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Chapter Begins:
"You don't look surprised," Jack comnted, ignoring this impudence. "Did you know? How is that possible?!"
"I didn't," Kai answered, pouring a cup for himself. "Not at first... at least."
He downed the cup with his only hand, the fingers trembling, making the tea splash out.
Kai tasted it. He only made tea here once, but on Island X, he had done so many tis that he had stopped keeping a count ages ago.
He had realized it a decade ago, Kai rembered.
It had been just a wild, but heart-palpating guess, then.
Now it was the truth; the only one.
"Still, one mistake..." Kai mumbled, almost smiling. "Am... I right?"
Jack regarded him for a mont, then nodded, closing his eyes.
The Tea Room fell into an odd silence.
"Go back," Jack advised, opening his eyes. "Maybe you will find..."
"A way?" Kai cut in, the calmness in his eyes overwhelming all hearts. He shook his head. "It... has never been about Island X, Jack.
"From... the beginning... it was about this one mistake. 1000 years, 10000 years, or longer... I..." Kai allowed himself a dry breath. "I... was fated to face this... one mistake."
Sothing stirred in Jack's eyes. "Then why..."
"I could make the tea... perfect." Kai's claim thundered in the three guest's ears. "This one mistake... I could correct it."
"You... lie." Words left Cersei's dry lips, but even she didn't believe Kai had lied.
Jack saw the truth in his student's eyes better than Cersei.
His mind was still more rational, unclouded by love. "What have you done, son? I didn't expect..."
Kai chuckled.
"There are things a man can give up on, Jack," he said, looking at the three; his friends. "There are people he can... forget. Friends, he can lose. Love, he can..."
Kai shook his head. "But... there are things he can't give up, too."
He pushed himself up, his hand slipping on his congealed blood.
The girls had turned stone, forgetting what was happening around them, their eyes never leaving his face, his words booming in their minds.
Jack stood up along with him, his pupils shaking for the first ti; a sense of apprehension welling up; a sense he had already forgotten.
"What is a man... without ambition?" Kai mumbled, more to himself than to others. "What is he... without goals? Kill...
"A man must kill all who stand against him, for... that is, according to a man's heart. Kill...
"A man must make sure... to not compromise one's principles, for... that is according to a man's beliefs. Kill...
"A man must... have a path to tread, Jack, for... that is expected of him.
"If a man doesn't do all this... then... wouldn't a man beco sothing... like you?"
Jack stumbled back, horrified.
Kai's calm eyes penetrated his soul, his mories, his struggles, and his compromises; his sacrifices.
"I am... a demon!" Kai stated, his eyes chilling the bones, his spine straight in defiance. "A demon doesn't submit..." he breathed deeply. "A demon... has his own demonic path... principles... and promises.
"There is no one... above... no one... below. Rest are bugs. All of them. You... the Systems... all are nothing in my eyes.
"In this world, there is only one demonic thing..." Kai paused, his smile becoming a grin. "... my Heart!"
"You..." Jack protested.
"This is..." Kai cut in, chuckling, "... my Demonic Attitude. What am I... without it?
"The Systems... want to give up on it? They... want to beco a pawn...
"I am Kai of House Stormborn! We do NOT submit! EVER!"
Kai stumbled.
Cersei rushed and held him up.
"Take ... to the tree," he said, smiling at her and Selene.
Jack's back was pressed against the wall, Kai's words raging inside his mind.
"Is it worth it?" he found himself shouting. "Is it worth dying... for a re Attitude?"
Kai paused, not his thoughts.
If there was one thing that remained the sa about him, then it was the fact that he never regretted his decisions.
There were no doubts. Once sothing was done, then so be it.
"It is, old friend," he said, without looking back. "It sure is."
"How do you know?" Jack asked, raging. His entire existence, his entire beliefs, his entire reasonings were on the brink of shattering. It all depended on Kai's answer.
"How... am I sure of it, you ask?" Kai's words echoed, ricocheting off the Hut's thin walls. "Well, I am sure of it because...
"... I have already died once, you fool."
Kai, Cersei, and Selene left Jack rooted to the Hut's floor and arrived at the foot of the wall-like tree.
There, Kai slumped down, with Cersei and Selene on his sides.
No one said anything. No one expected one to say sothing.
Kai's shadow rippled and Murasa flew out, resting on his lap.
Sounga and his arm also ca to rest on his knees.
Rest, finally.
Kai looked into the distance, the world blurring in his eyes. He could see sothing, hear sothing.
Who was it? This song reaching his ears... who was singing?
Who was calling him?
Not that bad, I guess, Kai wondered, the odd calling fading in and out of his mind. I tried. I failed.
Soone grabbed him tightly, latching onto him. Soone kissed his chin.
The calling beca stronger.
"Who is it?" Kai asked, his mouth gasping for breath in reality. "Who are you?"
Then she arrived.
She was thin, her face was pale, and the dark patches under her eyes told a tale of great tiredness. Despite these features, she looked extrely beautiful sohow.
Her face shared the enchanting characteristics of Kai's, and her pupils were hazel as well, just a tinge darker.
Long, light blond hair fell over her shoulder like sunlight, a golden shimr dancing over them as she reached for his face.
"Mother..." Kai saw her smiling at him. "How?"
Edith Stormborn looked at her son, her eyes full of pain.
"Son," she said, caressing his face. "I've failed you."
Tears welled up in Kai's eyes, and he nodded at those words, despite wishing against it. "I tried... I tried so hard..."
"I know," Edith smiled, the corners of her eyes misting. "Let's go. Co with . You have suffered enough."
Kai nodded.
Edith stood up and held out her hand for him.
Kai lifted his hand, put his hand over hers, and stood up.
Gone was the age. Gone was the pain. The worries and questions...
The 11-year-old Kai stepped near his mother, his eyes never leaving her face.
Edith's smile widened, tears streaming down her face. "Co," she said. "Let tell you all of my adventures."
"Umu," the child nodded, his hazel eyes beaming strongly. And, for the first ti in ages, the child smiled, his fingers tightening around his mother's.
Step by step they went, both laughing, fading into the distance.
*
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Jack walked out of the Samurai's Hut, his eyes lost.
Had he been wrong all this ti? Was what his student said true?
Had he failed all of them?
Had he failed his father?
Jack walked, not knowing where he was going, but his feet brought him to the tree, this behemoth.
His student... had gone.
The girl by his side looked at Kai, kissed him, and blurred away as well.
The serpent was different a breed. The mont it saw him, it lunged at him, baring its fangs. But without Kai, it was fated to disappear as well.
All his items were bound to vanish, like a mirage.
Jack sat down beside his student, noticing the smile on his old, dead face.
Had he found it? Jack asked himself. Had he found what he had been looking for all his life at this mont of death? Would he smile like Kai when his ti cos as well?
What is a man without ambition? What is he without goals? Kill.
A man must kill all who stand against him, for that is, according to a man's heart. Kill.
A man must make sure to not compromise one's principles, for that is according to a man's beliefs. Kill.
A man must have a path to tread, Jack, for that is expected of him.
If a man doesn't do all this, then wouldn't a man beco sothing like...
"Like ..." Jack said, smiling. "Wisdom doesn't co because of age; it cos to those who seek it.
"Was this what you were trying to say, my friend?
"What a bold man you were, Kai Stormborn. A demon, indeed."
Sothing changed.
Sothing that hadn't been in countless years.
The shimring swirl in the sky paused as if soone had put a stop to it.
And then, with an alarming speed, it roared, becoming a black maelstrom.
Jack stood up, Murasa disappearing near his feet.
50 million years have passed, but I do not age...
Jack put his hand on the tree's trunk, his dark eyes falling on the changing sky.
Ti has lost its effect on .
Yet the suffering continues...
The entire tree shrunk, becoming a pristine white katana.
Jack looked at the katana, tied his lose hair, and sheathed the sword.
Aku's grasp chokes the past, present, and future. Hope is lost...
Jack's legs bent, and then, with a silent boom, he shot toward the sky, tearing space.
Got to get back...
The entire sky beca a teleportation vortex.
Back to the past...
A world, thousands of tis vaster than Island X, appeared behind that vortex.
Samurai Jack.
The man vanished in the maelstrom, heralding the doom of an entire world.
On the island, once again, the black, rhythmic flashes of an onyx ring went unnoticed.
And then it disappeared as well, leaving no mark of its presence.
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