Reia- A Novella (COMPLETE)

Chapter 14

Part III

Hazira made hourly trips out beyond the laboratories to see how Reia was fairing. But the world would worsen with every voyage, and the streets were hardly safe for Hazira. Reia seemed to be falling to pieces; any sane civilians had long since fled or been killed, and the streets were full of soldiers. Each of them reported to any one of the Four, and they would battle on street corners beneath the emergency lights as if each fight was the clash of a century.

"What can we do now?" Hazira despaired, slipping back into the hallway to sit with Marfa, who was drifting in and out of sleep.

"We can wait for Morai to get better and skip town," Marfa muttered, rolling over.

It was a long, restless night. Neither Marfa nor Hazira had slept properly in two days, but they couldn't get comfortable in the hall. Going into the actual WSEC wasn't an option either- Marfa insisted that they let Morai rest alone.

Dawn broke over the city and Hazira, restless, went out for another scouting mission. Marfa seized the opportunity to finally check on Morai.

At first, Marfa couldn't find his friend.

"Marfa," Morai suddenly spoke up. Marfa spun around.

"Well," he said, raising his eyebrows. "It worked, then."

"I suppose," Morai said, with a strange look on his face. He was standing near the edge of the room, looking perfectly fine.

"You... feel okay?"

Morai clenched and unclenched his fists, setting his jaw. He nodded slightly. "I'm... fine."

"It's different, I'd bet," Marfa said, with cautious optimism.

Morai cracked a cynical grin. "That's an understatement."

There was a pause.

"Well..." Marfa said slowly, "We... might be on equal ground with some of the Four now, wouldn't you say?"

Morai paused. He nodded again. The room felt cold and incredibly unfriendly.

"You're still Morai," Marfa blurted desperately. "Come on, kid. Say something else."

Morai gulped. "Well, hi, Marfa," he said awkwardly, smiling just a hint.

Marfa nodded. His own smile looked hopeful, for the first time in days. "You... ready to go back out into the world, then?"

Morai nodded.

Marfa took the bloodstained knife from the podium and the two of them walked back out to the hallway.

"I've torn up a few of the word strings," Marfa added. "Some of the dangerous ones- I destroyed them while you were... out."

"Like this one?" Morai asked, gesturing to himself.

"Well, no," Marfa said, looking down. "I... I mean... you know- if- if Hazira gets hurt or something, maybe... and I, I just..."

"It's your life's work," Morai said sympathetically. "It's... I get it."

"No, I should have destroyed it. I could do it now-"

"It's fine. Things can't get much worse than this."

They stood in silence for a moment.

"Should we change the lock on the door?" Morai asked.

Marfa looked at the keypad.

"What good would it do anyway if we're the ones who change it?" Marfa shrugged. "Besides, I always liked that number."

Morai nodded.

"Oh, hey, I never got the chance, but I wanted to tell you," Marfa said, "I might have figured out what exactly happened to the Four when they..."

But Morai gave him a look, and he trailed off. "Yeah," Morai said bitterly. "I've figured it out myself, as a matter of fact."

"Heh," Marfa scratched his head awkwardly. He unlocked the door and the two of them walked together out into the rest of the lab, carefully locking the door behind them.

Morai couldn't get used to it. Things were very, very different this way. And lying to Hazira made everything ten times more complicated- and painful to boot. The lies, of course, were one of the reasons Morai had had reservations about the whole plan in the first place. But telling her... it wasn't really an option either. After what that word string did to the Four... the fact that Morai had read it himself was a terrifying thought. Who knew how Hazira would react?

All Morai knew was that her eyes lit up when she saw him again, and that it was harder than he thought it would be to fake a hug. Morai was thrilled to see Hazira, truly, but there was a subdued feeling in him, as if the world had lost its spark.

Instead, he felt there was a strange depth to everything he perceived- like a thin shadow he had never noticed before, or a slight change in perspective. Morai played it off as a trick of the light- it couldn't have anything to do with the words he had read. But after a little while, Morai began to notice things he couldn't ignore.

They met Hazira just outside the laboratory, where Ehkra's soldiers had dispersed into the city. It seemed that the Four had all but exhausted their supply of soldiers.

"Morai," Marfa hissed under his breath. Morai had no trouble hearing him. "I know you want to keep this... situation secret from Hazira, but you might have to... assist us. In some ways."

Morai didn't like the sound of that. "Yes," he conceded, "But I'm not entirely sure how to do that."

"I hope you can figure it out, then," Marfa said quietly. "Because that word string does more to a person than keep them from bleeding out. The whole purpose of it was to give a person more power, if you understand me."

"You don't have to tell me that, Marfa," Morai replied uneasily. "I just... don't know what that power actually is yet."

"Fair enough," Marfa said, still sick with guilt and unwilling to pester his friend.

Morai paused, looking curious. "Well, let me try this, then," he muttered.

Marfa looked at Morai, as his eyes scanned the area.

"There's a guard behind that building," he said, pointing off to a big building on their right.

Suddenly, there was a bang- a car had exploded.

"Oh," Morai said, looking alarmed as faint shouting erupted around the corner. "Now there isn't."

"Did you do that?" Marfa gasped.

"No, no!" Morai yelped quickly.

Hazira, who was a little ways away looking for a suitable car in the parking lot, glanced back at them confusedly.

"No," Morai insisted, more quietly this time. "A car exploded- the gas tank ignited, I think."

"How did you know?" Marfa asked.

"It's... weird," Morai tried to explain. "It's like being able to move around and see things, but without moving at all."

Marfa was intrigued, eyes widening. He immediately tried to hide his interest, remembering that it was a grave situation to begin with. But Morai saw anyway. "You don't have to feel guilty or anything," he said quickly.

"I do," Marfa sighed, making to pat Morai on the shoulder, but Morai stepped back.

"Wait- don't!" Morai gasped, alarmed.

"What?" Marfa asked immediately, jumping back. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," Morai said quickly. "You- you just- I mean-"

"I found a car with keys in it!" Hazira shouted.

Marfa looked at Morai questioningly, who looked away and ran towards Hazira.

"I knew it," Marfa muttered, jogging to keep up.