Downtown Melysia was scarce. It was so empty that I could only hear the wind blow through the city.
Everyone's staying inside due to the lockdown A.X.A. had set.
With the recent broadcasts about my position as a threat, no one dared step foot outside. The ruckus from my battle with Enzo must have also helped to refute anyone's desire to leave their homes.
I must be public enemy number one, aren't I?
I couldn't help but think about the reactions of the people who knew me closely. I wondered what they must have thought when seeing my name with the label 'serial killer' entangled together.
You must have all been so disappointed.
I used to stand in such an honorable position—Fifth of the Tenfold, a commander in A.X.A.'s military. I was only percevied in a good light. But now that I knew what wrongs A.X.A. truly did, I'd never stand by their rule ever again. I wouldn't succumb to that evil.
I scoffed to myself, nearly a sob.
I know the truth now, but at what cost?
I was being targeted by my own government. Everyone in the country saw me as a threat. I betrayed my own friends, and I killed dozens of innocent civillians. All of that to get to the 'truth.' At what point was it even worth it anymore?
Was there any mercy left for a naive and manipulated Fractless?
Who am I kidding?
I nearly laughed at my own absurdity, tears swelling in my eye. I could see myself as a victim all I wanted, but I couldn't ignore all the other lives victim to my own wrongdoings. I knew this by now.
I didn't deserve the mercy I searched for.
I'm too far gone.
I've finally broken out of Ian's manipulative tendencies, and even built a resistance to his Fractal. But it was too late by now. I've done too many irredeemable things to redeem myself.
But there's no use dwelling anymore.
I've already been through this. I couldn't let the guilt drag me down like before. If I couldn't make amends for the sins I've committed, then I just had to keep moving forward. But I had to be selfish now. I was done being ordered around by a higher-power like Michael or Ian. Everything I would do now had to inevitably lead to taking back control of my own life.
I want to be my own higher-power.
Although I currently followed Ian's objectives—using the Null on Chrono and Wrath—my intentions weren't to benefit him. My goal now was to find my own deviation along the way—a point in time in which I could finally make my own, selfish decision for once. A moment where I could turn the tides in my own favor. I would no longer use a card dealt by A.X.A, and not one from Heathen.
One for myself.
And one for you, Soho.