Heart Like a Machine

Chapter 99

"I'll take her back to Fleet's End," Seyka said.

"I'll meet you guys there," Aloy said.

"Be careful," Lis said to Aloy.

Once Seyka and Lis were gone and Aloy was in front of me, her head turned and her mouth opened, as if she wanted to say something. However, I didn't let her. I reached over and grabbed her throat. She let out a gasp as her hands wrapped around mine, trying to get me to release her.

"Y-Y/N," she breathed out.

"I have you all to myself now."

"Y/N, please," she tried to speak.

"I have waited so long to finally get my hands on you and now that I do!" I raised my right arm and gold started to materialize and gather onto my forearm until it turned into a spike. 

Aloy's eyes widened as she saw the weapon resembled a bit like her new one.

"Yeah," I nodded my head. "I wasn't the only one to get a few new weapons. I think you'll remember this one. Think of it as a reminder of who died at the hands of this weapon."

"V-Varl."

"That's right."

"This isn't you, Y/N," she said softly as I was starting to crush her throat.

"Oh, you're wrong, Aloy. This is me. A side of me that has been wanting to get out and finally see the light of day!" 

I pushed the spear through her armor and into her flesh. She let out a slowly dying scream as my hand around her throat started to get tighter and tighter. 

"Any last words?" I asked, pulling the spear out and placing it by her heart.

"Yeah, I do," she said and reached underneath her armor, pulling out the Thunderjaw tooth necklace. 

My expression softened as I stared at the ring that was made entirely by Thunderjaw parts. Just like the tooth, it held signifigance to the two of us.

"And you have a matching one," she said and reached around my neck, pulling the matching Thunderjaw tooth out. 

Seeing both of them together, my grip around Aloy's throat loosened to where she grabbed one of her arrows once more and drove it into my wrist. I fully released my hold on her and let out a yell as I watched the blood flow from the puncture wound.

"I have to repay you for this eye," I pointed to the arrow that was sticking out of my face.

"I can help you with that."

"Before or after I kill you."

"That won't happen."

Reaching on her back, she grabbed her bow and loaded it with an arrow.

"Now you want to fight back?" I asked. "Where was this side of you when I demanded it?"

"I was still in denial that this happened to you. Now that I finally see you and what Londra did, I can finally accept that you were in fact brainwashed. And while I have no way of knowing how to break you out of it, I will do everything in my power to get you back the way you were."

"A broken thing can never be truly fixed."

"That's what you think. Or, that's what Londra thinks."

I charged at Aloy, raising my blade and her spear since I still had it. Swinging in from the side, I snapped the bow in half before she was able to shoot her arrow at me. Bringing out another one, she was able to land a few hits on me, but the chest plate armor I was wearing made it bounce off.

"Machine armor is much better than the ones we've worn before," I laughed manically. "It'll take almost everything you've got to penetrate this armor!"

"It is effective, but is it effective against this?" she threw a spike thrower at me, landing right where the first one did when it was thrown by Lis.

I was about to take a step forward, but I heard something go off before an explosion did. The metal chestplate was blasted off and now it was my armor that I was wearing before is exposed now. I growled and threw her spear at her. She dodged out of the way and slid underneath my legs. Turning around, she kicked at the backside of my knee, causing me to kneel into the sand. She jumped up and was about to shoot her bow once more, but I blocked it with my arms, the arrow penetrating my skin.

Once she landed, I swept underneath her legs with mine and before she could get up, I got on top of her. I wrapped my left hand around her throat while I reached down into her arrow quiver, grabbing one. She tried to move her head, but I grabbed her jaw and held her still. I leaned down and saw the fear in her eyes as she saw the arrow slowly coming towards her eye.

"An eye for an eye," I whispered before darkly smirking at her.

Seeing my reflection in her eyes reminded me of something. It was when I was fighting her to get to the spaceship at the Zenith base. The tears in her eyes as I blinked for a second and I had a flashback to that moment before being pulled back into this one. My hand shook as I held the arrow just about a few inches away from her eye. 

"A-Aloy," I whispered, watching the tears flow from her eyes and drop onto the sand.

I released my hold on her jaw and slowly backed away from her.

"H-Help me," was the last thing I remember saying before blacking out.

"Lis!" I got up after Y/N's unconscious body fell into the sand.

She had a large metal panel in her hands and she had just smacked her mother across the head with it. Her breathing was heavy and tears were streaming down her face.

"I-I had to," she cried out, falling to her knees and into the sand.

"Lis," I rushed over and hugged her tightly.

"I-I had to, mom. O-Or else she was going to kill you," Lis sobbed.

"Oh, Lis, thank you. B-But your mother, I think she's slowly breaking. I think we can finally reach her."

"H-How?"

"She just saved you and didn't attack me until both you and Seyka were gone. That's progress."

"I-If you say so."

"Come on. Let's get you and her to Fleet's End."

"A-Are you sure she won't hurt anyone when she wakes up?" Lis asked.

"If she didn't hurt you and or Seyka when we were fighting that Slaughterspine, it's clear she's only after me."

Lis just nodded as we both got onto the Waterwing. Hovering in the air, the machine grabbed Y/N's unconscious body and we flew back to Fleet's End. During the entire flight, I kept looking down to make sure Y/N was still there.