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Chapter 84: Myulan
Varion leaned down and brushed a strand of white hair back from Prinz's face. His thumb lingered at her temple for a second, then he kissed her forehead.
"I'll be back."
The words were barely out before he flinched. He stood there over her a moment longer, jaw tight, and started for the door.
'I shouldn't make promises anymore.'
Varion glanced to the opposite side of the bed where Ellen was in the chair closest to the bed. Cabal and Gido stood behind her leaning against the wall, they stood there in complete silence besides the sniffles Ellen was letting out. Ellen's eyes were red and puffy still fixed on her sister.
'That doesn't suit them at all.' he thought to himself clenching his fist as he walked out.
The halls of the building were too clean for what the city looked like outside it felt disorienting. He did not look at the scuffs on the floor or the people who stepped out of his way. He kept moving until the doors of the meeting hall were in front of him.
Rimuri was already inside, seated at the head of the table which was already full. Benimaru. Souei. Hakurou. Rigurd. Shuna. Kaijin. Youm. And at the far side of the table sat bound, was Myulan.
Varion's eyes landed on her the instant the door shut behind him.
A low rumble came up out of his chest before he could stop it. It was not a sound he had meant to make, it just came out just seeing her and knowing what she'd done.
He made his way over and sat next to Rimuri and her hand closed around his immediately.
"That's the first thing to deal with," she said, quiet enough that it was only for him. "We need to decide what to do with her."
Rimuri did not look at the rest of the table when she spoke next. She looked at Myulan.
"Talk," she said. "From the beginning. Who you work for. What you did. Why. Don't leave anything out for me to find later."
Myulan's wrists shifted against the bindings. She had already decided she was going to die in this room. That made telling the truth easier, in a way.
"I serve Demon Lord Clayman," she said. "I am one of his Five Fingers. He sent me here to watch your country, that's all I was told initially. I used Youm's group to get inside."
Youm's chair shifted backwards slightly, but he kept his mouth shut, seeing her finish.
"I was human once," Myulan went on. "A mage at the end of her life. Clayman found me and offered youth and more time. I took it. In return he took my heart and put his Marionette Heart in its place. He can crush it whenever he wants, he can hear through it. If I refuse him, I die. If I hesitate, the person I care about dies."
Her eyes moved, once, to Youm, then away.
"He ordered me to deploy the Anti-Magic Area over the city when Falmuth moved in. My job was to cut the city's communication off so no one could help you and I did it." She swallowed. "I don't know why he wants this war, only that he does and that It's probably part of some larger plan."
The room remained quiet and tense after that, no one said a word while Varion and Rimuri sat thinking.
Then Varion's voice came out flat.
"Then we're done." He did not raise it. He did not need to. "A quick death is more mercy than you already deserve, but that's all I'm willing to give you."
Youm was on his feet in an instant.
"Don't. Varion, It wasn't her choice. You can't just—" whatever else he was about to say caught in his throat.
A sudden massive wave of pressure hit the meeting hall like a mountain pressing down on their shoulders. It felt like a dominating predator just snapped its eyes to everyone and was pissed but it was focused solely on one person the rest were just receiving the after effect.
Youm's knees slammed into the floor hard enough to rattle the table. The air went heavy and thick with tension. Rigurd grabbed the arm of his chair. Shuna's breath caught. Even Benimaru's shoulders dropped a fraction before he locked them in place.
Varion did not mean to do this, he just felt it leave him the same way the growl had, when Youm spoke. There was no sign of it pulling back or being controlled, it kept rising as he looked at the man on the floor.
"It wasn't her choice?" The rumble was still in his chest. "Was it Prinz's choice to die? Shion's? Anyone else in tempest for that matter? Well was it?!!" He yelled and gnashed his teeth and his eyes sharpened back to slits but this time a faint red ring sat around the green. "That fault rests on her and everyone else who had a hand in this. No one is getting out of this without paying for what they did."
The pressure spiked harder with his anger causing Youm to go from his knees to the floor, palms flat, shaking under the aura Varion was releasing. He pushed himself up just enough to turn his head and look Varion in the eyes.
"I get that," he said. His voice came out thin. "I do, you have every right to hate her. But please, if someone has to die for her sins, then please, Varion." He dragged in a breath. "Please let it be me. I'll take her punishment."
Varion stared at him conflicted and unable to decide what to do.
Youm was still Youm. Loud. Stubborn. A friend, even now, asking to be put in the ground in her place. Varion did not want to, he also did not know what else there was to do with the woman who had helped cause this, who had helped cause pinz's death.
Before he could think about it further, Rimuri stood and started towards Myulan
Youm's head jerked toward her.
"Ri-Rimuri, don't. Please don't hurt her—"
She walked past him and straight through all the pressure in the air, not affected by it like it was avoiding her. Myulan watched her come and did not pull away. She had already accepted that this would be her end.
Rimuri's hand shot forward and into Myulan's chest, making her cough a small amount of blood, as her eyes fluttered closed. Myulan's mouth opened. A short, cut-off sound left her. Youm let out something between a cry and a scream, struggling harder to try and stand, to no avail.
Rimuri closed her fingers around the fake heart and crushed it. Myulan's eyes widened then drifted closed. For three seconds Myulan was dead.
Then Rimuri's magic remade a new one in place of the old, her hand came back out and healed the damage as it went. Myulan collapsed forward against the bindings, gasping like she'd just been held underwater. Youm stared at her, then at Rimuri, like he couldn't understand what had just happened.
Rimuri looked down at her with a heavy look settling over her features.
"Clayman was listening," she said in an even tone. "That heart was a bug as much as a leash. As far as he knows, you just died. That is the only reason I can let you keep breathing."
Myulan's eyes went wide then tears filled them. She could not find words to express what she wanted to say. She had already resigned herself to die here.
Varion shifted and the pressure in the hall surged with him as he started to stand up, obviously unhappy.
"You can't just—"
Rimuri, who had already walked back to his side by now, reached up and placed a finger over his lips. She looked him in the eye and held there for a few seconds. Then the pressure staggered, then drained away, as if those few seconds alone were enough to calm him down.
Only then did she look at Myulan again. Whatever softness had been in her a second ago was gone, replaced by coldness.
"That does not mean I forgive you. And I will not forget what you did." Her finger left Varion's mouth. "I put a kill switch in the heart I just gave you. The second you even consider betraying us. You die where you stand. This is your only second chance. There will not be a third."
Myulan nodded, with tears in her eyes, grateful at the second chance.
Rimuri sat back down beside Varion. Her arms wrapped around his and leaned into his side slightly. He was still angry, but much less so than before.