Part 3 : The Final Lesson
The first time Null noticed the cough, it was faint — buried under the sound of the river.
The old man brushed it off. Just the cold, he said.
But Null wasn't stupid.
He saw the tremor in his hands grow worse.
The firewood stack sat untouched for days.
And when they sparred — the old man was slower.
Not weaker. Just... tired.
---
One Morning
The old man sat by the fire, staring into the trees. A tea cup rested untouched in his hand.
Null approached, eyes sharp, breath even from his morning drills.
Old Man (without looking):
"Your blade is silent now."
Null stood quietly beside him.
Old Man:
"You can kill without rage. Without noise. Without thinking. That's good."
(Cough)
"But can you kill without me?"
Null didn't answer.
It was a cold that night. The wind had died.
Only the fire cracked in the silence.
The old man sat across from Null, a heavy blanket over his shoulders. His breath fogged in the cold.
He stared at the flames.
Old Man:
"You ever wonder why I saved you?"
Null didn't speak. He was used to these questions by now. But this time, the old man wasn't playing a game.
He reached into the folds of his robe and pulled out a medallion — tarnished, rusted, but unmistakable.
The insignia on it: a coiled serpent wrapped around a dagger.
Null's eyes narrowed.
He knew that mark. Every child in the compound did.
Old Man (softly):
"I was the first. The blade before The Circle. The one they built your organization on."
(Cough)
"They used my style. My name. My kills. Then they tried to erase me."
Null stared. His breath caught in his throat.
Old Man:
"They said I was going soft. I had fallen in love with a beautiful woman… but she died giving birth to our daughter."
Looking at the fire crackled, he exhaled.
Old Man:
"She trained under me. Learned everything I knew. She was... a masterpiece."
(pause)
"And she was the one who betrayed you."
He lifted his empty sleeve — the one where his arm should've been.
Old Man:
"They took this as payment... to let me walk away."
(Cough)
"My daughter made the deal. Gave herself up so I could live."
He exhaled slowly. Voice flat. Eyes dead.
Null didn't move. But something behind his eyes cracked.
Old Man: " You... (pause)"
Looking at Nulls eyes.
Old Man :
" You were too sharp. Too loyal to the truth. You had followers. People who believed in you. So they made you a traitor. Just like me."
Silence stretched. The fire hissed.
Old Man (quietly):
"I don't ask for mercy, boy. But if you find her... let her be. She already paid."
Null stared at the flames.
Then looked at the old man.
Null (voice low):
"What's your name?"
The old man looked up, a glint of surprise — then something gentler. He hadn't heard that question in years.
Old Man:
"Riku."
(Cough)
"Founder of the Circle. First Ghost. But that was a long time ago."
He gave a dry laugh.
Riku:
"And you? What name do they fear now?"
Null looked into the fire — his reflection broken and flickering.
Null:
"They used to call me Null.
But my real name is BEEP. But I discarded that name a long time ago."
Riku nodded, as if finally understanding something.
Riku:
"Fitting... Null, like a void. Empty. Darkness"
Later That Night
It was snowing again. The roof creaked under the weight.
The Riku handed him a worn scroll. Inside — a map, drawn by hand. Routes. Paths. Safehouses. Places only ghosts knew.
Riku:
"They'll come for you, eventually. Or you'll go to them."
Null:
"Does it matter?"
The old man gave a thin smile.
Old Man:
"Only to the dead."
The next morning, Null found the old man in front of the shrine. Kneeling. Still.
Riku:
"Before you go... there's one more thing I want to ask of you."
Null waited.
Riku:
"When the time comes — don't bury me. Burn me. Let the smoke carry me to the wind."
(Cough)
"No graves for men like us."
Null nodded.
But in his chest, something twisted.
Riku:
"And one more thing. You are my legacy now. You are The Ghost. And I want to end it there, with you. My legacy needs to end with you"
Null didn't speak at first.
His jaw clenched.
Then, quietly:
Null: "Yes."
Two mornings later, Riku was gone.
Eyes closed. Peaceful. Kneeling beside the shrine like he had always been waiting for it.
Null said nothing.
He gathered wood. Built the pyre.
Placed the blade Riku first handed him — the dull dagger — on his chest.
Then he lit the fire.
The smoke rose into the mountains, curling like a serpent in the sky.
hen Null left the mountain, he didn't look back.
It was time.
To finish what they'd started.
To make them pay — all of them.
To save her. To destroy everything in his path.
The snow was falling again, covering his tracks.
But his eyes were sharp. His mind, calm.
His soul — something else entirely.
The Ghost had returned.
And the list wasn't finished yet.