"I'm not going to hit you. I'm not going to yell. Neither of us are, I just want to talk."
Bo sat there, head bowed and still as a boulder like his mind had suddenly gone through a factory reset and was trying to understand my words. He suddenly looked up at me with a frown.
"What are you planning?!" Bo demanded.
"We're the ones that should be asking that." Nate chimed in causing both Bo and Gadget to look his way.
"Good boy Series: Rune hound. The combination of grey wolf, pangolin, and Goliath snapping turtle. A canine evo with the general appearance of a wolf who's entire body is covered in special scales that are a composite of the pangolin scales and goliath snapping turtle shell. A evo that I had only conceptualized and created a lysdale script for. No mana crystal core." I said with a neutral tone.
"So it was the Rune hound…" Bo muttered. Nate nodded in confirmation.
"We also know about the Ash Dog, Boom hound, and Sick puppy." Nate added. Bo nodded in resignation then looked at Gargesh's grave.
"You used your status as my apprentice to get those evos approved by the manager and started a special research section." I summarized.
"I didn't think that would work to be honest." Bo said softly.
"How did you get the mana crystal cores for those evos?" I asked finally. Bo didn't answer my question, not a first or with words.
Bo turned to look at me, a sad smile curled on his face and I saw his farm crystal begin to glow inside his mouth. Lightning sparked off his body before he vanished in a streak of lightning. Nate and I shared a astonished look before we jumped to our feet to look for Bo, even Gadget was gone.
"What was that?!" Nate exclaimed.
"Don't throw up." I warned Nate as I grabbed his arms then channeled accelerate attribute mana throughout my body.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as I ran towards the building, dragging Nate along with me. As I got close I channeled float attribute mana as well and jumped, soaring up the three stories to the roof. Leaping over Bo and Gadget and landing on the roof behind them. They didn't react, mostly because we were moving faster than Bo and Gadget could perceive.
I stopped channeling both accelerate and float attribute mana at the same time and time started to flow normally. The moment it did Nate double over and threw up all over his shoes, despite my earlier warning. Bo spun around, startled at our sudden appearance behind him.
"No lightning sparks or nothing. There one second and gone the next." Bo observed. I leaned down and channeled wash attribute mana into my hand and sprayed a jet of water onto Nate's shoes to wash the vomit off.
"Volt attribute mana channeling. No spell sigil activation and none of my enchanted items have a spell duration that last longer than thirty minutes." I observed Bo. Nate stood to full height and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"You could have warned me a little sooner!" Nate grumbled.
"Sorry…" I apologized and patted Nate on the back then looked to Bo. "…You learned the mana manipulation tattoo spell."
"Barely…" Bo replied honestly. He held his hand up and flames ignited on his fingertips. He let it flicker and dance in the breeze before he extinguished them with a flick of his wrist. "…learning the spell only made me understand how much mana you actually have. I passed out for five hours afterwards and was starving when I woke up."
"How did you…?" Nate started then stopped himself and frowned. "…Dean Baxter…"
"He gave me the spell sigil card." Bo admitted.
"And compared to Alberto you grasped techno-splicing theories much quicker. You could read rudimentary lysdale scripts six months ago and I can only guess how much you've grown since…" I said softly.
"Using mana channeling is not easy despite how easy you made it seem." Bo admitted.
"Despite that you made the mana crystal cores for those evos." I said, it wasn't a question but a statement of fact.
"I did…" Bo admitted but the expression on his face looked haunted instead of proud like I thought. "…but it wasn't easy at all…"
Bo's voice cracked slightly and tears misted his eyes. Nate and I shared a confused glance before Bo wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
"I didn't know that mana crystal cores could break while you formed them if you lost focus! It hurts when they break! Like a part of your soul is breaking as well!" Bo exclaimed, tears streaming down his face freely now. Nate rushed to his son and pulled him into a tight hug, Gadget climbed onto Nate's shoulder to avoid getting squished. Bo clung to his dad tightly and cried into his chest. "It hurts! Like I was losing Gargesh again! I fucked up and ended up killing my evos!"
"I'm so sorry Bo!" Nate whispered softly.
"How many?" I asked, my voice barely loud enough to be heard over Bo's sobs. He heard me nonetheless.
"Five…" He said softly between sobs. I walked over to Bo and Nate and placed a hand on Bo's head.
"Looks like we have some digging to do."
***
I let out a ragged gasp as I climbed out of the grave I had dug. My already malnourished limbs screaming foul curses against my entire bloodline for the exercise I made them endure. I rolled onto my back and took several deep breaths and looked up at the cruel Egyptian sun shining down on me.
'I'm too fucking weak…' I thought to myself.
"You okay Chase?" Nate asked. He was sitting on the ground not too far from the grave I had just dug holding a umbrella to protect himself from the sun.
"No…but if I was okay then this would mean nothing." I gasped. Nate turned to look at Bo his eyes flooded with sadness. I turned and looked in Bo's direction.
Bo was covered in dirt from head to toe. He was kneeling at the edge of one of the five graves he dug, Gadget sat next to him, the little evo sat next to him and placing a tiny hand on Bo's knee.
"How did you do it?" Bo asked without turning to look at either Nate or I. I looked to Nate and he nodded in confirmation.
"Do what?" I asked.
"Deal with the fear of failure? Of losing people you love?" Bo asked. I let out laugh, it was dry, short, and void of any humor or mirth.
"What about the last six months made you think I know how to deal with the fear of failure and losing people?" I replied, another laugh escaping before I could stop it. "I've been paralyzed by fear and sadness."
Bo looked over his shoulder at me and frowned. "It's been almost a year since I met you Chase! You never hesitated to help anyone, never hesitated to give everything to save a life. All those times I saw you rewrite a evo's genetic structure in high pressure situations where one mistake could cost everything you never wavered or made a mistake! You breathe new life into everything and everyone you touch! I've never seen you afraid!"
I could hear the tears in his voice as he screamed. I looked up at the sky again, letting the silence carry away memories of times when my own voice rang with that same sadness and abject powerlessness.
"I was scared every single time." I said calmly, too calmly. My voice sounded foreign even to me. "I was older than you when I lost my grandma and realized the very people that gave me life only kept me alive so they could use me until I stopped being useful and all on the same day. I was nothing in America, worth less than dung beetles. That made me realize how important people you can trust are, how little it costs to be nice to people who need it."
I took a deep breath as I felt my emotions starting to spiral out of control. Closing my eyes I fought back the tears that had fallen too easily lately then sat up and let out a ragged sigh. I turned to look at Bo became I knew he needed see my face when I said this next part.
"You, your parents, my grandpa, Jane, Iris, the Gents, Haws, Madilyn, Sin, Indy, my evos, even Reagan, Anders, Astrid, Alberto, and Damon. All of are my family! You are all precious to me and I am constantly terrified that I am going to lose one of you!" I spat out. I managed to keep the tears from falling this time. "I was able to do what needed to be done because I was scared of the alternative if I failed. Alpa'nagia would be dead, Empress would be dead, Bellial would be dead, Bahamut would be dead if I had fucked up! I don't breathe life into anything Bo. I just try my hardest to not see another life I care about get snuffed out."
Bo stared blankly at me. His eyes shined with disbelief at my answer but all at once I saw understanding creep in to replace the disbelief. He looked down at the five graves he just dug then over at the one I had dug and then at Gargesh's grave.
"No more graves." Bo proclaimed. I looked at the graves then nodded in agreement.
"No more graves." I repeated.
Bo stood up and pulled a small bag with a drawstring out of his pocket. He opened the bag and delicately pulled a fractured mana crystal core out of the bag. He looked at it with reverence for a few seconds before he climbed down into the shallow grave and placed the core at the bottom of it. He climbed out and repeated that process four more times.
Nate stood up and walked over to stand beside his son as he stood to look at all five graves. I stood up and channeled mana into my void pocket and reached inside to pull Fours body out of the space. Thanks to time not effecting anything inside he looked the same he had six months ago. No decay had touched him. I felt an overwhelming wave of emotion wash over through my connection to my evos.
Bone-lasher, Alpa'Nagia, Grimm-Guard, Bellial, Mzazzi, and Bahamut's crystalline structures formed around my farm crystal then launched into the air, landing behind me and shattering. I looked over my shoulder and saw all but two of my evos looking at me and filling the empty space of the lot.
"We wanted to say goodbye to Brittle-Fang…his sacrifice deserves that respect…" Bone-lasher announced. His voice had a much softer quality than usually.
"He was the strongest of us Star Shaper. Please let us say goodbye to our brother-in-arms!" Alpa'nagia pleaded.
"I…I…" I stammered, overwhelmed by the raw emotions I was feeling from all of them. They were suffering and effected by Fours death just as much as I am. They needed this just as much as I did.
"Let us all say goodbye Star Child."
I looked towards the sound of the voice and saw Jane walking around Bone-lasher, Iris and Grandpa Seamus close behind them. It wasn't just the three of them either, Sin, Indy, Damon, Alberto, Astrid, Louie, Angie, KC, Madilyn, Haws, Reagan, Anders, Dean Baxter, Baset, Jade, as well as the Jiggles, Empress, Jiggles Ogarai squad, and Nate's Orkand squad. They filled the open space of the empty lot, their presence a impossibility that my mind couldn't comprehend. I looked to Bo and saw that he had tears streaming down his face and was clinging tightly to his dad.
Jade immediately rushed over to help comfort her son and he clung to her as well. I looked down at the body of the evo who'd saved me time and time again and ultimately gave his life to save mine then at all the people in front of me, wanting to say goodbye. It broke me.
The tears fell before I could stop them. Jane and Iris were at my side, gripping my forearms tightly and resting their heads on my shoulders. Their weight making the slight weight of Fours corpse all the more prominent in my arms. They said nothing and made no assurances that everything was okay, they just stood as silent pillars of support.
***
"Do you want to say something?" Dean Baxter asked.
I stood staring blankly at Fours grave, now filled and covered with dirt and a large spike of crystal created from Grimm-Guard's mana channeling acted as the gravestone. His name was scratched into the face of it by me using my bone claws and harden attribute mana. Each of my evos also etched the monikers and nicknames they'd call him into the stone. Five smaller grave stone marked the five graves that Bo dug for his failed shaping attempts.
"This never should have happened…" I said softly then took a ragged breath as I felt choked up. I felt Grandpa's large hand grabbed my shoulder in a fire but comforting grip. I could feel Jane and Iris besides me, feel the eyes and wishes of everyone around me. "…but you wouldn't have had it any other way. You were tired…I get it…but you didn't deserve to die like that. You live over a hundred years and survive two world wars just to die like that! It was my fault, regardless of what you said it was my fault! I was too weak and arrogant that I couldn't see a way I could die…I was a pretender…but you called me Master…finally. You will be the last! The last loved one I bury! I won't let the same weakness that cost you your life cost another's! No more graves!"
"No more graves." Bo repeated.
"No more graves!" My evos all chanted in unison.
"No more graves!" Iris, Jane and Grandpa Seamus joined the chant.
The chant grew louder as everyone joined in. The resounding echo building until it drowned out the sounds of the city beyond the borders of this pitiful graveyard. In the split second between echo and ringing in heard a familiar laugh and huffed of disapproval.
I saw Grandma Lulu'Nala leaning against Fours gravestone with the evo himself standing protectively beside her. Both of them watched me with comforting eyes. Their forms slowly faded from sight, like ghosts disappearing in the suight. The last thing to fade were Grandma's eyes, strong, confident, and kind.
'Never again…' I thought then joined the chant.
"No more graves! No more loss! No more weakness!"