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I should prepare for the worst. What if… Senku’s already been petrified?
Stanley took in a deep breath, making an almost vain attempt at calming his nerves, but the sweat dripping down his neck proved otherwise, along with his heart beating hard and fast against his chest.
This was no time to panic. Stanley didn’t know the kind of threat Why-Man was supposed to be. Stanley had to trust Senku and his negotiation skills.
Though the hypotheticals still raced at light speed through Stanley’s head. Thinking over the what ifs had gotten Stanley’s past troops killed in the line of battle. He needed to act.
The world needed Senku to survive. But more importantly… Xeno needed Senku.
And that’s what really mattered.
Without realizing it, Stanley’s body was moving on its own.
There was some shouting from behind him, but Stanley paid no mind to it. He had to press on. See what’s going on and survey the situation more.
He moved forward, clawing his way through the endless mountain of machinery before he finally reached its core where Senku was.
The breath Stanley didn’t know he was holding was finally let go the moment he caught Senku in his sightline.
“You had a clear line of fire to get rid of us” an eerie voice rang out, interrupting Stanely from his inner musings.. “And now you’re at a disadvantage. Why ?”
A chuckle came from under Stanley’s breath, but before he could even react, the Medusas began to surround his hand, swiftly taking the gun from his hand and aiming it directly at Stanley’s head.
Stanley clicked his tongue against his teeth, rolling the cigarette between his teeth. It wasn’t the first time he saw this side of the barrel. He chuckled once more, sticking his helmet against the barrel. “Something your kind doesn’t understand is us humans will do anything for the people we love. Can’t risk you takin’ out the kid that’s gonna save the entire world.”
“I fail to see your point. It is illogical to choose death over eternal life. An animal’s purpose is self preservation. Not saving others.”
“I couldn’t give two shits what you believe in.” Stanley pushed his helmet further into the barrel. “Clearly you’re stupid enough to think that us animals function in that way.”
The Medusas began to move at lightning speed, encircling Stanley, caging him such a way that would cause a normal person to panic. Though Stanley knew he was far from normal. He knew from the get go the risks of this suicide mission.
If this was what it took to save humanity, Stanley would do it without hesitation. He did it when humanity was petrified a second time. Self sacrificed himself for the good of the world… for the good of Xeno’s ideals…
This wasn’t any different.
Stanley looked up toward the sky as the Medusas closed what was left of the endless starry sky of space. He took in another deep breath and closed his eyes. “Take care of him for me.”
Senku watched as the Medusa flew away from their direction into the endless void of space. Their final words echoing back and forth between his ears, but more… Stanley’s words… his last words were what struck him the most.
Take care of him for me directly in his ears through the communication devices within their helmets.
Xeno would have heard it too…
Senku's chest tightened, gulping down the lump that was beginning to form in his throat. He balled his fists in a tight grip, his knuckles whitening as he pressed forward toward the still body.
There was no bringing Stanley back from this. Not even the last Medusa left behind couldn’t save Stanley. The shattered glass in Stanley’s helmet… the dark liquid seeping out onto the moon’s sand… it was enough to tell Senku that Stanley was longer among them.
That it was too late.
Senku looked toward Kohaku’s direction, frozen in her strides, horror making her eyes widen, showing off the bright glossy sheen in her sapphire orbs.
Her eyes were quick to meet Senku’s, Senku giving a nod toward her direction and then moving to look back toward Stanley.
It was silent communication, one that Senku knew Kohaku would understand.
For now… getting back to earth safely was top priority.
There was no celebration in the air once the rocket landed. The silence was deafening. It was daring nothingness. The only sounds threatening to break it were quiet sobs, ragged breaths, and the beating of a human heart. No words needed to be said, nobody daring to make the first sound while the astronauts made their way down the path.
The quiet was this sudden loneliness that hung over Senku’s heart. A constant companion to his innermost thoughts. It was a cancer that was constantly growing the further him and Kohaku walked down.
The billions of seconds he counted over 3700 years ago were nothing in its length compared to this…
As soon as Senku and Kohaku reached the end of the path, Senku turned his head as much as he could with his limited movement.
Where even was Xeno?
He was nowhere to be seen within the small crowd of people.
Senku could take a pretty good guess as to why…
Shots fired off in sequence. A closed, by request, casket sat brilliantly in the sunlight. The air was thick and warm, not a single cloud in the sky.
It was a stark contrast versus the dark cloud that hung over Xeno’s head. The warmth of the golden rays were not enough to keep Xeno’s blood from running cold. In Xeno’s heartache the sun didn’t shine, the birdsong’s melody within the sea of sky piercing trees didn’t glide through the air as it once did before.
Stanley was returning to Earth, returning to nurture root and grass, nurturing her just as how the Earth nurtured him. It was the more respectful way of creation, but…
“Please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one’s honorable and faithful service.”
Xeno's throat thickened, taking the folded flag into his hands and cradling it softly, weakly, against his chest. Yet the flag felt heavy while it was being held, as if it was a weight being pushed down into his chest, making it harder for him to breathe.
Everything. Was blank.
Xeno felt… nothing . He was removed from the world. Running on autopilot. He could not hear the words that other attendees said to him. He logically knew it was something about being sorry for his loss, but he could not hear it even still. They were muffled as if he was under water. The stares that would look in his direction, he could normally feel boring into his skin, but instead it was as if he was alone in a dark room with a flickering overhead light… a light that would eventually burn out.
Death is supposed to be the chapter of a story, yet Xeno could feel as though the entire book had ended.
The final sentence ending the story… Take care of him for me.
And that was it. The end. Even in death, Xeno was Stanley’s final thoughts and words.
Under different circumstances, maybe that was something Xeno could find himself softly smiling at. But now… Xeno couldn’t find an ounce of happiness within his core.
It was because of Xeno why Stanley was no longer of this world. Stanley was fiercely loyal and overprotective, like Xeno ever needed that, but he did it anyway… While Stanley had protected Xeno all these years, Xeno had failed to return it, to keep Stanley safe .
He took their bond for granted, and in Xeno’s naivety, he thought it was unbreakable. Stanley was gone, and with him, their bond... shattered into fragments more numerous than the stars above.
Xeno didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye.
His heart broke at the thought, Xeno’s knees threatening to buckle from underneath him. If Xeno could, he would bleed an ocean from his dark orbs. He wanted to beg, plead, get down on his knees and demand an invisible god to bring Stanley back. His soul felt wafer thin, body trembling from the inside and chilled. His other half… the warmth of his life… gone.
Xeno’s gaze shifted up toward the cloudless sky. It was there in the burial site, in the silky grass that time had stopped and stretched to the infinite, the green and the blue showing each other's beauty in their contrast.
Xeno let out a full heavy sigh, the first one he managed to do all day, his thoughts wandering to how Stanley’s emerald eyes would have shined so beautifully today… how the sky would echo the green’s beauty like how it was with the grass beneath Xeno’s feet.
Another thought crossed his mind while continuing to look toward the sky,
Wait for me so that one day we can walk together across the stars
Hours had passed. Xeno had let everyone know that he would need more time with Stanley, appreciative of everyone obliging in his request.
It was therapeutic to reminisce over memories out loud, despite fully knowing that Stanley wasn’t with him to hear.
“You do realize that your body will be of aid to earth’s… healing…” Xeno spoke out loud, gulping down the sudden lump that formed in his throat, as if a hand had suddenly gripped at his throat and cut off all his airways to breathe.
Stanley would tell him to stop his yacking and get to the point already, but Xeno would still trudge on, a soft smile at the thought of what Stanley would have said in retort to Xeno.
“However that doesn’t aid in healing one’s… heart…” Xeno’s voice shook as he spoke. “Emotions are such a trivial thing. Our brains are illogical at best in regards to the human heart.” Xeno’s fists balled, his shoulders beginning to shake. “You were always better at expressing them than I, but… I had a better handle on them. Seems as though it’s quite the opposite now, Stan.”
A single tear ran down his cheek, gritting his teeth together while gripping at the dog tags that hung around his neck. Xeno only wanted to change the world to make it all worthwhile… So many misguided visions in the shallow pursuit of truth and knowledge. He drank too deep and paid the price. Xeno had lost himself and with it, his best friend.
Xeno had never been so torn up in all his life. He should have seen this coming. He could have prepared. Humans weren’t invincible, after all…
There was shuffling from behind him and a throat clear, prompting Xeno to turn his head toward the noise.
“Hey, doc. Brought you some food,” Senku said, his tone low, holding out a plate of food to Xeno.
“Thank you,” Xeno answered weakly, turning his back toward Senku once more, ignoring the plate that Senku had dropped down next to his lap.
A hand came to Xeno’s shoulder, squeezing down onto it. Xeno tried to ignore it, resting his forehead against his knees, bringing his legs closer to his chest.
“It should have been you,” Xeno mumbled into his knees.
“What’d you say? Couldn’t hear you, Xeno.”
Xeno brought his head up, smacking away Senku’s hand from his shoulder and bringing himself to his feet, towering over Senku’s frame.
“It should have been you ,” Xeno sneered, his lips twisting and jaw tightening, eyes smoldering with resentment while glaring into Senku’s crimson orbs.
His hand shot up, suddenly gripping at Senku’s jaw and tugging him up toward his face. “It should have been you ,” Xeno repeated for the third time, a vortex of anger swirling inside of him the longer he looked into Senku’s pitiful stare, bitterness rising within Xeno like bile in his mouth.
With just as quick of a movement, Xeno removed his grip from Senku’s jaw, Senku having to take a step back to keep himself balanced.
Xeno took one last look at Senku before turning on his heels, a feeling of dejection blistering inside of Xeno the longer he stayed in Senku’s presence. He shoved his hands into his pockets and quickly strode away from his ex-mentee, having no further desire to do anything more brash to Senku in his emotionally charged state.
Grief has a way of removing oneself from the world, and now Xeno had to find a way to weave himself anew back into the fabric of the living. He wasn’t even sure how he could do such a thing.
In this broken world Stanley was Xeno’s world, his healer, his light.
And now… Xeno was nothing but flesh and bone. A hollowed out version of himself.
Merely a ghost that had become nothing.