The food was absolutely delicious. There was nice hot soup with strange vegetables and tasty dark meat complemented by a chewy crusty bread slathered with some kind of yellowish, salty spread. The white fruit was so sweet, Eien felt a smile creep across his face at the taste. And oh, hell, the water was delicious, too.

Eien had to restrain himself from eating too much and too fast, knowing the dangers of being close to starvation and consuming more than his poor stomach could handle.

Aino ate slowly, too, though less desperately than he did. She ate as if she had been eating normally for the past few weeks. Days? How long had it been since they had left?

Eien tried to count, but he soon gave up as everything started to blend together.

After eating everything, he set his utensils on his tray atop the small table provided by Jell and leaned back contentedly. This was the first time in his life since leaving Beldam that he felt a sort of wary contentment. He was no longer out in the wilds, nibbling on grass. He was not running away from the Antmen. He just needed to wash up, get a full night’s sleep, and then be ready to go. Go…go where?

“Man, that fruit is delicious. What’s it called?” Aino didn’t answer. She chewed on a piece of bread.

“Is it safe here?” he asked. She did not answer. Instead, she set down her fork and pushed the table away to stand.

He hopped up and followed her as she marched briskly to the main door of the large room.

"Ai, you can't just leave. The nurse said it takes a day to get the…fly poison out of our system. You want to collapse again?"

"I am leaving,” she replied, pushing the door open.

The door led to a long hallway. There were several doors on either side of the hallway with labels at face level. A few workers in white were milling about, talking or handing files to each other, but they stopped when they saw Aino walk boldly down the hallway with Eien trotting up behind her. Her slippers slapped rhythmically against the cold floor. Eien had neglected to put any, so his feet echoed more loudly, sticking a bit with each step.

Everyone was staring at them. Eien felt a hotness rise up inside him.

“Listen, I know that you don't like being here, but it is better than dying out there. What if you collapse? You won't always be lucky. Hell, if I wasn't there, you would have died."

"I would not have died," she replied loudly. Eien pulled at his hair, feeling the slime stick to his hands. He wiped it off on his robe.

The end of the hallway opened up into an even larger room, an atrium, with stairs jettisoning up a couple of stories. A large desk with a few uniformed workers lined the entire back of the room. Comfy looking chairs and sofas and strange plants were clustered along the path to the front door and occupied by mostly silent people. Footsteps echoed as others walked up and down the atrium and disappeared down other hallways on each side of the room. A long gray carpeted path led to the front door that let in light with large wide windows.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

It felt like a room Eien would not mind just sitting in for a while except for the fact he and Aino drew almost everyone’s attention with their hospital garb, medicinal goop, and slapping feet.

As they approached the front desk, Eien had a terrible premonition.

She was predictable in certain aspects. Though she would not always answer his questions, whenever she did answer, she was right. Though she would not always attack people, she would if they insulted her. And he had never seen her without her suit or weapons.

Oh shit.

"My things," she said to the red-headed man at the front desk.

He looked up at her and smiled. It was one of those polite smiles.

"Do you have your discharge papers?"

"Give me my things."

"I'm afraid I can't give you the items unless you have discharge papers. I can call a nurse to help you back to your bed," he said coolly, reaching for a round object on the desk.

She grabbed him by the front of his shirt with one hand and grabbed his wrist with the other. She brought his face close to hers, and he staggered to his feet.

"Give me my things."

"Ai, let go of him," Eien said, slowly reaching his arm out to try to disconnect her from her prey, "Let me talk to him. Let me...talk." He pried her fingers from the terrified man, gently inserting himself between her and her victim. The man straightened his shirt, glaring at the both of them.

"I'm sorry...uh….my...friend has something important with her stuff, so….if you could just, possibly give us a break, let her get her stuff, we will leave, and…"

"She threatened me!" the man said angrily, "I am calling security." He pressed a button on the sphere, and Eien felt Anwen shift behind him. Oh shit. He was suddenly very aware of the coolness at the back of his head. It made his skin prickle. He had to get them out of this.

"Look, I'm sorry, she's sorry, you're sorry, right?” he glanced at her. No response.

“Her brain is still...uh...circulating the poison and she's not in her right mind,” he continued, “She's just really attached to her stuff. I’m sorry, again. I’ll take responsibility."

The man stared at her sternly, his eyes like fire.

"No one gets their things until they present the discharge papers," the man repeated.

Eien saw a couple of armed men approach. They looked trained like soldier with army like uniforms and helmets even. They had handguns in their holsters and beating sticks swinging at their hips. Shit. Shit, shit, shit fuck.

"This lady threatened me! She is belligerent and needs to be restrained," the man explained, turning his attention to the guards.

A sudden realization struck Eien, swift and horrifying.

He had been following Aino for these few weeks because he had no clue how to survive outside of Beldam’s city and military base.

But she had also never been outside the city or the military base.

She had never actually seen the creatures they encountered, having only read of them. She had never been outside the city, having only seen maps. And she had never been in a social situation where she needed to negotiate with other people, having only everyone and their mother bow to her will.

In horror, he grabbed her arm, "Ai, say you're sorry!"

Her arm was tense, fists ready. He saw her eyes shifting between the guards.

"No, look at me! Look at me! Aino!" Eien grabbed her face and forced her to look at him. A little bit of terror invaded his insides. Ah! The SQOD! He had been playful with her before, but this movement was seriously out of bounds.

Pushing aside his discomfort, he spoke softly, "They don't know you, Ai. I get it. I can help you. I can help, Ai, just, let's go back and lie down for a while. Let's leave them alone now, please, for me. You might be able to make it out alive, but I won’t. I know I won’t. I need to rest. For a little while. Don’t you see it? You saved me before, please don’t let me go now." He spoke, hoping she would feel something towards him other than just as a tool for her to use.

He released her arm as he felt her relax. She turned and started walking back to the ward in the same bold march as before. He looked back at the man and the guards. The guards went after her.

“I’m marking her down for a psychiatric evaluation by a doctor,” said the man, writing something in a file, “The guards will escort her to our solitary ward.”

Eien ran after them.