Hare of Misfortune

Studying the pair, Rachel rubbed the back of her neck. ”What exactly did you want to do? Get more powerful by doing something with my Seed?”

”Oh, no!” Chang’e took a deep breath and streamed it out. ”I’m not here to ask for anything from you. I’d only like to see you not so...focused on the Infernal side of the spectrum. Not that I am trying to insult you, Lady Izanami. I believe you are far more capable of handling Divine Force than I, given the reputation I have heard from your children.”

”She can flatter, can’t she?” Izanami chuckled. ”You are out of time, Chang’e. I would get to the point.”

The woman gave a gracious nod. ”Thank you. I will simply offer my own blessing, as Lady Cerridwen has already done. When you choose your next Feat, it should be available, should you choose to take it. It is your choice. It will allow me to view your progress and nothing more. I hope to see you grow and learn the joy that is in Divinity. Perhaps we could be friends...in time.”

A hollow look that revealed the pain of killing herself countless times shone through her soft eyes. ”It would be nice to find someone I could trust. I haven’t felt this lonely since...for quite some time.” Rubbing away a tear, she smiled and waved her goodbye, possibly referencing the time she’d taken the immortality elixir intended for her husband when assaulted by a robber. ”Good luck! I can’t wait to see how you grow, Nia.”

”Thank you, Moon-Mom!” Nia said with a childlike grin, making the woman choke up, and even Izanami’s lips drew in as she hopped forward to hug her. ”I’ll make you proud!”

Drawn out of the 7th Circle, Rachel was a tad surprised when its rays didn’t leave her. They stood in the middle of the Legend Quest’s large, original sandy stadium; above them was a portal, showing Yomi with its edges slowly closing in. The sweet smile of Chang’e and the devious smirk of Izanami observed, the 6th dimension now cut off from Conner’s Seed.

Eostre and Moongmor stood in front of them, the woman far more relaxed now that this quest was over. She didn’t waste any time in posing her question, either.

”Do you want to save Conner’s Seed, or do you want to let the Black Moon swallow it? Within the sphere, the man died moments ago, yet his progeny still continues to struggle inside. After fifteen years of struggle and seeking redemption, he left a legacy to the end.”

”What about his weapons and pet? Did his Seed grow from those fifteen years?” Rachel asked, extracting the sun gloves to study the intricate design.

Eostre closed her eyes and shook her head. ”Upon losing to you, the Seed was stripped out of his soul, and his items were taken from him by Izanami since everything was given to you as the spoils. The Seed itself is...unorthodox, she said, but showed me it is possible to remove and gift to another legend to continue the quest.”

A pressure struck Rachel’s chest as she looked to the south end of the stadium, where the Black Moon still hovered, gradually fading away; its rays didn’t reach her like Yomi’s.

”Fifteen years...as just a wrestler. Hah. Was he at least able to keep his abilities?”

”Yes,” Eostre confirmed, making Rachel’s eyebrows draw together as she explained. ”The Seeds reshape the soul, meaning that the potential to access his Feats was still within him, but the assistance in using them was taken away...”

She hesitated before clearing her throat and asked, ”Would you like me to show you his life in those fifteen years? It was quite a change...and he spoke quite often about how you altered his destiny. Almost as if you were a friend.”

Taking in a deep breath, Rachel let it out, recalling his last words before she sent him into the Black Moon. ”To die a legend’s death...and to live on as a stepping stone in my story.”

Drawing in her lips, knowing time probably was heavily changed as it was, and Eostre wouldn’t be offering if it would take a long time, she nodded.

A rose bloomed in Eostre’s palm, and she blew it toward her, the petals cycling around her. Viewed as if in 3rd person, Rachel watched the man fall into the dark woods. A pack of vicious, nightmare-born tigers emerged from the mist, each three meters tall, their eyes glowing yellow, locked on him.

The legend scrambled to his feet and tried to defend himself, still rocking the body of a Greek god, but his Resilience had sharply declined, and bleeding gashes soon covered his bronze skin until an eruption of green smoke filled the forest, driving the snarling tigers back.

A small group of men and women picked him up, releasing more gas bombs and wearing strange tiki masks. Time skipped, and he met a rather small, not-so-attractive woman in her mid-twenties dressing his wounds. Newcomers brought hope and skills they desperately needed in the hope-absorbing moon.

Hiding in caves, one they’d won from a nasty pack of miniature puppets by using their alchemic skills to purge it with fire, Conner slowly came around. At first, he was solely focused on his mission, but as time went on, a dream entity tormented him with the victims of his past, stretching the legend to his limits.

Unable to sleep, and when he did, waking in screams from the torment he received, the woman was his rock, finding herbs to help suppress the creature’s mental claws. It was from this that they formed a friendship, then grew closer, and Rachel saw the gradual change in the nightmare world, yet he never once told them their plight was hopeless.

If he could just edge out a little better life for them, it would be enough for him, and he did. Year after year, he trained, and he grew. Rachel felt genuine pride to see the second chance he’d been given used to its fullest.

Sure, Conner made mistakes and made his best friend cry and suffer. He was stubborn as all hell in doing everything himself—and slightly misogynistic at times—yet that pride was broken down, and she was there to comfort him for his flaws, helping him through when he almost broke.

Twelve years later, a friendship grew into love, and they became a couple, building a safe, fortified town to adapt to the trouble sent their way every night. Conner had grown strong, though. He had something to lose.

On the eve of their son’s second birthday, a dragon attacked their settlement, and Conner used everything he’d learned to keep them safe. He had his kinetic force absorption and partial-liquid transformation, yet the cackling summoner that created the lizard had planned accordingly.

This nightmare was a long-standing antagonist to their settlement, and Conner could feel this would be his end, a hundred demons joining the dragon, yet he marched out unafraid, comforting his crying wife and bewildered son.

Fighting with the friends he’d gained over a decade, Conner took the attention of the horde, leaving his wife to sneak into the forest and deliver the final shot into the summoner’s heart. They’d killed the great nightmare of the forest that sent his beasts and had only lost one man, but it was felt.

Rachel watched Conner laugh as his wounded but still living comrades huddled around his broken, burnt body, his wife running through the vanishing summons to reach her husband, screaming his name as her sister cared for their child from a safe distance.

He looked right at Rachel as if he could see through time, and there was happiness and fulfillment in his single intact eye.

”It was...half the size of that magma dragon... Hah-haaa. Right, Rachel? Nothing... Fifty demons? My wife got the kill shot—what a badass,” he said through fits of pained laughter as the odd mix of humans and other creatures huddled around him, paying their respects.

”I’m a bad man... But a bad man can still do good... A bad man can still do good...”

”Conner!” his wife cried, falling to his side, unsure where to touch him, yet none of her scars had come from this battle. ”Conner... Why do you have to be a dumbass and do everything yourself?”

”Because—I love you,” he whispered, eyes fading away as he took his final breath. ”I love our son... He’ll be strong... Thank you, Rachel... He’ll be good. He’ll be good.”