Author's Note: Hello! I'm still alive and kicking! I just got so excited with writing that I wanted to get ahead before posting. I also had a slight issue because while I was going back and forth between past and present, I almost confused myself while writing haha it was such a funny situation I found myself in. Thank you for all the views, review, follows and favorites! It makes me so incredibly happy!
Special thanks to Auburn4000 (who also has a wonderful Heisenberg fanfic on her page called Maiden of War) for the review! I'm so happy you liked the last chapter hehe ^^
Disclaimer: I do not own the Resident Evil Franchise, all rights belong to Capcom! Any grammatical errors or inconsistencies that you find I do hope you can forgive me I did try and catch all the obvious ones. Happy reading everyone!
Ethan didn't feel so good. Physically his clothes were soaked through with slime from the sludge that was in the reservoir, his wounded hand stung and the bandages around the wound were dirty, wet jeans rubbing roughly against his legs, and his socks were sloshing in his shoes. Mentally he was exhausted from all the trials he had to go through when he dealt with the three Lords, and as more time went by exhaustion was beginning to settle in. The torture he experienced at the hands of Dimitrescu, the panic, and fear that was induced from the hallucinogenics from Beneviento, and getting acid water spewed on him by Moreau?
Ethan felt violated both physically and mentally and wished that he could at least catch a break from all this madness.
'Maybe before I go to the stronghold I'll stop by Selena's to freshen up…or at least get all this gunk off of me.' Ethan hoped as he dragged his feet back to the altar site thinking that he would sell a few things to the Duke to lighten off his load before making the long walk to Selena's greenhouse.
There was also something that he needed to discuss with Selena before dealing with the last and final Lord. After he had dealt with Moreau, obtaining the final piece to create the Six-Winged Key, he had a brief moment to speak to Heisenberg, and something the man had said stuck to Ethan and it concerned Selena. It was something that he could've just brushed off since it had nothing to do with his mission to fix his daughter, but because Selena had been so kind to Ethan he was curious about the woman who seemed to take in stragglers seeking protection.
At the altar site, Ethan had stopped by the merchant's shop only to see that the large man wasn't even attending his wagon. It was a strange sight to see considering that wherever Ethan had gone there was always the Duke stationed in the area so long as the large man, and his wares could fit. As Ethan grew closer to the horse-drawn wagon he noticed that even when the curtain was closed where the Duke normally sat he could still smell the cooking of meat and spices circling the area and a wisp of white smoke escaping from the small vent coming from the top of the wagon.
"Duke?" Ethan called out once he got close to the wagon, and when he saw that there was no one around he did a slight walk around to the other side to see if the Duke could be seen from the front of the wagon. "Duke! Are you here?"
Ethan was growing impatient, he could tell that someone was inside the wagon from the smell of the food that was being cooked over an open fire yet no one was responding. As far as Ethan knew, only the Duke used the wagon…and if the Duke wasn't in there then Ethan's next thought traveled to the wagon burning down if the Duke accidentally left the fire burning.
"Duke!" Ethan yelled out once more to try and catch the attention of the person inside the wagon. "Hey!"
"What are we yelling about?"
Upon hearing the sound of a female's voice close to his ear, feeling wispy breath tickling the nape of his neck, Ethan jumped away and brought his handgun up, pointing the barrel in the direction the voice had come from. Instantly, Ethan regretted his actions when he saw who was behind him.
"Jesus Christ!" Ethan let out an exasperated sigh, immediately lowering his gun when he saw the blonde woman who was practically being swallowed by the fur-lined velvet cloak that was slung over her shoulders. "Selena? What are you doing here?"
Selena continued to stare at Ethan, not at all bothered about the gun that was previously pointed at her face, but Ethan felt extreme guilt over his actions…after all, he was initially warned not to shoot first. But could you blame the guy? In this village, enemies were lurking behind every corner causing Ethan to always be on edge whenever he returned from defeating another Lord.
"I was worried about you." Selena apologized after recovering from her momentary fit of silent giggles that shook throughout her body before smiling innocently at Ethan. "I heard the sound of a distant explosion and I grew concerned. I thought I'd venture out of my greenhouse, maybe find some survivors along the way that have been in hiding that needs my help."
"Um…well, thanks for worrying about me." Ethan mumbled before taking a glance back toward the red gate that led into the main village. "I…I don't think you would've been very successful finding any survivors out there."
Selena walked closer to Ethan, standing just beside him as she looked up to the wagon. "A person like me can only hope."
"Did you experience any issues on your way here?" Ethan hesitantly asked, causing Selena to simply tilt her head to the side in confusion.
"What do you mean?" Selena asked.
"On my way here, I heard a roar come from the field." Ethan said. "I wanted to avoid it until after I restocked at the Duke's shop. Was there anything…lurking in Luiza's field?"
"Well…" Selena let out a hum in thought.
Selena was worried about Ethan, so much so that she had decided to venture out of her greenhouse to visit the altar site in hopes that she would catch a glimpse of the man to ease her anxiety.
Compared to her past self, Selena was confident enough to walk through the village even though she had received reports from her faithful companions that the village was teeming with all types of mutated creatures. Creatures that Selena was quite familiar with. From the lycans that have been terrorizing the innocent for years, the samca's that preyed from the skies, and the vârcolac that prowled the outskirts in the shadows. Selena wasn't afraid anymore, she knew she could stand on her own against such monsters and knew that the majority of such creatures, with enough force, could be persuaded to leave her alone.
Older and wiser, Selena understood the order of power amongst Mother Mirada's experiments. Understood that she along with her siblings stood above the other creatures, and should the creatures step out of line she was free to put them back in their place.
Though…Selena rarely used such methods outside of her greenhouse. One, because Selena after a certain point had rarely left her region, and two, because of the fear that Mother Miranda may see what she is truly capable of. See what Selena had hidden from the woman over the years. Outside of Selena's greenhouse, Mother Miranda's eyes were everywhere, and Selena always felt she was being watched whenever she went outside her glass dome of safety. The only place she truly felt free to use her gift was in her greenhouse, and at one point…Karl's factory.
The moment Selena stepped foot on Luiza's property, a familiar, piercing roar reached the woman's ears. When Selena turned in the direction where the roar had come from she had seen a large, furry beast crawl over the roof of Luiza's fire-damaged home before leaping into the air and landing in the fallow field. Its sudden presence kicked up the dirt and disturbed the dry grassy field, blocking the path that Selena needed to take toward the village. The beast's body rippled and shook as familiar rods were seen sticking out from its body. The creature's snout turned up to sniff the air before white eyes zeroed in on where Selena stood.
"Well, aren't you a familiar face?" Selena smiled as the creature let out a low, threatening growl when Selena took a step toward the creature with not an ounce of fear showing on her face. "The last time we saw each other you were going to make a meal out of me. You know, I'm not in the best of moods to play with you. You see, I just lost all of my siblings today…which I knew was bound to happen since their heinous deeds needed to come to an end, but that still doesn't lessen the pain of losing the only family you ever knew." The haunches of the creature bristled the closer Selena got which only caused her to let out a dramatic sigh as she stopped walking. Noticing suddenly how similar her actions were to Karl caused her to let out a dry chuckle. "I'm speaking to you as if you can understand me."
The alfa vârcolac dug its nails into the ground making long slits in the dirt before rushing forward to close the gap between it and Selena.
"Will you be here for me once more, Karl…" Selena whispered under her breath, her eyes downcast as she recalled the moment Karl had suddenly appeared. Bringing her into his arms and restraining the vârcolac from reaching and attacking Selena. Though it was wishful thinking that Karl would just suddenly show up once more, the fact of the matter was that Karl wasn't going to be there like he always was, and that caused a painfully uncomfortable twinge to sprout at the center of her chest…an agonizing grip wrapping around her heart and squeezing. Today had been full of recalling memories of the past, remembering how Karl and she used to be, and it broke Selena to be reminded once more that Karl was no longer the pillar she leaned on for support and vice versa. Selena lifted her hand just before the alfa got close to her. "even if I can now take care of myself…I continue to hope that you'd worry about me and make a flashy entrance."
The alfa vârcolac rammed into Selena, its claws taking a swipe at her body, but the second that Selena's hand gripped the tufts of fur of the alfa vârcolac, the beast had spontaneously burst, leaving behind nothing but bright balls of light that floated around Selena. The balls of light lingered in the air momentarily before gravitating toward Selena's body and instantly being absorbed when they touched her skin. It all happened so fast, one moment the creature was there, and in a blink of an eye, it vanished.
At this point, Selena didn't care if Mother Miranda would see what Selena is capable of though the woman in black might have been too preoccupied getting the ceremony prepared. In Selena's mind, she'd lost everything and couldn't care less what happens to her from now on. As Mother Miranda once said, all shall end…the villagers, this region, the experimentations, the creatures…everyone and everything. Selena was resigned to such a fate once Ethan saved his daughter and killed Mother Miranda.
"Nope." Selena's innocent smile unnerved Ethan. "Perhaps you were just imagining things?"
There seemed to be a silent understanding that Selena wanted to convey to Ethan that read: There was, but not anymore. Don't ask.
"Oh! I found something that may be of some use to you!" Selena reached into her cloak and brought out the skeletal remains of a creature that was encased in crystal. "I don't really need it…but I took it because I thought it may be worth something? Feel free to sell it and use the currency for things that you need to prepare yourself for the battles ahead."
"Uh…thank you?" Ethan said as he took the crystal from Selena, the weight causing him to go off balance before turning his head to look at the wagon. "I'd sell it now if I could, but I don't know where the Duke is."
"Oh, he should be inside the wagon." Selena hummed as she went around to where she knew the entrance to the wagon was located, reaching for the door and pulling it open. "Duke! Your regular customer is here."
"Hm?" Ethan could distantly hear the Duke inside of his wagon, heard the sound of glass clinking together before the man's head popped out from the door just as Selena took a step back to allow the man some space. "Mister Winters! Apologies, I didn't hear you. I'll be with you in just a minute. Do make yourself comfortable."
"Where am I supposed to go to make myself comfortable…" Ethan whispered as he held up his arms to inspect his outfit, seeing the slime still caked on his clothing and water dripping onto the snow-covered, muddy ground.
"You can take a seat on one of the empty barrels." Selena offered with a warm smile as she pointed to the area in front of the wagon where Ethan usually did his transactions with the Duke. Selena also took note of Ethan's appearance. "You look like a drowned rat…and you smell awful too."
"…thanks." Ethan sulked as he went over to lean against one of the barrels.
Selena knew that what she said wasn't the right thing to say, suppose all those times spent with Karl, without Selena realizing, his blunt and no filter attitude rubbed off on her over time. Selena perked up, walking back over to the door to call back into the wagon. "Duke! I'd like two orders of the usual!"
"The usual huh? Hm…" More clamoring was heard inside the wagon which caused Ethan to wonder how exactly the Duke was able to move about in his little wagon to prepare whatever it was that Selena had ordered. "I think I still have some leftover ingredients that you had given me the last time laying around here. Now…where did I store them."
"Do you need help?" Selena tried to offer as she took a step into the wagon.
"I can manage." The Duke called back as the clanking of cooking appliances was heard. "Just give me a second and I shall have it prepared for you right away, the two of you eating shall give me time to finish up what I was working on, then I shall do business with you, Mister Winters." More noises were heard before the wagon seemed to shake. "Ah-ha! Found them! Now…let's get cooking…"
A flurry of chopping was heard followed by the sound of a fire being lit from the wagon, a familiar sound that Ethan recognized from past experiences when he had delivered some ingredients he'd found to the Duke. "What is he making?"
"Something I always order when I'm too lazy to cook for myself." Selena said as she made her way over to Ethan and gracefully hoisted herself up onto the other barrel just beside Ethan, lacing her hands in her lap and gently kicking her legs back and forth. An eerie, anxious silence settled between the two but it wasn't coming from Ethan as the man turned to look at Selena who, as the man looked closely, had sucked in a small part of her bottom lip. Nibbling on it nervously before turning her head in Ethan's direction, red eyes turning downward as all previous mirth vanished. "Did…did he suffer?"
Moreau.
Ethan knew that was who Selena was asking about, and Ethan knew the man suffered when he was going through his mutation as well as in the fight between the two men. With his last breath, begged for Mother Miranda's help. But Ethan didn't want to reveal such gruesome details to the woman he'd come to understand cared a great deal for her siblings even if she knew they were monsters. Ethan's fight with Moreau was intense and difficult, that much was true, but Ethan, as requested by Selena, did try to make Moreau's death quick and painless.
"Moreau was in pain, but only because of his mutation. He-he lost control." Ethan said, being careful of what words he was going to use when talking to Selena about her family. "He fought back, like everyone else, but I tried to make it quick."
"That's all I could ask for." Selena said with almost a sigh of relief, the conversation having chased away the tension that lingered in the air. "Thank you."
"Heisenberg told me not to trust you." Ethan suddenly blurted out causing Selena's eyes to widen just a bit as she turned her head to look at Ethan.
"When did you get the opportunity to speak to Kar…Heisenberg?" Selena caught herself, hoping that Ethan hadn't heard, but even if he did hear her slight mishap he didn't bring attention to it.
"Back in Moreau's room. In the mine. He spoke to me through the tv." Ethan said. "From the moment I met you, you told me to trust in your actions which is why I didn't take Heisenberg's word to heart, but I can't help but wonder why he told me not to trust you. Curious about what he said, actually." Ethan voiced his concern.
"That…" Selena paused as Ethan saw her eyes soften, lips turning upward into a sad smile. "that is a long story…"
"Then, what's in your forest?" Ethan suddenly asked though it didn't quite sound like a question more like the man had wanted the woman to give him a straight answer.
"Why do you ask?" Selena responded.
"More things Heisenberg mentioned." Ethan pointed out. "You're an open book, yet you're shrouded in secrets." Ethan commented as the man turned to look at Selena, determined as well as set on getting something out of the woman. "I want to trust you, Selena. In this whole fucked up place, I want to believe that I can trust you, but with all that I've seen…all that you don't want to tell me…I'm not sure I can trust you."
Selena let out a dry chuckle, shaking her head as she let out a long sigh. "I suppose Heisenberg said something that caused you to doubt my sincerity."
"Something like that." Ethan answered. "And among other things."
Selena sadly smiled before two large hands holding two white bowls appeared from behind the curtain where the Duke normally sat. "Apologies for the wait."
Selena hopped off the barrel and went over to retrieve the dishes before going back over to hand a bowl into Ethan's hands as well as a loaf of bread for the two to share.
"What's this?" Ethan asked as he looked at the yellow contents inside the bowl.
"Ciorba radauteana." Selena responded as she savored the aroma of the soup before taking her spoon and bringing some of the contents to her lips. "Not too fatty and not too heavy, very delicious. The Duke makes it better than I ever could."
"You flatter me, Miss Sinclair." The Duke's voice carried out from his wagon as more movement was heard from inside.
"Eat up, Ethan." Selena advised as she continued to eat from her bowl. "Then, after, we can head to my home so you can clean yourself off. On our walk, I can answer all your questions."
"Actually, there's someplace I need to go first, and then I'll stop by your greenhouse." Ethan said as he dug into his soup. "I was initially going to stop by your greenhouse to talk about what I heard, get cleaned up, but since you're here…"
"You can speak your concerns now and then go straight to wherever you need to go." Selena nodded her head in understanding. "The only other place I can think of that you would need to go to collect the last flask would be Heisenberg's factory." Selena said as Ethan shook his head.
"No, I have to go to this stronghold." Ethan said which came as a shock to Selena.
"I know of the place, it's quite dangerous so I never visited it myself." Selena said. "Why do you have to go there?"
"Heisenberg told me his flask is there." Ethan said. "Told me to get it and I'd pass."
"Pass?" Selena was a little confused about what Karl had meant and what his intention was by contacting Ethan in the first place.
Ethan nodded his head. "Back in the old mine…"
Ethan had picked up the winged key that was placed on the table beside the jar that held the cadou in Moreau's little dark room. And just as Ethan connected the winged key, creating the Six-Winged unborn key, the tv to Ethan's left suddenly fizzled alive, the loud noise having startled Ethan. The static on the screen changed to the image of the crest of Heisenberg with the horse in the middle of a horseshoe.
"You're better off than I thought." Karl's condescending voice came through which caught Ethan's attention as he moved closer to the screen.
"Who's that?" Ethan whispered to himself, not quite expecting the person on the other end to respond to him, after all…it was a television screen. Not a phone.
"Oh come on, we just met a while back! Not that it really matters…" Karl's flippant response sounded quite bored of the conversation even when he instigated the conversation with Ethan in the first place.
"You're the last asshole in my way, aren't you?" Ethan responded, now recognizing the voice as well as remembering that he had seen that very symbol when he met that old hag in that tunnel after he had defeated Lady Dimitrescu. All Ethan needed to do was put two and two together to figure out who was speaking to him.
"You've got fight, I'll give you that, Ethan." Karl half-heartedly praised. "But what's the plan when you have all four flasks?"
"What're you trying to get at?" Ethan grew suspicious at what the man on the other end was insinuating.
"I could lend you a hand." Karl offered and by the way the man sounded Ethan felt uneasy compared to when Selena had offered him her assistance. The proposal was laced with underlying intention and lacked all sincerity.
"Trying to get on my good side?" Ethan scoffed at the proposal, unable to contain the smirk that eased its way to his lips, and to Ethan's surprise, Karl responded as if he could see exactly what Ethan was doing.
"Oh, don't get cocky. I'd kill you if you weren't worth the trouble…" Karl threatened, pausing as if to stop himself from further threatening a man he had just proposed a truce with judging off the loud breath he had just taken. "There's a stronghold not too far outside the village. Go there and get my flask. Do that, and you pass. First, head back to the graveyard."
"Self-centered prick." Ethan said as the screen returned to static, but just as Ethan turned to leave the same symbol appeared back on the screen, cutting off the static noise.
"Sticks and stones, Ethan." Karl's voice returned and as usual, appeared unbothered by Ethan's words.
"Haven't you already said what you wanted to say to me?" Ethan impatiently huffed.
"Come now, don't be like that. After all, I did go through all the trouble of making it easier for you to find the things you need. Yellow is a flattering color." Karl dramatically scolded as well as hinting at the little clues he had left behind. "I just have one more thing to say before you go off on your little quest to be a hero."
"And what may that be?" Ethan asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"You've been speaking to Sinclair, haven't you." Karl inquired, not much of a question, more like the man just wanted Ethan to either confirm or deny his statement.
"So what if I have." Ethan childishly replied, irritable at being kept there when he needed to head to the stronghold that the man had told him to go to to be one step closer to fixing his daughter.
"…" The other end went silent, but with the symbol still on the screen, Ethan knew that Karl was still there. "I wouldn't go trusting every pretty face you see in this village, Ethan."
"Compared to the two of you, Selena has a more trustworthy face than you. Not to mention out of all of you, she hasn't tried to kill me." Ethan countered.
"First name basis! I'm impressed." Karl sarcastically exclaimed before the man on the other end grew serious. "You don't know what Sinclair is capable of, Ethan Winters. You don't know who you're tangling with." It was the same tone of voice that the man had used when he had whispered to Ethan back at the old church just before he swung his hammer down and almost shattered his ankles. "Take my advice. Choose your allies wisely."
"You don't seem to like Selena very much." Ethan noticed, hearing the disdain in the man's voice.
"You don't know the half of it, kid." Karl scoffed.
"Why's that?" Ethan, though he disliked speaking to the man who spoke as if he was above Ethan in every way, was curious.
"…why don't you ask her." Karl darkly chuckled. "She's a woman who's all too familiar with betrayal, with playing both sides. Ask her about her 'gift' and the creatures she uses that roam her greenhouse to keep the nasty little nightmares away." Karl sighed. "Take my advice or don't, I don't care. It doesn't change my own plans. Just be warned, trusting Sinclair? You may as well 'take the L' as you youngins say and hand your daughter over to Mother Miranda." Karl gave a pause as he began to mutter things that Ethan believes he wasn't meant to hear. "That woman thrives on making people believe in her, rely on her, and when the right moment presents itself you're just expendable. It was so easy to abandon me after all that we've been through together…"
"What did you say?" Ethan asked, that last part catching his attention more than anything else.
"Nothing Ethan Winters." Karl growled before switching back to his flippant, carefree attitude like when they first started speaking. "Well, I think we've talked long enough. Skedaddle along papa, you have much to do."
"Wait!" But Karl was done talking to Ethan as the screen once again changed back to static white noise. "…what the hell."
"You've got guts, Ethan." Selena was laughing, her body shaking uncontrollably after Ethan had retold his interaction with Karl back in Moreau's little room back in the mines. "I can't believe you called him an asshole." It was only when Selena had finally composed herself did she continue to speak as she wiped the tears that prickled the corner of her eye. "Yeah, he can be a self-centered prick as you called him."
"Ask her about her 'gift' and the creatures she uses that roam her greenhouse to keep the nasty little nightmares away." Ethan repeated as Selena simply nodded her head.
"One day, I will tell you." Selena promised before shaking her head. "But not right now. You have much to do, with so little time left."
"Fine. Then what did he mean by 'it was so easy to abandon me after all that we've been through'…?" Ethan asked. "A woman all too familiar with betrayal. Did you…betray Heisenberg?" that caused an instant reaction from Selena compared to her composed self when she answered his previous question.
"A complete and obvious misunderstanding that Karl never bothered to allow me to clear up! Instead, he only saw what he wanted to see and accepted that as the answer!" Selena growled and it was the first time Ethan had truly seen Selena burst out and allow her emotions to control herself. "That brainless, stubborn, pig-headed, prideful, idiotic…" Ethan watched as Selena started to growl out obscenities, her voice growing in volume and putting emphasis on each word that flew out of her mouth that Ethan was, at first, unsure if he should break her line of ranting or allow the woman to just let it all out of her system.
"It sounded like you two didn't get along very well." Ethan commented which caused Selena to stop mid-rant as the fire in her eyes extinguished. "When I saw everyone in that old church, I could see the disdain they all held for each other, especially Heisenberg and Dimitrescu. But the way he spoke about you? He seemed to hate even mentioning your name."
"Au contraire." Selena said as she took deep breaths to calm herself after her little out-of-character slip-up. "Karl and Alcina? Now those two hated each other, you could never have them in the same room together for very long, and if they were? It was best to keep them separated. But Karl and myself?" Selena held a longing look in her eyes the moment the man's name slipped past her lips. "There was never one without the other."
"That's kind of hard to believe after our brief conversation in the mine." Ethan said as he took this chance to sip from his bowl.
"Well, you better believe it. All my precious memories comprise mostly of the two of us. We told each other everything, the good…the bad. We were each other's pillar of support. We were…the best of friends." Selena smiled as she turned her eyes up to the sky, her bowl of soup long forgotten and growing cold from the chilly winter air as the last part of her sentence was carried away by the whistling breeze that passed through the altar site. "And to me…he was something more."
This chapter, to me, was necessary. To show the mutualistic relationship between Ethan and Selena, the trust they have to reveal what they've heard or seen as well as how close they've become as what could be considered the beginning of a friendship (if things were normal they probably would've made great friends but Karl is still Selena's best friend lol). We are close to seeing more into Karl's and Selena's relationship as well as their fall out and I am SO excited! Here's a little sneak peek to the next chapter title: As Thick as Thieves
If you are enjoying my story and looking forward for more to come then leave a nice little review, favorite, and follow to let me know =D though it is not mandatory. Just you reading is greatly appreciated and makes me incredibly happy! Thank you everyone for reading! Sending lots of love, positive vibes and big hugs your way! See you next chapter!
-SO