King Me

An Answer

Yancey snapped awake again. She was still in the same room, but night had fallen again outside. Her body screamed with pain as she attempted to lean up. 

"Don't try to move," A familiar voice called. It was Faust. "I mended your flesh, but you've taken quite a toll," he was leaning up against the wall opposite her, a dainty fire in the middle of the room casting ghoulish shadows across him.

Yancey was disappointed she'd survived. She'd blacked out to the screams of the monster, and the blasts of her pistol. She groaned, straining to lean up, propping her back against the wall, "Why did you save me?" She asked, whimpering as she tried to open her left eye. Blood had crusted over it, and it felt like tape had been wrapped over it. The blood cracked, sending crumbles into her eye.

"I saw what you did," Faust replied, nodding to the pistol that lay beside Yancey, "how you downed the creature. I saw how you filled my veins with your blood," He continued, reaching his one arm up, placing it over his heart, "Healing you in the state you were in was no small feat. Taking life is quite simple, but maintaining it is difficult. Much energy was spent salvaging your life. With that, my debt is repaid." 

Yancey was out of energy, and frankly falling into depression, "You wasted it. I just want to die,"

Faust wasn't offended at the idea he had wasted his energy. He merely tilted his head, "Be that as it may, I have fulfilled my duty to you. Kill yourself if you wish. Live, or try to, if you wish. I care not," 

Yancey didn't mind his bluntness either. She wouldn't have even bothered talking to him further, but one more question came to mind, "Where is the rest of our team?"

"On their way. After you passed out, Aurelia opened communications on your device. I answered, and updated her on our current predicament. They should reach us in a few hours if they are not stalled,"

And that was enough. Yancey didn't care anymore. She fell silent for a long while, peering down upon the pistol. Shadows danced across the alien weapon, and she considered putting it against her temple and pulling the trigger. The image of the pained monster she'd put down played through her mind. Mr. Sato's words, nobody gets left behind, rang through her mind. His final performance, crashing his beloved vehicle straight into the monster, burst through her memory. He was a true hero, and if nothing else, she should live on for him. But she knew she couldn't.

"Do you possess any irregular abilities?" Faust's voice cut through the silence, and Yancey took a moment to register the words, and glanced up. "Telekinesis? Perhaps the ability to read minds?" He continued, and Yancey was had to repeat the words again. 

She shook her head.

Faust hummed, "How intriguing. While I was repairing your flesh, I noticed a peculiar amount of alomatrium."

Yancey staired coldly at him, unintrigued, "What?"

"Alomatrium. It is the energy I utilize to resurrect the dead," Faust held a hand out, a dark purple glow emanating from it. He closed his hand, dispersing the traces of energy. It clicked.

"Can you bring Mr. Sato back to life?!" Yancey practically burst, feeling her hopes rising. Faust crushed her yet again, with a slow shake of the head.

"It takes massive amounts of energy to revive the dead,"

"But when you fought the elementals you revived thousands of this world's natives!" Yancey retorted.

"Incorrect. I did not resurrect them, merely manipulated. Like a puppeteer controlling a puppet, I gave their bodies motion, and gave them the command to form Bahamut," Faust shifted to his feet, "Pulling souls back to their bodies takes the equivalent of tens times the energy I used then. If I use that amount of energy now, I will not have enough for the final battle, when the time comes."