Scarlett Inferno's Book of Utter Chaos

~Don't Fear the Reaper~

Here's a one-shot I wrote following the events of the last Colosseum fight. 

Scarlett eventually stumbled back to the Colosseum and was sitting in a room filled with cots, the room was illuminated with candles. The nurse was wrapping a bandage across her forehead. Scarlett's face maintained a neutral expression.

"It seems you bumped your head pretty hard during your last fight. You also must have been hit by some kind of energy-draining beam. Sorry about the clothes, it was all I could find in the closet." The nurse had stripped Scarlett of her bloody clothing the second she limped into the room. She was currently wearing the oversized pair of pants and a smaller shirt that stopped above her navel. It was convenient for the nurse, who was now working on bandaging Scarlett's torso. Scarlett remained silent and ignored her, but her mind was flooded with a thousand thoughts.

Why did you do that? You didn't have to. You could have just let him walk away. The nurse finished and looked at Scarlett's furrowed brow.

"I've seen that look before. Did you not succeed in your mission?"

"I did, that's the problem." Scarlett's blunt tone confused the nurse. "I had to break a part of my personal code that I've never broken before."

"Well, I'm going to prescribe a day's rest before you do anything for the Empire. Maybe you can spend that day processing it. It's very late, so I suggest you go back to Palatine. Before you do, take a sip from this. It should help restore some of the energy you lost." Scarlett grabbed the small vial of liquid and took a sip. She felt slightly stronger as she thanked the nurse and left the building. She eventually made it back to her small home. It consisted of the main room and the bathroom hidden behind a curtain. The kitchen was located in one half of the room with a mismatched table and chair next to the small oven and counter. She walked over to the bed that was shoved into the corner on the other side of the room and collapsed on top of it. She fell into a restless sleep.

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When Scarlett woke up, the sun had already risen. The adrenaline of the fight had worn off hours ago, and her injuries ached. She slowly lifted herself off of the bed, cringing at the movement. She shuffled over to the kitchen area and reached into a cabinet to pull out a slice of bread. She held it in her hand and watched as she toasted it. Once it was dark enough for her liking, she began to nibble on it at her table. As soon as she finished she stared at her wall.

"Dear Celeste, he was a bad person who killed several people. I shouldn't feel bad about doing what I had to." Scarlett muttered to herself. "He was a total psychopath that was ready to kill you. It was pretty much self-defense."

You were sent to kill him. If you didn't put yourself in danger you wouldn't need to kill him. Scarlett's inner voice responded. She got up from the table and approached her door.

"I need to clear my mind. Maybe a walk around town will help." Scarlett grabbed some money and tossed it into her jacket. Scarlett pushed open her door and began to walk around Palatine. She was still sore from the fight, but she ignored the pain.

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I know what I did was justifiable, but it doesn't make it less awful. I promised myself I wouldn't kill anyone, but it seems like this isn't going to be my only time. Scarlett didn't realize that her legs were traveling down a familiar path, and stopped once they reached their destination. She found herself back at the scene of the incident. Whoever was in charge of cleaning the scene had done well, and only some small bloodstains remained. Someone was outside accessing the damage to the tavern wall. He looked to be around Scarlett's age and had blonde hair that looked as if a comb had never touched it. Scarlett was about to leave the area before the boy noticed her staring.