Things of Guilt

> ”Nightmares are, in a sense, a way to face fear. Often times, we succumbed to it. But only through facing our worst fears, will we find courage to fight the darkness ahead.” ~Liang’s speech as it was told before she found it too cheesy.

”Jo’war, how is she?” Kristel prompted a half-orc half-dwarven healer, who was currently preoccupied with making medical notes for Katherine.

The Chief Healer of Atlas Sid acknowledged her presence only after a few more scribbles and presented a formal but hastened bow. Kristel didn’t mind. She waited for her answers.

“Lady Katherine is recovering, Princess,” he said, finishing the notes. He hung them at the foot of the patient’s bed while moving to the other side. Deft hands quickly checked and adjusted some contraptions that Kristel only knew by name along their shorthand purposes. “That’s the short of it, at least.”

A meiyal-crafted ventilator assisted with Katherine’s breathing. Kristel was sure it also trickled a steady amount of meiyal. Wires were also wrapped and injected into Katherine’s body. Some of them at her arm, but most were focused on her stomach.

Her exposed midriff looked like a pin cushion connected to solutions and rhythmically moving mechanisms. A tender scar lined from under her right breast all the way down to her left thigh. It stretched dangerously with the rise and fall of her chest, causing some slight tears, which resulted in mild bleeding. One or two of her medical attachments worked on mending the skin right away.

“And the long of it?”

Jo’war shook his head. “It’s a tough assessment, Princess Kristel. Shattered skull, torn muscles, adrenaline overload, her entire rib cage were smashed into bits. Heart and kidneys were her only fortunate organs. Not to mention, she almost got torn in half.

“She basically doesn’t have a stomach anymore, so we’re remaking it from scratch. Her lungs are too damaged; another remake on those. I’d say the intestines can be repaired, but at this point, we should just replace everything that’s damaged and not leave anything to chance. Additionally, we face an unprecedented situation as far as our medical records are concerned, since we don’t dwell with injuries caused by Nightmares.

“But Lady Katherine quite literally lives up to her name. Even while unconscious, she maintains Samesia. It’s basically what’s keeping her alive. Long enough for any of these medicines to work. See, we’re not just healing her injuries, we’re also trying to fight the Nightmare that’s infected her body.”

When Kristel looked confused, the Chief Healer continued to explain.

“The Nightmare—the Jaws Lurking in the Forest, they sometimes possess a unique type of venom. It’s fortunate that you were able to contact Atlas Sid. If she ended up anywhere else in Irista Nation, her chances of survival would’ve dropped quite significantly.”

Jo’war made a compassionate smile. “I don’t think anyone else could’ve survived whatever happened to her when she fought the Forest Jaws.”

“She fought three of them.”

“All the more reason why we’re doing everything we can to heal her completely.”

The Chief Healer then moved to the next patient. Frein lay asleep on a bed next to Katherine. He also had a ventilator. But just from the looks of him, free of any intruding pins or needles, the Visitor looked to be in a better situation compared to the Lady of the Void. Despite this, Jo’war looked more puzzled.

“His is a more pressing concern,” he said.

“How bad?”

“It’s bad enough that we can’t figure out what’s wrong with him. Or, to be exact, why there’s something wrong with him.”

“Could it be a some sort of rejection syndrome?”

Jo’war nodded. “That part, we figured out right away. What we can’t figure out is why are there so many. He has pretty much all the varied symptoms for almost all types of rejection syndromes. It simply couldn’t be caused by one rejected meiyal-charged material. It’s as if he Gathered thousands. I’m honestly more surprised that he’s still breathing, compared to Lady Katherine.”

“What are you going to do to him?” Kristel asked.

This time, the Chief Healer shrugged. “It’s beyond risky, Princess Kristel. One cure for a type of rejection syndrome could be deadly for another. There’s no cure that will cover all the bases. So, we’re stuck.

“For now, we have no choice but to observe. We’ll get him his fluids, his nutrients. Make sure what goes in also goes out. The ventilator should provide some meiyal assistance so his core doesn’t stagnate. We’ll constantly do some tests and see if there’s a change and hope we can give him some assistance after. But my gut tells me to just give him some time. I’m not an expert with Visitors, but I’m pretty sure they’re special.”

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No, his meiyal system’s just the same as ours, Kristel thought, keeping it to herself.

“Speaking of visitors, did Admiral Garm check up on Katherine?”

“Last night, Princess. His crew basically barricaded him out of the bridge for the entire evening. It’s a pity he had to see his daughter this way after all these years. But we all know Lady Katherine will survive this. They both will.”

With that, Jo’war took his leave. Kristel sat on a sofa overlooking both beds. The lull in activity finally allowed her fatigue to catch up.

And while the lime-colored sun finally reached its zenith, the Princess fell to a deep slumber.

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Kristel Irista kept falling. The sharp edges of the cliff where she fell from grew smaller while she continued to plummet. She reached out in vain.

Hopeless, the Princess turned to find the ground growing larger. Much larger, much quicker. Slam.

A sinister set of teeth carved out a smile from within the darkness. No eyes, but it stared deep, snickering at her misfortune. It laughed mischievously at her disfigured body.

In dreams—or specifically, in nightmares—falling was one of the most common scenario. It also usually woke up the dreamer before she completely fell to the ground. Not the case for Kristel.

There was no pain, neither was it bothersome. The smiling disembodied teeth bothered her more than the splattered body parts of herself. The emptiness of her surroundings nagged at her, telling her this was all a dream.

And since it was, she reformed herself. Piece by piece, bone by bone, she attached them to the main body. The last of her discarded flesh finally joined her and she became whole again. The laughing teeth snarled and skittered away, vanishing into the darkness.

Light was a luxury afforded to her, providing her vision as far as she could reach. Her small stature didn’t give her that much, though. Still, there was nothing to shine upon save for herself anyway.

Kristel travelled the empty dreamscape. Hours, days passed, and she did nothing but walk. Things walked alongside her. Empty vessels, keeping her company.

She recognized most of them. In fact, she identified them all.

Faces of the dead from the Battle of the Vanguard. It didn’t matter which side they belonged, only that they were faces she recognized.

One in particular, she knew the most.

Liona’s deadpan stare pulled at Kristel’s guilt. They walked side by side, shoulders touching. She moved as though she was enjoying their stroll, but her face refused to show any other emotion save for an accusatory stare.

A blaming stare.

We all died because of you. You and your reckless pride.

Stupid.

Idiot.

Liona leaned forward, reaching for Kristel’s ear.

Worthless.

Kristel shot awake in cold sweat. The sun had set and the purple evening gave the hospital room a rather oppressing atmosphere. It might’ve been just the fact that she had a nightmare.

With a sigh, she pushed herself out of the sofa to check on Katherine. As far as she could see, nothing had changed. The graphs of the medical mechanisms showed consistency with her earlier check. Her stomach was still attached to various wires and contraptions, but at least her gigantic scar no longer bled as she breathed.

Kristel turned to check on Frein, but Lady’s hand grabbed hers with crushing force and chomped down with all her might, ripping off a large chunk of flesh. Kristel yelled in pain and pulled herself away, dragging Katherine and causing all her medical attachments to fall over. Blood—hers and Katherine’s—sprayed throughout the entire room.

Frein grabbed her from the back. He dug his sharp fingers on her breasts and assaulted her ass with his throbbing manhood. His teeth sunk deep into her neck and ripped out a large portion of her muscle. At the same time, Katherine consumed her from the stomach.

They had turned to Grinding Teeth on Living Flesh.

Katherine ripped apart the Princess’s arm and used it to pleasure herself. At the same time, Frein climaxed inside her. He shifted and assaulted her from the front while he finally pulled apart both her breasts. He ate them and increased his pace.

The Lady of the Void went for Kristel’s lips, digging teeth and biting off her tongue. She chewed and swallowed while violently pushing the dismembered arm in and out of herself—shoulder joint first, rather than the hand. Katherine smiled and went for the Princess’s eye next, crushing it out with two fingers.

Chew, swallow, in and out. Nose next. Chew, swallow, in and out.

Leaving the other eye, Katherine traced a monstrously long tongue from the empty eye socket, down to the bloody nose, to her bloody mouth, and lastly, to her windpipe. Slowly, as Frein reached his own ecstacy, Katherine sank her sharp teeth. Kristel felt her life leave her as the jaws of her best friend completely deca—

A hand nudged her awake.

The sight of Frein darkened by the light of the setting sun behind him caused Kristel to recoil in fear. The Visitor immediately backed off.

“You were having a nightmare,” he said. “I had to wake you up. Sorry.”

“I might still be.” Tears fell down Kristel’s eyes as she pulled herself into a ball. Her sobs bounced off the room’s walls. Frein stayed kneeling in front of her.

“I can’t sleep, Frein,” she said, using all her courage to speak to the person that molested and ended her life in the nightmare. “I’m so tired, Frein. But I can’t sleep. All I see is Liona and—”

She couldn’t finish. She didn’t want to remember.

Frein went to the nearby counter and returned seconds later with a glass of water. Kristel took it with trembling hands, careful enough not to touch his fingers.

“Whatever happened in the nightmare, Kristel. Know that I will never do it to you.”

“I didn’t tell you about it, yet.”

“You don’t have to. I don’t need to hear it, you don’t need to relive it. Just listening from your voice tells me how much you’re afraid of me right now. I can put two and two together.”

Kristel nodded her thanks, but her fears didn’t subside. The sight of Frein caused the vivid nightmare to resurface, still tender and livid in blood and guts. The water tasted like iron.

“It wasn’t just you,” she said, shifting blue, teary eyes at Katherine.

“I’m sure she wouldn’t do that to you either.” Frein returned to his bed and stared at Katherine. “How long have you been having them?”

“A week.”

“Since the war, huh.”

Kristel nodded again.

“Look, if it makes you feel better, you’re free to punch me anytime you want. I won’t fight back. Promise. There’s no need for any reason. If you feel the need to punch someone, I can take it.”

“I don’t think Katherine would allow that.”

Frein smirked. “If I explain to her the situation, she might even join you.”

“You trust her that much?”

Frein turned to her this time. “If Kat asks me to kill myself right now, I won’t even bat an eye.”

“You’re an idiot,” Kristel said, pulling her legs closer to her. Tears fell without any sign of stopping. “But at least, you’re not worthless.”

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