I’ve been dragging this bag for a while now. Or maybe it hasn’t really been that long. It’s hard for me to focus right now. It feels like my mind is still back in that house: where it all happened and why I’m here. I’m still thinking about it.
“YOU! ALL THOSE YEARS BACK, IT WAS YOU!”
“Don’t even know my name, huh? Not that it matters.”
I’d never seen the doctor so upset before. He’s usually very calm no matter how aggressive the other guy is.
“WHAT DO YOU WANT?!”
“Fatechanger. Where is it?”
The mention of the Fatechanger only confused the doctor.
“Fatechanger? Stop talking nonsense.”
I heard the woman snicker as she stood up and got closer to Dr. Silva.
“That’s not going to work, Lambert. You know that. Just tell me where it is and I’ll be on my way.”
The doctor let out a sigh before he started speaking again.
“Listen, I really have no clue what you’re talking about.”
“Please, you bastard. Am I supposed to believe that you, of all people, can perform perfect creation magic? No, it had to have been the Fatechanger.”
“You underestimate me! I worked hard to get this far!”
“Then tell me how you did it. I might just leave if you do.”
The man looked defeated at that point. He glanced at me and Sofia, who was beside me the entire time, then back to the woman.
“You win. I swear that I wasn’t lying about not knowing this ‘Fatechanger’ you spoke of, but give me some time and I’ll find it for you. Please, just leave us alone.”
While they were talking, Sofia tapped me on the shoulder and pointed at the ivory sculpture and then at the woman.She reached for the wolf’s crest and pressed down on it. A dagger with the crest on its hilt came out of the mouth.
She looked over to me and jerked her head to the direction of the other two people in the room.
It went by in a flash. I charged straight for the woman and pinned her down on the ground as Sofia plunged the dagger into her back. She went straight for the heart, and was as accurate as the doctor while performing surgery.
The woman struggled. It felt very real. It really did feel like someone desperately clinging on to life. And then, nothing. She was slumped to the ground. No motion. No breathing.
It was haunting. I’d just helped murder the person I’d sworn to help.
“You did well, my boy. I’m sorry you had to see that.”
The doctor was unfazed by all of this. He talked as if nothing happened.
“This woman was a terrible person. We were in the right here.”
I just nodded without thinking. I couldn’t really talk because of the shock.
Dr. Silva then grabbed hold of my shoulder.
“I’m sorry to spring this on you, but could you carry the body up the hill and bury it along with the dead patients? Sofia and I have to clean this place up.”
“Y-yes. I’ll do it.”
That brings me here.
I’m at the top. It looks to be nearing dawn. I take a rest as far from the body as possible. It’s still very hard to look at, but I can’t turn back now.
I still couldn’t believe it. She was right about everything.
“What?”
I looked at her with conviction while she’s writing.
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“Don’t look at me like that. Just stay with me. You mentioned that the doctor has an assistant with him at all times?”
“Yeah. His adopted daughter.”
“Alright. Everything’s starting to fit in place.”
She stopped writing as she said that and focused her vision on me.
“Are they, really? I can hardly believe a thing that you’re saying about the doctor.”
“You’ll have your chance to see for yourself.”
I had nothing but doubts about her. But I did promise to do anything I could to help her.
“Alright, here’s what I want you to do. When the doctor sees me, he’ll probably want to kill me at all costs. Help him kill me. Otherwise, stay put.”
“Wait, what?!”
It was surreal hearing this woman plan her own death.
“I’m not going to kill you!”
“Don’t worry about it. I won’t actually die.”
“What do you mean?! Enough with the cryptic nonsense!”
Her grin widened after seeing me go off.
“I won’t die because of this curse, supposedly.”
“Supposedly? You’re not even sure? Why?”
My recollection gets cut off by the light that the corpse is emitting. It lasts for a short moment before the body suddenly rises violently.
She lets out a scream and checks her body to see if everything’s still in one place. Relief can be seen all over her face as she realizes that she’s fine. All of the bloodstains disappeared. She still has those gashes on her cloak and surcoat, however. Then, she turns her head over to where I am with the most menacing stare I’ve received yet.
“Who are you? Where are we?”
“I’m here to help you with your curse. You told me to hold onto this book for you. You said it’ll clear up everything.”
She also anticipated this and had me hide the book before the doctor and Sofia got home. It’s filled with writing in a language that I don't understand.
I offer the book up to her and she starts reading it.
A maniacal laugh punctures my ears. It’s completely different from the eloquent facade she held before.
“Okay, I understand. Did you bring the plants?”
“How hard is it to kill you? How are you still alive?”
I hear a familiar voice come up from behind me. It was the doctor and Sofia.
“You actually saved us time by coming up here, Lambert.”
“STOP CALLING ME THAT! That’s not my name.”
“You can deny the past as much as you want, but it’ll always catch up to you.”
“There’s no force on this god-forsaken world that will ever let me deny such a thing. I’ve merely been waiting for it to catch up so I can murder it.”
Dr. Silva then looks over to me.
“I didn’t think you, of all people, would betray me, Soren.”
The woman does the same.
“Do it now. Check their mana and see for yourself.”
She had me use up all my mana before to trick the doctor into thinking I still didn’t know how to sense any. I’ve since had time to regain some mana.
I do as she says. It’s scary how accurately she described everything that’s happened so far. If what she said about this is true, then this will by far be the hardest truth for me to swallow.
I see that Sofia and the doctor have a tether to their mana.
“Doc, is it true...”
I can’t really complete the question. I can see contempt written all over the doctor’s face.
“What did she tell you?”
“Is it true that Sofia isn’t real?”
The doctor lets out a sigh.
“What are you talking about? She’s right here! You can see her! I can see her! Even that devil beside you sees her!”
“Is it true that the real Sofia died a long time ago? That the one we see now is a puppet that was created by your magic?”
The doctor doesn’t respond.
“Please, tell me it isn’t true!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Yes, Sofia is the result of my magic. But she’s real! She’s alive!”
Sofia starts moving closer to us. The thin tether starts to widen like a sponge being filled with water as she does. The woman said this happens whenever he wants his puppet to move.
“I’m alive, Soren. Can’t you see? The feelings that I’ve shared with both you and dad: they’re all real.”
I want to believe them. I really do. They’ve been my family for over six years, after all. But they’ve already shown me how untrustworthy they are. I’m not even done with my questions.
“Then, is it also true? About your past?”
He doesn’t answer.
“You know why I took you in? For years, I had to constantly pump mana into her. I couldn’t stand the thought of losing her because I’d left her without any. So I took her everywhere. And everywhere we went, people would look at us funny. Everyone except you, my boy. I knew you were perfect. You could see us for what we truly were: a loving family.I was hoping that you’d keep her alive when I die. I was going to tell you everything when you were ready. Then I’d teach you how—”
“You’re insane!”
“There’s no use arguing with him.”
“SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU! YOU’RE SOUNDING SO MUCH LIKE THEM! YOUR KIND SHOULD JUST DIE! SOFIA!”
Sofia starts charging at us. I get pushed to the side by the woman as she moves to the other. A huge explosion destroys the ground where we were moments ago.
“What? How?”
“It’s the dagger! She has it! Don’t forget what I told you!”
It’s getting harder and harder for me to remember the plan. But what the woman had yelled jogs a little of my memory back.
It’s time to put an end to this.