A Second Chance Chapter 20: Eye for an Eye
Yo squintiddlies, what is currently skyward? Sorry about the shorter than usual chapter this time around. As I was writing it, I was attempting to make it just a bit longer, but eventually I realized that in order for this chapter to have the effect I intended, it needed to be a little bit shorter. Don't worry though, I'm sure you'll find it to be just as impactful as others! Enjoy!
"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of the infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far..." H. P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu
It was official.
Walking with a healing stab wound hurt like hell.
Yuuki had repeatedly been given the option to stay on bedrest for at least an extra few days, in fact it had even been 'recommended' by the doctor assigned to oversee her. But noooo-... She just had to get up. She just had to herself back onto her feet as soon as possible, and wouldn't take no for an answer.
God, it freakin' hurt!
"And another thing!-..."
Yuuki paused as her pointed ears twitched wildly at the new voice ripping her from her self loathing.
Was that the head nurse just now?...
"Hey! Are you listening?!"
Yeah, that was definitely her, and it was nearby.
Attempting to subtly shuffle over to the door where the yelling originated from was certainly a less than enjoyable task, but she eventually found herself leaning against the entrance of a patient's room.
"If you don't learn a hint of respect for those around you, I can promise you that the rest of your stay here will be an unpleasant one, no matter how long it is!"
She certainly sounded less than thrilled. Yuuki had never heard the head nurse so annoyed in the few days she'd been her patient.
Just who else was behind that door?
"Are you really threatening a patient?..." A different voice answered the head nurse. Male, and not much older than Yuuki herself by the sounds of it.
"I'm telling you to shape up Mr. Nochizawa!"
"How about this instead; you leave me alone, and I won't kill and mutilate a small animal and leave it's corpse on your car's hood. That sound fair? Nice compromise?"
Well that seemed unnecessary, Yuuki found herself half whispering.
"If you keep staring into your Augma all day you'll grow thick in the head!"
"Would you fuck off?!"
"I am, don't worry!"
Yuuki blinked as she watched the visibly flustered head nurse storm out of the room, remaining silent as she stomped over to the nursing station.
Now, as they always say; curisoity isn't always good. Curiosity is a thing to be practiced with a certain sense of selectively.
Curiosity killed the cat.
...Yuuki dearly hoped she wasn't she wasn't the cat in this instance.
Within moments she was hobbling over to the half ajar door and was sticking her head in before her rational side could convince her otherwise.
Greeting her was a rather unimpressive sight. Just a young man with several broken limbs sitting in a wheelchair, his identity concealed by the shadows.
"...Get out of here, kid."
It was the male voice from before, though it was certainly much less energized than it had been only moments prior.
"Kid?"
"You hard of hearing? Just get out!" He was nearly yelling now... Yuuki dearly hoped the nurses hadn't heard that.
"I'm 16; I'm not a kid."
"Yeah, and I'm 20. We done playing 'what's your age'?"
"Yeah, let's play 'what's your problem' next." Yuuki crossed her arms, doing her best to adopt an annoyed expression despite the twinge of pain she felt shoot through her, "She was trying to help."
"I don't care... She's not-... She's not..."
"What she 'is' is trying to help." Yuuki pressed, though she was only rewarded by a spiteful hiss from the young man.
"...The nurses put you up to this?"
"The nurses don't even know I'm in-..." Yuuki found herself hesitating as her eyes focused in on the man's face, "Wait a sec... You look kinda familiar-..."
"JUST GET OUT ALREADY!"
And moments later Yuuki found herself dodging various airborne items sailing towards her noggin.
Some dodged with less grace than others.
"Jeez, okay! I'm going, I'm- OW! Was that a shoe?!-... OW! I said I'm going!"
To say Yuuki scampered out of the room was the understatement of the year. The poor girl practically had to leap out of the way of flying objects as she ducked out of the room.
It was only when she was finally safely out of the room with the door shut- firmly- behind her that she let out a weary sigh.
That certainly hadn't gone as well as she'd hoped-...
"Yuuki?..."
Yuuki whirled around. Had she been caught?!
No-... No, it was just Klein, but...
The look etched on his face certainly wasn't a happy one...
"Yuuki... We've been looking all over for you..." His words were tired and heavy, as if weighed down by a thousand years of life.
"A-...Asuna is awake..."
"Fine."
"Fine?"
"Fine... If you think this'll work, then count me in..." Shino's voice was low as she held out Nezumi's pistol towards her.
"No hesitation." Nezumi chuckled as she accepted the firearm, "I like this one Boss-man-..."
"On one condition."
"Eh?"
"You pay for Kazuto's medical bills... Every last one of them, for however long it takes for him to wake up; I don't want to hear about a single cent of debt from the Kirigaya's..." Shino fell silent for a few moments before adding; "...Pulling the plug is not an option, do you understand me?..."
"Mmm... Very well, you have yourself a deal Miss Asada." Seijirou nodded towards his blonde haired partner, "Nezumi, if you would?"
"Yup yup." Nezumi clicked her tongue, "So Shino-..."
"Do I look like Shino?..."
"Hmm?"
"Never mind..." The girl's stare was hard; almost soulless, "Now what is it?..."
"You know anything about Gjöll?"
"You're referring to what Kyouji told me?"
"Y'know... Gjöll." Nezumi waved her hand around, as if attempting to conjure some little image of the place from the ether, "Whaddya think it is?"
"Knowing Kyouji and his brother? He was probably referring to the actual Gjöll. The bridge between the worlds of the living and the dead." Shino mumbled, clasping her hands together as she wracked her brain, "There're several references to it in ALO, I think, but I don't know much about it past that."
"Yeah. I read his report. 'Sterben'. Can't be much more on the nose about stuff, can ya?" Nezumi chuckled, "He always been this literal?"
"Yeah. Ever since we met really."
"So you don't think there's any way Gjöll might be some sorta-... I dunno... Password?"
Sinon shook her head, "No... Kyouji told me someone was guarding something at Gjöll, not Gjöll guarding something."
"Hmm... You're right, that makes sense-..." Nezumi trapped her chin, before letting out an aggravated sigh, "Guess that's just another thing to check off the list."
"List?"
"The list've shit that by all accounts shouldn't even exist."
"Wha?..."
"You said it yourself; your friend was talking about the real deal..." Nezumi seemed almost smug as she spoke, "You name it... Gjöll, Lazarus, Kii-boy's social skills... Believe it or not they all exist; even if you never see'm."
"I've seen more than enough, believe me..." Sinon glowered, pointedly choosing to ignore the comment regarding Kazuto, "But that doesn't matter. Hate to say it, but you shouldn't listen to Kyouji."
"Why?"
"He nearly raped and killed me. I cared for him, but it doesn't mean I'm stupid. He wasn't right in the head by the time I visited him in the hospital. Even if he was referring to Lazarus and Gjöll as if they were real, there's no way to tell if they're actually real or if he was stuck in another delusion."
"He wasn't."
"How would you know?" Sinon asked as the anger in her voice spiked for but a moment. Was this smug blonde munchkin for real?!
"Welp, guess hiding it's only gonna make you wonder..." Nezumi let out yet another melodramatic sigh as she placed a hand on her cheek, "Whaddya think Boss-man? Should we tell'er? Ignorance might be bliss."
"We should." Seijirou agreed as he tightened his tie, "Bliss or no, she's got a right to know now, especially considering the Children of the Grave is after 'it' as well... Miss Asada; I believe its time we told you exactly what's going on..."
"Oh good..." Shino rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to fling a few choice words their way, "Here we go again..."
"Works for me, but-..." Nezumi turned to Shino, her usual smug tone conspicuously absent, "I'm warnin' you... It's not an easy pill t'swallow."
"Neither was watching Kazuto get shot in front of me-..."
"This isn't a game. You ain't gettin' yourself involved in a quest or event here, this is real, and it's serious." Nezumi interrupted, her expression as dark as the night sky, "This is your last chance t'walk away and forget this conversation happened..."
"She's right; ignorance truly may be bliss in this situation Miss Asada..."
Seijirou adjusted his glasses as he gazed down upon Shino, his expression unreadable.
"...What do you chose?"
...
"...Talk."
The room was so bright...
So bright, and pristine; as if every surface in the room had been scrubbed of personality in favor of utilitarianism.
Yet still-... It felt enclosed, perhaps even suffocating.
Just like the room she had been trapped in for so long-... Complete with the Medicuboid hanging over Asuna's ghostly pale form like a massive high-tech noose, looming above it's victim.
It was almost a challenge when she first arrived, to stand so close to the machine that she'd spent the final moments of her previous life encased in like a caged bird, yet-...
Yet the moment she saw her, those reservations went right out the window.
"Asuna!"
There was no response.
She'd prepared to see Asuna in bad shape on her way over. Klein had given her ample warning, and so she knew-... She knew to be prepared. She'd prepared to see her broken, beaten, and exhausted.
Or at least... She thought she had...
"Yuu-... Yuuki?..."
"Oh thank God!" Yuuki found herself exclaiming as she hurriedly shuffled over to the side of Asuna's cot, resisting the urge to throw herself atop the frail looking woman, "I'm so sorry Asuna, I was such an idiot! I just heard you call out my name and I froze up and-..."
"Yuuki?... Is that you?"
...
...What?
"Huh? Asuna what're you?-..." Yuuki found her voice faltering as she watched as Asuna began to glance to and fro, her chest rising and falling rapidly.
"Where-... Yuuki?!..."
Her head was lopsided, despite the panicked expression on her face. It hung nearly freely, as if the young woman possessed little to no coordination...
"Asuna?!..." And that previous resistance that had held her back moments before evaporated in but an instant, as she leaned down until her face was only inches from Asuna's own, "Wh-What's wrong?!"
"I-..." Asuna's shaky hand reached out tentatively to brush gently against the Imp's cheek, "No one's telling me why-..."
And that's when Yuuki finally realized, as her gut twisted inside out.
Asuna's eyes were quickly darting around the room like a moth, searching-... Searching for her.
"No..."
Yuuki could have sworn she felt herself attempting stand up, the rush of wind around her body as she shot to her feet.
Yet moments later she was on the ground, staring up at her dearest friend- the friend that had taken a blow from Johnny Black in her place- helplessly.
Her heart pounded in her ears. It overcame her senses, as if her very body was attempting to deny the revelation that overtook her like a tidal wave.
"No, no, no!... Please, no!..."
"Yuuki?... Where did you?-... Where are you?..."
Her eyes...
They were unfocused. Devoid of the shine Yuuki had come to adore.
They were... Blank...
"Why is it so dark?..."
There's your Eiji boys and gals, just as Eiji as ever!... Get it? Cuz he's edgy, and his name's-... I'll shut up now.