Chapter 26

Sam’s mouth was frozen open in shock. The real Naida would never ask her to do such a dangerous thing. “Can you undo the straps, please? I don’t want to talk to you like this, and I can’t break out of these things.”

“Why should I? You’re much better off tied to the bed,” Nadia scoffed. “At least there you can’t hurt anybody.”

“Did I betray you that badly?” Sam asked. “I thought you loved me? Why would you do this to me?”

“Love?” Nadia smiled. “How could I ever love you? What have you ever done to me, but given me pain? You force your way into things that don’t concern you. You disrupt all my attempts to make you into a lady. You refuse to make peace with Father and insist on dragging our name in the gutter! You’ve made our lives hell.”

Sam turned away and looked at the wall. She couldn’t bear to hear those words from Nadia, especially when she wouldn’t stop smiling. Why was Nadia so angry at her? Even if there was an explosion during the experiment, what had happened after? Nadia looked fine. Was it something else?

Sam’s eyes widened, and she jerked her head back to Nadia. “Are you a ghost?” she whispered.

“Who are you talking to?” Sam heard a familiar male voice.

She turned her head, and Ayasse stepped out of the shadows.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Sam’s face lit up, unable to hide the joy she felt at seeing him, even as she couldn’t stop the anger from controlling her tongue. The reality of her situation came crashing back when she tried to reach for him.

“Again, who were you talking to?” He lowered his mask. She couldn’t see the dimples in his cheeks, but a hint was there.

“This is another hallucination, right?” Sam started to cry, the tears falling onto the pillow. “This is Nadia. My cousin. She’s like a sister to me. I mentioned her when I had those visions before, right? Can you see her?”

“There’s nobody here but you and me, Sam. I was worried about this,” he frowned. Ayasse raised an arm and reached into the shadows around his body. His hand disappeared. When it came back, he was holding a small bottle. Sam had seen it before. He called them Master Pills.

“But she’s right here,” Sam used her nose to point at the woman sitting to the right of the bed. Nadia smiled at Ayasse and waved her hand.

Ayasse shook his head. “I was afraid Healer wouldn’t get all the poison out. I was also worried that Demon King Kale would have the same problem, so I gave him the other Master Pill to counter his symptoms.” Ayasse placed the pill bottle by the bed and started to undo the straps around her arms. “The last thing my master tasked me with was making sure you were completely free of the Dragonfly poison. Even if she’s gone, I must fulfill my duty. So, I followed you.”

“How did you get here?” Sam asked, turning to Nadia. “Can you see him?”

“Of course, dear,” Nadia said. “Can you introduce me?”

Ayasse stared at her face. “After you went through that portal, I overheard some of the workers. They had orders not to guard the wagons this time. They didn’t know why. Usually, there were a dozen more people there.” He undid the last strap by Sam’s legs and stood by her head.

“I was suspicious. One wagon was left, so I used my shadow powers to hitch a ride. When I passed through the portal, it knocked me out. By the time I woke up, you’d already been injured and I didn’t have any healing potions on me. I watched the men in the funny metal suits get you some help and followed the fast carriage that brought you here. Since then, I’ve just been waiting for you to wake up.”

Ayasse frowned. “I’m so slow here and heavy. It’s so difficult to move around. I can’t see how you stand it.”

Sam sat up and turned to Nadia. “I know he’s not a vision. He undid my straps while you did nothing. Are you just another hallucination?” Sam reached out a hand, but Nadia kept hers on the fan.

“Maybe I’m a ghost. Did you ever think of that? There was an explosion, right? I could be dead.” Nadia closed the fan and slapped it in her hand.

“I don’t know what to believe anymore,” Sam clutched her head. Every time she tried to make a decision, to make sure everything was perfect, it was the wrong one. “I get so angry when things don’t go the way I want them to, that I don’t think straight. You saw it when I snapped Akira’s sword.”

“What do you mean?” Ayasse asked.

“My Guardian said I hurt Nadia, maybe I killed her. I don’t know. She was caught in the explosion that sent me to Relancia,” Sam started to cry. “I don’t know what to believe. Maybe he’s right. I certainly have caused my share of problems.”

Ayasse put his hand on Sam’s shoulder and squeezed. She reached up and placed her hand over his. “Your choices are your own. As are your failures. You must take responsibility for them, whether they are good or bad. When I was a slave, my choices were taken from me. Master Thane was harsh, but she allowed me my freedom. That is why I’m here. Akira took that away from me when he poisoned you. I had to take it back.”

“What happens when things get too overwhelming? When all the choices are against you?” Sam raised her head.

“Make the best choice you can, accept the consequences and try to lead the life you wish to lead. Maybe one day you’ll be able to forgive yourself.” He squeezed her hands.

When Sam opened them, there was a jar with a single pill.

“This is the Master Pill. It will purge the poisons from your body. Take it and live, or don’t and you will die. The choice is yours. It’s always been yours.”

“What’s the catch?” Sam asked.

“It will be painful. All the toxins in your body will be expelled at once. The more there are the greater the pain. There is no such thing as an easy cure.”

Sam stared at the vial and raised her head to stare into Ayasse’s eyes. He’d come to another world to help her and asked for nothing in return. All she ever gave him was grief and mistrust.

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She turned to Nadia. Her best friend. Maybe she was a ghost or only a hallucination. She was still sitting in the chair, fanning herself. All she wanted was to see Sam suffer and die.

“I do hope you’ll take it. I’ll wait outside for an hour at the tree by the front gate. If you decide to take it, it works fast and won’t be pretty.” He scoffed. “I don’t think you’ll want me to see that side of you.”

Ayasse went to the door and locked it from the inside. Stepping into the darkness in the corner, he turned back to Sam. “If I see you within the hour, we can go together wherever you wish. If not, I’ll explore this London city of yours. It looks very interesting,” he coughed into his hand. “After that, I think I have to go back to my world. This place is eating at me. If I don’t see you again, have a good life, Sam, and do it on your terms.”

He disappeared as if he’d slipped through water, leaving Sam alone.

Sam twirled the jar in her hands and stared at the wall where Ayasse had left. “Maybe.” Sam looked in the jar. If she took the pill, it would mean moving forward. She’d left so much undone in this world and the other. Fixing everything would probably take a lifetime. If she had the surgery, it would be so easy. She could forget it all and stop worrying.

She turned to Nadia. The woman smirked and stood up. “Shall I bring the doctor?”

“The Nadia I know would never say that.” Sam had never taken the easy way, and Nadia always supported her. Sam revelled in the fight and the challenge. The only reason she even started recreating her father’s experiments was to experience science again. Something she couldn’t do under Bob’s control. Anger channelled in the right direction, had to be good for something.

“Goodbye, Nadia,” she said to the woman. Sam popped the top of the vial and swallowed the small brown pill.

A warm heat started immediately in her stomach. “This isn’t so bad. Ayasse said it would hurt.”

Pain spiked through her body. Needles fired into every inch of her skin. Her joints and bones seemed to bend like they were snapping, while a magma-like explosion burned inside her body. Jaw clenched; she stifled a cry and felt blood leak down her lip. She didn’t need the doctor or nurse coming in here now. Akira’s last attack was a baby slap compared to this. The pain built and rose. She could feel her skill turning inside out. Then everything stopped.

“What the hell was that?” She collapsed onto the bed, panting.

Agony engulfed her body. Sam’s head dug into the pillow. Sharp knives stabbed her in the face, digging out her eyes and hollowing her skull. Lashing out, she snapped the end of her bed with her feet, sending the metal to the floor and drove the lamp next to her into the plaster. She felt her stomach rebel as she vomited, spewing a black tar over the bed.

Tears streaked down her face. As the pain slowly subsided, she could feel her body cooling down. Sweat drenched her gown in a black ooze, taking out all the impurities from her body. She lay panting and cold in the wet gown.

The pain was gone, except for a small ache in her stomach where she had been shot and her chest where the doctor had wrapped her ribs.

“I’m going to kill him,” Sam mumbled.

A pounding on the door shook her from her stupor. It rattled as a key was pushed into a lock. It burst open as the fat doctor stumbled in. “What’s going on here?” He shouted and recoiled at the sight of the black vomit on the bed and Sam’s gown. “Nurse, bring the sedative. Now! Guards, hurry.”

Sam saw the fear on his face.

“No. You’re not going to put that stuff in me again.” Sam swung her legs off the bed and stood up. Grabbing the metal frame on the side, she waited for the room to stop spinning and squeezed. The metal bent. “Yes! I think I’m back.”

Two men in smaller exoskeleton suits burst into the room. They had similar technology to the dock workers, but these exo-suits were sleeker and more compact to work in a hospital. Wiping the black sweat from her eyes, Sam took hold of the bed and pushed it into them. The doctor dove out of the way and tumbled to the floor. Using the headboard, Sam spun around and kicked the two guards in the head. They collapsed outside the room.

“Tell Robert I’ll be seeing him soon,” Sam said to the doctor, cowering in the corner. “He’s going to pay for trying to do this to me.” Sam ran out the door and knocked into the nurse. Her tray spilled over the floor, shattering the vials and sending shards everywhere. Sam slapped her in the face and eased her down to the floor, away from the broken glass.

“I need some clothes,” she grumbled, picking at her soaked, flimsy nightgown. “Why didn’t Ayasse provide those?” She winced at the sound of her voice and shook her head. “It’s not his place to do that. That’s my responsibility.”

She jumped a desk in the hallway and burst into the nurse’s back room. Hanging on some hooks were a few pairs of coats. Grabbing one coat and a new gown, she shoved her feet into the biggest pair of boots and turned around. Two new guards were standing there. This time they weren’t wearing the exo-suits.

“Calm down, miss. We don’t want to hurt you,” the first guard said. He flicked his hand and a baton unfolded, locking itself into place. A small charge of power tingled along its edge.

Sam smiled.

******************

Ayasse waited by the tree near the front gate, sharpening a knife. Afterwards, he’d reapply the poison. Since coming to this world a week ago, he had felt like something was dragging him down. His shadow powers still worked, but jumping far was difficult. He used to jump several thousand meters. Now he couldn’t even make it to the front gate of this building. It had been almost impossible to follow that fast metal cart to this place. He had to track Sam by her shadow aura after he lost her on that long road. In addition, he found himself short of breath. If this is where Sam was from, then no wonder she was so strong in his world.

A series of loud crashes and bangs came from the hospital. It sounded like someone was destroying the doors, and maybe breaking the walls.

She’s never been subtle.

He saw security guards rush through the front doors. They were wearing that strange armour. It wouldn’t protect against a single sword strike, but it seemed to make them stronger. It was just another one of the confusing things he’d seen in this place.

The noise continued for a few more minutes, then silence. The front door opened and a large shadow dashed out and ran towards the tree. “It would be nice to explore this world. Maybe I’ll get that chance,” he said to Sam as she came close.

“I’ll give you some time to look around. Don’t worry. I think the Crystal Palace is still just a shilling,” Sam said, stepping up next to Ayasse. She was covered in dust, and wearing a filthy brown jacket that hugged her shoulders and hung just above her knees. She held it closed with one hand. The nightgown, visible underneath, was stained in blood and offal. “First, I have to wash up, get some better clothes and meet with a few people.” She put her hand on her stomach.

“Are you all right? You had an injury there, didn’t you?”

“I’m fine. It feels a little funny, though. I don’t think anything is bleeding too badly, but I should probably get a doctor to look at it soon.” She sneered at him. “Your pill worked. I feel lighter than ever. Thank you.”

She picked him up by his jacket, engulfing him in a hug. He could feel her power and emotion. It was comforting. She released him and held him at her eye level, frowning.

“However, you weren’t kidding about the pain. If you ever give me anything like that again, I might have to rip your head off. I thought I was going to die.” She put him back down on the ground and huffed.

“Thank you, though. You saved my life.”

Some things never changed. Ayasse could just make out a slight red tinge to her cheeks. She was embarrassed.

Ayasse nodded. He was still worried, though. Stomach wounds killed people slowly. “Do you need some armour and a mace, or would you like me to kill him for you?” Ayasse asked. He fingered the knife in his hand.

Sam waved her hands in the air. “No, we don’t do that here.” She pointed her finger at him to drive home her point.

“Unlike in Relancia, I know how to fight with the weapons they have here. I was doing it for years before I was sent there. I’m just a bit rusty and I need some help, though.” Sam beckoned, and they left the hospital grounds.

Ayasse heard some loud whirring in the background and something that sounded like a fire burning.

“What happened back there?” he asked.

Sam smiled and put her finger to her lips. “They won’t be performing any psychosurgeries soon. Let’s leave it at that.”

“Okay,” Ayasse scratched his head. “What’s psychosurgery?”