Chapter 19: Chapter 19
The next few hours passed in silence.
My gaze was lifeless as I went about taking care of things. I was lucky that Bern was still carrying one of his bags when he touched the entrance, as it contained just a bit of everything I needed.
I was able to wrap up my wound and even stomach a little bit of food. It seems that casting from my blood helped to thin it out a little bit, as my previous symptoms had seemed to let up a little bit.
I took my pulse.
About 45 bpm, still far lower than it should be, but a definite improvement. It should have been enough to cheer me up, knowing that there was a temporary solution to my ailment, but I couldn't get too excited from my newfound "bloodletting magic" technique.
It was hard to get excited about anything really.
"It happened again..." I murmured to myself.
First Aliyah, now Bern and Hallia.
I sighed, it should have been-
No, I couldn't let myself think like this.
Bern's voice echoed in my head, "Believe in yourself, you're a member of Panacea. Survive, Hale."
I didn't have to forgive myself, hell, I didn't even have to believe in myself.
But for the sake of those who sacrificed themselves for me, I have to at least try.
At that moment, a familiar prompt reappeared, as if it had realized that I was finally ready to meet it.
[ Local Tal source found...]
[ Start? ] [ Yes ] [ No ]
It looked like a small grey hologram, floating just about a foot in front of my vision. When I turned my head, it didn't follow, as if it knew its own position in real space.
Questions about this prompt had been floating around in my head since I had seen it the first time. Then, I was far too busy to entertain the thing, given I was fighting with my life on the line.
Ever since, however, it made me curious. There was no sign of it after the battle, it was gone without a trace. I was half-convinced that it had never existed in the first place, and it was some sort of hallucination that came with the blood loss.
But here it was, standing in front of me.
I smiled to myself, I wanted to think hard, mulling over the possible pros and cons before agreeing to it, but I knew myself better. There wasn't a world in the universe where I could talk myself out of hitting yes.
For a moment, guilt tore at my heart. Bern and Hallia had just died, but here I was, excited over a new toy.
I took a deep breath and my heart tightened, let's just do it.
"Yes."
A tingling sensation shot through my body, it was as if a trillion bugs had crawled beneath my skin, searching my body, taking away everything that was me.
I tried to scream, but I couldn't move an inch.
And then, it was over, not even a second had passed.
A violent shiver ran down my spine. I just stood there shell-shocked, it was so quick, but I couldn't get the feeling out of my head.
It wasn't quite painful, I just felt so seen, so... exposed.
I took a trembling deep breath, there was a new prompt.
This time, I approached it with far more caution, I never wanted to feel something like that again.
[ Harper Trieste, the creator has left a message for you. ]
[ Read? ] [ Yes ] [ No ]
I read carefully. It knew my name, my real name. This was left by someone who knew me back on earth.
There was only one person...
I frantically said yes, it was her, it had to be her.
[ Message Start ]
Try and catch up,
Asshole.
A.
[ Message End ]
She was mad.
Very mad.
But she was alive.
Aliyah was alive.
For a moment, my worries, my pain, and my heart all just melted away.
My sister was alive.
-
It took me a few moments to recover.
My throat stung and my eyes were somehow redder than before. Thankfully, this time it came from a happy place.
I looked back up towards the prompt, a new one had long replaced the letter.
[ Rules Start ]
This is a custom Tal interfaced designed specifically for Harper Trieste.
It has been designed to mirror a familiar interface from Harper's original world.
This interface will NOT have any physical effect on the real world.
This interface is simply a vehicle for accepting Tal contracts (aka quests), monitoring Vitals, tracking progress, appraising items and providing analysis on situations.
You must remember that this tool is fallible and meant to be used as a reference only.
If you understand, use your left hand to tap the button placed on your right-hand wrist (This can be changed in settings)
[ Rules End ]
I looked down at my wrist. Hovering just a few millimeters from the spot just below my palm was a small white ring, about an inch in diameter.
I was surprisingly calm about the whole situation. The moment I heard Aliyah's name, my standards for shock were thrown out the window. I spent the first half of my life being surprised by that girl. This... this was about par for the course for her.
If anything, I was intimidated. She was giving me a tool to help catch up to her, and if the rules were anything to judge it by, it was a pretty powerful one at this. It wasn't like Aliyah to look down on someone like this, even with such a head start.
Either one of two things had happened.
This world had changed her.
Or things were going to get even harder from here.
I thought back to the past week since my arrival in Varese. It had been hard. No, that was an understatement. This week had been unforgivingly brutal. But somehow, I survived.
My life was now built on luck, determination, and the sacrifice of others. It wasn't something that I was going to take lightly.
No, I was going to take this world, this challenge, head-on.
When I arrived in that desert, I was happy to simply be here. To witness the existence of this world. Now, that wasn't enough.
I had to experience it, all of it, and make full use of this life I had been gifted.
And to do that, I needed to be stronger.
I tapped the white ring.
-
[ Menu Start ]
Name: Hale (Harper Trieste)
Level: 4
...
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
wamlabish
wamlabish Sorry for short chapter today. Got life going on!
Also, if anyone actually has read this far, thank you!
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