Chapter 105 - The Rewritten World Burn : Part 3

"Kiaran."

Axel was finally freed from the chains that were holding him and walked over to Kiaran's glass. He ignored the wounds on his body from having to fight Adreanna and raised his head high.

"I don't have a plan if that's what you want to ask." The mercenary stared at his mismatched eyes intensely.

"I know. I never saw you have that expression before. It's the first time in my whole life. It's really genuine. " Axel shrugged and treated his brother the way he treated demon Kiaran.

Axel grinned at him. "-your shocked face after that blindfolded man who kept calling me Tithonus kicked your ass was impeccable."

"Heh." Kiaran snorted and returned the grin. "You become so bold now that you have my life in your hand."

Kiaran sighed, staring at Axel with genuine eyes. "If you want to kill me, just kill me. I've been raising you with hardships anyway."

Axel followed his brother's sigh and brushed his hair back. "I know."

"And I also know that you always manipulated me. You tried to guilt-trip me just now, right?" He gave Kiaran a knowing side smile.

The latter had a surprised face but contained it good enough that ordinary people wouldn't notice it. But it was Axel who had experienced and saw every single Kiaran's emotions, whether it was fake or true.

"I'm aware of that." Axel chuckled while forming a mocking grin. "I learned a lot from you."

"But I'm so damn loyal that I hate myself, you know?" He diverted his gaze to the ground. The glaze in his eyes had become too mocking, and he didn't know it was for himself or Kiaran.

"In this world, you're the most person I cared about." He went back to lock his eyes to his brother.

"When I somewhat realized I was being manipulated, I always denied it for years, living in your manipulation."

"I couldn't leave you alone because you're the only one that I had. The only one that wanted to take care of me—that wanted to be there for me."

Axel clenched his fists and stared at his brother with determination. "That's alright, I got this, Kiaran."

The person who received the stare frowned. He tried to find out the person Axel would sacrifice with his calculating gaze. But the way Axel talked...

Damn it. Kiaran quickly pitied himself. Axel was totally going to choose Adreanna and Cain over him.

"In all story that you've told, Kiaran I-" The boy grind his teeth as if trying to hold something off his mind, "-you always said that I was the protagonist."

Kiaran raised one of his eyebrows. So the farewells still continued, huh?

"But I think it was you," Axel stated, and Kiaran exhaled in defeat. These farewells were getting too cliche. If he were going to die, he would be good while at it. It should've been grand and all.

"No, it was you, Axel." The older replied and spread both of his hands. "It's obvious that I'm the villain. The villain always die, remember?" Kiaran gave the boy a hint that he knew he would not be chosen.

Axel answered with a smile. It was too genuine, there was no fear in his eyes. "Timandi causa est sencire." He stated, catching Kiaran off guards by the sudden Latin phrase.

"Even though you see yourself as the villain. You aren't." Axel was still smiling. Somehow, it felt really sad. "I'm just the pawn in your games. You are the star of it all."

Kiaran widened his eyes. Did Axel-

It might work, though. If Axel was planning to save him too, then it really might work. Kiaran glanced at the two blindfolded men and eyed them cautiously. Would this plan get overwritten by them too? Did they know it already?

"Just wait for me, okay?" Axel reassured softly.

Ugh. Kiaran really hated those words and tones. "You know I trust you, right?" The older made sure again, giving Axel an 'I know your plan and I trust you.' look

"Just like you always do." The younger beamed, but it still looked sad. Kiaran tried to push away his doubts.

"Wait for me!" Axel returned and went in front of Adreanna's room.

"This is wholesome and all but can you fastened up a little bit? I'm getting bored." The blindfolded man on the left stated, facing Axel with disinterest.

"This is not the basis of a play, no?" Axel raised his eyebrows at him, tilting his head with an overly-innocent look.

"A wholesome and sad conversation." He paused and made a significant motion with his hand. "I'm doing it for you, you know? Before the grand ending, that is."

"You're pretty shit at this despite trying to rewrite my brother's great play." Axel spat, earning a snort from Kiaran to support him.

"We'll see if it's 'shit' after we reach the end, Tithonus." The mysterious man challenged, and Axel knew the meaning behind his words too well.

He ignored the man's word and quickly faced his sister who was looking at him too deep. "Adreanna, first of all, I'm not sorry for siding with my best friend."

"Damn. Way to start a conversation." Kiaran chimed in, lightning up the situation as he tried to believe Axel's plan.

"-but I'm not here to talk about that." Axel ignored Kiaran and continued.

"I don't have that much time but all I'm trying to say is, please get out of the cage that we spoke about on your own. I know you can do it." He smiled with eyes that tried to think of the right words to say.

"Try dating Zack, he seems like a good guy. Live and try to find what is happiness." He beamed brightly and clasped both of his hands. "You should be happy. There are so many kinds of emotions you can explore, and I hope you can explore this one."

"Try smiling first," Axel advised, quickly forming a little smile for Adreanna and pointing his finger to his mouth. "Like this."

She still kept her silence. It was hard to find out what she was talking about or what she was feeling right now. But Axel did not mind. All he wanted to say and do right now was express his genuine feeling for her.

"It's okay, sis." He reassured, widening his smile to the point that his eyes formed a crescent moon shape. "I've got you. You'll get out of here soon."

He brought a pinky finger up to her and tilted his head. "I promise."

There was a slight surprise on her face, and Axel was relieved. At least slowly, she would try to express her emotions. He quickly left Adreanna and made his way to the last room.

He ignored the eerie feeling and the cryptic atmosphere that tried to eat him away. He would make sure everything would be fine.

"Hello, father." He politely greeted with a smile. Cain stared at him silently with his tired eyes. The white clothes that he wore were starting to dry.

"You know this is the first time you actually want to look at me, genuinely." He chuckled lightly while still keeping his smile. Cain did not even smile at him, even though he was famous for his fake smile.

Axel was not even worth the try. If he died, would Cain became like his counterpart and-

The boy shook the thoughts away and continued. "-and having a proper conversation, of course."

"Choose those two." Cain tried to speak despite his voice which was really sore. "Let me die." He commanded coldly.

"As expected. I knew it." Axel let out a happy laugh and pointed at his father. "You do love Kiaran!" He happily exclaimed. Of course, his father cared about his brother. Axel was always worried that Cain hated Kiaran too because his brother took care of him.

Kiaran let out a vague 'tch' and turned his face away. It seemed like he was trying to hide his emotions. He always did, though. He was famous for having so many 'masks' for his feelings.

"I'm sorry." Axel apologized without looking away from his father's cold gaze.

"Why are you sorry for choosing them? It's my request." Cain's reply was even colder.

"No, no. I'm not sorry for that." Axel waved his hands clumsily and blinked a little.

"I'm sorry for making you lose mother. If I can give my life for her to come back, I would. I knew the reason why you hated me was that I killed mother. I've always known the fact since I was little."

Cain still stared at him with an unchanging expression. As expected, he still hated him for this. Apologizing could not bring a life back, but Axel had always wanted to say all of these.

"So I'm sorry for being born." Axel continued, ignoring the lump in his throat. "I'm sorry for existing."

"I'm not trying to guilt-trip you or anything. I genuinely want to apologize." He confessed with an awkward laugh, trying to brush off weird conclusions that Cain was probably thinking.

"If I could choose, I'd rather not be born. That way, maybe, everything would be okay." He gave Cain a sad smile. Axel wished Cain would turn back his smile just once. He'd take anything even though it was fake.

"And I do, love you. A lot." Axel's voice cracked a little, and he quickly hid it with a cough. "I'm glad at least I have a parent."

"Thank you for being my father, for letting me alive these years. It probably didn't mean anything for you, but it really meant everything for me." Axel quickly turned away. If he kept staring at his father, he would probably cry.

"But you know," He was not that far away from Cain's glass as he stopped himself. "-I kind of wish you'd care for me too." He confessed and turned his head once more at his father.

Axel's mismatched eyes had become blurry while gazing at Cain one last time. "I'm selfish, right?"

He gulped down his tears away and hurried to the middle again. He faced the three glasses, staring from Adreanna to Cain with Kiaran being the middle glass.

"You done?" The mysterious man on the right asked, cocking his head at the young murderer.

"Yeah."

The blindfolded man on the left followed his counterpart's movement. "Do you have your answer?"

"Yes."

Then suddenly, black roots formed from each side of every room's glasses. Adreanna had become alarmed and kept her stance just like Cain's. Kiaran just yawned and stared at the roots with disinterest.

Adreanna managed to slice one of the roots with her weapon before completely getting dragged and roped onto the wall. Cain did not have the strength to fight back as he also got dragged by the roots.

And Kiaran voluntarily jumped onto the roots while letting himself get dragged away.

Slowly, the front glasses opened, finally making Axel choose who to save.

And he knew the answer already.