Epics of Noche 5, Reflection

EON CH 17 - ACT 65, HESITATION HIDE AND SEEK

LIGHTNING TREE.

1777, APRIL 06th, WEDNESDAY9:45 pm.

Noche and Jackalope walked through the forest until they reached a clearing. He motioned towards a blackened tree that was split open and stood in the middle of the empty area. Lightning struck it a moment later and Noche's eye widened a hair. Then all went calm for a few seconds – lightning struck the exact same spot.

"I WiLl HeLp – you enter Limbo. There you will have to confront your hesitation."

Noche paused. "Don't I have to die to enter Limbo?"

Jackalope nodded.

"Great. Fun. Cool."

The blonde gave her skeletal companion one last begrudging look before making her way to the tree. A third bolt of lightning struck the same spot as the last two. Noche frowned, sighed, and looked up at the sky.

"Do I really have to kill myself just for some training," she muttered.

Noche sat in the blackened spot where lightning had struck thrice. She resisted the instinctual urge to throw up an energy shield.

It was kinda funny actually, she had enough augment to withstand half the planet blowing up, but her internal organs could still be fried by a little electricity. Those were the last thoughts to go through her head before a lightning strike killed her.

Noche opened her eye and found herself in a dark place. It was cold, yet familiar. She stretched out her arm and it bumped into a wall. Moving her fingers across its surface she came across a light switch; she flipped it on.

Dim light came from a small bulb in the ceiling and Noche's eyes went wide to see she was in her child form once again. She had both her arms and both her eyes – the sensation of having her full sight restored staggered her for a moment. To see from two places at once, she had almost forgotten how wonderful a sensation that was.

Searching her immediate area she found herself in a house. The same place as when she was in the last time she traversed through Limbo. It was the location right after the meat hallway. Turning around she found herself standing by the front door. It was closed and locked.

"Alright, let's get this started," she thought.

Noche walked deeper into the house. When she turned a corner she found something pinned to the wall. It was the plush bear of Baxter – a giant nail in his torso. She ran towards the toy.

"Oh no! Baxy, are you alright!"

He raised his round, plush head. At first glance, he seemed normal, but then a grin split his face and inside the toy's mouth were human teeth. The button eyes were missing and tar leaked through the holes that replaced them.

"Noche, let's play a game."

The lights flickered and when they came back on Baxy was gone.

Deep within the confines of the NeverAfter forest, Jackalope watched Noche's corpse as it sat peacefully at the base of the lightning tree.

"I kNoW yOu ArE tHeRe – come out."

"How did you... Nevermind."

A tall man in a yellow raincoat stepped out into the open. The strongest bird of death, Raven, stared at the sitting blonde.

"Is she..."

"DeAd – yes. For now."

"I was gonna say training," Raven sucked in air between his teeth. "Still, for death to be just an inconvenience for her. That's crazy. It's so different from Tak and Vulture's immortality."

"CaN iT bE cAlLeD – immortality if she is being resurrected in a new body?"

"Well, I mean, it's still her. Or rather her conscious is still here."

"WoUlDn'T tHaT mAkE – ghosts in the afterlife immortal?"

"There's an afterlife? Like for sure?"

Jackalope shrugged.

"Huh... I mean, I guess Noche's Limbo proves there is an afterlife... At least for her. So why shouldn't there be one for the rest of us?"

"NoChE iS a SpEcIaL cAsE – you shouldn't base your assumptions off the exception to the rule."

Raven paused and thought about that.

"SoOn YoU wIlL – both have to fight each other."

"I don't want to do that."

"YoU aLwAyS hAvE – a choice. If you're willing to pay the consequences."

"Which is the same as saying I have no choice. I would never sacrifice the lives of the ones I love."

Jackalope chuckled.

"What's so funny."

"YoU aNd HeR – are opposites. It's ironic."

A lightning bolt struck Noche's corpse and the body twitched; Raven flinched.

"I hate to see her like this."

"ShE lOvEs LiGhTnInG – what better way to die than being killed by your love."

Raven didn't respond. Jackalope chuckled again.

He walked over to the blonde and prismatic energy became a metal umbrella. He held it over her head as another lightning bolt came crashing down; he flinched from the noise. When it subsided he bent down next to her and brushed some burnt hair out of her eye.

"I still don't like seeing her dead... Even if it is temporary."

"ShE'lL bE bAcK sOoN – you can alleviate your guilty conscious then."

"Creepy fucking thing, ain't ya?" Raven paused. "Do you think me evil... Choosing my family over the fate of the world?"

"ThErE iS nO sUcH tHiNg – as good or evil. Only degrees of selfishness."

"I see... Will Noche really become stronger from this?"

"ShE hAs StReNgTh In SpAdEs – what she lacks is conviction. Unwavering, willing to win at any cost, conviction."

"Could've fooled me. She seemed pretty convicted the times I fought her."

"WhAt WaS aT sTaKe – would she have to sacrifice innocents to win? Sacrifice someone she loved? Did she have to sin for victory?"

"When you put it like that, no. I guess not."

"WhEn OnLy FaiLuRe Is At StAkE – she is focused. When more dire things are on the line, she falters. That is what she needs to fix."

"That's a pretty bad perspective to have."

"ShE's A bAd PeRsOn – it will come to her naturally. She just needs to accept that sometimes she'll have to be evil."

"I don't think she's a bad person."

"ThEn YoU dOn'T – know her as well as you think you do."

Raven turned to stare at Jackalope.

"If ShE sLaUgHtErEd – your family, would you still think she's a good person?"

Raven didn't respond for a few seconds. "I could forgive her... Eventually."

"CoUlD yOu – really?"

"My best friend believed in forgiveness... Besides, if I forgive others, then maybe I can be forgiven too."