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PLACE OF BELONGING

The crumbled mountain ring lay barren and ruined inside a wide, desecrated valley . Droplets of rain soon began pounding against the cracked stone as overhead, black clouds surged together . A downpour commenced soon after, dousing the holes till they formed small ponds, linked together through tunnels formed due to pieces of rocks piling on top of each other under strange angles .

From an elevated end, it poured down like a waterfall, slowly filling up all the gaps . Hundreds of corpses lay exposed, buried either beneath the stampeded grass or pieces of debris . Some headless, some limbless, some whole, some scattered in pieces – it was truly a ghastly sight to behold, seemingly even for the heavens who began washing away the scene with their tears .

The space above the scene of destruction ripped open roughly half an hour after Lino, Hannah and the rest departed . Through it, four figures walked through, quickly taken aback once their eyes landed on the scene down below .

Six could feel his throat slowly close up as his fingers curled up into fists; bodies were everywhere, or at least pieces of them . The mountains were no more, just the ravaged landscape of horror and dread . Bloody streams surged from down below, trailing off through the crushed grass, winding up somewhere inside the earth .

"... we’ve miscalculated . " Four said as the four figures descended down, landing near the small pile of corpses . "Terribly . "

"Six, didn’t you say he wouldn’t retaliate like this?" Fourteen, a middle-aged woman of starkly cyan hair and a pair of brilliant, twilight eyes asked the old man .

"... I didn’t think he would," Six replied, shuddering in chilliness for a moment . "I... I honestly thought he didn’t have it in him . "

"Most of the wounds are bladed," Sixteen, a young-looking, handsome, bald man walked up to the pile and inspected it deeply for a moment . "Eight must have dragged them all into the Mortal Reality . "

"So... this is his capacity while acting the role of an ordinary mortal?" Fourteen said, seeming somewhat shocked . "What the hell..."

"Clean up," Four said after a short silence . "And don’t spread the news . Looks like we really are at war . "

Six withdrew slightly, gazing away from the corpses toward the ever-darkening sky . He sighed lowly, his eyes turning somewhat teary . I’m sorry, Lino, he thought inwardly as his body slowly began to vanish into a spatial rip . But... I can no longer help you...

**

"Y-y-you... you’re pregnant?!!" Lino exclaimed, his somewhat downtrodden expression lighting up as though it was dawn .

"Yeah . " Hannah replied, smiling freely .

"Oh my god!!" lunging over, he fell on his front as he reached out with his right arm and pressed it against Hannah’s belly . "I-I’m gonna be a dad?"

"Yeah..."

"I’m gonna be a dad!!" Lino’s eyes glimmered, though only for a moment; suddenly, a shift that startled Hannah occurred, whereupon they were drowned in panic . "Holy fucking shit, I’m going to be a father!! I can’t be a fucking father!"

"E-eh?! Honey—"

"That kid will look up to me and ask me stuff – how can I tell him not to kill people? Or drink? Or do plentitude of other psychotic shit I do – we fucking do – on a daily basis?! Or, or, oh my god... what if it’s a girl?!! Fuck, what if it’s a girl Hannah?!!"

"I’m a girl—"

"I can never let her have sex!!"

"Oi—"

"And, and, because I won’t be around often, she’s gonna have so many issues – so many issues, Hannah!! What if we don’t give her enough attention and she decides to punish us by sucking every cock in that fortress?!! Oh my god, why am I talking about my daughter sucking cocks, what the fuck’s wrong with me?!!"

"So many things—"

"And, and," Hannah’s eyebrows twitched as she found herself growing more and more annoyed by second . "What if it’s twins, huh!? Did you think about that?! That’s twice the fucking problems! Fucking hell, who told me I’d be a great dad?! Lies! Fucking lies! I can’t be a dad—"

"Fucking idiot!!" Hannah suddenly squarely flicked his forehead as he cried out lowly in pain . "Stop spiraling for the love of god and just shut the fuck up for a moment, you absolute fucking bundle of issues . "

"... ouch . "

"You had it coming . "

"... yeah, yeah . I can see how that could be a conclusion . " Lino nodded, seemingly having calmed down . "You... you really are pregnant? I’m really going to be a dad?"

"... yeah," Hannah’s expression mellowed as her lips curled up into a smile . She nudged herself over closer to him and pulled her arms around his back, bringing him into her chest . "And you’re going to be a fantastic one . So long as you stop the whole spiraling nonsense, of course . "

"... I’m still trying to process how can you be happy over bearing my kid . You just know that little fucker’s going to be one hell of an asshole . "

"Ha ha ha, yeah, of course he will," she chuckled, trailing her fingers through his hair . "I mean, it is you and me . I imagine that, by the time she’s four, his vocabulary will consist of nothing but curses and swears . "

"Good god... the poor thing stands no chance . " Lino said, chuckling .

"Yeah... she’ll just have to find someone as equally insane as—"

"Did—did you just say she?" Lino quickly looked up, startling Hannah .

"Uh—no, it’s, uh, it’s just an expression, you know—yeah, just an expression..."

"An expression saying that we’re having a daughter?"

"—uh—"

"... we’re having a daughter . " Lino mumbled, corners of his lips quivering .

"... yeah . We’re having a daughter . " Hannah nodded, corners of her eyes dropping down several tears .

"A daughter..." Lino repeated, his quivering lips stretching out into a wide, warm, content smile . The pair of dark eyes lit up like stars in the nightly sky, all previous emotions seemingly sucked out of them and thrown into the oblivion . All Hannah could see was pure joy void of any other feeling – happiness beyond structure . "We’ll raise her well, Hannah . We’ll raise her well..."

"And give her everything..." she mumbled .

"—world . "

"Hm?"

"I’ll give her the world, Hannah," Lino said . "No more dilly-dallying, no more indecisiveness, no more moral squabbles . I don’t care what the world will see me as, what the history will speak of me . I ain’t raising our daughter in a world as fucked up as this one . If need be, I’ll don the crown of ruin to make it happen . "

"... what’s with this ’I, I, I’ nonsense?" she chuckled faintly, caressing his cheek . "We are, Lino . We are going to reimagine the world . "

"... yeah, we are," he said, kissing her hand gently . "She’s going to grow up proper . I’ll make sure the biggest worry of her life will be whether that boy down the street likes her back, or whether her hair smells nice, or if that dress looks good on her . "

"... yeah, this is better . " she said, chuckling .

"What is better?"

"This ’you’," she replied . "The brooding, downcast look... eh, doesn’t look as good on you as you think . "

"Alright, first of all," he said, waving his arm flamboyantly, causing Hannah to burst out into laughter . "Partaking in a massacre of over a hundred of innocent people is pretty solid excuse to brood a bit, don’t you think? And, secondly, I can pull off any damn look I want, and you know it damn well . "

"Ha ha ha, yeah, you really can . Though, I’ve never seen you try the ’shy look’ . " she added, biting her lower lip .

"Oh?" Lino arched his brow, wrapping his arm around her waist . "Someone’s interested in meeting a shy boy who can’t look her in the eye, constantly ablush, perpetually stuttering?"

"... I said shy, not damaged . "

"... yeah, and people say I have a vile tongue," Lino said . "I can only pray they never meet you . "

Hannah slowly closed her eyes as Lino pulled her into his arms, hazy wind drifting around them . His hair fluttered freely, mixing with hers in a strange, crimson-black symphony . Beneath them, a sea of people followed in silence, in dark over what was said on top of the bird .

For the first time in a long while, Lino found his mind to be clear, void of distractions . He couldn’t muster even an iota of strength to think about the consequences of his actions today, to think about the greater picture, to think about the world, about the schemes and ploys he would need to face come tomorrow . All he could think of was the solitary future within which he saw himself sitting on a porch, overlooking a small garden where a young, crimson-haired girl was running about, covered in dirt .

He smiled unconsciously, his grip on Hannah tightening . Some things, he realized, were difficult to put into words; none, however, perhaps more so than the sudden, newfound fear, care and unconditional love he felt for a creature yet to take its first breath . He’d long since realized that happiness of life rested within small moments, like the one today . Yet, becoming a father was hardly a small thing, a passing occasion . It was a permanent title, an everlasting role . He wouldn’t always be an Empyrean, but he would always be a father .

His smile slowly perished as his expression turned serious . Stakes were always high, and he always did all he could, but now more so than ever . It hasn’t been ’his’ battle for many years, if not even decades, now, but it has always been his struggle .

Glancing down, he caught Hannah’s serene, calm, tranquil expression, even, peaceful breaths, and the faintest of smiles . His heart surged once more, as though the time wound itself back to when he was a young boy, admiring a blood-haired girl, discovering the illicit ends of growing up . For her, for their daughter, for Cae, Ella, Eggor, Lucky, Ally, Val, Seya... for all those who ever put their faith into him, and for all those who cried broken in the rain, and for all those who were yet to meet such fate .

"... every time you’re thinking of something stupid," Hannah’s calm voice drizzled from down below as her eyes fluttered open . "Your muscles tense slightly . Did you know that?"

"... nope . Certainly did not . Are you sure, though? I haven’t been thinking of something stupid... at all . "

"Not me... not her... not Lucky, nor Ally, nor Ella or Eggor nor anyone else Lino... not one of us wants to weep kneeling in front of your grave, or look up to your statue and think ’ah, gone too soon’ . We don’t need a martyr," she added, snuggling closer in . "But a father, a husband, and a friend . Someone very much alive . "

"... you’re nuts if you think even for a second I’ve the intention of leaving you all behind," he said, chuckling faintly . "I can only experience life if I’m alive . Honorable sacrifice... isn’t for me . I’m too selfish . "

"You really are..."

"... yeah, you know, it’s okay to deny some of my horrible qualities from time to time . "

"But how else would I keep your ego in check?" she chuckled .

"... maybe... don’t?"

"Keep on dreaming buddy... keep on dreaming..."