Silence. An uncomfortableness neither of them had anticipated from the moment their battle ensued. None of them made a move to attack, nor did they dare breathe. They both were aware of the outcome of this battle: Hanako would win. Fate had already decided the ending of their battle. Where did the point lie? It was futile of them to attempt to change their fate. Arlo sat on the ground, waiting for Hanako to strike. She only stared at him with a stoic expression. Why should she strike him down? Could they both not rule the Earth? When would her love prevail? The clouds continued to thicken with rage as they grew darker with each passing second. Hanako tilted her head back to gaze at the clouds forming a blanket over them. She let out a long exasperated sigh. This is not what she wanted; this is what Amaris, the Earth, and the Gods of Time wanted. They wanted another pointless downfall of a being, who will potentially stand in the way of their childish schemes. Perhaps, someone needed to put a stop to them. Hanako looked back at Arlo, who watched her with an expression similar to her's.
"There is no point in battling one another." Hanako stated loudly.
Arlo raised a brow in curiosity, "Please, elaborate." He gestured for her to continue.
Hanako slammed her fist into the ground causing the scenery surrounding them to turn violet, "Why should I kill you? Why should I play into their hands?" She spat.
Arlo stood up, "Such is fate, Hanako. I have known you would stop me since I could remember." He explained.
"Fate is such a trivial thing, not everyone is destined to follow their path." Hanako retorted.
"You mustn't take our fates lightly, we cannot stray from our path." Arlo quickly stated.
"I do not fear the Gods of Time, nor Amaris. I will not behave as foolishly and recklessly as they have." Hanako snapped.
"Release me." Arlo ordered with eyes narrowed, he referred to the dimension she had opened.
It blocked all life except for her and her guest to move freely without interruption from outsiders. In the Normal realm, this appeared as them staring at each other in silence. However, the only indication of them being in Hanako's dimension was both of their eyes glowing a bright violet color.
"Not until you agree with me." Hanako commanded.
"No," Arlo boomed, "I cannot! I have waited thousands of years for this, Hanako!"
Hanako clicked her tongue in annoyance, "Why should I care? You were selfish with your gift while I loved the Earth and its gift!"
"I only acted as the Earth commanded, otherwise you would not be a Preserver! You would be nothing but a measly Normal." Arlo venomously seethed.
"We can be more than what our fates define us as!" Hanako snapped with a deadly scowl.
"WE ARE DESTINED TO BATTLE TO THE DEATH. YOU ARE TO SUCCEED AND BE THE ONLY PRESERVER TO RULE OVER THE KEEPERS AND PACK." Arlo furiously shouted.
"WHY MUST I BE THE ONLY PRESERVER? I RESIDE IN THE ABANDONED REALM TO CONTROL GAIA! I AM OF NO USE TO THIS REALM!" Hanako shouted back in frustration.
"BECAUSE IT IS YOUR FATE!" Arlo screeched before holding up his hand in the shape of a gun, which fired a concentrated sphere of water.
Hanako smacked it to the side with the back of her hand, "I will not fight you." She boomed angrily, the violet walls around them began to crumble as rage slowly consumed her.
"Very well, I will." Arlo charged at her in a fit of rage.
Hanako raised a wall of the Earth with a lift of her hand. In retaliation, Arlo made it return to it's original place in the ground. Arlo grabbed Hanako by her throat, he lifted her into the air with a scowl. Her body turned to water in his hands, she appeared a few feet behind him.
"How can you be so stupid?" Arlo growled.
Hanako scoffed, "How can you be so stupid?! I have already explained myself to you!" She retorted.
Arlo roared before commanding tree roots to entangle Hanako and subdue her. Hanako sent them back to Arlo, who pushed them towards her once again. Shards of ice formed around her body, she commanded them to destroy the tree roots. Arlo brought his hands close to his chest and created a ball of fire to counteract her shards of ice. Hanako jumped in the air before slamming her fist against the ground, which caused a crack to form. Arlo dodged her attack, he raised his hand in the air to pull a funnel out of the sky. Hanako placed her hands together and cut through his tornado with ease.
"This is pointless!" Hanako shouted over the sound of thunder clapping loudly above them.
Lightning struck the ground in between them, they didn't bat an eye to it.
"Arlo, please!" Hanako desperately pleaded.
"SILENCE! IF YOU DO NOT DEFEAT ME T-THEN YOU LEAVE ME NO CHOICE BUT TO END MY OWN LIFE! IT IS MY FATE TO DIE! YOURS IS TO STAND BESIDE AMARIS AND THE OTHERS! MY TIME HAS COME TO AN END!" Arlo screamed with his eyes squeezed shut as he commanded a tree root to shoot through his body.
Hanako held back the root, "NO! ARLO YOUR TIME HAS NOT COME! NEITHER HAS MINE! WE CAN BE DESTINED TO STAND TOGETHER!" She grunted as she used all her strength to hold the root from tearing him in half.
"YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND," Arlo cried, "I MUST! I HAVE DONE TERRIBLE THINGS TO OUR PEOPLE! I MUST PAY FOR MY CRIMES!" He yelled with a hand on his chest.
"YOU WERE ONLY OBEYING THE EARTH! THE EARTH MADE YOU BEHAVE LIKE A MONSTER! I FORGIVE YOU!" Hanako finally gained full control of the root, she commanded it to ignore Arlo's commands as with the rest of the Earth.
Arlo fell to his knees, "How can you forgive me?" He sobbed into his hands.
"Why must I have a proper reason to forgive a fool like you? You are needed more than I in the Normal realm while I am needed in the Abandoned realm." Hanako cautiously approached him.
Arlo laughed dryly as he wiped his tears, "You will regret this later." He mumbled to himself.
"You are a kind man." Hanako stated with a small smile.
Arlo rolled his eyes, "The Earth will be upset with you."
It was her turn to roll her eyes, "The Earth is nothing but a pebble floating in space."
Before Arlo could respond, Amaris appeared behind Hanako. The air grew thick and heavy with her rage, it weighed down upon them as if she were standing on top of them. The collapsed to the ground like flies as Amaris stood with a darkened expression.
"What have you done?"
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