'Am I fu*cking Dead?'
Yet he was still standing there, the blood that had previously sprayed out of his skull was nowhere to be found.
The tip of the barrel was pointed straight at Alicent. Yet this time, the muzzle of the barrel didn't have white smoke coming out of it. Alicent widened his eyes, one of which was glowing with a dazzling blue light. In the darkening forest, the eye emitted a blue light that could be seen from afar.
Bang!
Alicent moved his head slightly to the side, the bullet grazed his ear, and his hair and lodged behind him in a tree.
He wasn't dead!
The supernatural allowed him to have a precognition of the future through a surreal vision.
'So that must be a gun? A handheld barrel that shoots much like a cannon...' He thought as he examined the iron barrel that the Anzer held. Smoke was finally coming out of the muzzle.
Anzer started shaking.
He was scared of the kid, the one that dodged a bullet that couldn't be seen, the one whose eye was glowing. It terrified him.
'What a p*ssy...'
His hand gradually weakened, and the gun in his hand fell to the ground with a thud. He had just witnessed his undefeatable partner get outwitted and defeated by a kid who was barely half his age.
"Monster..." He muttered.
...
In the trees, a duo wearing a suit silently witnessed the event that transpired in front of them.
"Did he just perform a foresight?" The pale man with the slicked-back hair asked. He was of average build, and he held a cane in his hand. His suit was clean, and the top button was done with his tie tied tightly; he was a man who valued his formality and appearance.
"No, it was a precognition; he had no prior knowledge of that revolver." The woman answered as the brown hair that framed her face swayed slightly in the wind. She had tanned skin and her eyes were dark in colour; she had an exotic southern beauty.
Foresight was an ability that was related to the prediction of the future through the knowledge the user already had. Precognition was an ability that was related to seeing the future and could involve variables unknown to the user.
"Then he is an ascender involved with the Diamond domain, perhaps a Jester." The man said.
"Perhaps."
...
"Mhhmph"
"It's alright, mam, I've defeated those people." Alicent thought as he removed the gauze in the woman's mouth and untied her.
"Thank you for saving me." The woman said slowly, her eyes had marks of dried-up tears, her clothes were dirty and torn in some places. She looked to be in her early twenties, with luscious blonde hair and blue eyes.
He didn't know what happened to the woman, but he didn't want to trigger any bad memories either.
"It's my pleasure. How did you end up in these parts?" He asked her.
"I was returning to Snofel after finishing my studies in Grunard, I was in a carriage with my brother and the carriage driver.
The main road seemed to be destroyed from a landslide we travelled through the forest, as for the carriage driver and my brother... they... they were...." The lady started sobbing at the end. Alicent put his arms around her gently in a manner that didn't make the lady feel uncomfortable.
Snofel was located on the southwestern side of Grunard, a port city that was located deep in the mountains. It was known for its unique culture that was northern with a bit of southern culture. For this reason, it was also a famous tourist destination.
"Where is the carriage?" He asked the woman, she silently pointed in a direction. He quickly went over and checked the area to find a carriage with a broken wheel. Two corpses were laid to the side. From their appearance, he judged them to have died around three or so hours ago.
"We should bury them." He told the girl after moving a few steps back. She silently nodded at him. It was already getting dark at this point, and although his house was not far away from here, it was still dangerous to be in the woods in the dark.
There were bandits around these places, and he was quite fortunate that he didn't encounter them instead of the poachers.
He looked around in the woodpoacher's belongings and found a hefty old shovel which had started rusting, it would have been completely useless in a couple of weeks.
As he started to dig, the girl approached her brother's corpse. Tears filled her eyes, her lips pursed from sadness and grief. She put a hand on her brother's long, cold body and looked into his eyes that were staring into the abyss.
The harsh light of dusk filtered through the trees, casting long shadows across his still face. She reached out, trembling, and brushed a stray lock of dirt-streaked hair from his forehead.
"Andre…" Her voice cracked like fragile glass, barely more than a whisper.
She quelled her tears.
"You were always so strong… always watching out for me."
She put her hands to the back of her neck, a green pendant with the symbol of a tree and branches, a symbol of the Mistress of harvest.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you." She put the pendant around his neck.
Alicent knelt silently behind her, respecting the space she needed. He saw the conflict in her eyes — sorrow, guilt, and a desperate hope for peace.
"We'll lay him to rest soon," he said softly. "Blessings will guide his spirit. You did what you could."
Anastasia nodded, her breath shaky but steadying. She looked up to the sky, whispering a quiet prayer only she could hear.
"Goddess all all-loving… protector of the forest and life… please watch over Andre. May he find rest in your embrace."
She hugged his cold corpse for the last time.
"Goodbye, Andre," she said finally, voice steady with both pain and resolve. "May your spirit be free."
Alicnet dug two holes and placed the bodies in them. He looked around for a bit before finding two dried twigs. He also pulled out a match and rubbed at the side of the box, lighting it.
"Wait." The girl called out, She had stood up. Alicent paused his act and unlit the matchstick.
"Ah, sorry." He told her. During the burial process, a believer of a certain god is buried or cremated in a certain way to channel their spirit to the god's respective kingdoms.
For the believers of the Lord of light, it was customary to do the funeral during daylight or in the presence of a source of light, such as a fire.
For other Gods, such as the God of Stone and Earth, the believers cannot be cremated. As for the goddess of harvest, a sapling must be planted above their remains.
This was because the rituals would be a form of conduit for the Gods and their angels; some legends spoke of unchanneled spirits turning into ghosts or undead coming to haunt their loved ones.
"The driver is a god of the stone believer, my brother believes in the goddess." She told him, and he thought for a second. The driver was a believer of the god of stone, so in a sense, the burial ceremony was already completed.
As for the girls' brother.
During winter months such as this, it was very hard to find a sapling; it would be difficult for a proper burial.
"Does planting seeds do the job?" He asked her.
"I think I've witnessed a funeral where seeds were planted." She told him. He nodded and went over to find a popped pine cone; he brought one and put it over the man's dead body.
"Do you know the full name of the God of stone?" He asked her, she shook her head. He sighed and started burying the driver, silently praying to the Divine Lord of light's grace.
"Please chant the Harvest Goddess's full name." He told her, and she nodded.
"Goddess all loving... The mother of the forest and its animals, the Goddess of harvest and birth, the protector who guards the spirits of her children.... She who sits atop the branches of the world tree... the goddess of life; Freya, may you grant this soul a seat beside you."
The ritual was completed, and Alicent shoveled the dirt over the man's body.