The Atonement of a Writer

22. Two Truths and a Lie

The first time he had really gotten angry at her, was when she'd gotten hurt because of her own stupidity.

When she asked him why--she was the one hurt, not him--his reply wasn't what she expected.

"I never ask you to tell me everything. But when you make these decisions on your own...and get hurt because of it...have you ever thought about how it might affect the ones who care about you?

"The worst part is, you might feel guilty about it now, but next time, you will get up and do it all over again."

She couldn't say anything, because it was all true. As he had predicted, she was feeling guilty for worrying him, but at the same time, she didn't think what she was doing was wrong.

After all, there was no need to involve him with her business.

~*~

She was finally sailing to her death. In spite of the normal-looking sea, it felt like she was crossing the River Styx.

When Lili, Clovis and Killian had sat down and tried to come up with ideas, they'd failed miserably. It wasn't like none of them had any ideas--it was just that they were absolutely terrible.

For example, Clovis had suggested drowning the volcano with water. She had to patiently explain to him why that was not a good idea. Science and geography had no place in this story--heck, the Cherufe was a mythological creature created to explain volcanic eruptions--but that didn't mean the knowledge was false in this world.

Lili didn't know if the Cherufe was actually responsible for the volcanic eruptions of this world, or if it just happened to be dwelling where there were volcanoes. The scientific part of her couldn't help but think the eruptions would continue even if they slayed this so-called "beast".

No. The point wasn't whether the volcanoes stopped erupting. The point was proof that there was a beast, and the royal family had a hand in getting rid of it. If only there was some way to lasso the Cherufe into the sea, somewhere far, far away from civilisation. The water would cool the lava, and all the Cherufe would be is a lump of rock. Most importantly, she wouldn't inhale the gas and die.

Even if she could do that, there was no guarantee it would work. The Cherufe was a fictitious beast, so normal, scientific means may not get rid of it. At best, they would have an angry lump of rock spitting gas and chasing them down. At worst, the water doesn't cool the lava and they have an angry lump of rock on fire spitting gas and chasing them down.

In other words, Lili was doomed to fail from the start. Worse, nothing she knew could help her--at least, nothing she could think of at the moment--because she had stopped writing in the middle of these scenes.

Lili leaned on the railing with a sigh, staring out into the sea. What she didn't tell Clovis and Killian was that she did have some idea of how to deal with this in her head, but it wasn't an idea they could know about. It was a risky idea, gambling everything on theory, so she would use it as a last resort. If only better, doable answers would magically appear in her head--wasn't that what usually happened in stories?

That, of course, didn't happen. Instead, what appeared was a person on her left, and there was nothing magical about it.

Lili turned her head to look at the person, who was standing there silently waiting for her to acknowledge him. "What's with the mask, anyway?"

Julien tapped the mask with his finger thoughtfully. "I don't want to be recognized by anyone."

"...Why?"