AN: I think this is the single longest amount of time I’ve ever spent on a chapter, btw.
— — —
I tallied up the days. Has it really been almost two and a half weeks since we originally set off from Silverport? It felt like I’d been walking forever. I shook my head to clear out the voices. They started back up two days ago… Did being sick lower the inhibitor’s efficacy?
I rubbed at my eyes fiercely to push back the drowsiness. My abused skin whined in protest with the action. I brushed out my ears as my soaked tail hung limply behind me just as it had been. I’d almost forgotten how it felt to be dry. Could be worse…
“Look familiar, Vigil?” I asked my robotic companion as we stopped somewhere in the Mire. A hummer sat abandoned in the fog. I broke into a coughing fit, and heavily leaned on the worn metal.
Out of curiosity, I’d used Seek on their hummer a few times over the past couple days. This place was on the way, so it was easy enough to swing by with a light adjustment to my route.
”Affirmative.” Vigil swept the thing with his red light. “Your condition is worsening, Operator Reyna.”
“Just a cold. Once I get into dry clothes, I’ll be better.” I rubbed my hands against his core to get some level of feeling in them. Really, it’d be weirder if I didn’t get sick from almost a week of roleplaying as a drowned rat. It didn’t mean anything. I was still fine. I had to be fine.
”Operator…” Vigil went silent, though his concerns rang in the back of my head. If I could even call them that. Not like a bot could be concerned about anything.
“I know, I know… I’ll get it first.” I checked my Vitae count. I was at 18 through a combination of natural acquisition and using Rend twice. Well, 16 if I didn’t count Vigil’s share.
I kicked at a popped tire. The rubber had totally collapsed in on itself at some point, which made it evident why they’d abandoned the car. As soon as it stopped being useful, they left it behind and went on foot.
After that… I wasn’t too sure? The car was in a seriously rough shape. It looked like it’d been pounced upon by several calamities at some point. The radiance probably drew them like a tide to this place. It was protective, yes, but it was also the bane of all calamities. They instinctively abhorred the holy light, and would destroy it with extreme prejudice.
The seats were all empty, ‘course. Was it bad that I hoped all five of them died out here in the Mire? I highly doubted it was possible with the three giants along for the ride, but I could still dream of it. Maybe I’d stumble across a corpse on my way… then again, probably not.
I pulled out a few torn apart crates. Whatever supplies they had left had long been swiped by scavengers. There was nothing left in the hummer except bad memories. Still, I stopped at the torn apart hood of the vehicle and slowly ran my hand along the metal. I could almost hear Overseer Haman’s stupid-ass pop music.
“I think there’s a Mire Tide somewhere,” I said after a few moments of silence. I’d seen the signs for almost a week now. The near total lack of calamities out and about gave it away more than anything else. On the entire way back, I’d only run into two tiny ones on the level of the squirrel.
“Is that bad, Operator Reyna?”
“It’s not good.” I bit at my lip, and my hand dropped off the ruined hummer. The fog itself felt different around here, too. It had a certain sway to it that set my instincts off, and made my ears stay perked up and alert.
I rubbed at the damp fur of my ears, and a shiver went down my spine. I coughed off to the side, and slowly focused back on the insides of the hummer. My eyes caught on dim runes that’d long lost their power.
Radiance usually kept calamities away. If it was a Mire Tide, though, then the fog itself acted as the spear to pierce the glowing light. Based on the tracks I’d been seeing the past couple days, there were quite a few calamities following the tide, too. Probably headed for one of Silverport’s outposts…
I pulled out my tablet. Thanks to the radiant relic that could charge devices, I still had access to map data even after this long out here. The nearest outpost was maybe… one day?
The Mire Tide was headed that way from the looks of things, though. I wasn’t suicidal enough to think I could push through and get to safety. The PDF soldiers stationed there would probably shoot me thinking I was a monster too, anyway. A lone woman approaching from the Mire? Who could blame them?
I should reroute to avoid the majority of the Mire Tide. There were a few other options, but I settled on one to the north that was about two days away. If I could just make it there, I could finally catch a ride back to Silverport safe and sound.
“Why don’t we stay, Operator?” A voice almost perfectly in tune with Vigil’s stung at my ears. It was too emotive to be his. Not to mention his light hadn’t flickered at all. “At least the Mire wants us. Can the United City States say the same?”
“We should keep moving.” Vigil’s real voice rang out from his core.
”Yeah… yeah.” I slipped the tablet back into my bag, and continued walking. I broke into another wet coughing fit as my boots slowly trudged through the sticky mud.
The next two days of travel were full of anxiety. The signs of recent movement increased to the point it looked like a horde pressing forward ahead of me. It explained where all the calamities that should’ve been making my journey a living hell went. There were no calamities to contest me, but I had a feeling it was just the calm before the storm.
The rock and mud fields slowly transitioned back into the blue tinged grass of the Mire. The shadows of trees started to sprout intermittently from the fog once more, and a sense of familiarity washed over me. They weren’t the palepines of much further east, but the vaguely oak tree shaped ones that surrounded Silverport. I was almost back. I could feel it.
Unfortunately, my corruption had been progressing whether I wanted it to or not. More and more of my hair and fur turned black. At a certain point, I stopped bothering to pluck out the strands. Once I got back, I could take care of myself. ‘Sides, I needed all the energy I could conserve.
My ears twitched forward, and I forced myself to focus. I hadn’t gotten much sleep the past couple days of travel, so exhaustion weighed at every part of me. “You hear that too?”
“Affirmative, Operator. There appears to be a fight up ahead.” Vigil pulsed warmly against my chest. “This one is not a hallucination.”
”Thanks… thank you.” I shook my head, and staggered forward toward the gunshots. I shifted focus, and Seek snapped just ahead of me. Was the outpost really that close?
I fumbled for my rifle, and tried to ignore my burning head. “When we get back, they’ll check me to make sure I’m not a calamity in disguise.”
”Affirmative.”
”They’ll check what I have on me, too. That… that includes you.” It was a worry I hadn’t let myself feel before now. Silverport always felt so far away. For it to suddenly be in reach felt like a seriously bad case of whiplash.
“Do not be concerned, Operator. This unit will take care of it. They will not separate us.” Vigil sounded oddly confident. Or maybe that was just me hoping he was confident?
”Okay… I’ll trust you.” He pulsed twice against my chest. I rubbed at my flushed cheeks. My head was already foggy enough without having to be worried about something else.
I checked my vi-rifle one last time, and slowly stalked forward through the trees of the Mire. Still shadows emerged one after another, making me twitch around toward them. My ears flicked toward distant sounds that weren’t really there the entire time.
Pwang!
A bullet whizzed just over my head and cracked into a tree. Splinters shot off in every direction. I was close enough to almost get hit by a stray, so I slowed down and carefully slunk through the woods.
Flashes of light made the Mire glow ahead of me. Orange blips merged with golden glows, and the fog lifted ever so slightly—
I snapped to attention, and my vi-rifle lurched upward toward an eight-legged shadow just in front of me. My finger brushed the trigger, and a spray of golden bolts crackled forward toward the child-sized spider entity. Before it could react, the burst punched a steaming hole through its torso. I didn’t let off the trigger till the thing stopped moving.
Spiders? A shiver went down my spine unrelated to the cold. I slowly approached it, and found a soft silver glow in its chest. “Spiders have hearts?”
Vigil remained silent. Right, I was still in a fight. I activated Rend with a thought, and my glowing silver claws pushed out of my skin once more. My skin rolled in disgust as I stabbed down into the giant spider’s torso and plucked out its tubular heart. It’s gooey blood spread across my fingers like sap, and dripped down my sleeve.
++ 3 Vitae Absorbed ++
Before I could put my claws away, my ears twitched upward. I rolled forward just as a spider dropped from the trees above. I thrust my vi-rifle out to catch a lunge from the spider, and it clamped down onto the metal.
I pushed back, and lashed forward at its legs. Rend’s sharp claws cut through them like butter. It lurched to the side, and I back stepped another bite. Before it could adjust its posture, I jammed the barrel of my vi-rifle into its head and pulled the trigger.
Vzzt!
It crumpled to the ground, and I once more extracted a heart. At this rate, being able to afford another Catalog wasn’t that far out… I wiped my hands off and leaned against a tree as the burning sensation throughout my hands faded with my claws.
Neither of them had a core, but that wasn’t much of a surprise. Still, to be this close to an outpost was a bit worrying. Part of the tide must’ve broken off and come here… I couldn’t afford to take another route. If I didn’t make it into the city soon, I wouldn’t make it back at all.
I got my ragged breathing back under control, and pushed off from the tree to approach the source of the fighting. The fog ahead thinned to the point I could actually see thanks to golden light spilling out of a convoy of vehicles threading through the forest.
Guns erupted into the tree line, and caught dozens of calamities mindlessly charging toward the convoy. The main angle of the small horde thankfully wasn’t from the side that I was on.
My ears twitched forward, and I barely caught the tail end of a command from someone in charge. ”—on the left!”
“We made it.” I sagged against a tree heavily, and felt my eyes water up. It was stupid. I’d never been happier to see a human being in my life.
What should I do? Alert them to my presence? They might think I’m a calamity in disguise. I was better off just hiding nearby and waiting for the skirmish to end. Once everything calmed down, I could go out and convince them of my identity. I made it. Only one more drive, one more gate, and I’d finally be home.
Just as I was breathing it in, I caught sight of a mosquito dropping from above to ambush one of the gunners. I knew better than to pull the trigger. I still dropped to a knee, and blasted bolt after bolt at the mosquito before it could go for the kill. Its head exploded into a spray of smoking gore, and the gunner let out a scream.
My shots drew the attention of PDF soldiers gathered around the hummers. A group of them flicked back to me. “Contact behind!”
“Friendly!” I felt something in my throat give with the shout, and I doubled over into a coughing fit. Warm blood splattered out against my arm.
I looked up just in time to catch the eye of PDF soldier. My eyes met those of a human for the first time in what felt like years. For one, stupid moment, I thought I made it. This was it. I was back. “Hold your—“
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
The forest exploded all around me. Something punched through my stomach, and my rifle erupted into golden light. The receiver exploded as a bullet caught it just right, and a shotgun of shrapnel tore into my face. My knees slammed into the ground before I even felt myself fall.
Bullets shredded the trees all around me. I curled into a trembling ball in a groove between muddy roots. Shots whizzed right over my head, and I tightly pressed my hands into my stomach. Blood pulsed hot and slippery between my fingers to merge with the mud below.
I was so close. I was so fucking close. Silverport was right there, as was my darling little sister. Was she still waiting for me? Why’d I have to shoot? I knew how it’d go. Why—?
My ears flattened to either side of my skull, and the sharp cracks of bullets overpowered my sensitive ears. Everything faded into persistent ringing. Everything but the whispers, which remained perfectly clear.
“You saved him.” One warm voice raised above the cyclone tearing through my mind. A shadow crouched at my side, and tenderly brushed away a drop of blood that’d welled up. “And he shot you.”
I curled up tighter, and my tail dropped over my side. Rain pattered down across my already freezing body. “Leave me alone.”
“How many times do you need to bleed for them?” The shadow ran its hand along my ears, and ruffled them lightly. “Before they love you like I do?”
My ears weakly twisted away from the seeking hand. I could barely hear my own voice through my broken ears. “Go away. Not real. You’re not real.”
“Do I not feel real?” Hot hands pressed into my cheek—no, not hot. So cold that they felt like fire. The shadow gently tucked a strand of black hair back behind my bleeding ear. “Silly child.”
I tried to pull away, but my weak body wouldn't listen. I just lay there, trembling as cold seeped into every fiber of my being. “Fuck off.”
”I know you, Reyna. You don’t want power or strength.” A hand traced my neck, and pulled my head up onto a burning lap. “You only want this don’t you? Why won’t you let me love you?”
”I…” My head felt like it was stuffed with cotton as I used the shadow’s lap like a pillow. It felt warm. So incredibly warm.
”You could make them love you.” A hand brushed away a tear rolling down my feverish cheek. “They’d all love you like I do. It hurts me to see you like this.”
“… really?” I grasped tightly at the gunshot wound through my stomach. Blood leaked from between my fingers no matter how much pressure I put on it.
A silver tail curled gently around mine, and the battlefield faded away. The soft couch pressed below me, and the scent of home washed over my stuffed-up nose. “Sis?”
My breath caught in my throat. Sylvie leaned against me. Her amber eyes were swollen from crying, but despite that she was smiling brightly at me. No matter how much I wanted to reach up and brush away her tears, my arm refused to budge. “S-Sylvie?”
Her ears perked up, and her cute smile widened. Every part of her practically radiated relief. “You—you really came back! You kept your promise, right?”
“I…” Did I? Did I make it back to Silverport? What about the Mire? What about the soldiers? What about Vig—
Shadowy arms curled around me from behind, and a warm chin pressed down between my ears. “You can say yes, you know. You can answer her.”
Sylvie leaned toward me. Trembling ran down through her body, but she never once looked away from me. It was like I was her entire world. “I knew you’d be back. You really are back, aren’t you?”
The hands soothingly rubbed at my stomach, and the throbs of pain faded away. “You could have this, Reyna. They’d never turn you away again.”
My fingers were entirely numb. What was I pressing on again? Probably wasn’t important, was it? Important… Right, Silverport. I needed to get back to Silverport. No, wait, I’m in Silverport? I squeezed my eyes shut. When did I get back?
The shadow laughed lightly, and cradled my cheek. Across from me, Sylvie gripped my red-soaked hand. Tears welled up in her amber eyes. “You’ll stay with me, right?”
“I…” More than anything I wanted to say yes.
“You wouldn’t have to lie anymore. No more masks.” The shadow pushed up my cheeks into a smile, and broke into laughter. “You could finally be at peace.”
No more lies? All I had to do was make one tiny, small compromise. It was just one word. It was so simple. My fingers trembled, and warmth flowed down across them. Warmth? Right. Blood. I was bleeding.
A buzz went through my body. At first I thought it was just my nerves finally starting to shut down, but it faded under intense warmth from my chest. It was so warm it burned. “—Reyna!”
“Hush.” The buzzing abruptly stopped, though the warmth lingered. The shadow’s attention turned back to me. “You’d become my loveliest child. You would never have to be alone again.”
Sylvie pushed closer, and rubbed affectionately against the hand she held tightly pressed in between her own. Her warm amber eyes were… why were they so empty? She was always so full of life. They should’ve never been empty.
The hair along the back of my neck raised—no, it’d been raised. When did that happen? When did my injury go away? “No! That’s not her.”
Sylvie would be pissed at me for being so late. She’d say she hated me, and then cuddle up closer anyway. She wouldn’t drown me in affection that wasn’t even real. My Sylvie wasn’t perfect, and that was what made her perfect. Love without a choice would just be another cage.
My eyes shot open, and I was back in the forest. Rain pounded me from above, and felt blessedly cold against my flushed body. I shook myself, and jerked away from the shadow’s caring hands. The back of my head slammed into the ground as I tumbled out of its embrace.
“She’s over here!” Voices broke through the fog, and boots pounded toward me. Shadowed hands reached down to grab me. Someone in PDF armor dropped to their knees beside me as I tried to crawl away.
“You almost said yes.” It had no mockery in its voice. Instead, it almost sounded… sad? The shadow rose behind me, and stepped back into the Mire. The last thing I heard was its warm voice calling after my fading consciousness. “I’ll see you next time, silly child.”