A Ruined Core

Chapter Four

Why are you so sweet and nice to me?

"Let me return. I'll make our lives so much better than they are now," Radiant said again, still offering her hand.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Taking her hand, her twin nodded and everything turned red.

Radiant blinked and gazed ahead of her. Officers stood, guns drawn, watching her. Then her body gave way and she fell to her knees. Covering her throat, she shook under the pain that hit her in violent waves.

"We got you, Ray. Don't worry."

She could only nod to the voice she heard, but she knew who spoke.

"You're going to get a lot of rest, Radiant. That is an order from one crimestopper to another."

She mouthed a 'thank you' as she was slowly taken to the hospital. The ride there was slow to her, she thought, because of the pain she felt from her wound. But the morphine she had been given had numbed her pain until it was just a twitch of her fingers.

"It's okay, Ray," Melody said, taking her hand. Radiant nodded and, smiling, closed her eyes.

"Thank you, Radiant."

The black that enveloped her swirled calmly at the clear veil. Past life and current life seemed joined only to be separated by a thick sheet of death glass.

"Could she ever forget her past?"

"If her future is so different?"

"And more alive?"

Alone, she gazed through the veil and watched her reflection as it watched her.

"Together, but alone, we shall forever stay."

She finally turned away from the veil and walked into the black void beyond the sea of memories.

"Ray, careful there. Don't need to fall right now. I'll get you some food later, okay?"

Radiant nodded and pushed open the bedroom door. Most of her stuff had been cleaned and placed back in their spots, aside from her chair and lamps. She climbed into bed and looked up at the ceiling. Everything felt like it changed. But the room was still painted its soft purple, her desk was still cluttered with notepads and games she hadn't cleaned off in weeks, and her computer still had footage to be cleaned up and put together. Despite her continued thinking, Radiant found sleep crawl over her like a blanket.

"You're here again? In your dreams? That's strange."

"Yeah. I should think of a better way to dream now," Radiant said, sighing a little as she sat down upon the spongey black ground. It seemed, she thought, that this untamed space in her mind has grown serene. There was very little that wished to claw at her mind.

"You know, you didn't have to be so sweet to me. You could have just gotten rid of me without being nice."

"I wanted us to both be free. Killing you would have been killing a part of me," Radiant answered, looking up towards the veil above them. Beyond it lay secrets locked in rusty old boxes. There was silence surrounding them for a while.

"You called me something before."

"I did? I guess blacking out from blood loss will make you forget, sorry," Radiant mused, rubbing her head gently. The eyes that gazed back at her glittered a soft lavender-pink.

"You called me Ruined."

"Oh yeah! I guess it just came out. I think my brain tried to think of what I would have named you since you were a creation of me, and since my state of mind at that point was ruined, I just called you Ruined."

"Ruined. I like it. Can I keep it?"

Radiant looked at her twin with a small bit of shock.

"Alright. Ruined it is!" she said, smiling happily.

"It's not as bad as it could be."

Radiant nodded.

"Yeah. I guess you're right."

"Are you going to keep trying to record with no voice?"

Radiant let out a soundly grumble and held up the camera.

No, she signed, handing it over to Melody. Melody shook her head and smiled at her friend.

"You are still healing and Mari and I already offered to record for you," she said. "You know that rest is the best thing for the voice."

Yeah, I know. But sometimes you want to just speak and sing and stuff.

Radiant watched her friend walk back over to the desk and settle into the chair, beginning to work on a video from earlier in the week. Grabbing her phone, Radiant got up and headed downstairs, into the library, and over to the cozy little corner. Sinking into the pillows and recently washed warm blankets, she pulled up the latest episode of her show.

"And there you go. More idiots doing more idiot things."

Yeah, but it's funny, you know?

Radiant sighed and wrapped herself in one of the blankets, a soft purple one with cats on it.

"Last one there is the liar!"

Radiant smirked a little and forced a croaking laugh. There was nothing but the simple song in her heart that could hardly be put out by her ruined vocal cords. Everyone knew that.

"Ray! I brought you some food. With some of my pastries for dessert. So enjoy," Melody said, placing down the small tray of assorted food. Glancing at it, Radiant noticed soup - chicken noodle - dried rice, and a well-made plate of pastries. One was cinnamon and the other butterscotch.

Thanks, she signed, grabbing the steaming bowl of soup. With her show still playing, Radiant eat slowly, making the most of her get well food while the younger woman began clearing up the messy stack of books at the far end of the library. The library had always been spacious, with a few desks placed near some of the walls and by the center rings. The corners had been empty, left os uncomfortable window seats until Radiant moved in. Books were often scattered around the room, left there after long periods of reading and reorganizing done by the inhabitants.

"You've made this place seem like a human paradise. Nice places large enough to sleep in with pillows and blankets for those who do fall asleep, and neatly organized bookcases with thousands of books to read through for years," Melody said, gazing over at her friend.

Yeah. Only one thing is missing, Radiant mused.

"That is?"

A room for a ruined core.