From the raw wound of the neck, black tendrils erupted, twisting and articulating until they sculpted the shape of a head. Slowly, impossibly, his own features reformed, as if the severing had never happened. Burtu's newly whole body then looked back at his severed own head on the ground.
"Ahh… Hahaha…" The detached head chuckled, a chilling, guttural sound. Then, from the ground beneath him, dozens of black tendrils sprouted, slowly forming into a full body, rising to stand.
"Well…"
"This is new…" The resurrected Burtu, Burtu 2 said, squeezing his own trembling hands, his gaze fixed on the smooth, naked skin of his re-formed self.
"It seems they're getting away…" Burtu 2, the one who had regrown a head, murmured, squinting into the sky at Kacis, his eyes still clouded with shock.
His focus then snapped to Burtu 1, who lay fear-struck on the ground. Burtu 1's body went rigid with dread, his breath hitched, and sweat beaded on his face.
"Who are you?!" Burtu 1 shouted, his voice a ragged whisper.
Burtu 1 could only stare, paralyzed by the sight of his counterpart standing before him, his mind struggling to process what his eyes relayed.
…Wait…
Is he me?
Burtu 1 slowly realized, his eyes narrowing in confusion.
"I should be the one asking that question" Burtu 2 asked, his voice highly pitched.
"I-Is this even real?" Burtu 1's voice cracked.
But… How?
Burtu 1 recoiled in horror, shaking his head as if to dislodge a nightmare.
How is there another me?!
All I remember is that girl's hand on my neck…
And then…
He felt a phantom pain around his throat, prompting him to softly massage it.
"Yeah, then she somehow severed your head…"
"I mean…"
"My head…" Burtu 2 shuddered, clutching his own neck, his eyes fixed on the trail of blood on the ground.
Burtu 1 paused, then took a ragged breath, slowly collecting himself as the realization hit him.
"How did you…"
"It's as if…" His mind went completely blank, then resurfaced, staring at his own face---or Burtu 2's face---staring back at him.
How is any of this possible?
How was I even doing all that I did?
He ran his hands through his scattered hair, gripping his head.
Remember what they did…
His own voice echoed in his skull, tearing forth memories of Burtu dying repeatedly.
They're the cause of your confusion.
He then fixed his eyes on Kacis, a distant speck in the sky.
"I-Is this another one of my punishments?" He shrilled, his lips barely parting.
"Huh?!" He shouted, a chilling smile stretching his face, then knelt to the ground, his hands shaking uncontrollably as ghostly outlines of himself laughing flashed before his eyes.
An odd, awkward silence followed.
"No answer?!" Burtu 1 pressed his hands to his face, nodding in disbelief, his fingers slowly digging into his skin.
"This is still part of my punishment!" Burtu 2 shouted, his voice echoing Burtu 1's despair.
"There could be no other way…right?" He chuckled, a humorless, brittle sound.
"Look…I don't know who you are, or why you look like me." Burtu 2 walked closer to Burtu 1.
"And how I can hear your thoughts…"
"But one thing is for sure…" He swallowed, a dry catch in his throat.
"My only hope for all this ever ending…" He paused, blinking, then nodded.
"…Just flew away." He pointed skyward.
"And I know that we both don't want to stay here." He looked at Burtu 1, who stared at the slightly twisting earth below him.
But what can I do…
They're already far…
Burtu 1 thought, slowly standing up, gathering his resolve.
"We can…" Burtu 2 said as Burtu 1 walked past him, his eyes looking sunken.
"Oh…" Burtu 2 said, as Burtu 1's thought resonated deep within his mind.
Burtu 1 then crouched, the earth beneath them violently sloshing and churning. He launched himself straight forward at Kacis. The ground distorted in his wake. A predatory focus in his eyes, he darted across the night sky, Kacis and the rest now within his sights.
He reached his hand out forward, striving to grasp, but immediately felt his momentum fade. Instinctively, Burtu 1 began clawing at the air like a desperate beast, his body on all fours, and resumed his flight. He wasn't flying; he seemed to be running on all fours across the air itself.
"Don't worry Marichi…" Kacis said, looking at Marichi, who was securely strapped to his chest by Acis's threads.
"We'll be in Tanten in no time." He continued.
"I am heading in the right direction, right?" He asked, turning his head to his left, looking at Acis.
"If you weren't, wouldn't I have at least said something by now?" Acis replied sarcastically. Kacis chuckled softly, offering no further word.
"But it does feel good that we're finally going to rest now…" Blut sighed, resting on Kacis's back.
"After all these days…"
"Didn't think we'd actually find him." She said calmly as Kacis and Acis hummed faintly through the silent, peaceful sky.
Then behind them, with a fierce glint in his eyes, huffing and panting like a wild animal, Burtu 1 closed the distance between them.
"Hm…?" Blut heard a strange noise behind her. She turned her head instinctively.
!
Her eyes widened in surprise. She used her uninjured hand to quickly clench Kacis's back.
"What's wrong?" Kacis looked over his shoulder at Blut.
Burtu 1 was closing in with incredible speed, his hands violently tearing through the air.
"Move to the left!" She shouted.
"Huh?" Acis, confused, instinctively looked back, her eyes also widening in fear.
"Move Kacis! Move!" She faintly hit Kacis's side with her elbow.
"What happened?!" Kacis asked, his voice a mix of worry and alarm.
"Just do it!" Acis retorted.
"..." Confused, he flew to the left.
WHOOSH!
Burtu 1 immediately flew past them, glancing as he went. He planted his feet in the air as if it were solid ground, slowing his momentum, then repositioned himself.
"I told you that I can fly too." He said, churning his hands in the air, his naked body bathed in the moonlight.
Run!
Kacis's own mind screamed.
Heeding it, he quickly flew past Burtu 1, clenching Jorel and Acis tightly. The wind whipped around them as they fled. Where Kacis had just been, the air contorted and squeezed, leading to a violent burst of air.
Burtu 1 turned around, resuming his pursuit with a cold, unforgiving smile.
"How is this possible?!" Acis shouted in fear.
"His head was just freaking cut off!" Her face paled as she watched the relentlessly approaching Burtu.
Blutsatchel could only stare at Burtu, fear sealing her mouth shut, her eyes glued to him. Meanwhile, on the ground below, Burtu 2 ran, watching them above.
I know what he's doing…
I know how he's doing that.
But how can I personally do it…
Walking on the air...
Burtu 2 thought, his legs pumping, propelling him at insane speeds just to keep up.
He jumped periodically, but always fell back down due to gravity, though each descent immediately became slower. His mind flashed back to when Lezschill was shifting his hands and controlled him, Marichi's and Jorel's fall. Snapping back into reality, he mimicked Lezschill, violently waving his hands upward, but to no response.
Can't let him take my freedom!
Then, with a black swirl coiling in his eyes, he finally ascended----or rather, descended, as Burtu 2 fell diagonally from where he stood on the ground, plummeting towards Kacis at an insane speed.
Burtu 1 waved his hands in the air, conjuring that invisible wall right in front of Kacis. Kacis halted as soon as he saw the slight burst of air. He turned back towards Burtu 1, who stretched his hands wide as his pupils slowly became consumed by an inky black substance.
Burtu 2 finally caught up, falling towards Kacis, digging his hand into the air around Kacis's face. He just barely missed, scraping a few strands of his hair. He then fell past them before stopping himself and falling back towards Kacis from behind.
This is it!
My chance!
Burtu 2 thought, grinning, facing his entire body towards an unsuspecting Kacis who was still carrying the rest.
Burtu 1's eyes then flickered as he saw this, his upper lip twitched, and the muscles in his body convulsed in pale irritation. He then fluidly wove past Kacis and then…
THRUCK!
He plunged his hand right into Burtu 2's head. Black blood gushed freely, parts of his brain spilled out as he was suspended in the air. Smiling, he then lowered his hand, Burtu 2's body twitching while Burtu 1's hand was still lodged in his head.
"All this while, it's just been…" Burtu 1 said calmly.
"Go…" Air barely escaped Blutsatchel's lips.
"Go! Go! Go!" She violently tapped Kacis on his back, her shoulder pain still persisting.
Getting his head back and seizing this opportunity, Kacis hastily flew past them, trying to go fast but not too fast so no one would fall off him.
"Your freedom this."
"Your freedom that." Burtu 1 swayed his head without a care as blood spurted from Burtu 2's face, splashing onto his own. He didn't even flinch.
"Have you forgotten that it's my freedom?" He chuckled.
"Not yours…"
"Mine!" Burtu 1 pointed at himself with his other free hand, then pushed Burtu 2 off his hand. Burtu 2's motionless body fell as wind blew through the giant hole in his now hollowed face.
The limits!
The limits!
The limits!
A voice violently screamed in his head, resounding against his cranium, but he paid no heed.
He then flicked his hand in the air, removing some of the blood, then faced Kacis, who had already put some distance between them. He grinned, then resumed his predator-like sprint on the air itself.
---The end of chapter 46---