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Chapter 12: Two Hearts Beating
Rita closed her eyes, seeing the sword pierce the stomach of her rescuer. Michelle looked at her with a glance virulent enough to kill...and smirked. The man elbowed Michelle's face, causing her to lose the sword, and also knocking her to the floor. The man pulled the bloody sword from his back, and jabbed it through the base of Michelle's neck. She seized up, and died. Blood stained his hands, he looked at Rita with tears in his eyes. She arose from the bed, put her hands on his wounds, and they closed up...the man was healed. The man backed away, shaking his head.
He said in a low, sad voice 'Rita...I have taken a life. All of which I had stood for long ago has proven itself wrong. I am deeply sorry I cannot be here...I don't want you to be hurt...maybe those people back home were right. Maybe I'm to blamed for everything. I'm the cause of all your pain, Rita.'
'No, Phil, it's not your fault. I love you, Phil. Regardless of what happened here. What you did was fair, and it saved me from losing a person as close to my heart as you. You never needed alcohol to seduce my heart. You never needed clever wordplay and unnecessary advances to get to me. I love you because you're you, Phil. You don't need to throw me into the water to love me. You don't need to inflict terrible pain to let me know how much you love me. Jason had a corrupt way of making me his...and I have paid a price for not fighting him off. I was too stupid, too drunk. I'll never be the same...' She let go of his hands and turned away.
'Rita, I know the pain you have inside is real. He hurt you, we know that. And to get to you, he needed devices outside of his power to get you to sleep with him. He was a cruel bastard...a ruthless, scheming bastard. I know your pain, Rita...when Garet died, you cried so much...I left because I thought you loved him more than I. I didn't want to get in the way.'
'I thought you had died! The locals said that they had found your body on the side of the road, muttering incoherently about...me. How...why are you here? Are you an illusion created to wreak further havoc upon my soul? Are you here to make me wonder? Are you my subconscious desire? I dreamed of you Phil. Jason, Garet...nobody was to take your place. Not even when I was attacked by Jason did I forget how much you loved me. I needed you back.'
'Rita...did he...?'
'I would imagine so...'
'You mean...there was nothing to protect you?'
'I fear not, Phil...'
'Oh, dear God...' Phil held Rita closer. She began to cry...what Jason had done had changed her forever... and Phil knew it. He felt her heart beating, quickly, most likely because of her twisted emotional state.
'Captain Phil?' A voice said from the other side of Rita's door.
'Yes, Pilot?' Phil turned, still holding Rita.
The door opened. 'Permission to fly towards Tolbi?'
'Yes, Pilot Chuck.' Phil said, smiling.
'No...I thought...he was dead back in Tolbi? That means...' Rita said, trailing off.
'Yes, it does. Go out into the main room, he's waiting to see you.'
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Chapter 12: Two Hearts Beating
Rita closed her eyes, seeing the sword pierce the stomach of her rescuer. Michelle looked at her with a glance virulent enough to kill...and smirked. The man elbowed Michelle's face, causing her to lose the sword, and also knocking her to the floor. The man pulled the bloody sword from his back, and jabbed it through the base of Michelle's neck. She seized up, and died. Blood stained his hands, he looked at Rita with tears in his eyes. She arose from the bed, put her hands on his wounds, and they closed up...the man was healed. The man backed away, shaking his head.
He said in a low, sad voice 'Rita...I have taken a life. All of which I had stood for long ago has proven itself wrong. I am deeply sorry I cannot be here...I don't want you to be hurt...maybe those people back home were right. Maybe I'm to blamed for everything. I'm the cause of all your pain, Rita.'
'No, Phil, it's not your fault. I love you, Phil. Regardless of what happened here. What you did was fair, and it saved me from losing a person as close to my heart as you. You never needed alcohol to seduce my heart. You never needed clever wordplay and unnecessary advances to get to me. I love you because you're you, Phil. You don't need to throw me into the water to love me. You don't need to inflict terrible pain to let me know how much you love me. Jason had a corrupt way of making me his...and I have paid a price for not fighting him off. I was too stupid, too drunk. I'll never be the same...' She let go of his hands and turned away.
'Rita, I know the pain you have inside is real. He hurt you, we know that. And to get to you, he needed devices outside of his power to get you to sleep with him. He was a cruel bastard...a ruthless, scheming bastard. I know your pain, Rita...when Garet died, you cried so much...I left because I thought you loved him more than I. I didn't want to get in the way.'
'I thought you had died! The locals said that they had found your body on the side of the road, muttering incoherently about...me. How...why are you here? Are you an illusion created to wreak further havoc upon my soul? Are you here to make me wonder? Are you my subconscious desire? I dreamed of you Phil. Jason, Garet...nobody was to take your place. Not even when I was attacked by Jason did I forget how much you loved me. I needed you back.'
'Rita...did he...?'
'I would imagine so...'
'You mean...there was nothing to protect you?'
'I fear not, Phil...'
'Oh, dear God...' Phil held Rita closer. She began to cry...what Jason had done had changed her forever... and Phil knew it. He felt her heart beating, quickly, most likely because of her twisted emotional state.
'Captain Phil?' A voice said from the other side of Rita's door.
'Yes, Pilot?' Phil turned, still holding Rita.
The door opened. 'Permission to fly towards Tolbi?'
'Yes, Pilot Chuck.' Phil said, smiling.
'No...I thought...he was dead back in Tolbi? That means...' Rita said, trailing off.
'Yes, it does. Go out into the main room, he's waiting to see you.'
---
