His body—already cold—as it lie on the ground, a macabre scene as his blood was scattered at the surrounding area. A heroic death that transpired upon their very eyes—yet for some, meant for their very demise.
The cries of the civilians filled the area as they knew what was to come next. Children, trembling as they clutch their fathers and mothers in fear. Some, stared blankly as they accepted their faith.
"Y-You've got to be kidding me man... H-How could Jinn." Verhedyn's voice stuttering as he struggled to speak as he looked at Jinn's state.
"I-If only I s-stayed quiet earlier!" Kain's hands bawled into a fist as he hits his head multiple times—tears running down his eyes.
Ophelia meanwhile fell on the ground as she stared blankly into the void. The brewing storm of emotions—anger, sadness, and despair... swelled up inside her, wrapping around both her heart and mind.
Her whole body trembled—not for what was to come, but for her friend that she truly held dear.
The area continued to erupt with a despair-inducing chorus of cries and screams, as the soldier stood in position—their energy rifles primed and ready.
As the anarchy ensued around her, Venedix stood next to the body of the child she had just slain.
Her cape flapped with the wind as she held her lingering gaze upon Jinn.
Thoughts swirled within her mind—Jinn's expressions, his actions, and his willpower to defy fate.
Was she impressed by this? Or would it be just any other day—a regular occurrence in the chaos of war that she was always in?
Venedix had killed many through her vast journey in service for her House and for the Empire. Yet the very thought of her even trying to make sense of the situation, puzzled her mind—when normally, she would've scoffed it off and moved on.
Standing in silence, she continued to process the chaos of thoughts circling within her mind before she caught movement on the corner of her eyes.
Jinn's group of friends—no, family—ran towards his location. Their faces of distraught evident as Venedix looked towards them, their frail and small bodies stumbling just to get to their friend.
Some of the soldiers managed to block most of them—yanking their clothes back and using their bodies as walls. Ophelia managed to get through as instead of her clothes—her backpack was yanked.
Slipping her tiny arms out from the straps of her backpack, she trips and falls—before rushing to stand, sprinting towards Jinn.
"hic... J-Jinn!" Ophelia continued to run. Her heart pounding in her chest while tears and snot ran down her face.
Memories flashing within her mind while she ran—memories that she cherished between her and Jinn. His laughter, his quiet talks, his smile and his promises—now fragments, slipping through her fingers.
And there he was—motionless, dead and long gone.
Ophelia's legs grew weak and collapsed at the sight of Jinn. Her arms—trembling, wrapping around his body as she drew him close to her body.
"Jinn... you're so cold..." her thin arms gripping tightly on Jinn's body before gazing towards Venedix—fury on her eyes.
"You Monster!" Ophelia's voice lashing out towards Venedix.
Venedix—still in her thoughts, had an apathetic expression, which fueled Ophelia's anger even more.
Unable to contain it, Ophelia slowly put's down Jinn's body before lunging at Venedix—her hand balled to a fist to strike her.
But before she could even make contact with her fist, a soldier suddenly grabbed her neck—the grip was tight, making her choke and gasp for air.
Ophelia struggled to breath as she tried to use her nails to claw on the soldier's hand—her vision starting to turn dark as her consciousness started to fade.
In an unexpected turn of events—Venedix apprehended the soldier, turning her gaze—breaking her silence.
"Let the child go, soldier."
Without hesitation, the soldier complies—releasing his tight grip on Ophelia's neck, letting her breath.
Still—with a loud thud, Ophelia drops to the ground in exhaustion. Both her hands and knees at the ground as she turned her head upwards to look at Venedix—a confused expression on Ophelia's face.
With a quick motion, Venedix flicks her sword to the side to remove Jinn's blood, before reaching down—retrieving her other sword, laying on Jinn's lifeless hand.
Ophelia looks to the side as she notices another person moving towards them. The person wore a more unique armor, different than the other soldiers.
The mysterious person briefly gazes at Ophelia, before returning to Venedix as he saluted.
"Shall we proceed with the executions, Battlemaster?"
"No, wait for further instructions—Commander." Sheathing both her swords in their respective straps on her sword belt—before using one of her hands to reach something on the pocket of her cloak.
After rummaging through her pocket, she was able to bring out a crystal of some sort. The crystal glowed powerfully with a hue of crimson red.
"Your excellency... is that?" the commander's eyes widened as he saw the crystal that Venedix brought out.
"Bring me Amaron—as soon as possible" her eyes looking closely at the crystal on her hand before shifting her gaze towards Jinn.
"At once."
The soldier nodded as he dashes towards one of the drop ships to which flew off as soon as he got there.
Without wasting time, Venedix approaches Ophelia which was embracing Jinn.
"W-What do you want now!?" Ophelia exclaimed.
"Move, girl." Venedix's gazes on Ophelia, her eyes sharp.
Clutching her friend even more tightly on her chest, she cries out, "I won't let you defile him any further, you monster!"
"I said move—girl," an even more serious tone as Venedix glared at Ophelia. "If you want to save your friend—move"
"W-What? you can save Jinn?" releasing her embrace on Jinn as she slowly moved backwards. Her heart within her chest pounded fast as she clung to that one singular ray of hope—the chance of seeing her best friend once again.
As Ophelia moved away, Venedix then went through with the procedure to save—no, to resurrect Jinn. Unsheathing one of her swords, she quickly made a small cut on her own hand, Venedix's blood dripping a significant amount.
With her other hand, she places the crystal on the hand where the cut was made. The crystal glowed even more crimson red as it made contact with Venedix's blood.
Smoke began to come out from Venedix's hand as the crystal sizzled against her skin. She could feel a very sharp and painful burning sensation—yet she was apathetic. Hundreds of years of battle made her immune to immense pain.
Few minutes passed, the crystal grew even more brighter to the point that it created a prominent and distinguishable light that could be even be seen by the civilians—and of course, Jinn's friends.
"H-Hey what do you think they are doing over there!?" said Orin as she tried to view past the soldiers stopping them.
Hector, also moving his head—trying to get a view. "I don't know, but Ophelia might be in danger!"
With her already bloodied hand, Venedix crushes the crystal—making it exploded a brilliant light before placing her hand on Jinn's body.
Closing her eyes to focus, Venedix started to speak in Zerafhon dialect.
"Ekar li vokez, aratex in gokan veo kin arkan—everen!"
Everen, to which meant reborn.
As soon as she finished saying those words, a powerful light began to emit on Jinn's body, making his body convulse—making him feel once more.
"Urgh!!"
And so he feels once more.
Jinn opens his still intact eye wide open as he could feel the immense pain from deep within.
"J-Jinn—You're alive!" Ophelia exclaimed, both relieved and concerned. Immensely relieved that Jinn was alive—and concerned, due to the pain he was suffering from.
Jinn's heart began to burn as his body convulsed erratically, forcing his fingers to claw the ground beneath—his nails started to bleed.
"Fight if you want to live!" Venedix's hair glowed even more crimson red as she prodded Jinn. "Struggle. Rebel. Claw your way against the pain!"
"It burns!" Jinn screamed, blood coming out from his mouth as he continued to convulse—his vision started to go dark.
"He's gonna die at this rate" thought Venedix as she looked for other ways to make Jinn survive the process—till she found one.
An aura of energy began to surround Venedix's body which was different than the one she had used against Jinn earlier—this one is golden, no—noble.
Venedix started to collect this energy towards the hand touching Jinn, before releasing it inside Jinn with a powerful burst.
With a prominent bang and flash of fire, the energy began to enter Jinn's body, coursing through each any every orifices it could find. It travelled quickly and relentlessly until it could reach Jinn's heart—gathering around it.
The energy pulsated within his heart multiple times until it exploded—in an outburst. The energy filled his blood stream as it travelled to multiple parts of his body.
The burning sensation grew even more painful but the energy to which Venedix sent inside Jinn's system—was enough to make him last a little bit longer.
The energy of both the crystal and Venedix intertwined as it travelled to every inch of Jinn's body, making his hair turn crimson red, making him reborn.
Energy cracks started to appear all over Jinn's body as the pressure sent through his bloodstream made his injuries even worse as the blood had nowhere to travel but outside his amputated and open wounds.
"WHERE ARE YOU, AMARON!" Venedix exclaimed, annoyance evident on her tone. She then caught a movement on the corner of her eyes and see Amaron running sluggishly towards her.
"A-Amaron has arrived, you're excellency!" he exclaimed