absin

So, tell me—

No...

If you don't tell me anything, how am I supposed to help you?

I can't see. I can't see!

I can't see anything...

You can't see...? Are your eyes hurt? Or maybe your head? Is there a blood clot pressing against your nerves?

Stay still and don't move. I need to see—

No...

The girl keeps murmuring deliriously. There are no reflections of anyone in her eyes. It is easily noticeable if Absinthe raises the light stick to take a better look.

Your eyes don't look like they're focusing, but there don't seem to be any new wounds on your head...

Are you hurt anywhere else? What caused this?

Slow down. Tell me as clearly as you can.

No...

No? Why not?

Look at what I'm saying...

I think...

Maybe you should just kill me.

Why?

Kill me...

Why do you keep saying that?!

Absinthe takes a harsh step back. The dust trembles violently in the air, just like her emotions.

Was everything... everything we talked about a lie?

Yes...

You said you wanted to live and help even more people. That was a lie?

Yes, it was!

What?!

So kill me already! The same way you set that fire!

Rather than suffering through life like this, I'd rather die a quick death. Just like the people who died because of me. They...

They wouldn't want me to live. You don't need me to live either, do you?

Just take that axe of yours and give me a good chop right here...

Absinthe watches the girl forcefully slide her hand across her neck. She cannot stop her in time, and the light is too dim for her to check if the girl is hurt.

Just like that. It'll be quick.

Absinthe doesn't understand any of this. She thinks she can hear something slowly fracturing, even if that's practically impossible in this moment.

There is nobody else here. The fracture could only form between the two of them.

Amid the silence, Absinthe walks up to Rosa and sits her upright.

Phew...

I ask only this one thing.

And you won't even grant me that?

I don't know...

I don't know what's going on with you, but I heard what you said, and I can't pretend I didn't.

Your life isn't yours alone, and neither is mine.

Her sanity keeps her from saying what she wants to say. However, the very next second, she casts her sanity aside.

Our lives belong to those who are forever left behind.

I'm begging you...

Too many people died in Chernobog. Did you ever read the after-action report? I did. Even though I could never count all the tiny names written on that list, I still counted them over and over...

I found Uncle Valery's name, and... I found my father's name.

He went to Peterheim, and he lost his life there.

I don't know what exactly happened. I could only guess and keep watching Peterheim survivors like you, to try to get an answer... to...

What are you...?

...to what exactly my father gave his life for. What was there in you that was worthy of his sacrifice?

I want to know. I need to know...

But I don't have an answer! I haven't been able to find it—that's why I was going to give up, until you—

Until you moved from Logistics to the front lines and showed up on a mission like this, all of a sudden...

I thought you'd begun to move forward, but have you, actually?

No. You haven't.

Kill me...

Enough of that! I'm not going to kill you! If you've made your choice, then how come you—

How come you still don't cherish your life?!

I'm begging you...

If you really want to die, then fine. After we get out of here, when no one is looking, you'll have lots of ways to go about it—

Kill me, Sonya.

—Suit yourself...?

Just... kill me.

Don't... Don't leave me alive in this place...

There's... nothing here.

*sob*...

'Sonya...'

That's not my name. Where—

Where do you think you are right now? Chernobog? Peterheim?

You...

Absinthe finally understands everything. She keeps quiet, and snaps the last light stick to activate it. Then, she asks a question that will go unanswered.

If... If you haven't gotten over your trauma, why did you apply to come to the front lines and put yourself in danger?

Couldn't you have guessed...?

...that things might get this ugly?

Absinthe grasps Rosa's arm. She squeezes tightly, and then as tight as she can to burn the heat of her palm in.

Thanks to this sudden, painful grasp, the panicking girl suffers an intense jerk.

She blinks.

...Where...?

...Where am I?

Is this what the school cafeteria... looked like?

No, I don't remem—

No.

You're not in Chernobog anymore.

Where am I? Who are you?

You are somewhere underground. I'm Rhodes Island Operator Absinthe.

Underground? Why?

Because you want to save more people.

I...

Right now, we need to find a way out of this place. If you can hear me, close your eyes and follow me. Take a deep breath.

I'll get you out of here.

Absinthe takes a deep breath and answers as such.

At first, the panicking girl does not understand the meaning behind this action, but after Absinthe repeats it again and again—

Finally, she slowly starts to move.

Phew...

*huff*...

*phew*...

In that small space, the sound of their breathing is deafening.

Huff—Ugh—

*cough* *cough*!

How are you feeling now?