Anachronistic: Endless Masquerade

45 | She'll Follow Anyway

- 45 -

As her strength wasted away, Pandora reflected on the one outcome she hadn't accounted for. It had been clear Lily meant to weaken her, but for some reason, she had assumed it was solely for comfort; a sense of safety. She had imagined having time to explain everything as they cuddled together afterward. Instead, Lily had meant to stop Pandora from chasing after her. It was obvious in hindsight, but then everything always is.

        Regardless of whether she should have known better or not, she couldn't change the situation. The real question was what would she do now? Lily had run off alone with both a murderous monster and a youkai on the loose. Pandora wanted, no, needed to protect her but she was half naked and alone with barely the strength to stand. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

        There's nothing to consider. I don't have the strength, so I'll just have to crawl to my feet and do it anyway.

        Pandora refastened the button of her trousers and scooted to the edge of the bed. She rolled onto her feet, but her legs gave out on her immediately and she dropped to her knees. She had hoped to simply leave but it seemed she would need a crutch. Crawling was difficult in the cramped room, but she managed to push herself through the narrow spaces and reach the far wall. Taking hold of her shotgun, she pulled herself up. No chance in hell bringing a gun would calm Lily's fears, but that wouldn't matter if she never found her. At least this way she would be able to walk.

        Weapon in hand, Pandora hobbled back across the room to the door. She entered the hallway, fell into it really, and was struck by the difficulty of her task. She had watched Lily disappear to the left through the doorway, but had no idea where to search beyond that. Her lack of mobility would only make things harder. She had a certain amount of experience fighting in a weakened state, witches sacrificed their own blood to cast curses after all, but her body was reacting even worse than she had expected.

        The first step was the most difficult. Anxiety fought against her nearly as hard as her legs did. Even though she knew Lily had headed in that direction she started to second-guess herself. It was an impossible task. Between the size of the ship and her physical state, finding Lily...

        Pandora exhaled. I will find her.

        Thinking otherwise wouldn't help anything. Pandora knew what she needed to do, so she would do it, whether it was impossible or not.

        She followed the hallway to its end where she found the door to the main stairwell sitting open. On a ship with hundreds of passengers that wouldn't be unusual, but everyone was meant to be on lockdown at the moment. It didn't prove anything, there were still a million scenarios where someone forgot to close that door, but it was all she had so she stepped inside.

        Pandora tried to remember exactly how many decks the ship had. Seven? Or was it eight? She shook the question away; she was doing it again. Instead of focusing on how many places Lily could hide, she should be worried about narrowing down the possibilities.

        Rather than taking a guess, she decided to climb all the way up looking for anything out of place along the way. It was a difficult choice given the state of her legs, but when she reached the top it paid off. There she found the exterior door swinging in the wind. The hall door was one thing, but no crew member would make that mistake. Black Star wouldn't pay to employ anyone willing to heat the oceans on their dime. At most, they would get one voyage before being summarily fired. No, she was sure Lily had come this way.