Tyranny: Onwards

Chapter 130- Test

"I didn't actually die. I'm sorry." Nichele says and hugs me closer.

"But how? I held you as you were dying." My voice breaks as I try to keep blocking the memory.

"Don't you remember how odd the assignment was? How it was different?" She asks me gently.

"Well, yeah, but I was told it was due to my elevated skill level at the time..." I think back and try to figure it out.

"I was wearing a mask and clothes I had never worn before, remember that?" Nichele continues.

"Well, yeah, but that was common sense for the missions nature was it not?"

"The person you saw die, was my mother. And the other man who taught at the school was my father." She explains quietly.

"But, she looked exactly like you..." I can't help but be shocked and horrified.

"I know. And I'm so sorry Claire."

"Okay, so why then?"

"They didn't want me going with you, they thought it would be a biased evaluation, so my father sent my mother instead and didn't tell me. However, when you returned with the body, I had already been sent away to keep me out of the way. I was sent to do some scouting and spying for a family from a Rich Ring, they ended up forcing me to stay and I was never able to return to the school. Eventually, I escaped and came upon this place somehow, whether by luck or by fate, who knows. Heath has been teaching me things ever since and sent me to do his bidding now and again." Nichele explains to me.

"Ah, I see. I missed you for so long. Why didn't your dad tell me it wasn't you though?"

"Because he was and is a fool. He thought it was better for me to be working away from the school, he thought I had lost my talents and grown too soft. He also thought it would help you with dealing with grief and death in the future." I feel her fingers grip my hair.

"I'm sorry I became such a monster, I'm sorry I misused all you gave me, I'm so sorry for it all.." The conversation ends with us silent and enjoying one another's company.

"Claire?" I turn my face and see Aegis, appearing at first stern and sinister, having heard it all.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Please, never use that face again." Aegis's voice is solid and strong, the look in his eyes shows me how it horrified him and pained him. Right as I'm about to agree, Phoenix comes.

"What gave your eyes the ability to grow so dull and empty, the ability to remove all and any emotions, what cast such deep shadows upon your face, what gave such a horrid expression, so inhuman..." Phonix asks, his eyes tightening, jaw clenching, and muscles tensing with the same pains, knowing that I have suffered at some point or another.

"Many things. And maybe one day, I will find the time to tell you." They both gaze upon me not with pity, but with empathy and hope, seeing how strong I can be as if they look forward to watching me grow.

"Claire, please erase that side of you..." Rin falls in.

"I'm sorry, forgive me, but that's not possible. It will always be a part of me, it's my past, I cannot erase or ignore that, but I can use the memories differently." I shake my head and Rin seems to understand.

Hester comes along and comforts Rin, my heart gives a pang, and it angers me still slightly, not being the one she relies on for comfort anymore. But, I am still glad with glee she has found someone she loves. Their fingers intertwine like two harmonious melodies. Rin's head resting in Hester's shoulder, Hester holding her with such care, both are smiling, confident in one another, Rin gazes up into Hester's eyes and they kiss.

I manage to grin and be touched by the young love.

"We should get going, we can't just leave Blaze and Dagwood for eternity," Phoenix is grinning too and his hand extends down to me graciously, I take the soft fingers and he pulls me up. We return giggling and joyful, Phoenix dramatizes the entire sparring match, and accurately describes me, elaborating for my sake how it felt, how dark and dank my aura turned, how I was not Claire, but someone or something else.

Blaze and Dagwood appear somewhat frightened and amazed, wishing they had seen it themselves. In the meantime, they had been cooking the meats for our return, they dish out some deer and the berries and herbs which thankfully were not crushed in the chaos.

The meal is the best we've had in a long time, Phoenix and Aegis providing us with plates and cups of clean refreshing water, at one point Phoenix had just taken a bite when Rin made a comment and he spit it out laughing, until Rin turned it into a tease and he looked very dejected. Until the sun fell and its paints spilled on the clouds, we continued laughing, thanks to Phoenix and Rin mostly, though we all had our parts.

It is these moments that add hope in the dank world of ours and help us to forget everything and anything else exists.

"Hey, where's Bagels, Phoenix?" I abruptly inquire, he snickers and pulls the icy hedgehog from inside his cloak, it sniffles and wanders about for a while, terrifying Genesis at first. The parade is quite entertaining until the two fall asleep and we all also feel quite weary.

"Night everyone," Aegis puts extra flame into the fire before he is to sleep to keep it alive through the night and adds fuel to it. Everyone murmurs goodnight to everyone before taking to a silence; where birds are allowed to speak, the fire to crackle and the moon to be noticed.

"Mind if, I, um, sleep next to you?" Nichele approaches me right as my head settles on the mosses of the ground.

"Sure," my tone is light and welcoming, glad for a company I've never had or felt, this feeling of home that belongs to a person.

Nichele lays down and hugs me comfortingly, her warmth sending me off to a comfortable sleep.

***********

"I can help you." It takes me no time recognizing Oswald's voice.

"You need to be more specific," I sigh and cross my arms skeptically.

"With holding back and away from the 'other side', I can help you achieve the same and more power without using that." He elaborates.

"How could you possibly-"

"I have easy access to your mind, do I not?" this is a fact I should have remembered. "You won't understand much, and it's really very complicated and hard to explain, so please, just trust me?" He is obviously tired and upset or disturbed.

"What's up with you, you're never so blunt," I pry, feeling no shame for it.

"Well I'm quite anxious to see the others you know, it's been about fifty years though...also I don't exactly understand how you consider Nichele your real mother, she's not, she's...a fake. Something you've created to feel better instead of accepting your real mother doesn't care for you, you're running away." I would guess he's trying to be sensitive about it, but it frustrates me.

"How can you know my mind so well, and still, you don't understand this? If you've seen all my memories you should know! Blood has nothing to do with it. I've been rejected and abused by my blood relatives, Nichele has acted as a real mother, done what moms are supposed to do, she's the one who acted like a mother to me." My voice raises and my tone grows strict.

"That doesn't change anything, blood doesn't change you know." Oswald shrugs.

"I don't care, I already told you, she left, Nichele stayed."

"You're wrong again, Nichele DID leave, didn't she say so herself?" Oswald points out.

"Yes, but she had no control over that, there's nothing she could have done about it! And she was very sorry about it! And don't you dare try and convince me she was lying." I start to feel the dark side of my mind move in with my animosity.

"Calm down Claire, this was only a test, and example, and clearly the dark side of you, might be more alive than the other, more ready and able, easier to push in and use, probably because you know subconsciously it can provide the readiest, effective, and available results, act on your emotions." He puts a hand on his chin in thought.

"A test...you jackass." I whine and sigh, "Bye for now," I wave as I see it all start to fade away and back.