Chapter 43 - Pilse Arc
On the way to Calo’s home, the elderly woman from the cafe this morning finds Sonny. Her eyes are frantic.
“I can’t find him,” she says, rushing up to him and grabbing his sleeve. “My boy. Did my son make it out?”
Sonny stops.
The world around him fades for a moment. He sees it again. His strike. The impact that crushed his ribcage and launched him through the air. Her son’s body lying on the floor.
Her voice pulls him back.
She shakes him lightly. “Please, tell me. Where is he?”
Sonny gently takes her hand and lowers it from his sleeve.
He cannot meet her eyes at first.
Then he forces himself to. “I’m sorry,” he says.
His voice is quiet. Weak. “I killed him.”
The words hang in the air.
“He attacked me,” Sonny continues. “He was fighting for them. I… I killed him.”
She stares at him. For a moment, she doesn’t react. Then everything breaks. She collapses to the ground, sobbing.
She pounds her fists against the dirt. “Damn them,” she cries. “Damn all of them!”
Her voice twists. “And you!” she adds, grief spilling into anger as she glares at him. “You killed my sweet boy!”
Sonny stands there.
“I’m sorry,” he repeats, but the words don’t change anything.
He turns and continues walking.
Calo steps outside his home, drawn by the commotion.
His eyes land on Sonny approaching his home immediately
Ruin hangs over Sonny’s back. Broken. Lifeless.
Ruin stirs slightly, letting out a strained sound. He tries to speak, but only broken noises come out. Panic flickers across his bruised face.
For the first time, he looks afraid.
Sonny stops in front of Calo and lowers Ruin to the ground.
“I brought him back,” Sonny says. “Like you asked.”
Calo is stunned that Sonny was actually able to accomplish what he said he was going to do.
Then he studies Ruin carefully.
“He cannot fight anymore,” Sonny adds. “His limbs are broken. He has been stripped of his magic.”
Calo looks up. “How did you do that?”
Sonny shakes his head. “I don’t fully understand it myself, so I can’t really explain that.”
Calo crouches and grabs Ruin by the collar, lifting his head.
“You will answer for what you’ve done,” Calo says, his voice firm and steady.
Ruin trembles under his grip.
Calo releases him and stands.
Then he pulls Sonny into a tight embrace.
“Thank you,” Calo says. “You saved our people. No, the entire basin.”
Sonny doesn’t return the hug.
“You’re welcome,” he replies quietly.
Calo steps back and studies him.
“Are you alright?” he asks.
Sonny looks out toward the village.
“More people should have come home,” Sonny says. “They deserve to be here too.”
Calo pauses, choosing his words carefully.
“If you didn’t stop them,” he says, “we might not have a village left at all.”
He gestures to the streets behind him.
Families reunited. People crying. Laughing.
“You made this possible.”
Sonny stays silent as Calo nods slowly.
“We will be holding a celebration tomorrow,” he says. “For everyone who came home. I want you there.”
Sonny hesitates.
“I don’t think I should be honored,” he says. “I killed many people from this village and others.”
Calo meets his gaze.
“You also saved it,” he replies. “Come tomorrow. Let people thank you.”
Sonny exhales. “…Alright.”
He pauses.
“We should talk tomorrow morning,” he adds. “There’s something important you need to hear.”
Calo nods. “Come by anytime. I’ll be ready.”
Sonny turns to leave.
Behind him, Calo drags Ruin inside to secure him until the authorities take over.
Sonny walks toward the outskirts of the village.
A hand grabs his arm. He turns. It’s Zoa. Her eyes are red from crying.
“Thank you,” she says immediately. “You brought my sister back.”
Sonny glances past her.
Lela stands with their parents. Safe. Alive.
Zoa throws her arms around him.
He stiffens for a moment, then slowly relaxes. Lela runs forward and joins the embrace.
“Thank you,” Lela repeats.
He doesn’t know what to say.
“…You’re safe,” is all he manages.
Their parents approach. They bow deeply.
“You brought our family back together,” her father says through tears.
“We will never forget this,” her mother adds.
Sonny nods slightly.
Lela and her parents step away to greet others. Zoa stays for a moment.
“I wasn’t sure you could do it,” she admits. “And… when I learned about your past, a part of me thought… maybe you’d become like them.”
Sonny looks at her.
“I hope not,” he says quietly.
Zoa studies him. “What happened over there?”
Sonny’s expression hardens slightly.
“I killed a lot of them,” he says, then looks away. “I tried to give them a choice not to fight, but Ruin made sure they didn’t have that opportunity.”
He exhales. “I thought I was done with killing.”
Zoa steps forward and hugs him again.
“I can’t imagine what that felt like,” she says softly. “But you did what had to be done.”
They stand there for a moment. Then she pulls back, smiling faintly.
“You have my support,” she says. “Always.”
Sonny nods.
“There’s a gathering tomorrow,” he says. “I’ll be there.”
She brightens. “Good. I’ll see you then.”
They part ways.
Sonny walks alone into the quiet edge of the village. He reaches the spot where he has been resting.
He sits down and reflects on his day. And finally lets it hit him again. The faces. The bodies. The boy. Tears begin to fall.
“I had to kill. I don’t want it to always be like this,” he whispers to himself.
Inside his mind, Draco speaks. “Why are you crying?”
Sonny doesn’t respond.
Draco lets out a low sigh. “You wanted to feel again,” he says. “This is proof of your progress.”
Sonny clenches his fists.
“They had lives,” he says. “They were taken… then I ended them.”
Draco’s tone sharpens. “And how many lives did you save?”
Sonny stays silent.
Draco continues. “They chose to follow that man,” he says. “They did horrible things to people. Even killed.”
“They were forced into it,” Sonny counters.
“Some were,” Draco replies. “Not all. That doesn’t excuse the horrible acts they did.”
A pause.
“You ended something worse than yourself,” Draco says. “That matters to all the people in this basin.”
Sonny stares into the dark. “It doesn’t feel like it.”
Draco’s voice hardens. “Then you are choosing not to see it.”
That lands.
“You can hate what you did,” Draco continues. “But don’t pretend it meant nothing, because it means everything to these people.”
Sonny exhales slowly. “What if I don’t want to keep doing this?”
“Then don’t,” Draco replies. “But understand this. Sometimes the world needs someone willing to step into the dark.”
Sonny closes his eyes. “Why does it have to be me?”
Draco answers immediately. “Because you can.”
Silence follows.
Then Sonny lets out a quiet breath. “…You’re right.”
Draco huffs. “Of course I am.”
Sonny lets out the smallest hint of a smile.
Draco’s presence fades
“There’s just one thing left to handle in Pilse,” he says.
Sonny lies back in the place where this nightmare day started.
The night is still.
For the first time since the fight… His thoughts slow. And eventually, he falls asleep.
