I breathed out again; the journey through Kenny2’s life was finally over.
Henry held in his arms, and when I moved my head, he turned us away from the corpse.
"Don’t look." He said before he cupped my face.
"Are you alright? Do you know who you are?"
"Mhm, I know," I answered, tapping his heart two tis as proof.
Though, I don’t know exactly how I was feeling.
Oh, I know.
I feel like vomiting.
I pushed Henry away and vomited acid all over the crystalline earth.
The dog clung to from behind, not really helping by doing so.
When I finished, I was pulled into strong arms again.
"I am sorry that you had to do that; I am so sorry."
"Why did you...?" The commander’s voice ca from behind Henry, and I heard one of the office guys taking a sharp breath, probably at seeing the corpse.
Henry covered my ears before he turned back to yell in a volu I hadn’t heard from him.
"ANOTHER THOUGHTLESS WORD AND YOU WILL DIE." The dog emitted all killing intent—which was so cute that it made break into a grin—before he continued to take care of , patting my back, combing through my hair, and whispering reassuring things.
"Everything is fine. Don’t think of him anymore. You did so well."
I nodded against his chest.
Yeah. I did fucking well.
I had already learned that I had to eliminate any danger before it would grow out of control.
If I had killed Kenny2 the first ti I t him inside the Little City World, he wouldn’t have later run around, killing a few survivors who still hid inside the crater containing the South District in the Deer Monster World and a few other office people he t along the way.
Can’t hesitate in these situations anymore.
"Thank you!" The voice of a little girl sounded, and when I turned my head to look at her while still embedded in Henry’s arms, I saw her bowing deeply, her crystalline counterpart doing the sa.
A little girl, probably not even ten years old, with black eyes, black hair, and a blue sailor school uniform that seed to be in good condition, contrary to the Office Guy’s suits.
She held a branch in her hand, not of crystal but of real wood, and her counterpart had prolonged its arm in the shape of the branch.
It was the latter that had stopped Kenny2 from killing the little girl and giving him the bloody mouth. The girl had used her counterpart like a pro, utilizing it as a proxy to fight.
Her whole appearance made her look as if she had just jumped straight out of a manga.
"No problem." I mumbled while putting my arms around Henry and clinging back to him.
"My mother." She continued with a thick accent.
Having raised her upper body again, she pointed in a direction, apparently not fluent in our language besides a few words.
"Let’s go there," I decided, not letting go of Henry, who either got the hint or would have carried anyway, as he lifted up.
"If you look back, I will have to punish you." He threatened quietly in my ear as he started to follow the girl and her counterpart, leading us toward the direction her mother was in, across the hill.
Curiously, on top of the hill were no crystalline figures besides the girl’s counterpart, even though there were no trees, and it would be a perfect spot to snatch more sunlight.
"Mhm." I closed my eyes and rested my head on his shoulder, putting the hamr I had dropped at so point away with a hand motion, not looking at the grueso scene I left behind.
I didn’t give a fuck about the commander’s sudden pity for Kenny2, even though he was the one who tried to kill the first ti I t him because he believed I was my counterpart.
And I didn’t care if the office guys were now scared of .
I will save whoever wants to be saved; the rest can go fuck themselves and die.
Though, to my surprise, everyone followed obediently behind us without making a peep.
Maybe I should have felt a power surge from killing Kenny2, but instead, I was just groggy and a bit more traumatized than I had been all along. Well, I was already powerful as hell from defeating the giant, even though my ability didn’t give a shit about obeying ; Kenny2’s wimpy upgrade was just a drop in the ocean.
Still, let’s try.
I tried to flip the table in my mind, and it worked. I tried to imagine ho, but a scene from my world didn’t rge with this reality to give a chance to go back with the others.
In my last attempt, I flipped the coin while Henry carried , even risking experiencing a new gay adventure because I just wanted to get ho and because I couldn’t bring myself to touch anyone else at that mont when my stomach was still roiling from what I had witnessed.
Palm: black; eyes and ears uncovered; correct future of Henry.
I stand beside him in a crystalline landscape, only that in this field, there are no trees or flowers. Instead, there are dozens, maybe even hundreds, of crystalline figures.
Everyone is in a different position; so are lying down, so look as if they are hugging, so as if they are fighting, so are on the side, and so walk sowhere so slowly it can only be called slow motion.
I look to my side and see not only Henry but also other survivors.
And I see myself saying, "Tomorrow. Follow the figures."
I instantly know that this ssage is ant for .
The survivors, as well as and the Henry of tomorrow, are standing still and watching the crystalline spectacle above, partly scared, partly hopeful.
And then it happens; the air at the end of the field wavers.
Everyone can feel an imnse energy working on sothing, sothing changing, sothing opening.
We can see a big street in the middle of the city, cars that had co to a halt, and people on the other side who ran when they noticed the portal or who just froze in fear or awe.
I see my future self raising a hand, signaling everyone to not rush forward—to instead just stay still and watch.
I also turn back to the figures, fearing they would leave their world and cross the portal to our own.
But they don’t do it.
They close in on the portal, but they don’t cross, like curious puppies that still fear leaving their nest.
I collectively breathe a sigh of relief with my future self.
Then I see myself move my hand, motioning for everyone to go between and around the figures to the portal.
Slowly, very slowly.
Quietly, very quietly.
Nothing could go wrong when we were so close to ho.
I comb through my hair and watch them go as I clench my jaw, getting agitated as I was rooting for them.
Yet, before everyone made it even halfway to the portal, the vision cut off as I was pulled out and back to Henry’s arms.
"Vision?" he asked while carrying steadily.
"Mhm. Tomorrow a portal opens..." I hoped it was a portal leading ho, and it should be, as the street felt familiar.
I flipped the coin continuously but didn’t receive another vision, the coin just refusing to give more than a damn teaser.
I tightened my hold around Henry’s neck, my eyes still closed, though we had already co down from the hill and had left my smashed counterpart long behind.
"But I don’t have a good feeling about this."
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