(July 24, 2024)
The entire time Suomi was gone, I couldn't stop thinking about the worst case scenario and how I would react. On our way into that labor camp I saw many bodies strewn about. Sickly skinny bodies that had every last drop of life squeezed out of them by their oppressors. I was petrified of finding a body, turning it over and seeing the best friend I was trying so desperately hard to find. That fear was with me for so long, I still wake up in the morning feeling that same fear. This morning was more or less the same, but when I woke up, I saw Yu's mattress was empty. It took me a few seconds to remember he went to the Girls' region to visit Nanako. I need to make it over there soon… I want to see everyone again. I always wonder how Soppo's doing. I rolled over to see how Suomi was doing, since I was actually able to remember she's safe now. Suomi was laying on her back, just staring at the ceiling. I got up and crawled over to her. Her eyes slowly locked onto me and a faint smile came across her gloomy face.
"Good morning, Klonoa…" Suomi said in a very sad tone.
"Suomi… What's wrong?" I asked.
"I just feel sad… I don't really know why." Suomi admitted. I knew the problem right away.
"I know the feeling," I started. "You just need to get out of this gloomy cellar, see some sunlight and have some fun." Suomi perked up slightly.
"That sounds fun..." Suomi said as she leaned up. "I'd enjoy it a lot more if you could come with me."
"Let's get out and do stuff then, you seem strong enough." I said happily. Suomi's face instantly lit up so much, she could light an entire room. I mean… not literally, but I just really missed seeing her so happy. Suomi and I headed upstairs together, and we ran into Dew.
"SUOMI! You're walking again!" Dew exclaimed happily. She ran over to Suomi and gave her a bear hug. Suomi happily returned it. "Oh hey, I got you a little 'get well soon' present!" Dew opened up one of the drawers behind the shop counter and pulled out a small rectangular can. I had seen it before, it was the lutefisk Suomi always carried with her up until she used it on the King's scrubbed pizza. "I may have been a little late… it seems you've already gotten well."
"Oh my-! Thank you so much Dew!" Suomi exclaimed as she gave Dew another bear hug. "Where did you manage to find this?"
"The guys went out to take a town Neptune's men were using as an outpost." Dew informed us. "They ended up freeing the entire town! I checked the town out yesterday and there were shops and restaurants everywhere." Suomi looked at me with a huge smile on her face. I knew what she was thinking.
"Hey Dew, could we use your car today?" I asked. Dew smiled and opened another drawer behind the counter. She tossed me her keys, and I just barely caught them. I fumbled around a bit trying to catch them… so it was not a nice clean catch like I hoped it would be.
"Watch your backs out there… This is still a dangerous world." Dew warned us. I heeded Dew's warning and brought the Mac-10 with me, the same one I used to help liberate the hospital back when my left shoulder was still not working right after I got shot.
—-
The car ride was somewhat long, but it was super beautiful. It was mostly flat and somewhat boring desert near the small town we came from, but it slowly transitioned to green grass, nice buildings, houses, you name it. We made it to our destination; a beautiful town lined with nice sandstone buildings. Everything there was extremely vibrant, with people happily hanging out, shopping and enjoying life.
"So this is what this world can look like everywhere if we win this fight against Chris-Chan." Suomi said to me. That made me feel more determined to win. The constant battles get tiresome, but the light at the end of the tunnel is so bright, I know it will be worth going through the long dark tunnel.
"We're going to win, Suomi." I said happily, but that happiness turned slowly into sadness when I realized something. "I just wish I could enjoy this world with you after we win, but I'll be going back to the void."
"We'll find a way." Suomi said. "We have to. I can't enjoy anything without you." That helped me lighten up a bit. Everything will end up being ok.
"So…" I started once I felt happy again. "Where do you want to go first?" Suomi stood there and pondered for a few moments.
"Everywhere." Suomi answered. It was vague, but we had all day in the amazing town… and I wanted to see everything as well. We looked around in every place we saw, but one of the places we went to was an international food store, and curiosity got to me. I bought a can of lutefisk.
"Hey Suomi, I'm gonna try lutefisk." I announced proudly.
"You didn't have to buy one for yourself, I would have shared mine." Suomi said.
"Well, if I like it then I'd want to eat the entire tin, and I wouldn't be able to do that if I was sharing yours." I pointed out. Suomi just smiled. "Besides, it's probably too late. I already bought it." She and I walked outside and I opened the tin. The smell was so vile that it made some of my fur stand up. Suomi inhaled deeply through her nose.
"Mmmmmm… the smell of Scandinavia." Suomi said, accompanied by a chef's kiss. "Don't worry, it doesn't taste as bad as it smells." I grabbed one of the fishies in the tin, and held it in front of my mouth. I wanted to chicken out, but Suomi was looking at me expectantly. I took a deep breath and put it in my mouth, my forearm shook as I did so. I ate the King's cereal, surely nothing could be as bad as that. It had a very slight fishy taste and it tasted somewhat ok, but when I chewed it, I was this close to gagging. It was like I had eaten fish jello… and that's not a good thing!
"I… -olp-... think you should… -ulp-... have the rest." I said as I felt my body rejecting the lutefisk. I handed Suomi the tin. "Think of it… as a… gift." I had to take deep breaths to try and calm my esophagus down.
"Let me buy you some ice cream or something, it will help you get that taste out of your mouth." Suomi insisted. She and I walked through the town and found an ice cream parlor. We both got ice cream cones and sat on a bench nearby, where it was somewhat secluded. We sat in silence for a few moments, and I wanted to strike up a conversation.
"So… what was it like in the labor camp?" I asked Suomi. Unfortunately, I realized I was probably crossing the line after I already asked the question. Suomi looked at me slightly daunted. "I…I mean… if I'm crossing the line you don't have to answer that." I stammered.
"No, it's ok. I'll give you an answer." Suomi said, followed by her staring off into the distance and a long sigh. "Dew was right about the whippings… and those guys know how to use whips." Suomi hesitated a bit. "The guards didn't care about our livelihoods, the whole thing seemed like an experiment to see how much physical work they could get out of someone who was food and sleep deprived. The few times we weren't working, we were dumped into those crappy little trailers to get three hours of sleep. It was basically just work, work and more fu… I mean, freaking work."
"Did you really almost curse?" I asked, but I tried to not sound super judgemental. I was more surprised. "I didn't know you cursed."
"I don't usually curse." Suomi said. "Sometimes it just slips out… I usually curse if someone gets too close to me… ask any of the dolls at the estate, they'll tell you."
"Oh… am I sitting too close?" I asked, just realizing we were sitting very close to each other. I didn't want to make Suomi uncomfortable.
"Not at all." Suomi answered, as she scooched a little bit closer to me.
"Why are you ok with it when I get close?" I asked.
"I think the reason why is because you feel like family to me." Suomi answered. "Maybe even closer than that. I mean… at the beginning of all this… after it seemed like I had lost everything… I immediately got everything back when I saw you for the first time. I was blindfolded and restrained, and I thought I was about to be violated by Chris Chan, and when I felt someone touching the side of my head, I had never been more scared in my life, but then the blindfold was taken off… and I saw you. I felt like everything that happened to me previously didn't matter." I sat there in silence for a few moments.
"Wow… I never knew I meant that much to you." I said while feeling a little pleasantly shocked. "I still don't exactly know what happened to you when you first came here."
"Excuse me…" Someone said from behind us. I turned my head to see a girl standing in between two CWC honor guards. This girl had about neck-length light brown hair and was wearing a white fluffy coat, as well as a big white cap with light blue ruffles. "I'm going to need you two to stand up and put your hands up." I noticed Suomi was staring daggers at this girl.
"Who is this?" I whispered to Suomi.
"One of Neptune's friends…" Suomi replied under her breath. "She ran the labor camp I was at. Her name is Blanc." The two guards held their guns up to me and Suomi. I started reaching for the Mac-10 as discreetly as I could, when I suddenly felt a piercing pain in my right thigh. I looked down to see a dart sticking out of it. The world started spinning and I fell to the ground. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Suomi running at Blanc before she was hit by a dart as well. It took Suomi a little while to succumb to the dart, but she was able to kill one of the guards who jumped in front of Blanc to protect her, but the other one restrained Suomi before she could kill Blanc.
—-
"Klonoa?" I heard Suomi calling to me. Her voice was so echoey. "Klonoa?" I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. I had never felt so groggy in my life. I couldn't even get my head off the floor. I wasn't sure whether or not what just happened was a dream. I certainly wasn't in Dew's cellar. My mind became less foggy, but that was when I realized… I was in a cage. "Klonoa… are you ok?" I turned my head in the direction of the voice and saw Suomi in another cage next to mine. I finally connected the dots; this wasn't a dream, and we were in danger.
"Suomi… I'm ok." I answered as I got myself up and sat against the bars.
"Klonoa…" Suomi paused and looked around to make absolutely sure no one else was in the room. "Do you still have your Mac-10?" That gave me hope. I felt around my back pockets for it… it wasn't there. I slammed my hand on the floor in frustration.
"They took it." I regretfully informed Suomi. She gripped the bars of the cage she was in tightly.
"We'll find a way out of here… we have to!" She said.
"Stay alert… we need to wait for a chance." I suggested. "When we find one… we have to work together." Suddenly, a super skinny lieutenant with really bad skin, horrible teeth and a deadly odor came into the room holding some sort of orange stick that had two prongs of some sort at the end. Four armed guards came in with him.
"Goddess Blanc wants to see you now." He whispered with his face pressed up against the cage I was in. The smell of his breath flowed in and made my fur stand up even more than the Lutefisk from earlier did. The cage doors were opened, and Suomi and I were forcibly taken out and then we were both thrown against the wall. Two guards grabbed me by the arms and forced me up, the other two did the same to Suomi. The skinny guy paced around in front of us, waving his orange stick. "Now… I want to make it absolutely clear… no trying anything, because if you do…" He then touched the end of his stick against my chest and pulled the trigger on the other end. I got electrocuted, and my legs completely gave out as I screamed in pain.
"KLONOA!" Suomi yelled at the top of her lungs. She then started desperately trying to wriggle free, so the skinny lieutenant put the orange stick on Suomi.
"DON'T!" I yelled. "We'll do what you want… just don't shock her." I was trying my hardest to stand up, but I was still just out of it enough to have trouble getting onto my feet. The two guards stood me up.
"Guards… bring these two to Blanc." The lieutenant ordered. "I can't wait to see the look on her face when she finds out I love her enough to bring her prisoners over to her." This guy was pathetic. The guards dragged Suomi and I through the giant nice house we were in. I was doing my best to take note of where the exits were, as well as how to get to them. We were brought to what was most likely Blanc's bedroom, and Blanc was sitting at a giant fancy desk typing on a laptop. The Lieutenant knocked on the doorframe. "Excuse me your most beautiful of highnesses, I brought your prisoners over to you." Blanc slowly got up and walked over to the lieutenant. I could tell he was excited to see what kind of praise Blanc would give him.
"You disturbed me." Blanc said in a soft but angry tone. "You know you shouldn't disturb me during my writing time." The lieutenant still looked excited, even though Blanc was clearly not happy with him. He pranced out of the room happily. "We cannot have these two standing so close to each other. Bring Prisoner 115 to that corner." Blanc pointed to the far-right corner of the room, and the guards dragged Suomi over there. Blanc walked with them. "The deadline to get the brand new Lowee shopping center done is in one and a half weeks, and now all the work you and the others have done lies in ruins. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"Narttu…" Suomi whispered to Blanc with disgust and hate on her face. Blanc gave Suomi a swift and hard slap across the face, which threw Suomi to the side, and I couldn't help but notice the guards fumbled a lot. Sudden motion is unexpected… it could buy us a second or two to make a move.
"Well I hope you've enjoyed your break, because it will be all up to you to finish rebuilding that mall." Blanc told Suomi. "If you can get that mall built in a week and a half, I'll let you keep your precious life… but if you fail, I'll put a rope around your neck." Blanc's voice got more intense as she said that. "I will make sure it hurts." She took a few seconds to calm down, then she walked over to me. As she was walking over, I saw Suomi looking around the room, and then she gave me this subtle look… like she found something helpful. "You…" Blanc said after she stared at me with very miffed eyes. "I know all about your heinous acts against us… you're on the wrong side."
"I don't want to be on the side that thinks any of this is ok." I said. "Executions, labor camps, treating living beings like tools and punching bags." Blanc just scowled at me, then she just hit me in the stomach. I fell to my knees and desperately tried catching my breath.
"I'm gonna kill you, Blanc!" Suomi yelled through clenched teeth. Blanc walked over to Suomi and got in her face. She then punched her in the stomach as well. She bent over in pain, but she didn't fall to her knees.
"Suomi!" I yelled involuntarily.
"Is there anything else you'd like to say… 'Suomi?'" Blanc asked calmly. Suomi looked Blanc right in the eyes.
"Wh… when I'm done with you… I'm gonna get that narttu Neptune." Suomi said through labored breathing.
"I've heard enough." Blanc said extra calmly. "I want this 'Suomi' transported back to the Lowee shopping center construction site. She will begin work immediately." Blanc then turned to me and pointed. "This one… while his brains seem to be scrambled for the time being, I think some time in solitary confinement will soften his stone heart. His softened heart will allow us to fix his crooked ways of thinking." I had to think. If I didn't figure something out, I would never see Suomi or Yu or any of my friends again!
"Wait!" I yelled, trying to sound as defeated as I could. "Can I at least give Suomi one last hug goodbye?" Blanc narrowed her eyes at me and stroked her chin slightly.
"Well, I suppose I owe you at least a little bit of kindness." Blanc said calmly. The guards who were holding my arms walked me over to Suomi. When I was close to her, they stepped back and pointed both their guns at us. I hugged Suomi tightly, worried that would be the last hug I ever gave her.
"Guns." Suomi whispered. "Under the bed. Our only chance. Grab one. I'll do what I can." I turned my head towards the window, but I used my peripheral vision to look under the bed. There actually were guns under there.
"Alright, that's enough." Blanc said. The guards standing behind Suomi grabbed her. I looked behind me at the guards coming to restrain me. Their guns were down. I only had a second to react. I shoved one of the guards as hard as I could, and I grabbed the other guard's gun and swept it out of his hands. Suomi had her arms positioned perfectly, so she hit both the guards' no-no parts, and they let go of her. I threw myself on the floor and reached under the bed. I grabbed one of the guns. It looked a lot like an AK, but it was much heavier, also the charging handle was on the left side and not the right like I was used to. I pulled the charging handle back as quickly as I could. Blanc ran out of the bedroom. I shot both the guards, then I turned to Suomi, she was hitting one of the guards against the wall, but the other guard came behind her.
"SUOMI HIT THE DECK!" I yelled. Suomi threw herself out of the line of fire and I shot the guard. Suomi quickly got up and snapped the other guard's neck. I ran over to the bedroom door and locked it. Suomi went over to the bed and pulled another gun just like the one I had out from underneath it. I grabbed Blanc's laptop, figuring there would be something useful on it.
"Sturmgewehr 1944… 7.92 by 33mm." Suomi said as she pulled a few other guns out and took the mags out. She gave some of them to me. "This isn't Finnish, but it'll do."
"You ready to get out of here, Suomi?" I asked.
"I'd like that very much." Suomi looked at me dreamily. I walked up to the door.
"Alright, there's no turning back… be careful out there." I said. I kicked the door off its hinges, and Suomi and I ran against the end of the balcony that was overlooking the giant ground floor. Guards standing down here opened fire on us, and other guards were running on the balcony on the opposite side of the massive main area, others were running to get to the balcony we were on. We took cover behind the pillars.
"Blanc's getting away!" Suomi yelled. I looked at the ground floor and saw Blanc running away with four guards acting as human shields.
"We need to focus on getting out of here with our lives first!" I pointed out. "Switch to semi auto and pick off the snipers on the balcony across from us, I'll make sure we don't get overrun!"
"Yes Shiki- I mean… Klonoa." Suomi acknowledged. Bullets whizzed everywhere as I ran over to the group coming from our right. I got to the corner and used it as cover. I peeked out from behind cover as little as I could and started firing in short controlled bursts at guards. The sturmgewehr kicks a lot more than an AK, but it's a lot heavier, so it kind of makes up for it in that regard. Overall, it's pretty difficult to shoot. "Klonoa! They're coming up the stairs on the left!" Suomi yelled. I thinned out the guards on my side as much as I could before I ran back over to where Suomi was. Guards were coming up the stairs and Suomi was doing her best to hold them off. I opened a door nearby and used it as cover to help Suomi stop the guards from coming up the stairs. I happened to look to my side and I saw someone about to fire an RPG!
"GET DOWN SUOMI!" I yelled as I tackled Suomi. The rocket veered downwards and hit the balcony we were on, which destroyed it. Suomi and I fell to the next level below. When I hit the floor, I got pretty staggered, but apparently Suomi prepared herself, because she did a tuck and roll right when she landed. She then switched her gun to semi-auto and took out the RPG on the adjacent balcony.
"Klonoa, c'mon! We need to move!" Suomi exclaimed as she quickly helped me up. We ran to the end of that balcony together. There were guards on the bottom floor still firing at us. We ducked into a big fancy room, lined with beds.
"This must be where the guards sleep." I said as I caught my breath. Suomi slowly walked down the rows of beds, checking all the footlockers at the ends. She pulled a bottle of rum out of one of them, took the top off and sniffed it. I could smell it from where I was standing, it was that strong.
"I have an idea…" Suomi said after she turned to me. She pulled five more bottles out of the footlocker and put them all in her bandolier. She led me out of the room and back onto the balcony.
"THEY'RE UP THERE, SHOOT THEM!" One of the guards yelled. Gunfire then erupted. Suomi started throwing bottles of rum at the guards on the ground floor. They all broke when they hit the floor, and the floor and a lot of the guards down there were soaked.
"Shoot the chandelier, Klonoa!" Suomi said as she threw another bottle. I shot the chandelier, and it fell on the guards. All of the sudden, flames erupted, setting most of the ground floor and the guards ablaze. "Oikein… Molotovs are the KINGS!"
"WHY IS IT TAKING THIS LONG FOR YOU TO KILL TWO MORONS?" Blanc said over the loudspeakers. More guards tried coming in, but the fire on the floor was blocking them. We had time. Suomi and I ran along the balcony until we got to the side where the RPGs were. At the end of the hallway, there was a room full of guns, but it was behind a locked door and bullet-proof glass.
"I think an RPG will take that door down." Suomi said as she picked up one of the RPGs and put it on her shoulder. I ran behind her and started picking off guards as they were using fire extinguishers to put the fire out. Suomi fired the RPG at the locked door, which caused the door to become more than unlocked. She and I waltzed into the armory. The walls were lined with tan assault rifles, there were shelves full of ammo, and there was a table with two guns on it. "My KP!" Suomi happily shouted as she ran over and picked up her iconic SMG. "Klonoa, I think this belongs to you." She handed me the Mac-10 I brought to the nice town. We left the armory, then all of the sudden…
"KLONOA! 115! I'M DONE SHOWING YOU BOTH EVEN A LICK OF KINDNESS! IT'S TIME FOR BOTH OF YOU TO DIE!" Blanc's angry voice echoed through the smokey flaming halls. She walked out into the open and a blinding light emitted from her as she became a white silhouette, and her hair changed from light brown to light blue and her clothes became white and… very very very tight and revealing. She also manifested some sort of sword out of nowhere. She flew over to us and looked at me with a stunned expression. "My laptop… YOU STOLE MY LAPTOP?" Her eyes started glowing red, and she held the sword over her head. "I'm… going… to KILL YOU!" She swung her sword straight at me, but I jumped to the side just in time. The sword went straight through the balcony! We were one level above the ground floor. If we fell onto the ground floor, we wouldn't survive since the whole thing was engulfed in flames.
"Klonoa! We have to keep our distance from her!" Suomi yelled to me. She gave me cover fire as I ran from Blanc. The bullets were definitely doing something to Blanc, but she was mostly shrugging them off.
"We need to get as far away from the ground floor as possible!" I said. Suddenly, Blanc came right over to us and started throwing punches at us! Luckily, I have pretty big hands so I was able to block the punches, but even blocking the punches made me nearly fall backwards. Suomi jumped onto Blanc from behind and tried taking the sword out of her hands. Blanc threw Suomi off of her back, then she stabbed the ground with her sword, which make the balcony start to crumble! Blanc flew off of the collapsing balcony. The balcony came detached from the supports and I was sliding towards the fire on the ground floor! Suomi jumped across the gap and grabbed onto my hand just in the nick of time. Blanc appeared behind Suomi and was ready to impale her with the sword, but I used my free hand to grab my Mac-10 and I shot an entire mag of bullets at Blanc. She began staggering, which gave Suomi and I enough time to get back on the balcony and get some distance. We used the smoke to hide.
"Where did you FREAKING IDIOTS GO?" Blanc growled once she recovered from the 9mm barrage. By the way, she didn't actually say 'freaking.' Suomi and I used that time to boost each other onto the third floor balcony. It was extremely smoky up there, but we had to be as far away from the ground floor as we could.
"We have to take Blanc out." Suomi whispered. I sat there thinking for a few moments. "Wait… what about the RPGs?"
"That could work… I've just never fired one before." I admitted. "What if I miss?"
"You don't need to hit her head-on." Suomi pointed out. "Wait until she's near a wall and the explosion should be forceful enough to do damage." With that, Suomi and I snuck through the smoke, all the while Blanc was flying around the balconies looking for us and yelling slurs. The smoke was starting to burn my insides… we had to get out of that massive house. Suomi and I snuck over to the balcony where the RPG users were shot.
"THERE YOU ARE!" Blanc suddenly yelled. Suomi shoved me forward as much as she could.
"Find an RPG… but stay hidden!" Suomi said discreetly. She ran away from me while trying to be obvious. Blanc chased after Suomi, but she didn't know where I was. I found an RPG, but I struggled to get it on my shoulder. Once I was all set, I tried aiming at the slight silhouettes I could just barely make out. It was obvious which one was Suomi… because Suomi can't fly. I couldn't get a clean shot because Blanc wouldn't stay away from Suomi. The explosion could have killed them both. Then… I got an idea. I wasn't sure if I would survive. I tensed up my muscles.
"HEY BLANC! I'M ABOUT TO LOOK AT WHAT'S ON YOUR LAPTOP!" I yelled. I swear I squeezed smoke out of myself when I yelled that.
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Blanc growled. "YOU ARE GOING TO DIE, KLONOA! Blanc flew right at me. I only had a few seconds. I aimed at the silhouette, aimed just a tich high, then squeezed the trigger. The rocket hit Blanc head on. It exploded and sent Blanc flying back into the smoke. Sudden white light emitted from across the giant room. I dropped the RPG and ran over to the side where Suomi and Blanc were fighting.
"Suomi?" I called out. Suomi came running over to me, looking relieved I was still alive. I then heard faint coughing. Suomi and I walked cautiously over to where the coughing was coming from. There laid Blanc, bleeding from her back. The explosion had thrown her against the wall so hard, it cut and bruised her all over. Blanc couldn't move.
"Hah…" Blanc uttered weakly. "You… can keep… the laptop. It… doesn't even… matter. Neptune… and the… others… will kill you… for what you've… done. Assuming the fire… doesn't kill you… first." Suomi shot Blanc right in between the eyes.
"Come on Klonoa, we have to get out of here!" Suomi shouted. She and I slid to the second level balcony, and we jumped over as much of the fire as we could. We landed in the fire, but we were so close to a clearish area, so we were able to get out of the fire before we got too burned.
"HEEEEELLLLPPP!" We heard faintly. It sounded like a child. We followed the cries for help to a garage, but I didn't see anyone.
"WHERE ARE YOU?" I yelled.
"WE'RE IN THE TRUNK! LET US OUT PLEASE!" The voice cried. The best way for us to get out of there and save whoever was in the trunk was to use the car, but we didn't have the keys!
"Klonoa, get the garage door open! I have an idea!" Suomi yelled as she started scouring the workbench on the other side of the garage. I ran over to the garage door opener and pressed the button, but it wasn't working. I went over to the door, slipped my fingers underneath the door and tried that, but it wouldn't budge. I then noticed a lock on the garage door, so I busted it with the STG, then I was able to get the door open. Smoke flew out and I got a little bit of fresh air. Suomi came running back over with a screwdriver and a hammer. "Get in the passenger seat! I think I can get this car started!" I did what I was told and jumped into the smoke-filled car. Suomi got into the driver's seat and put the screwdriver over the place where you'd normally put the keys and then hit the back of it with the hammer a few times, which forced it into the ignition. She turned the screwdriver and was able to start the car! She floored it out of the garage and away from the burning house.
—-
After we drove a safe distance away from the house, we got out of the car, ready to see who was in the trunk. After getting enough deep breaths to where I didn't feel like my consciousness was slipping away, I stood behind the car at the ready. For all I knew, it was a trap...
"Alright Suomi… open the trunk." I commanded while I had the STG pointed at the trunk. Suomi popped the trunk from inside the car, and when I opened it the rest of the way, a bunch of smoke flew in my face. Once all the smoke cleared up, I saw two little girls laying in the back of the car, unconscious. One of them had a nice pink coat and long light brown hair, and the other one looked similar, but had a blue coat and about neck-length light brown hair. They were both wearing hats like the one Blanc wore, but their hats matched the colors of their respective coats. I remember being completely speechless when I saw them. At that moment, I can honestly say I forgot how to talk.
"Klonoa?" Suomi asked, since I hadn't said anything. She got out of the car and saw the two little girls. She put her hands over her mouth in shock. "Oh no… we need to help them." Suomi picked up the girl with the blue coat and I picked up the one with the pink coat, and we laid them both on the ground carefully. Suomi carefully put two fingers on the blue girl's neck, then she leaned over and did the same to the girl with the pink coat. "Ok, they both still have a pulse." Suomi then put one of her hands on the blue girl's chest and put the other hand over it. "Give the pink girl chest compressions, but keep them light." Suomi and I both lightly compressed their chests repetitively, then the girl with the pink coat started coughing.
"Where am I?" She asked. She then looked to her side and saw the other girl, still unconscious. "R… Rom?"
"Hey, calm down and take deep breaths, you're going to be ok." I reassured the girl. When the girl looked at me, fear washed over her face.
"Are you… the 'mudderer?'" The girl asked me.
"The what?" I asked. Just as I said that, the girl in the blue coat started coming to. She coughed a few times, then looked at me.
"Oh no… are you the one Big-Sis warned us about?" The girl in blue asked me.
"Are you two Blanc's sisters?" I asked nervously. I didn't want to scare these poor girls, but I'm pretty sure I already was.
"We are… did you kill her?" The blue girl asked. I hesitated a bit.
"I did…" Suomi started. "I had to do it because your sister was doing terrible things to lots of people… I had no choice."
"But how are we doing to live without Sis?" The pink girl asked with tears welling up in her eyes. The blue girl hugged the pink girl to comfort her.
"You shouldn't have killed Big-Sis!" The blue girl scolded Suomi.
"I…" Suomi was at a loss for words. But then… something hit me. Something I might have been able to use to show these two girls their older sister wasn't the saint they thought she was.
"What were you two doing in the trunk of this car?" I asked.
"Big-Sis locked us in there because we read her doujinshi." The blue girl said.
"Well… does that sound like something a kind person would do." I reasoned.
"Well at least Big-Sis didn't kill us… like you are probably going to do." The Blue girl said in a shaky voice. Her eyes filled with tears as well.
"We're not going to kill you." Suomi reassured the girls. "I know this is asking a lot, but please trust us when we say we are not evil."
"We'll take you both back to the town we live in and keep you safe." I started. "We promise we won't hurt you." The two girls looked at us looking like they were backed into a corner. I hated seeing that look in their eyes, but what I hated even more was the fact that I was the reason they felt that way. There was a little bit of awkward silence, and I wanted to say something before it got more uncomfortable than it already was. "I'm Klonoa. This is my best friend, Suomi." Suomi gave me a smiling side glance. The two girls looked at us for a few moments.
"Rom." The blue girl said as she pointed at herself.
"Ram." The pink girl said as she pointed at herself.
"Look, I get why you don't trust us…" I started. "Especially after we killed your sister. She probably told you both about how evil she thinks we are. But I need to come out and say this, your sister wasn't the good guy in all of this. She's been forcing people to work, all the while abusing them… it happened to Suomi." Rom and Ram looked at Suomi with a little bit of shock.
"It's true." Suomi admitted. "I would have died there if Klonoa hadn't come for me." Rom and Ram still looked very scared for their lives. I hated the situation we were in. Rom and Ram seem harmless, so I figured bringing them back to town was a good idea. I walked over to the car and opened one of the back seat car doors. The remainder of smoke in the car flew out and dissipated.
"Come with us to where we live." I said calmly. "We won't hurt you, nor will we let anyone else hurt you. We don't need to talk on the way there or anything." Rom grabbed Ram's hand, then slowly led her sister to the car. They both climbed in the car and sat politely with their hands folded in their laps. They looked scared, and I cannot blame them. I got in the passenger seat, and Suomi got back in the Driver's seat. "Let's go." I murmured to Suomi.
—-
After about six hours of driving aimlessly, we were very lost. It was dark outside, and Rom and Ram were asleep in the back seat.
"Suomi, I can drive if you want to rest a bit." I offered quietly.
"If you don't mind…" Suomi said, sounding exhausted. We switched seats, and after a few minutes of driving in silence, I remembered where our conversation at the town left off.