Brant waved his hand around, trying to get people to listen, but the chaos from the first explosion drowned out his efforts.
"Rei! Rei! Get a hold of yourself, please!" he pleaded as he ran, but Lorelei was still shaken.
"Brant! Get Janil! Give her to me!"
Brant handed Lorelei to Samuel and ran in the opposite direction. Lorelei's blood dripped onto Samuel's arms at an alarming rate.
"Fuck this!"
He laid her on the ground, ripped off his shirt, and wrapped it around her stomach. She coughed up blood when he applied pressure.
"Rei! Listen, listen to me!" His voice trembled, but he did his best to keep his composure. "I'm going to shoot that bolt right out of the air, but I need you to run to the mansion and grab my single-shot gun from the arsenal. The long one. Be quick, please!"
Lorelei nodded and slowly got up, clutching her stomach in pain.
I can't die now.
She started walking, step by step, drawing further and further from Samuel, who was assembling a gun and aiming it at the incoming bolt. Once he was done, he set it on the ground, and energy began circling rapidly around him into the crystal.
I can't die now.
She took small steps and stumbled a few times before reaching the staircase. Lorelei dragged herself up by her hands, leaving a trail of blood on each step. Once at the top, she turned onto her back to catch her breath. At that moment, in the middle of the sky, a beam of light went off and collided with the incoming bolt. A loud explosion rang out, and smoke spread across the sky as an enormous amount of energy dissipated over the city. The explosion was a sign that Samuel had already fired, so she hastened and got up. Lorelei reached the mansion's door, pushed it open, and fell to her knees.
I can't die now.
"Need a hand?"
Lorelei looked up to see Iria reaching out her hand.
"You don't look so good, do you?" she said sarcastically.
"The ci–" she coughed up blood. "The city…"
"Is under attack is what you're trying to say?"
Lorelei nodded.
"Well, it was bound to happen one day or another. After all, Vinyl sits right next to the border with Arstelan. It's a miracle these unpredictable bastards didn't attack us these past few years. It is what it is, I guess."
Lorelei was dumbfounded by what Iria had just said. She wanted to speak, but her words were replaced by a gush of blood.
"Wow… Don't die on me now; I still need you."
She knelt to Lorelei's level and raised her hands over the wound. Energy particles emanated from her hands, a vibrant shade of orange that turned light green upon contact. Lorelei's skin slowly regenerated around the debris. When it had fully closed over it, Iria pulled the debris out with her fingers and tightened the cloth to stop the bleeding.
"This should let you live a little longer. Maybe an hour or two. If everyone's going to share the same fate, can't have you be special," she said with a smile.
"Why ar–"
"I'd hurry up if I were you. Arstelan doesn't stop until they get what they want. They are the first kingdom for a reason. But before you leave, I need you to answer my question properly."
Lorelei met her eyes; Iria's glare was piercing, almost intimidating. She was the duchess, yet she seemed utterly unconcerned about what was happening in the city.
"I'm tired of lying, you know? Lies after lies after lies after lies. That's what I've done my whole life," she scoffed a little. "Maybe I really do take after her. Both I and that crazy wretch were the same in that regard, deceiving others."
Her gaze never left Lorelei's.
"Tell me. What happened to my brother? What happened to Clovis?"
She violently grabbed Lorelei's hair and yanked her up.
"Say it."
"He– h–"
Lorelei was choking on her own blood, but a sharp slap from Iria made her spit it out.
"He's dead," she said, looking straight into her eyes.
Iria laughed a little.
"For real, for real? You mean it, right?"
Lorelei nodded slightly.
"Amazing!"
Iria seized the back of Lorelei's head and slammed her face against the ground repeatedly. Her nose broke, and her skull fractured. Her mind was dissolving with every blow, yet she managed to stay conscious. Just as she thought Iria was going to kill her, a warm feeling embraced her face. Her fractured skull knit back together, and the rest of her face regenerated.
"One or two hours just became thirty minutes. That's how much time you have left to live. You pissed me off a little. As for me, I don't have to keep up this stupid farce anymore."
She got up and drew the sword hanging from her waist. Iria held it with both hands and brought it to Lorelei's throat.
"Those Filvel followers believe in that crap about heaven or hell. What makes the difference between a righteous human and an evil one?"
Lorelei breathed in and out as best she could, trying not to choke on the blood again.
"Nothing but morals. Morals imposed by themselves. Without morals, how can you tell right from wrong? There'd be no way of saying this is right or this is wrong. Humans are born from nature; therefore, they follow nature's only rule: the strongest survives. Kill someone, and their sibling or relative might just kill you. Repay blood with blood. And live to make memories you grow fond of. That's how a life is supposed to be lived—not bound by some petty morals about right and wrong."
"Then—what do you believe happens after you d–" Lorelei coughed heavily, struggling to find her words.
Iria slid the blade along her throat, drawing a small drop of blood onto the silver edge.
"A choice. I believe we make a choice."
Lorelei reached out, grabbed her leg, and used it to stand.
"I've already gone way past my allotted time. Thirty minutes, Reili. Thirty minutes is what you've got. Create some memories for yourself in those thirty minutes. After all, memories never fade."
She slit her own throat cleanly with the blade, and a wave of blood gushed out before splattering all over Lorelei. She stood still, watching the spectacle unfold as Iria's body dropped dead on the floor. Lorelei's hair was completely dyed in Iria's blood, giving her silver hair a crimson shade. Part of her face was spared because of her bangs, but even then, she was unrecognizable.
"Touch her body."
The voice resonated in her mind.
"Take her memories. They will be useful to you."
Lorelei looked at the blood puddle spreading across the mansion floor, then at her hands, covered by bloodied gloves. A loud explosion rang out again, snapping Lorelei out of her thoughts, and she ran up the stairs. She opened the library door and went through Samuel's arsenal until she found the long gun he'd mentioned. Lorelei struggled to carry it down because of its weight, but she managed to get it to the main door. Brant was there, apparently waiting for her—but when she opened the door, he saw Iria's body.
"Is she dead?" he asked, almost unbothered.
Lorelei nodded.
"I see…"
"She… she killed herself," Lorelei barely managed to mutter.
"…"
"…"
"Rei. Give me that."
Brant reached out and took the gun from her.
"You gotta get out of here. Now. You have a better chance of living if you leave the city than if you stay."
"What about you… and… and Samuel?"
"We can't just abandon them. This is our city. Our people. Our lives. You don't need to take part in this fight. Samuel and I will take care of this. Ya hear me?"
He grabbed Lorelei and ran toward the car.
"What are you doing?!" she screamed. "Let go! I can fight too! Let me go!"
"No can do. You need to go, Rei. I can't have you die here. This isn't how it ends for you."
"It doesn't matter! I can just revive when I die! Let me stay!"
"What nonsense are ya spouting? There's no such thing as coming back to life after dying. You have only one life. Live it well, Rei."
A flash of black lightning appeared behind Brant, almost piercing him, but Samuel blocked it right in front of Lorelei. Samuel clashed weapons with a masked man who seemed to be the source of the lightning.
"Argh!"
He pushed him back, but he was severely injured. A piece of debris was lodged in his back, yet despite that, he bore the pain and shielded both Brant and Lorelei. Brant tossed Lorelei into the car, along with her sword and gun.
"Brant! Don't do this! I can fight, I'm telling you!"
He lightly flicked her forehead and smiled.
"Since when did I teach you to be a crybaby? Don't die, and maybe we'll meet again. Reunite, like a real family."
Loud clashes between Samuel and the masked man overtook their conversation.
"Brant! Little help here! I'm gonna bleed out before this bastard kills me!"
Brant turned and threw the gun in the air. The masked man tried to grab it, but Samuel kicked him down. Lorelei noticed three horns on his forehead. Three white horns. Before she knew it, Brant had removed the car's energy stone and was about to replace it.
"Loyalty and care. That's what it means to be a Fidelya. Remember that, Reili."
He pushed the energy stone in and shut the door before joining Samuel, who was struggling to keep up with the horned man's pace. The car let out a loud roar before starting up. Lorelei desperately tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. She banged on the window as hard as she could, but only her fist ended up damaged. She tore off both gloves and hit the window even harder.
"Let me out! I can fight too! Let me out!" she screamed in agony.
Lorelei kept hitting the window until her knuckles popped out, but even then she didn't stop. The glass showed no sign of shattering—only her bones did. The car tore through the streets of Vinyl at an exhilarating speed. She saw people being torn apart. Some had their insides exposed. Others who could still move tried to help those who couldn't. Another bolt dropped down, and with its explosion, another part of the city fell victim to disappearance. At this rate, Vinyl would become a graveyard.
"Calm down."
"Shut the fuck up! Don't tell me to calm down!"
"You'll accelerate your death if you keep this up."
"Shut it! Shut it! You hear me?! Shut it!"
"…"
"I will die and come back again! You hear me?! I will die and come back!"
The rate at which her fist struck the window gradually slowed. The wound on her stomach reopened, and so did her skull. She fell back onto the seat; the last thing she saw through the bloodied window was a pillar of orange light piercing the skies—the same one Shiniel had produced at the arena. Her blood flowed rapidly and drowned the car seats in a bold red. The two-tone gloves sitting beside her took on the same shade as the inside of her body, and so did the rest of the car. Both gifts, she would remember.
"I will… die… and… come… back…"
"Lay to rest… and rise again."
Arc 3: The city of dreams
End.