Chapter 26: Sunrise
A/N: Well I'm back. Took a little bit longer than I expected but not the typical 2 week delay so I'd call it a win.
Won't keep it waiting any longer: enjoy.
All I did was keep moving.
Once I got to a group of police officers, they noticed immediately what was wrong and pointed me to a secret entrance they'd used to infiltrate the metro. I thanked them gratefully, and continued onward.
Thankfully, this secret path that the police used was straightforward and had no jumping, no climbing, no trains, no nothing. It was just walking, for once. Or rather, fast-walking.
I wasn't sure how I would've gotten out if it wasn't so simple, I couldn't do all that fancy platforming while carrying Zena, and I wouldn't consider even thinking about leaving her behind.
After a few minutes of fast-walking, I'd noticed that Zena hadn't said a word since I'd begun walking.
I stopped and looked down, and realized that she was unconscious.
A lump formed in my throat, and I began to walk even faster.
Fortunately, not long after that, I found myself at a long set of stairs, and climbed them.
I breathed a sigh of relief to see the starlit sky, but I wasn't done yet.
I spotted two medic cats sat by an ambulance and rushed over to them. I was a bit surprised that they weren't busy, but I couldn't have been happier about it.
"Wh-huh?" One of them said as they noticed me, "Who is-what happened?"
"Does it matter?" I replied, "She needs help immediately."
They nodded and took us into the ambulance, laying Zena down on the cot inside.
Seeing her like this...
I put my head down. I couldn't bear it.
And it was all my fault, too.
I shouldn't have forgotten.
Then, I shouldn't have gone alone.
Then, I shouldn't have expected Empress to have even the slightest amount of mercy.
Then, I shouldn't have expected it to be that easy.
And I could've beaten Darkus faster if I would've just shut up and kept fighting.
Everything I could've done wrong, I did wrong.
All I could do was clutch my head and let out a defeated groan.
I felt a tap on my shoulder, and looked up to see one of the two medics standing there.
"Hey, don't worry about it," They said, "Not sure what happened, and I don't know who she is, but I know who you are. You've done some pretty crazy feats, so I'm sure it wasn't your fault. And trust me, she isn't gonna die. We're pretty fast."
I shook my head.
"You don't get it..." I muttered, "I was extremely stupid. I went in alone, she came after me. And she got hurt because of it. Even if she recovers... this could have been prevented."
"What are you supposed to do, read the future?" The medic replied, "Buddy, by that logic, basically anything bad 'could have been prevented'. It was out of your control. Don't bash yourself over something you definitely could not have prevented. If anything, it'll just worry her and the hat girl."
I was silent.
"You realize there's no way I won't feel bad about this, right?" I muttered.
They nodded.
"Well, you should feel a little bit bad. Means you're not a sociopath. Just don't blame yourself, alright? Or else she'll feel bad."
I had no idea how to reply to that. I supposed they were right, but...
Well, all I could do was sigh and listen to the ambulance's sounds.
When the back doors of the ambulance were opened again, I looked up and saw that we were at a hospital's emergency room, with a team of doctors taking Zena away immediately.
I quickly rushed to follow, but stopped, as I knew I couldn't. It was a hospital, after all. I'd have to wait until she was awake and in a better condition. And I planned to do exactly that.
I felt a tap on my shoulder again, and turned to the medic who was still there.
"It's getting pretty late... I'd suggest going home and getting some rest," They said.
"But-"
"Ahp! No buts. You've done all that you can, you've already saved her. There's nothing left for you to do for now. And don't you feel tired?" They countered.
Oh...
The adrenaline had worn off...
... Now that I noticed it, I was exhausted. I'd fought two hard battles, nearly died, and carried a full-grown woman to safety. It was a miracle I hadn't collapsed already.
I nodded.
"Well, she won't like it if you can barely keep herself awake when you go to see her, will she?"
...
I shook my head.
"Exactly. So go get some rest, you deserve it," They assured me.
I stood up and turned to the medic.
"Thanks..." I said.
All they did was nod.
I saw a door leading outside and took it. I quickly made sure nobody was around, then returned to the ship.
Back home, I dragged myself over to the attic and to my bed, and threw myself under the blankets.
I frowned.
Hailey would hate me for the events tonight... how would I even tell her?
I didn't have time to answer that question before my exhaustion took me.
.
I woke up the next day feeling like garbage. Practically my whole body ached, and I didn't feel rested at all.
But regardless, I got up anyway, as I didn't really have much of a choice. The tiredness would wear off soon, anyway.
I meandered out into the main hub and was surprised to see Hailey watching television.
"Are you up early, or am I up late?" I asked.
She looked over and shrugged, then gave me a confused look.
"Did something happen while I was asleep- wait, what's that tear in your sweater from?" She asked.
I sighed and climbed down to meet her at the television.
"If I tell you, will you promise to not get mad?" I asked.
"... Yes?" She replied, even more confused.
"Are you sure about that?" I questioned.
She sighed, and nodded.
I took a deep breath.
"So, you remember how we were going to go work for Empress again...?"
She went pale.
"I completely forgot! How long has it been?" She squeaked.
"Like eight or nine days," I replied, "We missed her deadline."
"So... what happened last night was related to her...?" She asked, "Did she come attack in the night?"
I shook my head.
"I... I realized that we'd failed her task yesterday. I knew she wasn't going to let us go again," I said, "She knows where we live. It'd only have been a matter of time before she came for us. And I knew how powerful she was, we wouldn't have been able to fight her and her entire gang. She wanted blood. So I went down by myself... hoping that if I turned myself in to her, she'd leave you alone."
"You what?" She said before taking a deep breath, "But... why?"
"Because if I'd brought you along all it would've ensured was that we both were dead. Or so I thought," I said, "At the moment, it seemed like the best choice, to have the best chance of ensuring your safety. It... didn't quite turn out like I wanted."
"What happened?" She asked.
"Well, she obviously didn't kill me, she captured me and said that she was going to come for you next, even though I turned myself in! I knew I couldn't let her get away with that, but I had no way of escape, as she took my things. Thankfully, Traveller managed to show up at the perfect time, as he usually does, get my stuff back, and free me. And he also, heh, somehow managed to get the cops to finally come after Empress, so that I wouldn't have to worry about being swarmed by her goons."
"So what about Empress?"
"I went after her. I wasn't going to let her get away with threatening my only family. I found her in the main hub, and because all of her goons were distracted with the police, that meant it was just us. Me and her. So, obviously, I fought her. I won, managing to pin her down to the ground for the police to arrive," I said, "But... I should've known it wouldn't be that simple."
"Huh?"
"Have you noticed that I'm missing something?" I asked.
She proceeded to scrutinize me for a good minute before having a look of realization.
"Your Shadow Badge is gone!" She exclaimed.
"Yeah..." I said, "What happened next was... I don't think anyone could've seen this coming."
She listened intently.
"Remember how Badge Seller said that the Shadow Badge was an Ultra Badge? And that Ultra Badges were self-aware?" I asked.
She nodded.
"Well... uh... turns out that it had been studying me as I battled for a long time, learning how I worked and behaved. So it could... refit itself into my shape, feed off of my dark emotions with none of the other emotions I held, to create an 'ultimate vessel' for the shadow, or something like that," I explained, "And... well... that's exactly what it did, right at that moment. It completely sapped me of my energy as it created itself, took the badge from me and gave it to Empress, liking her mindset more than my own, and the two of them versus a heavily weakened me wasn't going to be a very fair battle. I would've died, but... by some LUDICROUS twist of fate, ZENA of all people came to rescue me."
"Zena?!" She shouted.
I nodded.
She then shook her head.
"I can't believe that... she's the most kind and peaceful person on this planet," She responded.
I threw my arms up in exasperation.
"I don't know what to say. Look, I still don't fully believe it myself. So I have no idea how I'd get you to believe it. You just have to trust me," I replied, "Okay?"
"...Okay... I'll try," She replied.
"Fair enough. So, continuing with the story, this darker version of me, which I called Darkus-"
She snorted.
"... yeah, yeah, I know, it's a dumb name, whatever. Anyway, it called her a 'mage of light'. And, supporting that statement, she was wielding a staff," I explained, "She wanted to get me to leave, but I knew I couldn't abandon her to fight them alone. I managed to convince her to let me help her, so she gave me a potion to restore my strength and put light into my attacks, so that I could hit Darkus. Now it was an even battle. Two versus two. She fought Empress, and I fought Darkus."
Hailey shook her head.
"I just can't imagine her actually being able to fight. It seems so unlike her," She mused, "How did she even manage to find you?"
"I don't know. The woman's a thousand years old, I guess she has some tricks up her sleeve," I reasoned.
I then remembered something.
The necklace.
I looked down at my neck. Yes... I'd had it on the whole time.
And I remembered exactly what Zena said when she gave them to us.
"When you wear those, I will be able to detect if you're in danger and can help you from afar in any way I can."
"Heh..." I muttered, "I guess this time was a bit too dicey to just help 'from afar'."
Hailey just nodded in realization.
"Now with the story?" She reminded me impatiently.
"Right.. right... well, with the potion Zena gave me, I managed to relatively easily defeat Darkus... but-uh..."
A lump formed in my throat.
If she wasn't already upset... she was going to be now.
"Zena... she... she didn't have quite such luck herself."
"What? Why?" Hailey asked instantly and extremely worriedly, "What do you mean by that?"
I looked down and shook my head.
"She... lost to Empress. When I had finished my battle, I turned around and saw her... lying on the ground with... a kunai stuck into her," I barely managed to say, "Empress was poised to finish her off with her katana... so I charged at Empress full speed and hit her with everything I had. Thankfully, it was enough to knock her fully unconscious. The police took her after that."
"And Zena?"
"I carried her all the way out of the metro to an ambulance, which took us to the city hospital. They took her away after that," I explained.
"So you don't know if she's alive or not..." She whispered.
I crossed my arms and shook my head.
"I refuse to believe she is," I responded.
That didn't calm her down at all.
She merely put covered her face with her hands and shook her head.
"Hailey. Did I die when I took that knife for you?"
She froze, and shook her head.
"Exactly. That's how I know she's alive... if I don't die to a stab wound, she's not gonna either," I assured her, "She's a thousand years old, after all."
She shook her head again.
"Still... she doesn't deserve this," She said, "Nobody deserves to get hurt like that... but especially not her."
I looked down.
"I'm sorry," I said, "It... it always seems like, whenever I try to protect someone, somebody ends up getting hurt anyway. I shouldn't even bother anymore..."
"It's not your fault..."
"What?"
"You did what you thought was best... I can't get mad at you, because... well... I probably would've done the same thing. You did your best... and as much as it hurts to learn about all of this after it happened... I don't think there could have been anything else done," She admitted.
I was stunned.
Slowly, a bittersweet smile came to my face.
"You're really mature for your age, you know that?"
She let out a very soft giggle and hugged me.
"I love you, Dad," She said.
I smiled and hugged her back. All worry about how she'd react was gone.
"I love you too, Hailey."
We sat like that for a brief period of time, before I tapped her on the shoulder.
"We should probably go see how Zena is doing, eh?" I suggested.
She nodded rapidly and bolted for the lab.
I quickly followed after her.
When we were down there, I peered through the telescope and noticed that it already was set to be able to teleport to the hospital. I didn't question it, as I still didn't fully understand how these things worked, but it sure was extremely convenient.
We both teleported down. It was pretty early in the morning, the sun was still rising over this city, making the normally cold and somewhat intimidating cityscape seem a bit more warm and inviting.
It was fitting, seeing as it would be a lot safer now that Empress and her gang was gone. It was only a matter of time until she got what she deserved, I supposed.
But I wasn't here to marvel at sights. We walked into the large hospital. It was a different style from the bird hospital. The bird hospital seemed older, made from marble and stone and other more archaic building materials, whereas this was more modern and made with modern materials like concrete, metal, plastic. Mostly metal and concrete.
We walked up to the front desk, and the cat receptionist there seemed to notice us immediately.
"Ah, you two. You're quite big celebrities here with all the ruckus you've caused, y'know," They said contently, "I was told to be expecting you. I expect you're here to see that lady who was stabbed?"
I nodded. Were we really this well known everywhere? Good grief.
"Well, you're in luck, she's just woken up and is recovering steadily," They said in a chipper tone as they handed me a visitor card.
I took a deep breath at the news.
"Go to room 576. You can follow the signs' directions to the elevators," The receptionist said.
"We... uh... can't read your alphabet," I replied uncomfortably.
"No worries, they're written in all the major languages of this planet," They explained.
"Alright, thanks a bunch."
With that, we took off looking for the elevators. As the receptionist said, the signs were written in English (or whatever they called it here), leading us easily to the elevators.
So, we took the elevator up to floor 5, and navigated our way until we got to the room labelled 576.
I knocked on the door.
"Come in," A certain voice I knew said, chipper yet tired.
With that, we entered.
There Zena was, lying on the bed, wearing a typical hospital outfit, heart monitor and whatever else attached to her.
Hailey immediately rushed to her side.
"How are you feeling?" She asked excitedly.
Zena just chuckled and patted the girl's shoulder.
"Oh, I'm doing alright," She said before looking at me, "I take it you told her?"
"Of course, it'd have been cruel not to," I replied, "You sure you're feeling alright?"
She nodded, before smiling.
"You know, Markus... even with what happened last night, it was... nice, in a way, to see what you did. Seeing you that determined... you just dropped everything, picked me up, and carried me to safety," She said, "It was... heartwarming."
I had to look away, as my face was beginning to turn red. Why did I always get so uncomfortable around her?
"I already told you, if you died because of something that's completely and utterly my fault, I wouldn't forgive myself," I muttered, before sighing and shaking my head, "So... I'm just glad that you're alright."
"Aww," She said, "You're so sweet."
I had absolutely no idea how to reply.
"We've never seen this hospital before, are the doctors nice?" Hailey asked with stellar timing.
"Oh, they're very kind," Zena answered, "Quite a change from the horrible first impression I received down in that... what is it called again... metro?"
I chuckled.
"Yep, that's a metro," I said, "At this rate, it won't be long before you learn all the modern day things. And, uh, Empress was possibly the single worst person on this whole planet. So you got literally the worst possible first impression ever... what luck."
She sighed.
"Well, I certainly won't be learning anything from here," She replied.
"That's not true!" Hailey exclaimed, "You can learn about the cool machines they use!"
She nodded slowly.
"I suppose that's true," She agreed, "Not that I'll be able to understand how they work, haha."
I smiled.
"Well, just do me a favour and don't bombard them with a thousand questions, alright?" I joked, "It makes me look bad."
She shot me a mischievous grin.
"Oh, my dear, I'm afraid there's no fixing that."
I heard Hailey repress a laugh as I was unable to reply.
"... Touché."
Hailey broke out laughing, and Zena just grinned.
"However, you are right, I'll not go overboard," She said, "What should I say if they ask why I don't already know?"
"I don't think they'd really press into that," I answered, "But if you want to tell them, there's no reason why you can't tell them where you're from. 'Cause either they won't know the legend and will be like 'oh, that's cool', or they'll know it and be like 'wow, that's amazing!'."
Her smile widened.
"And if the latter, I can tell them all sorts of tales about Alpine Skyline!" She beamed, "Unless they don't want me to."
"Who wouldn't want to hear your stories?" I replied.
She smiled from ear to ear, causing me to smile as well. It was definitely a sight for sore eyes.
"Oh! Another thing..." Hailey said, "What happened to that cloak... or whatever... that you always wear?"
Her smile disappeared as quickly as it came, replaced with a slightly irritated frown.
"I don't think I'll ever be wearing it again," She replied, "Because, well, it's possible to sew a cut back together, but I'd love to see someone be able to get a bloodstain out of an article of clothing, especially without completely ruining said article of clothing."
"Sorry..." I muttered.
"Oh, hush. It's not your fault, I'm glad I came to help you. And I wouldn't even be here if you didn't act so fast," She assured me, "I can always get another cloak, after all."
"I guess that's true," I responded, "On a similar note, what'd they do with your staff?"
"I've still got it," She answered, "It's under the bed."
"Ah, that makes sense," I responded.
A few seconds passed, followed by Zena taking a deep breath.
"Markus... this might seem sudden, but I have to ask something of you," She said.
"Huh?"
"Well, I frankly don't know how long I'm going to be stuck here. I can't exactly make a potion to heal myself in this place, and I don't think leaving would be a smart idea, if I even could."
"It definitely wouldn't be."
"Yes, so..." She said, "Could you... watch over Alpine Skyline in my absence?"
My eyes widened.
"You want me to what?"
"I had to leave in the middle of the night to come help you. Nobody knows that I left... imagine how much they're panicking now that I've vanished without a trace..." She said, "So, they need someone to watch over them while I'm gone. After all, the longest I've ever been gone before was two weeks, which was when you were there. And we all know what happened then."
I cringed at the memory. Those stupid flowers... they nearly frickin' killed me.
"I just don't think I'm the man for the job..." I muttered.
She stared at me with a pleading expression.
Hailey was also giving me a stern 'you know you have to' look.
"Please. They need someone. They'll actually listen to you... there's no one else who could do it."
... Why couldn't I ever say no to this woman...?
I sighed.
"Alright, I will."
She smiled warmly.
"Thank you."
I looked away again.
"It's nothing, I guess," I replied, "I won't be able to stay there, though. I'll just check in whenever possible, if that's alright."
"Of course," She agreed, "I wouldn't want to ask too much of you, after all."
A few seconds later, the door opened, and a cat clad in white walked in. The doctor, most likely.
"Ah, hello," The doctor greeted, "You can call me Dr. Nyasahiro. Pleased to finally meet you two in person."
It was just then that I realized that people didn't share their names very often on this planet.
"Hi!" Hailey greeted.
"Nice to meet you, too," I greeted.
"I see that this is a good friend of yours, yes?" They asked.
"I'd call her my best friend," I said.
I heard Zena whisper something to herself after that.
"I see... well, ah... I really hate to cut this short, especially since it's the first visit..." Dr. Nyasahiro muttered uncomfortably, "But, well, have to make sure everything's fine and dandy, you know how it is."
Well, that was disappointing.
Hailey began to pout, but I just sighed and nodded.
"Such is life, I suppose," I said, "We wouldn't wanna get in your way."
I looked at Hailey with a slightly stern expression.
"Right, Hailey?"
She looked down sadly.
"Yeah..." She admitted.
Seeing her so bummed out, I walked over to her and picked her up into the air, causing her to squeak in surprise.
"We can always come back later, alright?" I assured her.
She smiled and giggled slightly, before sighing and nodding.
I walked over to the door as the doctor moved out of the way.
"Bye, Zena!" Hailey shouted with a wave.
Zena laughed and waved back.
"Get well soon, alright?" I said.
"I'll try," She responded, "Have fun, now!"
I nodded and opened the door, and walked out.
"Even when hurt, she's still just as lively as usual," I said.
"Yeah! She's awesome," Hailey agreed, "Oh! And, uh, I need to talk to you when we get back to the ship."
I raised an eyebrow in confusion as I began to walk back toward the elevators.
"Okay?" I replied, "About what?"
She giggled.
"You'll see."
I frowned.
I already knew I wasn't gonna be liking this, but I couldn't say I wasn't curious.
We continued our way out of the hospital in silence.
I sighed and brought us back to the ship, seeing us back in the metro-style room.
"So..." I said awkwardly, "What did you want to talk about?"
"First!" She said, "I have to get that cut on your sweater cleaned up. You're lucky you didn't dirty it up this time."
"Yeah, yeah..." I muttered, "It's about time I wash it again anyway."
She nodded.
"Next," She declared, "About you and Zena..."
"... Yes?"
"You two..." She muttered awkwardly, "Hehe... I don't really know how to say this. I had a feeling for a while now... but I wanted to wait until I was absolutely sure..."
"What are you talking about...?" I asked.
"Well, you see, you two..." She began.
What could she possibly want to say that's so-
"You two love eachother!"
-WHAT?!
A/N:
Oh.
Boy.
Phantaum, Xenuro, and Snow Blizzard are gonna have a good time with this one. As well as a few others, most likely.
I don't think this comes out as a surprise to anyone at this point. Cause no matter how this turns out, this was still something that had to be addressed eventually.
So I think y'all know what's coming next chapter. Someone's going to be getting VERY uncomfortable, ahaha!
I'll try not to keep the next chapter waiting, but... mmmm, no guarantees. At this point, I'd expect my upload schedule to by anywhere between once every 1-3 weeks. Cause there's no way I'll get a chapter out faster than a week, and I wouldn't dare let a chapter take longer than 3 weeks to release, even if life gets in my way.
Now for review time:
Phantaum: Ah yes. She's definitely the kind of person to keep going even after that.
Also, I see your tf2 reference and reply with: BONK!
XStarInTheSkyX: Yes, that does sound like a nickname that would irritate someone to no end, especially her. And I personally don't see Conductor and Grooves being a couple, myself, but I get where you're coming from.
Well, I guess I'll wrap this note and chapter up, now. 'Til next time, everyone. It's gonna be a doozy.
