Yeah. She'd really done that.
Irene stared at the hole in James's chest, watched as he sputtered and gasped and finally laid still. You'd think she would get used to the sight of people dying, and yet.
It doesn't matter.
Irene felt her breath coming in more quickly, felt her lungs get fuller and fuller until it seemed like they were going to burst if she sucked in any more air, but she couldn't stop. She'd fucked up. She'd gone and killed someone and it hadn't even made anyone feel better, even for a second.
God, this felt so lame, like. Whoops. Sorry you're dead. Guess she really shoulda thought this through, huh? Bang, down. Just like that. Now there were three corpses on the ground. Guess who's fucking fault that is?
It doesn't matter. It doesn't fucking matter. He was dead anyways.
She forced her mouth shut, forced herself to stop inhaling. Why so serious, Irene?
She grimaced. Smiled, grimaced again. Walked over to the body and yanked the spear out, looked away as blood spurted out of the open wound. No need to upset herself more than she needed to. Then she wrinkled her nose, kneeled and forced her eyes back down. What was it that people did with dead bodies again? Crossed hands. Closed eyes. Uh, yeah. There. Rest in peace and all that. And all that. Just like all that.
See? It was almost funny. And now she'd paid her respects to the body. No need to feel worse than she had to. And it'd been two birds with one stone (even if it'd been the same kind of bird). Birds? Birds. Thinking about birds was good.
Wendy. Not a bird, but a fish. Good thing Irene could communicate with all animals.
"Hi! So, uh...promise not to poison me or anyone else in the future? Unless they're just, like, being terrible, but in that case I kinda doubt we'd be using poison on them."
Carp Diem
Seas the Day: We are Day 6 now! (Now PM first) Content Warning: Graphic Grossness
Somehow, she had as she wanted. All her hard effort, of respect remained untouched. No explosions. Perfectly preserved. The tar pits were safe once again.
Irene began talking as Theo was walking. Away from the graves. His face downcast. Out of sight.
She knew it. He couldn't do any of what was said. Empty threats from a danger-less dandelion once again blowing away in the slightest of breeze. Still what he said after those threats lingered.
Underestimated, yet again by another classmate. Just like everyone else. Sure, in all likelihood she wouldn't be the sole survivor. She had accepted everything a long time ago. However, she had lasted farther than any of them could have ever imagined. She hoped daddy and Mr. Dolph were proud, but looks like she had much more to prove.
"For your own sake," She called out. With the deepest, darkest stare through iced over, light blue eyes.
"You should hope that soup James had you swimming in, gets to you before someone else does. Farewell, Theo."
Wendy turned to the babbling poison proof curiosity beside her.
"You. You're okay. You survived." How? Wendy stood in wonderment. We?
Irene had grouped them together. The survivors of this mayhem against the terrible.
"-and you're right. Irene: I need your help. But first-"
Wendy looked at Yumi, giving the friend Felicia had bonded with over the course of nearly a week, a quick touch to the shoulder. At every other former person on the ground. She waved a hand toward the peaceful, earthy graves.
"Another funeral. Let's begin."
Irene began talking as Theo was walking. Away from the graves. His face downcast. Out of sight.
She knew it. He couldn't do any of what was said. Empty threats from a danger-less dandelion once again blowing away in the slightest of breeze. Still what he said after those threats lingered.
Underestimated, yet again by another classmate. Just like everyone else. Sure, in all likelihood she wouldn't be the sole survivor. She had accepted everything a long time ago. However, she had lasted farther than any of them could have ever imagined. She hoped daddy and Mr. Dolph were proud, but looks like she had much more to prove.
"For your own sake," She called out. With the deepest, darkest stare through iced over, light blue eyes.
"You should hope that soup James had you swimming in, gets to you before someone else does. Farewell, Theo."
Wendy turned to the babbling poison proof curiosity beside her.
"You. You're okay. You survived." How? Wendy stood in wonderment. We?
Irene had grouped them together. The survivors of this mayhem against the terrible.
"-and you're right. Irene: I need your help. But first-"
Wendy looked at Yumi, giving the friend Felicia had bonded with over the course of nearly a week, a quick touch to the shoulder. At every other former person on the ground. She waved a hand toward the peaceful, earthy graves.
"Another funeral. Let's begin."
Yumi took her eyes off of Wendy for a brief moment to watch Theo leave. Once her grief-addled mind caught up to the situation a few seconds later, she realized just how lucky she had been. Theo was ready to blow the whole place up, but somehow, Wendy had managed to talk him out of it. It was a strange thing to think over. Wendy had just tried to kill them all with her poisoned soup, but now she had just gone out of her way to save them? What exactly was going through that girl's head? Yumi wasn't sure she would understand even if Wendy told her directly. Then again, nothing seemed to make sense anymore, so it just seemed par for the course at this point.
That just left the three of them: Herself, Wendy, and Irene. The person who made the toxic brew, and the two who survived its taste. They were an unusual trio from her perspective. Yumi, who had spent the past week in a near-constant state of terror and distress, Wendy, a friend of Yumi's friend Felicia who all of a sudden seemed very sketchy and enigmatic, and Irene, who Yumi didn't know at all aside from the fact that she had just put a harpoon in someone's chest. The three of them had been more or less thrown together by circumstance, and they didn't have any plans.
Well, to be more specific, they didn't have any long-term plans. They did have one immediate task at hand: The respectful burial of the deceased, or at least the closest thing they could come to it.
Yumi helped to carry Sophie's body to the pit. She was nowhere near as strong and fit as Wendy and Irene, and she had trouble keeping her grip on the body. It was pretty clear that Wendy and Irene were doing most of the work, all the way to the point where they tossed her body in the pit. Yumi watched wordlessly as Sophie slowly sank below the surface. It was a process that took far too long, hauntingly so. She imagined what it would be like to be trapped in the tar, unable to escape until it slowly enveloped her. It seemed like such an awful way to go. She didn't want to die like that.
But then again, she might not have the choice. She bit back her horror at her own thought processes before turning around to gather the second body.
She experienced many of the same struggles when handling Felicia's body, but she managed to compose herself and steady her grip a little better. Maybe it was a bit selfish, but making sure that Felicia was given proper respect was more important to Yumi than it had been with Sophie's burial. Felicia was one of her best friends, and she had died a death that she absolutely did not deserve. Yumi could never do a lot for her, but the least that she could do was make sure that her body was treated with as much proper respect as possible considering the circumstances.
With the combined strength of the three girls, Felicia's body was sent into the tar as well, landing face-up on the surface. As the cheerleader began to sink towards her final resting place, Yumi felt her tongue unlock. She couldn't let Felicia go without a proper eulogy. She was far from the best when it came to speaking, especially public speaking, but she could let her friend depart in silence.
"I'm s-sorry." She said to the corpse from the edge of the pit. "I s-shouldn't have left the church without you and Ramona. It we had just s-stuck together, then we would have had a whole extra day together bef-before you died." She blinked, sending a few tears from her watery eyes down her cheeks. "S-sorry."
She had to take a moment to pause since she was getting so choked up. She was pretty sure that she only had a few moments before her throat hurt too much to do anything but sob, so she had to make it quick. To compensate for this, she chose the words that she felt would say all she needed to in the briefest time possible.
"Bye F-Felicia. You're a good f-friend."
That was that. Yumi had said all she could say. She remained in place at the edge of the tar pit, completely unmoving as she watched Felicia continue to sink. It was only when the blonde has disappeared entirely beneath the surface of the makeshift grave that her feet allowed her to move again.
----------
Yumi couldn't sleep at all that night. Every time she tried to close her eyes, she saw the events of the lethal feast play out in her head again. The panic that ensued when they realized something was wrong. Felicia vomiting and dry heaving. Felicia going limp in her arms. The horrific look on her face after she died. All of it haunted her. Even if she did manage to get to sleep with all of that on her mind, she had no doubt that it would continue to torment her throughout the night in her dreams. As a result, she volunteered to watch over Wendy and Irene while they slept, and said that she would wake one of them up once she was ready to go to sleep.
The caveat was, she never shook either of them awake. She sat up alone all night.
It wasn't just the deaths that bothered Yumi. It was also Wendy's words that stuck in her mind. Her warning about the killers on the island, and how their classmates were dying horribly. How it would just continue until the sick, savage game reached its conclusion. Most of all, how they were all going to die, and she didn't want it to be at the hands of some sadist. Her speech shook Yumi, not just because it was scary, but because as far as she could tell, she was right. The numbers were dwindling, and the killers weren't dying off. Every day, it just became more likely that one of them would end up dead, and that terrified her.
Yumi didn't want to die. She still had her family and her book to live for. And at the same time, she was terrified of death. She wanted to live so badly, which was complicated by the fact that she was almost completely certain that she was going to die. Her hope that she would be able to escape had almost completely been supplanted by sheer terror at how gruesome her end could be. Even hen, in the dead of night, someone could whisk her away and cut her up, or shoot her and leave her to bleed out, or any variety of horrible fates. She didn't want to think about all of the gruesome things that could happen, but they forced themselves into her mind. Every moment of dealing with it was pure mental torture.
And by the time the sun began to rise, she couldn't take it anymore.
Yumi held her gun in her hands. She had practiced her grip and her aim, and she knew how to use the safety. The only part she hadn't gotten down quite yet was the shot itself. What she had in mind required a different tactic than what she had practiced, though. With the idea she had, she wouldn't be able to use the sights, nor would a typical grip be effective. But on the bright side, the safety and the trigger would still work just the same.
She stared at the gun for a while longer. Was she really going to do this? Could she not think of any other option? It was a heavy decision, and there was a lot to think over regarding it. Tears came back to her eyes as she made her choice.
She raised the gun and put the barrel in her mouth. It had a strong, unpleasant metallic taste. Surprisingly, she didn't taste anything that seemed like gunpowder. She figured that was because she had never properly fired the gun, although it could just as well have been the fact that she had no idea what gunpowder tasted like. Regardless, step one was complete. The gun was aimed where she intended to shoot.
Next came the safety. It was a simple movement that she had practiced well, and this time was no different. She put her thumb over the safety and switched it off.
click
Two steps down and one to go. All that was left was to pull the trigger. Yumi just had to curl one finger or thumb around and apply pressure, and that would be it. It sounded so simple, but putting it into practice was another matter. Her hands were fully paralyzed, with not a single finger willing to move an inch towards the trigger. She was fully aware of the finality of her choice, but her mind and body weren't cooperating with each other.
She continued to sit there, gun still in position. After a few minutes with no movement, she withdrew her weapon, letting it hit the dirt and burying her face in her hands as she collapsed into a fit of broken tears.
That just left the three of them: Herself, Wendy, and Irene. The person who made the toxic brew, and the two who survived its taste. They were an unusual trio from her perspective. Yumi, who had spent the past week in a near-constant state of terror and distress, Wendy, a friend of Yumi's friend Felicia who all of a sudden seemed very sketchy and enigmatic, and Irene, who Yumi didn't know at all aside from the fact that she had just put a harpoon in someone's chest. The three of them had been more or less thrown together by circumstance, and they didn't have any plans.
Well, to be more specific, they didn't have any long-term plans. They did have one immediate task at hand: The respectful burial of the deceased, or at least the closest thing they could come to it.
Yumi helped to carry Sophie's body to the pit. She was nowhere near as strong and fit as Wendy and Irene, and she had trouble keeping her grip on the body. It was pretty clear that Wendy and Irene were doing most of the work, all the way to the point where they tossed her body in the pit. Yumi watched wordlessly as Sophie slowly sank below the surface. It was a process that took far too long, hauntingly so. She imagined what it would be like to be trapped in the tar, unable to escape until it slowly enveloped her. It seemed like such an awful way to go. She didn't want to die like that.
But then again, she might not have the choice. She bit back her horror at her own thought processes before turning around to gather the second body.
She experienced many of the same struggles when handling Felicia's body, but she managed to compose herself and steady her grip a little better. Maybe it was a bit selfish, but making sure that Felicia was given proper respect was more important to Yumi than it had been with Sophie's burial. Felicia was one of her best friends, and she had died a death that she absolutely did not deserve. Yumi could never do a lot for her, but the least that she could do was make sure that her body was treated with as much proper respect as possible considering the circumstances.
With the combined strength of the three girls, Felicia's body was sent into the tar as well, landing face-up on the surface. As the cheerleader began to sink towards her final resting place, Yumi felt her tongue unlock. She couldn't let Felicia go without a proper eulogy. She was far from the best when it came to speaking, especially public speaking, but she could let her friend depart in silence.
"I'm s-sorry." She said to the corpse from the edge of the pit. "I s-shouldn't have left the church without you and Ramona. It we had just s-stuck together, then we would have had a whole extra day together bef-before you died." She blinked, sending a few tears from her watery eyes down her cheeks. "S-sorry."
She had to take a moment to pause since she was getting so choked up. She was pretty sure that she only had a few moments before her throat hurt too much to do anything but sob, so she had to make it quick. To compensate for this, she chose the words that she felt would say all she needed to in the briefest time possible.
"Bye F-Felicia. You're a good f-friend."
That was that. Yumi had said all she could say. She remained in place at the edge of the tar pit, completely unmoving as she watched Felicia continue to sink. It was only when the blonde has disappeared entirely beneath the surface of the makeshift grave that her feet allowed her to move again.
----------
Yumi couldn't sleep at all that night. Every time she tried to close her eyes, she saw the events of the lethal feast play out in her head again. The panic that ensued when they realized something was wrong. Felicia vomiting and dry heaving. Felicia going limp in her arms. The horrific look on her face after she died. All of it haunted her. Even if she did manage to get to sleep with all of that on her mind, she had no doubt that it would continue to torment her throughout the night in her dreams. As a result, she volunteered to watch over Wendy and Irene while they slept, and said that she would wake one of them up once she was ready to go to sleep.
The caveat was, she never shook either of them awake. She sat up alone all night.
It wasn't just the deaths that bothered Yumi. It was also Wendy's words that stuck in her mind. Her warning about the killers on the island, and how their classmates were dying horribly. How it would just continue until the sick, savage game reached its conclusion. Most of all, how they were all going to die, and she didn't want it to be at the hands of some sadist. Her speech shook Yumi, not just because it was scary, but because as far as she could tell, she was right. The numbers were dwindling, and the killers weren't dying off. Every day, it just became more likely that one of them would end up dead, and that terrified her.
Yumi didn't want to die. She still had her family and her book to live for. And at the same time, she was terrified of death. She wanted to live so badly, which was complicated by the fact that she was almost completely certain that she was going to die. Her hope that she would be able to escape had almost completely been supplanted by sheer terror at how gruesome her end could be. Even hen, in the dead of night, someone could whisk her away and cut her up, or shoot her and leave her to bleed out, or any variety of horrible fates. She didn't want to think about all of the gruesome things that could happen, but they forced themselves into her mind. Every moment of dealing with it was pure mental torture.
And by the time the sun began to rise, she couldn't take it anymore.
Yumi held her gun in her hands. She had practiced her grip and her aim, and she knew how to use the safety. The only part she hadn't gotten down quite yet was the shot itself. What she had in mind required a different tactic than what she had practiced, though. With the idea she had, she wouldn't be able to use the sights, nor would a typical grip be effective. But on the bright side, the safety and the trigger would still work just the same.
She stared at the gun for a while longer. Was she really going to do this? Could she not think of any other option? It was a heavy decision, and there was a lot to think over regarding it. Tears came back to her eyes as she made her choice.
She raised the gun and put the barrel in her mouth. It had a strong, unpleasant metallic taste. Surprisingly, she didn't taste anything that seemed like gunpowder. She figured that was because she had never properly fired the gun, although it could just as well have been the fact that she had no idea what gunpowder tasted like. Regardless, step one was complete. The gun was aimed where she intended to shoot.
Next came the safety. It was a simple movement that she had practiced well, and this time was no different. She put her thumb over the safety and switched it off.
click
Two steps down and one to go. All that was left was to pull the trigger. Yumi just had to curl one finger or thumb around and apply pressure, and that would be it. It sounded so simple, but putting it into practice was another matter. Her hands were fully paralyzed, with not a single finger willing to move an inch towards the trigger. She was fully aware of the finality of her choice, but her mind and body weren't cooperating with each other.
She continued to sit there, gun still in position. After a few minutes with no movement, she withdrew her weapon, letting it hit the dirt and burying her face in her hands as she collapsed into a fit of broken tears.
The olive green bomber jacket draped across Yumi's shoulders and back. Formerly owned by Felicia LaChapelle.
Sophie, James and Felicia all had beautiful burials yesterday. But it was Yumi Nunes who made Felicia's in particular a truly touching moment. Guilt might have wrecked at Wendy, due to how it happened, but the end result was much the same. She was freed. Still, this smidge amount had Wendy feeling as if she had owed something for making it so painful.
"Yumi," Wendy said with a comforting rub on the weeping girl's shoulder blade as she placed Felicia's jacket over softly. Yumi hadn't left or struck when she had the chance, so maybe she too understood. Perhaps this was what she owed. Responsibility over Yumi's well-being after taking Felicia away. She never liked seeing the helpless, downtrodden like this.
"Shh, it's okay. I'm here for you now."
She placed a reassuring arm over her. A half hug, sitting side to side, with one arm.
"Not sure what's happened, but you look exhausted Yumi."
Of course Wendy had seen the reason. The shock of seeing Yumi turning her own power onto herself, with the barrel inside her mouth. There was one certainty here and that was the fact that Wendy never wanted to see a sight like that again.
"Well whatever it is, I'm here for you now. Let's say we get some rest, huh? What do you say?"
Sophie, James and Felicia all had beautiful burials yesterday. But it was Yumi Nunes who made Felicia's in particular a truly touching moment. Guilt might have wrecked at Wendy, due to how it happened, but the end result was much the same. She was freed. Still, this smidge amount had Wendy feeling as if she had owed something for making it so painful.
"Yumi," Wendy said with a comforting rub on the weeping girl's shoulder blade as she placed Felicia's jacket over softly. Yumi hadn't left or struck when she had the chance, so maybe she too understood. Perhaps this was what she owed. Responsibility over Yumi's well-being after taking Felicia away. She never liked seeing the helpless, downtrodden like this.
"Shh, it's okay. I'm here for you now."
She placed a reassuring arm over her. A half hug, sitting side to side, with one arm.
"Not sure what's happened, but you look exhausted Yumi."
Of course Wendy had seen the reason. The shock of seeing Yumi turning her own power onto herself, with the barrel inside her mouth. There was one certainty here and that was the fact that Wendy never wanted to see a sight like that again.
"Well whatever it is, I'm here for you now. Let's say we get some rest, huh? What do you say?"
Yumi felt the weight and warmth of the jacket combined with Wendy's reach. She leaned into the other girl, unable to dam her own tears. She still didn't totally understand what Wendy's game was, but at this point she didn't care. She just needed the comfort, no matter who was providing it. And if Wendy was the one willing to reach out to her, then she would accept it. She was starting to get a good idea of why Wendy and Felicia had been friends, though. She let her head rest on Wendy's shoulder for a few minutes, feeling an odd sense of comfort.
She couldn't bring herself to talk about the things that had been on her mind all night. It was bad enough that she had to think about them, so spreading the pain wouldn't help anything. But considering the events of the past day, she felt like Wendy knew what she was going through. After all, she had given them that speech, the one about what was happening, and what was going to happen. She had to understand.
It took her some time to find her voice amidst her sniffs and sobs, but she managed to get a message to the cheerleader regardless.
"I don't want to do th-this anymore."
She couldn't bring herself to talk about the things that had been on her mind all night. It was bad enough that she had to think about them, so spreading the pain wouldn't help anything. But considering the events of the past day, she felt like Wendy knew what she was going through. After all, she had given them that speech, the one about what was happening, and what was going to happen. She had to understand.
It took her some time to find her voice amidst her sniffs and sobs, but she managed to get a message to the cheerleader regardless.
"I don't want to do th-this anymore."
Wendy nodded. A silence for a few seconds. It was upsetting to see someone this way.
"I just-I owe it to you, after how things happened, I owe it to Felicia, to help you. Help you find Maxie Lombardi, help you against terrible people like Saachi Noodles. We have the power to do it. Together."
She winked and smiled with closed lips and squinty eyes, but her bright tone wavered as she observed the smaller girl's face, her reaction.
"...You're really hurting."
"I just-I owe it to you, after how things happened, I owe it to Felicia, to help you. Help you find Maxie Lombardi, help you against terrible people like Saachi Noodles. We have the power to do it. Together."
She winked and smiled with closed lips and squinty eyes, but her bright tone wavered as she observed the smaller girl's face, her reaction.
"...You're really hurting."
Yumi shook her head. All Wendy had accomplished by bringing up Saachi was highlighting another painful memory.
"S-Saachi." She repeated the name between unsteady breaths. "S-she found us before we left for the tar pits. S-she tried to attack me. I had my gun, but I couldn't s-shoot. I was just s-scared..." She gritted her teeth. "Ramona... s-she saved me. She died because I couldn't defend myself against s-someone I knew was dangerous. It's my f-fault."
Her grip on Wendy's shirt tightened, and she had to cry a bit more before she returned to her explanation, although her voice was strongly affected by her shaking sobs and croaky throat.
"What you s-said to Theo. You were right. I'm going to die. S-someone's going to kill me."
"S-Saachi." She repeated the name between unsteady breaths. "S-she found us before we left for the tar pits. S-she tried to attack me. I had my gun, but I couldn't s-shoot. I was just s-scared..." She gritted her teeth. "Ramona... s-she saved me. She died because I couldn't defend myself against s-someone I knew was dangerous. It's my f-fault."
Her grip on Wendy's shirt tightened, and she had to cry a bit more before she returned to her explanation, although her voice was strongly affected by her shaking sobs and croaky throat.
"What you s-said to Theo. You were right. I'm going to die. S-someone's going to kill me."
"Yes." A shift in tone.
"Everyone is going to die. Except one. What matters is when."
Wendy reached into her uggs boot and pulled out the ballistic knife. Rotating it, studying it.
"My new goal is to make sure someone terrible, someone undeserving doesn't become that final - one. Like her."
The knife planted into the hard dirt ground, it's handle jutting up. Wendy now understood the cause of the burning pain inside Yumi's heart, mind and soul.
"I had it all wrong. I was aiming for the wrong people. Good people. Like you. Instead of at the core of the problem. These motivators. But I was - dumb - Yumi. But I can do better. Just let me prove I'm not, let me know what I can do to help make it better."
Smash in the skulls of the terrible. Beat up Saachi Noodles. Cut all their enemies throats. They had no right to mess with anyone's heads.
"Everyone is going to die. Except one. What matters is when."
Wendy reached into her uggs boot and pulled out the ballistic knife. Rotating it, studying it.
"My new goal is to make sure someone terrible, someone undeserving doesn't become that final - one. Like her."
The knife planted into the hard dirt ground, it's handle jutting up. Wendy now understood the cause of the burning pain inside Yumi's heart, mind and soul.
"I had it all wrong. I was aiming for the wrong people. Good people. Like you. Instead of at the core of the problem. These motivators. But I was - dumb - Yumi. But I can do better. Just let me prove I'm not, let me know what I can do to help make it better."
Smash in the skulls of the terrible. Beat up Saachi Noodles. Cut all their enemies throats. They had no right to mess with anyone's heads.
It was about a minute before Yumi felt she was able to calm herself enough to speak again. She tried to keep her mind on topic, but her visions of the gruesome fates that could await her refused to let her be, overwhelming her and dragging her back into the pit of sorrow as she desperately tried to claw her way out.
I can't do it. I can't I can't I can't.
Wendy said that she wanted to help her, and even though it may have seemed crazy, Yumi trusted her. She knew exactly what she wanted Wendy to do, and why she wanted it. Even the act of asking was going to be hard, though. She was afraid of how Wendy might react, but she was out of other options. She couldn't bring herself to raise her head, delivering her request into Wendy's shoulder.
"Kill me."
I can't do it. I can't I can't I can't.
Wendy said that she wanted to help her, and even though it may have seemed crazy, Yumi trusted her. She knew exactly what she wanted Wendy to do, and why she wanted it. Even the act of asking was going to be hard, though. She was afraid of how Wendy might react, but she was out of other options. She couldn't bring herself to raise her head, delivering her request into Wendy's shoulder.
"Kill me."
Blink.
Blink.
"I..."
Tried already. You survived. You deserve to last longer.
"Don't think I can."
Blink.
"I..."
Tried already. You survived. You deserve to last longer.
"Don't think I can."
What?
"But... you have to." Yumi pleaded. "If you don't, s-someone else will. Like Katarina, or S-Saachi."
She clung to the other girl even tighter, like a lifeline keeping her from certain disaster.
"But... you have to." Yumi pleaded. "If you don't, s-someone else will. Like Katarina, or S-Saachi."
She clung to the other girl even tighter, like a lifeline keeping her from certain disaster.
"How about I kill them instead?"
Wendy bared her teeth, her expression morphing into wider eyes and a twisted grin, staring out into nothing as the girl clung to and weeped on her shoulder.
"Then you'll be safe. Wouldn't that be better?"
Wendy bared her teeth, her expression morphing into wider eyes and a twisted grin, staring out into nothing as the girl clung to and weeped on her shoulder.
"Then you'll be safe. Wouldn't that be better?"
No, no. That wasn't what Yumi needed to hear at all.
"Lyndi, Ramona, F-Felicia..." She listed off the names of her fallen friends. "Th-they tried to protect me, and they all died. Th-they didn't need to..."
Her voice was lost again to her futile attempts to choke back her own tears.
"Lyndi, Ramona, F-Felicia..." She listed off the names of her fallen friends. "Th-they tried to protect me, and they all died. Th-they didn't need to..."
Her voice was lost again to her futile attempts to choke back her own tears.
Wendy nearly weeped. The bottom lip trembled. She had not expected to hear this.
Unselfish. Kindhearted. Good person. Deserving.
Yumi was thinking of others, of Wendy instead of herself. She... Cared.
"B-But Felicia. I owe her to take care of you."
It was a struggle between that and what Yumi wanted.
"You can't give up. Not now. I know you have the power."
But did she have the will to go along with that power. Or was this all futile. Wendy didn't know. Didn't know what to do.
Unselfish. Kindhearted. Good person. Deserving.
Yumi was thinking of others, of Wendy instead of herself. She... Cared.
"B-But Felicia. I owe her to take care of you."
It was a struggle between that and what Yumi wanted.
"You can't give up. Not now. I know you have the power."
But did she have the will to go along with that power. Or was this all futile. Wendy didn't know. Didn't know what to do.
Yumi's chest felt tense. She listened to Wendy's words, how she tried to build her back up from nothing, even after Yumi hadn't spoken to her all night following the lunch incident. Wendy really was too kind to her.
But even so, she was wrong.
"I tried. I tried really hard. I wanted to be s-strong, so they wouldn't have to s-stand up for me." A sniff and a cough separated her monologue into parts. "I wanted to escape. Not just me, I wanted them s-safe too."
She shuddered upon recollecting her past failures.
"I couldn't do it. S-still can't."
But even so, she was wrong.
"I tried. I tried really hard. I wanted to be s-strong, so they wouldn't have to s-stand up for me." A sniff and a cough separated her monologue into parts. "I wanted to escape. Not just me, I wanted them s-safe too."
She shuddered upon recollecting her past failures.
"I couldn't do it. S-still can't."