Heart part 1

Chapter 47 - Taste the Wind part Final: The Way The Wind Blows

Heart emerged from the derelict building, shadow hanging over their face with determined eyes more piercing than stars. Sun and wind greeted with all their ignorance. Over by the gates, Dandy stood large. By his feet laid Sandy and across the way by the wall was Quiltz. Held up in his hand, Esther struggled and snarled. Ayesha was nowhere to be found.

" Four...!" Dandy uttered beneath a breath, letting out a triumphant laugh. His sly eyes mocked Esther's attempts at escape.

" Go to hell!" She snarled with the last strength of her refusing body, spitting in his face.

His eyes intensified. His grin grew higher. He began to squeeze. " Curse me all you want girl! Your people brought all this themselves! Don't hold it against mine! Remember that as Succa swallows you whole!"

As he erupted another laugh, Esther began to go limp. Her changing face gasped but couldn't get a single breathe.

" When are you going to decay?" Heart called out from the shadows of the building.

Dandy glimpsed over. " Oh, you've finally returned. And how's you're little friend, hmm?"

The snide grin on his face was never larger.

" I'm afraid you're going to have to stand there and wait like a good girl. I'll deal with you in just a moment." His grip around Esther's throat strengthened. " Soon, I will end this. My people will be saved. I will do what my ancestors were always too afraid to do. The suffer will be over, the fear will finally end, and I will finally be done."

Hearing the clink of a kick, something rolled across the ground toward his feet. In the corner of his vision, he could see it vaguely. His eyes widened. On the ground before him, sat a Wind Urn. With a loosening grip, he stared and never took his eyes off.

" What are you waiting for?" He could hear Heart utter. " I thought you wanted all the power you could get. You know, for your people."

He could barely believe it. In fact, he couldn't believe it. This wasn't his first trip around the bend. Something was afoot.

He dropped Esther to the ground coughing and gasping.

He dared not step an inch close to it. From where he stood, he looked it up and down. Neither the seal nor the urn itself looked damaged in any way. Could it be some clever forgery? A trick?

" No...my gut is telling me, this is the real deal," Dandy uttered, his grin fading. " So then why... Why is it also telling me to stay away?"

An ominous aura filled the air. He took a gulp. A chill ran up his spine. He began to take a step back.

" Is that it? Is this all it takes for you to give up?"

His foot stopped partway. His ear raised their way.

" You've gotten through worse, haven't you? If 'Invincible Luck' and 'Unbeatable Height' aren't enough to overcome something like this, then how can you ever expect to be able to take over Cyend and give your people the utopia they deserve? The home they need?"

" And besides, you're 'gut feelings', they're entirely based on your luck. You can't say it's never failed you before."

Dandy knew what they were doing. He knew exactly. But their poisonous words, despite all his armor, spoke to the weakest in him.

Heart's eyes tensed, showing their true inhuman colors. " Maybe I should use it then and kill the spineless ingrate before me. What's another century of regret and suffer? I know your people haven't had enough. Maybe when it's over, someone with actual gull will arrive and save this land,"