Chapitre 23: Bloody Mary
[Nyrel]
"Dad? Mom? Wh-Where I am?"
I heard the weeping of a girl.
She was confined in a coffin and buried underground.
Buried alive.
From what I witnessed until now, it was because she was the first case of the strange poison contaminating Sekrin town.
The one burying her was her own father…
My gaze shifted toward a hooded young man before the 'grave' of Mary. He wasn't wearing any expression on his face and left after a few minutes. Since Mary was buried in a sturdy coffin and deep in the ground, nobody could hear her cries anyway.
I couldn't move my body and I could only look at Mary screaming as if I was looking at a movie. I tried to call Cleenah and Jarvis but it was useless.
"Please! Help!"
Mary screamed, but no one came.
"M-Mom! Dad…it hurts…"
The second day, she continued to call for her parents. Her face turned even more purplish and it started to eat her from within.
"..."
The third day, she didn't speak anymore.
She understood that no one would rescue her. She knew her parents buried her for the sake of the town, so there was no reason for them to save her.
"Please…kill me…someone…ple-please…"
The fourth day, she wished death. She lost half of her vision and was in total darkness. It was unbearable.
She, who was happy to have a stronger body than other people, she regretted right now.
The only reason she was able to still live was her body and mana keeping her alive.
It was a silent torture.
Incidentally, I was starting to lose my mind.
Her screams and weeps were etched in my mind and continued to ring endlessly.
I tried to close my ears but it was useless.
The fifth day, Mary started to scratch violently the wooden lid in front of her. Her fingernails broke and blood came out of her fingers, but she still scratched. She was doing that while screaming.
"!"
Just when both I and the girl were going to lose it forever. I found my body in the same coffin as the girl.
What the hell?
The coffin was spacious but only one person could be inside it but somehow I found myself inside it.
"Kill me!!!!"
"AHAHAAHH!"
My eardrums hurt like hell when Mary screamed right next to me.
She didn't notice me?
My face scrunched up when I saw her bloodied fingers from this close. She also ripped the flesh of her arms, which were completely purple.
I raised my hands and grabbed both her arms so she would stop scratching this freaking wooden box! My body was shivering because of the sound.
"!"
Mary stopped and turned her head like a robot.
Shit!
It scared the hell out of me.
Her black eyes were devoid of any emotions.
"Mary."
"..."
Mary didn't answer and was looking at me as if I was an hallucination.
Well, I literally appeared out of nowhere next to her.
It was already surprising that she wasn't screaming in fear. After what she had gone through these last five days, it was understandable and I knew very well since I was there for five days.
"W-Who…?"
Mary asked in a hoarse voice.
She screamed for hours after all.
"Nyrel."
"N-Nyrel…"
"Look at your hands."
I turned both hands to look at their gruesome state. Blood was now tainting my arms as well.
Ah.
My arms are turning purple now.
Shit.
"Shit!"
I withdrew my hands and panicked.
Fuck!
It hurts!
I started to understand what Mary was feeling.
It was hard to breathe in that place as well.
"..."
Mary looked at me before turning her head away.
At least she stopped scratching the wood.
I took a deep breath to soothe the burning pain a little invading my whole body.
"..."
"..."
"How about you become, my spirit contract?"
"..."
"Hey, Mary, I'm talking to you."
Mary ignored me the whole day.
Was I too direct?
If Jarvis or Cleenah had been there, they could have advised me…
"Hey, Mary. Come on, there is worse in life."
"..."
Ah, she is glaring at me.
Don't look at me with those eyes, it's scary.
I averted my gaze.
The third day, I started to get annoyed by Mary's lack of answer.
"Mary? If you want to get out, obey me!"
"..."
The fourth day, I calmed down, since it was useless to let out my frustrations on her.
"Yann."
"!"
Ah, I finally got a reaction from her.
"It's his fault if you are going to die now."
"..."
There was a silence before she spoke to me for the first time in a few days.
"You are going to die with me too."
I just laughed at her words.
Mary stared at me before looking at nothing in front of her like usual.
The fifth day, Mary cried.
I thought she wouldn't cry anymore since she had cried a lot at first but suddenly she burst into tears.
"Are you angry at your parents…?"
"U-Um."
Mary bit her lips and nodded.
"Are you going to forgive them…?"
She shook her head.
Lastly.
I gulped before asking.
"Do you want to kill them…?"
"..."
Mary didn't respond for a long minute.
"N-No."
She stammered.
"I-I love them but won't forgive them…"
That's it.
Originally she would have sworn to kill the whole village because she would fall into madness, but not this time because I intervened before that. Just the presence of someone, even if the said person was a stranger, enabled her to keep her mind from breaking.
I tried to grasp her bloodied hand but she slapped my hand.
"It hurts."
"..."
I tried again and she slapped me again, but I dodged her slap and squeezed her bloodied hand with my hand.
"I will be with you until the end."
"!"
We both knew that we were going to die in a few hours.
I was included as well.
Cleenah told me I wasn't going to really die, but it was no different than a true death.
Mary squeezed my hand back and grasped my shirt with her other hand before burying her face in my chest. Her whole body was shivering. She was scared to die. I could feel warm tears staining my shirt.
I couldn't prevent her death, but I could at least be there with her in the end.
A few hours passed like that and we both fell asleep.
When I opened my eyes, I saw a peaceful expression on Mary's face. An expression she hadn't shown for more than a month now.
She wasn't reacting when I poked her cheek.
She was dead with her whole body glued to my side.
I turned my head away and prepared myself.
I felt pain all over my body and saw my life flashing before my eyes.
I was dying.
"We will meet again, Mary…"
***
[Miranda]
-Booom!
The four-star kangaroo jumped toward Miranda in just a leap.
Miranda took an arrow from her quiver strapped on her back and nocked the arrow.
Her tangerine eyes didn't contain any anxiety as she pulled the string. Mana gathered on the tip of her arrow and she released her hand.
-Whooosh!
The arrow flew at sonic speed and struck the kangaroo's left leg.
-Bam!
The kangaroo felt its body lean on its left in mid-air because of the impact.
Miranda jumped on the opposite side and nocked two arrows. She again channeled her mana while not adding too much to destroy the place.
-Booom!
The two arrows shot out and pierced the kangaroo's left and right hands.
-YIPEEEEEE!
-Crack!
The kangaroo angrily rampaged and jumped.
-Booom!
The ground below split.
"!"
Cracks spread until Miranda's spot.
Miranda lost her stance and nearly fell but she straightened herself at the last moment.
-YIPEEEEE!
The furious boxing-kangaroo jumped again toward Miranda.
"!"
Miranda looked behind her and found the wall.
She could only avoid by the left or right.
For the first time, her face showed nervousness.
-BOOOM!
The kangaroo's punch destroyed the wall.
Miranda had already lowered her head and fled to the right.
-Bam!
The kangaroo jumped as soon as he spotted Miranda.
Miranda gritted her teeth seeing that.
Just when she was picking another arrow, her gaze fell on her comrades fighting the other four-star kangaroo.
Lea was hurt and was bleeding from her right arm.
"!"
The kangaroo was ready to punch her and Theo and Dylan could only scream.
At a speed defying any genius archer, Miranda nocked an arrow and fired.
She didn't even try to aim.
It was pure talent.
-Boooom!
The arrow traveled fifty meters in less than a second and pierced the kangaroo's foot, which made him tumble on the ground.
She saved Lea as her friends took her away, but by doing that she let her guard down against her own opponent.
The kangaroo's clawed hands were reaching her face to rip it apart.
Miranda closed her eyes. She didn't have even time to bring her bow to shield herself.
-Smash!
"!"
But what she heard made her open her eyes again.
'A mirror?'
A mirror reflecting her face exploded into pieces in front of her because of the kangaroo's attack, but it still protected her.
When her eyes fell on the person in front of her and behind the kangaroo responsible for that, she opened her mouth in shock.
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