The 5th Memory: The Final Foe

Forced to leave the boy behind, I proceeded to finish the mission on my own. By penlight I scoured the statue but I found no trace of Grandfather having been there. Where else could he have gone?

Then, a blow was dealt from behind. As the light flickered out felt myself succumb to the mercy of my assailant.

I woke to raindrops falling on my face. Despite the rain I could still make out the statue. Leaning against it was a man with a jagged scar across his face. As he had been studying me for a long time, he didn't react to my awakening . Having me figured out, he turned his back to retrieve something behind the statue. Pleading with my body to respond, I could only remain as I was: shackled.

"If only it had been raining that day…then perhaps that old man wouldn't have given me this scar...If only he hadn't wanted water so desperately…"

Satisfied with what he retrieved, he casually began toward me. At that moment, I wondered whether my father would despair over what became of me as he had when Grandfather failed to return. Would he, too, be lured into returning to the City? Then my thoughts came to reflect on the fate of the boy whose story only I knew. Were we destined to end the same way?

Then it appeared.

Amongst the haze an apparition emerged. Defiant, it stood statuesque, grounded with resolve. Taken by its omnipotence, the man was forced to concede as the spirit positioned itself between us. It is said that souls which suffer tragic ends are granted mercy in forgetting their final demise. Angry to find his body missing from where it was laid to rest, the specter emerged from the miasma before me, blade in hand.

Clemency granted, my shackles fell away. The boy smirked. At last he had me where he wanted me: I owed him one. Without waiting to see my reaction, he darted back into the mist, leaving his blade at my feet.

Then the rain became torrential. The man submerged himself in the storm's murky depths, awaiting his chance. Suddenly, a flash of lightning divulged his whereabouts, ruining his preemptive assault. Deafened by thunder, I laid in wait for the next lightning strike.

Then I heard the boy's voice reverberate through the storm.

"Stop! Don't hurt him! I hurt myself!"

Thunder erupted and a flash--I sidestepped, evading a fatal blow.

"Dad, please--Why didn't you tell me you were alive?"

Drawing insight from the flash and under cover from the rain, I sought the refuge of Grandfather's statue. His spirit embodied in stone, he braced to cover my back.

"Wait--He was only trying to protect me!"

As if struck by the bolt and not the man, Grandfather fractured. The man had my gunblade, forcing me to bring the fight to him. Nicking my fingers, I drew the boy's knife. Blindly rushing towards where I had last glimpsed the man, I braced myself, knowing I gave him his shot.

"STOP!"

Then the lightning struck and it was over in a flash.