Chapter 9.6 - In The Eyes of The Remedy

“Perpetrator has escaped his apartment and is currently on the loose and on the run!” The news anchor says on TV.

Aloe is sitting on the edge of the bed with concern, because just an hour ago Zebedee left for work, and now his face is plastered all over the news.

“He shouldn’t have gone.” Aloe says to Bastion, who is standing right behind her watching the TV with her.

“Someone like him will never listen to the people around him, if we tried to stop him we would have just gotten him closer to breaking, best for his own actions and decisions to break him.” Bastion says in a frank tone.

“That is a really fucked up thing to do Doc, he has been through a lot because of us and he doesn’t know the half of it.” Aloe says while shoving Bastion with light force.

On the TV the police chief Garen starts to talk to the people of Eccacia and the Capital City, the look on his face appears to Aloe as concerned, yet fake, as if he is only acting to care as much as his words paint him to.

“Lieutenant Levin, or Zebedee Levin is the Fingerless Traitor to the royal family, and I will catch him. He has taken the life of an officer and stolen his uniform, this only makes the reality of what he is more clear. He is a monster, and a traitor. Be on the lookout, but do not approach him if you see him, this man is a dangerous killer, be safe people.” Police Chief Garen walks out of view of the camera.

Aloe is in shock at the revelation that Zebedee killed a man who is effectively innocent, she initially is struggling to believe this, but she thinks back on the time at the bar, when his energy shifted from one moment to the next, how the shivering veteran turned into the brutal killer he was during The War, the one he described himself as in all those letters she snuck into her sisters room to read. She remembers how he smiled and mocked the people as they were screaming in pain, as he toyed with them before ending their lives, and she remembers how easily he shifted back to being the concerned person, the person who saved Shira before saving himself. To say she is conflicted would not be accurate, instead she tries to think of a reason as to why he would feel like he needed to kill a police officer, in that sense, she struggles.

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Suddenly she hears a commotion in the hall outside of the apartment, and Bastion rushes to go check what is going on, and in what can only be called perfect timing, Shira awakes from her coma.

“S-sis, what…” Shira strains her throat in an attempt to speak.

“Hey hey, don’t talk just yet, your throat must be dry.” Aloe says softly as she gets up from the bed and walks out of the room.

When Aloe leaves the room she hears light knocks on the door, and sees Bastion standing by the door with a troubled look on his face.

“What’s going on?” Aloe questions Bastion, noticing the look on his face.

Bastion sighs, as if he already knows how this situation will pan out, but this only further causes Aloe to sink into confusion.

“It’s the young man.” Bastion says as he walks away from the door.

“What?! Why haven’t you let him inside?” Aloe says as she runs to the door.

“I dunno, maybe cause he’s burnt and probably led the whole fucking police force to my doorstep, which is kind of a problem since you know I am legally dead and all.” Bastion complains while looking away from Aloe, but as he sees her running to the door he realizes she hasn’t heard a single word he has said.

“Whatever I guess.” Bastion says under his breath.

Aloe grabs the door knob and thinks about what Zebedee’s face might look like, if it will be panicked and scared, or if he will be calm and collected yet slightly off balance, of course these are normal reactions to such a situation. She doesn’t keep herself guessing as she turns the knob and opens the door. She is shocked to see what his expression turned out to be, he is completely out of breath, and drenched in sweat, and the police uniform he stole is in complete disarray as it is wet sporadically throughout and the collar is completely unbuttoned. Even when everything else about him seems in line with the situation, his expression is slightly… joyful.