Chapter 187 — Going Home
Morning came quietly.
Asteria looked almost peaceful.
The city had recovered from the strange darkness over the sky. People had returned to their routines. Merchants opened their stalls. Guards changed shifts along the walls.
But Xcution had not returned to normal.
Brook stood outside the palace with his arms folded.
Rick stood a few feet away.
Shoyo beside him.
Neither had said much.
Henry was the first to break the silence.
"So."
Rick looked at him.
"So?"
"You're really leaving?"
Rick looked toward the road leading away from the palace.
"For now."
Henry nodded slowly.
Charon appeared from behind his head.
"Leaving."
Henry sighed.
"Yes, Charon."
"Why?"
Henry pointed at Rick.
"Ask him."
Charon moved closer to Rick.
Rick stared at him.
Charon stared back.
Henry waited.
Rick finally said:
"Home."
Charon thought about it.
Then nodded.
"Home."
And disappeared.
Rick looked at Henry.
"Your thing is getting weird."
Henry smiled.
"That's what I've been saying."
Brook remained quiet.
He knew this wasn't permanent.
Rick and Shoyo weren't abandoning Xcution.
But that didn't make it feel less strange.
Xcution had changed so quickly.
Six months.
Brook had slept.
Everyone else had continued living.
Now Rick and Shoyo were going back to Shinokuni-01.
Brook finally looked at them.
"You sure?"
Rick smiled slightly.
"No."
Brook almost smiled.
Shoyo stepped forward.
"Shinokuni-01 needs us."
Brook nodded.
He understood.
The rebuilding had barely begun.
There were still people displaced after everything that had happened.
And then there was King Aldric.
Brook remembered what had happened when Aldric tried to contact Henry.
The confrontation.
The fight.
Shoyo overwhelming him.
None of that had disappeared.
Rick adjusted the weapon on his back.
"And I have unfinished business."
Brook nodded.
"Aldric?"
Rick's expression hardened.
"Among other things."
Shoyo looked toward the city.
"We'll deal with it."
Crowley approached from behind them.
"You two planning on surviving?"
Rick looked at him.
"No."
Crowley smiled.
"Good."
Sera hit him lightly.
"Crowley."
"What?"
"They'll be fine."
Crowley looked toward Rick.
"Probably."
Rick laughed.
Brook watched them.
This was Xcution.
This was what they did.
Someone could be leaving.
And somehow Crowley still managed to make it sound like an insult.
Shoyo walked toward Brook.
She stopped in front of him.
For a moment, she simply looked at him.
Brook noticed.
"What?"
Shoyo didn't answer.
Her eyes narrowed.
Brook shifted.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I sense something."
Brook's expression changed.
"What?"
Shoyo raised her hand.
Brook instinctively stepped back.
"Don't."
Shoyo stopped.
"I wasn't going to hurt you."
"You never know."
Shoyo rolled her eyes.
Sera smiled.
Shoyo moved her hand closer.
A faint glow formed around her fingers.
Brook felt something move through him.
Not pain.
Not exactly.
Shoyo's magic searched.
Then she stopped.
Her expression changed.
"What?"
Brook asked.
Shoyo didn't respond.
"Shoyo."
She looked directly at him.
"There are four."
The courtyard became silent.
Brook's heart tightened.
Sera looked at his arm.
"The mark?"
Brook nodded slowly.
Shoyo shook her head.
"No."
Brook frowned.
"Then what?"
Shoyo lowered her hand.
"Presences."
Crowley's expression changed.
Brook stared.
"Michael."
Shoyo nodded.
"Lucifer."
Another nod.
"Death."
Shoyo looked toward him.
"And something else."
Nobody spoke.
Brook raised his arm.
"The fourth mark."
Shoyo stepped closer.
"You saw it?"
Brook nodded.
"Last night."
Sera looked between them.
"But it's gone."
Brook looked down.
His arm was clean.
No fourth mark.
Shoyo remained focused.
"It isn't gone."
Brook's eyes narrowed.
"Where is it?"
"I don't know."
Crowley stepped forward.
"Can you sense it?"
Shoyo's expression tightened.
"No."
"Then how do you know it's there?"
Shoyo looked at Brook.
"Because something is looking back."
Silence.
Brook felt cold.
Not physically.
Inside.
Henry slowly stepped backward.
Charon appeared.
"Looking?"
Henry nodded.
"Yeah."
Charon disappeared.
Crowley looked toward the ground.
Brook noticed.
"What?"
Crowley was silent.
"Crowley."
Crowley sighed.
"I don't like this."
Brook stared.
"That explains nothing."
Crowley looked toward him.
"Exactly."
They continued preparing Rick and Shoyo's departure.
The journey back to Shinokuni-01 would take time.
They would travel with guards for part of the journey before continuing on their own.
Queen Hebe had offered supplies.
Rick was checking everything.
Shoyo stood nearby.
Brook approached her again.
"You didn't finish."
Shoyo looked at him.
"Finish what?"
"What you sensed."
Shoyo remained quiet.
Brook waited.
Finally, she said:
"It doesn't feel like the others."
Brook folded his arms.
"How?"
"Michael feels…"
She searched for the right word.
"Controlled."
Brook understood.
"Lucifer?"
"Wild."
Crowley smiled slightly.
"That tracks."
Brook ignored him.
"Death?"
Shoyo looked uncomfortable.
"Death feels like…"
She stopped.
Brook waited.
"Nothing."
Everyone looked at her.
Shoyo continued.
"When I sense Death, it's like trying to sense an empty room."
Brook's expression changed.
"And the fourth?"
Shoyo looked directly at him.
"I can't explain it."
That answer bothered Brook more than anything else.
Shoyo was a powerful spellcaster.
She had sensed things inside Brook that nobody else could.
But now—
she couldn't understand what she was sensing.
"It feels close," she said.
Brook froze.
The word returned.
Closer.
Brook's eyes widened.
Shoyo noticed.
"What?"
Brook shook his head.
"Nothing."
But everyone knew he was lying.
By midday—
Rick was ready.
The road outside Asteria stretched toward the horizon.
Brook stood with the others.
Rick faced them.
"Well."
Henry stepped forward first.
"Don't die."
Rick smiled.
"You too."
Henry pointed toward Charon.
"He might die."
Charon appeared.
"Not."
Henry laughed.
Rick looked toward Brook.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Rick held out his hand.
Brook looked at it.
Rick raised an eyebrow.
Brook shook it.
"You're coming back."
Rick nodded.
"This isn't goodbye."
Brook held his hand for another second.
"Good."
Rick released him.
Then turned toward Shoyo.
She was already waiting.
Sera hugged Shoyo.
Shoyo hugged her back.
"Come back alive."
Sera smiled.
"That's the plan."
Crowley approached Shoyo.
She looked at him.
He looked at her.
"Don't get killed."
Shoyo stared.
Crowley smiled.
"You're welcome."
Shoyo shook her head.
Then hugged him.
Crowley froze.
Everyone noticed.
Sera smiled.
Henry covered his mouth.
Brook watched.
Crowley slowly raised one hand.
Then awkwardly placed it against Shoyo's back.
"Don't tell anyone."
Shoyo smiled.
"Too late."
Crowley immediately looked at everyone.
"No one saw that."
Henry raised his hand.
"I saw it."
Crowley pointed.
"I'll kill you."
Henry looked at Brook.
"See?"
Brook smiled.
Charon appeared.
"Hug."
Crowley looked at him.
"No."
Charon moved closer.
"No."
Charon stared.
Crowley stepped back.
"Absolutely not."
Henry laughed.
For the first time that morning—
the group felt normal.
Rick and Shoyo began walking.
Brook watched.
Henry stood beside him.
Sera beside Henry.
Crowley behind them.
They watched their friends move farther away.
Rick turned once.
He raised his hand.
Brook raised his.
Then Rick faced forward again.
Shoyo didn't turn.
She simply continued walking.
Soon—
they were gone.
The silence remained.
Brook looked toward the empty road.
"They'll be back."
Sera spoke softly.
Brook nodded.
"I know."
Crowley stepped beside him.
"They better."
Brook looked at him.
Crowley shrugged.
"I don't like meeting new people."
Henry smiled.
"Too late."
Crowley frowned.
"What?"
Henry pointed toward the palace.
"Hutena."
Crowley sighed.
"One exception."
Charon appeared.
"More."
Crowley looked toward him.
"What?"
Charon pointed toward the distant road.
"More coming."
Everyone froze.
Brook slowly looked toward him.
"What?"
Charon tilted his head.
"Feel."
Henry stared.
"Charon?"
Charon looked confused.
Then—
his form tightened.
He disappeared.
Henry immediately became serious.
"What was that?"
Brook looked toward the horizon.
Nothing.
The road was empty.
But something felt wrong.
No.
Not wrong.
Different.
The ground beneath Brook's feet vibrated.
Just slightly.
Brook looked down.
A thin crack appeared in the stone.
Everyone noticed.
Then—
a small flower pushed through it.
Brook stopped breathing.
Sera stepped back.
Crowley's expression hardened.
Henry stared.
The flower opened.
Then turned.
Toward Brook.
Nobody moved.
Brook slowly stepped away.
The flower bent.
Following him.
Brook stopped.
Crowley looked toward him.
"What did you do?"
Brook stared at the flower.
"Nothing."
The ground trembled again.
Brook looked toward the distant horizon.
Something was coming.
He could feel it.
Not like an enemy.
Not like Michael.
Lucifer.
Death.
Something else.
Something—
closer.
Far away—
beyond Asteria.
Beyond the mountains.
Beyond roads and cities.
A figure continued walking.
The Earth moved beneath their feet.
Grass grew where they stepped.
Trees leaned toward them.
Animals watched from the forest.
The figure stopped.
They raised their head.
Asteria.
Still far away.
But closer than yesterday.
The figure placed one hand against the trunk of a tree.
The tree immediately began blooming.
Their eyes closed.
And they whispered:
"I can feel you."
The wind moved through the forest.
Deep beneath the Earth—
something answered.
Brook.
The figure opened their eyes.
And continued walking.
Inside Brook's mind—
three figures stood.
Michael.
Lucifer.
Death.
Silent.
Watching.
Then—
a fourth shadow moved.
None of them turned.
As though they had already known it was there.
Brook's fourth mark faded into existence.
Then disappeared again.
End of Chapter 187