Chapter 43 - Bound by Divergences

"...of course..." Speed responded to her demand. Turning to face her, he lifted his left arm. Pointing at the object in her hand, his uncharacteristic smile was still stuck on his face.

"...that box...allows access...to the Passenger."

"..." Malaria kept her expression while her insides twisted.

Thinking was taxing from the amount of turmoil her mind was swimming in. Also, she didn't like that aspect that he had known for so long. He now gave the impression that he had plans for this type of scenario. And she was just falling into the script that he had wrote. Frowning at him, she walked in front of him.

"What do I say to get on?" she spoke firmly staring down at him. Seeing him not even blink, the eerie look remained on his face.

"...you are...Sister Malaria...your presence and voice...is enough," he answered.

"What makes you so sure the crew members or fanatics will believe who I am?"

"...because..." Vermilion began. Grinning and showing his teeth, he cocked his head to the right.

"...they...have witnessed...your punishments...of lost souls."

"..." Malaria blinked rapidly and leaned back a little. "...witnessed?"

"...you don't remember...the Resurrectionists of Sanctum?...they visited...often."

"Y-You mean," Triselle spoke. Carefully approaching from the side by herself, Chiara stayed where she was some feet away. Though she showed signs of apprehension, hearing what he was saying made her bypass the fresh staked corpse nearby.

"The robed individuals? That never say anything except observe torturing in the background."

"...!?" the bat woman flinched then looked at the dog breed. Feeling a sudden flashback, her mind suddenly remembered them. Despite seeing them for the years spent in the dungeon, her previous personality ignored them. Closing her eyes, she put a hand over her face. Gripping her face and the walkie, agitation and fear were swirling harsher.

"...even a former lost soul...remembers them..." Speed commented turning his head towards the former captive. Seeing her visibly look afraid of him, he reduced his face to only his previous expression.

"...do you still...want to take...the Passenger to the...land beyond the sea?" he asked staring at her.

"...w-will I...be safe...by myself?"

"...no..." he answered flatly. "...they are followers...zealots...of the faith that...the Sisters of Sanctum...have preached...and educated."

"Who...is the captain of the ship?" Malaria asked after clearing her head and biting down on her tongue hard. The pain helped her focus.

"...the reject of Sars...who calls himself...Ira..."

"..." the tallest female blinked and looked at him confused. "...Ira?"

"...I...don't remember someone by that name," Triselle muttered to herself, but loud enough for the other two to hear.

Looking up and seeing that the former torturer didn't get any recollection of the said individual, she looked towards Speed. The smile that she thought was more threatening than pleasant was gone. Back to his normal stoic expression, he looked oddly disappointed. As if their failure to remember baffled his callous amusement. Seeing him blink, he looked down at the boy that had been quietly listening to them.

"...tell me Sonic..." Vermilion began. Taking a knee to get closer to being eye level with the child, he bored at the blue hedgehog.

"...have you...crossed the sea...before?"

"..." Sonic shook his head side to side. "I...I never done that before. The elders in my...village never let kids go near the water."

"...do you...desire...to?"

"...well...yeah," the child stated then put his fingers together. Despite his answer, he looked unsure.

"...what...prevents you?" Speed asked. Slowly standing up, he noticed someone approaching. Turning his regular eye towards the individual, the cybernetic eye stayed looking at the boy. The action caused the others to look tenser than before.

"...I...um...can't...swim..." the smaller male admitted with a look of concern. Glancing up at Speed, he pressed his fingers together harder from seeing the separate eye stares on his face. Noticing Chiara getting near, she got into amputee's face on his right side. Looking peeved about something, the older male didn't even flinch from her action.

"What the hell are you pullin'?" she demanded with irritation. "You tryin' to jump ship?"

"...m...a...y...b...e..." Vermilion responded with a low tone. Keeping his eyes split, he continued.

"...feeling...left...out?"

"HA!" the stoat barked with forced laughter. "That's a joke."

"...is...it...?" he continued then gave a grin. Ignoring the onlookers in the group, Chiara gritted her teeth. Clenching her hands into fists, she glared at him.

"Mind...your own...damn...business," she threatened.

"...if you wish to...settle matters...Chiara..." the amputee spoke calmly despite his expression. "I will...gladly...rip out...your eye."

"..." Chiara's mouth flinched a little bit, but didn't move from her position. A combination of fear and anger was burning inside. Thinking about how he easily impaled someone through speed and force, she wouldn't fare any better to fight him.

"...wweeeellllll ttthhheeeennnnnn..." Speed drawled out with what seemed like humor. Turning his regular eye back to Sonic, he kept the grin.

"...Sonic will be...the coin of fate...the chooser of paths," he stated.

"...?" the boy blinked and looked confused. Seeing others look with the same expression, Malaria suddenly seemed to figure out what he was saying. Seeing an arm move, Vermilion gestured with his left arm as if he was holding something in his palm.

"...which dream...which desire is...stronger," the amputee asked then turned to the left. Stopping and pointing at the docked ship, he continued.

"A pathway to...the land beyond...the sea...or..." Speed spoke and turned back toward them. "To remain...on this island...for your...fast development."

"..." Sonic looked at both things that were pointed. Mulling it over his head, he looked troubled.

"Couldn't...we...do both?"

"...could...yes..."

"Then-"

"...be careful..." Vermilion warned while removing his grin. "A choice...has consequences...and will lose...the other."

"...but...didn't you say...we could do both?" the child asked trying to steel himself from getting concern or afraid.

"The ship...will not come back," Malaria answered. Glancing at the smaller hedgehog and seeing him look at her, the usual fearful expression was not there. Shaking off the feeling that the gray ash man was being deceptive, he was also letting the boy have a sense of choice.

"If you choose to wait...then you'll have to find another boat for travel."

"..." Sonic responded with a small head nod. Knowing it was not of agreement, just acknowledgment.

"You seriously want to travel with a cannibalistic crew?" Chiara piped in. "You all freakin' insane? It isn't like there are other boats that come and go through this port."

"It has to be this one," the bat woman countered back. "That ship...is the only lead towards finding where the epicenter is."

"Alright," the stoat stated then turned around.

Looking at the amputee, she saw only his eyes move slowly to look at her. His body didn't move. He didn't seem to be breathing either. Feeling unsettled from his behavior, she took a glance at the ship. Quickly looking back at him, she readily spoke wanting to forget about seeing the many specters floating around the boat. Unnervingly, all of them seemed to be staring at them.

"You freakin' know where that ship is heading. Don't you?" she stated firmly.

Steeling herself, her tail felt like an electric current was coursing through it. The small hairs on it began standing up. Flashbacks of the horrible prison came to her. Ever since reuniting with him, a part of her felt that she stepped out of reality. Since that meeting onward, it has been different levels of being in nightmare and never waking up.

"...to the place of pilgrimage..." Vermilion said quietly. Turning his head and looking at the large boat, various memories played in his head. Staring for about 5 seconds, he turned his head back to them. He gave a short nod.

"...I have...visited the vised...promise land."

"For the love of-" Chiara spoke agitated. Reaching out and grabbing his shoulders, her left hand flinched. The missing right arm and touching the scarred up stump of a shoulder made her shudder. Forcing herself to push through the apprehension, she gritted her teeth with a face of agrivation.

"Would you stop that stupid way you talk!? You ain't no sage, wise man, or preacher!"

"..." Speed stared at her.

"Ever since we went down to that dungeon of hell, you suddenly started yakking like ya a cultist in a church. You trying to impress your former bleeder here or something? What the hell is it for!?" she demanded and shook him.

"..." he continued to watch her in silence. Seeing her become more unglued, he could feel her claws protruding and poke his skin.

"I'M GOING TO FUCKIN' DECK YOU IF YOU SAY NOTHIN' YOU ASSHOLE!" Chiara yelled at him.

Letting one hand go and cocking it back into a tight fist, his stare never faltered or waivered. His full attention was on her. Within a second, his normal eye pupil shrunk. Looking like a black pin, her fight or flight instincts flared instantly. His mild sadistic behavior and aura changed. As if flipping a light switch, the cold-blooded killer atmosphere enveloped the group.

"..." the three women froze.

Feeling their vitals rise too quickly, the sight of his crimson eye shining a richer hue gave them goosebumps. Thinking he would show an angered expression, show his teeth, or clench his hand into a claw, he did nothing. Staring in a stoic demeanor, his aura kept getting uncannily sharper. It seemed to infiltrate their skin to make their hair stand on end. Not sure how he was doing this, his lack of action gave them more uncertainty of what he was going to do. Seeing small movement to the amputee's left, they saw the boy grab his left hand.

"S-Speed...y-you are scaring...u-u-us," Sonic spoke with fear in his voice.

"..." Vermilion slowly turned his head to the left. Stopping with his chin above his left shoulder, his eyes moved by themselves. Seeing the blue hedgehog, he was shaking a little while still trying to muster courage to speak.

"P-Please...s-stop..."

"..." the older man tilted his head to the left.

The ominous air around him kept growing. Malaria took a defensive stance and watched him like a hawk. Triselle took a small step back trying to be quiet as possible. Chiara had already let go of his shoulder and took her own position to defend herself. Seeing movements in her peripheral, she curled her lips in and bit down. Glancing over at the transporter at the dock, her eyes widen.

'...d...O...i...T...' a whispy voice breathed from a group of hectic ghosts. Instead of being above the ship, they had crowded nearby. All of them looked deformed just like the ill prisoners were while doing small gyrations of movements. However instead of a cell to contain them, they were spreading on the ground around them.

'...she...ShE...SHE...SHE! SHE! SSSHHHEEE!' another spoke becoming increasing louder.

'...killthem...KiLlAlLoFtHeM...EVERYSINGLEONEOFTHEM!' a third voiced with sharp anger.

'DON'T HESITATE VERMILION! GORE THEM!' one shouted that sounded vengeful. 'ALL THOSE DAMN KILLERS DESIRE TO-'

'DDDDDIIIIIIEEEEEEE!' all of them shouted viciously before they began barking like mad dogs.

'...w...h...a...t...t...h...e...h...e...l...l...' Chiara whispered in her head.

Shaking with horror from what was near them, her instincts rampaged her to flee. Noticing that nobody else could see or hear the specters madness, she darted her eyes at Speed. Feeling instant cold sweat on her back, he was staring at her. She rapidly thought he was hearing and listening to them. It felt just like the prison episode all over again.

"...if you find..." the adult hedgehog spoke quietly. When the words left his mouth, the chaos that only Chiara heard was silenced. The off-putting aura he had suddenly went missing. Such a dramatic change caused the people around him to feel themselves having micro-vision. Thinking he would do something, his crooked head posture and stoic stare remained.

"...what you seek...divine is sure...to meet..."

"...many you contact...are not concrete..."

"...shades of...former glory...repurposed for derisory..."

"...all are not mere...some were given care..."

"...to whom you...discover...not all wish...to recover..."

"...but...most of all..." he stated before giving a pause. With only his cybernetic eye slowly looking at Triselle and Malaria, his normal eye began to shake in place. Without warning, his body began vibrating quickly.

"...d...o...n...o...t...f...a...l...l..."

Splitting into four copies of himself, all of them were blurry and shifting in place. A second later, they vanished. The three women and boy stood there still holding their breath. Trying to figure out why he spoke as if he was reciting a poem. About to shake her head, Chiara saw a gray silhouette appear behind the bat woman. Within a blink of an eye, Malaria vanished.

"W-W-What...w-where-" Triselle reacted with scared shock. Taking a back step, overlapping voices from behind spoke to her that made her freeze stiffly.

"...d...o...n...o...t...c...r...a...w...l..."Vermilion continued before snatching her. Vanishing away just when the other two turned towards them, they were not there.

"...!?" Chiara felt powerless from seeing the two vanish within a couple of seconds. Feeling concerned about the child, she turned to look at him. Instead of looking scared, Sonic looked alert and waiting to pounce. About to open her mouth, the fur on the back of her neck stood on end instantly.

"...d...o...n...o...t...b...e...w...a...i...l..."

"W-Wait a min-!?" she got out before feeling an arm secure her waist. Gone in a second, the only person that was left was the blue hedgehog. Blinking a couple of times from seeing only blurred versions of Speed coming in and out of existence, it was both inspiring as it was fear invoking.

'To...move that fast...and keep going,' he thought then looked down at his hands. 'Can...I possible do that-!?'

"...d...o...n...o...t...s...t...a...l...l..." Vermilion voiced behind the child.

Placing his hand on top of the youngin's head, the action made the boy flinched hard. Seeing him whip around and look up, his eyes widen with apprehension. His mind played a flashback of the nightmarish metal head version of a hedgehog. The crimson eye and black screen the implant had reminded him of the same character. However instead of a cruel or insane expression, he had a look of positive expectations.

"...we shall begin...n...o...w..."

"O-Oh...oka-!?" Sonic began before feeling his vision warp to see light bend in a direction.

"...!?" Malaria jerked backwards.

Running into a wall of some sorts, there was a dull rattle behind her. Noticing the environment was different, the muggy atmoshpere of ash and blood was replaced. Smelling of saltwater, there was a strong iron scent followed by sounds of water hitting around her. Blinking and waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dimness, it seemed like she was in a cabin. Given how the room seemed to move up and down, it gave her conclusion she was on a ship.

'...is it...the one that was on the peer?' she wondered. Only taking a few steps forward towards the open doorway, she skin became riddled with goosebumps. Something faint passed by her, but had enough ominous sensation to make her stop in tracks.

"-are you taking me!?" Triselle blurted out in the room. Stumbling backwards to the floor, she became disoriented from the change of scenery. Breathing harder and looking around, she spotted a tall black silhouette at the doors. Seeing its head turn with yellow glowing eyes, her instant fright toned down to anxiety.

"...he...brought you..." she began then looked around the room. "W-Where is...here?"

"I can only assume it is the transport boat...the Passenger I guess is what it is called," the bat woman answered in a quieter voice. Turning back to the doorway, she leaned closer to the edge. Peering outside a little and observing, the hallway was of metal and faded paint. It gave the appearence of being old and used. Yet, it seemed stable. Hearing the other woman slowly stand up, she approached closer.

"Has our position been alerted?" Triselle hushed while peering on the other side of the doorway.

"...from what I can see and hear...negative."

"There is blood in the air...if the cargo is carrying what Sp...Vermilion...claimed. Then it will seep through the air ducts."

"Makes...sense," Malaria spoke then paused. Turning her head to the dog breed woman, she blinked and looked back.

"...um...I'll...t-try to not be in your way..." Triselle began.

"No," the bat woman corrected. "Malaria is gone."

"...?"

"My name...during the war...was...Salvaria," she continued then gave a look of seriousness. "I vaguely remember...I was...a Specialist rank. You?"

"..." the dog breed looked surprised at the other woman. Shaking her head and calming herself down, she answered.

"I...I only got to the rank of Corporal. But that was due from being a lot of medics through the war."

"...I see..." she responded. Looking back down the hallway and looking both ways, there still wasn't anyone approaching them.

"I am not going to ask you...to forgive me," Salvaria continued then looked back at the other. "What I did...is something I can't undo...regardless if I was brainwashed."

"..." Triselle blinked a couple of times and gave her full attention to her former tormentor.

"Given the circumstances...and to what your goal is...would you consider an alliance?"

"...!?" she reacted with veering her head back a little. "An...alliance?"

"There isn't anyone that I wish to see from the war...however...finding some of them may...help recover the rest of my memories," Malaria stated then looked to something on her left. "...and...it will act as my...penance."

"...uh...o...kay," Triselle spoke a little lost for words. "I...am surprised that you'd want to go along with what I want to do. But...why an alliance exactly? I can't really offer much given my current state."

"You are wrong," the bat woman declared then turned her eyes back on her. "The moment we got placed here. Both of us resorted to condition memory and behavior given our war occupations...something that belongs and is learned from war and the battlefield."

"...oh..." the dog woman commented. Scratching the back of her head, she gave a small nod.

"...you...aren't wrong...did feel like deja vu for a moment."

"Indeed...your sense of smell is better than mine. My hearing is better than yours. You can treat and heal. I can maim. Our alliance will give us an advantage over...these followers here."

"...g-gotcha. Okay," Triselle agreed then put out her hand. "I will slow you down until I can recover."

"..." Salvaria blinked and kept her face rigid. Feeling a seed of resurrected hope, she carefully clasped her hand with the other woman's. Feeling both squeeze firmly made both of their nerves ease a little.

[Attention devotees to our Sisters of Sanctum!] a loud man's voice came over the loudspeaker. [This is your Captain speaking! We are departing now with what harvest we could salvage. Get back to your stations and ready yourselves!]

"Let's move," Salvaria spoke letting go of her hand. "We either need to stay in hiding or find a disguise."

"R-right," Triselle stated with a nod. Peering out in the hallway again and looking in both directions, they headed down the right path.

"I'm assuming...we aren't going to see him here. Right?"

"If you are speaking about Vermilion," she began while looking into each quarters she passed. "He gave us one-way tickets here...he has no intentions of coming. Nor saving us if we are in trouble."

"...the stoat woman...stated he already knew about this...and where the location was," the dog breed remarked following and glancing back and forth down the passageway.

"Be as it may...he sought answers on his own without help," the bat woman declared. "He gave us an opportunity to find our own answers."

"I-I see...so that just means...we have to survive long enough to find them."

"At this point, yes."

"-nute!?" Chiara spoke out loud. Feeling disoriented, she took a wide stance and planted her feet on the ground. Widing her arms out a little, she gritted her teeth to focus.

'Where the hell did he take me?' she thought. Glancing around as her mind began to calm down, she began to make out the environment. Noticing it was back in the management office of the apartment complex, she was not alone. Sitting at a desk facing away from her was her co-worker. She was on the phone talking to someone.

'Is he still here...or did he vanish again?' the woman wondered. Feeling stable, she stood up straight and put her arms to her side. Slowly turning all the way around, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Hearing Narah speak, Chiara turned back to her.

"...mmm-hmm...yeah, martial law is still in effect."

'That sucks,' a voice popped in Chiara's head. Veering back a little in surprise, she kept quiet.

'Is she talking to her boyfriend? That sounded like his voice...or am I just going insane?'

'Do you have to stay there until the next person comes in?'

"Yeah. Have to keep the customers here in order and make sure nothing is going haywire," the fox woman answered while scribbling something on her desk.

'Did you hear anything about what caused that fire at the pub?'

"Not really. The radio reports haven't changed much from when it initially happened. Kind of want to thank the person that did. That entire place was a trashy dive."

'...well...it might have been. But it had a lucrative business,' he proclaimed.

'Lucrative business?' Chiara repeated in her mind. Frowning a little, a thought immediately came to her head.

'If he's talking about those bimbos at the bar, gonna make sure she knows so she can get rid of him.'

"I'll say. You always seem to have deep pockets every time we go out," Narah commented with a small huff of amusement. "But with the fire and it burning that place to the ground, you out of a job?"

'Like I said before babe, a transporter is pretty good money...despite that place catching on fire, I ain't out of a job.'

"You're not?" she asked surprised.

'Nah. That was just one of many places that the company I work for does business with.'

"What kind of places do you do deliveries to? Any high-end places? Anywhere beyond the sea?"

'Heh heh. Sort of,' he voiced with a slight nervous laugh.

"You say that...but they are all pubs," Narah stated with a sigh.

'I guess that is what draws the most dineros.'

"I guess...I trust you despite remembering the bimbos I saw from the one time you took me there."

'...so she knows?' Chiara blinked in surprise.

'Seems to be a theme that each place uses. Keeps it from getting too suspicious I guess,' her boyfriend informed as plainly as possible.

"Figures since most of the clients apparently are males."

'...' the female stoat stared at the back of her coworker's head. Feeling her attention towards everything around her dulled, she fully focused on listening.

'You'd be taken aback cupcake. There are gals I take to those places as well. You could say they are as desperate as the guys...or that is what they like looking at. Also, not all places have just female hostesses. Some have mix or just...waiters if you want to call them that.'

"I know I'm prying a lot...I'm just bored being stuck here and jealous that you are out and about."

'Ha ha ha. Maybe I'll come and save you.'

"Hmm...that would be nice," the fox woman stated and began wagging her tail. "My prince to save me from the stench city of death."

'...that...does sound like a tall order. Doesn't it?'

"What? You getting cold feet already?"

'Nah...just the stench city of death makes it sound like I'd be driving into a zombie land or something.'

"Does sound like it. Yeah," Narah agreed then sat up straighter. "Oh. I've been always curious to ask. When you taxi the clients, do you take them back from where they came?"

'...surprisingly...not much. A majority of them stay after being dropped off.'

'...no...' Chiara voiced in her head with dread. Her fur began to stand up a little despite hoping it was just her freaking out a little.

"Doesn't that seem...strange?"

'I used to think so...then I stopped asking questions. Higher ups don't like questions or prying. I just try to keep my hands and nose clean. It has paid off so far.'

"I get it. I wouldn't want to lose my job from being nosy...but...do you ever see those clients again? I mean, they aren't just taking residence when you drop them off at a bar...unless there is a motel business underneath it or something."

'...' the female stoat felt her tail begin to straighten out. Hearing this was almost like an unveiling of something so cruel and vicious, it was making her feel paranoid.

'You know...I think there is. When I first started training way back when...'

"It was only two years ago Sam," Narah corrected smirking to no one.

'..tch...right...anyways, I got a tour of one place. Was probably more decent than others by now. Anyways, behind the kitchen area, there was a bunch of rooms that seemed like for overnight guests. Maybe it was for the staff. Who knows. Then when I got to the food storage area...'

'...calm down...just...calm the fuck...down,' Chiara berated to herself feeling her nerves getting their strings pulled slowly. His description reminded her of when she and the blue hedgehog were escorted by Speed. Hearing the food storage area made her clench her teeth together to battle the anxiety.

'...it was pretty sizable. Then at the other side, was a staircase that went down. The person showing me around specifically told me to not go down there ever. When I asked him why, he just said don't. Only clients go down there and that was all I needed to know.'

"...that sounds...kind of odd. Don't you think?"

'Yeah...but...I stopped asking questions and just did my job. Been good so far. Right?'

'...no...no fucking...NO...' Chiara reacted with her eyes becoming wide.

Shaking in place, the weight of the revealed information was heavy and massive. Reflecting what she has witnessed and seen in the past two days, it felt surreal. The gravity of the situation was too much. It was suffocating as her limbs became hard and slow to use. Her mind was grinding to come to terms of what was happening all this time around her and under her feet.

'T-That dungeon place...has been there for some years...meaning...meaning,' she vented in her mind. Bringing her hands to her head, she gripped it and began shaking harder.

'The shitty people on the first floor...the wild fanatics at night...the hidden tunnels...that pub.'

'It was happening underneath this place before I came her 4 years ago,' she thought with anguish and horror. 'This fuckin' black market shit has been going on all this time! And those psycho bitches were the start of it!'

'...D...O...'

"...!?" Chiara flinched hard from remembering the voice.

"Other than your job sounding a little shifty, I'll say it has treated you good," Narah agreed with him. "So...when are you taking me out next time?"

'Ah...well...that's a surprise,' he voiced with a hint of coyness.

'...N...O...T...'

"...y-you...f-found...o-o-out..." the stoat mouthed starting with terrified eyes at the floor. Suddenly, her vision slowly began to tilt to the right. Becoming slightly blurry, something inside her was increasing. Knowing what it was, she tried to stop it.

"Ah come on now!" the fox woman chimed with playfulness. "Don't keep me in the dark."

'Heh heh. But if I tell you, it will lower the fun factor.'

'...F...#$...A%^L...$#%LLLLLLL# ...' a phantom spoke to her right.

"...!?" Chiara began hyperventilating and darted her eyes to the right. Seeing a floating silhouette with no face next to her, only a mouth was seen. All of her fur stood on end as her vision continued tilting further. Unable to calm down and feeling something boiling passed her willpower, her instincts took over.