The three girls approached us, each bearing a different expression. Muller had his eyes fixed on one in particular—Kelly.
She walked up to the unconscious guard whom I had loosened the top of and fixed her clothing. With a blank expression on her face, she turned towards me. With a lonely smile, she spoke.
"I suppose everyone is the same."
What was that supposed to mean?
*Thump Thump*
I turned instinctively at the sudden noise that felt close, but somehow far. There was nothing to be seen besides the many curious faces of onlookers. I placed a hand on my chest.
*Thump Thump*
There it was again, but it was not coming from my own chest. My heart was beating heavily, but it pounded faster than the noise did.
"Muller," I turned toward my trusty pal, only to be stopped by what I saw. He was gripping his metal arm, almost as if trying to pull it off. There was a distant look in his eyes as blood pooled down the corner of his lips.
I turned towards Sara, whom I thought was standing quietly behind him, but there she was, crying on her knees.
*Thump Thump*
The noise grew louder, slowly drowning out the blaring alarm. I turned to the crowd of people who were looking at us. Sure enough, each one looked as if suffering in their own way. Some fell to their knees, others took it out on another.
What was going on?
"H-Hey!" Rinne was standing right next to me, but her voice sounded far away. As I turned to face her, a dark shadow rose from the ground, covering her face. A pair of pale eyes opened, as a long smile stretched across her face.
Why are you still here? Has the weight of your actions not crushed your spirit?
A voice that was my own left the figure's mouth.
"Why…because I have something I have to do," I responded.
I can't leave Rinne alone now that I know that she exists. She's already been through hell, but she still has a shine in her eyes that wasn't corrupted by this damn city.
Noble, yet why prolong the suffering?
I felt my body move on its own. It reached for my side, the side where I would normally keep my pistol. Unfortunately, or fortunately in this case, I forgot it back at the hideout.
You know that once she finds out the truth, your blood will be on her hands.
I unwillingly moved towards Kelly, who stood motionless, holding her chest. Was she holding her wound? No, it was too low for that. Her hands rested on the left side of her chest, clutching tightly with a pained expression on her face. Tears dropped from her eyes, and her mouth moved, but there were no words for me to hear.
I stepped up to her; there was a slight glint in her eyes as if she saw the savior to the pain she was feeling.
But that savior was already taken by the darkness.
I reached for her thigh and grabbed the pistol she had attached there. A single used pistol meant for no other reason than as a final desperate measure for failure. It was foolish of me to finally figure out what its purpose was in this way.
Unable to stop myself, I pressed the barrel to my temple. Strangely, it was not cold. Maybe it was due to the fact that it was pressed against her this whole time. Or it was because it offered the warmth I needed.
"R…n..e! S..p …im!" A muffled voice called out as I placed my finger on the trigger.
"STOP!"
DON'T DO IT, COWARD!
Two similar voices blended together as I felt a blow to my hand. The pistol I once held slid across the ground as the blaring alarm was once again sounding. Rinne's leg had stopped me. I turned towards her, and she had a determined look that somehow looked fearful.
"What are you doing?" She said, sounding brave. Rinne quickly grabbed the pistol and stored it away. She then looked at the others who were recovering. "What were all of you doing?"
Muller, who was holding Sara, turned to me with a glare. "Desire." He said.
"What?" Rinne turned to face Muller with an unconvinced look in her eyes.
"Have you no desire for anything?" He continued, turning to face Rinne.
"What does desire have to do with anything?"
"He's asking why you were unaffected by what just happened." It was hard looking at Rinne after seeing that thing on her face, but it was gone now. "What we just witnessed there was the act of a class 4 void spawn."
Honestly, that was just a guess, as I had never fought against one before. But seeing as Muller nodded his head in agreement, I must have hit the nail on the head.
"40 years ago was the last time a class 4 was sighted. So we only have records of their existence. Axien has the former, you know who, told you anything about them, seeing as he wrote them?"
I shook my head. Master was diligent in his role as Golden Steam. He made sure that there were no void spawn sightings over class 3 while he was alive.
I could not keep up with that record. Putting down those beasts was one thing, but what they lacked in strength was numbers. Now we have to deal with a class 4 due to my failure as Golden Steam.
"Desire…" Kelly muttered to herself. She was still standing in front of me with a blank expression, as she was no longer holding her chest. Then, looking towards the door of City Hall, she slowly walked forward.
Muller moved next to me and whispered, keeping Kelly in his line of sight. "Looks like our enemies aren't working together."
"They never were."
They tried to kill her last night, but by sheer luck, they found the wrong woman. In doing this, she found me.
Was this really just an internal miscommunication?
Kelly placed her hands on the locked doors, and with a click, the raging sound of gears roared. The doors slowly opened as the outside alarm finally stopped.
I walked forward, grabbing her hand. I was not about to let her waltz into this place.
"What are you trying to do?"
I could not see her face, but I felt no resistance in her hand. Instead, she looked around as if looking for something before finally turning back around. She smiled softly as she reached into her clothes with her free hand, pulling out a notepad.
"There's a scoop in here, right? That void spawn creature, where is it!?"
What?
I let go of her hand in shock as she tilted her head.
"What's wrong, Axien? You look like you've seen a ghost."