"I uh…" Zacharie stared up at the milky blob, "I have no idea what that is." He held onto the bottom of his shirt. The Batter cocked his head to one side and said "is it… a spectre?"
"Hit it with your bat?" the Merchant sounded shaken. With a violent swing, the Batter sent his bat sailing about 30 feet and completely missed the strange object. Zacharie watched as the Batter slowly retrieved his bat and stared coldly at the object in the sky. It was similar to the sun, given it gave off light and its position. "Did the sun die?" Zacharie could hear a twinge of an accent it the Batter's voice. "It's not as bright, even got some dents in it" the Batter was squinting at the sphere, as if that would help. "Perhaps it's trying to fool you so you don't go and purify it" Zacharie chuckled softly, trying to stir up a conversation. The Batter looked on with a blank expression. "Hhh well, let's go to the save box and see what the other Elsen are up to" The merchant began to walk off, leaving Batter behind. It annoyed him that the sportsman was incapable of humor. The Batter watched Zacharie go and hesitated before catching up to him. After thirty minutes of leisurely walking he could feel something pool in his stomach, something icy and rigid. He had just seen something very wrong. Batter and stopped. "Something wrong?" Zacharie sounded concerned and warm, and before he could stop himself the Batter replied with "I'm scared." The phrase came as a shock to both of them, Zacharie giving a curt "oh" and the Batter widening his eyes. "Ignore that" the Purifier said gruffly before shouldering past his companion. "I can't ignore that" The masked merchant still sounded surprised. "You're the strong guy, the one who can beat anything and you're scared?"
"Zacharie." His emotions were seeping into his voice. He stared at an empty space.
"What? It's nothing."
"Exactly." The Batter stopped in front of the space that caught his eye. Zacharie noticed his associate was shaking. He then realized what the problem was. In that empty space there used to be a save box. The Batter needed it to heal and to travel between zones. Without one, the Batter could actually die.
They stood in silence, processing the implications of a missing save box. This whole phenomenon was no longer exclusive to basic world changes and emotions, it was now playing the role of God. The Batter's fear of true mortality had been confirmed and it began to wash over him like waves in the plastic sea. Of all the thoughts racing through his mind, he kept rethinking one. The thought was important, as it showed the Batter was capable of sympathy and understanding consequence. "T-they felt this." He chattered, shaking too hard to say anything properly. "They felt this when I killed them".
Zacharie stiffened when he heard the term 'killed'. He was so used to the Batter using the word 'purified' to describe his actions towards the spectres. But the spectres were already dead, so whom had he killed? "Who?" Zacharie asked, laying a warm hand onto the Batter's shoulder for comfort. There was a moment of silence before the taller man could speak. "The burnt." It came out as a whisper and he stared at his hands. In that moment, the Batter could feel the black sticky blood of all the Elsen he bludgeoned to death. He had previously thought he was doing a sacred mission, but was it really? If even the impure felt this intense emotion, this fear, was it all in any way justifiable?
The Batter felt faint. He was a murderer. He existed in a dreamy delusion, a way to distance himself from what he did. He was incapable of understanding fear because he was always brought back, but with every save, the death count was saved. The Burnt remained dead. They always remained dead. The Batter's knees gave out and he fell to the ground unconscious. Zacharie gave a surprised squeak as he saw the other man topple over. "B-Batter!?" The merchant kneeled down and began to shake him frantically. "Batter!?" His voice cracked. Zacharie had never seen the Batter scared and he had definitely never seen him faint. He hadn't the slightest idea of how to help his companion other than to vigorously jostle him.
The merchant decided the best thing to do was run. Elsen are everywhere, so maybe he could find one. Zacharie scoured Zone 1 in a desperate attempt to find aid, but all the usually busy areas were empty. Zacharie stopped for a second to catch his breath when he noticed a flyer on the ground. He snatched it up and read the headline. "The Queen ordered bridges?" Zacharie said to himself. He scanned over the rest of it and bolted towards the building site the flyer listed. It was just outside the complex where Dedan could be found. "Left side left side left side" Zacharie repeated to himself, with each repetition holding more panic than the one before. Before long, he heard the usual sounds of a construction site.
When the usual porcelain white heads of the Elsen came into view, Zacharie felt a sudden flood of relief. He slowly came to a stop in front of an Elsen with a first aid kit in his lap. "Bonjour!," Zacharie wheezed "I need your help!"
The tiny man looked very frightened and confused, as anyone would be if a sweaty masked man was shouting at you. "I-I need to stay here… This work is v-very dangerous" the Elsen said in a small voice, trying to find an excuse. He shrunk down into his seat. "Well tell the others to stop or give another one a med kit!" The merchant snapped. The Elsen looked down and whispered a shy "okay" and stood. The tiny businessman then began to instruct another Elsen where the spare kits were and how to use bandaids. Zacharie gritted his teeth impatiently. After a minute, the Elsen gave a timid wheeze to signify he was ready to go. Zacharie grabbed a small white hand and began to sprint. The Elsen gave out a surprised cry and clung desperately to the kit and Zacharie.
It was a good time that the Batter had been left alone, and when the merchant returned, spectres had decided to crowd around him. They were all ogling at the limp creature on the ground, which made Zacharie angry. The Elsen hid behind him and began crying, which annoyed him even more. "Can't you help him?!" The merchant spat at the ghosts. In a flash, the spectres were gone and the Elsen was consoled. "W-what was that?" The small man asked, his lip quivering.
"Nothing. A stroke of luck, I'm assuming" Zacharie chided and knelt beside the Batter. "I have healing supplies but no medical experience, so I needed someone who's skilled in the area." The merchant felt his companions forehead and sighed in relief. "N-no fever?" the Elsen stuttered out. Zacharie shook his head. "He fainted and I didn't know what I could do."
"Ah…Y-you should wait... till he wakes up."
It seemed like hours. Zacharie grew more and more anxious as time rolled on and the Elsen was walking around picking flowers. After the seventeenth pacing lap, Zacharie stopped at the sound of a whispy groan. Within a couple seconds, the Batter opened his eyes. He seemed groggy and unsure of where he was. There was even a tinge of fear in the sportsman's expression. "Zach…?" the Batter groaned out, squinting at the man beside him. "Why is the Elsen…"
"Medical assistance" Zacharie said softly. "I never expected you of all people to faint. You're look very healthy."
"I uh, thanks" The Batter hoisted himself up into a sitting position and looked the Elsen over. He was tiny, with porcelain skin and big black eyes. His neat white hair was almost indistinguishable from his skin. The poor thing was trembling, shaking the contents of the medical kit. Batter could swear the fear coming off him was palpable. The fear, the Purifier thought to himself. They all felt it.
"U-Uh… I should… get back now…" The small businessman inched away. The Elsen knew the Batter as a murderer and a thief, who'd steal the dead's money right from their corpses. Also seeing a creepy frog mask was enough to send him running with his tail between his legs.
"Au revoir" Zacharie chirped. The merchant was more occupied with the sportsman than with him. "Oh… uh… H-housing… is being…" The Elsen could barely murmur "opened up" before scurrying away.
"He's… afraid" The Batter said, his voice shaking. In fact, all of him was shaking. He felt strong pangs of guilt and his insides began to churn in an unpleasant manner. It hurt his chest and made is hard to breathe. "He's afraid of me."
Zacharie decided that taking his mind off what was causing the Batter's distress was the best solution. If the Purifier kept thinking of his actions, who knows what he would do. "SO, uh, that Elsen mentioned that housing was being opened up. Want to go find a place to live?" Even though the Purifier couldn't see it, his face was full of anxiety. His heart dropped when his companion began to rock back and forth blankly. "Ahaha, come one. Let's go find a place to stay" The merchant's voice cracked and he silently cursed at himself. Showing panic will not help anyone right now, especially when the other person is on the verge of a panic attack. Zacharie grabbed the Batter's shoulders gently and helped him to his feet. Slowly, and very carefully, the duo walked over to the bridge construction site. It was almost done, with significant progress since Zacharie last saw it. Maybe it was hours, he thought to himself. As he looked down at the other man, he realized that the infamous Purifier was actually shorter than him by 3 inches. The Merchant chuckled and together they stood, waiting for the Elsen to finish their job.