Jessica
"I heard from Dr. Jupiter that you made a friend," Jessica said with a kind smile as her patient's face made a sheepish, almost embarrassed grin. "Do you wish to tell me about it?"
"I t-think Dr. Jupiter was exaggerating… but I do consider Laila a friend."
"How did you two meet?"
The various tendrils moved in a fashion that through Jessica's observation and study of her patient's particular circumstance of the Case-53 situation indicated a slew of emotions that ranged from elation, happiness, and a genuine sense of innocence displayed even against the harrowing challenges posed by their distorted forms.
"Dr. Jupiter wanted to see if it was okay if I can come with her to the building's gardens. I heard the other doctors discuss it and it took a while to do so… but we managed to all make it work in the end."
"And how did you feel?"
The tendrils moved in such a way that to an outsider it would seem like she was coiling inwardly in defense, but to Jessica, it was mostly a gesture of glee in the most positive way possible.
"It was amazing. Even if it was just the gardens, seeing the sky and how beautiful it was just made me feel relaxed. Like I was out there with Laila flying with her to wherever we wish to go." Jessica saw her wave many of her tendrils in the air as if imitating the flow of the winds coming down her "arms". Normally she would lean towards an objective and neutral perspective with how she committed to these sessions, but the gesture and the history she had with this particular client just made her feel for the girl.
Especially with how much she's been through as the years went by.
"The flowers were amazing as well. The roses were beautifully red like Dr. Jupiter's lipstick…" Jessica could not help but muster a small giggle as her patient reciprocated with a grin. "But… I was just happy seeing a portion of the outside. Even briefly."
How she said that had a large amount of emotions and feelings attached that the complex emotions alone on her "face" shifted the mood of the discussion right back.
Jessica cowed her smile back.
"I think it's why Laila was such a surprise for me… and a delight that I'm pretty thankful for."
"That's wonderful," Jessica replied.
"I did not expect her to peek out of the hole that was on the single tree that was in the middle of the garden. I was just curious and she just poked her head out while hissing at first before she stopped and looked at me."
"I heard from the staff that it was quite the sight. Nobody expected a Barn owl to roost there." She replied as her patient nodded.
"Yes, they were pretty surprised about it too and I remember some of the staff trying to scare Laila away to get her to leave… I'm thankful she stayed. I heard Doctor Jupiter continues to feed her."
Jessica gave her a nod as she kept some comments to herself.
"I still remember how she walked to me that one time and started to peck on the grub that I saved for her. She was scared at first, I think, almost apprehensive but I guess she was not used to seeing my form because she felt a lot more relaxed compared to the other people that were around me at the time."
"This was the second instance, right? Because Doctor Jupiter tells me that little stunt got you a lot popular here in the building." Jessica complimented as her patient nodded proudly.
"Yes… The first instance was just a brief look but after I fed her, I heard from everybody that she continued to stay and often look for me."
Jessica smiled as her patient relaxed in her place.
"I don't really know why I was so interested in her… but perhaps…" she stopped for a moment as indications of cautiousness and embarrassment once more flooded her visually. "…can I be open with you on this?"
"Of course." She emphasized.
"It reminded me of myself."
Jessica was surprised at the choice of words as she relaxed back in her seat.
"I see. Can you… describe or tell me as to why that is?"
Her patient then had a very removed stare for a moment as she looked towards her right where on Jessica's desk was a plastic plant.
"Everyone was scared the very first time I woke up and became this. I-I don't blame people at all for how they reacted or for how much their emotions were so… intense when they first saw me… b-but it just left a profound sense of shame in my head. I still see it my in dreams, that same feeling, those same memories, and seeing Laila hiss and squawk at the people that were near me as they tried to drive her away just made me see myself in her."
Jessica found herself stopping from taking notes as she placed her notepad and pen to the side.
Her patient smiled with a degree of difficulty as the emotions of those slew of memories were unearthed with some degree of intensity and pain. "Please understand doctor… I am grateful. Truly grateful for all the love and care the people who took me in have given me during my stay here. B-But… it's hard not to see how people look at me, how people treat me… and h-how it feels being stuck where I am."
Jessica watches as her patient begins to coil around her special "mobile containment" harness that allows her a degree of freedom to move around with supervision. She watches as the poor girl starts to reflexively strangle some of the mechanisms with some frustration and effort as she continues to speak.
"A-And I know I d-deserve it." She exclaims as her breath starts to shake, her eyes starting to tear up with that black liquid as Jessica patiently and quietly observes. "I-I deserve everything that's been done to me… everything that's been told about me when t-those people first saw me. W-When I… when I…"
"Dear… I need you to stop for a second first and breathe." Jessica intervened as the girl sniffed and tried to smile again with difficulty as many of her tendrils started to wipe away her "tears".
"T-Thank you… I'm trying, I really am… but it's hard. Hard to think normally of myself at times knowing everything that's happened to me. Knowing what I am."
Jessica then moved her chair just a bit closer as she leveled with her patient with as much empathy as she could display. "Sveta… dear, I need you to look at me."
Quickly the girl followed her words as she tried to calm herself down.
"Nobody blames you for what happened and personally I don't think you should be condemned over an accident that you in no way had any form of control over…"
"I-I'm trying to see it that way… doctor."
"And I'm proud of you for it. Small baby steps like that are necessary in order for you to find your way back. It's never easy and I know for a fact that despite the biases and opinions of many people around us, there are still good people that do in fact, care for you."
"T-Thank you… doctor. I-I appreciate that." She said wholeheartedly as she wiped the last of her tears. Her coils started to visibly relax as Jessica herself smiled back with a sense of relief.
"Why don't we return back to Laila… that at least could lighten the mood, right?'
The girl immediately smiled as enthusiasm returned to her face.
"R-Right… well, it was a huge moment when she came out of her roost and slowly hopped towards me it was like I felt she understood me in that moment, and she just trusted me enough to allow me to feed her."
Jessica would then hear the many stories of her patient's visits to her newly acquainted friend with joy and contentment as if their early, heavy conversation had just disappeared entirely. It made the entire session turn a lot more positive than serious but Jessica took many notes and thoughts with her as they finally finished an hour later.
She watched as her patient waved back while the kind staff member wheeled her away back to her room. For a moment Jessica did not leave her office yet as she stewed in her notes over the observations that she would need to discuss with her peers.
With the added knowledge of her current record, Jessica had a lot to discuss with her peers about what best to do moving forward for this particular patient.
It was nothing serious of course, but they needed to course-correct the budding depression that was starting to seep back into the poor girl's head.
Minutes later, she found herself holding a cup of coffee in the aforementioned gardens as she stared at the prominent tree that made up its center. The hole where the barn owl, Laila lived was still there and after being introduced to it by both her patient and Doctor Jupiter, it made her remember the poor girl's words about how she projected her own memories toward the state of how they first discovered the bawn owl.
If she stood up on her tiptoes, she would see the bird resting there and according to staff, the avian had started to lay their eggs there.
"They're still telling me to evict her." she heard a familiar voice say as Jessica turned and saw the older doctor smile at her as she took off her lab coat and placed it on the closest chair. The older woman wore a simple red long blouse that reached to her wrists as well as slacks that she was typically seen in. Her hair was mostly gray but at the same time still carried that particular 80s hairstyle that the asylum particularly pegged her with. She had a mole on the side of her face and as Jessica was told, Mrs. Jupiter was quite the beauty back in her younger days.
Still, the woman was pretty good at her job and was really well-known in the state and she was the person that Jessica confided in when it came to the patients of this asylum.
"I heard that from Frank back in the lobby, he said they were concerned about Bird Flu or sanitary concerns." As soon as she said, she heard the older woman huff as she sat on one of the chairs near a table. Jessica did so as well as they were now face-to-face with each other. The coffee cup she drank from emitted its steam right in the middle like a centerpiece.
"You know that's bullshit dearie. Plain, old bullshit."
"So I heard." Jessica said as she looked at the older woman who placed her glasses on the table.
"They don't want any of them here to have the idea of freedom in their heads. Least of all the more dangerous ones. Until they decide that any of them here is safe to their standards, I think they're much more concerned with control rather than assisting them to a better state."
"I don't think they're that drastic in treating these people." Jessica retorted.
"And I thought you were the pragmatic one Yamada… hah, I feel like you're more naïve than you sell yourself for." The older woman said with a laugh as Jessica shook her head with a smile.
"No, that's not what I meant. I know what you're trying to say… but I don't think they're that incompetent at knowing how these people feel in the first place."
"Maybe… I can't really say too much about it. Given that most of the people that they use as liaisons to converse with me are pretty much pricks. So, any high opinion for their part isn't going to come out from me, unfortunately."
"Not everyone Dr. Jupiter. I know quite a few that are doing their best."
"Yeah… but then again, it's either being put into an asylum or being placed in the Birdcage. I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist myself, I resent it actually, but I just can't help feeling that they're just doing their best to assume control over something they can't and won't understand."
Jessica disagreed with the good doctor's thoughts given her connections with the organizations that she was implying, but a part of her also saw the merit in such thoughts.
"Anyway, on an unrelated note, my favorite pancake shop just closed down today. I'm deprived of my usual blend and breakfast." The older woman said.
"Must be why you're pretty cranky today," Jessica said with a jest as the older woman snickered.
"Must be, but I heard that a lot of places have closed down lately… from food poisoning or some other reason." She then looked at the plants in the garden. "Even the plants look a lot pale here like the tulips in my own garden."
Jessica looked once again at the garden, noticing the subtle differences this time.
Especially her memories of nearly two weeks ago when she came back there.
The green color of the plants was not as vibrant as it once was, and even the bark of the tree in the center looked like it was a paler shade of brown.
The roses in the garden themselves were a lot more paler but it was a difference that needed to be told to her and if she took a glance, she might not have noticed in the first place.
It was odd. Very odd.
She shook those thoughts away as she still had another few visits to do.
"Yamada…"
"Hm?"
"Do you want to come with me to drink tonight?"
"What for?"
"I'm going to retire soon dearie… not right now of course, but in the next few months, I'm pretty sure this'll be one of the last few moments where I can celebrate the fact that I was able to do something for these people."
Jessica smiled. "Do you want me to tell the others?"
"Nah… not right now. I don't want them to miss me yet." The older woman said with a giggle as Jessica laughed as well.
She sighed for a moment as she saw the barn owl peek through the hole where it roosted.
Jessica couldn't help but think about the poor girl's thoughts about the owl as she sipped her coffee.
With Doctor Jupiter's own opinions, she wondered if her job had actually helped at all or if the world was as pessimistic and cynical as the good doctor thought. Hopefully, it was not and if anything her presence was still something that many could confer to.
Humans were humans after all… and striking at an absolute certainty…
…Or in this case, people accepting those that looked different from them, was an impossibility at the start. Care and empathy existed, yes… but to a world where many examples of Parahumans brought destruction, death, and pain, it was going to be a troubling climb toward a very steep hill.
Because even those who appeared human were just as much monsters as those who appeared to be monsters themselves.
Often, those who appeared human were more of a threat to humanity as a whole than the people were that were either in running, placed in asylums such as this, and those condemned for crimes that they may or may not have committed.
It was a complex situation and one that Yamada was exposed to almost daily.
Ugh… maybe Jupiter's offer is sound.
…
"Fuck." She found her head buzzing quite a bit after she dropped off her older colleague in a taxi. Seeing that she was close to home decided to walk in the streets to get some air.
That may not have been the best decision however due to her steps being wobbly as they were.
Nevertheless, she pressed on as she thought about the very fun drinking session she had with the good doctor. It was hilarious actually given the things that they talked about which were far removed from anything regarding her work, but it allowed them to decompress from all of the stress and problems.
She actually enjoyed the entire affair, simple as it was.
Even if the old woman teased her for trying to get laid with some of the men in the bar earlier.
She had no time for relationships, unfortunately, and even then, she did not enjoy one-night stands. It was not that she had any aspirations for romance or having the notion of saving herself for another, but it was just on principle.
However, at the end of the day, she had no interest at all in the act in the first place.
It was always work, work, work…
And with her expertise and the fact that she was very good at it just pushed her to be someone that many passed around to get some use out of her.
She had little or no time for a personal life and what personal life did exist was just relegated to her parents, her colleagues, and even her patients, sometimes even some of the heroes that needed someone to vent to as well.
She did not mind it at all. Her work just became her life and despite all the exhaustion and stress it just felt good. There was nothing more to elaborate on those feelings as she continued to walk in peace.
Sigh…
As Jessica neared her home, she suddenly stepped on something that seemed to be sticky or at least thicker in constitution than common liquids were. Even with the buzz in her head she lifted her foot and saw that a bundle of leaves was attached to the sole of her shoes.
She tried shaking them off but to no avail. With a heavy sigh of annoyance, she reached out with her hands and tried to pry them off as she saw that there was a very strange, black gunk that seemed to seep from the leaves themselves.
She was able to get the leaves off of her shoes as she looked at the black gunk.
Looking around she saw that nothing seemed to be wrong with her surroundings. That wind blew ever so peacefully around her, and the trees swayed against the darkness of the night as normally as they could ever be. There was nothing there that indicated where the black gunk or the leaves came from so, she assumed that it could be sewage or some other nasty thing that had spilled.
She stared at the small sludge that was on her fingertip as her buzzing head foolishly moved her to smell it.
Strangely it had no smell that was repugnant. It was just an earthy, yet dead smell that had a finality to it. It was not of decay, at least yet…
But it was ominous in terms of how it smelled that she had to stare at it for a few seconds.
Or perhaps it was just the alcohol in her system…
Jessica quickly wiped the stain away with a pair of tissues in her bag as she continued walking home.
As she neared her front door, even her buzzing head noticed the severe sounds of a wailing, crying dog that was barking at something…
She recalled that it was her neighbor's dog. The pretty docile and kind German Shepherd that even liked to play on Jessica's lawn at times. It was strange seeing the same dog bark with desperation as her owners tried to calm her down.
Worse, it was only there that she noticed that the rest of the street and the neighborhood that owned dogs similarly barked in fright as well.
Jessica could not help but feel confused with the entire thing as she stared towards the sky.
There were minimal clouds present as the color of the gibbous moon was a sickly yellow.
She blinked for a few moments as she wondered about this string of strange events as she opened the door to her home. The animals outside continued to echo into her house as Jessica paused for a moment, seemingly bothered by the entire thing as she shook her head and decided to get into her bed.
Moments later as she finally rested herself on her mattress, she stared upwards to her ceiling as the echoes of everything happening outside continued to occur.
Her head was still buzzing from the drinking session as her eyes started to close slowly…
The last thing she saw was a moth that seemingly stared at her as consciousness left her.
-12:03:09
Dr. Jupiter watched with a coffee mug in hand as she once again accompanied Sveta in the gardens as she was allowed once again to feed her beloved friend. The older woman was still reeling from the night of drinking she experienced recently but like always she was still willing to come to work despite some of the hangover that was present.
Yamada was still not present however and she reckoned the young woman had probably slept in for the day due to all her hard work. Good for her, she thought to herself as she watched the particular Case-53 reach out from her mobile containment to call for Laila.
She watched with mild interest as she continued to think about the nearing meeting with the PRT that was scheduled in a few hours.
Sipping her mug, she noticed that her current charge had been calling her friend for so long now.
"Laila? W-Will you not come outside?" her worried voice said as her tendrils coiled around the hole where the raptor had roosted.
There was still silence until a few steps were heard from the hole. Sveta's expression turned to that of joy and relief as Jupiter gave her the food that she would be offering.
"Were you tired Laila? I suppose hunting at night is pretty tiresome, but you would get to see the full moon and fly to your heart's content." She innocently said as the bird slowly moved towards her, only to stop amongst the shadows within the hole much to Sveta's confusion.
"Laila?" Sveta worriedly said as Jupiter's focus turned to the girl.
Out of the hole, where the shadows dimly reflected light, were instead the sickly yellow eyes of an owl as it slowly and weakly walked into the light.
"L-Laila?"
The mood in the room just changed as the poor bird was revealed. Feathers that were once bright and triumphant were no longer seen. What remained was a weak creature that had lost nearly all thought and strength in its form.
Worse, the poor bird had been bleeding from their beak and body.
"Laila! No, w-what happened to you… w-what caused this?" Sveta cried out as she gently put the bird into her 'arms' as Dr. Jupiter stood up. "L-Laila… why… w-what happened?"
Sveta's cries were once again turning weak and heavily distraught as blackened tears started emanating from her eyes once more. The bird in her tendrils coughed weakly until black liquid came out of its beak and body as it heaved in pain.
"N-No… no… no…" Sveta cried out as Laila quickly became limp. Then Sveta looked at her reflection a nearby puddle where black liquid came from her eyes and she turned to the dead bird on her 'arms' and saw a similarly colored liquid that was oozing out of its corpse.
"Sveta…" Dr. Jupiter said as she tried to reach out to the girl the entire garden was silenced by the echoing crying. Everyone stared in shock as the Case-53 turned to Jupiter and asked:
"D-Did I… Did I do t-this?"
"Sweetie… n-no… this wasn't your fault." Dr. Jupiter said trying to calm the situation down as Sveta looked at Laila in her arms and moved up to see the interior of where she once roosted. Where she tended to her chicks.
And whatever the poor girl saw, as soon as black liquid dripped from the hole just tore her asunder.
"I-It happened again…" she moaned in pain and sadness as the tendrils of her body wrapped against her dead friend.
"It… it happened again… no, please… I can't… I can't…" Sveta cried out as the three in the center of the garden started to have their leaves fall, which only added to the atmosphere and sadness of the entire ordeal…
But as Sveta cried out in despair, the entire sky darkened and everybody looked up amidst the poor girl's mourning wails. Dr. Jupiter found herself losing hold of her mug as it broke on the floor while she and everybody else saw the waves of insects that flew over the asylum towards a direction that nobody knew as of the current moment…
The horror of the entire affair had everyone frozen as Sveta continued to cry toward another casualty that she thought was of her own doing.
-02:16:56
Jessica ran as fast as she could as hell broke loose.
The sky was dark, the clouds barely visible under the haze of the thick waves of insects that flew towards a direction that she was not privy to. Thousands upon thousands of insects continuously poured from the heavens as if God himself had rendered his existence true to all the non-believers.
It was frightening and nearly trumped everything that she had seen at that point.
She was always shown various reports of Endbringer battles, even the worst ones, but she was never there at the scene when things like that occurred and the only thing that she had any idea of were second-hand tales and exploits from both her patients and reports. This… this was just unreal as sweat continued to leak through her barely fixed blouse as she never even brought anything of importance from her home due to the sudden panic and shock of the entire situation.
Her neighborhood was filled with people panicking out of their homes as they watched the deluge of insects fly atop their rooftops. Many were crying just from the sight of it but because of the terror and intensity of how much was seen and heard.
It did not help that voices both cheering and crying out came from the insects themselves as man people screamed and tried to drown out the sounds within their homes or as they ran away in terror.
Jessica was woken up by the sounds of those cheers themselves as she saw through her window a great number of moths and various other bugs trying to join their brethren in the mass exodus.
She quickly ran out of her home without even bothering to get her keys as she thought about the asylum and its denizens. Cars were non-functional even as her neighbors tried desperately to make them work, and nearly all devices electronic in nature were disabled almost as if the entire town and place had been hit by an EMP.
Her tinker-tech amplified phone which she kept during emergency situations whenever something would occur had turned on for a few seconds before sputtering quickly into a dead state as the more mundane pieces of it were not able to sustain the entire device. Or perhaps it was because of the ants that were slowly invading her home from wherever hole they crept out of.
Regardless, she ran out in pure worry and panic over what was happening as she went through her neighborhood as fast as she could.
Immediately she noticed ahead of all the mass hysteria was that the many trees that littered the neighborhood and the town had nearly lost all of their leaves. Each current of air that accompanied the great mass exodus of insects above them seemed to carry all of the leaves with them as the sickly-looking tree barks swayed weakly through them.
That alone carried an ominous feeling of doom that pushed her to run faster as many around her continued to share the emotions being spread by the terrifying occurrence.
As she continued to run, she saw littered against the streets or being cradled by their dying owners were a great number of dead animals.
One of them was the German Shepherd which was now lying in her crying owner's arms as blackened blood leaked from their mouths as fleas and other insects infested her. It was a horrifying sight as the parents of the girl who held her dog tried to pry their daughter away from the corpse.
It was not just domesticated animals, she passed by a truck that carried livestock in the middle of the road where the smell had just overwhelmed her just by coming near it.
Then, as she neared the asylum with just a few blocks left she stopped when she felt something hit her head like a droplet of rain. She looked up and was frozen in shock at another thing that would permanently linger in her memories for life…
OOOWOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHH!
Accompanying the loud, ominous, and thunderous horn that signaled the end was the image of numerous, perhaps hundreds of birds that fell from the sky…
SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!
That bone-chilling sound continued to happen all around her glass windows, the pavement and various other surfaces were hit by the dead avians from all sides.
One even landed right on Jessica's feet as its spine, now fully twisted and nearly exposed due to the impact, started oozing blackened blood.
It did not help that from the hellish scenario, the chant of the insects continued in a much subtler tone.
"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. ~"
Jessica sprinted as the world around her slowly withered into madness.
She hoped to whoever was up there that her colleagues and patients were safe as time continued to pass.
-1:16:02
Arriving at the asylum where many of the staff were wheeling in and trying to get everybody to the lobby, Jessica saw the panic and disorganization of the entire building as multiple nurses, caretakers, and doctors tried to desperately make everything calm and organized as the outside world continued to turn into a nightmare.
There was shouting left and right as she began asking the nurses for all of the staff or the patients being accounted for. She began asking nearly ten people about many that she was still not spotting out of the crowd until she decided to find them deep in the building.
The hallways were dark as her quickened steps echoed across the corridors.
What little light there was came from the windows as the very weak daylight illuminated the entire asylum into something out of a horror movie.
Unaffected, Jessica continued to yell across the halls as she saw many of her patients and other people desperately trying to get to the lobby in fear, but she was still missing a few people…
She ran to the direction where the gardens were despite her exhaustion and present state until she stopped fully when she saw how loud and destroyed the gardens were either through the panic or the sight of the mass exodus overhead.
Nevertheless, she shouted as much as she could to call forth the people that she was trying to find…
Until she turned to the nearest stock room near the place and saw a body on the floor.
The body, riddled with footprints and bruises was none other than her friend…
And colleague.
Jessica closed her eyes and knelt as she reached for the dead woman's opened eyes to be closed as she looked at Dr. Jupiter's corpse, whether killed by the panic, or something else had been left there as ants started to crawl around her clothes.
She moved the corpse to the side with enough respect she could muster and deep inside her head, she started to mourn in sadness. Jessica had just shared a drink with this woman, and despite all of her beliefs, she was a kind-hearted person who wished for the best of people.
She squeezed the corpse's hand for a few moments then she stopped as she heard a soft sob within the halls. The sob belonged to a very familiar face to which Jessica quickly responded to.
"Sveta?" she called softly as she neared the staff room where the sanitary department resided.
Opening the door slowly, she saw the poor Case-53 in the very corner sobbing with bile coming out of her eyes as her tendrils grabbed onto the shelves around her.
"Sveta…" she called out as she knelt in the doorway. The girl, hearing her voice opened her eyes and tried to wipe off the tears.
"Miss… Yamada?"
"It's me. I'm glad I found you." Jessica genuinely said as relief flooded her. She took a step further until the girl flinched and curled in on herself as her cries worsened.
"P-Please… p-please just leave me here. I… I don't want to be a burden anymore. I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me." the poor girl said.
"Sweetie… this is not your fault." She emphasized as she took another step forward.
"B-But I…. I got Doctor Jupiter killed… she was trying to get me out… she was trying to save me, and I ran away when t-things got scary… I… hid myself like a coward."
"Shhh… none of that was your fault. Sally would have done it a thousand times over just to get you to safety. I'm sure she would be happy to see you alright and she would have never blamed you regardless."
"B-But everyone around me just gets hurt. I c-can't take it anymore. I don't want to be the reason why everybody dies around me. I should have just… j-just-
Sveta stopped when Jessica reached out and softly took one of her tendrils as they coiled reflexively around her right arm.
"You are not responsible." Jessica softly emphasized as their eyes met while the entire building shook. The woman then reached out and tried to softly caress the girl's face. Sveta leaned into her touch as Jessica felt the tendrils now snaking on her arms tighten in a soft and comforting way.
"I told you once before sweetie. I care. I truly care… and even if the world around you doesn't, just know that there are still many more out there that do, and chief amongst them, is me."
"Miss Y-Yamada… w-why?" Sveta asked.
She huffed as tears started forming slowly in her own eyes while she chuckled. "Because it's my job to… and honestly? It's because you and everybody else deserve to hope. Because you matter as much as any person does in this world and not a day goes by until I make sure that they all see it that way."
"T-Thank you," Sveta said, her words not enough to fully give out the joy of hearing those words from her as Jessica wiped her tears and smiled.
They both smiled at each other for a few more minutes as Sveta slowly unwrapped herself from the corner and started to coil into Jessica's body. The woman trusted the girl enough to do this as they both decided to leave in haste after all the feelings shared.
Even if the world started to turn around them, both knew that they had each other's backs…
Jessica ran with her charge back to the lobby as another earthquake occurred.
As they neared their destination a loud voice rang throughout the asylum and probably the entire town.
"THIS IS DRAGON! ATTENTION TO ALL SURVIVORS! PLEASE EVACUATE YOUR HOMES AND PROCEED TO THE NEAREST DROPSITES! PLEASE LISTEN TO THE HEROES IN CHARGE OF THE DRAGONCRAFT. THIS IS NOT A DRILL! THE WHOLE TOWN MUST BE EVACUATED AWAY FROM THE INCREASING DANGER ZONE! I REPEAT, PLEASE EVACUATE WITH HASTE! TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE AS THE SINGULARITY IS NOW INCREASING!"
Immediately, as they arrived by the lobby Jessica saw Chevalier and a few capes trying to evacuate the building as both joined the masses that were being escorted out.
Minutes later as they boarded the craft, Jessica and Sveta shared a look as they watched through the window the state of the town where the asylum was.
And as the Dragoncraft started to fly away many, if not all watched through the horizon where the sun was supposed to be, being overtaken by an ominous large hole in space that inevitably wiped out the place they were once was moments later…
It happened nearly everywhere across the entire eastern seaboard as it was the first indication not just to every person in America, but in the entire world that whatever had rang the horn of the Apocalypse was never stopping at all until everything would be consumed under its gullet.
It was a wake-up call that would rouse the world out of inaction even if in reality…
…It was too late.
But to Jessica and Sveta, despite everything that had been happening, they continued to hope.
For hope was the only thing that their hearts could reliably cling to even as the world burned.
-56:02
"This is pointless. You know it's pointless."
Artoria sighed as she heard those words.
She continued to look upwards as she sat on the flowers and fields of Avalon in thought.
"I know, but their world is not Britain. Their world need not be fully punished the same as the Fae had been." She replied as she blew a flower petal on her palm as it swayed into the wind.
"You realize that even if your assist comes through, you will only save a very minute few."
Artoria paused as her lips tried to come up with a rebuttal.
"Your champion alone is a flawed human being. Unworthy still of the burden that you placed on him." The voice said with conviction.
"Yes. But is any person perfect for the fate and responsibility placed on their shoulders?"
Altria's question seemed to placate the voice into silence as she heavily sighed this time.
If only she could do more…
If only… she could have had the means to warn them earlier.
But the fate of Earth Bet was already decided, and any interference on her part would only be a minor roadblock against the will of fate.
?
Blanca flew through the winds in haste. I had a frown on my face because this inevitably halted my ability to watch as the rest of this land suffered through the void.
It was annoying but it had to be done…
Especially since this particular individual had been calling me nonstop.
My flock had confirmed their existence and that they were waiting for my arrival.
As soon as I did arrive, where the winds had been just as dead as the surroundings, I saw the miscreant that was calling forth my name. The void of mine could be seen just by the long horizon like a sunset about to eat the world entire…
But to my estimate, it would take quite a few more minutes before it would arrive at this destination and even then, I really did not care if it did arrive at all.
Especially since this little miscreant was just as much of a fake as the rest of them.
Even more so with how they called themselves.
"Greetings. O' Fairy King."
They even had the nerve to prostrate before me as their many shadows knelt the same behind her.
"I ask thee an audience under your respectful banner. From one monarch to another, I wish thou to hear mine words…"
Hmph. Even their choice of words aggravated me.
AN: Heyyyyyyyyyy finally got this out! And yeah this marks the final interlude phase I think before the final arc starts!
I do hope that the emotion especially in the Sveta and Jessica part was appreciated. Being someone who interned in a mental hospital and has experienced the many people that were there, it is a very complex situation both mentally and emotionally for all the people working or in this instant, being confined there. I don't particularly imply any sort of malpractice or maltreatment with the Case 53 patients in the asylum for this fic, but it's more so that even in real life, a lot of people can think that way even if the institution themselves are helping them for the better, genuinely.
I once had a friend in one patient back in the day, and he had a lot of opinions over things and thankfully after getting discharged, he seems to have a good spot in life so far. I hope it continues.
Do expect a Fragment chapter soon! One involving a certain Doctor once again haha, and after said Fragment we will get the meeting scene… oh boy hahahahha it's gonna be tricky to write that.
I hope this was fun and that you all enjoyed it despite the slight delay.