The Eighth Sin

"Riyku! Do you realize what you have done!? You aren't using Shadow Blessing, what you have done is formed a contract with Darkness itself. Do you even realize that!?" The Magi's voice showed he was angry and confused. Riyku would set the blade at his side and turn to look back at his family and friends with an innocent and pure smile. They saw the changes that were made. "I know." He would turn back to face the Neuromorphics; his expression shifting back to a glare. "But, I will become even a monster if it means I am able to save all of you. Now enough questions. Go!" It was quite clear that there were some negative effects from what Riyku was using. The contract he so clearly made, as the Magi put. "Fine..." The Magi would bit his lip with frustration seeing that there was nothing more he could do so he moved forward. "Let's move! We need to go! Now!" The Magi shouted as he started to move, the tribal people were anxious at first, but they followed suit. Any of the Neuromorphics that tried to attack them were cut down by Riyku. It wasn't in a flash, but it did show just how fast he was. Faster than all of them at least. To all of them, he was the Apex Predator, their animal instincts had kicked in and told them not to move and just to wait. The Magi passed him up, "You were one of my greatest students, Riyku." He murmured sadly. Jaccs was next, "You better come out of his alive, little brother or I'll personally go to wherever you are and find you." Jaccs seemed to be giving him an order. Next to follow suit was Jin, "We'll be waiting. All of us." Jin stated proudly as if he knew his brother was coming out of this alive. Lastly was Mina who was bringing up the rear. She was the final person to pass Riyku. "Riyku I..." She stopped moving for a moment to look up at him. Riyku shifted his glance towards her.

It was truly unknown how much time had passed. His body was beaten and littered with various wounds. His right arm was missing as if it had been chopped off. He was hunched over, breathing heavily with the blade in his hand that looked like it was well used. His vision seemed to start to blur, yet the eerie aura around him remained. Interestingly enough no blood was spilling from where his arm went missing, yet it was quite clear he could feel the pain. He would turn to plunge the blade into the ground to keep himself from falling. A large amount of various Neuromorphic Beasts laid around him dead; however, the numbers had not decreased. It was almost as if very Neuromorphic in the area had converged to his location. The beasts that circled him were weary, waiting, it wasn't like the bloodbath earlier. They were cautious of the boy who rocked back pulling the blade from the ground. Tears had stained his cheeks and even puffed up his eyes. The pain was hard to endure, but he hoped he had bought enough time. "I'm sorry everyone. As long as you all get to live I don't care if I die here. I am only strong enough to buy you all some time. So please, live." He murmured softly, wobbling a bit before falling back.

Perhaps the creatures did not notice her, or maybe it was because she descended from the heavens; however, Lesia was behind him and caught him against her chest. Her arms were clearly broken since she did not use them to keep him up. Falling onto her rear she let the boy rest upon her body. "L-Lesia?" Riyku murmured weakly as he looked up at the sobbing woman who was just as beaten up as he was, actually no that was not right. He was far worse off than she was. "Yes. Yes, it is me. I won't let you die alone. If you die, I go with you..." She would hunch over him, her tears falling onto his face. He could tell she was crying, his vision had given out a second ago so he did not catch her sobbing face. "I see... So in the end I couldn't save you..." The boy would mutter. The Neuromorphics around them were still wary, cautious even of the new person who appeared out of nowhere. Maybe it was due to the high tension or even the fact that the boy was so mysterious they did not know if they could attack right now. "It is okay, Riyku. You've done enough. You did your best. Please, rest. You saved a lot of people today." Lesia would smile softly.

"Do you want to save her?" A distorted voice called into Riyku's mind. It was warm, seductive, and masculine It was familiar as if he had heard it somewhere before. However, he was too exhausted to try and put a label on it.

"Do you want her to live?" It called again after some silence went by.

"Do you want power?" Even though the silence the voice asked another question.

"Yes," Riyku replied as his eyelids started to close.

"Even if you are to never return? To never be alive again? To become nonexistent? To be erased?" The voice added in.

After some silence, Riyku would reply, "Yes."

"Then repeat after me...." The voice started off.

"Bleakly!" Riyku shouted at the top of his lungs. His own shadow surge throughout the field expanding far and wide, engulfing the entire village and after a split-second, large thorns spiked up from the black. Piercing through everything in their path from homes to corpses, even the Neuromoprhics that were on their way towards him. Obviously, the ones around him would take the damage as well. Everything except Lesia that was. The thorns that struck anything living or dead started to feast off the blood and heart of what it pierced. When everything settled down it was like a forest of blackthorns, and after a moment the thorns shrunk down back into the black which returned to the boy. Throughout all of this Lesia was confused, unsure of what just happened, but when she felt Riyku's small hand cup her cheek she shifted her gaze to him. "Live." Was the last thing he said before his arm went limp. The life in his body was... no more.

Lesia's eyes went wide. She would grit her teeth before releasing a sorrowful scream filled with sadness and pain. Tears began to overflow like water did when a dam busted. While she was not much older, maybe four for five years older. She felt it to be wrong that someone younger than she died before her. She felt it unfair that she was unable to help him. However, that wasn't what hurt her the most. It was the final word she was left with. The innocent pure smile upon a boy who was lethally wounded, a boy who used the last of his strength and life force to tell her to live. She sat there with his lifeless form upon her frame crying her eyes out for what could have been hours.

Coming to a sniffle and after various thoughts and memories had flooded and went through her mind she would shift his body onto the ground. Memories of how they met. Memories of how kind he was to her. How he accepted her and treated her as an equal. How he valued their friendship. So pure and innocent, so warm and kind, so loving and caring. The memories of a boy who cherished her like none other. The thoughts of where to go, and what to do now. The thoughts of how unfair and unacceptable this was. How cruel it was to take the life of someone so bright and pure. It made no sense to her, and she hated it. So many emotions filled her before she finally spoke; "Riyku... Thank you. We'll come back to bury you. All of us." She said in a sniffling manner as she used her legs to pick herself up. There was a secret location that their village had their people go to in cases of emergency. So that if one group was split off from the other they could find each other. Lesia figured that would be the best place to go to. If no one was there her second bet was the outskirts of the nearby Kingdom.

Lesia was making her way through the field of death and destruction. The village was clearly no more; and anything that was once living was now dead. "Riyku killed them all?" She muttered to herself. It seemed to baffle her that all of the Neuromorphics are indeed dead. Not a single one was alive. As for villagers well... she hoped some survived. A good portion was among the deceased. Coming towards the southern exit she took note of a large F letter that was made upon the dirt. It was a means of communication between the Fang Tribe. Allow them to help others in the tribe find them. The tail of the F was pointed down the path. The tail was like an arrow that said 'Go this way.' So Lesia would follow it, then she came into a fork in the path another large F Letter was right before the split. She looked at the tail which told her to left instead of right and that was exactly what she did. The forestry was silent, but not in a dangerous or creepy manner. The silence was almost saddening. As if the forest was crying, mourning even. Thanks to this, Lesia felt no danger as she continued down the path, following the tails of large F letters during her venture. A light of hope was in her eyes, a light that someone of the tribe survived.

Eventually, Lesia made it into a clearing. Coming out from the disguise of the trees towards a roaring waterfall and a small pond. It was a beautiful sight for nature if one had never seen one. The water was so pure and clear, the air crisp and clean, it was peaceful. Lesia made her way around the edge of the pond to loop towards the waterfall and behind it revealed a hidden pathway. She noticed a large F letter engraved on the stone that was behind the waterfall and with a nod she moved into the tunnel and through it. She had no source of light, nor was she gifted in Mana, so she kept the side of the wall steadily making her way down the tunnel. Keeping her back to the wall since her arms were useless at this point. Thankfully though, her fears of getting lost meant nothing since the tunnel was a one-way trip that eventually showed a soft illumination. She moved off the wall and towards the illumination coming into an opening where several of the villagers and tribal members were at. The Magi, Mina, and Jaccs were on guard since they were looking at the opening. Their eyes widen in surprise and glee when they noticed one of their own had arrived. Anyone could also see the glimmer of hope in their eyes that Leisa brought good news along with her.

"Lesia!"The Magi greeted her with a soft smile when she made their way up to them. Though his expression shifted he noticed her condition. "Are... you okay?" The Magi inquired to which Lesia exhaled heavily with a shudder. She was relieved that she was among friends and trusted individuals. "Both my arms are broken and I have several broken ribs... So no, I am not; however, that is not what matters right now." Lesia would take a moment to look around at the remaining villagers and tribal members. A frown took to her lips. "So this is all that is left?" She inquired when she noticed that not even half villagers and tribal members were here. It was less than a quarter of the entire village. The Magi frowned as did the others with a downcast. "Yes. Another group was lead towards the outskirts of the kingdom. We sent Jin there after a short rest here." The Magi replied to Lesia who shook her head softly and fell into silence.

Finally, Mina spoke up, "Umm... where is Riyku?" To this everyone in the tunnel looked towards Lesia. Just hearing Riyku's name made them remember that he stayed behind to allow them to escape. "He..." Lesia's words caught at her throat. Jaccs would grit his teeth and the Magi would turn away. Mina knew the words that were to follow, he wasn't here so it was quite clear that he died. "Liar...." Mina grumbled which caused Lesia to look at her. "Mina." The Magi was about to place a hand upon his grand daughter's shoulder but hesitated when she shouted. "He's a liar! He promised! He... He..." Mina started to sob softly and Jaccs wasn't too far behind her. The villagers and tribal members even held a sadden expression, many of them sobbed and mourned. "I am sorry, I couldn't save him. He used the last of his energy to make sure that I could live." It was quite clear that Lesia had been crying her eyes out long before coming here. Her eyes were extremely sore and red after all. "We need to give him a proper burial. I promised him that much..." She would add. Mina threw herself towards her grandfather he held her close and brushed her hair comfortingly. Jaccs would nod softly with sniffles and soft sobs. The rest of the villagers and tribal members even agreed in silence to giving Riyku a proper burial. "Who is going to tell Jin?" Lesia spoke up after a good moment of silence. "I will." Jaccs would state rubbing tears from his eyes. "Are you sure?" The Magi and Lesia looked at him as Lesia asked him. "Yeah. I want to tell him. I want to tell him that our brother fought bravely. That he saved all of us. I also want to let dad know as well." Jaccs would steel himself.

On that day the Fang Tribe lost many. Only a quarter of their entire tribe survived. However, under the leadership of Chief Ire and Jaccs, the tribe was renewed. The Chief passed away some years later due to unknown diseases and Jaccs inherited the tribe. He kept true to the words his brother instilled into him. Bringing the village back to life and leading it. After many years passed and Jaccs, Jin and Mina became older. Jaccs would hand over leadership of the tribe to Jin to go search for Riyku. The reason behind this was that when they went back to find Riyku and bury him, his body was no longer there. While the others gave up on Riyku being alive somewhere, Jaccs did not. The man believed that his brother was alive somewhere. He had made a silent vow that once the village was fully renewed and ready he would hand it over to his younger brother and go out and look for Riyku. Jin stayed in the village, having married one of the Dark Elf princesses' they had forged an alliance with them so he would look after the tribe, his wife and soon to be a child. As for Mina, she trained hard with her grandfather, when she became older she just vanished all of a sudden. No one knew where she went or what she did. The Magi had grown far too old now, so he remained with the village as their caretaker of sorts. Acting as a doctor and healer.

As for the rest of the village and tribal members, they all became stronger. Resolved to protect themselves and the village. They had been trained by both the Magi and Jaccs so now they were able to do plenty on their own even fend against Neuromorphics. Well as long as they were in groups of three anyway. The Guarding, Scouting, and Hunting Parties were remade, and the villagers were made to choose what to become proficient in. Jin was head of the Scouting Party, while Jaccs was head of the Guardian party. Of course, with Jaccs out he had planned to hand it over to the Vice-Leader, but that person refused and said that no one was better suited to the leader than Jaccs himself. As for the Hunting Party, Lesia took overhead for that one. She resolved herself to become stronger overall so that she could protect those close to her. So that nothing like that day would ever happen again. She never settled down though, even when others proposal or asked her out she refused. No one knew why, but the main reason was that the person she wanted to be with was no longer around. So instead she decided to inherit his will as well as the final word he gave her, "Live." She muttered to herself while looking out over a clifftop with four other individuals. Looking down at the forestry below. The view was nice and all.