Digging through his pockets, Rion fished for his house keys. Just as he was about to unlock the door to his apartment, Jezebelle opened the door.
"Rion, where the hell have you--" she began, but was cut off by the sight of her love covered in blood, which was on the verge of drying. His blond hair was matted down with the vermilion liquid. His eyes were half-glazed, she could immediately tell that he was recovering from the aftereffects of shorting. "What happened?" she asked, almost speechless from surprise.
"Cain... he's..." Rion began, but stopped. He blinked a few times, trying to focus.
"You... didn't," she said, staring at the love of her life, who was not all there. "What did I tell you about him?"
He completely ignored her question. "I need a shower," he muttered, still staring blankly at her.
"Rion, listen, I told you to stay away from him,"
"No, you listen," he retorted, moving Jezebelle to the side. He stepped in the apartment and turned back to look at her. "I need to go take a shower, and then I am going to find the truth from Cain."
"How are you going to find the truth? Just walk up and ask him for it?" she glared at him as he passed her by. "You know he's most likely just going to tell you more bullshit."
"He's at my old home, Belle, somewhere I haven't been since..." a picture flashed in his mind, "...many years ago. Since I was hunted down. He hides the truth in my house. I have to know. I don't think you understand that. Even if he's not telling the complete truth, he knows more than he's letting off."
"You don't know if he's telling the truth or just baiting you on," she retorted, anger flashing in her eyes. "You know, he could just as well kill you before you realize he's fooling you."
"We'll talk about this later. I need a shower," he said nonchalantly, making his way towards the bathroom, leaving his shoes at the door. How else would he know the truth if he didn't try to find it out?
The bathroom was dark because it was late at night, not to mention the evening blue color scheme that he and Belle picked out for it. Rion turned on the light, which was a medium, relaxing azure. He stripped off his leather choker and ran it underneath the sink. Not too much blood ran off. He stripped off his shirt and cargos, along with the rest of his clothes.
He went over to the bathtub, took soap, and cleaned his clothing to the best he could. Which wasn't the best at all, it looked as if he had ruined yet another pair of clothes due to this useless, useless violence. He didn't like it, he had to go through so many pairs of clothing due to psionic mishaps such as shorting, or when he had to use violence as a self-defense method. It wasn't fair, he would always be damned to an impossibly bloody life, wouldn't he? After he wrung out his clothes and left them to dry on the towel rack, he began to run a shower.
As he stepped in the shower, he watched as rivulets of blood ran down from his hair and slipped towards the drain. He washed his hair, he gazed at all the red water at his feet. "Sad... all this blood... it's not mine."
It hurt him to realize that he, Rion Steiner, killed eight people so brutally. Two more he killed by his own free will. "I'm a murderer," he groaned softly.
Rion finished his shower as quickly as he could. Wrapping a towel around his waist, he dried his hair and stepped into the hallway where Jezebelle was waiting. "Can I clean up the bathroom, dear?" she asked without meeting his eyes.
"Yeah," he responded, passing by her in that daze and headed towards the bedroom. He pulled out his current favorite pair of black cargo pants, black boxers, white socks, a fishnet shirt, and his black Doc Martens. He got dressed and laid down on his and Belle's bed.
He grabbed the plastic bag that held all the items he obtained from the Mushroom Tower. He took one of the two recovery capsules from within and pushed it into his mouth. His pain-laden senses felt as if they were repairing themselves. Hell, his entire body felt as if he were recovering from the short a lot faster than normal. He closes his eyes, enjoying the feeling of... well, feeling better.
A warm body curled up against his relaxing form. "Why do you do it, Rion? Why do you let him lead you on like he's doing now?" she asked, her head resting against his chest, arms wrapped around his torso.
"I... I'm not sure," he answered, his fingers tangling themselves in Belle's hair. "I just hate not knowing why I'm here, who I am. I hate not being sure if I'm who I think I am... or if I'm almost pretending to be another person."
"But.. you know who you are," she responded. "You're Rion Steiner."
"I just want to be a hundred percent sure, Belle," he said softly. "I want to understand why my body behaves the way it does. Even if I am a Galerian or not... I just want the truth. Is that so hard? Is that too much to ask for?"
She sighed. "How can you be so sure on what the truth is? Cain could lie just as easily as he could tell the truth. I've told you that a million times."
"I have to take that risk," he responded. "If I don't take this risk, I'll always be trapped in the same boat. I'll always be trapped in darkness. Even if what Cain tells me isn't true, at least I'll be able to say I tried. I won't be able to find the truth unless I take one risk. At least one risk."
"Rion," she whispered, eyes glancing up to gaze at her beloved. "All right. What if you take this risk, and this risk ends up killing you? Then, what? All this effort for nothing! Rion, you know Cain could care less if you were dead. Mother Dorothy, the computer that created her Galerian children, wants you dead because you contain the virus that could kill her. What use are you to her alive? All they want is your dead body. Why would they have to tell you the truth when they have the chance to kill you? Tell me that."
Rion sat up slowly. "If I die, so be it, Belle. I'd rather die questing for the truth than living a lie." He pulled himself off of the bed, standing and shaking his head. "At least this way, I'll be closer to the truth rather than suffocating in this lie the world made for me."
You've got your heart set on this, don't you?" Jezebelle said, wistfully staring at her beloved.
"What have I got to lose?" he responded, shrugging his shoulders.
"Maybe you don't have anything to lose, but what's going to happen if I lose you?" Belle whimpered as she continued to stare blankly at her love.
"Belle, I'm not planning to die. If anything, I'll come back empty-handed, but with some semblance of a truth in my grasp."
"Promise me something, then."
"Yeah?"
"That you'll come back to me."
"I promise," he answered, kissing her forehead. "I promise."
"Rion, where the hell have you--" she began, but was cut off by the sight of her love covered in blood, which was on the verge of drying. His blond hair was matted down with the vermilion liquid. His eyes were half-glazed, she could immediately tell that he was recovering from the aftereffects of shorting. "What happened?" she asked, almost speechless from surprise.
"Cain... he's..." Rion began, but stopped. He blinked a few times, trying to focus.
"You... didn't," she said, staring at the love of her life, who was not all there. "What did I tell you about him?"
He completely ignored her question. "I need a shower," he muttered, still staring blankly at her.
"Rion, listen, I told you to stay away from him,"
"No, you listen," he retorted, moving Jezebelle to the side. He stepped in the apartment and turned back to look at her. "I need to go take a shower, and then I am going to find the truth from Cain."
"How are you going to find the truth? Just walk up and ask him for it?" she glared at him as he passed her by. "You know he's most likely just going to tell you more bullshit."
"He's at my old home, Belle, somewhere I haven't been since..." a picture flashed in his mind, "...many years ago. Since I was hunted down. He hides the truth in my house. I have to know. I don't think you understand that. Even if he's not telling the complete truth, he knows more than he's letting off."
"You don't know if he's telling the truth or just baiting you on," she retorted, anger flashing in her eyes. "You know, he could just as well kill you before you realize he's fooling you."
"We'll talk about this later. I need a shower," he said nonchalantly, making his way towards the bathroom, leaving his shoes at the door. How else would he know the truth if he didn't try to find it out?
The bathroom was dark because it was late at night, not to mention the evening blue color scheme that he and Belle picked out for it. Rion turned on the light, which was a medium, relaxing azure. He stripped off his leather choker and ran it underneath the sink. Not too much blood ran off. He stripped off his shirt and cargos, along with the rest of his clothes.
He went over to the bathtub, took soap, and cleaned his clothing to the best he could. Which wasn't the best at all, it looked as if he had ruined yet another pair of clothes due to this useless, useless violence. He didn't like it, he had to go through so many pairs of clothing due to psionic mishaps such as shorting, or when he had to use violence as a self-defense method. It wasn't fair, he would always be damned to an impossibly bloody life, wouldn't he? After he wrung out his clothes and left them to dry on the towel rack, he began to run a shower.
As he stepped in the shower, he watched as rivulets of blood ran down from his hair and slipped towards the drain. He washed his hair, he gazed at all the red water at his feet. "Sad... all this blood... it's not mine."
It hurt him to realize that he, Rion Steiner, killed eight people so brutally. Two more he killed by his own free will. "I'm a murderer," he groaned softly.
Rion finished his shower as quickly as he could. Wrapping a towel around his waist, he dried his hair and stepped into the hallway where Jezebelle was waiting. "Can I clean up the bathroom, dear?" she asked without meeting his eyes.
"Yeah," he responded, passing by her in that daze and headed towards the bedroom. He pulled out his current favorite pair of black cargo pants, black boxers, white socks, a fishnet shirt, and his black Doc Martens. He got dressed and laid down on his and Belle's bed.
He grabbed the plastic bag that held all the items he obtained from the Mushroom Tower. He took one of the two recovery capsules from within and pushed it into his mouth. His pain-laden senses felt as if they were repairing themselves. Hell, his entire body felt as if he were recovering from the short a lot faster than normal. He closes his eyes, enjoying the feeling of... well, feeling better.
A warm body curled up against his relaxing form. "Why do you do it, Rion? Why do you let him lead you on like he's doing now?" she asked, her head resting against his chest, arms wrapped around his torso.
"I... I'm not sure," he answered, his fingers tangling themselves in Belle's hair. "I just hate not knowing why I'm here, who I am. I hate not being sure if I'm who I think I am... or if I'm almost pretending to be another person."
"But.. you know who you are," she responded. "You're Rion Steiner."
"I just want to be a hundred percent sure, Belle," he said softly. "I want to understand why my body behaves the way it does. Even if I am a Galerian or not... I just want the truth. Is that so hard? Is that too much to ask for?"
She sighed. "How can you be so sure on what the truth is? Cain could lie just as easily as he could tell the truth. I've told you that a million times."
"I have to take that risk," he responded. "If I don't take this risk, I'll always be trapped in the same boat. I'll always be trapped in darkness. Even if what Cain tells me isn't true, at least I'll be able to say I tried. I won't be able to find the truth unless I take one risk. At least one risk."
"Rion," she whispered, eyes glancing up to gaze at her beloved. "All right. What if you take this risk, and this risk ends up killing you? Then, what? All this effort for nothing! Rion, you know Cain could care less if you were dead. Mother Dorothy, the computer that created her Galerian children, wants you dead because you contain the virus that could kill her. What use are you to her alive? All they want is your dead body. Why would they have to tell you the truth when they have the chance to kill you? Tell me that."
Rion sat up slowly. "If I die, so be it, Belle. I'd rather die questing for the truth than living a lie." He pulled himself off of the bed, standing and shaking his head. "At least this way, I'll be closer to the truth rather than suffocating in this lie the world made for me."
You've got your heart set on this, don't you?" Jezebelle said, wistfully staring at her beloved.
"What have I got to lose?" he responded, shrugging his shoulders.
"Maybe you don't have anything to lose, but what's going to happen if I lose you?" Belle whimpered as she continued to stare blankly at her love.
"Belle, I'm not planning to die. If anything, I'll come back empty-handed, but with some semblance of a truth in my grasp."
"Promise me something, then."
"Yeah?"
"That you'll come back to me."
"I promise," he answered, kissing her forehead. "I promise."