"Wakey wakey" I was awoken by endless tapping to my foot.
"Whaah?" I raised my head from my arms, looked to my left, and was greeted by a mini kingdom outside the window. "What the..." My head almost met the table again as the train came to a screeching halt.
"Alright crew! Welcome to New Min" The conductor of the train came into the cart while he spoke aloud. I stood up from my seat, rubbing my eyes while resisting the urge to yawn. "If none of you have any missions to do, why not look around a bit?"
"What's the verdict?" Nicholai was almost blended in with the crowd, the only thing that let me spot her was the book and blonde hair.
"I don't see why not..." Hearing my answer, Bravo Team(Including Dave) regrouped and headed outside. The air felt much better than earth's, or maybe there was a difference now that I woke up and it was the start of the day.
"DTs! Welcome to New Min" We were greeted by residents when we stepped outside.
"I doubt we're the first ones you've seen" Nicholai, although an innocent statement, sounded stern.
"We can't be the only ones you've met..."One of the guards spoke alongside Nicholai.
"No no, course not, some DTs even live here instead of Eaxura, it's just nice to meet new people, especially when we can tell they were brought back only recently" There was a look between the four of us. "So, how is it? being alive again?"
"Good? I guess?" I didn't really have an answer for the question, there wouldn't have been an issue if we didn't die to begin with. Thinking on it...I should try to figure out who killed us using that reflection space, pain only washed over me when I tried leaving...there shouldn't be any when I try thinking back.
"If fighting hellspawns is good...yeah" The CSF wearing the jacket responded with me
"Well, everyone has their opinions, come in, come in" The gates into the kingdom opened, letting us, and a few other soldiers who tagged along, inside. It was a similar sight to Eaxura, vendors, unknown structures.
"So, what exacty is your guy's connection to Eaxura?" We walked while talking, my question was met with an immediate response.
"Now, in case you're wondering why Eaxura is helping us, we're trade partners, New Min has some resources you can't get anywhere else, the Teth was made from some of that, yet they didn't hide the weak point well."
"And that means?"
"...Illo is what it's called, it's a very sturdy resource, almost indestructible...but with enough force, or through a weak point, it can be destroyed...some say we can reinforce it even more, but we haven't found a solution" I noticed Kenneth's interest get piqued. As we continued walking through the city, I noticed a portion of buildings looking abandoned, yet, people lived in them.
"Whatcha looking at?" I looked over to Sam.
"You're always asking that you know?"
"I'm a very curious girl" I looked over back to the abandoned looking buildings, but when I did, they now looked brand new along with the fact I swore I saw Sam's expression change to worry.
"What the hell?" Sam looked even more confused. "The buildings over there..."
"Are you all right sir?" The walking had stopped, as their attention turned to me.
"Yeah...yeah...just thought I saw something..."
"Don't worry too much about it, after all, being brought back from the dead...with all the magic and stuff, course it has side effects"
"I haven't seen anything like that before though..."
"Now, there are a lot of famous buildings here" They completely ignored me.
"Hello?" I spoke louder to get their attention
"Taverns that people travel to and get jobs, all that sorta stuff" I heard a book close to the right of me and then heavy footsteps.
"Oi! You deaf!?" Nicholai grabbed the person's shoulder, pulling them back.
"Ah, more people, sorry for not noticing you" Nicholai looked back at me with a mix of confusion and frustration.
"Lee, can you look at me again?" I looked back to Sam, who grabbed my shoulders and stopped my movement "Aaaand stop walking" I thought that the patch on my arm broke, or somehow the other injures reopened, instead, she looked directly at my eyes.
"uhh...something the matter?" She only looked more intently.
"You never had Heterochromia?"
"You know what that is?"
"Not the point, yes or no?" Soon Kenneth and Nicholai stood by us.
"No, never"
"Your right eye...I can't tell if that's purple or not"
"His eyes are blue, maybe you're just colorblind." Nicholai tried giving a reasonable answer
"They made me even worse? i doubt that" With Sam's response, Nicholai started looking at me too, her eyes soon widening slightly while Sam let go of me.
"She's right, though it's not fully purple, and still mostly blue, on the bottom it's faint" She looked up, motioning her hand before Dave flew over while uncloaking. "Got a mirror?"
"Of course" Dave went in front of me, taking out a cracked mirror from a compartment. "It seems the maintenance done on me along with the overwatch has broken some things in my storage, apologies.
"I can still see Dave, don't worry." I pulled slightly down on my bottom eyelid to see it better. It didn't take long till I noticed it, a few purple swirls flooding the blue. "Was I really seeing things?" I stepped back, the soldiers and New Min person were gone as we stayed behind.
"No, I doubt it" Nicholai shook her head. "Let's say whatever is with your eye made you see things, that wouldn't explain why that guy somehow ignored four people who have abnormal hair colors"
"She's got a point, sure, some of the soldiers had exotic colors, but not all of them, there's no reason for us to be disregarded" Kenneth put his knuckles against his chin as he went into thought. "None of us are particularly short..."
"I think it's a mix of both" Sam spoke up while we all tried to think. "Maybe, Lee did see something, that's the impression I got, however I think some people are more influenced by it than others"
"Influenced?"
"The soldiers recognized us, even during the time the New Min person didn't, then, Lee saw something but then it changed, that technically counts as not seeing something no?"
"That c-...no...no actually that's a good point, good job Sam" Though monotone, Nicholai still praised Sam. "It has to be related to the eye then...Lee got hit by a corruptor no? And his blood changed with it...maybe...corruption is influencing what he sees"
"That would mean that guy is corrupted alongside me right?"
"About the only answer we can come to for now" Kenneth looked over in the direction everyone went.
"Well, in that case Lee, you need to stay home on the next mission" At first I thought Nicholai said that, until the voice clicked.
"Oh?" Nicholai looked slightly amused.
"Don't oh? me, even I know when Lee shouldn't go places, it's mean I know, but you're getting hurt too often for me not to worry about it, and now you're even starting to see things, sure we're not perfect either, but besides for Nicholai, we have lighter weapons to move around with, you're sorta forced to stand your ground."
"Yeah...yeah I get it, don't worry, I'll try to practice when we get back" Sam just starred at me, unamused. "I will practice when we get back."
"There you go~"
"What now Mr leader? We sorta separated from the guide" Kenneth brought his hand back down to his side.
"There's more to it than we know"
"Enlighten us"
"Think about it, if this is corruption affecting me, why didn't it do so before? Why only here?"
"Any guesses on what it could be?" Kenneth, with no idea of his own, looked to the other two.
"I'm at a loss here, can't think of any reason"
"I don't got anyt- oh, actually! What if it means one of the corruptors are here?"
"They'd have to be underground." Nicholai crossed her arms.
"Is something underground really that surprising after all this?" I responded when the sentence finished.
"I suppose not"
"So, we got our idea" Kenneth stomped the ground, it was rock like it should be.
"I think we should stop thinking on this for now, before we overcomplicate it and get a wrong idea"
"We probably already have" Though still crossed, she raised one of her hands slightly to give motion for her reply at me. Our HUDs soon opened, it was getting annoying to be honest, thankfully I'd figure out a way to stop it...eventually.
Subject: Base
Sender: Raymond
Recipients: Bravo Team(Lee, Sam, Kenneth, Nicholai)
Hello again, we had a few things left over, so we figured we'd send it to you guys, you don't have to keep them, they're there just because, anyhow, take care, if you got anything bothering ya, let me know.
We closed our HUDs, me and Nicholai sighed afterwards.
"Guess we're not on a mission, so it's not a bother" Sam raised one of her legs backwards, as she tried keeping balance.
"What're you doing?" Nicholai couldn't help but question.
"We've been standing here for a while, my legs are getting tired"
"So you put more pressure on it?" Sam was ready with a response until she paused right before the first word.
"Fair" She brought her leg back down.
"We should look around a bit, normally, splitting up is a no go, but we're not in the outbreak anymore, we can also contact each other while sharing our location, thus, it's actually useful to do so. Hey Dave, can you pick 1, 2, or 3?"
"2"
"Nicholai, you're with me"
"Mhh"
"Kenneth, Sam, we'll be back here in 2 hours, you should be as well."
"Rightio! Come on Kenneth! A vision of adventure awaits!" Without warning Sam started the walk in a random direction.
"Where to first?" I looked around.
"The tavern I feel" I stopped looking when I saw it. "Might be able to get some information there"
"If we're even let in" I swished my hair with my hand.
"It looks white enough that I look old."
"Sure, sure" We headed over to the tavern and wasn't stopped at all from going in, the door creaked and once we stepped inside, a robot just barely shorter than us came over, it displayed a screen.
"Welcome Patrons, I haven't seen you here before" I read the text on the screen while the robot also spoke. Was this another AI like Dave?
"We haven't...We won't be long" We walked past the robot. There were a decent amount of people inside, some at the tables, some at the counter, we took the seats at the end of the counter.
'Where are you guys going first?'
-Sam
'We're already here, at the tavern'
-Lee
'oh! Can I see?'
-Sam
I looked around my HUD, saw the camara and took a photo before sending it to Sam.
"You two don't seem right for this sorta place" The man behind the counter had a deep voice, wearing a heavy leather jacket.
"Well, we're not really here to orde-"
"No orders, no talking" The man set down a glass after cleaning it.
'Huh...the prices are pretty low'
-Sam
I looked at the shelf and saw the prices, we each had around 140,000 after those missions...and most drinks were 100 to 800. Is it because most people aren't DTs? Or...for another reason
'Well, the guy isn't giving us any information...
"no orders, no talking" to be exact'
-Lee
'So bribe them'
-Sam
There was a small delay
'Sam?'
-Lee
'Right my bad, Kenneth and I are solving a puzzle right now'
-Sam
'Where even are you?'
-Lee
'To be honest...dunno, somewhere underground..aaaanyways'
-Sam
'If the prices are so low, it's either due to it being a front for something else,
oooor, because they don't have the money or reputation to charge for more!'
-Sam
'Oh...can you tell Nicholai to get some medical stuff ready when we all regroup?'
-Sam
'What happened?'
-Lee
'The g-
"Lee!"
My head was slammed into the counter, preventing me from reading the rest of the message.
"We got em!" With no time to hesitate, I reached for the glass the man put down earlier, and swung behind me, when I heard the glass shatter I threw my head back before summoning Crescent. I quickly got off the chair and faced where the people were, there were seven of them, all with different weapons. The one closest to us had glass stuck in their face. "Bastards..."
"You alright?" Nicholai asked from my left.
"I'll manage"
"Fuckers have the audacity to sabotage The Reunion! Goddamn Brats!"
"Maybe if you didn't have such a shit name we'd reconsider" I made sure the holster on my revolver was clipped as tight as it could.
"piece of shit you just ignoring who we are?" One of them mumbled under their breath.
"Read-"
I took a sharp breath as I looked around again.
"The hell was that?" We were back sitting, I felt my head, no bruises...no aching...
'Oh...can you tell Nicholai to get some medical stuff ready when we all regroup?'
-Sam
"I...dunno...I thought we were about to fight..." Was I shot? It would explain the breath...but then why would I be here? It took a while before I realized In just a moment...they'll come in...if that's the case...Under the counter I summoned my knife In about 3...2...1...I saw the chance, I gripped my knife with both hands, one on the hilt, one on the back end to drive it forward, I swung back but my slash was cut short by the man from before catching my arm.
"Nice try fucker" I saw Nicholai leap from her seat, summoning her scythe before she was swiftly shot, hitting the counter and dropping. The man mumbled something before putting a gun to my chest and firing.
"Khgk..."
"Lee? You okay?" Nicholai leaned over "Your nose..." I felt near it, and felt the warmth that was slowly dripping out.
"It's bleeding..."
'Oh...can you tell Nicholai to get some medical stuff ready when we all regroup?'
-Sam
"Nicholai! People are going to come through the door and kill us!"
"You fucking mad?"
"I know how it looks, it happens regardless!"
"We strike them together then" I nodded, We headed to the door and hid to the sides, we both waited...and waited...something felt wrong. With a sharp pain, the wall I was leaning on was torn apart from a loud blast, warmth and pain was consuming my stomach as I fell to the ground. Nicholai stayed where she was and when someone came through the door she slashed and cut them in two. After that she rushed over to me.
"n-...no...th-there's more..." I quickly went to go to my revolver...yet...it was tightly clipped...I...didn't even do that yet... The five people came in, and fired in our direction before Nicholai could react, the man...who's killed me twice now walked over. Once more, he mumbled, the same exact thing as before, I could make out a few words, and it sounded familiar. Yet before I could make out the words, I was shot like before.
'Oh...can you tell Nicholai to get some medical stuff ready when we all regroup?'
-Sam
"Nicholai! We gotta go!"
"What?" The people inside the tavern were concerned by my random outburst.
"People try to kill us through the front door! We gotta leave!" I turned to the man behind the counter "There's a backdoor right?" At first he didn't respond.
"Yes, to the right, then take a left"
"Let's go!" With no more time to explain, I grabbed Nicholai's arm and started pulling her while I ran.
"I can run too damnit!" With that I let go, and we both burst out from the door. We were in an alleyway, and we had no time to try and decide on where to go, I turned right and started going, I could hear a loud blast behind us.
"He's in the alley! There's two!" Why the hell are they focusing on me!? We turned to the left, that being the only option. The both of us narrowly avoided a blast. I could see a ladder on a building.
"Nicholai, They want me, go up the ladder and knock it down"
"Are you dumb?"
"Just trust me" I could see hesitation within her, yet, she had to agree, I did my best to give her a quick boost on the move so she would be on the ladder for less time, I quickly fired a shot to delay them and kept going while I reloaded. Like I hoped, they continued going for me, ignoring Nicholai completely. When I turned another corner, I saw a manhole cover. "Crescent, Pry please!" Crescent left my hands and flew over, using a shotgun blast as a boost, it dug under and took the cover off. I went into a sprint before sliding forward, I went into the hole and grabbed the ladder before Crescent and I recovered it. Before they could see, I resummoned Crescent. I hopped down the ladder, it was extremely dark, but I had to go forward. "I take it you can't act like a light?" Crescent moved left and right. "Figured..." Each step I took echoed through the entire place. Sam mentioned being underground...could I find them down here?...No...that'd risk their safety too, they want me, let's keep it that way. I couldn't do anything but walk around, I had already gotten used to the smell, but I could still feel my nose bleeding. "Gonna bleed enough to save a life at this rate..." I didn't know if DTs could die from blood loss...probably could, but...here I was in a temporary loop till I escaped.
"The hell you mean it ain't working anymore?" I could hear people talking, and soon flashlights swaying around.
"You a dumbass or something? Can't you find them yourself?"
"Can't you find them yours- shut up man" Fuck my life I only had one real option to avoid them Into the water I go...I couldn't jump in, instead, I had to slowly let myself into it...and yet, when I did, it seemed like normal water. Nevermind, I love my luck. With no reason to be disgusted now, I began to swim past them. There were a few pieces of debris that I started to go under, but when I raised up slightly, a loud ting echoed in the water, the flashlights quickly directed into the water. I should lost the ability to think. I had no choice but to quickly swim through making more noise.
"He's in the fucking water!" I placed my feet on some of the debris to launch forward, it gave me a short boost, not enough to be overly worth it, but at least it was something. My lungs started to burn, I did notice I held my breath longer, but it's clearly not infinite.
"CSF! STOP WHERE YOU ARE!" It wasn't the same voices, with no other chance, I resurfaced, the people chasing me were being held up by 20 people all with Jackets along with CSF, there was one difference between the other jacket CSF from the train, all of them had symbols on their jackets too, they were all the same one.
"Corruption Suppression Force my ass! We're hunting one! Let us be!"
"You are not authorized to deal with Corruption Missions, nor have you been given the authorization from a higher up, this hunt is against not only protocol but the law as well, surrender, end this hunt, and come willingly, or you, and your organization will be put to an end."
"Shit..." The one who looked like the leader looked back to the water, but not near me. "Alright...alright"
"Are you serious man?"
"Yes, we're going willingly, no use putting up a fight against them...it ain't one we'll win" The CSF and the hunters all started to leave, not a word was said between them. When they had fully left I got back on the platform. I felt five times heavier and cold...and soaked.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"uugh..." I continued through the platform. I'll head up when I see the chance...
'Lee, those hunters left with the CSF'
-Nicholai
'I saw...but thanks for the heads up...we should regroup with the others
when we can'
-Lee
'Alright, I'll contact the others'
-Nicholai
I felt something burning in my pocket, I quickly took it out and noticed it was the coin, it was glowing, and a few words were now visble from the engraving. 'From the darkness' This coin...I guess it was never normal to begin with...It took ages to find another one, but I had returned to the surface, away from the horrid smell. Thinking on it...if the water wasn't the cause...what was? I would certainly visit the reflection when I could, a few new questions arose, and maybe with all the information, I could find answers. I didn't recall where I was at all, it didn't help I was out of breath. I staggered to a bench and sat down, the only thing I did was breathe. People walked around, people talked, people bartered, I only breathed, it was all I could do and wanted to do. I looked up, it was still morning. Seems the days are normal here...and it's not night every few hours. Though the sun(or whatever they called it here) shined, I felt like I still saw that empty patch of stars. I'm not in Eaxura...yet here they are...'Through the darkness..." were the stars involved? But then the sun would be the darkness...and that...just doesn't make sense.
'Where are you?'
-Sam
'Somewhere'
-Lee
'Helpful, you know what she meant'
-Nicholai
'We all managed to regroup, it wasn't hard noticing someone with a
scythe hopping around the rooftops'
-Ken
'I'm in some sorta plaza area, lots of people bartering'
-Lee
'We were just there (ㅠ﹏ㅠ)'
-Sam
My HUD closed as no new messages came in.
"How you holding up Crescent? You need to be sharpened or something?" I had set Crescent on the space beside me, they shook no. "Right, I guess if you're from our souls...no need to be sharpened...pretty sure that was mentioned before..." I had fully caught my breath and noticed the three looking around. "Guess we better get going." I stood and took Crescent before heading over to them.
"There's hundreds of people here" Nicholai sounded dejected at the realization
"Fufu! Don't worry! I'll find him!" She turned around, in the middle of a step before seeing me right behind her. "Found him!"
"Praise be Sam's talent" She sounded monotone as ever.
"What happened to your outfit?" Sam tilted her head slightly while she pondered the question.
"Had to take a dive"
"But the-...oh, ew..."
"Yeah"
"Back on track, as I explained, Lee's being hunted" Nicholai put her hands in her pockets, leaving only the thumbs out.
"And I kept rewinding" Nicholai and the rest seemed confused. "Right, the reason I knew those guys were going to bust in is because we were killed by them three times prior...every time I got brought back to when Sam sent the message, it seems to be involved with Corruption too, as that's why they wanted me"
"We've been around for days...so either they thought Eaxura would protect us...or..." Sam looked at my eye again "It only just started being apparent"
"Right...once again I'm the only person capable of seeing those visions...and...something else I gotta say" Nicholai was going to talk before I said the last portion. "I had another vision too, about the stars...yet, after that, and when my eye got worse, they stopped happening."
"May mean Corruption is preventing them" Nicholai looked to the floor as she went into thought.
"Regardless, we have our first personal goal, one not given to us"
"Finding why people are hunting you?" Kenneth turned my way.
"Exactly, the whole vision stuff and rewinds or whatever can wait, this is a lot more pressing"
"Agreed, we can't have our leader be in harm's way" Sam had pride in her eyes.
"We'll head back to base and decide from there" I cut open the portal, and we all went in, the only thing that made noise in our base was the TV that wasn't turned off.
"Welcome back!" Kaz was laying on the table.
"Guess that explains the TV" Nicholai sat on the chair she was on prior to us leaving, and we followed that, sitting wherever we could.
"So! How'd it go!"
"Good, in a way, we learned a lot of stuff, but Lee's being hunted" Sam gave the quick version.
"Why?"
"Probably something from Corruption, that seems to be an important thing around here, and I think I can gather why." Nicholai had her HUD opened to her side, glancing at it whenever no one was speaking. "Most people tend to die from corruption, now, it's not like you're some chosen one, some people do live from it, but living from it isn't the concern..." She started pondering. "Saying it aloud...i may have forgotten what my point was..."
"I think I got it" I looked to the ground before returning my gaze to them. "Raymond has been iffy about not telling me, or any of us, what our unique power is, at first I thought maybe it was something cool or powerful, however, now that I'm being hunted, and they seem to hunt corrupted people, I think it actually has to do with Corruption...wait...no...hm..."
"We don't have any clue do we?" Kenneth was standing, leaning his back against the wall.
"I thought I did...but I can't recall it now..."
"Corruption messing with your head that badly huh?"
'I think it's just me forgetting" I held my head, trying to recall my point.
"Well, there's probably a library somewhere, we can find stuff that way"
"Let's get to i-"
"No...no no..." Sam raised her hand, signaling for me to stop. "You need a rest day, all the cuts, injuries, and now this, you're being hunted too"
"What am I meant to do then?"
"Rest, as she said" I could tell this wasn't really a choice.
"We're not doing anything dangerous, so no need to worry right?"
"Yeah...that's true..."
"That's that then" Kenneth moved his hair back "Let's get going" With no further contesting, the three, maybe four if Dave went, left the base. It immediately felt empty, and with it being the only option, I plopped down on the couch, laying down before just watching whatever was on. Being able to use the reflection space wherever I wanted would be amazing right now. Though light, I felt something jump atop me.
"Hello" Kaz was quiet, but spoke just enough for me to hear.
"Hi..." She sooned curled into a circle while laying down. Guess getting up isn't much of a choice either. "What're you watching...?" The thing on the TV was still what Kaz was watching before...it looked like some sci-fi show, it was difficult to tell what was going on but it seemed to be in the middle of a mecha fight scene, I couldn't deny it looked cool, this show clearly had some work and money put into it.
"I dunno half myself, it just looked cool"
"Heh"
"What?"
"You Sam's pet in some other life? That's the sorta answer she'd have given"
"Nope" Hearing that only made me question where she came from even more, another timeline, world? There really wasn't a way for me to figure it out for the time being. "How'd you all know each other?"
"We were classmates through all of school, though, Sam's had a few hospital visits...all of middle school she was gone and we only reunited because we tended to the same sapling by coincidence"
"What was it?"
"A Sakura tree"
"Hmm?"
"Cherry Blossoms, this one was weird, it bloomed in winter instead, unlike any other tree of its kind."
"That is weird"
"Hmhm" My nose had stopped bleeding, clearly a while ago...how long ago, I didn't know. "You must be bored, sitting here all day"
"It's okay, as long as you all get back safe, I'm not bored"
"Normally...I'd probably ask why...but...I can't be bothered to question things at the moment." I had turned to the ceiling, the lights weren't dim, yet they weren't particularly bright either, a middle ground. The only noise being breathing, and the TV.
"Can I hear a story?"
"Huh?"
"How you all met"
"It's not really that interesting"
"Still..."
"...alright...It would be aboooout...10...maybe 11 years ago, it was before Sam's family took me in, and I was on my own."
11 years ago, it was right after school thinking on it...they really let a kid with no family into a school...what kinda city was that...
I was sitting against a tree, strumming a guitar clearly too big for someone as small as me, yet, by setting it on the grass I was able to somewhat play a simple tune. I attempted to play it, over and over until I got it right. Through that, someone as small as me waltzed over, crouching down in front of me, and without hesitation spoke.
"What's that?" Their high pitched voice caught me off guard, along with the confusion on what they meant. They'd know what a guitar is...right?
"W-...what do you mean?"
"This" Without touching the strings, they tapped the end of the guitar.
"I...-it's a guitar...When...you pluck the strings it makes music..."
"It sounds nice" They got up before walking over, sitting against the tree as well.
"I dunno...I keep messing up the moving for it" I tried again, when switching chords the sound distorted as I pressed too early on the strings. The stranger tilted their head in curiosity.
"Are you scared?" It was a random question, I didn't know the right reply either.
"w-...what?"
"It...err..." They raised their hands up with their fingers out, closing them while mumbling words under their breath. "You...um...pressing late...would...be...be...slow, so...fast would be, scared?" They spoke as though they were unsure if what they were saying was right, but I could understand what they were trying to say. 'If you were pressing on it too late, that would mean you need more practise, but pressing on it too fast, could be from being scared, scared because you're trying to get it right quickly' that was what I understood from it, though it was probably phrased differently in my mind then.
"...I...dunno..." I started playing again, messing up on the same change, I could feel myself getting agitated.
"Didn't you say you met Nicholai and Kenneth too?" Kaz spoke while I told the story.
"I did...though that was a week after, they eventually heard me playing guitar"
We didn't talk often then, most of the time, the stranger...Sam, instead of going home would sit beside me while I played, she was around as I slowly got better.
"There you go!" There was still a heavy accent in her voice at the time, but I didn't mind it, course it was difficult but I could still understand what she was saying even while I played. I smiled, not only from the praise, but finally getting the change right.
"I did meet Nicholai and Kenneth, but by then they didn't know english" I spoke to Kaz, yet never stopped looking at the ceiling. "Like I said, not really interesting...We simply met because of music."'
"It's nice"
"It is" When the conversation ended, I felt my senses dull, I didn't really have the choice to do many things at the moment.
'How ya holding?'
-Sam
'Bored'
-Lee
'Yeah...I figured, you can continue playing if you want'
-Sam
'We started the game together, we finish it together'
-Lee
'As much as I appreciate that, if you're really that bored I don't mind'
-Sam
'I'll manage'
-Lee
'If you say so...I'll bring ya something"
-Sam
"Sam?"
"Yeah, just checking on me" I closed the HUD.
"She's very nice" The nice portion was phrased differently, to emphasize it. "Any reason why?"
"Why is someone nice?"
"It did sound like that..."
"Did you mean why towards us?"
"Yep"
"Well...you know how she has that bright pink hair?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, most people found it nice, or cute, or whatever, but sooner or later, people started hating it, like...unreasonably hating it, maybe they found her immature or didn't believe it was natural and was annoyed because they couldn't have dyed."
"Didn't you have green hair?"
"Yeah, not natural either, do i really act like some obedient child? Hell it's how I met a few friends"
"In detention?"
"Heh yep, you wouldn't really think you'd be friends with someone who just punched you"
"Huh!?" Kaz jumped up slightly.
"He was the one who taught me how to defend myself...well, more so how to fight people, before that, I could take hits, but not really dish em out"
"Why isn't he here?"
"Probably still alive on earth honestly, dude's family wasn't rich, but goddamn did they look like they were prepared for a world ending event, probably could've survived an ice age."
"Oh?"
"Every winter the dude came to school in some massive, bushy, fur jacket, yet it fit him perfectly, if we visit earth we'll probably cross paths, though, I'd prioritize Sam's parents first...they're not exactly fighters, and it's been a year"
"Well, they're gonna be alive I feel"
"Agreed, though not fighters, they'd have managed somehow...they gotta..." Though I believed they would be alive, there was a very small drop of doubt in my mind.
"But General, the opposition won't stop coming for us if we do this" I had redirected my attention back to the show, it seems they were talking now, along with a holographic table showing a ton of stuff I didn't know.
"There's no other choice, we have to put an end to their supply, if you wish to back out then go ahead, I won't have non-believers in this corp"
"Do you have any idea what the hell is happening?" Kaz hopped to the table.
"So, the opposition are these people called ILLARIO Corp, it doesn't stand for anything if I recall but that's how they make it look, then these guys, are a rebellion! Created to fight the ILLARIO Corp in hopes, not for freedom, but instead to take over the order"
"So they're not good guys either"
"No...well...they're better than ILLARIO Corp"
"Ahhuh..."
"There used to be a game of this too! You got to pick a side and whichever side won more events, that decided which side was winning in the show" I couldn't help but smile. "What?"
"You picked this show just because it looked cool huh?" I chuckled for a little bit before I refocused on the show, I still had no clue what was going on, but Sam's shows had trained me to get invested in something...even if I had no idea what I was investing in.
"Listen up! If we die here, then so be it! None of us will stand for this injustice!"
"Hoorah!" The soldiers did some weird salute, I couldn't even begin to describe it.
"This general sounds horrific, 'yeah guys, we die, we die, nothing we can do'"
"Well, it's better dying for a good cause then knowing you could've helped, or maybe even save thousands of people."
"That's one way of looking at it" Maybe this is one of those shows where deep down both sides are similar in morality, this side seems to be perfectly fine straight up dying for what seems like nothing, just to take over, do the viewers even know what kinda way they'll rule? Maybe ILLARIO are alright rulers...at least compared to others...The show must've hyped up fight scenes heavily, because it was a lot of talking...a lot...of talking... "I'll just...take a nap" I mumbled under my breath, using my arm as a pillow while I let myself drift off. There was no vision like before, instead I felt, things, I've never felt before. I've felt uneasiness before but this was something new, but that wasn't it, safety and strength, it became a swell and mush of things I couldn't control. After what felt like years in this void, a small purple light appeared. Did this count as a vision? Was this a vision? I reached towards the light, I wouldn't just drop dead from touching it right? That was the only reason I could come up with on why I touched the light in a void. The closer I got, the more feelings swelled, the more feelings appeared, eventually, i didn't just feel like touching the light...I wanted to, I needed to. I grabbed onto the light and all at once, those swelling emotions, those feelings twisting and turning, turned to nothing. It was silent, the light was within my hand.
With nothing else to do, I opened my hand to look at the light, it looked beautiful, something swirling inside the light was what caught my eyes, I wanted to keep it, yet the moment I smiled slightly at the light, it shattered, and those same tendrils from the corruptors broke out before piercing into my chest. I felt like I was drowning, floating in an endless ocean like the reflection space, I tried hard to summon Crescent yet I couldn't, I reached for my revolver yet it wasn't there, nothing I tried worked so I was forced to resort to pulling it out in desperation. Nothing I did worked, the more I tried the more numb I became. My own blood floated staining the air like it was water, I lost my grip and was forced to punching on the tendrils, yet, with how numb I was, it was more throwing my hands at it. My blood began to swirl in the air, getting faster the more desperate I was, the blood soon connected together yet the air...water, whatever it was, still tainted it. I threw my hand down one more time but the tendril didn't budge, none of them did. Before I gave up, in the blink of an eye something ripped through the tendrils, coated in red, once they dissipated I took a breath and I had awoken.
I almost immediately sat up, I saw the others had returned, all around me, yet before anyone could say anything, I leaned over the side of the couch and began the equivalent of throwing up blood, it stained the floor, my blood, was mostly same, all red with a very, very small hint of purple, yet the purple, was just so ever slightly more present. A hand on my shoulder kept me from falling over.
"Are you alright!?" Sam ignored the blood on the floor and right under my mouth, more worried about me. I was ready to say something yet, couldn't think at all, I could speak, but not think, like static clouded my mind.
"I...don't know" My voice was in pain, like a young child ready to cry.
"Kaz, what happened" Though muffled, I could still hear Nicholai talking to Kaz wherever she was.
"He just went to sleep after watching TV, nothing weird was happening."
"Why now..." I began blurting out what I wanted to think but couldn't. "Why a light...why...did my own blood do that..." The static in my mind was still very much present, but I could notice it slowly fading over time.
"Come on...sit up, fully" I felt like dead weight as I was lifted up, put against the back of the couch instead of leaning on my side. Now that I was farther, my vision was clearly clouded, I still managed to see Kenneth and Dave cleaning up the blood I had let out. "Any ideas Nicholai?"
"No...we just took whatever was Corruption related...I haven't looked at any symptoms yet, but...I find it odd...it would've killed you instantly if you didn't have some resistance, so if it is killing you, why not just do it immediately?" My hearing was fully restored first. But the pounding and static in my head, and my sight, were still clearing up. "How are you feeling?"
"Everything hurts..." I barely managed to slur out my words.
"Maybe...Lee sitting out isn't a good idea...wait...what was that earlier about the blood?" Nicholai crouched down so I didn't have to look up. "What did your blood do?"
"It...I dunno...I can't think...it just...killed...? Pierced?...something...to...it..after swirling together..." Nicholai raised my face before I just felt cloth under my mouth.
"His eyes look hazy too" Nicholai pointed it out, yet I couldn't see it if I wanted to. "It'll clear, soon, the color is returning...the purple isn't any greater than before in his right eye. Think you can stand?" I planted my two feet on the floor, yet the millisecond I put any pressure, they folded, forcing me back down.
"I'm sorry..." I could only respond that way, anymore was an effort like before.
"Well, even if we wanna bring him, that's not the best idea...for now at least, you can lay back down, just don't go to sleep again" I did what the doc ordered, seeing no way I could keep straining myself. "I'll go get Raymond, you four keep an eye on him" She stood up and walked out of my sight.
"I know!" Sam, while standing put her fist where her heart is. "A good meal will help!" She, like Nicholai, went out of my vision.
"I'll help!" Kaz hopped off the table and joined her.
"Guess I'll watch over you" He sat down on a chair. "You look like you got a tooth pulled" I saw him smirking until he realized I wasn't finding it funny. "Right...sorry, you must really be in pain if you're not finding it funny"
"Ye-..yeah..." I saw his left leg bouncing up and down, he seemed out of it.
"Lot going on huh...Way to much to register" I didn't respond, he knew I agreed. "And there's a lot more to understand, bonds, links, corruption, you've been thinking about this too."
"We'll manage..." My thoughts and speech returned. "Sure...this is much more confusing than the outbreak...the Lillies...all that, but we managed the impossible without magic, or powers, even without all of us being alive...we'll manage again."
"Guess that's true." My sense of smell was clearly fine, as I started smelling something burning. "Oi!" Kenneth stood up before running over to where the kitchen is.
"I'm sorry!" It was a mix of Kaz and Sam's voice, I couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Every day I think of it at least once. Do I prefer now or then? I never could come to a conclusion, both were equal in preference, the major one for now being that we were all alive together, though, it's not like we were separated for long during the outbreak. Kai, Raymond, Bluey, Piney, Neal, that diamond team, we were introduced to so many people in such a short time, would we meet all of them again? would we never? We keep meeting Raymond and Kai, but...not really a personal talk, always on a mission or through messages.
"Alright, I'm here" I heard Raymond and Nicholai come through the door, soon coming into my line of sight. "You weren't lying..." He crouched down.
"What the hell did you all do!?" I saw Nicholai turn to the kitchen.
"What did I do!?" Kenneth retaliated.
"Loud crowd huh?" Raymond took out a flashlight, checking my eyes. "How's your head?"
"I can manage it"
"Voice is fine too...sight?"
"Blurs here and there"
"Hm..." I couldn't tell what Raymond was thinking, or if he was at all, perhaps he already had an answer. "Well...you're corrupted all right, but we already knew that, good news is that every person who'll live through it goes through this, bad news, we don't have a cure for it, we never did"
"W-what?"
"For the rest of your life you're living with this, you might be able to handle it better later on, but it's never going away, not for a while even if we start finding a cure, on the bright side, if you have kids later on in your life, even if their mom isn't, they'll be immune to corruption."
"Greaaaat such a positive"
"You'd be surprised how much of a positive it is, DTs work in weird ways, for instance, you know how people have their limits? Power, willpower ect ect."
"Yeah...?"
"Well, the way DTs work is, the kid's limit is their parent's limit combined, and it never ends, so...both parents have 200, it goes to 400, that kid grows up, had a kid themselves, it doesn't even have to be the same limit either, 400 and 200, 600, and it goes on and on. Only issue is, it means you need to teach them how to contain it sooner." Raymond took out a needle filled with something.
"What's that for?"
"Your eye"
"Oh...alright" I stook out my arm.
"No, it's going, in your eye"
"What!?"
"Oh don't worry, it'll just feel like pressure"
"It better..." I laid down as still as I could while Raymond began moving the needle towards my eye.
"You don't have to look at it, it just needs to hit your eye, so you can focus on the TV or me" I probably should have listened, but instead I still looked at the needle, making sure there were no slips or mess ups. The needle pressed against my eye before going in, Raymond was right, no pain, but it felt disgusting as though I was gagging. After pushing the plunger all the way down he pulled it out. I sat up and held near my eye. "See, just weird, not painful."
"It's much more weird than you think" I was in a constant wave of nausea but my sight soon returned to normal along with everything else.
"I'm gonna get going now, there's a lot of issues arising at the moment, if you need something let me know. As he said he would, he stood and and was on his way, I looked over at the kitchen to see whatever issue was there, but it was resolved.
"Sorry again..." Sam was clearly dejected.
"It's alright, none of the burning spread...and it was handled quickly" I looked back over to the table, it was now cluttered with books they brought over, I decided to grab the one on top and started reading from the very beginning.
'The origin of Change
Corruption wasn't always called that, but instead, called purity, a form of change that resulting from reaching one's true self. However, many things have progressed since that original purity, as the name implies, purity became something worse, a corruption residing in one's true desires twisted in a way that would cripple the host's desire rather than achieve it. The origin of Corruption is a simple one, through all the desires that DTs had, one person held the strongest, manifesting Corruption has his own unique trait, but it didn't stop once he died, instead, it infested things, people, animals, anything it could touch, and by that, the entire world that people considered home was infested, corrupted. No one understands what his desire was, no one understands how they could be so vile that their unique trait changes to something so heinous. One question does remain through all these years "If they died, would their unique trait not have gone with them?"'
I closed the book after reading the first portion, at the very least it seems they've done their best to understand where it came from, but the last section made me wonder as well. If we kill the guy, if he is alive, would corruption be gone? It wasn't easy to tell, nothing stated he was alive, or if killing him would end it, and if killing him doesn't end it, what would? I thought more. Being born with a resistance...I don't know the exact number on how rare it is, but it may be safe to assume I was born from someone who already was and if that were true...could that woman in that vision actually be my mom...? They fought off corrupted, and it would make sense for someone resistant to go after them...All I could do was ponder, I would never know if I couldn't find her...though I guess my dad would be a good second. I stood up from the couch.
"Woah, up and walking already?" Nicholai took notice.
"I'm gonna go take a bath." I took the quickest way to it, going into the reflection space as soon as possible. I opened my eyes once again in the endless water. A few more questions sprouted, more important ones.
'Is the person who started corruption alive?'
'How can corruption be rid of completely?'
'Why don't I remember anything when i was 3-5 years old?'
I began throwing ideas around in all sections. The person who caused it, no one can find him, but being under the assumption that killing him ends it, maybe he is alive, Corruptors seem to act as one rather than individual. Maybe I don't recall things from that long ago because it wasn't important? Or is it because something major happened that made me forget...Though not a question in the space, I did have one more. What could I do with Corruption? When I was in that other area with the light, I was able to use my blood to protect me...or rather harm something else to protect me. I didn't particularly have the answer to everything, rather it was better just to look at the very small clues I did have. Though in the water, I took a breath, and soon returned to the real world.
"So that is the right way to leave" I did my normally thing in the bath before leaving. The five were relaxing around the living room, Sam, Nicholai, and Kenneth were reading, while Kaz and Dave were on the table.
"Have a good bath?" Sam looked up from her book.
"Dunno, I was zoned out for half of it. But i guess it was alright" I took the spot beside her, trying my best to relax, yet I found it rather difficult to. Those hunters didn't mind breaking the rules to hunt me, and I assume other corrupted, there's no saying if or when they'll bust through the front door...
"Paranoid?" Nicholai caught onto it
"A bit...yeah..."
"Well, no need" Kenneth closed his book. "The stuff they brought when we were on the mission, some were some normal things, more furniture we have yet to set up, but the main thing was Full on turrets outside, I think Raymond knew people went for you"
"Would explain why the CSF were there when I needed it the most..."
"That's confusing too though..." Keeping her thumb in the book to keep her place, she mostly closed it. "Corruption Suppression force...but then they protect the corrupted?"
"Right...there was no guarantee I would be immune"
"So they took a gamble with you, maybe they do that with everyone?"
"I think so too" I could only agree with Kenneth, I had nothing more to go on.
"You doing alright Lee?" Sam looked over to me.
"Hm?"
"I know I've been asking a lot lately, but everyday there's just more things to worry about, just making sure it's not overwhelming you, and you don't gotta worry, I've been making sure everyone is alright"
"Thanks for that...and, I'll manage"
"Oki doki!" Sam smiled at my answer before returning to her reading. As did everyone else. I was going to read until Sam got away from her book again. "Almost forgot!" From her pockets, she pulled out one of those vintage handheld game consoles, the ones that hold a ton of games at once. "Da da ba duuuuuh" She held it out like some prized treasure.
"This is something you'd hold onto no?"
"I also said I'd get you something, not me"
"Alright then, if you insist" I know for a fact I never had one, but with how old these were they were certainly something to remember, these tended to have a few gems on them too, stuff I could probably play for days on end. When I looked back to Sam to thank her again, she was already back to the book, swaying her legs forward and back, Kenneth and Nicholai were deep in thought as well while reading, most likely trying to decide what was the best info to keep, and the best info to share. Today was certainly a day I thought to myself, even through all this a part of me understood, this was a lot, a lot of stuff to recall and remember, but one thing for certain, is that we were just getting started