I closed the doors to the medical room, staring at the aged wooden doors. Small markings, I assume, made by the children who lived here, were engraved deeply in the door frame.
Mother Kili spoke as if she were older than she looked.
Old World Artifacts…there was one in her chest. Was it responsible for the stunt in her growth? Something that inhibits aging?
If that were the case, who implanted it in her? Was it the church, or was it someone else—
The slight rustling of clothes filled my ears, but before I could turn around, something blocked my sight.
A warm hand held tightly to my face. Something large and soft pressed against my back. Another hand felt around my body, feeling around blindly.
From my chest to my hips. The hand found its way towards the pistol I kept hidden on me. The second it touched it, it stopped. I used that hesitation to grab both hands that grabbed me and threw my assailant over my shoulder with all my might.
A woman with caramel skin flew over me, landing ungracefully on her behind. She quickly stood up, dusting off her clothes. She turned around, staring at me with a practiced smile.
"Anya…what was that about?" I tried to keep myself from sounding shocked. To play stupid to read my opponent better. That was something my master taught me. Something that Rinara struggled to learn herself.
Though I wouldn't consider Anya an opponent yet, this wasn't the first time she had tried to swipe a weapon from me. Her intent is noble, but bravery is synonymous with stupidity in my book.
"Sorry…haha…" She gave an awkward laugh, "You were staring at the door mighty hard…and I thought maybe you needed someone to comfort you."
By blocking their vision and searching their body?
Anya stood there, playing with her brown hair as she waited for a response. She could tell as many lies as she wanted, but those eyes of hers, the entire time she spoke, were locked onto the pistol hidden on my body.
The smile on her face vanished, and she turned around to face the door to the outsider medical room. "First you come back with a new girl in your arms, and now you spent a moment with the nurse in the other room. Do you have no agency, or just don't care about the job I hired you for?"
She opened the door, and I followed her into the room.
Darkness was the first thing I noticed, followed by the sterile scent that lingered in the air. Besides us, there was one other in the room with us—a woman illuminated by the outside light that streamed into the room from the lone window.
Celia looked as if she were a cursed princess awaiting a kiss from her one and only.
Cursed wasn't far from the truth.
She wore nothing but bandages covering her chest. A crimson stain pooled in the center of her chest, where a nasty wound that would never heal lay. A wound caused by an artifact to control her mind—rather, rewrite parts of it. The second artifact to control her had only just been reclaimed by Ritair, so he had never had the chance to use it on her yet.
Anya approached the sleeping woman and grabbed her hand. She squeezed it tightly, but there was no response. Not even a slight twitch under her eyelids.
Before arriving here, I asked Lilas the best way to deal with a victim of brainwashing. There were too many variables left unknown. Thanks to my little talk with Kili, Lila's method might have been too extreme.
However, it seems that only the church and I understood the reason for such an option.
"This was your idea, wasn't it?" Anya said, without looking back at me. Her tone was anything but happy. Her breathing was ragged; she sounded as though there was something more she wished to say, but didn't have the strength to say it.
Or maybe it was because her friend was sleeping there.
"They wouldn't act otherwise." I lied. "I simply asked the nurse to sedate her the moment we got here. Nothing more, nothing less."
Anya turned around, the whites in her eyes the faintest red. She glared at me, studying my expression as my nonchalant words lingered in the air. Her shoulders slumped, and she looked down at the ground.
"That day I led you to the Brass Light, you and that sheep of a man. When you were drunk, you said something to me. Something rather sad. You told me you often lie as a defense mechanism to protect yourself from unfavorable outcomes." She looked up, tears streaking down the corners of her eyes. She brought her hand up to her chest. "Have you never stopped to think that those white lies might hurt more than the black truth? Trust…you lie because you cannot trust another's reaction to the truth."
"Yet," I said, without a moment to waste. If she were going to lecture me, she should look at how she behaved. "You cannot trust others either."
"…" She looked back down. She moved her hands to her knees and squeezed them.
"You are trying to take matters into your own hands. I lie because I have nothing left. I am a man of the people. A man who ruined his own life. You still have things you cherish, don't you? People who wish to see you alive and well?"
"You're wrong." She muttered. "I've fallen too far." She looked up and glared at me. "Please go away."
I did as she asked and left the room. I closed the door behind me without turning to face the woman struggling to stop herself from bawling.
"Do you want me to sedate her as well?" Mother Kili's voice came from behind. She stood at the door to her medical room with a syringe in hand. She spoke seriously, not a hint of humor to be found in her. "You know that woman carries a horrible reputation in the Outer Ring." She said. "You are not the first fixer she's hired."
"Did your shadows pick up on that?" I asked.
She shook her head. "We Mothers of the church are allowed to leave the chapel grounds for a moment to ourselves, you know. That information is easy enough to come by. A woman who was once known as the star of adult life. One who proved that you can comfort men without needing to sleep with them. But one day her petals were plucked, and the star burned out."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Monitor her." Without another word, Kili disappeared behind the wooden door.
Great, just another problem to deal with.
I turned toward the stairs near the doors to the medical rooms and climbed to the top: the third floor, one relatively cleaner and more…brass than the other floors. To say the current saint had a hand in designing this would be like saying steam comes from hot water.
Just thinking about the additional problem he tossed into the ring pisses me off.
Rinne and Sara. These two had nothing to do with my anger. My actions orphaned one; the other was recently orphaned by the stupidity of the cult's goons.
Lilas and Anya. Two adults with a ticking fuse. Only the goddess knew how much time I had before they exploded.
I marched towards the center of the third floor; the sound being dampened by the thick metal flooring. There was a central staircase that transitioned from metal to wood.
This was the only way to the bell tower. Originally, I was gonna visit it to reminisce, back when Rinara would hide up here. Now, I just needed some fresh air.
Relax, ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇. When thinking becomes too much, just think of me, hehe!
A chilly wind swept from the top of the staircase, along with a voice. Was it an echo of the past, or something real? My heart quickened as I walked up the spiral stairs.
A broken bell, one that was never fixed throughout the endless drifting course of time. It hung in the center of the bell tower, fixed in place with wooden boards. Four metal cutouts in the shape of arched, windowless windows filled the small room.
One of them sat a young woman with golden hair. The artificial window danced her hair around; in between the woman's flowing bangs, I saw the sleeping face of a teenage girl who looked just like her mother.
It should have been obvious who it was, but my heart still stung at the realization.
A single step was all it took to wake the girl up. Her head snapped towards me, and instinctively she jumped back… out of the metal cutout.
"RINNE!"
I ran toward her, dropping my weapon onto the ground. Reaching out, I grabbed her hand. I looked down to see that where she jumped was only a short fall to the roof of the building.
Rinne looked up in a bit of a daze. "Oh, it's you."
"Just what the hell was that?"
I pulled her up. Rinne grabbed the side of the cutout and sat back on it, looking at me with a slightly embarrassed face.
"Sorry," she muttered. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"Well, you did!" I let out a sigh as I pressed my back against the wall and slid down to sit. "Geez, what the hell was that, anyway? Some kind of sleepy-time defense?"
Wait, why was she sleeping up here anyway? She had a room with both Lilas and Sara.
"I…I don't do well with sleeping with others." She said.
"Yet you slept fine last night with Sara."
"That's…that's different."
Different how? No, that doesn't matter.
"If you wanted to hide, why choose this place?" I said, trying to calm myself as I spoke.
Rinne looked at me, then looked towards a particular spot on the wall. Several tallies marked the wall, along with an engraving of the name that Rinara had given me. A name that I dared not look at.
"Why did you come here?" She said, her tone slightly saddened. "Am I in the way?"
"Why would you be in the way?" I asked, but Rinne did not seem to believe those words. Her expression only worsened.
"Was that name another alias?" She continued, ignoring my words.
"…" I took a deep breath. "Yes."
There was nothing more I wished to discuss. It was in the past. Something that no longer belonged to me.
The silence lingered in the air. Seconds to minutes. Until the faint snoring of a young girl filled my ears; she leaned over, her head falling onto my shoulder.
Was she sleep-talking this entire time? If so, that would be great if she never remembered this conversation.
▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇,
"Aster…Dolos,"
I think it's a good name.
"I think…it fits…"
Two voices spoke at the same time. A wet droplet fell onto my hand. One…two…several more followed. I desperately tried to stop the tears from flowing, but I couldn't.
Why did it have to be here of all places that she found? Why did Rinara have to engrave my name on the wall?
Because it's showing you that I still love you.
A dark shadow drifted out from under me and danced around the area, covering the markings on the wall. In an instant, it faded, revealing another tally, freshly carved.
Instead of not forgiving yourself, push that resentment onto me. I deserve it more than you.
"What does that even mean?" I asked. But there was nothing there to answer my question. Just the sound of Rinne sleeping peacefully next to me.
Push that resentment onto her? How could I ever do that? I was the one who killed her. Everything that happened that day was my fault. So, why, why does she want me to blame her?
"…mmhmm…" Rinne shifted herself dangerously close to the edge of the cutout.
Gently, I allowed her hand to rest on the bottom of the window so that I could stand up. I picked her up and placed her on the floor. This way, I wouldn't have to worry about her falling again.
Taking her downstairs into the room with Lilas and Sara would be the smarter move, but as I am now, I'd rather not have anyone else see me.
So…I guess I'll just stay up here. Just to ensure Rinne isn't by herself.
"…mmm…" She rested her head on my lap the moment I sat back down. Something wet was soaking through my pants. As much as I wanted to complain, she was sleeping peacefully.
Seeing her like this…she looks just like Rinara.