The Cities Have Fallen

Run

The next day is endless hours, pouring over books, hiding from others. A shadow. We're all mourning now, none of us able to cope with the doubt and guilt. No one knows who the murderer is. No one knows how to find them, now that we know someone could be pulling the strings.

Watching us. Waiting for us to fail.

Conveniently enough for it, we're already falling apart, each one of us slowly deteriorating.

Torch doesn't return. No messages sent to Natrina go through. Someone considered going after him, I believe it was Kairu. He's gone now. If he got to Torch, I don't know, but it'll be at least two days before Torch gets back.

Tick. Tick. Tick. I sit in the library, listening to the click of claw bouncing off rock, leaving subtle scars behind. It's not like Nina sharpening her claws, which is a terrible noise, but still quite annoying.

I go over to find Gale sharpening a rock into a spear of some sort. His ears are laid back, his mouth curved a bit into a half bored, half apathetic frown.

He looks up, "Rena. What're you doing here anyhow?"

"Reading. It's what a library is for."

"True enough." he says. "I just don't know what everyone's doing. They're all looking for reasons about Indy's death and none of them make sense."

"Is that a problem?"

"Yes. It is." he says, "We're going to end up all killing each other. One hell of a family this is."

"S-s-stop it." I insist. "You've lived here long as me. Don't you feel anything? Care about anyone?!"

He sees I'm about to cry and then looks down at his rock, letting it fall to the floor. "I'm leaving tonight."

"What?!"

"I'm going. Tell anyone else and I will never look at you as a friend again."

"I-I-I... what about Nina?"

"Screw her. Screw all of them."

"Gale... I... you..."

He looks back at me. His eyes are lined by dark circles. Then I notice the scars. He's been slicing himself, who knows with what.

I back away.

I spend the rest of the day alone. The dagger sits untouched in the garage, near the platform where Auma used to give speeches in what seems like another life.

That night, I'm half asleep when I hear a pat, pat, pat, pat across the hall. I open the door, and see a shadowy shape leaving.

Gale, you asshole.

I growl, following him to the garage, which is lit by blue light.

He's about to open the door when I yell, as loud as possible, "Gale, turn around!"

His eyes focus on me, bestial. Red veins bulge from their perfect gold sheen, disfiguring him into something hideous. The scars are even more obvious, he's bleeding slowly from each one of them. He looks at me, his golden teeth flashing, each canine poised to rip me into pieces.

Any physical damage will be nothing in comparison to what I'll feel if he goes through with this.

"You can't run away. We're friends. You're the first Sentient I ever trusted. I can't lose you too, not after-"

"Rena, we have to get out of here."

"What do you mean?! Why would you want to ditch all of them?"

"We. Need. To. Go. Not them, they'll be fine. It's us. Please, please, please go."

"Why us?"

He's silent.

I repeat it. "Why... us?"

The blue light.

Old memories.

The smell of cinnamon.

Nina, the other day. "Have you seen Gale? He's finally mastered turning invisible and I think he's hiding from me."

Gale can turn invisible.

Gale watching Indy and I leave the party. Gale at the door when I held the dagger at Indy's throat. Gale in the audience.

Who can summon shadowy powers? He can.

All this time.

All this time and he KNEW and he didn't tell me.

"You're a murderer."

"I had to! You don't-"

"You let Indy die. You KNEW INDY WASN'T THE CULPRIT AND YOU LET HIM THINK HE WAS, HE DIED THINKING IT WAS FOR THE BEST, YOU KNEW THE WHOLE TIME!"

"THEY'RE IN MY HEAD, I CAN'T SLEEP, I CAN'T EAT, I SLICE MYSELF UP TO TRY TO GET THEM OUT AND THEY WON'T GO AWAY-"

"YOU LET HIM DIE!"

"I CAN'T CONTROL MYSELF. I'M A MONSTER. I'M JUST A MONSTER AND I NEED TO GO. I NEED TO GET AWAY FROM THIS..."

I sob, letting my whole body be wracked with pain. Betrayal, betrayal, betrayal and lies.

I'm no princess.

I let... I let them all...

A shadowy claw, so much like the one I saw summoned when I first met Gale, and he got me honey.

Now it's dropping a dagger at my feet. It glows, blue veins exposed in dazzling light.

Gale waits.

"I hate you."

I say nothing.

"I hate you. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. Just... you know what?! I can't believe how terrible of a princess you are. You should've killed me already."

"Indy... Indy said that..."

"SHUT UP AND DO IT, YOU BITCH! I DIDN'T STOP RUNNING AWAY FOR YOU TO SIT HERE AND WHINE!"

I pick the dagger up. He walks towards me, submissively, and we're one.

From the beginning, we were destined to meet.

Good and bad.

Hope and despair.

Light and darkness.

I let it be this way.

Hell, I am a princess. Look at me.

I came all this way thinking I was special for this final battle.

This is destiny, the reality of it.

I look at him, and he just shakes his head.

"I love you, Rena Swift."

"I love you too, Gale."

I lift the dagger, and bring it down with a shattering scream.