The Death of Heroes

Galena and Maxi sit across from each other in their room, it’s silent. Both of them are still processing the day’s events, and the conversation they had. Maxi watches as Galena tries to rest, only to snap back and quickly check her surroundings for any signs of danger. Galena sighs, abandoning the hope of properly resting tonight. She looks across the room at Maxi and pats the space next to her. 

“Come sit, would you?” 

Maxi quickly crawls his way over and gets settled, leaning against the wall next to her. They fall back into a silence, the only sound being Galena’s breathing and the occasional guard walking in the distance. Galena sighs and leans over, resting her head on Maxi’s shoulder. A hot shock zaps both of them at the contact as Maxi’s vision goes white. He can see it…

He’s back in the bubble dimension, but he can see himself fighting shadow demons over in the corner of his vision. A rush of air hits his back as two sets of hands grab his arms and drag him back into an open bubble. He reaches out, but the voice that calls out for help isn’t his. He’s flipped over, and the last thing he sees is the wide grinning face of Zalveth before the gun hits his temple, and he jolts up, face to face with a very concerned Galena. 

“Maxi? Maxi! Talk to me! What just happened??” 

“I...I think you just gave me one of your memories”

“That’s not possible, only Zalveth could do that…”

“But you killed him, maybe the power transferred?” 

Galena falls silent as she sits back on her knees, wringing her hands nervously as her eyes dart around the floor. She could now give memories, all because she killed her captor. Suddenly, it struck her. 

“My mom!”

“What?”

“My mom, I can go fix my mom!”

Before Maxi could say another word, Galena gets up and stumbles out of the room, Maxi and Baby in tow. She makes her way to the teleportation rune, brushing past any king's guard roaming the halls despite their shouts to halt. The rune lights up and Maxi quickly jumps into the circle as all three of them are teleported to a distant flower covered field. Maxi quickly follows a very determined Galena to the small cottage in the distance. 

Galena knocks on the wooden door for several seconds before it cracks open. There in the doorway stands a disheveled, tired elf. 

“What… Galena?? Honey what happened?? You look awful- who is this?? Is that a demon?”

Galena’s dad hunched down, gently holding his daughter's beat and bruised face, concern dripping off of him. There was so much to take in for him, but Galena didn’t want to stall. 

“Where’s mom?” 

“Honey, we got to get you patched up-”

“No, dad. Please, where is mom?”

Aerith looks her over a few times before sighing, stepping out of the doorway. 

“She’s in the bedroom, but sweetie I really think we should address-”

“Maxi will explain, just let me work”

Galena made her way in, making a beeline to her parents shared bedroom. Maxi and Aerith share an equally concerned look before going to sit in the living room, Maxi explaining everything he could. The conversation ended with Aerith puking up black blood, and a lot of information to process. 

Maxi goes to check on Galena, since a decent stretch of time has passed since their arrival. He finds her sitting at her mothers side, grabbing her hand, a faint glow surrounding both of them. Black blood steadily drips out of Galena’s mouth, staining the sheets below as she works. Maxi walks over, sitting down next to her, breaking her focus. 

“Maxi, I'm okay, I’m almost done I promise.”

“You can’t strain yourself like this, you’ll be dead by the time you’re done”

“Please… I can do this. I can fix her.” 

The pair fall into silence as Galena works. Maxi casts cure wounds a few times, which is enough to keep Galena going until she finally finishes… Whatever she was trying to do. She stands, wiping the blood from her mouth and starts to head out the bedroom, swaying heavily as she does. Maxi quickly swoops in, supporting her body as he helps her out into the living room, where Aerith is sat with a very sleepy Baby. Galena gives a weak smile before tugging Maxi towards the front door. 

“Galena, you need to sit down”

“I’m okay, I just want to get back to the others…”

They walk outside, Aerith now in tow.

“What were you doing in there?”

“Fixing mom. She’ll be fine now. She’ll finally be back.”

Galena smiles, content with her work, finally the hero she wanted to be. 

…

The ground rumbles. Pebbles bounce around as this deep force from below surges forward. The chilling night breeze picks up as the force breaches the surface, splitting ground open, sending a heat wave outwards. The air ripples with the heat as a large tiger paw reaches up and sinks its claws into the ground. Dragging his way out of hell, the god of death, Caedes, glares furiously down at the creatures in front of him. 

Galena clutches Maxi as she grits her teeth, quickly turning to her father. 

“Take Baby and mom and hide. Now”

Aerith is speechless as he runs inside, darting towards the bedroom. Caedes snarls, sending another heatwave through the air. 

“You think just because you took down that puny high elf I'd simply go down with him? I’ve fought your god before and I'll do it a million times over if it means my reign of chaos continues. You stupid brats took everything from me… now you will pay the price. I’ll harvest the soul that caused all this mess in the first place-” 

Caedes slams his other paw down, knocking the pair to the ground as the windows shake violently. He reaches out, snatching Galena off the ground and lifting her squirming body to his face. He grins, bearing his claws as he stretches up, poking a claw at her stomach. From inside the house, both Anaka and Aerith watch the horror before them.

“Galena Kauffman… I'm afraid your reign of terror has coming to a bitter end.” 

He digs his claw into Galena’s gut, her screams echoing throughout the land. Her body falls in two cleanly severed halves, guts spilling out as her blood seeps into the dirt. Caedes laughs manically as thousands of hands crawl up his sides and drag him back down to hell, closing the hole, leaving only the four of them to deal with the loss of a mother, a daughter, and a friend.

Maxi takes a few steps forward, his vision fading in and out. The ringing in his ears becomes so loud he can’t hear the heartbreaking wails of Galena’s parents. He silently stares down at the blood pooling around his shoes as he feels Baby grab his hand. Next thing he knows, he’s being shaken by Sage, and the only blood left is the blood he trailed up Sage and Azazel’s porch. 

“Maxi, talk to me, man. What the hell happened to you?” 

“...Take care of Baby.”

“You’re covered in blood, where’s your girl?”

Maxi doesn’t answer as he walks off behind their house. Sage and Azazel share a confused look before Azazel goes and picks Baby up. 

“Let’s get you cleaned up little guy.”

Baby happily nods, oblivious to the things he witnessed tonight. The three of them don’t hear the fireball explode over the running bath water. 

Sage and Azazel don’t discover Maxi’s corpse until the morning, when they notice the large burnt crater in their backyard. 

Both heroes have fallen. Azazel writes a letter to the remaining party members, telling them all that he knows, and that Baby is in good hands. 

Maxi and Galena’s story finally comes to an end.