He looked at the ground through his knees and groaned, “I can’t stop worrying about things,” before Leo could say anything.
I’m a tool created by the Goddess.
He had obsessively clung to his role as Hero to blot out the reality of being a mere tool, but now that he’d failed the one thing that kept him going, he didn’t know how to proceed anymore.
However, no matter how much he wanted to run away, he couldn’t escape his duty. Only he could be the Hero, no one else could ever stand in his shoes.
At a glance, everyone admired and wanted to be him, never realizing that being the world’s hero just meant being confined to a bejeweled cage from birth till death.
He desperately contemplated how he could prevent his friends from being chained inside the same cage.
“I don’t think I should stick around any longer,” he admitted in a shaky voice. “Leaving will keep you safer. The same goes for Aki… I love her, but it’s better to be apart…”
The closer I am to someone, the greater they will get hurt. The nearer they are to me, the more unlikely I am to protect them. That especially applies to Aki. I thought I could do an even better job of protecting the woman I love, but I couldn’t save her from myself. Now I know for sure that she, as the person closest to me, will be in the greatest danger of all.
Elias couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to her because of him.
He finally sat up and glanced at Leo who looked like he had a lot to say. “What I’m trying to say is that I’m going to the Dark Lord’s Castle alone—” he started and stopped up short when he was positive he heard a blood vessel pop in Leo’s temple. Chilled to the bone, he instinctively scooted away just as Leo’s hands came down hard on the cobblestone.
“SHUT UUUPPPPP!”
Leo’s enraged shout echoed through the harbor, freezing Elias in place.
Did I just tick Leo off beyond return?
“All I’ve been hearing for the last ten minutes is your tireless whining. We knew we’d be in danger the day we signed up to be a member of your party! We’re with you despite the potential risks! What the hell do you think of us?!” Leo told Elias off as if he were a disobedient little boy, his shoulders rising and falling with his angry breathing.
Though Elias shirked away, he could tell Leo was trying to explain his feelings in his own way, and he looked him square in the eye.
I need to face what he said. I have to seriously take his words into consideration and change for the better. It’s only my friends who will tell me when I’m in the wrong.
It’s then that Elias realized his decision to make their lives easier by leaving for good only had the reverse effect of trampling all over their feelings. What he thought was helping was actually a slap in the face.
I can’t do it without them. I was acting self-righteous. By being stubborn and stuck in my head, I betrayed the only people who really believe in me and nearly did something that couldn’t be undone this time.
Leo thrust his finger at Elias as if to drive the point home. “You’ve been going on and on about hurting the people closest to you, but everybody does that. Same goes for me. I cause the most trouble for you, Johann, and Aki because you matter to me.” He grabbed Elias by the shoulders and raised his voice to knock it into his thick skull. “What’s that got to do with anything?! Don’t disappear from our lives over somethin’ so human! What do you actually want to do?”
“Me…?” Elias blinked.
“What do YOU want?!” Leo demanded.
What do I want…?
“I…” Elias gaped at the unexpected question.
Growing impatient with him, Leo shook his shoulders. “Yeah, your wants! That matters a thousand times more than what your status as Hero calls for. If you’re gonna toss Aki aside because you lack the balls to protect her, then I’ll make her mine in your place! You okay with that? Huh?!”
Leo essentially declared war for Aki’s hand and that aroused the fight in Elias.
Someone was going to take Aki from him. She was going to be with a different man.
The instant he imagined her laughing in another man’s arms, the emotions he kept bottled up exploded.
“You can’t!” he shouted at Leo before he even realized what he was saying. He ground the rest of his feelings into him before he could retort. “I don’t want anyone else to have Aki! She’s my…my…” The rest of the words lodged in his throat and came out as a groan.
Man up, Elias! I’ll lose what matters most to me if I don’t speak up. Stop ignoring your feelings to keep up appearances. I’ll never change if I remain silent. It’s all right to speak about my honest feelings and desires as Elias. My friends will allow it. Leo is waiting for it.
“She’s my…woman!” All the strength went whooshing out of his body, and he felt dizzy after he professed his feelings. He hadn’t even realized how high strung he was until he felt the heat burning his cheeks and his shoulders trembling.
Did it always take so much energy to speak up? Was this the first time he had voiced his repressed desires?
Silence filled the momentary pause between them. It wasn’t until the wind started to go out of Elias’s sails that Leo beamed like a little boy who had finally gotten his way.
“Well said! Now I can finally take you on fair and square! I was this close to pushing you into the ocean to cool off your fat head!” Leo teased, punching Elias in the arm.
“Hey!” Elias laughed.
“You deserved it!” Leo retorted, grinding his fist into Elias’s shoulder.
Elias threw a right punch, which Leo rolled away from and responded with a left hook that Elias caught in his hand, starting a playful fight that they laughed throughout.
Elias was having so much fun. He was so happy to have someone to cheer him up when he felt down. A friend to save him in a time of need.
I’m not alone. I don’t have to bear the burden of Hero on my own.
Once he was able to think that way, the anvil on his back lifted, and color filled his dark world again. And it came with the realization that his friends had been looking out for him all along, and just how much Aki’s smile had saved him from himself.
Frustrated with how childish he was being, Elias punched Leo extra hard for laughing next to him.
Caught by surprise, Leo shouted “Now you’re asking for it!” and shot out his fist, which Elias caught while flashing a toothy grin.
As he fooled around with his best friend, Elias gazed up at the blue sky that looked a hundred times brighter now than when he was trapped with his dark thoughts.
I can do this with everyone at my side. I know their presence will take me further than ever.