The Bloodforged Kin

Chapter 222 - 216: Safehold - Defeat in Victory

Blood exploded onto the people on the wall, shocked people wiping it from their eyes. The snowman looked down at the hole in its chest with incredulity, one purple finger prodding at the open wound in its chest. It turned slowly, eyes finding Cass. Cass stood, left leg forward, right arm gripping another orb in a pitcher's stance. It roared at him with rage and charged forward, arms crossed over itself to protect its chest and face.

It only made it two steps. Cass had become a blur and heavy steel crushed through bone and flesh, each one hitting before the previous one had made its way out of the other side of the monster's body. To everyone watching there was a blur of motion, a sound of something heavy moving through the air at a hum, and suddenly the creature's head and upper torso exploded in a shower of shattered bone and ripped-apart viscera. Some of the balls flew far into the distance over Safehold, others thumped into the wall hard enough to cause it to vibrate, and one took one of the wall guards in the chest, his body disappearing from between the two men on either side of him.

Cass smiled in victory as 'Enemy' by Imagine Dragons started playing. He may not have finished in two songs, but he'd barely started song number three. He pumped his fist in the air, whooping with excitement. His fist slowly fell as the expected cheering didn't arrive. Every other time someone had defeated one of these things they'd been cheered, and this one was the toughest one so far! They should be cheering him more than anyone else!

The walls were a flurry of activity, but no one was facing his direction. He searched for his mom, not finding her on the walls. She wasn't even there to share his victory with him. What? Confusion, hurt, and anger warred within him. It's not fair! I beat it and they aren't even here to see! Why do they always do this to me? Anger won out and Cass's face screwed up with rage. He pulled out the last of his speed and ran at the wall. It failed just as he reached the top and he let out a yelp as he began to slide back down. He scrambled and caught the lip, looking for someone to help pull him up. Someone to reach for him.

No one did. Everyone was facing away from him. His anger intensified as he pulled himself onto the top, out of breath and humiliated. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?"

Heads turned at his shout and the expressions that greeted him weren't congratulatory and excited. Glares, tears, and undisguised anger made him step backwards, his foot only finding only open air. He windmilled his arms but felt himself starting to fall.

Finally, a hand reached out and caught him. Cass was pulled back onto the wall and looked up into Ed's eyes - eyes that were filled with tears.

"What happened? What is going on?"

Ed shook his head, expression grim. "I shouldn't have given you those balls. They seemed like a good idea at the time, but you didn't get any time to practice with them. It's not your fault - you couldn't have known how much power they'd have when combined with your speed, but still…" he trailed off.

A sinking feeling was overcoming Cass. Something had happened? Something he had done? He worked his way to the second wall and down one of the ladders. He pushed his way through the crowd that was surrounding the stage. "What is going on?"

Faces turned to him - some angry, some accusing, some just sad, but almost all streaked with tears.

"Cass, don't come up here. Please, go back to the house, I'll meet you there."

"Mom, what is going on?" Cass ignored her words and tried to push past her. She continued to block his path. He didn't know what was behind her but he knew he needed to see it.

Stolen story; please report.

But did he? Did he really want to? Whatever had happened couldn't be good, and everyone here seemed to blame him for it. Did he really want to see what it was? The thought of his bed and his books sounded perfect to him then - calm and peaceful. Not scary at all.

He shook the thought away. He needed to see it. He reached the bottom of his pool and felt the mostly-healed cracks in the bottom. He forced a crack open, damaging it again, and pulled a sliver of speed out. He didn't need a lot, just enough to -

Cass appeared on the other side of his mom, staring down at the body that was laying on the stage. The man's face still held an expression of shock and surprise. Cass's gaze traveled downward to the steel ball that had so fully crushed the man's chest that they hadn't been able to pull it out.

He felt their eyes on him - all of them. Everywhere he looked he saw judgement and anger. "It was an accident," he murmured, then repeated again. "It was an accident! I didn't mean to! I didn't know this would happen! I was trying to save us - to save you! I killed it! I killed it by myself in only two songs! I killed it for you!" He was shouting now, turning to face everyone down. Please! He cried to himself. Please understand! I didn't mean to! I was just trying to help! It was an accident!

He looked for a single expression of understanding or compassion - just one. The faces around him twisted, eyes narrowed, teeth bared. Some even pointed at him, wordless in their accusations.

He looked for his mom - she would understand! He found here there, standing next to the body, staring at him. Her face was the most judgmental of all - anger, sadness, and, worst of all, disappointment etched across every feature. He could feel her disgust and disappointment in him. She may not say it, but he could read it in her body language as clear as day - she regretted ever having him. She reached a clawed hand out to grab him.

Cass punched through the bottom of his pool and ripped a handful of the speed force out, ignoring its cries as he did. Normally the speed came to him and he pulled it into him, like an agreement between friends. This time he didn't wait for the agreement. He consumed it, shredding it down to its atomic structure and forcing it into his cells. He disappeared off the stage, his normal silvery-blue lightning replaced by jagged lines of dark purple.

Tess watched him disappear before she could reach him, her hand outstretched to pull him into a hug. Her face was soft with concern for her tender boy, wanting to spare him the pain of what had happened. She looked around at her people and saw concern similarly mirrored on their faces. The unexpected loss of one of them was a shock, and some were understandably upset, but none blamed Cass. He had defeated the toughest Abominable Snowman they'd had to face yet and done it in spectacular fashion. If it weren't for this death they'd be carrying him around the courtyard on their shoulders right now.

Even so, Tess could see the understanding and acceptance from the people here. Sadness and shock, most definitely, but no blame or accusations. This was a harsh world and people died. Accidents happened and it was pointless to point fingers when a hard-fought battle led to a death. Cass himself had almost died out there, and Tess could see that understanding on the faces around her.

She felt Luna's arms close around her waist and she hugged the girl tight. Together the two of them cried, hearts aching for the boy.

"Why did he run away? He didn't even give us a chance to tell him that we understood!"

"He has never seen the world like the rest of us," Luna said. Tears still flowed but the sobbing had stopped. "When he blames himself he thinks everyone else is blaming him too. I think he saw what his brain told him he should see, and his brain isn't very nice to him sometimes."

Tess felt the words resonate through to the bottom of her soul. Her dark passenger may have disappeared, but the basement was still there, waiting for it to come back. She knew what it was to blame yourself, to hate yourself. To look at others and see only disgust in their faces. It had taken her a long time, and a lot of therapy, to accept that what she was seeing wasn't reality, just her brain's interpretation of it, but even that knowledge never truly made a convincing argument.

"Can you feel him, honey?"

Luna shook her head. "No, he's too far away. I'm not sure where."

"Please come back, my baby boy. Please." Tess had murmured it to herself but she felt Luna nod and her hug grow tighter.