A/N: Appears I haven't updated since school started, huh? I've had some things happening since classes resumed, such as my previous laptop of four years busting (beyond even how broken it already was). I managed to recover all my files, and I built a new beefy desktop with a friend's help, but I'm still waiting on a monitor. So in the meantime I'm using my family's shared laptop.
In my original draft, chapter 10 quickly bloated in size and turned into like 16k words. I ended up splitting this chapter into 10 and 11, and combining what I had planned for chapters 11 and 12. So this arc will still only take up three large chapters. Good news being, chapter 11 is mostly done, I just have to edit it before posting.
Also: I did something different for this chapter and composed a song for it! I sampled "Omoi Daite" from Higurashi's OST, and goreshit's remix, "when the cicadas cry". You can listen to it before, during, or after you read the chapter, though it won't make sense until you've actually read it. I'll link to the song on my profile. I'd actually like to do this from now on, composing a song for each chapter. Hopefully I'll go back and do it for the older ones, too. Ahem, anyway...
Chapter 10: Whose Name is Written in Overexposed Photos
The tremendous amount of light blinded Miyu at first, confronting her with a solid white wall. Then the luminous aura faded, revealing the new scene surrounding her. It was anything but bright and rosy. The bows of the aspens which had once pleasantly waved in the breeze now quivered under its mighty force; the blue sky overshadowed by storm clouds, and the peaceful forest trail swept with turbulent eddies of leaves.
Miyu was all too familiar with this forest hollow. She wish she wasn't.
The last time she was here, a snake had wrapped itself around her neck, choking her. Now it was gone, leaving Miyu to kneel all alone on the hillside. Her eyes combed around the grove, feeling as if she had forgotten something. A trail of black smoke rose up to the gray clouds, signaling disaster far off in the woods. The creek rushed by at the bottom of the mound, beside the path; its haste no longer of joy, but a product of fear. The carcass of a picnic sat atop the hill. Crumbs on empty plates were its remains. She had shared it with someone...
Lily!
Miyu looked all over the hillside, but couldn't find her sister.
Cupping her hands over her mouth, she shouted, "Lily!"
Her voice came out higher-pitched than she remembered. It echoed far away, between the trees, but no one answered.
"Lily!" Miyu screamed again, with the same result.
The snake had done its work.
All that remained of her sister was her out-dated camera. The device sat slanted on the hillside, where Lily had dropped it.
With tears in her eyes, Miyu crawled over to the polaroid camera, opening the cache of photos it contained. A stack fell out upon the leaf-covered grass, and Miyu desperately searched through them.
On top: the cargo ship, before it downed in the forest.
Miyu tossed the picture aside. The next image was of the creek flowing behind her, populated with yellow leaves.
She flung it away. Next in the stack: the shell of one of the clams Lily ate, and Miyu had picked clean for her.
A fond memory, but Miyu discarded it as well. The next photograph was...
The freighter again.
...But that didn't make sense. Lily had only taken one picture of it.
The creek came next.
Then the clam.
Growing frustrated and ever hopeless, Miyu flipped faster and faster through the pictures, but they were only of those three objects, and only in that same order. The ship, the creek, and the shell.
Miyu threw the entire stack aside. She opened the camera and dumped out the blank stash of undeveloped photos. They fluttered down onto the grass, and the bright sunlight peeking through the clouds seemed to strike them. Before her eyes those same three images materialized on each and every one of the photographs.
A horrendous cacophony of snapping wood reached Miyu's ears. The sound seemed to come from every direction at once, as if the bones of the trees were breaking.
Frightened, Miyu looked up from the photographs.
She was surrounded by eyes.
From the old, weathered bark of the aspens stared black eyes—the scars left by branches that had snapped off. They blinked open and closed, searching the hillside until they found the lynx.
Miyu swung to her left and right, but was only confronted by more and more eyes spreading up the trunks of the aspens. She sprang to her feet, hunching over to run somewhere, but realized she had nowhere to flee to, and nowhere to hide. No matter where she ran in the forest the eyes would always be there, observing her from every angle, numbering in the thousands. Watching. Calculating. Waiting. Cursing.
Miyu screamed. She crumpled onto the hilltop, curling into a fetal position and rocking back and forth. She jammed her eyes closed.
"Go away!" she cried at them. "Don't look at me! Stop looking at me!"
)✹◯
A bang. Two. Several more.
Miyu lay curled up in the seat of her cockpit, crying into her knees.
She couldn't stop balling her eyes out. A demon had taken a hold of her, giving her vision after vision of her death. He shoved the frightful images into her mind, one after the other, and pried her eyelids open to look. No matter what Miyu did, she couldn't unsee those sights, or forget the momentous pain she went through, or escape their hounding memories.
The eye of oil forming in Chasme's seeing bowl... Cira falling into the horde or monsters... the opening of the Aquan's third eyes... crawling into the tunnel that lead to nowhere and shooting herself, only to fumble with her own suicide...
Miyu let the sobs wrack over her body, and she screamed as loud as she could.
...Those butchers, picking through her for what felt like hours...
Worst of all those surreal nightmares continued. They always confronted her after she died and before she woke up again. Probably the most painful of all these memories was losing her sister, all those years ago. Perhaps that was what death was like; reliving old memories she couldn't change.
Miyu sat shaking in her chair, her pant legs and knee fur now soaked. The leather upholstery creaked and stretched beneath her weight. The sunlight shafted in through the canopy, heating the ship's interior. The cockpit muffled outside noises, leaving a calm quiet. All familiar sensations that dispelled her memories and grounded her back in reality.
She was safe. For the moment, at least.
Once her sobs quieted down she heard that song playing over the radio again—that same fucking song taunting her each time, greeting her whenever she woke up. You thought you escaped, but now you ended up back where you started, only to die all over again.
Slowly, Miyu's despair turned to rage.
"'Cause you're the only jewel I see
Yeah you're the only jewel I see
'Cause you're the only jewel I see
Jewel I s—"
The radio set exploded in a shower of sparks, revealing a gaping hole in the middle. A trail of smoke curled to the top of her canopy, leaving a gray film over it.
For a few more seconds, Miyu pointed her shaking blaster at the radio unit. Once she confirmed its silence, she set her gun down and breathed deeply.
She desperately needed to blow someone's fucking head off.
But something was wrong. Each of the three previous times she'd awakened on the wharf, Fay had been right there to welcome her rebirth. So where was she? Nobody ever acted differently upon the repetitions, unless they had a necklace and could retain their memories.
Miyu popped her canopy and hopped out of her ship. She landed on the wooden deck, the boards squealing in protest. Fay's ship was there, and its windshield open, but... no Fay. Was she hiding somewhere, waiting to play a practical joke? Or had she gone into town ahead of her?
Miyu hurried along the pier, running towards the mainland. She had barely set out when she noticed a crumpled body at halfway down the pier, and a second body slumped against the inside of the sales hut.
The lynx slid to a stop, kneeling beside the first body. It was the Basset hound—the forest ranger who was always talking to the wharf master whenever she arrived. She'd said brief hellos to him and his friend each time she passed. Miyu began to find him a nuisance, just like that song; his repeated presence a sign of something she couldn't change, no matter how many times she relived that morning. But now, seeing that usually constant element changed like this...
Miyu gasped. The hound was bleeding from two bullet wounds in his torso. She propped his head on her lap, searching her memory for his name.
"Jeff!" she shouted at him. "Jeff, are you okay? What happened?"
The Basset hound controlled his breathing, working to take deep, measured breaths.
"Pirate hooligans," he whispered, the words causing him more physical pain. "They sailed up to the pier in boats, shot me and Rich, and they took your friend—the Cornerian girl." Jeff's eyes winced shut, and he coughed. "How did... how did you know my—"
"Where did they go?!" Miyu demanded. "Where'd they take her?"
"West, along the coast," Jeff coughed out.
Miyu felt a burning urge to set out after the pirates and rescue Fay, but she was torn between that and helping Jeff. She couldn't just leave him and Rich to bleed out on the dock.
"Look, I'll call you an ambulance or something. Don't move!"
Jeff grabbed her arm, stopping her from placing the call on her wrist comm. "No, I took care of that. Help is on its way."
"Then I have to go after them!"
"No! The authorities will handle them. Just check on Rich for me, please? I can't move from here, and he hasn't answered me."
Miyu looked off down the wharf, in the direction Jeff said the pirates headed. She clenched her fists, but ultimately decided to restrain herself. She gently lay the ranger's head back on the dock, using his hat as a pillow. "Alright, I'll see if he's okay."
Miyu ran down the length of the dock, boots pounding on the wooden boards. When she reached the wharf shed she found Rich the hog, slumped against the back wall. A trail of blood covered the wooden slats behind him. He showed no signs of movement.
"R-Rich?" Miyu timidly asked. She took his wrist and felt for a pulse, but found not even the smallest hint of pumping blood. Rich hadn't been as fortunate as Jeff.
How could things go so wrong so soon? She had barely restarted that day, and already Fay was kidnapped and two of her acquaintances on Bayoon were dead or near death. The pirates' attack was even more disconcerting; somehow they knew where Miyu and Fay first arrived on Bayoon. It wasn't just a chance attack. Cira must have given Gladys the necklace, so she like Miyu could relive the same day without losing her memories. That meant each time she died and awoke in Badwash, the pirates could be there, waiting for her. What if Gladys had fighters bomb her ship each time she woke up? That would effectively lock her in place, but it also meant Gladys would have to restart each time Miyu did, meaning that wasn't helpful. She'd have to find a way to extract Miyu's necklace without killing her first. That meant...
Miyu's wrist comm beeped, signaling she had received a text message. She rose to her feet, and with trembling fingers she opened the message. The short text contained only a series of numbers, together forming a pair of coordinates pointing to a location on Bayoon. Miyu tapped the coordinates, and her map application opened to display their position. They lay west of Badwash Harbor, like Jeff said—between the docks and Mulaboo Marsh. A reticule indicated Fay's personal comm was there as well.
Miyu's wrist unit beeped again, indicating a second message had arrived. Opening it, she read,
Bring the necklace here if you want to see Fay MacDane again.
Come alone.
Miyu exhaled, unable to stop the shiver she felt. The message confirmed the realization of one of her deepest fears: that the pirates discovered Fay's true identity. After all, the niece of General Pepper was a valuable bargaining chip.
The lynx thought through the situation carefully. There was no guarantee whatsoever that the pirates would release Fay, even if she did hand over the artifact. Miyu wouldn't hesitate to trade the dusty piece of junk for her friend, not for a heartbeat. But Fay was too valuable to the pirates as well. Knowing she was Pepper's niece—the Consulate General of Corneria—Captain Gladys couldn't possibly give her up. Not when she could use Fay to strike a deal with Pepper, ensuring the safety of the pirate fleets after the routing at Sector Z. But knowing Pepper's dedication and honor, he would ultimately refuse such a deal, even if it meant his niece's death. He put Corneria first, that bastard mutt.
Miyu couldn't have that. No. She'd have to devise a way to rescue Fay herself. Think...
Miyu's eyes roved over the interior of the shed. Down below the cash register, some of the usually locked drawers lay open a smidge. Pulling one open, it rattled like a treasure chest, filled to the brim with trays of keys. The wharf probably rented watercraft. Digging through the interior, Miyu eventually found a key with a tag that read Ace Fletcher's speedboat. Perfect.
Snatching the key from the drawer, she raced back across the dock, intending to grab some supplies from her ship.
On the way she passed Jeff, who called out, "Please, how's Rich? Is he okay?"
Miyu slowed to a stop, her shoulders slumping. Her back faced towards Jeff, but she worked up the resolve and optimism to turn around.
"He'll be okay," Miyu smiled.
It wasn't a lie.
It was a promise.
)✹◯
Between Badwash Harbor and Mulaboo Marsh sat a sawmill. It was an old mill, long ago antiquated by modern appliances and more efficient factories. Over the years it fell into disuse, now overgrown with ivy, moss, and vines, practically hidden from sight from the lake. It sat rotting away at the back of a small inlet, into which poured a creek. Its proximity to the lake made it the ideal location to float logs down and move cut timber with tugboats, back in the day. But now the glass windows were broken, the wood decayed, saw blades rusted, and the inlet covered in overgrown foliage. And while the cabin was well concealed, approaching watercraft would also be hard to spot among the rushes.
On the mill's porch overlooking the inlet's mouth sat a wall of tree stumps, branches, and cut timber, shielding the porch from view. Anyone passing by would judge the mill to be abandoned, as usual, but a keen eye could spot the black barrels of conventional kinetic rifles or the metallic muzzles of laser-based weapons. Behind the wall of decaying timber hunched a squad of pirates: Borro the pangolin, Iggy the rat, and two other grunts—all lying in wait.
"Where is she?" Iggy asked impatiently. "Don't she know her friend's loife is on the line?"
"She'll be here," Borro softly growled, intently searching the mouth of the inlet. "Gladys assured me."
"Well, are we h'actually gonna 'and over the girl if she gives us the necklace? Seems like a waste of Pepper's niece. Girl's also a fine-looker—not that Gladys wouldn't 'ave our 'ides if she found out we 'ad... the relations with her, heh."
"We're pirates, Iggy," the pangolin answered, not sparing him a glance.
Iggy cocked his head and twisted a finger through his ear. "See now, you act like that's all ya need to give as an answer. But being pirates isn't that simple—'specially when it places us in contradictory states. See, being pirates an' all, we're known to be treacherous and dishonest, so we can't go through with a promise. We're also not ones to follow rules, which raises the question of whether pirates even 'ave to follow rules to be pirates, which in an' of isself isn' exactly pirate-like. Likewise, the pirate thing to do with that girl back there is to ravage her, all savage-like; but Gladys is keeping us from doing that. See, either way, we're sacrificing being "pirates" to save our pelts."
Borro turned to the rat. "Iggy, as soon as that woman shows up I'm taking the necklace from her, shoving this gun into her stomach, and blowing a hole clean through. Shoot first, ask metaphysical pirate questions later."
Iggy felt disappointed that Borro had neither the intellect nor the patience to take part in a philosophical discourse on the essence of "pirateness". But he replied, "Yeah. Whatever you say, Borro."
"I spotted somethin'!" one of the other grunts whispered. "Hush up!"
Borro snapped his fingers. "Just when I looked away! Where is she?"
The pirate pointed through the reeds, dead center of the inlet. "It's a speedboat—and it's headed our way."
"Right on time. Now, lay low and stay quiet until I move first."
The pirates waited behind cover while the speedboat glided through the inlet. Eventually they heard and felt a thunk as it bumped up against the side of the porch. The engines were off; the girl must have piloted it in on momentum alone, to stay silent.
Borro sprang up from cover, training his rifle on the boat. "Alright miss! Show yourself, and keep those hands in the air!"
Iggy and the two others climbed up on the timber and boarded the boat, but they found the deck empty.
"She ain't 'ere, Borro!"
The pangolin frowned. He hopped on board, scanning the inside deck for signs of the feline. "What do you mean, you numskulls can't find her?"
"She isn't on board. I don't see 'er in the water nearby, either. We woulda heard her jump off."
Borro kept searching the deck, confused. "Why would she send an unmanned..." He trailed off upon seeing the red gas tank, and the spherical device affixed to it.
"Oooooo..."
Unbeknownst to the pirates, Miyu was on a small cliff bank overlooking the inlet. She lay on her stomach, pressed low to the ground and peering through two bushes. Once she was sure all four of the enemies were on board her floating trap, she jammed a finger into a remote control device.
The grenade affixed to the gas tank exploded, causing a fiery orange ball to erupt into the sky. The noise from the grenade was deafening, and Miyu felt the heat from the chain reaction of explosions all the way at her removed position, 40 meters away. The blast literally tore the boat apart, with pieces of metal flying in all directions. The bodies previously aboard the speedboat flew into the drink, sending up columns of water along with other falling debris. After the initial explosion, the boat continued to burn, and flames danced upon a body that had landed on the porch.
When all but the crackling fires fell quiet, and not a pirate's curse was heard from the bodies floating in the water, Miyu rose from her vantage point. She ran around the inside rim of the inlet, careful not to slip down the leaf-covered inclines and into the water. When she approached the mill she slowed down, exercising more caution. There was the off-hand chance one or two of the pirates had survived, no matter how unlikely. Fay wasn't anywhere in sight; hopefully she was in the cabin, but that might mean someone was guarding her. Wouldn't they have come out by now, or ran?
Miyu padded across the wooden porch, careful to duck below the mill's window. The three bodies in the water didn't stir, so she bent down to observe the smoking corpse on the deck.
It was Borro, the leader of the pirates. The pangolin lay face-up on a stack of timber, smoke rising from his blackened clothes and skin. Scraps of metal pierced through his scales, drawing blood. His face mangled beyond recognition—not that he was a handsome man to look at in the first place. Fis chest failed to rise and fall, which to Miyu was the important part. Still, seeing his ruined corpse lying there like that... something she had caused. Borro hadn't personally done her any harm, not like Iggy and Aziz—
"Ugh, now you've done it!"
Miyu looked up in fright at the sound of the hissing voice. Vetna, the leopard gecko, stepped from the door to the shack. Miyu's heart leapt when she saw she had Fay in-tow; hands bound behind her back and mouth gagged in classic fashion. Fay's shimmering eyes flashed up and caught Miyu's, signaling her own fear at the hands of the reptile. Miyu would have charged Vetna right then and there, but she was holding a blaster in her other hand.
"Borro was my ticket out of here," Vetna continued. "That idiot slob brought me my paycheck every week, and now you've gone an' killed him! Oh you'll pay for that."
Miyu stood up from Borro's smoking corpse. "Let her go," she ordered in a measured tone.
Vetna's snout wrinkled and she cocked her head to one side. "Listen girl, you don't know how this works. I've caught you with your panties down, and I've got your cute friend right here. If you want me to let her go you better hand over a certain item first."
"Let me guess, Vetna. Captain Gladys ordered you to steal a necklace from me?"
Vetna balked at Miyu's accurate prediction, her gun lowering for an instant. They hadn't mentioned Gladys' name in the message, and she had no way of knowing the lizard's. "So it is true—"
Miyu took advantage of her astonishment to draw her own weapon, but froze with it pointed at Vetna.
"Hey, put that down! Or..."
"Or what?" Miyu growled. "You'll shoot me? Do you know how this works?"
Vetna gulped, her gun wavering as it pointed at Miyu. She held back from firing. That confirmed Gladys had warned her of the necklace's ability, and that she'd need to get it off of Miyu before killing her. But Vetna adopted a smug grin and placed her gun against the back of Fay's head.
"I think you better drop your gun, bitch. Or do you want to gamble against my reflexes?"
Fay's head bent forward, and she stood on the balls of her feet to ease the pressure of the barrel, but Vetna held her close by her bonds.
The sight of the gun jammed into Fay's skull ignited something in Miyu, and she instinctively crouched in preparation for action. She stared daggers at Vetna, and pulled back her lips to expose her teeth.
"Let her go," she ordered.
"Try me, fur-licker," Vetna begged. She twisted Fay's arms behind her back, causing them to bend at painful angles. She pressed harder with the gun, digging the nozzle into the nape of Fay's neck. The combined pain and pressure brought tears to Fay's eyes, and she whimpered through her gag.
Miyu felt her back arching and hair standing on end. Her protective instincts for Fay pulsed through her blood, begging her to act. She could barely hold back.
"Do you really want to wager you can shoot me before I shoot her?"
Fay's trembling eyes sought out Miyu, and she pleaded wordlessly against any rash action. She knew that look in Miyu's eyes all to well. She'd seen them before—only they were someone else's. Only violence could follow.
"I've lost Fay three times now," Miyu explained. "But it feels like a dozen. What difference would a hundred more times make? There's no reason for me to fear for her. But you have every reason to fear. Shoot me now, and I'll come right back. The difference is, I know where you were and how you'll act. But you will forget this ever happened. Shoot Fay, and you've already lost. You're at a dead end, Vetna."
By the fear in her expression, Vetna comprehended her situation, and she didn't like it. She drew the gun from the back of Fay's head, pointing it at Miyu. She licked her lips. "Stay back, or I'll just wound you first, filling you up with burn holes before I take—"
Fay smashed her head into Vetna's chin, clamping the lizard's jaws on her tongue. Vetna cried out, her gun pointing off from Miyu.
All of the lynx's will concentrated on her trigger finger. How easy it would be to end the standoff and shoot Vetna right then and there. Only the voice of reason told her not to; she might hit Fay. But with each passing second, that voice grew fainter and farther away. Soon, only its echos reached her mind. She was so intently focused that she didn't blink once. The edges of her vision began to blur, and bright specks of light mixed with blossoming shadows in the center. The intertwined forms of Fay and Vetna shifted, phasing in and out like ghosts through water. The more she allowed her consciousness to wander, the more they clarified into a second image—a mirage. Fay's pearly white fur grew cream-colored, and her muzzle flattened into that of another, smaller feline. Her captor took on the form of an asp, golden-eyed and hissing. Its coils wrapped around the cat's shoulders and hands, its fangs biting at her neck. It wasn't Lylatian. It had no life or soul. It only took that which belonged to others.
Miyu pulled the trigger, and a burning hole exploded in the lizard's face. Fay dropped to the wooden deck a few seconds before the lizard's body lost its balance and fell over. Miyu just stood there, chest heaving, eyes darting erratically about. She could neither focus on Fay's helpless form or the corpse of Vetna beside her.
"Mmm?" Fay's voice came out muffled, but her confusion and concern were evident.
Only fragments of sentences formed in Miyu's mind, each new thought tumbling over and contradicting its predecessor. She had killed someone—but she had killed many times before—this time it was out of rage, which she couldn't control—but her actions saved Fay—she almost killed Fay—but she didn't—she scared her, she showed her the true monster she was—but she needed to become this—
"Mmm!"
Miyu snapped out of her panic, realizing Fay was waiting. She stepped over to the spaniel's side, looking down at her. She lay curled up on the floor, feet and hands bound. Her head tilted up towards Miyu. The anguish in her eyes was much clearer to Miyu now, as were the sprinkles of blood and reptile flesh dirtying her cheek. She had frightened her, both with her words and actions. Everything she used to manipulate Vetna had a second-hand effect on her friend. They were inseparable in the moments leading up to and including her death. Miyu had to make amends. Maybe now was the time…
"He-hey there princess. Need a hand?" Miyu squeaked out.
Fay's eyes went wide at that phrase. The tears stopped leaking from her eyes, instead replaced by a look of amazement.
Miyu tried to keep up a smile, hoping her optimistic front would encourage Fay, but it was all a lie. She hadn't enjoyed those moments anymore than Fay did. She knelt by the spaniel's side, setting to work upon her bonds. She removed the gag first.
Fay gasped for breath, spitting out the foul, musty taste of the gag. "Miyu! What… what was all that? They were talking as if that necklace made you invincible, and had something to do with time travel, which is completely unbelievable. I thought they were insane! But then… you show up. And you confirmed everything they were talking about. What do you mean when you said you've seen me die a hundred times? And how did you know—"
"How did I know what James said?" Miyu finished for her. "He saved you from ransomers years back, didn't he? That's why you wanted to become a mercenary and join Star Fox. You were enamored with him and his job."
"But how did you know about that? I never told you!"
"You did. What Borro and the others said is true. I've relived this same day three times already—going on four. Think of it like a video game. I've died several times—both of us have. But the world keeps resetting."
"What?! Then why don't I remember any of it?"
Miyu finished untying Fay's hands and set to work on the leg bindings.
"The difference between me and you and the pirates is that I have a necklace, and you all don't. It lets me keep my memories, which gives me an edge over everyone."
"Then how did they know where we'd be? How did they know about you and the necklace?"
"Dammit, would you shut up Fay!" Miyu burst out. The barrage of questions had swirled Miyu down a spiral of thoughts, none of which were good. She had been through this before, and already the repetition grated on her patience. She stood up, leaving the spaniel's legs only halfway untied. "I need to think!"
Fay recoiled, not even daring to untie the bonds herself. Ears flattening, she responded, "Sorry, I… didn't mean to overwhelm you." Then after studying Miyu's worried face she added, "Is there something you aren't telling me? Because you do that to me all the time. Hiding awful things to protect me, that is. You really should be less protective."
"No, it can wait Fay, I just… need to figure out what to do next. I've tried hunting down the pirates in the swamp, I've tried following them to Gladys' hideout, I've tried asking a fortune teller about this stupid shell around my neck, and each time I feel like I get nowhere! It's like I'm all out of options!" She moaned. Tears began seeping from her eyes, and she fixed her watery orbs upon Fay, unable to hide them. "I don't know what to do!" She clenched her fists and closed her eyes. "This feeling is so frustrating, and each new thing I do is more desperate than the last. None of them get any results—except both of us and everyone we meet wind up dead. I feel like I'm making things worse!" She reopened her eyes and her hands, turning the palms to face Fay. "I'm so powerless to do anything."
Fay sat up and stared into Miyu's eyes. "Look, I'm sure we can get through this. I know you! You're not ever going to give up, no matter how difficult or insane a mission... gets… Hey, uh, how long have your eyes been that color?"
Miyu sniffed. "Huh? What color?"
"They're usually blue, like mine. But now they look more brownish—even gold when the sun hits them. Are you one of those people whose eyes change colors?"
"Gold?" Miyu turned to look into the shack's window, staring at her reflection in the dark glass. Her eyes should've been near impossible to see, but for some reason they emitted a faint glow in the smoky surface.
"That's really cool!" Fay exclaimed, seizing the chance to change the subject. "You should've told me how your eyes can change colors earlier. I bet you were popular at… school..." Miyu had turned around and now faced Fay with wide, vacant eyes. "That's… not natural. Is it?"
Miyu didn't respond.
Fay visibly shivered. "Woo! That's actually creepy. Did you ever get the feeling like someone's watching you?"
That feeling of intense focus from when she had shot Vetna returned in full force. She whirled around to check her back, searching the trees around the inlet, but all she found were false-alarm shadows. No one was there, but she still felt that same sensation Fay did. A third presence was with them, when all they could see were Miyu, Fay, and the pirate corpses. If the presence was nowhere outside of her, that meant…
Miyu gulped. She turned back to look at Fay, seeing visions of carnage befall her friend. Violence she caused. She wasn't alone in her head. It was there, reminding her of the cannibalistic zombies hunting Badwash. She… now she was one of them.
"Miyu?" Fay struggled to her feet, which were still bound. She awkwardly shuffled towards Miyu.
The lynx stumbled backwards. "S-stay back! I don't want to hurt you!"
"What's gotten into you? You don't have to be afraid. We're friends, remember?"
"Please, don't come any closer!" Miyu begged.
Fay stopped shuffling. Her eyes narrowed. "What are you not telling me?"
The memory of Fay eating her alive played in Miyu's head, but this time she knew it would be the other way around. She had tolerated one; she wouldn't in a million of these days tolerate the other.
She spun around and took off running. She heard Fay call her name followed by a loud thump from her body hitting the floor. Miyu left the porch and scrambled into the forest, utilizing every second of her head start. She had to get as far away as possible from Fay, for the girl's own safety.
)✹◯
The trees and branches whipped by in a blur, some slicing at her cheeks. A film descended over her eyes, playing hypnotic tricks on her vision. Bright rays of light streamed in from between the leaves, illuminating the early morning mists rising from the humid swamp and flooding the wilderness in a golden fog. The leaves steadily changed from green to yellow, as if the changing of the seasons accelerated before her very eyes. The tree trunks and boulders whizzing by her blurred into dark shadows, while the sunlight pierced ever through them, promising escape. The light at the end of the tunnel.
Miyu didn't know how long she ran. She lost track of time as all reason abandoned her. The swamp didn't resemble any part of Badwash she had experienced yet. It more closely resembled the forest of aspens back on her home planet, Katina. The same forest returning in each of her dreams, only now it had invaded her waking life as well.
Fear took hold of Miyu's heart with a grip as cold and as strong as iron. Combined with her concern for Fay's safety was the horror of being alone in a strange forest. Those monsters could already be prowling it; she could practically see them in every clump of yellow leaves that moved unbidden. And momentarily, she would join their ranks.
She ran on, practically feeling the breath of the cannibals on her neck, their jaws snapping at her heels. She leapt over a stream, ducked beneath a rocky overhang, and scurried across a fallen tree. She couldn't stop, or they'd be upon her.
She emerged from the wooded swamp into an open glade, at the center of which rose a small hill. It was covered in a blanket of golden leaves, which warmly glistened in the unobstructed sunlight. She climbed the mound, falling on all fours when she reached the top. She gasped for oxygen, panting and whimpering uncontrollably. She had to rest, even if it meant the apparitions would catch up to her. Even if the monster would take her in her sleep. She looked up from the hill, scanning the surrounding circle of trees for the nightmarish predators. She found none.
Slowly regaining control of her breath, she lay down to cry on the hill. It was all hopeless. She was in over her head from the start; agreeing to track down Black Mamba for the artifacts while also having to protect Fay from her. The old Aquans of Badwash all hated her and wished she and her kind were gone. In the west, the pirates would overwhelm her. In the east, the cult of Aquans would torture and dissect her alive. If she stayed at Badwash Harbor the pirates would descend upon the fair and massacre her and everyone else. To the north was Gladys' hideout—the lion's den, effectively suicide even if she hadn't tried it yet. Finally, if she packed up and left with Fay, she herself was infected, and would kill her only friend. Wherever they ran, she would bring this monster with her.
Then what did that leave? If every door lay sealed, what then? She was doomed, cursed to wander Badwash for the rest of her life. Perhaps for an eternity, not made up of many days, but one day; the same day, over and over, painful death after excruciating death, losing Fay again and again. There was no escape, no respite for her.
Miyu!
A voice called from the depths of the forest. It was a pleasant, sing-songy voice. It searched for her, but didn't betray the slightest ounce of worry.
Miyuuuu!
Young, and child-like. She instantly recognized the voice, though it hadn't graced her ears in a decade.
She looked up from the mound, searching the trees again. It didn't seem to come from one direction, but from many.
This way, silly…
Her ears locked onto its source, and Miyu slid down the leaf-strewn hill after it. She tentatively stepped back into the trees again, aware of every shadow and movement.
Don't be afraid. You're safe. Can we play some more?
There. To the north. A white flash of movement. Miyu tried to focus her cloudy vision on it, but only made out a glowing splotch.
Betcha can't catch me, slowpoke!
The splotch disappeared behind a tree, and Miyu set off after it. She was tired from her previous run, but something about the rising mists and the cool morning breeze proved refreshing. Though in all likeliness it was the phantom's presence that re-energized her.
She passed the tree the figure had been hiding at, but found no one there. Slightly worried, she searched between the gnarled trunks.
Miyu heard a cute giggle and turned to its source. She caught a glimpse of a long, cream-colored tail darting behind another tree. She took off after it, this time running faster. By now her fears of prowling monsters had vanished. She was almost enjoying the chase, like old times.
She rounded a crooked trunk and spotted the other feline's back, darting in and out between the trees.
Their chase took them steadily uphill, until Miyu found herself lifting herself up by thin trees and climbing over rocks. The air became especially dense in the early morning mists, until it was hard for Miyu to see more than a few yards in front of her. Still Miyu pressed on, goaded by the playful taunting of her sister's voice.
)✹◯
Eventually she broke free of the clouds, climbing onto a flat plateau. The hillside seemed to stretch on to her left and right farther than she could see, and after a ways of relatively flat terrain it began rising back up again, only to disappear into another wall of trees and clouds. She scanned the rocky plateau until she found her sister's small form, dressed in a lime green dress which billowed in the wind. She crossed the expanse in between them, shortly arriving at her side.
Lily was different from how Miyu saw her in her dreams—or rather, she herself was different. She stood at twice her height now, rather than being just as young and short in her memories. It reminded her just how much time had passed since last seeing her.
In contrast to their earlier game in the forest, Lily acted much more reserved. She stood ramrod straight on the precipice, paws clasped behind her back. She stared down into the clouds below, and the mystery they contained. Her expression serious, and determined.
Miyu didn't know what to say, so she remained silent until her sister chose to speak. It felt odd, letting such a little girl have so much control over her.
"You're hurting, aren't you?" Lily asked, not removing her eyes from the void below.
"Yes… a good deal."
"You feel trapped, don't you? With nowhere to run."
"Yes, Lily."
The younger feline turned and clasped Miyu's paws in her own. She looked up at her sister, deathly serious.
"Then keep following me."
Follow… Lily? "Where? Where are you?"
Lily stared up at Miyu with pleading eyes. "I know you're hurting so much, and you feel so weak. You can't escape those scary places. You're scared about hurting your best friend, too. But you can run away from all that if you follow me."
Miyu's eyes wandered away from Lily, staring over the side of the precipice. The drop-off yawned before her, extending a hundred feet below before it disappeared into fog. Suddenly, the cliff took on a new meaning for Miyu.
Death… but also release.
If only that were true.
"Lily, no matter what I do I can't escape. I'll just wake up back where I started. Nothing will change."
Lily stood on tiptoes to place her paw on the bump in Miyu's shirt. "This… is what's keeping you trapped here."
Curious and entranced, Miyu lifted the necklace from her shirt, studying the pendant dangling from it.
"It's just a chain, Miyu. It only brings scary things. It's not worth it. Let go of it."
Cautiously, Miyu lifted the necklace from around her neck and held it out in front of her. It felt strange taking it off, like letting go of a security blanket, or bicycling without training wheels, or flying with her shields off. It felt frightening… and exciting. She held her arm out, letting it dangle over the stone ground.
"Let go, and it'll all disappear. You won't see this smelly swamp again. Nothing can ever hurt you, and you can't hurt anyone. But best of all..."
Lily grabbed onto the hem of Miyu's shirt, staring up at her.
"...You'll see me."
The chord of the necklace slipped between Miyu's fingers, and it clacked against the ground. She had made her choice. It was the only way, but then again most puzzles and mazes only had one solution, no matter how convoluted. She gazed into the abyss and the hundred feet between her and the tops of the low-hanging clouds. Beyond them… who could say. It was a mystery what they hid. Hopefully, peace, and her sister. But there was only one way to find out.
Closing her eyes, Miyu caused the intimidating sight to vanish. It would be easier to act that way, without fear freezing her. It was the same as falling into a pool of water, or dropping onto her bed after a long day. Effortless… She spread her arms and balanced on the edge, swaying back and forth.
Thumps. Boots scraping against rocks and gravel reached her ears. She opened her eyes in time to see Fay approach from her right, where Lily had been standing. She shoved Miyu away from the ledge, demanding, "What do you think you're doing?!"
Miyu nearly jumped out of her skin, then guiltily floundered for a response. But a powerful, blunt force snapped her head back, and she fell onto the ground. Surprised, she rubbed at her stinging cheek and sore jaw.
Fay had struck her. It wasn't a bitchy slap, nor a mushy, fumbling punch. It was a full, five-fingered blow. Upon impact it knocked all the ghosts and confusion and fantasy worlds from Miyu's mind. It was hard and physical, rudely waking her back to reality.
"What's gotten into you? What are you doing here? Do you really think you can just reset all this by killing yourself? Using that necklace… wait, where is that thing?"
Fay placed her hands on her hips, towering above Miyu's sprawling form. She scrutinized Miyu's person for the necklace, then the clifftop, until the reflected light from the shell pendent caught her eye.
"Well there it is. You weren't even wearing it. Don't you have to wear it to be able… to..."
As Fay made the horrific connection in her head, Miyu drew away from her in shame, hiding her face.
"Miyu you stupid… idiot!"
The next thing the lynx felt was Fay tackling her in a tight hug. She couldn't return the gesture; she was still recovering from the whiplash of having a dream shattered.
Fay closed her arms around her, burying her muzzle in her neck. Miyu could feel her cold nose through her fur.
"I don't understand what's going on Miyu, and I don't know if I ever will. A lot of confusing things happened today, and you seem changed—older, even though it's only been a few hours since they separated us. You seem gone. And," she sniffed, "I know you have good reasons for this, and it all might make sense, eventually, but I think you need to talk to me. I'll always follow you, Miyu. I'll be there to listen when you have no one else. And when you feel like you have to do something on your own to protect me…" She lifted her head and looked into Miyu's vacant eyes. "...Don't. You're not alone. So please… confide in me. Don't hold back."
After a few seconds of silence, Miyu answered, "Okay, Fay. Just… don't ask too many questions."
Fay squeezed her torso. "Got it."
Sighing, Miyu continued. "Alright. I'm at the end of my rope, Fay. Until a few seconds ago I felt like I was losing my mind. I thought I might hurt you, but I think that's passed. I've… been through a lot, during the past four days. Each time I threw myself at the mission, determined to find Mamba, but I uncovered something so much larger that threatens all of Badwash, and possibly even Bayoon. It's so much bigger than me, and I'm so small I feel like I can't make a difference… but I'm the only one who can because of this stupid necklace. I try and I try, but everytime I make a little progress I reach another dead end of this maze, and I lose myself… and you."
For the first time since Fay hugged her, Miyu looked her in the face. "You know what I said to Vetna? About losing you? That was all a lie. Each time you die, it doesn't minimize the pain I feel. It makes it worse. It adds up. I haven't gotten used to it—I never will! Each time it kills me a little more inside, and I can never unsee those horrors. But I have to press on… Gladys is after me, and countless lives are at stake. I have to save them. I—"
Fay placed a finger over Miyu's lips. "Whoa, slow down. I think we've found your problem."
"There's just one?"
Fay giggled. "Well, there's one big one that's making things harder for right now. You have to beat these one at a time, you know. Your immediate problem is that you're knocking yourself out, trying to do too many things and save too many people. Has your mind rested at all over those past few days?"
Miyu paused to do the math in her head. "I think I haven't slept in over 24 hours. I mean, I'm never alive for more than eight, but I think it adds up. I don't know if my body needs the rest…"
"Well your mind sure as hell does," Fay concluded. "Honestly, it was only a matter of time before you broke down like that."
"But my eyes!" Miyu exclaimed.
Fay held open Miyu's eyelids with her fingers, studying her irises. "Looks like they're back to normal. As blue as the ocean." Letting Miyu's eyelids snap back into place, she continued, "Yep, what you need is some rest."
"I don't feel sleepy."
"Then you need to put your mind at rest. Badwash must be a great spot for it. The marshlands are really scenic. We could take a boat ride—"
"Whoa-no, pirates are camped out there, like the ones that kidnapped you."
"Oh. Well then, we could have a picnic in the for—"
Miyu shook her head. "Uh-uh. Zombies."
"Weeee cooould... spend some time at the fair in town—"
"Been there, done that," Miyu cut her off. "Pirates and zombies… and cultists."
"How about this mountain, then?" Fay asked.
"Mountain?" Miyu looked up, noticing that the clouds had mostly cleared from the rest of the hill she was climbing. Sure enough, it was a mountain—Mount Obukula. Its peak poked into the massive pillar of clouds that stretched all the way between Bayoon and its parent satellite, Aquas. The low hanging clouds had obscured the upper half when she first climbed it. But then her focus had been elsewhere.
"Yeah, have you ever been here?"
"No, but I've heard about it from some locales."
"Well, does it have anything we could do for fun? Besides hiking, that is. I'm sure you're just as tired as I am after that chase."
"Gladys' hideout is supposedly on the other side. We could infiltrate that."
Fay rolled her eyes. "Be serious!"
"I was! I haven't tried going there yet. I bet I could sneak up on her, take her necklace, and—"
"Would you forget about fighting pirates and making progress!" Fay shook Miyu. "This is about you and you alone. Now, think about something re-lax-ing!"
Miyu thought for a moment, remembering the words of the Darling family that took them in. "Um, there's like a radio station at the top of the mountain, and some disc jockey who's rather popular. And somewhere there are salt springs."
"That's it!" Fay snapped her fingers. "Perfect for relaxation! I bet you haven't had a good bath in weeks. Especially not a natural one out in nature like this. Why, back in my Zoness estate we had these heavenly hot tubs that were great for melting your woes in..."
Miyu could have mentioned her bath at the Darlings, but it was lonely, dark, and scary—not at all relaxing—so she didn't bring it up. "Okay, sure, that sounds nice. But… where are these salt springs?"
Fay scratched her chin. "Hmm, I was hoping you would know. But I bet if we followed this trail we would eventually run into them."
"There's a trail?"
"Yeah, you followed it up here. It eventually got to a point where I didn't need to track you via wrist comm anymore, so I just followed the path like you. Come on, let's go!"
Miyu accepted Fay's hand up, and they both set off along the mountain trail.