The city's cleanup team arrived in a white, unmarked ambulance truck. A crew stepped out, each of them wearing shirts branded with the same red mark. It took hours to clear the mess from the street, but in the meantime, Sasha and Berry made their way back home.
"All right, what's wrong?" Berry asked the moment they stepped inside.
"What do you mean?" Sasha tried to deflect.
"I see. You ran after that guy—why?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," she muttered.
Berry let the question drop and sank into the couch. Watching him, guilt twisted in Sasha's chest. She sat beside him in silence, then finally spoke.
"The only reason I came to the Big City was to avenge my father's death. He was killed by four men with that same red mark on their foreheads. When I saw that guy…I just reacted."
Berry shook his head. "Look, I'm sure you loved your dad and want to avenge him, but going against the heroes? That's suicide."
"You don't understand."
"Oh, yes I do," he snapped, his voice sharper than before. "My dad tried to get revenge too—because they killed his brother. I had to run to the Big City, change my name, hide everything, because they wiped my entire race off the surface of this earth. I was the only one left."
Sasha's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. But I'm not your dad. I can find my own way out of this."
Berry scoffed. "I was five back then, and even I wasn't this stupid."
He stood and headed for the bathroom. Just before closing the door, he turned back. "Go if you want. I don't care. It's your funeral. That's what I told my dad. And guess what?" His voice cracked. "It became my family's funeral too."
The door shut behind him, leaving Sasha frozen, a storm of doubt and destiny raging in her mind.
Far across the seas, the serpent's head of Ivi still pierced the fog around the cursed island, driving away all who dared approach. Every sailor knew that sight, and every sailor feared it. For the head belonged to Ivi.