The prophet came to a hard stop, falling onto the ground as he stared at the stumps which replaced his hands. "She rejected me." He started to hug himself, curling up on the dark, cold ground. "You bound with the divine machinery and became a god to us all. I bound myself to a divine creature and became the devil." His words came out almost unintelligible through his dry, burning throat.
The tentacles on the back of his neck slowly grew around the flame, suffocating the fire. "It's unfair…" A whisper escaped his lips. His eyelids became heavy and he fell asleep on the floor, the tentacles growing around his body, building a cocoon of flesh, merging into the shadows.
⟪⚪⟫
"Are you okay?" Logi asked, his voice filled with panic and fear for her health. He lowered his body a bit, so instead of looking down at Captain Teddy, he was looking up at her.
She did not answer. Her eyes were filled with trauma. Hundreds of questions were flowing through her mind, but she was unable to speak them. The scene of the illusion vanishing was still playing before her eyes. How could one man kill so many people in her name?
Gazing into her unfocused eyes, Logi started to worry even more. He had not yet considered her feelings and only thought about her physical well being. "Hey, focus on me Captain. The prophet is gone now, probably bleeding out or burning to ashes somewhere in the colosseum." He grabbed her by the shoulders because she did not respond and put her beneath his arm, carrying her like a piece of luggage.
As the two of them left the colosseum and the abandoned floor on which it was on, they saw the aftermath of the prophet's attack on the people.
The entire floor was filled with dried up corpses—and the corpses of freshly mutilated Lukas clones and Max clones—and maimed clones trying to take care of their own wounds and the wounds of others. The odor of blood and rotting flesh filled the air, making Logi happy that he could hold his breath for longer than the clones.
For almost 2 dozen minutes they walked before they reached the closed gate to which the tunnel would connect. "Captain? Would you please open the gate?" Logi asked.
Having come to her senses a bit, but still shook, she nodded weakly and pressed some buttons on her console fist.
The tunnel connected once more, letting all the worried Teddy copies and Pheddie copies( not really worried, just want to impress the Teddy copies) run into the citadel to take care of the wounded and traumatised. The moment the tunnel vanished, every Teddy copy who noticed got ready with medical equipment, waiting in the hangar.
As the copies hurried over, Logi, still carrying Captain Teddy, walked over and into the super citadel. They were immediately surrounded and greeted by the members of the council. "We can overlook you allowing a festival without consulting the council, but letting in clones from a different citadel? Without my… without the council's permission on top of that?"
Another council member continued with a frown and narrowed eyes: "And what the hell happened to the two of you? What did you fight?"
"The devil." Logi answered for Captain Teddy. He walked past them, not bothering to look at them or stopping. "And his army of zombies. Bastard was a necromancer. We won."
"At least something." A council member muttered, following Logi back into the super citadel.
Captain Teddy tapped onto Logi's belly, making him hesitate for a moment before dropping her. "Thank you." She whispered, walking off by herself.
Her first and only stop for now? Her bedroom. "I just want to relax and sleep." Captain Teddy was tired, her day started off so relaxing and nice but quickly turned into a nightmare. It felt like she barely escaped the clutches of death, even though the prophet had promised to imprison and not kill her.
She unbuttoned her cape—ripped and torn apart as it was—and wrapped it around her hand, covering the console, while walking through the festival.
While it was still going, it had become quieter, as most had gone into the new citadel to help the injured.
"You don't look so good, Captain." Another Teddy copy said, empathy filling her voice. "You need something to eat?" She offered her. In her hands she was holding multiple skewers with synthetic meat on top.
She sighed: "Sure." And grabbed two skewers, not even asking for a price and just walking away. The food slightly improved her mood and she started to look around, trying to take her mind off of the recent events.
Looking around to find a place to eat in peace, her home still far away, she noticed the statue they built a few days back for the Lukas clone who had killed the very first Lina. In his chest, where his heart would be, the soul-orb was glowing, lighting up the district. She sat on the pedestal of the statue and tried to relax.