The Beauty and the Idiot

Chapter XXVII

A bit of sympathy returned in her voice, but you could barely hear it. I followed her the entire time. When I thought it couldn't get darker, things just got darker. When I thought we couldn't go deeper any more, we kept on walking deeper...

The ground was full of roots, I tripped a few times, almost fell on my face, but Kirai caught me. She was concerned, I saw it in her eyes, but her worries quickly dropped after a moment. We moved on.

This all kept on going for a long time. Until I started to see the same purple fog on the floor again. 

"Kirai-!"

"They won't harm you."

"What?"

She pointed to the several badlings all over the place. They just looked at me. One bigger than the other, all ready to kill me if I did one wrong move. The purple fog got thicker, you couldn't see your own feet any more. 

"But... Why?"

Kirai just kept on walking, emotionless, or in very deep thoughts. 

Only what felt like eternity, we finally arrived. I think this was truly the centre of the igloo. The igloo inside an igloo inside yet another igloo. It was hard to breathe in there, and I was ready to get the fuck out of there. In the middle of the room, a single, bloody, almost shattered mirror. 

"They won't attack us, since I brought them to this world. I'm like a mother to them."

"You brought them to this world...? But why? Don't you see how much chaos they cause?!"

"That's exactly what I want. The chaos is weakening the mirrors' barrier. We can escape this world if we finally break one of those mirrors!"

"But at what cost?! The lives of innocent people are being ruined because of our own desires... How selfish is that?!"

"That's why I only showed you all of this once it's too late. I expected you to try to stop me. It's only natural to protect the ones you care about..."

"I- What the hell is wrong with you?! There's still a way to put an end to that... There simply has to be a way..."

"What makes you think you can stop me...? You experienced what my darlings can do. You know what they're capable of. They're going to tear this world apart, and there's nothing you can do about it. Not any more, at least."

Well, she was right. It already took us like four or five people to destroy one of the badlings... This whole place is practically infested by those plants. There was no way I would be able to change anything. 

So I just stayed quiet.

I'm no hero.

I'm not brave.

I would just throw my life away for no reason if I tried.

And if I would stop her, somehow, I would never find a back home again.

But is destroying an entire world really the only solution...?

Do we have to plunge this city into absolute chaos and destroy the barrier like that?

What even is the barrier? The mirrors? How do you want to shatter one anyway? 

...

I remained quiet.

There was still something left inside me, thinking I could do something.

But let's face it. The world was going to die, and everyone with it too.

Allegra, Paola, Juru and Jaku... Lika...

The squirrels, the walking cake, the skyscraper people.

None of them would get spared from the eternal madness Kirai is about to bring upon them.

This story won't end happily, will it...?

There is no happy ever after, is there...?

Just like in the real world... Why was I hoping for a good ending anyway... I should've expected this to happen...

It was too good to remain.

Kirai reached her hand out to me. Only then I realised how damaged they were. She had bloody bandages on both of her hands. She has been punching the mirror in the non-stop, right? Obviously. When the weapons of this world don't work, you use your own fists. 

She must've hit the mirrors every day, for hours. 

Kirai took my hand softly, with her other hand she placed something into mine.

"You came here for some seeds, right...?

Here you go."

I assumed those were the seeds for the lily. I still needed the sapling, but I couldn't get a single word out. 

Maybe because I was overwhelmed by the fact that everyone I know will die in here.

...

"You know, Ton..."

She took my hand again.

"You remind me of someone...

Of someone I used to love...

Someone who could make everything be forgotten, for just a moment..."

Her grip just tightened.

"I.... I miss him, Ton...."

She started to sob.

"I miss him so, so much, Ton...."

It felt like she was pouring her heart out. I didn't know her all too well. I didn't know what she went through, or why she would suddenly come at me with it... At that moment, I thought of the death of someone I used to care about so, so much.

I just... Stopped thinking about everything. I stopped thinking about the end of the world. Stopped thinking about the chaos about to get released.

Kirai cried for a bit longer, she had also pulled me in for a hug.

Her hug felt safe. Despite being surrounded by so, so many badlings, she made me forgot about it. 

Her hug felt warm. Like the warmth of a mother.

Her hug felt.... Sad, depressing... Like she lost everything she had in life...

She let go of me after that. Making sure I had the seeds and guided me back to the entrance of the igloo. Kirai held my hand the entire time. It wasn't necessary, but she had the urge to anyway. None of the plants attacked me. None of the plants looked at me malicious. It's like we all shared the same pain deep, deep in our soul.

It was late, the sunddar already set. Tomorrow would be the day everything and everyone goes down. There's no denying to that. We can only delay the undeniable...

Kirai smiled at me one last time before heading back into the igloo.

I stood there alone. It was hard not to burst out in tears as well, but eventually I headed back to the mansion. 

In the end, I had only little time left to spend it with my friends I made here.

I made sure I had all the seeds I could get and moved on. 

The entire time, I was thinking about what just happened. I didn't realise all the stores closing, all the people heading back inside to their families, the electric bullet boards shutting down for the night...

It was...

Just me.