Book Four
Volume 14
Ch. 194 Super Fancy Restaurant
Pov.
-Kara-
"What? He's nothing like me." I cross my arms
"Sure is. You used to come home beat and bloody all the time." Cana happily wipes Sheele's sleeping face
"Except I was fighting Gods compared to these nobodies."
"He took down a Biological Imperial Arm. He would've killed it too if it weren't for the back up that arrived!" Mine throws her blanket aside
"Sure, brat."
"If you're feeling better, Mine. Join the others." Nejenda steps into the infirmary.
Mine storms out of the room.
Nejenda gives me a dirty look before following Mine.
…
"He saved my life…" Sheele sits up.
"Of course he did. You're his friend." Cana rubs her back.
"Sure, horny bastard just wants to get laid, I bet."
"Screw you." Thorfinn sits up, holding his side
Cana floats over on Nymbus.
"How are you feeling?" She smiles warmly.
"Fine…"
"Tch." I roll my eyes
"Your father was worried. He was here all night."
"What?! Only be-." She punched my throat before I could defend my pride.
Motherfucker… I grab my throat
Thorfinn pulls his sheets aside.
"Thorfinn…"
"I'm going out."
"You shouldn't jump back into your training so quickly."
"Don't bother, Cana."
"Why you…" she tries to punch my throat again, but I catch her fish this time "why are you so rude?!"
"Me? What the fuck?" She punched my throat?!
"Why would you say that about Sheele?! Thorfinn was just trying to save her life, you!"
"I'm fine, Cana. Seriously." Sheele holds her chest
"Grrr." Cana wrestles with my hand in vain "you seriously need to learn some manners!"
I bring her in and toss her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Put me down, you!" She kicks and squirms as I carry her out.
"Throw something nice on. I'm starving." I set her down.
"You want to go out, like on a date!"
"Don't call it that…"
"Alright! I know just the Super Fancy Place!" She twirls into a short tight white dress that reveals her back and perks up her tits.
We headed into the capital where she seemed troubled by the depravity of it all.
Rotting corpses just laying around. Women and children working every corner.
She kept close, trying to shield herself from it all with my body.
"Here it is!" She jumps ecstatically once we arrive at a nice diner.
"Little overdressed, don't you think?" I hold her lower back
"No way, c'mon!" Hurries inside.
The name of the restaurant was "Super Fancy Burger Grill". They sell massive burgers and everyone inside the joint was completely overdressed.
I was wearing a dark brown dress shirt black pants a black leather belt and Chaos wraps around my as a Rolex.
"Hello! I'll have a Super Duper Deluxe Double Bacon-Bacon Cheesy-Cheese Burger Please!"
"Will that be a combo?"
"Super Deluxe Combo, Please!"
"Anything else?"
"I'll get number four."
"The Super Deluxe Triple-Triple Bacon Cheese Burger?"
"Sure…"
"Make that one a Super Duper Deluxe Combo, Please!" Cana adds
"Okay, will that be all?"
"Yes, Please!"
"That will be Seventy-Eight, Eight Nine."
I pay with my Eldian Debit.
"Table Number Fifteen, that will be upstairs." He hands Cana the Receipt.
"Great, thanks!" Cana hurries upstairs
"Hurry up!" She waves
I teleport behind her rather than doing all the walking.
"Cheater." She giggles "It's nice in here." She smiles
"Better than outside."
"Yeah…" she sighs, as we look at the indoor garden.
"I did that… all of it."
"What?"
"I'm sure you've heard it from everyone in Night Raid."
"Well yeah… but…"
"But what?"
"Would you do it again?"
…
"Don't know… maybe… if the price was right…"
"Grrr…" she throws a fork at my forehead, but I catch before then "lying is a sin, you know. And you're not cool" she pouts, crossing her arms.
"What are you talking about? They have a lot on me, Cana. Not just information. Esdeath Allied herself with the World Government. Their highest Admirals are as strong as All for One. No, stronger."
"Jeeze Louise." She rolls her eyes. "That still doesn't mean you should let any of it get in the way."
"In the way of what?"
…
"Your happiness… you can't keep blaming yourself for how this Empire turned out…"
"What? I'm not…"
But she's right, like she always is.
I still blame myself for what happened to her. What happened to Lia… Japan, and before all this…
I knew no love.
"You are… and it isn't fair, Kara." She sniffs a little tear running down her cheek, "Because you are precious in my eyes and I love you… so you don't get to loathe yourself any more than I loathe you."
…
But now this love has found me.
And she refuses to let go.
…
I nod…
She wipes her nose
I sit there, watching her.
I didn't know what to say.
I never thought I'd feel guilty of anything. Now she's making me feel guilty, for feeling guilty.
What is that?
After she gives me a reassuring smile. We talked about Lia and whatever else came up until our food was ready.
The massive portions of food was more than enough to fill us up.
…
"Bahaha!" Cana holds her belly as we lay on the edge, on top of the rooftop
…
"Cana…"
"Mhmm?" She smiles happily
…
I look up at the sky.
"Do you blame me for making you feel this way?"
…
"Happy?"
"No…" I sit up, only to find her already tearing up.
"Why do you cry? Do I make you cry?"
She shakes her head "no way…"
"So what? Do I disappoint you?"
"No, way." She says with more conviction "from the beginning He who made us said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh' So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore He has joined together, let not man separate."
…
"No man, Kara. No Pain. Not the Heavens and not the Earth can pull us apart. Your pain can't push me away, because it's mine. I love you so much that it pains me as much as it pains you. The only difference is the hardened shell you built around your heart." Her voice begins to break up
"I'm not as strong as you are. So I crumble every time I see you in pain." She whimpers
…
"Is it really worth that much? To cling onto me so much it hurts? Is that really love, Cana? Or an obsession?"
…
"Real love cannot be torn apart. No matter how hard you try, Kara."
…
I think back to every time I tried to push her away. And how relentless she's always been to stay.
…
We lay on the roof a while longer. After cleaning herself up again she finally decides she misses Lia.
With a wave of her hand she opens up a portal
"Are you coming with me?" She smiles warmly, on the other side of the portal Lia playing with her toys.
After hearing her mothers voice she looks up, giggling and reaching for her mother despite her short stature.
…
"I can't." I turn around
It was so much…
So overwhelming.
"O-okay…" she smiles
I still haven't processed everything she told me.
I think I never will.
I don't think I'm capable of being that which she wants me to be. I don't even know what it is she wants me to be for her and our child.
There's only one thing I know.
Despair…
Therefore, I Am and Always Will Be
No matter how much I lie to myself.
…
4 months later
I tilt my head aside, the mountain behind me splits in half before I parry Esdeath's blade aside.
"Hmh." She smiles
Our clashing blades shake the entire terrain
"Slow Down."
I managed to keep up with her pace but she was too reckless.
"Just Keep Up!" She steps up the pace, of which I had no problem reciprocating.
But at this rate, the continent…
I snap into Kaioken x25 for a fraction of a second
She keeps up for a moment before I knock her blade aside and train it against her throat.
"Hmh, cheater." She smirks wickedly "but I supposed that's enough for today."
Chaos snaps back onto my finger
"You're all over the place. Haven't changed one bit." I cross my arms.
"You're just soft." She spits aside
"No, you're just reckless"
"Who cares. I know you don't."
"That's not the point. You're misplacing your power into every swing. You fight like an amateur."
Chaos snaps into a staff.
I spin the staff, slapping her blade aside before catching it above my head.
"What amateur?"
She sheathes her blade
I roll my eyes
We head back to the castle.
She had a hand on her belly, which was beginning to swell.
…
"How far along are you?"
She smiles "just over three months."
…
"Lady Esdeath!" One of her guards quickly prostrated before us as we headed back into the castle. "Your friendly match caused the dungeon to collapse. Permission to begin reparations."
"Sure." She waves "how about you join them, Kara? See if there's a familiar face down there while you're at it…"
"Familiar face?"
She smiles before heading inside.
I teleport down to the dungeon
Some prisoners freeze after escaping their cells.
I step aside
They cautiously creep by
Not my problem…
I look around, wondering who could possibly be down here
…
"Please… someone help…"
I pause after hearing a woman whimper.
…
That's…
Toga… Himiko
Her side was shredded, missing half an ear. Her skin had acidic burns
She was terribly bruised and she was laying in a pool of piss and semen
"Oh Cana… I'm so sorry, Cana."
She raises her head
"Kah-r-rah…" she sniffs
Just looking at her filled me with the same indomitable rage I felt after seeing what she did to Cana
"Himiko."
"I-I'm so sorry-Kar-ra P-please save me…"
"Why would I do that? Have you forgotten what you did?"
"No… no please no, it wasn't me…" she sobs
"You let her in, Himiko. You let Lucy seduce you just as Esdeath did."
"I only did because she promised the world. She promised that I would get to be with you again." She whimpers like a sad child.
"Please, Kara. Please don't leave me here. It hurts, it hurts really bad. I-I can't…"
"Rot in Hell, Himiko."
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Kara! Please forgive me!" She shrieks as I turn around "please, God, please save me! Please!"
She cries hysterically as I head back upstairs.
Though I can't say I didn't feel anything at all. Seeing her down there reminded me of…
Never mind that… it's been so long…
"How was it? Like my little pet?"
"Why is she down there?"
"Hmm." She smiles. "Well, after Lucy came back to me, Himiko thought she'd warn you about Thorfinn. Of course there is no greater act of treason." She smirks wickedly
"Do you want to play with her?" She walks around me
…
"Or would you rather I let her go?"
…
"You would let her go?"
"I would…" She tosses her arms around my waist, hugging me from behind. "Just say the word and I'll do it, My Love…"
…
I felt her heart beating against my back, synchronizing with mine.
I almost felt inclined to tell her to release Himiko, knowing it's exactly what Cana would command me to do.
…
I peel her off.
"Do what you will."
"Oh… well…" she pouts.
…
I leave, back to Cana who was singing a psalms to the girls.
…
Psalm 69:1-6
"Save me, God, For the waters have threatened my life.
I have sunk in deep mud, and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me.
I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; Those who would destroy me are powerful, those who oppose me with lies; What I did not steal, I then have to restore.
¶God, You know my foolishness, And my guilt is not hidden from You.
May those who wait for You not be ashamed because of me, Lord God of armies; May those who seek You not be dishonored because of me, God of Israel."
Rather than bothering them I head to bed.
"Because for Your sake I have endured disgrace; Dishonor has covered my face.
I have become estranged from my brothers, And a stranger to my mother's sons.
For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the taunts of those who taunt You have fallen on me.
When I wept in my soul with fasting, It became my disgrace. Rescue me from the mud and do not let me sink; May I be rescued from those who hate me, and from the depths of water.
¶Answer me, Lord, for Your mercy is good; According to the greatness of Your compassion, turn to me, And do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am in distress; answer me quickly.
Come near to my soul and redeem it; Ransom me because of my enemies!
¶Disgrace has broken my heart, and I am so sick. And I waited for sympathy, but there was none; And for comforters, but I found none.
¶But I am afflicted and in pain; May Your salvation, God, set me safely on high.
For the Lord hears the needy, And does not despise those of His who are prisoners.
For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, So that they may live there and possess it.
The descendants of His servants will inherit it, And those who Love His name will live in it."
…
Cana joins me soon after. She wiggles into my arms
"Kara?" She sits up
"Yeah?"
"Himiko… have you heard from her?"
…
"What?"
"Himiko… have you not seen her?"
"Maybe… why?"
"Really?" She sits, her eyes sparkling with the moonlight. "I would really like to speak to her."
…
"Why do you ask me now?"
"I just want her to know… I forgive her." She smiles warmly.
"Why now? Of all times?" Especially after that Psalms
…
She shakes her head, as if genuinely confused.
…
"Tomorrow… I'll take you to her…"
"Thank you…" she tears up "oh God, thank you so much." She hugs me tight.
…
I managed to get through the night, thinking of bringing Himiko here rather than bringing Cana to the castle.
…
She'll probably end up adopting her like she adopted Eri and Paris…
…
The following morning she threw on her sky blue habit. The one she said reminds her of home before we head into the capital
There was a large commotion by the castle
Cana giggles around as we push through the crowd, only to fade when we made it to the center…
I look up…
Himiko…
She was nailed onto a T shaped post, her knees broken as her breath hitched in her throat and her eyes pierce my soul.
…
-to be continued.