Project K-324

Chapter-46

Waking up with a slight numbing feeling throughout my whole body, I open my eyes only to close them back due to the bright light in the room. Around me I could hear the heart monitor and some voices speaking, but my mind was too foggy to understand what they were saying. When I finally opened my eyes, I saw that that I was in Dr.Einstein's lab... again.

With a sigh, I tried to get up in a sitting position, growling as I felt a sudden headache hit my head. Noticing my movement, someone who was most probably Dr.Einstein, came towards me while saying something, but I raised my hand and tried to tell her to give me a moment. Whether my words were successfully delivered or not, I'll leave that for later.

As my mind was slowly clearing out, last night's vision only now began to be processed. The sudden appearance of Sirin's last memory filled me with sorrow and the painful headache that came with it led me to get lost in thoughts. (I knew that one day, I might get to see or dream those memories, but I didn't think it will be that vivid. And this damn headache... Don't tell me it'll hurt like this every time.) Raising my right hand, I gripped the blanket over my chest, with frustration evident in my eyes. (But more than that... Of all the memories, why did it have to be that memory?)

Slowly, my senses started to come back, making me let out a dry cough as a sudden thirst came over me. Just then, from my side, I was offered a cup of water that I drank in one gulp.

"Ahh..." letting out a satisfied sigh, I turn to the side to thank that person for the cup of water. "Thank you... Kiana?" I said in confusion. To my surprise, Kiana was the one who gave me the cup of water.

"No problem." Kiana said as she took the cup. She looked worried, but as she was stubbornly suspicious of me, she pretended like she wasn't.

"Ana, have you completely wake up now?" Einstein asked as she came with a tablet in her hands.

"More or less... yeah." I answered simply. I still felt a little thirsty, and didn't really felt like talking much.

"You've been passed out for about an hour. How-" Einstein asked as she sat down beside the bed I was in.

"Wait! Just... an hour?" I asked, taken aback by the short time I was out.

"Yes, just an hour." Einstein said calmly at my reaction. "So, how do you feel?"

"...Like the definition of hangover." I said with a blank expression.

"Is that all?" Einstein asked and I nodded. "Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be too many after effects of what happened a while ago." she said as she noted something down on her tablet. Hearing that, I wanted to ask her what happened. But before that, another question was bugging my mind.

"Dr.Einstein..." I said in half whisper and she came a little closer. "What is Kiana doing here?" I asked as I took a glance where Kiana was watching us from the side. "Does she know?"

"No. This is something you'll have talk between each other." Einstein said and looked at Kiana. "But not now." she then turned back to me. "Ana, I'll give you some painkillers to help you with your headache. Now, go to your room and rest. We'll talk more tomorrow."

"Ok..." I said as I got up from the bed. "Wait. We're not even going to talk about what exactly happened?" I asked, realizing that I still had no idea of what happened.

"Like I said, not now. Rest, and we'll talk about everything tomorrow." Einstein said as she handed me a pill bottle. "Kiana, would you mind leading Ana to her room?"

"No problem, Dr.Einstein." Kiana said without protest and walked to the door.

After wishing Einstein a goodnight, despite knowing that she probably wouldn't have one, I walked past her and followed Kiana. The walk was silent, with not much for us to talk about. I remained quiet because I couldn't let myself be found out by her, even if she had already figured it out, which I highly doubted. Kiana, on the other hand, probably didn't trust me and didn't know what to talk about with 'Anastasia.'

..........

We soon arrived at my room. Something could've had happen, but I wasn't really in the mood to care. I opened the door and I was about to enter my room, but Kiana stopped me with only one question.

"Anastasia, who are you really?" Kiana asked on a serious tone.

"..." Hearing her question, I simply stopped and glanced back.

"What? Not going to answer?" Kiana asked.

"Kiana, why are you so suspicious of me? Is being a former Valkyrie of Schicksal all it takes for you to suspect someone?" I asked, more aggressively than I intended.

"That's not it." Kiana shook her head. "It's just... You appeared out of nowhere soon after the Overseer was declared dead, and since then, every time your around I always feel like everyone is hiding something from me." as she was saying that, I noticed her hand tighten in a fist. "You might not be a spy, but don't you find this suspicious as hell?"

"..." at that I couldn't say anything and just stared in her eyes. I was surprised by her fast she was growing. She was no longer the same dumb Tuna I first met in St.Freya. But- (Kiana, you have no idea how much... How much I want to tell you that everything will end just fine, and not worry too much about it. But then, I'm afraid that I, myself, wouldn't be so sure that everything would be fine.) "...I'm sorry." I unintentionally mumbled.

"..." While I was wracking my brains to find how to answer her, Kiana was patiently waiting for my answer. Staring back into my eye as silence was the only sound between us.

*sigh* "You're right. You deserve an explanation." I said with a sigh, turning around to fully face her and said with a serious tone. "But I can't tell you, not just yet. Now just see me as Anastasia, just another deserter of Schicksal. You don't need you to trust or believe in me. At the moment, we need to deal with the current threat, and once everything's done, we'll explain everything to you..." at the last sentence, my voice almost broke, so I turn to face my room. I was becoming too tired and my mind was slowly becoming too foggy to continue.

Before Kiana could speak a word, I entered my room and closed my door behind me. Leaning with my back on the door, I so wanted to just jump on my bed, but I couldn't sleep with my current outfit, and neither did I have enough energy or motivation to change in anything else. Wobbly walking to my bed, I took my clothes off one by one until I remained butt naked and fell face first on my bed. Fully embracing the comfort of my bed, I drifted into a deep sleep, temporarily unbothered by the recent events and their urgency.

P.O.V. 3rd Person.

"Wha-" as Kiana raised her hand and was about to speak, but Diana suddenly entered her room, sharply closing the door behind her.

Now, left alone, Kiana lowered her hand and turned, heading to her own room, which was just next door. But before she could enter, she glanced at Diana's door and said, "If you're sorry, why not just tell me?"

A/N:

Hi! V3x here.

...Look. I know it took me a while... actually more than a month. And this chapter is considerably shorter. But! I couldn't do anything about it. When August started, a powerful heatwave hit and the weather became too hot to write anything. Even a notice I couldn't write. And now that the weather starts to cool off, I'll start(hopefully) posting regularly once a week or two.

Ps: I do not promise anything.

Anyway. I hope you enjoyed the new chapter and I hope to see you next time. Bye!