Calm and Calamity

Chapter 64

Day: 698

Days Left: 4782

Lives Saved: 3

Corinna slowly opened her eyes, groaning as they adjusted to the light, then looked around and saw that she was lying on her and Harmony's double bed. Slowly and cautiously, she sat up, her hands supporting her frail body-

And then she collapsed back down. Hesitant, scared to look, Corinna glanced to her side and saw the stub of her left arm that had been severed above her elbow, now bandaged up.

She reached out her only trembling hand and touched the empty air to where the other would be, then felt the stub to see if it was all real.

It was.

Her left arm was gone.

Only now did Corinna finally feel the phantom pain from where her arm would be, but she could not do anything to alleviate it.

Clutching the bedsheets, Corinna cowered underneath, sobbing as her mind could not accept the reality. Her arm was gone.

Corinna lay underneath the covers for a long moment, her crying muffled and slowly faded into sniffles and heavy breathing. As her mind began to accept a small part of her loss, she recalled back to what had happened before. It was only flashes of memories first, of her defeating the giant sandwyrm to help Jessica.

And after that?

She remembered returning to the village and then... Sumit tried to talk to her-

Corinna gripped her hair as all of the memories came flooding in all at once.

It was like her mind had been trapped inside her own body, and someone else had been controlling it. She had watched as her body acted on its own, attacking her friends, hurting them. No matter how hard she fought, Corinna could not regain control. But what had scared most was that there was a part of her that did not want to relinquish control, that enjoyed the carnage and battle, wanting more of a challenge. She enjoyed it.

That wasn't her. That was just the mask, right?

Right?

The door to the bedroom opened, and in walked Harmony. She froze, then a soft smile spread across her face. "Corinna?" Harmony sat on the bed and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend. "You're awake..." Her voice cracked slightly as she hugged Corinna tighter.

Corinna rested her head against Harmony's chest, calmed by her safe and warm embrace. A smile finally appeared on her lips but soon curdled as she opened her mouth, but no words came out. Corinna broke free from the hug and clutched her throat, opening and closing her mouth, and still, no sound escaped. Instead, she stared back at Harmony, her eyes blurred from the tears streaming down her face.

"It's okay," Harmony hushed, her own eyes tearing up too. She gripped Corinna's hand. "I'll go get you my old whiteboard."

After giving Corinna a quick peck on the forehead, Harmony left the room, leaving Corinna alone.

The young woman continued to try and speak, forcing the words out, but nothing worked, no matter how much she wanted it.

It was like when Harmony was unable to speak when they first met. But that was because Harmony had remained transformed as the chimaera for too long. Corinna, however, had barely used her mask and yet she lost control and her voice. How was that possible?

Her thoughts then returned to her actions as the golden knight. Harmony appeared to have been unharmed, but what about the others? She needed to find out if they were okay. What if she had...