Side Effects

34 - Who They Were

Crowds of the masses spread and clenched together, walking forward as one. Inside Cermentia Grates' office, a bookshelf had been opened to present a secreted area, and one by one people edged their way in and continued down the spiralling stairs to a destiny that awaited them.

On the outside of the town hall, Ursa watched all who was left brush past her, ignoring her sturdy frame which had once commanded hundreds of thousands. To begin with, her face glared forwards like a tiger stalking its prey. The few people remaining created a raindrop-like shape surrounding her as they ventured against her, avoiding her as well as her glares. Ignorance was something that enraged her deeply.

So why had she started to weaken?

Ursa's legs shook, and in frustration, she stretched them to hide it. Her arms were the next to shiver at the constant ignorance, and her legs followed suit once again. Her stomach turned. Her eyes switched from side to side, observing each person. A wounded man, a sleepy child. All of the sudden, it was as if the dark spheres of her eyes were out of control, seeing the people motionlessly move past within the space of less than a second.

Though surrounded by these people, Ursa was completely alone.

She stood, facing them all, not knowing what the point was anymore. Her eyes were already giving in to a tear that let loose. She scraped it off her face with her sleeve. As fast as lightning, she whipped out her last remaining gun. She took out the revolver. One bullet left.

In ruin, she dropped the gun to the floor. In desperation, she fell to her knees and scrambled for the gun.

It was the only key out of her life for good...

Amongst the crowd, Gadolin journeyed down the spiralling stairs, entering the darkness below. Hungry for the first breath of freedom, he was one of the first to enter, and was one of people leading to a place he wasn't so sure of. The path was simple enough.

He had left Donnamira to her own devices, but promised to wait for her once he had reached the world. Their goodbyes were incomplete, and they would be for years to come. Their contact was unlikely to be broken off after what they had been through together.

The crimson scarf around Gadolin's neck hung loose over his coat, and he wrapped it back around in the style which he always had. He tipped his tattered brown hat back, allowing the light at the end of the tunnel to shine onto him. He scratched his auburn beard, felt the pores that dug into his skin, and rummaged into his pocket to locate an empty box of cards. Now he had reached the bottom of the staircase, all that stood before him was a wide, open door. It was too bright to see what remained outside. The white light shone, beckoning him forward along with the rest of the exiting citizens.
"Is this it?" Someone asked in. Gadolin chuckled and felt the torn edge of his hat.
"Seems that way."

Without turning back once, he continued to walk into the light, becoming nothing more that a melting silhouette.

Ray stood inside the town hall, still contemplating what to do. There was a difficult choice to be made which would affect the way his life turned from now on - he could stay for Tina's sake, or he could walk away and move on. Clasping his chest, he remembered that a part of her was still inside him, whether he evacuated or not. The piece inside of him - the ability transferred from him to her, and then back into Ray's body. Without it he would not have been there, living. Before he could begin to recognise the movement of his fast-paced walking, Ray was already striving towards Cermentia's office, where his freedom awaited him.