'Damn it.'
When I was still prying shards out of my tongue, the system–no, an ebony window–appeared just inches from my glass glittered face.
[Unforeseen Adversary: Face the fear]
[ A- Provoke her further to receive a reward / B- Rest in pieces ]
'Hah.'
'Even now?'
Ignoring the stinging pain, I dragged my punctured lips and mouthed the letter "A".
The window flickered, before reappearing clearer than ever.
Walls of text flooded my vision—Miata's birth, her past, her secrets—layer upon layer, like flesh peeled back to expose the raw sinews beneath.
A basket stacked to the brim with ingredients.
Laid out neatly.
Just for me.
Fine.
Let's spin the tale of the hazy mistress.
After finishing that pitiful tale, my tongue was at its limits. If I had moved it even a tad more, I would die choking from the blood swirling down my throat.
And yet, there was nothing.
No response nor reward.
Just the awkward silence and the gaze of contempt from the lady whose secrets got spilled.
'...Fuck.'
I swallowed the last bit of pooling blood.
The irony of it almost made me laugh–
or perhaps vomit.
Maybe both.
"...Such an interesting story." Miata adjusted her coat.
She stepped two steps forward, eyes still locked on mine.
In that instant, I felt something graze my cheek–warm blood trailing down to my lips
A terrible noise echoed behind me. A rat—or what was left of it. The poor creature was crying out its last breath, as its decimated body weakly surrendered to the cold stone floor.
It was too fast for the human eye to capture. In just a fraction of a second, the very beam that grazed my cheek blasted the rat into smithereens.
"Tch. Hit the wrong rat."
Miata raised her index at me.
Another beam tore through the haze.
It punched straight through my chest.
Heat followed—searing—before the wound sealed itself shut.
Leaving behind a half-cauterized crater on the right pectoral.
I swallowed the squeals of pain threatening to escape my mouth.
'Is this the reward you're talking about?'
"So what's the deal? You thought I'll let you go after spilling all of my secrets?"
A water beam hissed and pierced right through my left shoulder, exposing the throbbing muscles beneath.
'three'
"That's as smart as you can get? Well-fitted for an imperfect vermin like yourself."
Two continuous shots drove through my neck and abdomen, the wounds burned with intensity and closed their mouths as smoke rose.
'five'
I clenched my mouth, the gripping pain rippled throughout my body.
If this old body hadn't been that of a hunter, I might as well be dead from the shock.
"Acting high and mighty…as if you're perfect yourself…Miss Cyclops?". Gritting my teeth, my bloodied mouth forced a smile.
The lady momentarily lowers her finger at the comment.
"That night was quite a hell for yar wasn't it? A premature newborn soaking in the storm. Especially for one without an eye"
I laughed. But it sounded like I was choking on glass each time.
"How did such a pitiful thing even grow up to become just like its father? A mere beast without a heart."
The finger is raised at me once more, ready to fire.
But…something has changed.
"You…Roland was it?"
A condensed droplet sits at her finger tip–full front towards my forehead, however it flickered with uncertainty.
"Who really are you? You don't resemble anyone from the Lupos. How do you even possess such knowledge?"
In my struggle, I crawled one step closer to her. Breathing heavy with each movement.
Finally, I got close enough to it.
"Would you believe it if I tell you that I'm one of your mother's brothers?"
"..." Miata lowers her finger.
Gotcha.
Before I could celebrate my small victory, a burning pain crashed through my liver. Blood started pooling before the wound cauterised.
Tittered laughs resound, dry and sharp like glass sliding down an old rag.
"Uncle? Are you still kicking?"
It seems my luck is almost running dry.
"Such a shame, I wish I had an uncle. Too bad daddy's gone out killin' any remaining relatives of mother''
'' It's for my own safety, he said."
I vomited a handful of old blood.
'six'
"C'mon, don't be so harsh on your uncle. Children grow up so fast these days" Heckling my way out of range.
Miata's finger moved again, this time not just a droplet–but a whole orb the size of a head revolving around it.
"Alright then Unc. Here's a welcome gift."
Her finger tip slid in a straight line to my lower half.
"I Hope you'll stay a bit longer. We have some catching up to do, don't we?".
'Fuck. She's going to blast my legs off'
I felt a shiver down my spine, perhaps it was the blood lost. Or the fact that I'm about to become a legless potato.
"Ah…that's so kind of you. Well uncle got a gift for yar.''
"Hmm? let's save th-"
I spit the pool of blood in my mouth into her face.
Pieces of glass mixed in the sanguine smoothie now adorned nicely on her visage.
"OH! YOU FUCKE–". Miata instinctively fired the swirling orb.
The blast was way off target, it bored a hole on the side wall–A massive gap that could fit a whole carriage.
'seven'
Miata's figure fell back, accidentally knocking over the already dimmed lantern. The night slowly consumes us as the flickering flame dies down.
One by one, each binding fell off my limbs. All of that crawling was just for this glass shard.
I steeled myself and ignored the mountain of wounds on my body. With each breath I took, it felt as if flames were roasting my lungs.
Closing the distance between us, I plunged the shard into Miata's face.
The piece of glass punctured her eyesocket, groaning a skin rattling sound. The thing tore open a harsh wound where her glass eye was–shattering it completely.
Twisting the shard against her head. A strange sense of satisfaction rippled though my hand.
With each twist, Miata's insufferable screeches reverberate in the darkness as she waddles aimlessly like a puppet whose strings were severed.
"A gift for old time sake, my dear niece."
There was no answer.
As expected.
The lady now dyed red stayed motionless on the ground, holding the left side of her face.
Miata's staggered, mirroring bosses after big wind up attacks. In the game, Lady of the Haze fires seven shots and only after the seventh is she an easy target.
These water bullet attacks are rather easy to dodge if you time it right. But I guess tanking seven hits is in itself, an achievement.
Not wasting a second, I began running towards the conveniently made exit.
Thankfully that damned witch didn't shoot my legs first.
Each time my feet stamp the ground, it felt as if cold needles were tearing into me. But I kept on running.
I run forward endlessly, not knowing where my own legs are dragging me.
My eyes guide me towards the tiniest rays of light visible in the darkness of this purgatory.
'Ah…That is.'
The light grew stronger with each dragged step. Before I knew it, the smoke of cigarettes and cheap perfume began assaulting my nostrils.
A door opens to a familiar sight.
"Ey mate! Did you just pull a card outta yar sleeves?!". A middle-aged man stood up from his stool and slammed the table.
The cluttering crowd standing shoulder to shoulder, watching a wheel spin.
"2 platinum going once…going twice…" A dealer carelessly scribbled down the bid.
Some drowning in booze, others barely focused on anything outside their game.
'That's right. It's just those kinds of places.'
A world where nothing matters other than yourself. A place where you can kill a man and have him forgotten within seconds.
I stopped thinking.
People glanced as I walked past, but only for a moment before they turned back to their cards.
My blood painted the floor with each step. An old worker sighed as she swept.
Walking out, the bustling den faded behind me. The night breeze caressed my greasy face as I took out a cigarette from Johny's pack.
'Oh right, no magic.'
I tossed the pack away and kept walking.
The coin pouch I had before was gone. They must have ransacked it when they knocked me out.
Now, only two platinum and a gold coin remain.
Carefully slipping them into my pocket, I took a deep breath under the seamless night.
Home.