VI – A Message
There were times when reality tried to swim back into focus. When sounds rendered themselves and faded away. Grace tried to grab hold of them and pull herself into consciousness, but those excerpts of the world faded when she clenched them. Damnit! Grace thought Why I can't wake up?! She was floating on an endless void, with no up, down, left or right. It's as if I am lost in Misha's brain. She thought again. I wouldn't be surprised that all that is in her head is a sheet of paper with Kotarou squiggles. Grace tried to give herself courage with these thoughts, because she was absolutely terrified. It hadn't ever happened to her in the past, and this void was certainly unsettling. Shaking with fear, she gulped down some saliva, and stuck her left foot into the abyss, expecting to find a freefall.
But she didn't.
Instead, her footstep resounded with pristine echo through the room, and some kind of floor tile materialized in thin air. After discovering this Grace started to walk towards what she thought was some kind of wall, materializing floor within every step she took, the void never letting fall into the abyss. Then suddenly, a beam of light which origin was still hiding in the shadows cast a shadow upon an object sitting on a pillar in the middle of the room. Grace ran towards it. When she made her last step towards the pillar, the light suddenly expanded to show the whole room. When this happened, Grace was sent tumbling to the ground: The pillar, moving at an amazing speed, rammed her as if it decided to run towards her as how she ran towards it.
Grace rubbed her head as she stood up and finally looked at the object above the pillar: It was a beautiful half-cut orb which contained a clear liquid, like milk. She felt attracted to it. Before she could even notice, she was leaning on the pillar, with her forehead almost touching the strange substance. The suddenly, the tip of her chin rippled it.
Almost instantaneously, a strange force knocked her over and a pink light emerged from the orb, as the whole room rumbled like being in an earthquake. The pink light slowly condensed in a bright and white light. Then a powerful voice resounded:
"There isn't much time." It was a tiny bit of God.
"Almighty, what is this place?" Grace questioned a little more loudly than her intention.
"This is you." The Lord spoke, "This is where the real you dwells."
"The real me?" Grace wondered.
"Yes, it is your mind, so to speak. You did well a while ago, but time is slipping from your fingers."
Grace made an effort to remember, then everything came in a flash: The fight, Marco's red face, the train, the pain, the tracks, the chaos… "Well?! I'm unconscious and my client's presumably dead!"
"No, he and the others are okayK. Now, I have a message for you."
"Yes, Lord?"
"The gears of time are spinning out of control. As you already saw, the society where Marco García lives is now crumbling. This is could bring his death over him more early than planned…"
"What do you mean Lord?" She asked hestiantly, "He's going to die sooner?"
"It may be and it may not be, Angel Grace. It depends on your actions from now on. I am here to tell you this. Be careful, and if you are to fail… these will be the consequences."
Within a heartbeat, the pillar, the light and the room faded away, to be replaced with an image only Grace could see. It was Marco. But it was, at the same time, not him.
He was in fetal position, lying on a floor cold as ice. He was shivering. Suddenly, a number of shadow figures approached him, their eyes looking straight down at him like piercing through his heart. "Leave me alone! Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" he shouted repeatedly. Then a figure stepped into some kind of eerie spotlight. It resembled Grace, but she was still not her. The "other" Grace looked like pure evil, with eyes as black as death. She bent down as she muttered maliciously "You pathetic little creature, why don't I put you away from your misery?" Marco looked at her with a stare that spelled sheer fear. The "other" Grace delicately placed her hands on his neck and started to choke him. Grace's counterpart feasted on the sight of Marco agonizing. The "other" Grace then pierced his throat with a malicious smile. Marco's blood spluttered everywhere while she cackled madly.
MARCO! Grace thought in extreme terror. She was panic-stricken by the horrific scene. "NO!" The image started to flutter away as Grace desperately stretched out her hand to reach for it…
Then, a blinding light came to her sight. Suddenly, Marco's face was staring deep into her eyes, looking extremely worried. Is he worried for… me?
"Guys! She's finally up, Grace's up!" he shouted. Rapidly, Misha and Kotarou ran towards Grace. She saw their faces, looking relieved. "Are you OK?" he asked.
Grace stood up and said, "I-I wish I could say 'yes'…" Her voice quaked. What was that all about? She thought. And that girl that killed Marco… was me? I-I am the one that will…end Marco's life…?
A siren that resounded in the distance drifted Grace out of her thoughts. She looked her surroundings: The gang was out on the street, sitting on some kind of sidewalk above the path of the railroad where the subway wagon was supposed to cross. Down at the end, the path continued inside a tunnel. Grace could see the curled iron of the wagons that collided which each other, steam coming out of their overrun engines. A water pipe had broken in the turmoil and was now sprawling the liquid all over the scene. There were still no firefighters or anyone to attend to the matter.
"Guys, we have to move quickly." Kotarou called.
Surprised by this resolution, specially Kotarou being the one saying it. "Why-su?" Misha piped. "Isn't it obvious?" Marco shouted. "We just survived a huge subway crash. The wagons run on electricity and it's no time before the water starts filling the tunnel and the road. If we don't get away from here in time, we won't survive it." Marco stared into Kotarou's eyes. He was different from the namby-pamby he met days earlier. His yellowish eyes were staring back at him, speaking sheer concern. He was clutching Misha's arm, and his grip was tightening by the second.
"Let's move while we can." Kotarou said.
For Misha and Grace, everything happened too quickly.
Kotarou and Marco grabbed their respective companions and jumped towards the rail, in the side walk they were too close to the rusty barbwire that could mean fatality. As soon as they landed, both of them ran for it. "Stay away form the rails!" Marco shouted:
The engine's wires had already touched the water, jolting with unimaginable strength everything that the water reached for. The flood was advancing like a hungry predator for it's pray. And they were the prey.
Kotarou turned to Misha. I won't let this happen! He thought. He gripped harder, and with a strength that he didn't know he had, he ran faster than ever before. He didn't care if he got hurt or electrified. All that resounded in his head was Misha's safety. Misha flinched: Kotarou's clenched fist hurt her. Misha tried hard to help him, but she couldn't being so terrified. Every step she took made her realize again and again she was on the brink of whether the four of them could continue existing or not. She looked towards Marco and Grace: They were also making an effort. She looked again to Kotarou: He was also trying his best. I feel so useless! She thought. But the moment didn't let her muse over her traumas. She knew she had to do her best as well. I am an angel! I should be able to do at least something to solve this!
A despair that filled her was soon replaced with something she didn't experiment before: Courage.
"Grace-san! We are angels; we should use our wings-su!" Misha bellowed. "Are you crazy?! We are in the middle of the city! We can't fly with so many people!" Grace answered. Misha was surprised to hear this. Most of the times she was the reckless one.
Misha frowned and shouted. "I… DON'T… CARE!" She started to run faster, faster than Kotarou, Marco or Grace. I am the same as Marco-san, I can't believe in myself. That's why from now on, I stop being useless! Soon, Misha's wings sprouted out of her ragged blouse. Then, pulling Kotarou from the floor, she elevated at a vertiginous speed, decided to put Kotarou out of danger. Kotarou shrieked like an agonizing cat seeing the ground moving away from him quickly.
Grace took Misha's lead and joined her in the sky.
As soon as they stepped away from danger, Kotarou stopped screaming. He felt unnaturally calm. He looked into Misha's eyes. She's not always going to be there waiting for me to make move… on us. Kotarou thought. The four of us almost died, and I… couldn't help Grace-san… Kotarou looked towards Marco. He couldn't help but cackle: Marco was fighting Grace's grip on the neck of his coat, throbbing and shouting in a hoarse voice "Put me down! You're choking me! No, you're killing me!"
Grace tried to stay put shouting, "Sorry! AH! Stop squirming! Do you want me to drop you by accident!?"
The four of them flew a little lower to see where they were. They soon met another danger as they shouted in fright: They were hurtling towards the stone wall of the museum!