The sound of birds chirping gradually awoke Fei, a small groan escaping his throat. His eyes slowly opened as he withdrew his hands from his face. He…He wasn't in that machine anymore, he was outside…
Fei grabbed onto a nearby tree, slowly pulling himself up. His legs wobbled, and for a moment or two he thought he would fall back down. He forced himself to take a deep breath and look around, blinking blearily.
"Where am I…?" he wondered, squinting as he rubbed his head. After a few moments, he spotted what appeared to be a handful of villagers, Dan, and Citan nearby. Citan was wrapping a bandage around a woman's arm, sleeves pushed up.
Fei felt a wave of relief crash through him as he stumbled forward, smiling. "Doc!"
Citan jolted his head up, pausing in his work to turn his head to Fei. There was a frown on his face…he quickly finished his work before standing up straight.
"You've finally regained consciousness, Fei…" Citan noted, raising a hand to his chin.
Fei took another step forward, noticing the villagers just…staring at him. A few mumbled amongst themselves, shying away.
"Doc, what…what happened last night?" Fei asked, tearing his gaze away from the villagers. "Where's Chief Lee? Or Timothy and Alice? What did I…?"
For a brief moment, Citan's expression changed, and Fei could only describe it as an 'Oh, shit' moment for him. He recovered quickly, and cleared his throat. "Yes, well…that is…"
"You murderer!"
Fei flinched and stepped back, Dan running up to him with tears in his eyes. His hands were balled into fists, his entire body shaking.
"Dan!" Citan began, shaking his head. "Don't…"
"M…Murderer?" Fei repeated, staring at Dan with wide eyes. "Dan, what do you mean?"
"It's…It's your fault, Fei! You got in that monster!" Dan accused, raising his voice and pointing to behind Fei. "That monster killed them! Alice, Timothy, Chief Lee…everyone's dead! And it's all your fault!"
Fei's shoulders stiffened, blood freezing in his veins. He slowly turned around, seeing that…that thing he piloted last night, none worse for the wear.
"Why did he have to fight in the middle of the village?" one person wondered. "How does he even know how to operate something like that?"
"Mommy…where's mommy?" a child whimpered.
"I saw this coming…Chief Lee shouldn't have brought him into our village! Now he's dead, and so is most of Lahan!" another person snarled.
"I…I couldn't have," Fei said, voice barely louder than a whisper. "Why…?"
He turned around, feeling his legs shake again as he tried to step forward. "I-I couldn't…you know I wouldn't have destroyed Lahan…"
Several people nonetheless backed away, some glaring at him. Citan and Dan were the only ones unmoved.
"You murderer…give me back my sister!" Dan cried, tears pouring down his cheeks.
Citan chose that moment to step forward, blocking Dan from moving any farther toward Fei. "Dan…there is nothing to be gained from putting all the blame on Fei alone. I don't think he had any control over the machine when it malfunctioned."
Dan didn't respond right away, sniffling and wiping at his eyes. "S…Shut up…I don't want to see him, ever again…"
"Dan, please, I…I didn't mean to," Fei tried to explain, kneeling down by him. "I'm…I'm so sorry…"
"Stay away from me!" Dan shouted, backing away. "Go away! Go away and don't come back!"
Someone gently ushered Dan away, allowing him to cry on them. Citan quietly watched him leave.
"…it might be best to leave him be for now. He needs to work through his grief…" he murmured before turning to face Fei, head lowered. "…and Fei…it might be best for you to leave this place. There's no guarantee that reinforcements from last night's unit will simply leave us alone. They will want to know what happened to their comrades."
"Doc, I–I can't leave Lahan! Where else am I supposed to go?!" Fei shouted, tears welling up in his eyes. "I can't…"
"You can't stay with us," Citan added, quietly. "…none of these people are happy with last night, unfortunately. No amount of explanation will help your case any further. All I can suggest is that you head through Blackmoon Forest to Aveh. I can say for certain those soldiers weren't from Aveh."
Fei's shoulders drooped as he looked once more at the people behind Citan. Dan was still sobbing into a person's shoulder, Citan himself had a heavy frown on his face, the rest of the villagers were still trying to keep their distance…
"…I understand. I'm…I'm sorry," Fei apologized. "I'll…I'll go. I won't come back."
"Be careful out there, Fei. Take care of yourself," Citan said, watching Fei walk. He paused at the foot of the iron giant parked nearby, staring up at it with an unreadable expression. After a few moments, he walked past the giant, eyes set on the horizon before him.