“Mister Lloyd, how come your shirt is melting?” asked the young boy.
Lloyd looked down at his torn shirt, and sure enough there was a large bloody gash going across it. “Don’t worry” he grinned, “this is just a bad shirt”
The pain stung horribly, he could feel the poison slowly worming its way through his body. But he couldn’t show it, not now and not ever. “Go and run home…” he wheezed, his breath coming in short gasps. “I just need to rest awhile ok?”
The young boy stared up at him with round eyes. “Whatever you say Mister Lloyd, your always right!” Lloyd could only chuckle. So full of promise this little one was.
“Here…take my pendant; it’ll show just how brave you were today.”
The young child’s eyes lit up. He slowly took the pendant and stared into its deep azure stare. “T-thank you Mister Lloyd!” he exclaimed, stuffing it in his pocket.
“Now hurry on home” he mumbled, “It looks like the rain will come soon”
Without a word the young boy gave Lloyd one last look before running off towards the village. When he was finally out of sight, Lloyd limped over to a tree before slouching against its trunk.
As the rain started falling, Lloyd’s own tears started falling. Never would he see the children of the village grow. Never would he witness the own birth of his child. Never would he hear the sweet voice of his wife again.
“Heh, is this what you were thinking about Zelos? To know that you were able so save a life with your own?”
He tried to get up but his legs had no feeling, he tried to wipe away his tears but only his left arm still worked. “Well…it was a good run….but it seems the reaper catches up to everyone sometime in their life…”
As the rain increased, Lloyd’s own heart slowed. His time was near, he had regrets but it didn’t matter. He slowly closed his eye lids, darkening the already dark world.
“I’m…so sorry everyone…” he mumbled “looks like…I really was a screw-up in the end…”
And as the final words of the sentence graced Lloyd’s lips, his heart ended the song known as life. A smile across the face of a hero, a father, a leader and most importantly…a friend.
"When a man's consciousness is fading away he will find, without fail, that he comes face to face with his own soul, and must challenge it."
-Frederic Chopin, Enternal Sonata
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