Even though Alpha was the most powerful he had ever been, perhaps even more powerful than Lucius, he wasn't certain whether or not he could win against the necromancer, let alone this new enemy.
"Who leads this army? Who is this den's king?" the creature roared, its shadowy armor pulsating as it slowly approached the group.
~Friend?~ Alpha thought to himself
Right now the necromancer's finger was still on Lucius's head, wisps of purple light zipping from its crux towards Lucius's body.
Alpha was no genius, but he could tell that he needed to separate the two, judging from the fact that the necromancer had been using long-distance spells to keep him at bay since he arrived here.
"That-" Alpha whispered, his mouth on literal fire. "-is enemy," he strained, before pointing at the Necromancer.
"Save-" he continued, now looking back at the Zeldrave king, "my Captain," he finished, now pointing towards Lucius.
Before the Zeldrave king could even respond, two bolts of purple light came zipping toward Alpha and him. The king dodged it without much effort, Alpha on the other hand was on his last legs. Each step worsened his state, and now even dodging had caused his right leg to collapse.
The ground where the bolts had hit began to disintegrate. It seemed that being hit by one of these meant instant death.
"Save- captain. Save- captain," Alpha whispered to himself as he attempted to pick himself off the ground.
His world was growing dimmer, and his crux felt like it would implode at any moment. Unbeknownst to him, his crux had thousands of stress cracks, it was a miracle that it could still function.
The necromancer sent yet another barrage of bolts, this time sending three toward Alpha and only one toward the king.
As the bolt approached him, all he could do was watch. His body would no longer respond to his commands, and besides, the pain was so intense that death felt like a blessing.
~Thank you, Captain...~ he thought to himself with a smile, embracing the bolts just as they were about to hit him. ~...for everything.~
And then darkness consumed his vision.
As he felt all the pain retreat from his body, he thought of how differently his life would've gone had he never met Lucius. He thought of how, instead of dying on a battlefield a near equal or at least a threat to his enemy, he could've died as mere prey.
His only regret was that he wasn't strong enough to save Lucius, that he couldn't fight for his Captain one more time.
*
"Get a job!" a man shouted, before dropping a few silver coins into Lucius's cup.
"Thank you," Lucius whispered, his eyes downcast.
He had never thought himself prideful, but he had to admit this hurt. From serving his country to being labeled mentally unfit, and basically having everything taken away from him.
"Oi, old man, hand those coins over," a voice shouted, Lucius didn't even turn to look at where it had come from.
"Oi, old man, don't act like you can't hear me."
~A shabbily dressed young man, probably just a runaway,~ Lucius thought to himself, his eyes showing no signs of thought at all.
~Three, no four others with him. Two of them have knives,~ he continued, his pupils not moving as he made his deductions.
"Probably a looney," one of the boys behind the first said, prompting the entire squad to break out in laughter.
"Yeah well, I'll be taking those coins," the leader of the squad said, before reaching into Lucius's cup.
~ Left-handed, bad eyesight,~ Lucius deducted, noticing how the young man was struggling to measure the distance towards the cup.
"Stop," Lucius growled, his hand shooting out to grab the delinquent's. He squeezed at it tightly, before tugging with all his strength. He was attempting to use the leverage between them to his advantage by flipping the delinquent over.
"Crazy bastard," the delinquent shouted in shock, for a moment he had been scared, but that was just for a moment. He quickly realized that the old man in front of him was actually weak, and shoved his hand away.
The delinquent picked his foot up to attack Lucius, and though Lucius could see the attack coming, his body could not match the young man's speed.
And in turn, he was met with a boot to the face. By the time he got back up, his money and the sheets he had gotten as a donation had all been taken.
"Ahh yes, the gift of age," Lucius whispered to himself.
~20 years lost... in a dream,~ he thought to himself, looking down at his wrinkled hands.
"How I wish I could be young again," he whispered to himself, his eyes hot as his vision blurred.
Age didn't bring wisdom just because of the experiences one went through, but also because one was closer to death. All the memories you had made in your youth felt that much sweeter when you knew they couldn't be made again.
You'd learn to cherish everything in life, that much more.
The once wandering soldier was now a crippled veteran. No wife, no kids, and no family willing to take care of him. He could sleep in his own house because it was a constant reminder of how he had failed his wife, and it wasn't as if he could pay the bills anyway.
Perhaps if he still had comrades from the military they would've helped him, but there was a price to pay for being the 'last man standing.
You ��� the last man standing... alone.
"Hey, are you okay?" a voice called out, but Lucius was still lost in thought. He had nothing more to give anyway, if it was another delinquent they could take what they wanted, it wasn't as if he could fight back.
"Hey, you'll catch a cold you know," the voice said again, and Lucius felt a strange warmth come over him.
He looked up and found a pretty young woman looking down at him. She had covered him with a jacket and was currently pulling out her wallet.
"Here, I bet you're hungry," she said, offering him a 50-dollar bill.
"Ghost?" Lucius whispered, a hot tear streaming down his face. He had no clue whose name that was, but after hearing that voice, it was the first thing that came to mind.
"Ghost? You're funny," she giggled.
~Yeah, who's... Ghost?~ Lucius thought to himself.
