any wasted movement too miniscule to discover. Revel parried with her forearm, attempting to redirect the blade from it's flat and yet a quick flick of Noctis' wrist let his blade bite into her skin for even the slightest moment.

Yet she didn't care. Pushing herself forward, she grabbed his wrist, trapping him. Noctis' expression didn't falter, the stiffness that arrived typically before one experienced an attack foreign from him as he twisted his hips and breaking her grip.

His sword reversed in his hand, the tip aiming for her throat. It closed in with blinding speed, his resolve to end the battle firm as he felt Sunny's bloodlust encroaching on his position rapidly. And yet, Revel did the impossible.

She wasn't supposed to react to that.

Her death was to be quick.

Simple.

Easy.

And yet, the Lightslayer bit down on the tip of his sword with impossible strength, stopping it in it's tracks, not a single speck of blood arriving on her face as she tensed her muscles to their limits and drove her fist into Noctis' stomach.

The other man was sent skidding backward, his eyes rolling back into his head for a brief moment as he quickly regained consciousness. "You were... amazing. I shall not allow any more harm to be done to you, you know it better than I do that you're finished."

Turning around, he offered Solvane and Sevirax a glance as the three figures disappeared. And it was only in that same moment that Revel allowed herself to collapse to the ground.

--

Nephis couldn't focus on the scene any longer, she had just watched her master be brutalised by three harrowing foes beyond her comprehension and yet still survive. But she knew the wound on her stomach was lethal, blood should've been pouring from her lips, yet her master's face remained pristine.

Moving to look away, Nephis' face was roughly grabbed by Orion as he forced her to look at the screen. The man had tears streaking down his face as a smile that was unbefitting for the mood was plastered across his face.

"Look! Look at your master! Look at her final moments where her soul burns brightest! Praise her! It didn't take a single warriors, nor two but three warriors worth ten thousand men to fell her! What a wonderful woman, we shall not let her final moments remain unseen!"

Quiet sobs escaped the mouths of those within the room, Revel's valiant display bringing tears to the eyes of even those who had never seen the woman in their lives. The deep, rich emotions she wore within her soul becoming exposed in her final moments.

Not a single eye left the screen.

"She is a woman worth ten thousand, no, even more! What is she thinking as she's dying? Does she think she's alone, dying unseen without anyone to acknowledge her existence? Because she is not! She will be remembered! Burn her face, burn her soul into your hearts and allow her to live on forever within you!"

In the next moment, Orion too fell into silence as a white-haired figure slammed into the ground next to Revel's felled body.

--

Sunny's expression was stone still as he held Revel in his arms, the woman looked at him with a wide smile as Sunny pulled her close to him for a hug. "I'm going to get you out of here, we can save you! Just, let me stem the bleeding." Sunny's hands glided to her stomach, only to be stopped by Revel's grip as she guided his hands gently to her face.

"Sunny, son. I need you to listen to what I'm about to tell you. And I need you to never forget it." Tears began to escape from Sunny's eyes as he shook his head, his first act of disobedience against his mother. "No, you can tell me later. You can tell me somewhere safe!"

Revel shook her head firmly as she resisted Sunny's attempts to move her with the full extent of her remaining power. "Sunny! Listen to me, please!" Tears began to streak from her eyes as Sunny's movements came to a stop. He stared at her with tears pouring from his eyes as he wiped them, taking in a deep breathe as she began speaking.

"When my mother died, her final words were: 'Take care of yourself.'

When my brother died, his final words were: 'Be happy.'

When my father died, his final words were: 'Survive.'"

Sunny absorbed this information with vigour as he looked at her with a puzzled expression as Revel smiled a bloody grin before coughing slightly. "I've never told you this, but I come from a place where people do not receive graves, and do not receive names. So, the only way for us to remember was for one of us to receive a name and be granted the duty of remembering all those who have died."

Helicopters began clouding the skies around Sunny, hundreds of thousands of men bursting through the bushes, each kitted with military grade equipment as automatic turrets surrounded him too. Yet Sunny took no notice as his eyes and mind remained focused on his mother.

"And now, you have become such a person. Could you remember me for as long as you live?" Sunny nodded, vigorously, tears fighting their way onto his vision as he offered a shaking reply. "I'll never forget you, till the day I die and even after." Revel offered him a sad smile, pulling him in and kissing him on the head.

"Sunny, I love you." Sunny hugged her deeply, not trusting his voice to utter a reply as he sent his message through his actions. The dying woman beneath him pulled back for a second, her face stone still as she began speaking once more. "I'm going to ask you some questions, and I need you to reply as best you can."

Nodding vigorously, Revel smiled at her only son before beginning.

"What have you spent most of your life doing?"

"Killing."

"What do they call you when you kill?"

"Lost from Light."

"So, who are you?"

"Lost from Light."

Revel stared at him with a small frown before tapping him on the head slightly. "No, you aren't Lost from Light. You aren't just him. You're so much more, so why don't we try this again?" Sunny turned his head to the side in confusion, the rumble of machinery growing louder as Revel smiled once more.

"When are you the happiest?"

"When I'm with you."

"I know that silly, when else?"

"When I'm with Neph."

"What does she call you?"

"Sunny."

"So, who are you?"

"Sunny."

Smiling, Revel patted him on the head and pulled him in close. "You must learn to balance both sides of you, although you may not like it. Lost from Light is a part of who you are, one cannot spend so much of their life fighting without that becoming true."

Sunny didn't mirror her response, instead putting on a deep frown as he stared at her. "But I don't want to be Lost from Light, I'm not a murderer." Revel shook her head knowingly. "You aren't, you're a warrior. That is who Lost from Light is."

An unspoken understanding grew between the two, Revel smiling lovingly as she began another round of questioning.

"When you fight, who will you be?"

"Lost from Light."

"When you must love, who will you be?"

"Sunny."

"Who do you love the most?"

"All of you."

Another fit of coughs escaped Revel's lips as blood poured from her open wound even further, the light in her eyes dimmed as she reached into her pocket and handed him a golden plated knife.

"I never got to give you a birthday gift...ah, my son. My only son, my favourite son. For you to love others, you must first love yourself. Can you do that for me? Find it in your heart to love someone who has killed so many?"

Sunny's voice was caught in his throat as he could only mutter out. "I'll never fail you." Using the last of her life, Revel pulled him into the deepest hug yet, staining his shirt in her blood as she whispered into his ear.

"You never have."