Sight-Infused

“Ranold, you alright?”

By the time I woke up, I found myself back inside the school building. I looked around me, Antonio’s hand on my shoulders.

“Did you carry me all the way back here?”

Antonio shook his head.

“No, I dragged you.”

Show some respect, dammit!

I shook my head, knowing now was not the time to put up with his quirks. Inside the building, all three of them stood surrounding me, their faces pale. I couldn’t find Mr. Frowen anywhere, though. Antonio noticed me searching for him and decided to drag me further inside.

His face looked as if he had just seen a ghost, looking like he could break down at any moment. This was the first time I saw his face look that terrible, it didn’t suit him at all. Despite it all, he visibly held back the tears that formed in his eyes, trying his best to hide them from onlookers.

But I knew that he was on the verge of tears. He never looked like this before, and something bad must have made them this way.

I forced my shoulders off him, causing him to lose balance and slam onto the floor.

“Antonio!”

Aliya rushed to his side, visibly shocked at what I just did. I felt a weird energy welling up inside me, something that made me feel stronger than I usually was. I looked at Antonio. He grimaced in pain, holding his right hand that slammed first onto the floor. The pain was visible on his face. I focused my eyes on him, realizing that he no longer had his shield.

He wanted to speak, complain, lash out, but it hurts too much for him. This was the first time I saw him like that, and I knew it wasn’t because of the fall. If this was the normal Antonio, he wouldn’t fall in the first place. On his left, Aliya kneeled beside him, looking at me in shock. She must have thought about me as someone violent, unlike the normal, timid Ranold that normally followed her around, while Mina distanced herself from me, terrified.

I realized this wasn’t the time to explain and got up and ran as fast as I could outside the building. They didn’t try to stop me, they didn’t even say anything. I realized explaining all this would be hard, impossible even. If what they thought of me forever changed… if all of the school thought of me as some violent bully… if Aliya’s parents and my Dad knew, would it all stay the same?

Would anyone feel thankful to me for doing something in the first place? What if I failed to rescue Mr. Frowen, and the entire world, Aliya included, turned their backs on me, would I still be able to live?

I soon ran out of the school and turned straight into the wind. I felt the wind trying to blow me back, as if asking me to stop. It asked me to turn back, went into the building, and apologized. Antonio dragged me in, and if he decided there was nothing we could do, then that meant we could do nothing. But at the same time, I felt a weird force that propelled me forward. Like a sharp arrow piercing the wind, a bullet flying straight for its target, I fought the forces weighing me down. I looked at the fountain, where Mr. Frowen lay motionless on the ground. There didn’t seem like any bleeding, but I noticed the shield was gone. He moved slowly, being pushed by the strong winds.

And the figure stood right in front of him, his sword up high.

I ran as fast as I could. I pulled out every energy within me, not even sure of where all this energy came from. My body felt light. It felt as if I was floating, as if I was a feather.

I am an arrow, light as a feather, sharp as a sword.

I pushed my right hand forward at the light green figure which grew larger. The tip of my hand lit up in a light green color. I put all my might into my speed, becoming the wind.

In less than a second, I found myself slashing the figure right in his stomach.

My hand pierced through his glow. I saw his body being sliced into two, as if I was an ax that sliced right through him. I cut through him like a chainsaw cutting through a tree, and soon found myself losing control and tumbling onto the ground. I rolled violently as my body halted to a stop. I crashed onto the east wall, my back landed first. My entire body felt hurt, as if it would break apart at any second. I looked at Mr. Frowen, the figure no longer beside him.

Instead, the figure appeared not far in front of me, sliced into two. His chest and head floated in the air, his feet stepping on the ground. His sword still in his hand, up high and ready to slice me. The world slowed down at that moment, as he slowly approached me. I tried to move, but everything hurt so badly. I felt a sudden gush of regret welling inside me. I couldn’t tell where this feeling came from, however.

Was it caused by my approaching death? Or did it come from him, as he forced himself to kill me? To involve someone else in this war? That regret felt awfully similar, however, just like that feeling I felt a few years ago.

The same regret from five years ago.

The regret that I felt from running off from my Dad, as I was about to meet my death.

The regret Antonio’s brother felt as he ran away from his father, now that he was about to meet his end.

I could see his feelings, as if I was there.

No, I was there, through him.

Through Antonio’s brother.

Through the wind.

“Ranold!”

“In front of me!”

And just like five years ago, I saw that brilliant shade of silver shining brightly in the clear summer skies as it came charging above me. Just like five years ago, as I lie down on the ground, without the power to fight.

Just like five years ago, she came to rescue me.

Her bright silver sword sliced right through the figure’s chest, stabbing itself into the wall behind me. The figure let out a loud, painful scream as the sword glowed brightly. It stabbed deeper into him, his figure shook violently. He looked behind him, his face meeting Aliya’s beautiful, golden eyes. His sword fell onto the ground and disappeared, his feet collapsed and fell before turning into the wind. Aliya could sense something and pushed deeper, his sword stabbing deeper into the brick walls.

The figure brought his two hands forward and reached for the metal sword. He was about to grab it when his head tilted slightly. Behind Aliya, Antonio hobbled while being supported by Mina. I couldn’t see his face, but I felt a strange emotion welling up inside him, as if he finally unlocked that door that held back all his emotions. He missed him, he missed Antonio.

“Go. We’ll protect him.”

I whispered. The figure looked down at me, before looking back at Antonio. His hand disappeared, along with his chest. What was left was his head, a part that had been disconnected from the rest of the body. Aliya’s sword now stabbed empty air, and the floating head looked eerie, but I could feel a smile coming from him. A genuine, warm smile, one of a loving, older brother. After a long, painful five years, he saw him at last.

His head slowly disappeared, turning back into the wind. In his final moments, before he truly disappear from this world,

I could feel his happiness.

“He’s gone.”

I muttered slowly as I got up. Aliya wordlessly pulled back her sword. Behind her, Antonio collapsed to the ground. He looked down, tears flowing from his eyes, dropping onto his glasses and falling to the ground. He sobbed. I slowly got up. I fought all the pain my body endured and approached him. I kneeled beside him and wrapped my arms around his body, which now felt smaller than it used to be. I silently pulled him into my chest, letting him rest his tired self on me.

Aliya and Mina saw us and kneeled beside us, not letting out a word. He didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop. He did not want to stop. He did not want to let reality catch up to him, and I didn’t want it to happen. I didn’t want to let him go. But, like the summer wind, things come and go.

I could see wind magic, and on this day, I saw a soul fly away into the never-ending bright, blue sky.