Глава 14

A flash of cognition... in the gloom...

A consciousness... nearly eaten away by disordered emotion...

Unable to perceive... Unable to be perceived...

The outermost layer of the fortress in the skies above the Shard begins to break apart, its many fragments falling like a rain of iron spilling across the ground.

The enormous skeleton halts in place, its nerve bundles still wrapped around the airship.

The revenant's final consciousness is dissipating.

You promised me that future beyond question, Theresa.

But your followers have become hindrances upon your path.

My fellow souls are in disarray from centuries worth of scorching flame.

This forge was meant to be my cage, my execution chamber wherein I could slit my own throat.

I have not yet paid back the price for betraying my clan!

This is the last thing I can do, Theresa...

A violent ignition.

The shadows dissipate from within the inferno, and the flames envelop the airship, tearing apart the nerve bundles.

They charge towards you too.

And as for you all—

You use false words to place yourselves atop a pedestal of virtue.

Use lies of deliverance to cover the scars Sarkaz inflict on themselves only to survive.

You dare not even confront her death—

There was no need for you to come here.

...;Theresa?

Are you here to look for Amiya? Or perhaps...

Are you injured?;Is that child by your side... Amiya?

So that is your answer, Doctor...

You try to step forward, but your body fails to move. You are separated from the scene by an untouchable barrier.

You finally realize that this is not reality.

This is what the revenant has compelled you to see.

A scene of truth.

Wait... They're...

You see many figures by your side advance.

You recognize their weapons and armor. You have seen their shadows before, rather recently in fact...

Weren't they the apparitions aboard the airship?!

Have they come to protect Theresa?

No, that's not right...

You see them draw their swords against the wounded King of Sarkaz.

You see a scene that you could never have imagined.

Theresa fallen in a pool of blood, protecting the sleeping Amiya in her embrace.

Her murderers surround you.

You and them, conspirators all.

What was that...

The fleeting scenes melt away, returning your consciousness to reality.

You look at W, Kal'tsit and Amiya. You see the expressions on their faces. You realize that you were not the only one watching those visions unfurl.

W...;Kal'tsit...;Amiya...

The calmness of this dangerous mercenary's expression feels rather strange. You feel as though she should be flying into a rage.

But she does not.

She doesn't even glance at you. Gripping the cannon in her hands tightly instead, she is staring at the revenant's remnant shadows.

Kal'tsit looks back at you.

Her emerald-green eyes remain calm and collected as ever, but you notice a tinge of sorrow that was not there before.

Amiya stares ahead blankly in a daze, her arm outstretched, as though trying to grasp something.

But all her fingers find purchase on is nothingness.

Remain calm, Dr. {@nickname}. I ask that you stand behind me and Mon3tr.

As I have told you before, I knew what happened in the past, but I had my reasons to keep it from you.

I approved of Theresa's choice back then, and telling you as you are now, the truth would not have been of any use.

But...

<i>But Theresa...</i>

<i>Was it also your choice to allow the revenant to show visions of the past to us, here and now?</i>

Doctor...

It is true that during our time in Chernobog, and even after, I had my doubts about you.

But the choices that you have made since are proof enough that you truly do walk the same road as us.

Calm down. Do not waver.

Hypocrite.

Coward—

...Shut up.

How dare you use Theresa to try and sow discord between us.

Just disappear already.

...Enough.

Kal'tsit, tell your monster to hang back a bit. Wasn't really prepared to do this right now.

I know that old thing's not going to make up some fake movie when he's right about to die.

I'm not an idiot. There couldn't have been anyone else who murdered Theresa.

There must have been an explanation for what happened back then, but killing someone who doesn't remember anything...

That doesn't interest me at all.

Surprise. Doubt. Sorrow.

The incomprehensible truth is like a sledgehammer striking at your heart.

You feel difficult to even begin to recover from the shock. The calm tone of the two before you didn't help you forgive yourself.

Amiya...

You look at the silent girl, her face streaked with tears.

You want to say something, but she is the one who speaks first.

Doctor... I knew.

Or rather... I suspected it a long time ago.

Amiya?

I still remember... why Dr. Kal'tsit had to send the Doctor to Chernobog to heal after the accident.

And the reasons the elite operators gave when they opposed the decision to rescue the Doctor.

Even if everybody was quiet about it, I could still guess. There was only one possibility.

I have guessed, but I still don't understand...

The Doctor I knew, the one who saved me, brought me so many different places, told me so many stories...

The one who brought me back to Babel, the one who tried anything and everything to cure my Oripathy, the one who promised me that I had a future...

That incredibly kind person, why did that Doctor... why did that one kill the equally kind Theresa, the person who loved everyone...

I don't remember.;I don't know.

I still have so many questions I want to ask you, Doctor.

The you who rescued me, the you who murdered Theresa, the you who stands before me right now... In the end, which one is the true you, Dr. {@nickname}?

I just didn't know how to ask you...

Since you awoke from the sarcophagus, despite the loss of your memories, you always stood with us no matter the danger... How could I believe someone like this could be a murderer?

I promise you.

I will find an answer.

You reach a hand out to Amiya.

Doctor!

The deck of the airship suddenly begins to shake violently. Amiya immediately grabs your hand.

The dark shadows that once gathered within the cabin have begun to bloom in the sky.

Below the glow of the crimson horizon, a black blossom, dark enough to swallow all light, furled itself around the airship.

The airship is collapsing.