The Hero collected his luggage and left for the exit of Sylvania, where Seb'is was waiting. Obviously, he had not been kidnapped by the Fanatics, but had fled to Vicenti for a VERY long vacation - the themes of said vacation: prostitutes, gambling, scams, pawnbroking, bounty hunters... Nevertheless, he had come back like a flower, stripped, and begging, but safe. The queen didn't care, she had Sawyer as a cab, as much for her as for the army, so it was Sawyer who was angry to see him disappear for so long, and that he was not in danger. He vowed to make her pay.
Surely, it will be him who will bring him home.
Preparing his last belongings and taking them down, he was ready to leave.
The night was soft and refreshing. It was the turn of the creatures of the night to take possession of the night and live their lives.
To pass through the alleys and streets of the Upper Town, to see the shops and the houses, but especially their inhabitants, already made him somewhat nostalgic. He had lived through a lot in the last few months, of course he had lived through a lot in the last five years, even more, since he was born, but it was not comparable, the feeling of ecstasy and rest that he felt deep inside... it was the first time since he became the hero of the legend instead of his mother that he felt it, yes.
He had travelled the world - a small area all the same - in search of the enemy of Faerie humanity, going from battle to battle without ever stopping, without ever understanding the people, without ever knowing them, complete strangers who played with him, whom he helped without recognition, who tried to kill him, who never stopped denigrating and dehumanizing him... Of course, there were exceptions that could be counted on the fingers of hatred, but it was not comparable to the laughter he had with these Fairy folk of Sylvania. They clearly think they're shit, they're arrogant, proud, haughty, conceited, snobby, contemptuous, pretentious, racist... but once they drop the masks, they were great people.
Each in her own way and equally extravagant: Mina and her bitterness, her very hard and suspicious side that hid her sensitivity and her love "for good things", the right arm of the Hero as he liked to call her, Lin this fake elf who was a more than nice person and who could always be counted on, Marina the redheaded fairy who is more than a pain in the ass, who thinks she is super authoritarian but has no authority, but who nevertheless had principles that she knew how to uphold, Mana the fairy's nemesis who was rather nice when you take away this antagonism and unhealthy jealousy, Jacob the elf, a man of value ready to do anything to help his friends even if he is not very robust, Al-Ryanis a good colleague and a funny person, Acamélia with whom he could not live his "first love experience" - it was absolutely not the project, but so be it, But especially the Fairy who was there from the beginning to the end of his stay, with whom he had learned to know this country, with whom he had lived the best moments of his existence for a long time and who could, for a moment, make him forget this morbid quest. He still found it so stupid, but his heart seemed to go beyond...
However, it was not necessary to focus only on the people of the Sanctuary and the Upper Town, the Hero was not raised among pigs, but above all, he remembered where he came from, and knew which people were similar to him. It was these people, after all, who first gave him a not pejorative name since he was a hero of the legend: "Nalo-vace", or just, Nalo, it's better he thought. Those poor people who had nothing, who lived in filth, dung and blood, with murderers, assassins, rapists, psychopaths... they managed to keep smiling thanks to their own heroine Mala... no, Avelinelia. The Hero didn't want to pronounce this stupid repetition that disrespected his lineage - the lowland fairy had noticed it never said anything to him, the one that pleased him a little that he was concerned about this kind of things - this fairy that he found so brave, but that he didn't make forget his faithful companion, was the star that shone above the misery of the agglomeration of this country, working for the good life of these citizens. She was, without a doubt, the perfect representation of what the inhabitants expected from the hero of the legend, a total irony for her. Irony that adds to another one since she had in front of her, a man who was the antipodes of her values, which, however, she ended up understanding and appreciating despite the preconceptions that she had about him. The same goes for the Hero who hated her at first because of her adulation for the hero of the legend but ended up liking him so much that he let himself be humiliated in front of everyone to save his honor. If he didn't have a promise to keep, surely he would have let the "Heroine of Sylvania's Underworld" win.
Being with these two girls so different from each other did not leave him indifferent, just thinking about one of them filled his body with feelings that were unknown to him then both. Yes, in the end, he loved them. But he would not have the opportunity to choose one of them because his destiny did not allow him to. If he could prevent the birth of the fairy of legend by killing the Nemesis at the cost of his life so that the Fairy would not become her, then he would.
Sorry Avelinélia, you deserve it but I have to do it... so that you can live happily...
He will miss the landscapes of the kingdom of Sylvania, all these things that he had seen and learned, these walls made in this carapace of this turtle that the Fairy had named Lily, this particular kitchen constituted of nectar and plants, this architecture taking place entirely of trees and stones without transforming to uproot the trees and to transform them in small woods, a very different urbanism that in the Men, these evenings to walk in these streets making him nostalgic of a time that he had not lived with the song of the queen to accompany these walks...
The queen...
She was aware of his departure, but had not held him back. He knew that deep inside her, she would have wanted him to stay to fulfill her late mother's wish, that she be his substitute mother, yet it was impossible, she knew it. How could she fight this Will that had left an indelible mark on her chest... and in her heart? Wasn't she stopping him because she knew what it meant to be on the path of the hero's Fate of the legend? He had made her understand it the hard way.
This woman, the Hero loved her with a deep and immeasurable love. He would have liked to spend more time with her, however, she had her obligations as a queen and he as a champion... Would he see her again once she was deposed? What for? She wasn't going to take him with her to hell.
His reflection ended when he saw a man with a chocolate complexion and white hair with purple roots whose tips were directed towards the heavens, his eyes were a pearly white, surrounded by long sleepless nights - probably not caused by long nights of work or study. He was wearing rather classy clothes, white and gold with moccasins to match the rest of his outfit. The man was standing right in front of the magic circle that had been made right at the entrance to the kingdom after the Forest of Oblivion right on the border with the territory of Kano.
It must have been the one called Seb'is.
- Surprised that I'm not a fairy, asked the transspatial transporter.
- Yes, it is. What are you?
- An ecapse. Don't look for it, you won't have come across many. Not only are they much sought after for our powers, but we are also elusive by nature... Well, the ones I lived with before the queen made me "an offer I couldn't refuse".
Always clean to itself despite the times, this one.
- Do you have all your stuff?" asked the transspatial transporter.
- Yes.
- So tell me your destination and the circle will take you there.
- Vicenti.
- That's okay.
As Seb'is prepared the circle, someone shouted at the Hero, he turned and saw Avelilinélia, out of breath. The Hero's heart leapt in his chest, he didn't know if he should be happy or worried, but... he was happy that she was there for his departure.
- Why did you come?" said the Hero, hiding his joy, "and besides, how do you know I'm here?
- It was the queen who sent me a telepathic message," she answered breathlessly, "why are you leaving so suddenly? We didn't even have time to thank you properly!
- You've already done more than you can possibly imagine, and while that may not mean anything to you, it does to me.
- Yes, but you don't have to leave the same day. What's so urgent?
- Fighting the Nemesis, he said simply with a smile, but more completely with the same goal as when he started.
- What do you mean by that?
- One might think that this stay in Sylvania did not bring me much, but you gave me the firm conviction that I had to fight it alone. For your sake. My desire to destroy the world has lessened because I remembered that there are people I care about and that you deserve to live. Maybe I won't be able to recolor the sky, but at least you won't have to fear the destruction of the world by the Evil One and his envoy.
- But none of you could do it, despite all the strength you had...
- However, I will have to do it since I am the last hero of the legend.
- What do you mean?
- I have in the hope that if I fail, with the fight that we had and the convictions that you showed me, the Will will go to you and that you will become the greatest heroine among us all. But the Fate of the hero does not indicate me anything then, I will pray to the Lord if it happens to me that you become the heroine because...
- You mean you have to die for me to become the heroine of the legend?
- Or that I become a Nemesis, or even a rank below. I don't know if it's that exciting.
Seb'is indicated that the gate was ready.
- Well, I think it's time for us to leave.
- But, even after all we've been through, don't you want to stay?
He stopped and then put on a face with a smile filled with sadness and sorrow.
- Despite all the joy you have brought me, I can't forget those I have lost. I can't bring myself to live. I'm sorry, Linélia.
The Hero entered the circle, Avelilinélia tried to catch him, he rushed into the teleportation circle, she tried to catch him but as she tried to fly, she stumbled and was about to crash to the ground but the Hero caught her at the last moment.
- Finally, you are as clumsy as my princess!
- I know that if you leave, you won't come back...
- It is not necessary to be so defeatist, he smiled, especially that I find you...
Both of them look at each other, it is as if time was suspended.
- I think you're the bravest person I've ever met in my life, so don't waste your time chasing me and go do what you do best, heroine of Sylvania: help others. Take it as coming from the hero of the legend since you admire him so much.
- But no, it's not that...
He grabs her chin and brings his lips to her forehead and kisses it.
- I'll give you back your kiss. Come on, this time we say goodbye... or hopefully, we say goodbye," said the Hero, winking at her.
This time, the Hero enters the teleportation circle. The fairy holds her heart, clenching her teeth, and shouts to him in Franca:
- Don't give up your life!
The Hero turned to her, a pinched smile and a desolate look on his face before disappearing before the disbelieving eyes of the lowly fairy. She clenched her teeth and hit the ground shouting her bitterness.
At Vicenti, no sooner had he landed than the Hero was harpooned, figuratively and literally, by a troop of city police. All of them pointed at him with semi-automatic weapons, laser rifles, rocket launchers, soldiers installing fragmentation mines, laser claymores, other policemen were positioned, in buildings, equipped with high-end precision rifles, waiting for the police commissioner to come. The police commissioner arrived in a Gear-O SUV and got off in a pearly white tuxedo on a hoverboard with wheels so that his brand new moccasins would not touch the ground. He crouched down and grabbed the hero's face with a sadistic grin.
- Welcome back to Vicenti, Faceless Demon.
Meanwhile, while magistrates and new judges were being elected now that the fanatics had been thrown into prison, no one was bothering with the exhibits in the military police station, which allowed a mysterious individual to infiltrate the police station by murdering all the troublemakers who crossed his path and then seizing the vampire blade. He stared at it and turned it around, making sure he hadn't made a mistake.
- Let's hope that this will be enough to wake her up completely.
He left with the object of petty theft, dropping a thousand paws.
The reason why the queen had not come to the departure of the one she tenderly called "her son" was that she had to settle a matter in Limbo. She took the royal elevator and descended to the lower floor of this underground prison, she crossed the corridor that surrounded her from all the Fanatics and then arrived at a special cell, she was allowed an antechamber before one could enter and the way to enter it was not a key but a series of glyphs and a specific phrase. Once done, she entered the antechamber, two imperial guards made of iron stared at her before giving way to her, she entered the cell where there was a fairy with six pairs of wings, a long black hair with some white hair that extended to the floor, tied up on all sides up to the tips of her fingers so that none of them would come into contact with the others, she was suspended by these chains and the meshes of these chains crossed her body, whether on her arms or on her stomach, so that she could never escape. Queen Audisélia flew to face her and seized her neck to look her right in the eyes, unfortunately, the eyes of the prisoner were closed, the eyelids sewed.
- How many years has it been since we last saw each other?" the woman with the sewn-in eyes asked.
- Not long enough for my taste, "mother"!
Things were falling into place for the conclusion of the legend of the Hero and the Fairy, but what none of the protagonists knew was the dramatic turn their lives would take because of a single choice by one of them: the Hero's choice to persist in dying.
What choice will you make on the fateful day, at the crossroads, my young child, you the last of our fake lineage? Will you choose the destruction of our world or its renewal? Or will you be the last of us to fail?
While waiting for our destiny, keep moving forward without stopping and live.