65 Starting Over?

"Rudy? Rudy is that you? Rudy! Rudy, wake up!"

As my consciousness slipped from my grasp I could hear Paul calling out to me.

"Rudeus!"

Once more I heard Paul call out my name.

"Is he healthy? Let me see him!"

'...Mother? Is that Zenith? How in the world did she get here?'

"You did it Zenith! Look! He's our son!"

I still felt weak, but I slowly regained the strength to open my eyes.

"He's really ours! He's perfect!"

'Paul and Zenith both stood before me, only they looked much younger. I... I've seen this before. No! Oh no! What!? Have I been reborn yet again!?'

Paul picked me up and gave me a big sloppy kiss on the forehead before handing me to Zenith.

"Nice to meet you, little one. I'm your mama.", Zenith said as she smiled at me.

"No! No! This can't be happening! Take me back! Take me back to my life with everyone in Sharia! I finally had a happy family...", I said as I slammed my fists down.

As I yelled these words, the only thing that actually left my mouth was a baby's scream while my weak arms flailed about softly.

"Rudy...", Paul said warmly as he leaned in to hug both Zenith and I.

"Rudy", he said once again, louder this time.

"Rudy!", he yelled.

The vision before me changed as my eyes snapped open once again.

"Oh thank god! You're alive! I thought I'd lost you", I cried out as he embraced me tightly.

"F-father? W-what happened?"

I just lied on the ground, confused. I couldn't get up even if I wanted to as Paul was technically pinning me down. Instead, I just lifted my arms up and rested them on his back, just happy that we are both alive and well.

After a few more seconds, Paul finally let go and leaned back up into a kneeling position.

"Thank you so much! You did it! I'm forever in your debt!", he yelled out while looking behind me.

'Huh? Who is he talking to?', I wondered.

"Oh, no! Think nothing of it. It's only natural that friends help each other out when they are in need."

'I recognize that voice!", I thought as I jolted up and turned around to face him.

"Glad to see you're feeling better", the man said with a creepy grin on his face.

No. It was a warm smile. It only looked creepy because his lips were so thin and his face was so gaunt. The man kneeling on the ground right beside us was none other than Randolph Marianne. The man who we abandoned in the middle of the forest while he slept.

"R-Randolph!", I couldn't help but say in surprise.

"Yep. That's me."

"W-what are you doing here?"

"Hmm? I just healed you. You were in pretty bad shape, you know."

"O-oh. Well... um. Thank you?"

"Haha. It's not a problem. You must be confused, I'm sure."

"Yeah...", I said while looking away and scratching behind my ear.

"When I woke up and saw you guys were gone I got worried and did my best to follow you. Luckily I was close enough that I heard the sounds of battle and came running this way. By the time I got here you were lying on the ground and your Father was begging for someone to help."

"I see. I'm very sorry about that. You see... well, it's kind of hard to explain."

"Ah, don't worry about it. We each have our own circumstances. I know you didn't mean any harm."

'Wow. He's such a damn good guy. I feel like such an asshole ditching him like that', I thought as I struggled to maintain eye contact.

As I looked away I saw Aleksander's body lying on the ground not too far from us. He was... still breathing!

"He's still alive!", I yelled out.

I got up and ran up to his body. He was unconscious, lying in a pool of his own blood. Yet, sure enough, the knife wound on his side had already closed up and his right shoulder was slowly but visibly regenerating.

Anger welled up from within me as I recalled how he nearly killed my father. I pointed my hand directly at his head and charged up a powerful stone cannon. This time I'll finish the job! I'll burn the body to a crisp! I'll vaporize him until there's nothing left!

Suddenly I felt a hand grasp my wrist and pull it away from him. I turned to the side in shock and looked to find Randolph beside me with an apologetic look on his face.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you not to do that."

"What are you doing!", I yelled out in anger! "Do you know who this is!? He tried to kill us!"

"Yes... I know him", Randolph said with a sigh.

"What!?", I said as I wrenched my arm from his grasp and jumped back to get some distance between us. "Don't tell me... are you my enemy too!?"

"No, no! Please don't misunderstand. I mean the two of you no harm whatsoever", Randolph said as he raised his hands up with his palms facing me in a motion as if to try and pacify the situation.

"I don't know who this is to you, but I can't just let him go", I said with a stern look on my face. "This is the second time he's tried to kill me. If we let him live, surely he'll use the opportunity to come at us again!"

"I assure you, I won't let that happen", Randolph said apologetically. "I will take full responsibility for this idiot uncle of mine."

"You're uncle!? THIS is the uncle you were searching for??"

"Yep."

"But he's..."

"So much younger than me", Randolph said with a laugh. "Yeah, I know. My family's a bit... eccentric."

"I appreciate that you're willing to take responsibility for him, but can you? Your uncle is the North God, you know!"

"Yes. I know all about that, of course. My fool of an uncle here wrote me asking for my help in retrieving his precious sword. 'It's a precious family heirloom', he insisted. I'm not one to ignore a plea for help from a family member, so I temporarily closed my shop in the King Dragon Realm to come help him."

"I've no intention of giving him the sword back."

"I expected as much."

"If you knew, then why did you come along with us? Did you plan to steal the sword when you got a chance?"

"I would never do such a thing. To tell the truth, when I first started traveling with you, I didn't even realize that you were the boy Alex wrote me about."

"I see. Well, I suppose you DID save my life. I owe you this much... but... If Aleksander ever comes at me and my family again..."

"No, I understand. I'll make sure that doesn't happen. If it does, I will end him myself. You have my word."

"You say that as though it would be easy."

"Easy? No, it definitely wouldn't be easy. If it comes down to it though, I do have the ability to suppress him. Especially now that he doesn't have our family's sword by his side. I may not look it, but I'm a pretty strong fighter myself."

"Oh? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised seeing as you're a relative of the North God."

"Allow me to formally introduce myself", Randolph said as he bowed. "Randolph Marianne. Some people know me as the Death God; fifth ranked among the Seven Great Powers."