Karolina stared at the far-away body of Buckley, trying to hide the turbulent emotions she was feeling. She still didn’t know how to deal with his death. The pleasurable rush from her two level-ups had long since faded, leaving her feeling hollow inside.
Today was probably the worst day of her life. She awoke to the sound of people dying and then was only strong enough to save a few people, and someone she knew ended up dying because she wasn’t good enough.
Maybe she was being too hard on herself, but she didn’t think so. Buckley didn’t have to die, she could have done something to save him, but she hadn’t.
Did she let him die on purpose? For almost the entire time she had known the man, she had disliked him, even hated him. Was it possible that she had unconsciously held back, not tried as hard as she could to save his life?
No, that wasn’t true. She remembered how hard she had run, pushing herself to her limits to reach him in time. She might not have liked the man, but she still didn’t think that he deserved to die. She firmly quashed the thought, knowing that it was just a strange manifestation of her guilt. Speaking of guilt…
She looked across the center to the female archer Buckley had died trying to save. The woman was sitting with her back to one of the cabins, looking down. If Karolina was feeling guilty over Buckley’s death, the archer was probably feeling even worse.
She found herself walking towards her. Maybe helping the woman would make her feel better. She inspected her as she walked over, wondering who she was.
Jasmine Davis: [Human (F) / Archer] - Level 7
Her name was Jasmine, apparently. She started preparing words in her mind, trying to come up with something to say, but she couldn't come up with anything that wouldn’t sound stupid. Before she knew it, she had reached the crying woman.
"Jasmine?" Karolina asked. The woman looked up at her, obviously distraught.
"What do you want?" Jasmine asked angrily, rubbing at her eyes. "If you're here to tell me that it's my fault he's dead, then you can save your breath. I already know."
"No, that's not what I was going to say at all," Karolina said hastily.
“What do you want, then?” the other woman asked, still angry.
“I was… I was actually going to say that it wasn’t your fault,” Karolina said. She sat down next to the woman, continuing to speak. "It was the monster’s fault. Monsters killed him, not you.”
“But if I hadn’t—” Jasmine said.
“If you hadn’t stood up and fought, more people would have died. You put yourself between the monsters and the rest of the camp, and that was a brave thing. You didn’t do anything wrong,” Karolina said.
Jasmine said nothing. She still didn’t look convinced.
“Look, I wish he didn't die. He didn't have to die, but he died trying to save everyone in the camp. It was… it was a good death."
"What does it matter? He still died," Jasmine asked bitterly. Karolina could tell the woman still blamed herself, but she was at least still listening to her.
"It matters," Karolina said firmly. “What we’re doing here, it has to matter. It certainly matters to you that he saved your life. The best way we can honor Buckley is by living the best life you can and making sure that the camp he died to protect survives too.”
“I… he shouldn’t have died,” Jasmine said shaikly.
“No, he shouldn’t,” Karolina responded. There wasn’t much else left to say, was there?
“Thanks for talking to me, but I think I want to be alone now,” the other woman said, giving Karolina a shaky smile.
Karolina nodded at her, standing up. She didn’t know how much she had helped, as the other woman’s soul was still full of turmoil, but she had done the best she could. Talking through Buckley’s death had helped her a little, at least. Maybe talking with her friends would help more?
Karolina looked around, trying to see where Thomas and Ada were. She was sure that they both survived: she had seen Thomas before Buckley died, and Ada could outrun any of the monsters they had faced if she needed to.
She still wanted to check on them, however. Thomas hadn’t been handling the day well, and she hadn’t seen Ada since the early morning.
She saw them both with Aaron near the table in the center. She wasn’t sure what they were talking about, but it seemed serious. She started walking over to them, but Selena grabbed her before she got there.
“Hey, Karolina. Can I, like, talk to you for a second?” she asked, not even waiting for a response before the healer dragged Karolina into a nearby cabin. As soon as she had shut the door, the vapid expression dropped off of Selena’s face and she stared intently at Karolina.
“What?” Karolina asked after a second, annoyed. What did the infuriating woman want? She wasn’t in the mood to play games right now. It took another few seconds before Selena finally spoke.
“I think it's time I take a more active role in camp leadership,” Selena said. “With Buckley dead, someone has to be in charge, and I think it should be me.”
“Okay…?” Karolina said, confused. It was a jarring shift to talk with someone who apparently saw Buckley’s death as an opportunity. “What does that have to do with me?” she asked.
Selena just stared for a moment, looking at her as if Karolina had said something very stupid. “Are you kidding me? You’re the hero who avenged James Buckley, the brave and noble leader of our camp,” Selena said, barely stifling a laugh. “A lot of the people I healed after the fight were talking about how you should be the next leader of the camp. Even Aaron thought that you should take charge.”
Karolina wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Yesterday, she would have been ecstatic that leading the camp was within her grasp but now she wasn’t so sure. She didn’t want to lead the camp anymore, not really.
She didn't want to try to corral everyone in the camp into actually being useful, and the other duties of leading the camp just weren't that interesting to her. She might be good at the job, but that didn't mean that it was her responsibility. This new world was a chance to do what she wanted, for once, and what she wanted wasn’t to lead the camp.
“Anyway,” Selena said, interrupting her thoughts. “Because so many people in the camp support you, whoever you choose should be able to take control of the camp very easily. That’s why you’re going to endorse me as the next leader.”
"Is that what I'm going to do?" Karolina asked sarcastically. Selena might not be a bad choice to lead the camp, but the way she presumed that Karolina would do whatever she wanted rankled.
"Yes, it is," Selena said with no trace of humor in her voice. "Or you know what'll happen."
Selena's voice was matter of fact as she delivered the threat. That's what made it so believable: the way that it didn't seem to matter to her whether she kept them alive or not.
If she didn’t do what Selena wanted, the healer would stop healing her and her friends. Without healing, they would accumulate injuries, and they would die if they got injured enough. Leveling up had slightly increased the speed that she healed, but it definitely wasn't enough to rely on.
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Karolina considered threatening her back, but what would be the point? Selena would see through any bluff where Karolina threatened to hurt her. That's not the kind of person that she was, and the immoral healer knew that.
“Well?” Selena asked, her anger flaring. Karolina realized that she had just been staring at the woman without saying anything.
“Sure, yes. I’ll… talk to Aaron about it,” Karolina said. She felt defeated.
“No, not good enough. I need you to make a statement to the whole camp,” Selena said sharply. “That’s what they’re all expecting, anyway, that you’ll give some big Buckley speech. That's why everyone is still hanging around here.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll do that then,” Karolina said, turning to the door.
“Karolina?” Selena said, making her turn around to face the woman. “Thanks. I think we’re going to have a long, successful working relationship.” The healer had a big smile on her face.
The room suddenly felt suffocating. She needed to get out. “Sure,” Karolina said, then rushed out of the room and into a nearby alleyway.
She was breathing too fast. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t let Selena control her any more. When would it end? She had her own goals, her own dreams, and she couldn’t accomplish them if she kept allowing Selena to use her like a puppet.
She felt her breathing slow down as her resolve crystallized. She wouldn’t endorse Selena as Buckley’s replacement. The cost of continuing to be under her thumb was worse than not having access to her healing any more.
They still had some healing potions. That should work, for a little while at least. She would find something else. She couldn’t let herself be reduced to Selena’s minion; any price she had to pay to avoid that fate would be worth it.
Now that she had made her decision, another question presented itself: if not Selena, then who should lead the camp? From what Selena had said, Karolina was integral to the selection process, so she needed to make a choice.
She once again considered taking up the role herself, but quickly dismissed the idea. She wouldn’t do something she’d hate just to prevent Selena from becoming the leader. Especially not when there was another perfectly good candidate.
She thought about Aaron. The man irritated her, and she couldn’t honestly claim that she liked him, but she didn’t doubt his competence. The man had basically single-handedly organized the entire camp.
Buckley might have been the leader, but it was Aaron who actually carried out most of the necessary duties. Karolina had seen Aaron talking to people around the camp a bunch of times over the past week, while she had only seen Buckley once or twice. He had also supported the excursion to the forward barracks, doing what was best for the camp instead of what Buckley had wanted.
Aaron would be a good leader. She might need to convince him, but she could do that. She had managed to convince Buckley to—
She couldn’t think about that. It wasn’t her fault. She strode out of the alleyway, trying to project a serenity she didn’t feel. She walked over to Aaron, who was surveying the survivors, seemingly finished with his conversation.
“Aaron?” she asked.
He turned to her, and she was shocked to see a single tear sliding down his face. She had never seen him show much emotion. He noticed where she was staring, and wiped it away with a quick motion.
“Yes, Karolina?” he asked. He took a deep, shaky breath. “What do you need?”
She inspected his soul, wondering if he was even in the right state to hear her. He was definitely distraught, but his soul also seemed lost. He needed a new purpose. She idly wondered if she was getting better at interpreting souls, before she realized that now wasn’t the time for that.
“I think you should be the one to take over Buckley’s position in the camp,” she said bluntly. Aaron didn’t seem like he would appreciate her dancing around the topic.
“What?” he asked. It seemed the idea hadn’t even occurred to him. “No, that should be you. You have ideas for how this camp should be run. I—that’s not—”
“Aaron?” she interrupted. He looked at her, his surprise pushing away his sadness for the moment. “It should be you. You’re competent, hard-working, and everyone knows you.”
He seemed momentarily pleased at the compliments, but his face hardened quickly. “That doesn’t mean that I’m qualified to take Mr. Buckley’s place. There are so many better options,” he said.
“Aaron, Buckley trusted you the most out of everyone in camp. If he were here, he would have picked you to take over in a second. I know it and you know it. Why are you hesitating?” she asked.
"Because I'm not talented enough!" he said angrily, raising his voice. After he noticed people looking at them, he took a deep breath and started speaking again at a lower volume. "My father always said… that doesn't matter. I can't do it."
"You're the only one who can carry on Buckley’s legacy," Karolina said. It wasn’t even really a lie; she doubted Selena would be anywhere near as concerned about the camp as Buckley had been. She did still wonder if she was really doing the right thing, convincing Aaron to take over just to spite Selena.
No, she had other reasons as well. She knew that he would be a good leader, even if he didn't. Proving that to himself might be good for the man, give him more self-confidence.
Besides, she couldn't let Selena take over the camp. She didn’t trust her with that kind of power. She might have started to come to terms with Selena’s actions, but that didn’t mean that she actually trusted the woman to act in the best interests of the camp instead of herself.
After a few seconds, Aaron looked down and sighed. “Ok. If there’s no one else, I’ll do it. Someone needs to lead,” he said.
Karolina kept silent, not sure what else she needed to say. Aaron turned around without another word, apparently finished with the conversation. She watched his back as he headed for the very center of camp, towards the table that was still miraculously there and undamaged.
As Aaron walked up to the table, Karolina looked around the crowd and spotted Selena. The woman was actually quite close to her, though they weren’t at a comfortable speaking distance.
The healer smiled brightly at Karolina, and she could see that the emotion was genuine. The happiness that the other woman felt almost made her regret her decision for a moment, before she reminded herself of the kind of person Selena was.
Karolina locked eyes with Selena, and then shook her head. The woman looked confused. She probably didn’t even consider the possibility that Karolina could disobey her.
Karolina looked back over at Aaron, and saw that he was standing tall on top of the table. Honestly, it was kind of strange that both Buckley and Aaron felt the need to stand on top of it; she understood that it let the crowd see them, but it seemed silly.
The rest of the battered crowd didn’t seem to feel that way, looks of hope beginning to form on their faces as they clustered around Aaron. She looked around a bit more, and spotted Ada and Thomas standing near the back of the crowd. She gave them a little wave, but before she could make her way over to them Aaron started to speak.
“Hello. I'm going to be taking over Mr. Buckley's responsibilities, now that he's gone. I wasn't originally planning to do this, but Karolina convinced me that it was the best way to honor Mr. Buckley's legacy,” Aaron said, gesturing towards her.
Karolina looked back over at Selena, and saw that she still had a pleasant smile fixed on her face. Her soul, on the other hand… this was the angriest she had ever seen her. Karolina noticed something dripping from Selena’s clenched fists, and realized with a start that it was blood. She must be clenching her fists hard enough that her nails broke her skin.
Karolina saw Selena turn to look at her, and she felt a chill go down her spine. She felt like the woman was staring into her soul, even though she was the one who had that ability. She had just made a very dangerous enemy. This definitely wasn’t the last time she would have to deal with Selena.
She wasn’t sure if Selena would get over this, but she wasn’t going to let her every action be dictated by the other woman. She might be willing to work with Selena in the future, but she wouldn’t let herself be in such a subordinate position. She just didn’t trust Selena with that much power over her.
“I will protect this camp, just as Mr. Buckley did,” Aaron continued, interrupting her thoughts. “If you have any questions or problems, come to me, and we'll resolve them together. Thank you,” Aaron said, immediately starting to get down from the table.
Karolina ignored the people surging up to Aaron, jabbering frantically. Something that Aaron had said had caught her attention. He said that he will protect this camp. She had completely forgotten about the other camps.
She quickly checked the Tutorial Status, afraid of what she would find.
Tutorial Status:
Aspirants Remaining: 1107/2000
Time Remaining: 90 Days | 2 Hours | 6 Minutes
Percentage Conquered: 11%
She felt her heart begin to race. Six hundred people died today. Six hundred… she looked around the camp, morbidly wondering how many were from her camp. She couldn’t even picture that many people.
Did that mean that all of the other camps were attacked today too? It must, as she couldn’t think of another explanation for why there would be a sudden spike in deaths today. So many people were dying, and now she and her friends didn't even have access to Selena's healing. Was she going to die next, just like all those people from the other camps?
The other camps… they probably had healers too, right? And they definitely needed help, based on how many people had died. If nothing else, they should probably try to reach out to the other camps so they could help each other. They were all in this together, after all.
She felt hope begin to bubble up in her chest as her idea crystallized. There were nine other camps, other places that needed help just as much as this camp. And, another camp might have a healer that would be willing to heal her and her friends. Now all she needed to do was find one of them. She might have just found a solution to her healer dilemma and a new way to help in one fell swoop.