Goodbye

This is joint-written.

Glide hoisted Ambree up on top of the Western Cross wall. The triple sun was just starting to rise; the night watch had gone home.

“I’ll be back shortly,” Ambree said, jumping down onto the grass. Home. It certainly didn’t feel like it. It seemed as though Ambree fit in nowhere. Perhaps that was why she was going with Glide and Niqi. They didn’t seem to have homes, either, though they never mentioned it.

Ambree kept to the shadows, creeping along until she got to the house she used to share with her father. She climbed in through his bedroom window.

He was sleeping soundly. It hurt Ambree slightly, knowing she would never see him again. She shook his shoulders lightly. “Dad? Dad, wake up, it’s me, Ambree,” she said softly.

Her father woke yawning. “Ambree, the sun’s barely up, what’s – wait…Ambree?” He got out of bed, hugging her. “Ambree! Where have you been?”

“Dad…choking…” Ambree muttered.

He laughed and let go of her.

Ambree decided to get straight to the point. “I’m a Crusader, now.”

Her dad’s laughing stopped short. “…Excuse me?”

Ambree drew Insecte, as if to make her statement more convincing. “I’m a Crusader. They made an exception to the human law for me, because…well…” She drew the dark energy around her in a shield without much effort. She’d been practicing.

Her father stood, dumbfounded, staring at her. “What the hell is that?”

Ambree dispelled the dark energy. “It’s a supernatural power.”

“But humans don’t have-”

“It was given to me,” Ambree cut him off.

Her father was silent for a moment. “How?”

“It doesn’t matter. None of that matters anymore. I came to say goodbye, because I most likely will never see you again.” Ambree smiled. “I’m breaking the law right now.”

“I…I can’t lose you, too,” her father said, tears welling in his eyes.

He was talking about Ambree’s mother again. She dropped her eyes to the floor and tightened her grip on Insecte before sheathing it. “I’m sorry, dad. I never was at home here,” she mumbled.

Her father hugged her fiercely, and she could tell he was sobbing.

“I have to go now,” Ambree said, pushing away from her father. “Goodbye, dad.”

“Please, Ambree, don’t go,” her father pleaded.

Ambree shook her head sadly. “It’s already been done. Just say goodbye.”

Her father paused, seemingly trying to muster up the strength. “Goodbye, Ambree,” he managed.

Ambree nodded once, dropping out of his window and sneaking back to the border. She climbed the wall and jumped down to the other side, into Glide’s waiting arms.

“How’d it go?” Glide asked, setting Ambree down. “Not too bad, I hope.”

“It was a bit sappier than I was anticipating, but it was okay. He doesn’t know much, either, so that’s good,” Ambree replied.

“So he doesn’t know you’ve been exposed to combat already?” Glide grinned.

“I’m not sure. He saw Insecte and I showed him my supernatural ability, but I never outright told him that I’d been in a fight,” Ambree said.

“It’s probably for the best.” Glide said. “Don’t want him to be too worried about you.”

“You’re usually never this encouraging,” Niqi commented. She turned to Ambree. “I’m glad you got to say goodbye,” she told her. I didn’t get to she added silently.

“Maybe I just have a soft spot for people with fathers.” Glide muttered.

“Right,” Niqi mumbled.

“Did I miss something?” Ambree asked, confused.

“Maybe a long while from now, you’ll know,” Niqi responded.

“By all means, go ahead and tell her.” Glide said. “Just... don’t ask me to tell my life story.”

Niqi felt uncomfortable sharing anything of Glide’s past, as if it were disrespectful. “Well, the short version is that Glide’s father is a huge b*****d,” she started, walking away from the Western Cross wall.

Ambree followed. “And the long version?”

“Well…he did a lot of horrible crap that I don’t want to mention. Then he was sort of imprisoned in hell…he tried to escape, Glide had him locked back up…there’s tons of crap. He’s just an a*****e, is all,” Niqi tried to explain.

“Yep.” Glide grinned. “I’m the typical hero. The badboy with the horrible past that finds his calling committing random acts of violence against people that deserve it, meaning nobody cares that I commit said acts of violence.”

Ambree nodded. “So where are we off to now?”

“I’ve been thinking…we should lead a f****n’ extermination of the demons. Get rid of them once and for all, wipe them off the face of Seisen, stop all the fussing between the Crusaders and the selkies, and maybe bring some peace to this goddamned planet,” Niqi suggested.

“Aw, a change of subject already? I was so enjoying talking about my past.” Glide said sarcastically. “Hey, why don’t we tell her the one thing that truly separates me from your average, dime-a-dozen hero?”

Niqi stared at him. “You’re undead? You’re a deer? You’ve been alive longer than the legends of most heroes have been? You’ve been nearly everywhere in the omniverse?” She paused. “…You’ve got pink fur?”

Glide narrowed his eyes. “The fact that I was raped as a kid.” He growled. “Four times.”

“Oh,” Niqi mumbled. She stared down at her hindpaws, silent.

Ambree couldn’t think of anything decent to say either.

“Yeah, my life f****n’ sucked.” Glide muttered. “But am I a little emo p***y that cries in his room and slits his wrists with his mom’s razor blades? F**k no.”

“We all break differently,” Niqi replied.

Glide nodded. “I know. I’ve gotta say, though, I broke down, cried, and contemplated killin’ myself a fair few times when I was younger. After my mom died, I didn’t think there was a god until Shetani showed herself.”

There was silence for a few moments. Niqi sighed. “Let’s get off this depressing topic. Are we going to eradicate the demons or not?”

“You bet we are.” Glide smirked. “And when they get back down to the Nine Hells, may Satan f**k ’em in the a*s with a pitchfork for all eternity.”

Reviews

[KEi]

Ouch for Glide.
(It's one of those points that you kinda want to hug the character. But come on, this is Glide. I don't think many people could hug him at a moment like that and come out of it without a few bruises....)

See? I knew there was a reason that he was a sarcastic git, somewhere deep down.
:|