Evening fell upon the inhabitants of this city of endless steam. Though the passage of time is not easily known without the help of the PA system or overhead lights that mimicked the sky that was hidden from us in the Middle Core.
Our mission, one we failed without a doubt, concluded just moments ago. After leaving the underground passageway, we searched the area for the guards that Sara had tied up. But they were not there. All that met us the moment we left the Town Hall was what I would describe as pure, unfiltered aftermath of carnage.
The onlookers from earlier, the nosy bodies who watched us fight against the guards, several of them were dead. Some were beaten. Some were stabbed. Some with their clothes disheveled. One thing was certain: that creature's psychological attacks forced them to do this. The survivors, gathered up by the church and Middle Core police, stared down at the ground. Blood stained their hands, their clothes, their faces.
"Desires." That was what Muller had said as he carried Sara in his arms. She clutched tightly to his chest as if to block out the world.
Those people were much, much older than Sara was, yet she managed to maintain her sanity better than they did. It was no surprise that Muller wanted her as his apprentice.
Upon Muller's request, we left the rest to the church. Rinne, who had kept quiet up to that point, tried to protest against Muller's cold orders, saying that we could help those people while we were there.
"Heroes don't exist," Muller said sharply, forcing Rinne to go quiet once again. "Get that through your head. Don't forget that you almost got yourself killed twice today, all because of that mouth."
Harsh, but he was right. Heroes are a thing of fiction. People, no matter how strong, nimble, and wise they may be, can be killed just as easily as a weak person. Today was an unfriendly reminder of that. I've got experience killing void spawns, but experience means nothing in the heat of the moment. One misstep, one blink, one wrong thought, and you'll be killed.
"…"
"…"
"You first."
"Sorry, I couldn't take the honor away from a Father of the church."
Needless to say, Muller and I couldn't muster the strength to tap on the one-sided glass doors before us. Our reflections stared back at us tiredly. A makeshift bandage covered my right eye. My damaged weapon was slung over my back. Muller stood there, carrying Sara, who had fallen asleep. His worn expression was clear.
Then, the sound of rhythmic tapping filled the air. It mimicked the tapping that I would do on this door to get Margaret's attention after hours. My eyes were pulled towards Rinne, the bravest one, only because she had nothing to worry about from this beast that owns this place.
Though, how did she know my tapping pattern?
I looked around, towards the spot where I met Sara last night when she was looking for help.
That's right.
I turned towards the valve that had broken off the pipes and shot towards us. It was fixed, as if it had never been damaged to begin with.
She said she had followed me last night. Up until I took on Sara's request to help her mother.
It has been a long 24 hours. The longest I've had in years.
The doors cracked, then with a hiss of steam, slid apart. A flowery smell melted away at the metallic scent that stained my nose. On the other side of the doors was Margaret. She was dressed in a purple button-down, tucked neatly into a pair of white jeans held up by a well-used utility belt. Her brown hair, worn in a neat braid that rested over her shoulder, bounced ever so slightly as she laid eyes on me. She placed her right hand over her sizable chest.
Then, she rushed past Muller, completely ignoring him, pulling me into her chest. A soft feeling pressed against my cheeks while the flowery scent grew stronger. Her embrace, tighter than anything I would consider a hug, along with my broken armor, stung my chest. It hurt, hurt like hell! But I didn't push her off. This was Margaret. Behind her strong persona was a delicate woman. Trust for her was worth more than anything in the world; had she not felt this way towards me, she wouldn't do it.
Once we entered the store, she swiftly closed and locked the doors. Wordlessly, she grabbed me and pulled me into one of the changing rooms. She tore off what was left of my clothing and started tending to my wounds.
"What happened out there?" She said while wetting a towel with what smelled like rubbing alcohol. "I was worried when Muller didn't bring you back after I asked him to fetch you."
"The Town Hall—ngh!" She pressed the towel against my chest. The cold sting filled my body. I gripped my legs.
"So that wasn't just some hearsay rumor then?" She lowered the town and let out a soft sigh. "I heard that some type of unexplained mass hysteria took place over at the Town Hall building. Several murders, rapes, and…suicides took place near the building."
She glanced at me, not out of worry, but as if reading my thoughts. "I'm sorry." I turned away. Nothing I could say would sound believable. All she had to do was ask either Rinne or Muller about what had happened.
"I see…" She lowered her gaze. "What made you snap out?" He moved her warm hands onto my chest, carefully pulling out the metal shards that had broken off my armor.
"Rinne did." Her hands stopped. Her eyes met mine, and I could see my reflection staring back at me. "She managed to stop me with a kick to the hand. Could you believe that? Like Rinara, she is a lot stronger when she tries."
"Stop it."
"It's funny, Rinara left a note telling me to protect Rinne, yet here she is protecting me."
"Stop it."
"Then there was the shadow again. Speaking using my voice and Rinara's—!"
"STOP IT, DAMN IT!"
There was a sharp pain in my left cheek. I was just looking at Margaret, but why am I now looking at the wall?
Oh, she slapped me.
"Heh…"
"I get it," Margaret said, her hand still held close to my face. "I brought it up, but I can't stand that empty look in your eyes anymore. Please, I don't want memories of you thinking about you ending your life to be the last thing I remember you by."
A tear trickled down the side of her face, leaving a trail through the makeup she wore. Margaret can cry? The thought was foreign to me. Even when Rinara died. Even when master died. She never shed a tear. At least in the face of others.
"Last night…I attacked you for those thoughts of yours. Then, just now, after not seeing you after I sent Muller to grab you, you show up wounded. So please stop talking about the shadow. Stop talking about Rinara. It doesn't exist, and she's no longer with us. Just live for today. Protect the last gift she had given this world."
"Sorry." I pushed her away. The frown on her lips lowered, and she bit the bottom of her lip. Her hands balled into fists, ready to strike me.
There was no way I could forget the shadow. There's no way I could let Rinara leave my mind.
That thing that hunts me, there was something more to it than a simple shadow. It speaks to me, using my own voice and Rinara. Using phrases that were never said in our shared memory. It's not just some coping mechanism that Margaret thinks it is. It's sentient. Its transformation into Rinara, its arguments with her voice, it was real. Like a spirit holding back the darkness within me.
The flames behind her death were reignited. I will not allow them to fizzle into embers again, not until I learn the truth behind the reality I ran from.
Her sin.
Why did that creature know about it? Why did that thing call her mother?
Rinne. It was no coincidence that she showed up. A sixteen-year-old girl. It fits the time frame of everything.
Project: New Genesis. A cult program where a woman had offered her body to the fifth seat of the cult seventeen years ago. It was during this mission that Rinara went solo to the Upper Core. She returned ten months later.
"I cannot give this up," I said, forcing a smile onto my face. She can see through my act; I know this, but I cannot keep running from this. "The cult, her death. There is a thin line that connects them, and I intend on following that line."
"What if that line snaps?" Margaret said, avoiding eye contact.
"Then I will tie it back together."
"What if it hurts you more than now?"
"Nothing I feel will amount to the life of the one I took. I will accept any pain to atone for killing Rinara."
There was a long pause before the words, "I see," left Margaret's lips. She then grabbed a set of bandages and wrapped them around with horrifying speed. She tightened them to the point where I could hardly breathe. I tapped her shoulders, but she simply gave me a warm smile with her eyes closed. "I will support you the best I can."