I Am The Truth II

Chapter XXXIX: Losses and Wins

"I followed the path given by Galleous," Hubris said. "I had to find the remaining Knights, for I was all that was left."

He held her hand tighter.

"And now, you are all that is left," He continued. "The last person capable of standing against them..."

Val was dead silent, even as Hubris let go of her hand. He watched her stumble back, making it only a few steps out the door before falling to her knees. She gagged before throwing up on the spot. What hurt the most, in fact, was the memory of their last conversation.

Hubris had almost begged her to stay. She should have stayed. She should have been there to protect him, to protect Galadar, Hadion, Magentus... all of them. And then there was Porfyr... the small child. She had promised she would meet him again. He had come all the way from Mendoria, leaving his home in the blind belief that he would be seeing her again. 

"..." She choked.

Instead, she had left Ataraxia. She had left to satisfy her own stupid hunger for action. Ria had asked her to stay as well, and still she disobeyed. The Mendoris blinked back tears, finally squeezing her eyes shut. If the three of them were not trying to remain hidden, she would have cried out loud.

It was beginning to drizzle now, almost complementing the feeling of utter hopelessness. She fell forward, sobbing her heart out in silence. Within moments, it gave way to rage, one unlike anything she had ever felt before. She slowly sat up, breathing heavily as Herobrine approached her.

"Val-"

She bolted to her feet in a flash before he could finish, for the sound of police sirens from not too far away caught her ears. The man made no sudden reaction obviously, for he could not see. However, his hand paused in midair before falling to his side.

"How is Hubris?" She asked, her voice quaking as she wiped her eyes with one of her hands.

"You did not see him?"

"I saw him," She snapped. "I think we shall leave now."

Over the next two weeks, the three continued slowly northwards. Without Ria, it was hard to tell where exactly she was supposed to go, so the Mendoris simply decided to go the most straight-forward way: heading directly north. Complicating it further was a constant want to simply head south back to Ataraxia instead and go on a bloody rampage till she too, was consumed by the Coalition armies. And then of course, a heavy rainstorm was upon them.

They had to stop frequently, upon which Val would venture out for medical supplies to treat Hubris. She was no doctor, but her time in the cadet corps did teach her some basic skills.

And at last, he gave out completely, forcing them to take shelter in a rusted frame of a bus abandoned conveniently in the woods. Hubris had been out for two days straight since, not once waking up even to eat. Val was dead silent the entire time, silently letting her rage burn inside as she tended to Hubris, waiting for him to wake up.

Police activity had certainly picked up lately, most definitely looking for them. Thrice did Val have to forego without food in order to avoid suspicion. She had seen Ardoni being briefly checked without warning, even if they were natural Conchord citizens. She had watched a Sendaris protest briefly in human tongue, speaking even in the same accent, but he conceded almost immediately when the police officer's hand made a small movement towards the taser.

And it wasn't just local police anymore. It was like the entire state of South Sendaria had been put under maximum surveillance. Unless something extraordinary happened, the three of them would be stuck here for quite some time, even after Hubris got better.