Sup, fellas. New chapter here. I couldn't finish the arc in one chapter, after all. So it will conclude next chapter. I have only read through this once in my half-asleep state, so there might be errors. I hope it will be bearable. Have fun.
What if this place was made of only me and you?
If just the world and everyone would all go away
If just the world and everyone would all go away
Tell me why
Tell me why
A small voice will tell me why
No it's not the voice of you or I but
ALL MAN KIND
Can't resist, we'll be missed
That's a lie but I insist
That we'll slip into the seething sun and soon we'll sail away
(Six Trillion Years and Overnight Story - JubyPhonic (English Cover))
29. Beginning of the end
The journey through the dark night was a cold and tiresome one. It was late and most lights in the city were off, save for a few street lamps…little good did they do the two monarchs that far down on the ground when the couple floated way above them in the air. At least there still was the faint moonlight which illuminated their surroundings just well enough for them to see each other's faces.
The wind was also unforgiving, blowing the harsh winter air directly into their faces mercilessly. Shu hid his lower face under his thick scarf in an attempt to protect at least part of it from the biting cold. He took a glance at Inori only to get surprised by how fine she actually looked in his arms, observing their surroundings vigilantly without even flinching because of the low temperature. She wasn't even wearing her overcoat anymore since it had been wrapped around his nasty leg wound. Somehow, just looking at her made him shiver.
"Inori, aren't you cold?" He eventually couldn't help but ask her, to which he only received a slow shake of the head from her.
"Your feelings are keeping me warm, remember? I don't even feel the cold." She explained to him, making him stare at her in complete bafflement.
"Even to this extent?" They were quite far up, the winds were definitely cold and there was no sun that could even remotely provide a bit of warmth. He could even see their breaths coming out of their mouths as they talked. She only tilted her head in confusion.
"I can feel the wind, but is it really cold? It just feels like wind. Neither cold, nor hot. I believe I wouldn't even be able to tell the temperature if I were completely naked. Not as long as I am near you." She sounded a bit happy during the last part, slightly lifting his own mood as well.
"Lucky you. Being Eve sure is amazing, huh?"
She nodded with a small smile. "It is." Then the smile suddenly vanished, getting replaced by a frown. "At least if you aren't getting betrayed by your friends because of it…"
Shu's mood deteriorated alongside hers as he narrowed his eyes in a clearly displeased manner.
"Yeah…"
He still couldn't believe that actually happened. Betrayed. By Undertakers, led by Argo of all people. What the hell had that idiot been thinking? The sheer nerve of him. Of them! Urgh, he couldn't deal with this right now and neither did he want to. He was tired and his leg was killing him. He just wanted to find a place for him and Inori to rest at for the night. Just a few hours would do…
Their destination was the old Apocalypse Virus Research Institute. Back in the days, it had been a small private hospital run by Tokyo University which attempted to treat victims of the apocalypse virus. Their goal had been to find a cure to the virus using their own research and methods, distancing themselves from GHQ. The idea had been to not solely rely on foreign help when trying to tackle your own problems. However, results were never achieved due to the arrival of the fourth apocalypse. The head scientist and funder of the project had died to the virus that day, followed by it simply vanishing from existence as a whole, rendering the project utterly useless. After all, what good was a study to combat a virus that no longer existed?
Following these events, the scientists had packed their stuff and left, trying to find a better area to focus their thoughts on and leaving the building vacant. But only for a short while, as the resulting chaos in the aftermath of the fourth apocalypse had given birth to a paradise for a certain minority living in Tokyo. At least temporarily.
With the head scientist and man in charge of the facility dead, there had been no one to report the cancellation of the project and since the sudden change of government caused quite a mess, no one had even felt the need to check, having obviously other, more important things to worry about. That had meant that, from the dead head scientist's bank account, money had continued to get deducted to pay for electricity, rent and heating for at least one or two months until word of his death had finally reached the right people, causing the account to get suspended.
Of course, the word of the street had passed on quite fast. The homeless had been quick to catch on that there was an empty building nearby that offered warmth and electricity for free. Just like moths to a light, they had gathered there faster than anyone could have stopped them, making that place the sanctuary of the poor and forgotten. And even after the mess had somewhat gotten cleared up and electricity had eventually stopped flowing, they simply remained there, refusing to leave even when Tokyo U had demanded their eviction so that they could use the building again.
It turned out that the eviction of the homeless would have needed quite a few police officers to carry out due to the homeless' heavy resistance and unwillingness to leave. However, with the chaos from the forth apocalypse only barely under control at the time, the police couldn't have afforded wasting resources on "low priority" problems such as these. Not while they had still been busy keeping the crime rate low with all their might.
The military had also just been in its baby shoes, not to mention that they wouldn't have handled such a matter anyway. It simply hadn't been important at all, so Tokyo U had been told to give it up for time being, which it reluctantly eventually had. The building was still held by homeless to this very day, or so Shu had heard, which made it a suitable option for him and Inori. They could simply blend in with them and hide among them. And if problems would arise, they could silently slip away in the confusion that would undoubtedly arise.
That didn't mean things would end up being a walk in the park, though. For one, they were terrorists, and even though Inori's face had yet to appear on "Wanted!"-posters, his one was already well known throughout the city. Heck, it had already been known even before he became a terrorist again. That being said, homeless weren't stupid. They would recognize him, given the chance. And if that happened, they would undoubtedly rat him out to the military.
Then there was his darn broken leg which sent him into constant agony. He tried keeping it cool, having gone through worse pain before already, but who was he kidding? It hurt. A lot. He needed treatment, and even though that abandoned research institute used to be a hospital, he doubted that he would be getting any proper treatment there.
Related to that, his stamina was also running out already. He had barely caught any sleep and using Ayase's void with just one leg required quite a bit of energy from his part since you needed to stay airborne with only half of the void, meaning you would have to double the power output. He was positive that the only reason he was even still able to keep going was because of the rush of adrenaline from earlier. As he gradually calmed down, however, his fatigue slowly returned to him, and he was almost sure Inori was far worse off than him, having spent all day on crafting these useless blessings…ironically meant for the very people who had now caused them to try their luck on the cold, harsh streets of a locked-down Tokyo.
Their quality of life hadn't exactly been very high before, but it sure as hell sucked now.
As if to visualize the king's lack of stamina, the sole remaining half of Ayase's void on his foot started to lose some of its glow and a sound as if its power was slowly dying out reached their ears It caused the queen to look at him quite worriedly as they gradually lost more and more altitude.
"Are you okay, Shu?"
"I'm sorry, Inori. We have to land…I…can't keep us airborne anymore." He told her with a pained expression. She only nodded at that understandingly.
"It's okay. We are almost there. We can make the rest of the way by you leaning on me."
"We can't go there yet. We might run into people. They would recognize me…" He told her as he slowly landed on the streets below. Inori got off first, followed by lending him her shoulder before he dismissed the void, letting almost his whole weight crash on her.
"Sorry. Am I heavy?" He was quick to apologize as he leaned on her, avoiding to put any unnecessary weight on his broken leg. He figured that he was experiencing quite enough pain already as it was and thus didn't need to cause additional discomfort for himself.
"Don't worry, Shu. We are Genesis now, remember? I think even carrying you would be possible for a short while." She offered him as she saw him wince in pain.
"I appreciate the offer, but you can't. It will look suspicious. Also, avoid using crystals as well, please. I will do the same with voids, too. They would give us away."
"Okay." She nodded in agreement. They slowly checked their surroundings to see if anyone was around to have witnessed them landing on the streets, but there was no one around at this late hour. Lucky for them.
"We need to find a way to hide our faces. Or at least mine…" Shu then thought out aloud while they took a quick rest against the wall of a nearby building. The abandoned research facility was right in front of them, just a few minutes of walking away, yet it also appeared to be so far away for someone in Shu's condition. One step could easily feel like five to him.
That's when Inori appeared to have spotted something.
"Wait here, Shu. I will be right back." She told him and helped him to sit down.
"I think going somewhere is the last thing I will be doing right now." He jokingly responded with a pained voice. "Where are you going?"
"I will take a quick look around, see if I can find something we can use. I think there is a store of some sort down the street…" She looked into the direction in which she thought said store was at. Shu followed her line of sight but couldn't really see anything since he was sitting and couldn't even look past the parked cars at the side of the street.
"Can't see it, but sounds like a plan." He told her with a nod. She formed a small crystal clump in her hand and handed it to him, then took out the pistol she had been carrying on a holster strapped around her right thigh, hidden under her clothes, and handed it to him as well. She wondered if the Undertakers would have taken it away from her, if they had known she had been carrying it all this time. Then again, they probably hadn't expected her to. Why should she have, if she could have easily used crystals? Well, old habits are hard to kill. She had grabbed one and brought it with her before she had even known it.
"Take it, Shu. If enemies appear, it will keep you safe long enough for me to make it back in time. We can keep in touch using crystals."
"Wait, what about you…?" He obviously didn't feel good about sending her out while taking her only weapon.
She only gave him a reassuring smile in return. "There is no need to worry about me. I am Eve. I make my weapons as I go." Well, Shu had said not to use crystals to avoid detection, but if she made sure to not leave any survivors, it should be fine. Dead people couldn't tell what they had seen prior to dying…
"Well, that's true, but..." She knelt down to his level and gave him a quick kiss on his forehead.
"I'll be fine." Was all she said, effectively shutting him up. There was something in her eyes and voice that just immediately made him believe in her. He could do little more but nod, causing her to turn around and run down the street silently.
There was still no one around except for her, but she still proceeded cautiously, surveying her surroundings as she advanced quickly. Eventually she reached her goal, which turned out to be a small boutique selling second hand clothes. It had that certain "small family business"-flair to it, or at least it would have, if it hadn't been obviously plundered already. A window was smashed, and there were signs of people having broken in hastily. The insides of the shop were also a mess, with the intruders probably having entered, grabbed whatever the hell it had been they had wanted and left again as soon as they could have, as was evident by the knocked over stands and clothes lying around on the floor.
Inori noticed that the cash register was smashed open and that, whatever its contents may have originally been, it was clear that it had left with whoever it had been that had smashed it open in the first place. This was probably an indicator to tell when exactly this shop must have been robbed. Probably during the early days, back when the riots had occurred, since people must have still thought money would be worth something back then. The shop must have been abandoned ever since, despite it still holding quite a few wares. But then again, most of them were second hand, so the demand for them wasn't exactly high.
The queen entered through the open door slowly and scanned the insides of the store with watchful eyes. It was dark inside. Too dark. Even her Genesis eyes couldn't make out enough details for her to be able to rely on them. That's why she formed a fist-sized crystal in her left hand and made it glow. With it serving as a flashlight, she was able to proceed deeper into the store and determine if it was really secure or not.
It turned out that the store wasn't that big. She had reached the end of it fairly quickly and had determined that it was but a long, albeit narrow room with goods placed left, right and in a row in the center, creating two straight paths for customers to normally take. Ideally one lane to reach the back of the store and another one to come back from it. There were two changing rooms in the back, but she had quickly checked them and determined that they were empty. While the store was also quite a mess near the entrance, it was still fairly neat in the back. The robbers had probably never even set foot back here. If someone else had come here after them, they certainly hadn't left any evidence behind to make it obvious.
"It's a clothing store, Shu. It appears to be vacant, but there are still quite a few clothes left behind." She decided to report back to Shu.
"Hmm, if you could fetch me a jacket with a hood or something like that, we could use it to conceal my identity just well enough to get through unnoticed. It would be pretty hard to see my face during the night if I wore something like that." She heard his thoughts reach her through the crystal in her hand. She nodded at that, even though she knew he wouldn't be able to see it. As she was about to check the racks, though, she got surprised by a sudden rustling noise.
"Who's there?" She immediately called out to the intruder, facing into the direction she had heard the noise from with her right hand in position to summon crystal death if necessary.
However, no answer came and so she grew a bit more nervous. She KNEW she had heard something, so there HAD to be something around here. She took a few steps forward silently and then suddenly pushed over a rack of clothes, expecting to catch the hidden individual by surprise, knocking them off-balance and, through that, gain a chance to overwhelm him or her.
However, what she turned out to be "overwhelming" was not quite something she had expected, which became painfully obvious when she didn't get a surprised yell in response to her actions, but the startled cry of a cat which immediately jumped up, turned around and ran away as fast as its four legs could carry it.
The queen couldn't help but stare at the animal in surprise as she watched it flee the scene, followed by letting out the breath she hadn't realized she was still holding in. Good thing it was just a cat…
Dismissing the feline, she decided to get back to her previous task. She looked through the shelves and eventually found something that looked as if it would fit Shu while also fulfilling the requirements given by him. It was a rather plain looking cotton jacket in a dark gray color. Nothing of interest could be said about it other than the fact that it had a hydrophobic material on its surface and was rather thick, making it a good choice for a winter jacket. The manufacturer's name could be read on the inside, but no one would be able to see if Shu actually wore it. It didn't have any details worth remembering which was good for not wanting to stick out. She decided to take it with her.
She then tried to find something warm for herself, realizing that now that she wasn't standing directly next to her Adam, she had started noticing a slight chill around her. It was still nowhere near of being unpleasant, but it would not hurt to have something to keep her warm in case they were to get separated. It would seriously suck if she were to freeze to death out here just because of lack of clothing.
That said, though, there wasn't really much of a variety for her to choose from. At least not on the first glance. There were some summer coats lying around, which would do her only little good in the biting cold outside and the few winter coats she could actually find were all a few sizes too big…not to mention that they all looked as if their previous owners had been living in a different time period. They were all horribly old-fashioned and didn't even look like something a hipster would wear, let alone a normal, young local. Now Inori wasn't exactly picky, nor did she understand much in regards to fashion in the first place, but even she knew that she would look awfully ridiculous and out of place in any of the clothes she could find in a hurry. It was pretty needless to say that wearing these clothes would kind of defeat the purpose of keeping a low profile
Maybe if she took her time to look closer through the racks, she would actually find something wearable, but she didn't really feel like doing that. The light was dim, the range of choice limited and they still had to actually secure a place to sleep at some time tonight. Something she craved dearly right now. There was no time to waste. Especially regarding the treatment of Shu's leg.
That's why she eventually gave up prematurely and decided to return to her king, realizing absentmindedly that somewhere amidst the masses of knowledge given to her by the queen's crown, a method to create clothes also should exist. Maybe once she had rested a bit, she could try her hand at creating her own brand of clothes from scratch. Yeah, if worse came to worst, she could always make use of that…
When she finally found her way back to her wounded king, she was pleased to be embraced by his warmth again, as well as surprised to see he had found a new companion at his side.
There, resting next to him, a small cat sat, enjoying a nice scratch behind the ears given to it by the brunette king. Its fur had a nice brown color, though it became white near its belly and paws. The eyes were closed in pleasure, so Inori couldn't really tell their color. She saw its tail slowly swinging from left to right and heard it purr as the animal enjoyed its treatment. There was no doubt it was the same one that had fled the store she had just been at.
"Hey, Inori. Check out who just showed up out of nowhere." The king said with a small smile as he pointed at the small cat somewhat amusedly. Once he had stopped petting it, it had opened its dark hazel eyes and immediately jumped up on all fours, hissing at the pink haired newcomer threateningly.
"It doesn't seem to like me." Was all she had to say to that while sighing slightly. "Well, I sort of scared it almost to death back in that store, so I guess that can't be helped.
"Relax, little one. Inori's my friend. She won't harm you." Shu then proceeded to jokingly tell the feline which only appeared to tilt its head at him, causing him to wonder if it actually understood the words he was saying. It stopped hissing at Inori however, though the same could not be said about watching her warily.
"You are surprisingly good with animals, Shu." Inori couldn't help but notice, looking somewhat impressed. She tried petting the cat as well, but it would always try to scratch her, making her feel a little disappointed.
"Not really. I guess this one is just special. It's almost a shame we can't keep her." Shu told her with a somewhat sad smile.
"It's a girl?"
"Yeah. Jealous?" Shu asked her playfully to which she only replied with a small smile in return.
"Of all the negative emotions I must ever fear of eventually experiencing, jealousy will probably never be of a concern. I feel like hell would sooner freeze over before our feelings for each other would ever change. And I should be able to tell, since I can feel both, yours and mine."
"Right, I forgot that there is no fooling you when it comes to that." The king only chuckled softly as he looked down at the small cat next to him. "It's true though. Sorry, but I guess there is just no room for you to compete, eh?"
As Inori helped him get up, the cat had only looked at them with a sullen look, as if to tell them "Are you fucking serious?". Once they realized it, they both started to chuckle at each other.
"This one's amusing." Inori couldn't help but admit. Her king nodded at that as he removed his black coat and accepted the grey one he had gotten from her.
"It really is. It's almost as if it understood what we were saying." He handed her his long, black coat in favor of putting on the grayish one with the hood she had provided him with. The queen put it on immediately, albeit it was slightly too big for her. Shu couldn't suppress a slight chuckle, causing her to narrow down her eyes on him in displeasure.
"Does it look that weird?" She wanted to know.
"Nah, it's a bit big, but people will be able to assume that it is actually mine and that I lent it to you, so I doubt they would grow suspicious. We should be fine." He told her with a weak smile. She only proceeded to wrap herself in the black cloth so that only her face stuck out. He heard her inhale deeply, then grin contently.
"It smells of you…" She told him, sounding somewhat happy. He tried to hide his blush below his thick scarf and put on the hood to hide most of his face in the shadow it provided.
"Well? How is it?" He then inquired of his queen, who gave him a critical look.
"It's hard to see your face in the dim street lights if you look down. We should be able to hide your identity like this." She eventually replied, causing him to nod in a satisfied way.
"Good, shall we go, then?"
"Yes." With her help, Shu slowly started limping forward awkwardly. Their pace was slow, but it couldn't be helped. At least they managed to go forward without making much sound, apart from a few hisses from Shu's side every once in a while. The cat had followed them for a short while, maybe hoping it would get something from them still, but when the two monarchs continued their way forward without really paying much mind to it again, it eventually stopped, looking at them with drooped ears, appearing to be somewhat sad. You might almost think it felt bad for the injured Shu, when it probably was only disappointed it wouldn't get petted again. Eventually it vanished into a small alleyway, never to be seen again.
A bit more than 15 minutes later, they eventually stood in front of the gates to the abandoned Research Institute. It was surrounded by a small stone wall with old, barely readable signs hanging near the entrance. The symbol of Caduceus, typically associated with everything regarding healthcare, was seen next to the faded letters that once made out the name of the institute. It was getting partially covered up by a newer, though still aged, sign plastered diagonally over the old one which read "CLOSED – KEEP OUT". The wall itself was shrouded in many vines, obviously having not been cared for, for many, many years. The royal couple was sure that if it was summer right now, hardly anything would even be visible of the wall, with it being completely covered in green leaves growing out of the now dormant vines.
They stepped near the rusty gate, its lock long since busted and useless. Some of the vines tried claiming the gate as well, but apparently, at least that part of the facility was still maintained enough to not get retaken by nature. Shu and Inori took a look at the building, realizing that nothing but darkness could be seen through the windows that adorned it. Well, naturally, since it shouldn't have any power in the first place.
"We made it, Shu." His queen told with relief. Now that they had reached this place, all that was left for them to do was get Shu up in one of these rooms, hopefully finding a bed he could use and then trying to check that leg of his. The man himself wasn't looking all that much forward to his treatment, but he darn well couldn't wait to finally lie down somewhere and rest. Dragging himself to get here had already taken a lot of his remaining stamina, as was evident of his slightly rugged breath. He offered her a kind smile nonetheless.
"Yeah…let's go find a place to rest."
"Hold it right there." Their advance was halted by an unfriendly voice coming from the other side of the gate. As they were about to enter the perimeters, they noticed that behind the wall, next to a burning drum, a tall figure suddenly made itself known and walked up to them with its hands buried deep into the pockets of a worn out, brown trench coat.
"Never seen you guys around here. Who are you?" The stranger wanted to know. He was now standing in front of them, blocking their way. From the faint light of the street lamps, they could make out little of him. Only that he was a tiny bit taller than Shu, apparently way older, due to the few wrinkles they could see on the bit of his face that was shone on by the surrounding light sources. An un-kept beard that attempted to rival the vines growing around the wall could also be seen, as well as the outlines of the glasses he was wearing. He was burying his lower face into the collar of his coat while hiding the rest of his head under a dark wool hat, trying to keep most of his exposed skin warm to the best of his ability.
"Does it matter who we are?" Inori only asked him while eyeing him with slight suspicion.
"Of course it does. We don't need any troublemakers here."
"Then lucky for you that we are not here for trouble." Shu argued calmly.
"Hah, according to you, that is. As far as I am concerned you look like plenty trouble to me." The older man told them in that harsh and accusing tone of his. Shu could feel his irritation with the man rising. All he wanted was to get in there and rest…and all that's in the way of him doing that was this weird guy. What was he supposed to be, anyway? Some kind of guard? Ridiculous.
"What makes you say that…?" Inori wanted to know, not looking any happier about this situation than Shu was.
The stranger uttered a short, arrogant chuckle at them once he heard her question.
"I know the people who come here. They all have that broken expression on their faces and a look in their eyes that can clearly tell of the hardships they must have dealt with in life. They come here because they have no other choice, because this is the last place they can go to. You don't look like that at all. Clean clothes and faces, a healthy skin color as far as I can judge in this light, heck you even smell of soap. This is not the place you are looking for. From the way that lad's clinging to you, missy, I can assume that he has injured his leg and by looking at it from here, I can clearly see that the injury is no simple flesh wound. You would be better off bringing him to a hospital."
Inori frowned at the man. If that had been an option, she would have done that right from the start. Did he think she was stupid or something? Shu also looked quite annoyed. Offering the man a somewhat sarcastic grin, he replied:
"Oh, you don't say. It appears we should look for one then." He turned around halfway to look at the faded signs at the entrance of the gate and continued. "Oh, would you look at that. It says this is a hospital right there. What a coincidence, huh?"
"If you look closely, it also says that it's closed, right?" The unfriendly man responded unamusedly.
"And if you look closely, you will realize that I certainly won't go anywhere with that leg of mine, so step aside, old man. We are staying here tonight." Shu stared at the stranger angrily, refusing to back down now. Coming here had already brought him to his limits. He was tired and in pain…the sole prospect of being forced to turn around and look for another place was simply unacceptable. If necessary, he would force himself through this obstacle. He was confident he could best this geezer even with a broken leg and without voids. If worse came to worst, Inori could help him out. It was two Genesis against an old man…
"See, you are already being trouble." They saw him taking out an old fashioned mobile from his pocket. Wow, Shu didn't even know that people were still using smartphones in an age in which holo-screens were already pretty much standard material. "Leave now, or I am gonna call the cops on you."
The brunette king growled angrily. That would certainly suck. He had no idea if the man was bluffing, but if, by chance, he really would go through with it, he and Inori would be forced to leave either way. No matter if the police would actually show up or not, simply because if they would, he and Inori would be done for. His identity would get known, the military would get alarmed and with his leg as it was now, he stood at no chance of running away from them once found out.
"Surely there is no need for that." Inori hastily took the initiative by kindly putting her free hand on the stranger's one which held the mobile device, preventing him from using it. "Look, it's just that Sh-my friend is hurt and we need a place to stay. We are sorry if we have alarmed you, but it's just that we are exhausted. We can't go anywhere else anymore." She told him truthfully with her typical calm and quiet voice, which somehow managed to take a bit of the hostility out of the hobo's eyes. Shu's lungs involuntarily clenched up for a few seconds from shock as he noticed how she had almost slipped up and called him by name. It's not like that would have given him away instantly, but it was better to not give away too many clues that could be used to identify them if placed together. He suppressed a relieved sigh due to the absence of any kind of reaction from the hobo. The guy must have not noticed her slip-up.
Instead, he eyed the two monarchs sharply, as if analyzing them.
"Well, you look tired, alright. But you know that even during the lock-down, there are still ambulances you can call, right? They could get him there in an instant. And I may not be a doctor, but even I can tell that he certainly could need the medical attention."
"Right…there wouldn't be, by chance, anyone around here who would know how to treat his injury, huh?" Inori asked him with a bit of hope in her voice, only to have said hope smashed instantly once she saw him shake his head slowly.
"Afraid not. Though we wouldn't even have the supplies, even if there was one."
"I see…" The queen sighed at that and threw a troubled look at Shu's broken leg. The blood had soaked the coat she had wrapped around it almost entirely. They would have to change the "bandage" soon…
"Look, missy. It's obvious you are avoiding the hospital for some reason, but let me tell you, whatever it is you guys did, it's not worth losing a leg for. If I were you, I would go there no matter what."
This earned him a critical look from the queen as she narrowed her eyes on him.
"If that's the case, why are you not going there, either?" Shu and the hobo only started looking at her with confused expressions.
"What do you mean?"
"You are at stage one of the apocalypse virus infection, aren't you?" She told him sharply, making the man back off in surprise as he subconsciously started clenching his right arm, probably a spot in which the cancer grew below his clothes.
"How did you know…?" Inori ignored the question.
"The military is giving out vaccines for free, why not head over to one of the stations to receive your share?" She said with some suspicion added into her voice. Shu tried to hide the grin that appeared on his lips.
'Nice going, Inori. You turned the tables on him.' Is what he thought. Now it wasn't him and Inori anymore who had to explain themselves, but the hobo himself.
"Tch, it's not that easy, you know?" Was all he could give her in response. To get supplied by the military, one was required to identify themselves…if you couldn't do so, for whatever reason, you wouldn't only get nothing, but would also get detained until they find out who you really were. Not everyone was a terrorist like Shu and Inori were, but there were still people living in Tokyo who simply couldn't afford getting in contact with the military or police…or people who had no means of identifying themselves in the first place.
"We know, alright. Why did you think we came here in the first place?" Shu told him seriously.
"I see, so it's like that, huh." The older man put his left hand on his chin, assuming a thinking pose. After a while, he asked:
"So what did you do?" He wanted to know.
"That's hardly any of your business, is it?" Shu only retorted, sounding angry now. Honestly, who did that guy think he is? If he had to waste any more time out here in the cold like this just because some random dude thought he felt the need to play Sherlock Holmes, he was sure to go mad. Was a quiet place to stay at so much to ask for? From the corner of his eyes, he noticed that Inori seemed to agree with his thoughts. He could see the edge of a crystal blade peeking out from her left sleeve and the look in her eyes clearly said: "Please go away already. Don't make me do this to you…"
"Of course that is my business. I must make sure no dangerous people are entering this place. We don't need any murderers and rapists around here. We may be outcasts, but no one became one by choice. We are all kind people who want to live in peace." The hobo explained angrily. Shu coldn't help but sport a troubled expression on his face and somehow felt parts of his own anger fade upon hearing that. Inori's blade retreated as well. The people living here were most likely the same as them. Shunned, lonely...cast away by society which had no more need for them. Yeah, it would feel bad killing him after hearing that. Not if it could be avoided, after all.
"…I understand that you are worried, but we still can't tell you anything regarding the reason we are on the run…" Shu then decided to say with Inori nodding at his side. They would absolutely not tell anyone about their secret. It was too dangerous.
"…that's fine." The old man suddenly gave himself understanding after looking at the two younglings in front of him. "I realize it's not fair to ask you to tell me your story. Everyone here has their own little secrets he intends to guard. Some of them even with their lives. I suppose I am not any different…" He told them with a frown.
"Still, I will have to ask you one thing no matter what." He came a step closer and eyed them very sharply. "Have you killed?"
The monarchs slowly threw glances at each other. Silence befell the trio for a short while before Shu eventually chose to reply:
"We have."
"Why?"
"To protect." Both, Shu and Inori said at the same time with no hesitation whatsoever. The hobo appeared as if he was thinking about something with closed eyes as soon as he had heard their answer. After a silence that felt like eternity to Shu and Inori, he eventually decided to step aside.
"Get in. I am pretty good at telling if someone is lying or not. You two may be murderers, but at least you are being honest. Still, try to not cause any trouble while staying here. Everyone around here may be doomed to die sooner than later anyway, but it would be nice to let them die in peace." Wow, quite a sad way of seeing things, Shu thought. Still, he hardly cared about stuff like that right now. There were more important things to worry about at the moment, after all.
"Got it. Thanks." He said with some relief in his voice. Fucking finally. Now they could at long last get in and find a place to stay. Inori helped him moving forward.
They left the guard-hobo behind at the gate, followed by entering the building. It was pretty dark inside, with only the moonlight coming through the windows. There wasn't much to see, but their Genesis eyes could at least make out the old reception desk in the lobby and the dusty chairs probably meant for visitors to use while waiting for their turn. To the left, there were two elevators and a stairway leading to higher floors. Straight ahead, behind a glass door, lied a corridor with many rooms to head into. It looked like standard patient rooms in a hospital to Shu. At least it was what he would guess them to be.
Figuring that the ground floor was probably mostly occupied already, seeing as there was already a lot of random stuff lying all around the corridor and in front of the doors, they chose to not even bother with it. Since it was pretty much a given that the elevators wouldn't work anyway, they immediately headed for the stairway, embarking onto the first floor. There they saw a sleeping man lying on the ground next to the glass door that would lead to the corridors with the patients' rooms. He reeked of alcohol from afar and snored loudly. It was probably safe to assume he would not move even if you were to kick him, so they reluctantly decided to go onto the second floor.
By the time Shu had eventually conquered those stairs with the help of his queen, he was already positive that he wouldn't even care anymore if there would be another hindrance on this floor as well. He would rather evict a homeless person from one of the rooms if he had to rather than climbing even just another single stair. Luckily, though, there didn't seem to be much presence on this floor. The hallway was rather clean compared to the lower ones, and indeed, after walking for a bit, they found a room that was vacant. And not only it but the ones directly next to it as well. Perfect, no one would disturb them then, they thought.
Entering it, they realized that there was nothing special about the room at all. It was small and had one window and two beds, one of which looked as if it had been used before…it was undone and the sheets were quite…filthy. Whoever slept here last had certainly not cared about leaving behind a good impression. The remaining bed, however, looked fine. A bit dusty, but if someone had ever slept in it, there at least hadn't been a visual indicator left behind to make it obvious. It wasn't exactly high class, but it would have to do.
While Shu took a seat on one of the chairs in the room, probably originally having been meant for visitors to sit on, Inori placed the mattress sideways and hit all the dust on it off as quickly and as best as she could. Once she felt she was more or less done, she laid it back the way it should and helped Shu lying down on it. Said man couldn't help but let a tired and pained sigh escape his lips. Finally he was allowed to lie down. His leg would undoubtedly still hurt, but at least not as much as it had while he had constantly been on the move. He spotted the remote for changing the mattresses' position and pressed a few buttons, chuckling at his own foolishness. Of course these things wouldn't work. He hadn't really expected them to anyway. Still, a man could dream, right?
Meanwhile, his queen was hastily checking if there was anything worth using lying around. She opened the drawers on the nightstand next to the beds, but they were, of course, empty. There also was a wardrobe in the small adjacent room next to the bathroom, but it was locked. She could probably force it open, but she doubted it would be worth the trouble, expecting it to be at least as empty as the nightstand was. As she was about to turn around and leave again, she spotted a first aid box hanging on the wall, next to the door. She went over to it and opened it, but, naturally, it was empty as well. She slammed it shut again, obviously frustrated. Of course there wouldn't be anything left by now, she realized. The hospital was shut down 5 years ago…everything of worth had probably long since been looted by the homeless who lived here.
This bode a problem, though. How was she to treat Shu's leg if there was nothing to use? No bandages, no disinfectant, nothing to stitch the wound with…wasn't this rather bad? Back when Shu had first lost his arm in loop seven 5 years ago, she had been in a similar situation, but at that time, there at least still had been bandages around. He had also not been immune to the virus yet, so she had still been able to seal off the wound with crystals, something she couldn't do anymore. Well, if she were to go to the nearest hospital, one which still operated, she would probably find all the stuff she needed for sure, but it was risky and also far. Shu needed treatment soon and she didn't know when she would be able to come back if she were to go now. She was also so horribly tired…going somewhere tonight was absolutely impossible.
Well, for bandages she could probably rip the sheets to get some, but disinfectant? Genesis should be more resistant to infections, but she didn't exactly know how much. In the void realm, no one ever suffered from them, but she wasn't even sure if the void realm had held the bacteria necessary to cause infections in the first place. They certainly would exist in the real world, though, so her experience from the void realm couldn't be used as a reliable reference at all. What to do?
She figured that if she couldn't find anything, at least water would do to wash the wound. Walking over to the bathroom, she decided to find out if, by chance, there would still be running water, despite the odds. As soon as she had opened the bathroom door, however, she had regretted the decision immediately, as an unbearable stench filled her nostrils soon afterwards. It was so bad, she had to gag, followed by immediately covering her nose and shutting the door. Whoever had done his business in there the last time either hadn't realized that the water wouldn't be working anymore or had simply not cared either way. So water was out of the question as well, huh. Maybe she could use some of the snow lying outside to…no, that obviously wouldn't work. It was possibly even dirtier than the wound was. She was clearly growing desperate here if thoughts like that were allowed to surface in her mind.
"There is nothing to use here…" She regrettably admitted with a heavy sigh as she returned to Shu's side.
"If only I had Hare's void…" He cursed. It was the only one of his friend's voids he didn't currently have since he had returned it to her after the last battle. The brunette medic could naturally make more use of it outside of combat than he could have. She had been in charge of treating the wounds of the Undertakers, after all. And no one had expected a sudden rebellion in the middle of the night. He had never had any time to get it back from her. Ironically, he had Argo's void with him. The thought of crushing it crossed his mind, but he dismissed it quickly. If that damn guy was lucky, he would get through evolution unscathed. Shu would not allow that man to become a Genesis. Not him. Not after today. Besides, he had said he would let him live as long as their paths would never cross again. A final act of kindness out of respect to their long friendship in the past. The sudden sound of Inori clapping her hands together in epiphany threw him out of his line of thought.
"Alcohol!" She suddenly muttered, confusing Shu. That's when she followed up with an explanation:
"It can be used as disinfectant, right?"
"Well, yeah. If it's not too diluted…" He told her.
"That guy we passed on our way up here smelled like alcohol. Perhaps he still has some."
"Makes you wonder where he got it from in the first place…" He watched her heading for the door.
"I will go back and check if there is some left we can use." She told him while raising a crystal wall directly next to the door, only far enough away from it to allow her to still open it. From outside, no one would notice it, but if they wanted to enter the room, they would be met by it, preventing them entry since only Genesis could pass through the crystalline material. She even went a step further by telling the crystals to only let her and Shu pass through them. With that, no one should have been able to enter this room to harm Shu in her absence. To make sure, she even created some to cover the window as well, though they were see-through in order to let at least some light enter the room.
"I'll be right back." She then said to Shu before vanishing into the crystal to leave the room. If he had said something to her after that, she hadn't heard it.
Not wasting any time, she went back the way they had come from, jogging down the hallways to reach the stairway. From there on, she proceeded slowly and quietly, to make sure the drunkard from before was still sleeping and not waking up to the sound she could possibly be making. When she reached the lower floor, there, indeed, still lied the homeless man from before, in the same position they had left him in. With quiet steps, she approached him carefully. He lied on the ground with his back facing towards her, snoring away loudly. As she got closer, she also noticed the almost empty bottle resting in his arms. He held it closely to his chest, as if guarding it with his life. On his hands, crumbs of crystals had sprouted, same with parts of his face. This man clearly was infected and slowly suffering the consequences of said infection. Maybe that's why he hadn't cared anymore how much he drank and where he slept. He must have thought he would soon die anyway. That mindset made Inori frown. Maybe it wasn't her place to say that, but she thought being at stage one wasn't bad enough to give up on life already. But then again, she was an immune Genesis…even worse, she was the queen of the apocalypse. Her opinion might not count, after all.
She knelt next to the him, leaning over him to grab the bottle. The moment her hands had touched the vitreous object, though, the drunkard's very own hand grabbed hers. Alerted, she prepared to protect herself if he would plan hurting her for the attempted thievery, but to her surprise, the hobo's half open eyes closed again and he began nodding off once more with a bit of incomprehensive blabbering accompanying the action. His grip on her became weak as well. Once she noticed that, she immediately seized the chance and took the small container of alcohol into her possession. It was too dark to read the label, but she was sure it would do. Before turning around to leave again, however, she decided to look down at the sleeping man. Since she was basically robbing this defenseless person off possibly the last thing of moderate worth he still had, the least she could do was offer him something in exchange. And so, with a simple thought alone, the crystal crumbs on the man's skin shrunk and crumbled away, leaving no sign of ever having been there in the first place. Satisfied with that, she decided to return to Shu as soon as she could, leaving the man to himself.
She was greeted by Shu once she had found her way back.
"Welcome back. How did it go?"
"I found some, Shu." She told him happily. This find sure as hell was lucky. With it she would at least be able to make sure Shu's wound would stay clean. That should be one worry less.
"Nicely done. Though it looks as if there isn't much." The king couldn't help but notice as he eyed the bottle she held up for him to see. Inori mirrored that action, making her frown. There, indeed, was only little left of the orange liquid that apparently was called "Whisky" if she were to believe the label she could now read with the help of the sheen that surrounded the crystals in the room.
"You think it will be enough?" She wondered.
"It will have to do." Her king only replied with a troubled chuckle. It's not like they had another choice than to use it and hope for the best.
"I have ripped some sheets into bandages with the help of Yahiro's void in your absence." He told her as he pointed to the small pile of longer strips of cloth, formerly having been a part of the bed sheet he was lying on. It had been easy to get them with the void shears. He only had to cut into it a tiny bit and the void had already made a clean, straight cut right to the end of the sheet by itself. It had almost seemed as if Yahiro's heart had realized his intention and acted on its own, though he knew that was impossible. In truth it had probably only been thanks to the shears' power. If it could severe Endlaves and even life itself, it would logically also be able tear up a simple piece of cloth with only one snip.
Inori bit on her lower lip as she looked at her king with a clearly troubled expression.
"This is going to be unpleasant, Shu."
The man in question could do little but sigh in defeat. "Unpleasant" was putting it nicely. A more accurate description of the sensation he was undoubtedly about to experience would be: "this is going to hurt like hell", not that he wasn't already in pain from the beginning. This day just seriously sucked.
"I couldn't find any painkillers, sorry…"
"It's not your fault, Inori."
She shook her head slowly, as if not so sure about that. "I'll have to…restrain you."
"I understand. Go ahead, it's fine."
That's when he started to feel crystal vines growing from under the bed, slowly and gently wrapping themselves around his wrists, arms, torso, legs and ankles. He soon realized that he could move nothing below his neck.
"Is it too tight?" She asked him with worry in her voice, but he only gave her a reassuring smile.
"No, everything is ok."
"Then…I will proceed." He heard her say reluctantly.
"I will be in your care."
"Please don't speak anymore. You might accidentally bite your tongue." When she saw him nod in understanding, she closed her eyes and sighed, calming herself down for what she was about to do.
Then she opened them again and began removing the now bloody coat from Shu's broken leg, revealing the nasty wound. A huge hole was to be found there from which a bit of blood started leaking out now that the cloth that had previously prevented it from doing so was gone. The queen gave the injury a quick once-over, checking both the entry as well as the exit wound and getting relieved by the fact that no bones were sticking out of the leg. This would hopefully make things a bit easier.
Shu saw her opening the whisky bottle and holding it over his leg. Before she started pouring it on the wound, she made eye contact with him one more time, having nothing but pity showing in her eyes. He gulped and gave her a firm nod. He knew there was no way around this.
Inori wondered if there was really even still a point to disinfect…there had already been quite a lot of time between the acquisition of the injury and now, but she wasn't a doctor and only knew what tiny bit of knowledge others had shared with her about medicine. It was the standard stuff. Disinfect, sew wound, stop bleeding, change bandage. Rinse and repeat. She knew it was better to disinfect as soon as possible, but she had no idea how much time was allowed to pass until it became useless.
She was forced to give it the benefit of the doubt. She didn't know better, so she would just do what she thought was right and hope for the best. There was no other option. Thus she began rinsing the wound with the whisky. Shu immediately tensed up and tried to not to scream. She noticed how it had been a good idea to restrain him first, seeing from the way his muscles seemed to involuntarily try moving away from her who was currently inflicting some burning pain on them.
To her best effort, she tried to ignore Shu's display of obvious pain and keep going, figuring that the faster she would be able to finish this, the sooner he would be allowed to be freed from the pain.
After having disinfected and cleaned both, the entry as well as exit wound, she began forming small crystals which were to serve as extensions to her fingers. They were thin and very delicate, like needles, and after letting a certain red glow appear on her eyes, she began sticking them into the wound, causing Shu to press his eyes shut and gritting his teeth.
By putting these delicate crystals into the wound, she was allowed to see inside it. By no means was it as effective as an x-ray would have been, but by doing that, the queen would at least be able to determine in how many pieces Shu's bone had been fractured into and if their ends were touching each other or not. She knew for a fact that the only way for broken bones to heal was to set them back in such a way that their ends were aligned…otherwise they wouldn't grow back together again.
Normally it would have been ill advised to poke around in a wound to find out if the bones are in place or not, but her crystals were sterile, so there at least was no danger of causing an infection by doing that. It didn't mean that it was any more pleasant for the patient, though.
With the help of her crystals, she soon learned that Shu's leg had been broken two times, thus creating three fragments. The upper part of his lower leg, a smaller piece in the middle that had completely broken off, and the lower part of the remaining leg bone. By the way the bones had been displaced, she was sure that she would need quite a bit of fumbling around to make them get back into their intended position.
She nodded determinedly and began the next step. Using her crystal needles, she started pushing his fragmented bones back into place. Mainly the middle piece which was horribly dislocated. Obviously, having stuff poking around in an open wound and making them push bone fragments back into place, clearly wasn't anything even remotely enjoyable. By now, Shu was in so much pain that he wasn't even forming thoughts anymore. Before, she had been able to hear some curses enter her mind through the crystals formed at her fingertips, but now all Inori was receiving from him was his brain's simple signal of him being in pain. She figured he was about to pass out soon if this was to continue much longer.
Once the middle piece was finally back in place and touching the upper piece, all she had to do was slightly readjust the lower one, which, luckily, was a lot easier than the previous fragment. With a tiny push to the right, it was back in place. Immediately afterwards, she retracted her crystal needles from his leg which now had changed their color to red and had blood dripping down their tips. Not that it really mattered since she made them crumble apart as soon as they were out. The red glow of her eyes vanished, too, now that the enhanced control of her Eve powers hadn't been needed anymore.
A quick glance at Shu told her that he was breathing roughly, but starting to calm down gradually. He had screamed out in pain earlier, but now he was mostly quiet again. He apparently had also managed to cling to his consciousness, staying awake during the whole procedure.
"The worst thing is over, Shu. Almost done." She said comfortingly as she made two long crystal sticks appear out of thin air to use as splints. She immobilized his leg with them by strapping them on both sides of his leg with the help of the ripped sheets, as well as using them to bandage the wound. With that, the procedure was over. She hadn't been able to sew the wound together due to lack of supplies, but then again, she figured that it might be better that way anyway. If it really would get infected, you would rather have the wound open instead of closed in order to prevent pus from gathering up inside. The thought alone made her feel uncomfortable.
"Please don't get infected…" She couldn't help but pray silently.
Freeing Shu from his restraints now that they weren't needed anymore, she got up and sat down on the bed next to him, putting a hand on his cheek gently as she wiped away a tear that had escaped the prison of his eyes to make a run for it with the help of gravity. He had looked up at the ceiling with wide open eyes until he had felt her touch, making him blink a few times, then look at her. He immediately noticed the sadness in her eyes from having sent him through so much pain, which is why he decided to smile at her and jokingly ask:
"O-over already? I barely even felt a thing…" He had good intentions, but the grin he formed could only be described as crooked at best, and the pearls of sweat on his forehead were still there as well, betraying his act. His spirit was willing to lie for her sake, yet his body obviously was not.
"Shu…" His queen, who noticed what he was trying to do couldn't help but whisper his name in a slightly pained voice, lean over him and lay her head on his chest from where her king merely put his arms around her. It was quiet around them for a while, both of them unable to quite find words to say. Eventually Shu decided to break the silence, however.
"…thanks, Inori. I may keep my leg this time, after all." He told her as he held her and looked up at the ceiling, relieved that his aching leg was not ailing him as badly as it had moments before. Now it could start healing again.
"Don't thank me. It was because of me you got hurt in the first place…" He heard her mumble sadly into his chest.
"It was not. If anyone is to blame, then Argo and his Undertaker friends…"
"But…"
"Stop, Inori. No buts, alright?"
She did not reply to that anymore, instead she chose to put her arms around his back and hold him as closely as she could as if she wanted to say that she wanted to never let him and his kindness go. It caused him to smile. After a while, he eventually caught himself thinking out aloud with a somewhat melancholic expression:
"Look at us, Inori. Back at this point again. In the end, this is what it always comes down to. It seems the only ones we can truly put trust in…is ourselves."
"Why…" She got up suddenly and he was surprised to see a look with a perfect mixture of displeasure and disappointment present on her face. Her eyes radiated anger, yet were also shining due to the film of tears starting to gather there. "Why must it always be this way, Shu?"
The man in question found himself at a loss of words. Yes, why indeed? It had been five years already, but nothing had changed. The world was still filled with wars, people were still hurting and killing each other and it always seemed as if every single force in existence tried to tear him and Inori apart from each other. It really was a harsh and unforgiving world. As he pondered these things, he couldn't help but notice Inori's pained expression. When he looked at her, he could clearly see her worry for him shining in her tearful eyes as well as a certain anger for the responsible elements that had caused him to get hurt in the first place. Seeing her like this got him thinking, and after a short while, he eventually asked:
"Say, Inori, do you hate the world?" Her reaction was interesting. At first she looked at him as if slightly taken aback, obviously surprised about the sudden question, but then it made her somehow look away, as if she was ashamed of the things she was about to say, yet she said them anyway with sincerity and a little bit of anger mixed into her voice.
"…I do. It is cruel and unfair. Everyone just keeps fighting over meaningless things and there is nothing but hatred wherever you look. When I met Gai all this time ago, he told me he would change the world and that if I would follow him, I would eventually get to see a world filled with peace and happiness. But in the end, he died and the world remained as it was. When I met you, I started to think the world could probably still have some good in it, despite its ugliness, but no matter what we tried, everyone still always attempted to work against us. When the world threatened to take you away from me, I decided I would not let that happen. All the bad, all the pain and hatred you had gathered inside you, I took it with me as I went to the void realm, thinking I would grant you the possibility to live in a world Gai had told me about. When you eventually came for me and told me you would bring me back to that world with you, I was so glad. I thought we could finally start being happy."
She had looked at him with a sad smile as she had said the last bit before changed again. The sadness remained, with the previous anger and disappointment coming back to take the place of the smile. Shu could feel her clutching his coat now that she had formed her hands into slightly trembling fists, showing him how much this whole ordeal actually affected her.
"But then we came back and I immediately realized that I had been wrong all along. That all I managed to achieve by dying was to leave you alone in a world that would simply refuse to ever change. Everything we had done…, even despite our hard efforts, it had all been for nothing. People still fought over nothing, there was still no peace and I still had to see you get hurt…My actions had been in vain. What I had hoped would bring peace at last only ended up bringing you sorrow. I abandoned you and made you live in it all alone. Thinking about it just makes me so mad, Shu...I can't forgive the world for everything it has done."
Her gaze went down in utter sadness and her pink mane started covering up her face as if to attempt hiding the shame she felt for having these thoughts. A peace loving woman she was, but still she couldn't help but have this hatred for the world come up deep inside her. A world which always stood against them, which would just never let them be happy...she wanted it gone. Everyone who would stand between her and Shu could just disappear. She felt like a hypocrite. She had said she didn't want to bring the apocalypse...that she wouldn't be like Mana, but there she was, actively thinking about it, considering it. And the worst part of all: Actually having the willingness to go through with it despite the cost. Maybe all this power really did start corrupting her after all...she couldn't tell anymore.
But wasn't it okay, she wondered, wasn't it understandable? She had not lied back then. She never had. She really hadn't wanted to bring the apocalypse, truly believing that she and Shu would be fine if only they had each other. "If we could bring Da'ath down, it would all be over!", is what she had thought, but now she had realized that it would never be over. First it would be Da'ath, but even if they were to fall...what of it? Other organizations would come and find some stupid reason to oppose them, to hurt Shu and herself. Like Yuu always did, or Argo had done.
She wanted to trust and believe in others. She wanted to live in a happy and peaceful world with them all, but she realized now that she couldn't. If she had to move around with the constant fear of something or someone attempting to put a knife into their backs, she would rather just make them perish right away to save herself the pain of betrayal. Living like this wasn't living at all. She wanted to embrace Shu and feel safe in his arms, not look over his shoulder with watchful eyes, waiting for the shot that would undoubtedly be fired at them sooner or later.
Was this truly too much to ask for? Did it really make her a bad person? Maybe it did...maybe it was okay to become a villain in the end. After all, what difference did it make if she became one in a world that already was filled with villains. Let the people hate her, let them curse her. Why should she care as long as she would have her beloved king? Though, even he might not love her anymore if she were to decide to become a monster. Yeah, Shu might not agree with her after all. Why should he? It was crazy and selfish of her. She was the worst to even think about it.
That was the moment she felt his right hand push through the curtain of her pink hair to gently lift her chin, followed by caressing her left cheek affectionately.
"I see…" He said with sympathy. "Then let's end it."
Her eyes immediately opened up wide once she had heard these words coming out of his mouth. No way, he couldn't have said that just now. She must have misheard.
"Huh?"
He chuckled slightly. "Are you surprised? Have you still not realized that this foolish king of yours would do anything for you? If you asked me for money, I would steal it from as many banks as I had to until you said you had enough. If you asked me for the moon, I would gather all the voids in the world until I had one capable to capture it and bring it down to lie it in front of your feet for you…and if you asked me to end the world, I, naturally, would be the first to set it on fire."
"But…so many people would die…would you really be alright with that?" She asked him in bewilderment. Could it really be that she wouldn't be forced to walk the dark path of sin on her own? Would Shu really follow her even if she were to decide to plundge herself headfirst into the darkness? To doom all of humanity for her selfishness?
"While I do not enjoy the thought of it, in the end, they are nothing but strangers to me. Sure, it would be nice to save them the fate of death, but why must we be the saviors? To be called heroes? Screw that. I never wanted such a title. What I want, though, is to see you happy. If this world is causing you pain, even if it takes half of humanity to die, I will not hesitate to crush it completely and build it anew until I made one in which you can smile, for it is the most beautiful thing to behold. It's worth paying any price for."
Inori slowly took his right hand into both of hers and told him with a gentle smile: "Shu, you need to stop saying all these nice things to me or you will make me want to do things to you which we shouldn't do in your current state."
He grinned. "It's the truth, though. I would do everything for you." She leaned down on him and gave him an affectionate kiss. This man. Her king. She realized that he would always be her light. Even if she were to descend into the abyss of villainy, venturing so deep into the darkness that she would normally stand at danger of losing her last shred of humanity in it, he would always be at her side, guiding her by shining with that bright and warm light that surrounded him. As long as she would have him, she would never get lost in her darkness. She would never become a monster. With him at her side, she would always remain to be no one else but Inori. That was really all she needed.
"I know. Still, you don't need to bring down the world to make me happy. Just knowing that you would be willing to is enough already." She told him after that as she looked into his eyes affectionately.
Now it was his turn to act surprised. "You don't want to bring the apocalypse?"
"I do. If only to finally be allowed to be with you without having to fear that anyone could do us any harm anymore." She told him truthfully, though still with a kind smile as she played with his hair slightly.
"Then why not bring it?"
A playful grin appeared on her lips as she narrowed her eyes on him knowingly. "Tell me, Shu: Do you hate the world?"
He blinked at her a couple of times, opening his mouth to say something, only to have her put a finger on his lips.
"The truth only." She demanded of him. Then she removed the finger again, leaving her king quite speechless. He was forced to think. And the more he thought, the more confusion seemed to appear on his face.
"I…don't, actually." He realized, looking quite shocked about that himself. "I thought I would, but…in actuality, I only hate Japan. Thinking about it, I don't even know the world. I have never been anywhere but here, in this rotten country which had taken from me far more than it had ever given me back. Would it really be fair to say I hated the world when all I have seen of it was just a small part of it…?"
This caused Inori to smile in satisfaction. "And there you have your answer. You see, you are not the only one who would do everything for the one you love. If you want to preserve this world, then I will preserve it."
The king in question couldn't help but smirk at that. "Should Eve really be saying that?"
"I was Inori long before I became Eve, meaning that your happiness comes before anything else, even the apocalypse." That's right. She realized that the light she saw in Shu was her hope in humanity. If someone like him existed, humanity couldn't possibly be beyond salvation. An apocalypse was not needed as long as he himself still said there was hope. Only once even he would say that this world was rotten to the very core would she decide to raze it down for him, not before.
"Careful, now it's you who makes me want to do things I should rather not be doing in my current state."
His queen couldn't help but giggle at that.
"Then heal faster."
"I am trying, alright?" He jokingly answered to that, followed by him playfully tickling her on her right side, causing her to fall on him, where she proceeded to climb over him in an attempt to escape further attacks.
"Stop it, Shu. You need to rest." She said in between of laughter and Shu eventually realized that she was right.
"You have a point. You actually managed to make me forget about the pain, though. At least for a while."
"It will heal soon. Genesis recover fast." Inori tried to cheer him up.
Now lying at his right, she snuggled up to him half because she had to in order to not fall off the bed, and half because she really wanted to. It was silent for a while between them again. That was until a certain unpleasant thought crossed the queen's mind again. It was one she had had a couple of times already since she had become Eve and troubled her very much. She decided to eventually talk about it, even if she knew it would be unpleasant to do so.
"Shu…"
"Hm?"
"I don't care about the apocalypse and everything, but will you promise me something?"
"Anything."
"Please…never die, Shu." This caused him to blink in surprise. What a weird thing to ask for.
"I have no intention of dying…"
"No, I mean…you can absolutely never die. Not even if it is to protect me." She told him seriously, causing him to nearly fall of the bed when he couldn't help but get worked up due to his disapproval. When he attempted to get up, he was forced to stop due to his leg sending him a grim reminder of the sorry state it was still in with the help of pain. Seeing him struggle, Inori only pushed him back down again gently. He still eyed her defiantly, though, and said:
"Are you out of you mind? Of course I would-" His sentence was cut short by his queen interrupting him.
"You absolutely can't." She repeated her demand, causing him to frown.
"That's quite a thing to ask of me, coming from someone who did the same for me five years ago…"
"That was different."
"How so?"
"Because neither of us were affected by the Eve curse."
"Huh?"
Inori got up slightly to look at him directly.
"Eve is immortal. Even if I die, I will come back. But Adam…he isn't. If I were to die, even if I were to end up in Da'ath's hands, it would not mean that everything is lost. But if you died, I would never be able to get you back, do you understand? I would have to live the rest of my life without you, and even though I know I can't, Eve's curse would not care either way. It would always bring me back, no matter how many times I wished for it to stop."
"Still, to ask me to abandon you…I could never…" He still tried to object.
"It's not abandonment, Shu. It's the opposite. As long as you live, I can keep going, no matter what were to happen to me."
The king couldn't help but shake his head slowly, getting somewhat overwhelmed by her request.
" I never thought I would see the day I would have to admit that you are asking too much off me…"
"You said you would do anything…" She argued with unwavering determination, not willing to give the matter a rest until she had his word.
"That's not fair, Inori."
"What if it was the other way around, Shu? Could you live in a world without me?"
He gritted his teeth. "Of course not. I tried it once and suffered every single day of it. To imagine I would have to do that for the rest of my life…" He shook his head strongly, unwilling to even imagine such a cruel fate.
"So, will you still not promise me?" She asked him with those big eyes of hers. He felt himself forced to turn away, not even caring that his leg hurt this time when he changed his lying position to face away from her. A long pause followed.
"…..fine." He eventually said. That's when he suddenly felt two arms wrap themselves around him from behind, his queen snuggling close to him and burying her face into his back with a smile.
"Thank you."
When he didn't turn around to her again and an uncomfortable silence surrounded them once more. She started to wonder if she had perhaps pushed her king too much. For someone who has earlier stated that his happiness was her happiness, hadn't her actions contradicted themselves somehow just now? Still, it had been quite an important matter to her. It had worried her ever since she had become Eve...and having seen Shu hurt so badly this time had only made the worry intensify, letting it take a firm grip on her heart. The sheer prospect of watching him die was horrifying her and she wanted to make sure that it never happened. However, making him promise was not worth it if the consequence was him treating her coldly because of it…
"Shu, are you angry?" She thus couldn't help but ask him with a bit of regret lingering in her voice.
"Inori." He merely answered seriously.
"Yes?" There was a bit of worry in her calm voice, though Shu was only able to notice it because he knew her so well.
"Once this leg heals, let's run away."
She blinked a few times in bewilderment. "Run?"
"Yeah. Let's go back, get the Genesis, our friends and family and leave this rotten country. I no longer care what happens to it." He turned around again, allowing her to have a look at his face again. Relief spread in her heart when she couldn't see any signs of anger in his eyes, only determination. He then continued:
"Instead of risking our lives here, having to fear seeing each other die any day…why not simply see what the world has to offer? A world as vast as ours is bound to have a place that is better than this hellhole. I am sure of it. We just need to find it."
A gentle smile appeared on Inori's lips. He hadn't been mad. Even better: He understood, which was why he had come up with that plan of his. To ease the worry of having to witness each other's deaths, he chose to abandon anything and run away with her to find a place where they wouldn't have to fear experiencing such scenarios. It made her happy.
"I want to see it, too. The world. Will you take me, Shu? To a place I have never been?" She felt him put his arm around her, pulling her closer to him. A notion she welcomed greatly as she enjoyed the warmth he provided her with.
"Yeah. Let's see for ourselves if this world we are meant to destroy really needs to meet such a fate. I refuse to believe that it is all bad before I have seen it with my own eyes."
"Before that, please give me your hand, Shu. The one with your void." She asked off him. Curiously, he decided to do as he was asked without hesitation. His queen gently took his hand with both of hers, holding it close as she closed her eyes. Shu though it looked as if she was praying until he felt something weird going on inside his void. He gasped in shock once he realized what it was that she had been doing.
"The virus I absorbed all those years ago…!" He realized in astonishment, taken aback by the sudden surge of power that now rested inside his right hand. The strains of the apocalypse virus he had assumed during the fourth apocalypse…they had always remained inside his arm ever since, though in a broken, harmless state. Even if he had chosen to release the virus, it would have done nothing. It had been disarmed in a way that could be compared to a shark without teeth. However, that was before.
Now, due to whatever it had been Inori had done just now, the virus has become active again, swirling around in his arm in its entirety, ready to lay waste to everyone around it the moment it would be allowed to taste freedom. The remains of the previous apocalypse…it laid at his command.
"Just in case. If anything really was to happen to me, use it to protect yourself. It will protect you in my stead. Though you would want to only use it as a last resort as without my help, you would not be able to control the virus once you released it. It would kill anyone, not differentiating between friend or foe…" His queen explained to him with a slight warning tone and a raised finger.
"What a scary power to hold…" Shu admitted truthfully as he looked down on his void arm now that the greenish lines that had previously covered it had turned into a gleaming mix or purple and pink, as if it was unable to contain the sheer amount of genomic resonance inside it completely. He slowly began to grasp the heavy burden Inori was forced to bear now that she was Eve. To wield the power to potentially end the world…he only held part of it right now, and it still terrified him. What that thing in his right hand could potentially do…he didn't even want to think of it.
"I will do anything to ensure you will be able to uphold your promise. Never will I allow myself to end like Mana who had failed to protect what was most precious to her…" She told him her reasoning to grant him that power. She really was going all out on this, doing anything in her might to make sure he was protected. It made him feel conflicted.
On one hand, he was moved deeply by her willingness to go that far to keep him save, but on the other hand, he wanted to do the same for her. He wasn't allowed to, though, now that she had made him promise to prioritize his own life over hers like a coward. He understood the reasoning behind it, but that didn't make it feel any better to him.
"Let's hope I will never have to use it." He mumbled absentmindedly while pondering these things. He saw her nod tiredly.
"Though if you have to, please don't hesitate to do so." He noticed how she pretty much slurred these words now with half closed eyes. Following that, she closed them completely and appeared to have fallen asleep, apparently having used up the last bit of her strength with that last deed of hers. And just like that, she lied there next to him, still holding his hand with both of hers, stuck in that praying pose he found to be quite cute. It made him kiss the back of her hand and offer her a devoted:
"As you wish, Inori." He then decided to divert his attention away from his queen and up to the ceiling, wondering if he would find some sleep for the rest of the night as well. The truth was, even though his leg felt slightly better now that he lied down and had properly been treated by Inori, it still hurt quite a lot. Not enough to make him constantly whine, but enough to distract him from getting the necessary ease required to fall asleep in the first place, despite his tiredness.
Painkillers, a kingdom for painkillers! A weak smile crawled up on his lips once that thought passed his mind, though he didn't quite have a kingdom to give in the first place. Well, he still wouldn't say no to a bit of morphine right now, though. Heck, as far as he was concerned, he wouldn't mind getting shot up with that stuff until he was high enough to catch the clouds. Anything would do if it allowed him to catch some precious Zs right now.
Well, at least he would get to see more of Inori's sleeping face. As little as it was a proper substitute for sleep, it still was a very pleasant view to behold. And maybe, if he was lucky, its view would calm him down and distract him long enough to make him forget the pain.
And like that, that shitty day of theirs eventually came to a close. With things going the way they currently did, he wondered how bad the next one would be.
He had no idea that this was only just the beginning.
So, a lot happened in this chapter, though also not much happened at the same time. Shu and Inori made it to a safe place and Inori somewhat managed to treat Shu's injury, though he still is far from getting back into action if things stay like this. I hope you enjoyed seeing them struggle on their own for once, after they were constantly backed up by their friends and allies previously. It was fun for me to write the scenes, simply because it was fun to imagine what kind of problems they would stand at risk of running into and how they would tackle them. Injury, lack of supplies, distrust, winter, having to stay hidden. There is a lot to consider and that's what makes it fun. I had to do quite a bit of research for this regarding bone fractures to know what I am doing. It apparently really is quite darn painful. Boy am I glad I never got my bones broken.
A disadvantage in all of this is, though, that it didn't leave any room for other characters. Since Shu and Inori are on their own, that was all we saw this time. The problem is also still not resolved yet. They have only managed to find a place to stay and get Shu's leg somewhat treated. There is still a lack of food and water, Shu will still be unable to walk on his own, and they will also have to watch out for Da'ath, the military and possibly even the Undertakers who will undoubtedly look for them. Our two favorite monarchs will undoubtedly not catch a break anytime soon.
One of the more important plot points in this chapter would also probably be Shu's promise to Inori and her gift to him. Inori's taking this whole Eve business quite seriously, as we can see. She ain't leaving things to chance to ensure Shu's survival. Bet you are already trying to figure out for what Shu will end up using that nuke she gave him. Well, don't be disappointed if he will never actually end up using it at all. But...then again...if the right conditions are met, maybe even Shu might not care anymore if he causes another Lost Christmas...who knows.
Well, anyway. Arc conclusion in next chapter. It will be pretty epic, so look forward to it.
It's time to push some characters to the limit, let other characters experience helplessness as they face things beyond their control and have some reap what they sow.
If this was a show, I suppose next chapter would be the mid season finale.
Cya until then.
