0 000 004
"Wake up."
"…"
"Wake up."
"…"
"Wake up, Lorelei."
Lorelei gently opened her eyes and let out a long groan before sitting upright. She looked around to find the car—once covered in her own blood—completely clean, exactly as it had been before. Beyond the window, fields of hay and clusters of houses drifted past. The sun was out, shining brighter than ever, warming part of the seat.
"How long did I sleep?" she asked, still shaken.
"A day."
Lorelei got onto her knees and looked back, but the rear window was hidden behind a black veil. She let out a long sigh before sitting down again. Gradually, the memories of what had happened in the city crept back to her. No tears came to her eyes; only her gaze remained hollow.
"What do I do now… what do I…"
"The pillar. Go to the pillar."
Lorelei looked down at her gloves and the weapons lying beneath the seats. She picked them up and held them close—gun and sword alike. Even then, not a single tear fell. Regret, gushing regret, gnawed at her from within. She set the weapons aside, pulled on her gloves, and watched through the window as the pillar of light slipped farther and farther away by the mile.
"Get down."
Lorelei tried the door handle, but nothing budged. It stayed completely still. She opened the compartment where Brant had placed the energy stone, but the moment she reached in to take it, a shock ran through her hand. She tried her other hand, covered by the black glove, yet the energy stone refused to move.
"Fuck!"
She struck the door in anger, but the car only lurched over a big bump.
"Calm down. Getting angry won't help you get down."
"Then what do you suggest, genius?! Huh? Tell me!"
"Wait until it runs out of energy."
"Then what?! Walk all the way back here?!"
"You can find a carriage or something."
"Shut up! You aren't helping at all!"
"I'm doing my best to help you, alright? Don't take your anger out on me."
"Then your best isn't worth shit! You could've warned me if you knew this would happen!"
"…"
Lorelei looked down at the gun and opened the barrel. Inside, three fresh energy stones lay perfectly clear.
"Don't, Lorelei. You'll die."
"There's no other way, is there?" she asked sarcastically.
"…"
Lorelei took one of the energy stones out. She looked at it, her hand trembling, and took a deep breath.
"Everything will explode with it."
The black glove was resistant to such explosions, but Lorelei wasn't sure the white one would be.
"A numeral's medium can't be destroyed."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Even with the figure's confirmation, Lorelei didn't want to take any risks. She shoved both gloves into her mouth and looked down at her weapons. She had no idea how powerful the explosion would be—no way to tell if they would be leveled with the car.
I…
"Lorelei. Don't do that."
Despite the figure's warning, she picked up the sword and slowly pulled up her torn shirt. She held the hem with her teeth and guided the blade with her hands.
"Don't. Suicide shouldn't become normal."
"Mfhm, mfhm."
She wanted to speak, but her mouth was full of gloves. Lorelei brought the tip of the blade to her stomach and clenched her teeth tightly. With almost surgical precision, she made a single cut from the bottom of her stomach up to her clavicle. She groaned in agony but didn't stop. Her blood slowly poured out over her hands and the rest of the car.
"If you're going to do this, hurry."
She took the gun and lodged it inside her body before storing the sword inside as well. Bit by bit, her consciousness slipped away.
"Hurry up."
Lorelei took the stone and clenched it in her palm. She used the last of her strength to concentrate, directing the energy in her body into the stone. Two seconds later, a light flooded the car, and an explosion went off.
0 000 005
"Get up."
A single call from the figure was enough to wake Lorelei. She sat up, feeling unsettled. When her mind settled, she opened her eyes to a spectacle of white particles swirling around the car and slowly entering her. Blood stains dissolved within those particles—and not just those, but also the remains of her previous organs. A moment later, the particles cleared, and Lorelei could see the car properly. The doors had buckled slightly on both sides, as had the rest of the car's shell. The seats were completely destroyed, save for the small portion she was sitting on. The good news was that the car had stopped moving. She picked up both gloves and slipped them on. Her gaze settled on her torso, which had yet to dissolve into particles. The sword and gun were there, right inside it. She took the gun and tucked it away by reflex, but there was nothing to hang it on. Her clothes, too, had faded along with the rest of her body.
"Shit!" she screamed in frustration.
"I told you. Nothing good comes from killing yourself. Don't do that again."
Lorelei pulled the sword from her torso and kicked open the door, which fell the instant she touched it. She peered outside, taking in her surroundings. A short distance from the car, she spotted a small town.
"Get some clothes before we go to the pillar."
She jumped out, weapons in hand, and walked toward the town. A few minutes later, she stood before a brick house, seemingly built by hand. The roof was damaged, and the bricks were cracked.
"Knock, ask for some, and leave."
Lorelei did as the figure said, and a middle-aged woman answered the door. She was plainly surprised to see Lorelei without clothes, but when she caught sight of the sword, she immediately tried to close the door. Lorelei blocked it with her foot.
"Could I borrow some clothes?"
The woman seemed disturbed, but when Lorelei showed no sign of hostility, she let go of the door.
"Come… come in."
She was obviously wary of the whole situation but decided to let her in anyway. The house was modestly decorated but poorly kept. Candles lit the place instead of the lightbulbs powered by energy stones. The woman disappeared into a room, rummaged around for a moment, and returned with a pair of pants. She handed them to Lorelei, who put them on and disappeared back inside. A loud noise came from that room, followed by the woman's groan. Lorelei went to see what was happening and felt something poke her back. The woman turned to face her.
"Those weapons. Drop them," she ordered.
Lorelei was confused by what was going on, but the poke edged into a scrape on her back.
"Do as she says, and you'll leave unharmed," a man's voice came from behind.
Through her confusion, Lorelei understood what was happening. They were trying to take everything she was carrying.
"Leave the clothes too," the man added.
She ducked down, swiped his legs, and stomped on him, breaking both his arms in the process. Bottled-up emotions resurfaced. The anger she held against herself for failing to help Brant and Samuel poured out onto the miserable man beneath her feet.
"Stop! Stop! You'll kill him!"
The woman rushed over and grabbed Lorelei but froze in place. She had been in direct contact, skin to skin, for too long, and she fell to the ground, dead. The sudden death startled Lorelei out of her rampage, and she knelt before the woman. The man turned and screamed for help.
"Kill him too."
Lorelei looked down at the woman.
"Kill the other too. Before he calls more people. Then you'll have to kill even more. Either finish them both or deal with fifty others."
Lorelei got up and took her sword. She glared at the man quivering beneath her, then struck him down as he shouted for help. His body slowly emptied of blood and went still.
"Get used to it. There's no respite for the weak."
She pulled the blade free and gave it a swift flick to clean the blood from its tip. The woman who had dropped dead from touching her began to fade into particles. Lorelei watched until her body dissolved completely into blue light.
"Isn't it more beautiful that way? Leaving nothing behind. No blood, no body, no grieving, nothing."
She crouched down to grab the shirt, but her eyes landed on a white jacket—as white as it could possibly be. She made haste, pulling on the shirt before taking the jacket. Just as she reached the door, a child looked up at her. He was no more than six. A headache hit her, and she crumpled to the ground as a rush of images filled her head. She saw the child, and the man she had just killed, from another point of view—as if she were living those memories with them. The child peeked through the door to see the bloodied body of what seemed to be his father.
"Kill him too."
"I…"
"Blood is repaid by blood. Kill him."
Lorelei looked down at her hands and tucked the gun into her pants.
"No! I can't do that."
"Why? Is it wrong to kill? Is that it? When will you understand that you can't afford to leave anything behind that could come back to you? Stop relying on those morals—they'll only get you killed."
"I'm not doing it. That's it," she said firmly.
Lorelei put on the jacket and opened the door she had entered through, only to meet a raging storm of snow. It blew back her hair and jacket. She slammed the door shut and took a few steps back.
"Stay here until it calms down."
The boy hid behind the couch and stared at her. Lorelei stared back, and he ducked down.
"Kill him, Lorelei. What if he grows up and comes back for you? What will you do then?"
"When that time comes, I'll kill him. For now, he hasn't done anything to me."
She walked to the wall, sat down, and let out a deep sigh. Snow was leaking in through the roof, along with the cold wind. The child shivered in the corner farthest from Lorelei. Snow slowly piled up on his head, but he refused to move. He seemed afraid of her—Lorelei had noticed it the first time their eyes met. She got up, entered the room where the body lay, took the blanket from the bed, and walked to the child. His trembling fingers tried to push her away, but she went ahead anyway, wiping the snow from his head before wrapping him in the blanket. Then she returned to her corner and sat down.
"Doesn't he remind you of yourself back then? Weak and frail."
"Shut it."
She lay down on the floor and covered herself with the white jacket.
"You knew… you knew it would happen, right?" she asked.
"What?"
"That attack. The explosions. You knew they were coming, didn't you?"
"Yes. I did."
Lorelei bit her lip, trying to calm herself.
"Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Tell you and risk changing the future even more? Is that what you wanted? Even if I'd told you, Brant and Samuel wouldn't have just left—you know them. They'd have evacuated the whole city and been the last to leave."
"…"
"Let things happen the way they should. Even I don't know everything about the future. As I already told you, you are different from us."
"Who is this us?"
"..."
"Tell me."
"Get some sleep. Tomorrow we leave for the pillar."
The figure stayed quiet. Lorelei glanced at the little boy, already fast asleep. She turned, faced the wall, and fell asleep herself.