CHAPTER LII

No Silent Nights

Ivory headed to a nearby washroom to clear her head. After splashing her face with cold water, she stared at herself in the mirror, sorting out her thoughts. She was in the laboratory section of the ship, a Level 1 secure zone. Level 0 required no security clearance and Level 3 was the highest, accessible only by administrative staff. She found it laughable how unsecured this so-called secure zone was, though that may have been due to it being of relatively lower clearance. It wasn't as though any random person could ever possibly infiltrate this floating fortress.

She took a second look at herself in the mirror before leaving the washroom, grimacing at her own appearance. She was dressed in an SS uniform she had pilfered from a locker room a few floors earlier. If Yorath could see her like this, no doubt he would tell her how well it fit her. She irately turned away from her own reflection, wrestling with the urge to smash the glass.

She kept to herself as she continued her tour of the Ragnarök. Each laboratory room she passed confirmed her suspicions about Atlas's Thaumatology progress. Some of the rooms contained row after row of shelves with what appeared to be stones with runes etched onto them. Another room looked like an armory, with runes inscribed onto armor and weaponry.

All this time, Atlas had been far ahead of anything Vacuo's LTF had to offer. The bellicose Orion Jupiter had been right to be wary of Atlas all this time. Still, nothing good would come of war between the two countries, especially if both wielded arsenals of magic.

These are forces we cannot possibly comprehend.

She continued on, further into the research wing. The blacked out section on the map in the middle of it all was her goal. There had to be other secrets her country was hiding, even from its own most trusted zealots. The closer she came to it, however, the more unsettled her heart became. She was very much aware of the horrors the Labyrinth contained. If this was yet another thing related to that other world, it would undoubtedly be dreadful.

Still, why can't I shake this strange feeling? It's not the typical Labyrinth anxiety. It's...something else altogether. Something even more horrible.

She came upon a Level 2 security door. As she expected, this door was much more protected than Level 1 doors. This section actually had a guard desk to monitor foot traffic. He glanced at her as she walked by, but she blended with the crowd easily. It wasn't difficult with her new SS uniform and the security clearance card it had come with. Unfortunately, it only allowed her access up to Level 2. She would need an admin pass for Level 3.

This was why I had suggested biometric security a long time ago. Security badges are so easily stolen. Although, I suppose it's not really too much of a concern in a floating fortress.

She thought she had prepared herself mentally for what she would witness in a higher security zone, but what she came across made her turn away in a combination of revulsion and shame. After all, she had contributed to this nightmare before her now.

Observation window after observation window gave her a glimpse of the human suffering she would have been party to in a different life, suffering caused by human experimentation. It wasn't just the camps and Dust mines political enemies were sent to. This ship and its laboratories for human testing was another possible destination.

She remembered that such projects were supposed to have been scrapped, forbidden by both legislative houses and even General Holland himself. She wanted to believe that her country was unaware of these things happening, but she wasn't naïve. The masses themselves approved of the methods of the Schwarze Sonne and the government it now controlled. What would they care if a few undesirables were used as lab rats in the name of scientific progress?

She balled her fists, but stopped herself in less than a second. She needed to behave like these sights and sounds were normal to her. In a way, it was. After all, this scenery wasn't uncommon in the Labyrinth.

But this wasn't the Labyrinth. This was the real world.

She headed to a locker room, checking around for other occupants. She went into the showers, turned one on as background noise, and began breathing heavily, punching the wall twice. She was still panting, rage building within, when someone else entered the locker room and joined her in the showers.

"Oh, I apologize," the woman said. "I didn't hear the water running. Were you going for a shower?"

"No," Ivory said coldly. "I've changed my mind. I have a lot of work to do."

"Tell me about it," she sighed. "I didn't realize how much paperwork was involved just for incineration."

"Incineration?"

"Yes. The failed test subjects. Some of them are still biohazards and must be disposed of appropriately so as not to cause any harm to the outside world."

"Right. Of course."

"You don't work the labs normally, do you?"

"I don't. I specialize in rune weaponry."

"Ah, that explains the ribbons. I apologize, Sturmbannführer. I did not mean to be rude."

"There was no offense. I will leave you to your shower now."

"Für immer Atlas."

Ivory stopped before turning and facing the young woman, raising her hand and returning the salute. "Atlas für immer."

She performed an about-face before marching out of the showers and locker room, scarcely keeping her hands from visibly shaking. Nothing she had ever done in her life made her feel as unclean as she now felt. But what perturbed her more was not the actions she had just performed. It was the fact that it came so naturally to her. She may as well be straddling the line between this world and that hypothetical reality in which she really was one of these people. At some point, she was destined to follow in her mother's footsteps, becoming an officer in the Schneesturm Specialist Corps. Schneesturm. That would have also been abbreviated as SS.

She continued on throughout the Thaumatology research section of the Ragnarök, but most of it was a blur. She was barely comprehending the heinous visuals and accompanying soundtrack of pained groans and terrified screams. At some point, she could swear she heard someone begging not to harm a loved one, but it may very well have been imagined, though it was more likely to be true considering where she was.

Ivory...

She looked around for the source of that voice, but no one was paying her any mind. A few saluted her and she returned the salutes, but no one stopped to address her directly.

Was she imagining things?

This place was beginning to take its toll on her sanity. The one thing she could be glad about was the fact that her elder cousin was not here to witness all of this cruelty. Although, thinking on it more, part of her wanted to unleash that side of Lilly which turned that room of syndicate bastards into a blender.

No, she couldn't let that happen. Not ever again, not to that pure bloom that was her eldest cousin.

Ivory...

She glanced around nondescriptly. She really was starting to hear things. The voice called out her name a few more times and she was preoccupied with it for long enough that the next thing she knew, she was standing in front of the most secure door by far, labeled Level 4.

Level 4? There was no such security designation on the maps. But, what would this be?

Ivory...

Who is it? Why do you keep calling me?

Finally I've managed to reach you.

Her eyes widened as she recognized the voice. "No, this can't be. Elise?"

I'm glad you still recognize me, Ivory.

This isn't possible. Those were dreams.

Dreams, yes. Those do come true, it seems. You're close by. I can feel it.

What...?

Ivory looked around. She was on the balcony of the orphanage where she and Elise regularly had coffee and tea, spending their time together in reflection, sometimes playing with the children, but often it was only the two of them.

"I do regret that I have no tea or coffee for us to share today," Elise said from behind.

Ivory turned around to face that same woman she had been dreaming about for the past few months now. She looked at the ground, trying to make sense of everything, but it was difficult to tell the real from the unreal these days, especially with how concrete this place was.

"You're still thinking this is a dream, huh?"

"Isn't it?"

Elise walked to the edge of the balcony, leaning against the guard rails, allowing the wind to pick up her hair and toss it around. "Sometimes I wonder. Whether the life I now live is even real. There are some days when I remember a distant past that I used to inhabit. An old war I once participated in. Faces I once knew. But I can never pin down any of it. It's all just a haze, a forgotten world." She turned to face Ivory. "I can't be held down by any of that, though. What matters is what's here and now. I have an orphanage to run, children to watch over." She smiled. "And most of all, I have a friend."

Ivory looked over to the manor, where the sounds of children laughing echoed throughout the halls. The next thing she knew, the grounds were under siege. It was the same brigands that had beset the manor a number of weeks ago, during that dream which coincided with the Labyrinth she had undergone with Lilly and Lilith. The bandits moved in to attack, but before Ivory could even draw Elfenbein, they exploded into ash which settled all over the terrace.

"Things like that have been happening lately," Elise sighed.

Ivory turned to her. "Things like that? You don't even seem bothered by what just happened."

"When you've seen stranger, a group of thugs manifesting out of thin air and then bursting into ash before they can set foot in the house isn't so bizarre."

"You've seen stranger than that?"

Elise nodded. "Tell me. Have you ever experienced an alien abduction?"

Ivory couldn't help but widen her eyes. "You're joking," she scoffed.

She shook her head. "I wish I were."

An air raid siren began to scream out in the distance, growing louder and louder as the skies darkened.

"What's happening now?" Ivory said.

"Now we have to get into the house. It's coming."

"What exactly is coming—"

The world seemed to shudder as the environment instantly shifted. The old vibrant colors had forsaken them, replaced with an ashen hue that invaded everything, even their own clothing. The air was several degrees colder and the sun hid behind thick clouds.

"It's never happened so quickly before," Elise said, staring at the manor, which had become decayed and forlorn.

And then, just as quickly as the desolation had set in, it all returned to normal.

"How is any of this routine to you?" Ivory said with incredulity in her voice.

"I honestly don't even understand what's happening anymore," Elise said as tears poured down her cheeks. "All I know is that it hurts. It hurts so much. And I don't know why."

Of course. Why had it taken so long for her to realize it? Ivory had seen this so many times before.

"Elise," she began, "are we in your Labyrinth?"

"I don't know," she sobbed.

"It must be the case. Everything we're seeing here now has got to be a reflection of your emotional state."

It still made no sense, though. She had been dreaming someone else's Labyrinth all this time?

"I just don't know what's real anymore, Ivory. I know the children are there, and I know you're right here, but I..."

"Listen to me, Elise," Ivory said as she gripped her by the shoulders. "If we really are in your Labyrinth, there's still a way to get out. You're still manifesting as yourself and not some grotesque apparition that represents your deepest trauma, which means that you still have not been subsumed by this world."

"Okay. I trust you."

"As far as I can tell, the core of your Labyrinth must be somewhere in the house. Let's go."

Both women went into the manor, but they ground to a halt upon setting foot in this fantastical environment.

"Wh...what?" Elise said open-mouthed.

They were in the middle of a battleground, one pockmarked with every manner of natural disaster, including three volcanoes erupting in the distance. In the opposite direction was a hurricane.

Ivory searched for the door they had walked through, but it was gone. Whatever this place was, it had to be representative of the center of Elise's trauma. From their interactions all this time, Ivory would never have guessed that she was a warrior type. Perhaps she had lived as a commoner in the midst of an era of strife and war, but that couldn't be the case; her companion was now dressed in armor. She had to have been a combatant.

"Elise?" she mumbled.

Elise looked at the sword in her hand. "I don't know any of this. It feels so familiar, and yet so foreign all at once." She dropped her weapon and fell to her knees, gripping her head with both hands. "I don't...understand..."

Ivory ran to her, cradling her from the side. Based on what she was seeing, and particularly because of the rapidly shifting Labyrinth, she concluded that there were a multitude of repressed memories involved. A splintered mind was likely to accompany it all. She needed to be careful, but she needed to be quick as well. Her real-world condition was certain to match the deterioration in this world.

"I'm going to save you, Elise," Ivory declared. "I swear it."

Elise panted as she looked into her friend's eyes.

"Do you believe in me?"

She nodded. "I do. I do believe."

Ivory was back in the halls of the Ragnarök. She looked left and then right. The few personnel in this section of the research wing didn't seem to notice her. Or perhaps they intentionally kept their distance from the one wearing a high-ranking SS uniform.

Was I dreaming all of that?

She noticed the door she stood in front of. It was a heavily reinforced blast gate marked Level 4, a security level that wasn't listed on the maps. From the looks of the locking mechanisms, this door wasn't for preventing unwanted entry, but meant to keep something inside from breaking out.

She felt no anxiety from that realization, however. Her heart was instead heavy with a melancholy she couldn't quite explain. It may have been because of that pseudo-Labyrinth she was just in, if it even was a Labyrinth. That whole episode could have easily been no more than a hallucination. And yet it was as vivid as any of her dreams containing Elise and her orphanage.

The door opened. She peered inside the dark room. Something within beckoned to her. Unable to resist the pull, she stepped through, looking over her shoulder as the steel blast gate slowly shut behind her.

Why am I doing this? That door was clearly meant to seal something away, something terrible. So, then, why am I completely devoid of any concern?

She continued through the room, which was lit only by the glow of indicator lights here and there and a few monitors showing data that meant nothing to her. The only display she recognized was one for vital signs. The pulse and respiratory rate were higher than average, but everything else seemed nominal.

She stepped into another section of the room. In the center of the clearing was a giant glass cylinder, probably a tank of some sort. It was warm to the touch. She searched the room for a light switch and found one, pressing the button and flooding the chamber with light.

Her eyes went straight to the big transparent container in the middle of the room. She would have screamed out loud if she hadn't been vomiting right at this instant. She retched over and over again until puking transitioned to dry heaving. For a whole minute, she couldn't look at it, but she eventually mustered up the courage to face the horror.

Floating around in the liquid were chunks of flesh, clearly belonging to a human woman from the shapes. Ivory continued to wheeze as she struggled to take in all the information. This was patently impossible. If that vital signs monitor was referring to this woman in front of her, it must have been malfunctioning epically. There was absolutely no way this person was alive, not rendered into sliced up bits like this.

Ivory...

Her eyes widened as she finally connected everything together. It was no wonder the face of this girl was familiar to her. The hair, the color of that one eye drifting about, there was no question. This was her. This was Elise.

Ivory squeezed her eyes shut, pressing her hands to her ears and shaking her head repeatedly.

This isn't real, she told herself. This isn't real. This isn't real.

Ivory, please...

No! You're not real!

You...promised me...

Her eyes opened wide.

I told you...that I believe in you...

She began to cry.

Please, Ivory. I need you to believe in me, too.

"I...can't..."

Please...the pain...I can't stand it anymore...

"Elise...I'm so sorry..."

Ivory gasped as she found herself at the orphanage veranda. The world was normal again, but storm clouds gathered in the distance. She spun around to face Elise, who was sitting at the table with some tea prepared for them. Her whole body was covered in scars, lines of healed tissue that matched the carved up version of her in that liquid-filled tank.

"Elise," Ivory sobbed as tears poured down her cheeks.

"I'm so happy you could make it," Elise said, her voice frail.

"What is going on?"

"I wish I could tell you. All I know is that it hurts so much. And not just here." She raised her arms and looked at her own disfigured flesh. "But in here." She clasped both hands over her chest.

"Why? Why is this happening?"

Elise managed a smile. "I think the gods brought us together, Ivory. I think...that it's you...whose meant to save me."

"Save you?"

She nodded. "I cannot escape this world, or the deep pain within my heart. And I cannot explain either of those to you."

"But how? How do I save you?"

"I think you know, Ivory."

She found herself in the lab once more, face to face with the chunks of flesh that belonged to Elise, the friend she had made in those dreams, dreams of a Labyrinth full of pain and sorrow. She turned to the right, where the life support control panel sat. She turned away and grimaced, and when she looked up, she was back at the orphanage, standing in front of Elise.

"I can't do it," Ivory said, her voice small and weak. "I can't save you."

Elise smiled.

"Elise, I can't..."

Ivory gasped as Elise wrapped her arms around her. She could feel the raised scars on her arms and neck and face as they touched. Dream or not, Labyrinth or not, this was real. She was real. And her pain was real.

Elise pulled away, holding her by the shoulders, gazing deeply into her crystalline blue eyes, eyes filled with more sorrow than a seventeen-year-old only days away from adulthood ought to ever bear.

"I'm sorry," Ivory whimpered. "I wish I could do more. I wish I could put you back together again. I wish I could...do anything..."

"Set me free, Ivory," Elise said.

The tears came out full force now. Even though this was the first time they had ever met in person—wretched as that might sound—it felt as though they truly were friends. And she had an obligation to her. Her tears gradually began to dry as her resolve found its way back to her. She gave her dream world companion an intense gaze.

"I did swear," Ivory said, "that I would save you."

Elise smiled at her, the last smile that would ever find a home on her face. "And I said I believed."

Ivory turned to the right, where that life support control panel stood beside one of the tables on the veranda as the two worlds blended in her perception. She walked over to the panel, looking it over for a moment before turning to Elise, who was now floating in that liquid-filled tank. She held up a hand in farewell.

Squeezing out her last tears, Ivory pulled the main control lever down, shutting off the life support. Machines all around her quieted as indicator lights everywhere switched from blue to red. Ivory looked to Elise one last time before the latter faded away along with the rest of the orphanage. Ivory was back in the laboratory in the real world, surrounded by red lights and near-silence. She looked to the glass tank, where the pieces of Elise's flesh continued to float around. The vital signs monitor showed zero life signals. Even the waveform graph was completely flat.

"Goodbye, Elise," Ivory whispered as a single teardrop rolled down her cheek.

Something within her stirred. This sensation was foreign to her, though she could describe it as a kind of fire burgeoning from within. But before she could ponder it any further, alarms began blaring outside of the lab room she was in.

"All hands, general quarters. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill. All hands, general quarters. All hands, general quarters."

"What the hell is going on?" Ivory muttered before leaving the laboratory.