Chapter 20:

Chapter 18: Retaliation

Warm Dream: Order

1 hour in the past

The lights were coming on between the corridors of Homen Central.

The night was cold, so few people were loitering in the park and the outskirts of the improvised 'fortress'.

The bustle of the crowd became noticeable the longer it took. Despite being a prayer, the citizens of Homen were known for their unity as a group, and they didn't hold back their excitement about celebrating at any gathering that brought them together, no matter the occasion.

Likewise, it wasn't all about celebration. Snacks, accommodations, decorations, sound checks, dinner, gifts... Every celebration requires preparation, and none of them were ever without some task inside the main gymnasium.

Only a couple of communities in the Republic of Manecia were known for their fervent faith in God; Homen was one of them, although their act of worship was driven more by a line of social duty than unconditional faith. One of these workers was Nisha, who was in the kitchen about to finish his tasks, cleaning the dishes, with several other people who quickly left out of laziness.

There were only him, two other men, and a young woman he had seen earlier: Mya, the shy girl who was accompanying Kyna.

The kitchen area consisted of two rooms adjoined by a sort of tunnel in one corner of the gym, to which a few utensils and appliances were added for use.

Considering how little work was required, Nisha was able to relax enough to make some conversation.

"...Uhm, even at home I haven't washed as many dishes as I did today. My fingers are starting to wrinkle, heh, do you do this at home too?"

Despite the question being directed specifically at the young girl, she simply turned to him with a narrowed gaze, readjusted her long white sleeves, and continued cleaning. At first, Nisha thought she was a little shy, or unfriendly, but he forgot the latter trait when he saw her head shake slightly.

He responded with a genuine smile.

"Ah... I see. Well, I think we've finished our part. Oh, right, we need to dry the dishes."

"Dude, if you want, we'll do it for you," said one of the men in the sink. "Don't worry, go settle in, the prayer is about to start."

"Really? Thanks a lot. See you there."

"Of course, bro. Of course."

Leaving both kitchens while drying his hands on his shorts, Nisha quickly crossed the gym and headed out to the playground where someone was waiting for him, or so he intended.

He was stopped by Chase's mother, Ofilia, at the door. She was carrying her little boy, baby 'Zerick', in her arms.

"Nisha, are you going to come outside? Boy, the weather's freezing," the woman said, rubbing her hands together. She took his and firmed them, rubbing them together. "See? Your hands are freezing."

"A-Actually, that's because I was----"

"Come on, come on, put this on."

The persistent woman busily extracted a sweater from her bag despite the difficulty. Judging by the size, it was probably Chase's.

"See, it fits you."

"I think... (It's itchy...) Thanks."

"Fine. Go do whatever you have to do." She gestured with her hand and looked at the watch on her wrist. "But I don't want you to miss the prayer."

"Yes!"

The moment he opened the door, he found another acquaintance standing there. This was his friend Lan Franco, accompanied by some of his other literature colleagues.

Nisha didn't notice, but the boy and his friends had slightly reddish eyes.

"Oops, you almost hurt me, Nisha. God, where are you going in such a hurry?"

"Um... well..."

"Hmm, did you at least finish your homework in the kitchen?" he pointed out.

"Yeah... Honestly, they helped me finish."

"How irresponsible to leave the chores to others..."

“…”

Crossing past him, the young man entered the gymnasium, as Nisha left.

He briefly noticed a couple of people milling around outside the gymnasium in the darkness, but he didn't pay any attention. They were probably in a hurry, just like him.

In fact, he had remembered that Garwin's father had matters to attend to and might not be there for the start of the ceremony on time.

Less than 10 minutes separated him from the prayer, so he immediately headed to the playground outside.

Meanwhile, Lan Franco's group headed for the kitchen area.

By then, the Homen Central community was already organized and in their seats. Some were kneeling to pray. They were truly distracted by their own affairs.

The three people reached the first laundry room, at one end of the enormous gym.

Their intention was simply to do the task Nisha had previously put off, even though his companions weren't entirely happy with it. However, something distracted them.

"Ugh... What's that unpleasant smell?" he said to himself, covering his mouth and nose.

“It stinks...”

“Yeah... What the heck... A dead rat?”

They didn't know the sharp stench in the air was coming from propane gas. But as Lan lowered his head, a glance revealed the cause; the young and shy Mya had opened a gas tank in front of him.

"Kid, what are you doing?"

Lan saw it as the act of a little girl playing with something she doesn't know, even though she was about 15 years old. However, Mya wasn't alone.

A burly man closed the door behind the trio, thus preventing any possible escape.

"Hey, hey..." he whispered, holding Lan by his shoulder.

"Wha-! D-Don't touch me!"

He immediately backed away. Something serious was happening, and it wasn't good at all. The three of them knew it right away.

Through her green eyes, she could sense the guys’ unease, and they indicated to Mya that they would be a threat.

Behind the sink, she picked up an object she kept wrapped in rope: a 1.30 cm wooden staff, only 26 centimeters shorter than her. The man grabbed one of the boys by the neck to apply a lion-killing hold. The boy didn't struggle too much before losing consciousness on the ground.

Seeing this, the second boy launched himself at the man with a desperate lunge at his legs. However, his lack of weight and technique made it impossible to subdue him, so the man began punching his back until he could do nothing but let go and writhe on the ground in pain.

"H-Help---!" The boy tried to call for help but the man stuffed a handkerchief into his mouth.

Lan still didn't understand what was happening. Thieves? Perhaps a group of looters had finally gotten into Homen Central. It didn't matter at that point.

He grabbed a cleaning shovel and swung it at the threatening "girl," but the wide, clumsy attack to his side was easily blocked by the wooden staff and a side-step from Mya. Reeling back from the impact, his adrenaline pumping, Lan somehow felt confident enough to deliver a second blow, confident that this time he would hit something, until he saw the young woman's slight smile. Her overconfidence wasn't on the same level as his. In fact, she was mocking him.

"What the...?!"

The next random swing of his paddle was aimed at her head, to which Mya responded simply by raising her staff and blocking it. From this position, she swiped her hands again, this time striking him hard across the body using the ends of the staff. Four consecutive blows to the body were more than enough to weaken the boy, who now seemed completely terrified.

"Cough! H-Hah! No! P-Please!"

"What's going on!? What's going on in there!? Open the door!"

Voices were heard outside the room. The noises had caused a commotion, and a group approached to investigate.

"Tsk!"

The man was holding the door to keep them out, even though he couldn't stand it for much longer. And time was of the essence.

The exposed propane tanks had already filled the room with that terrible aroma.

"Cough, cough..."

Mya found it difficult to breathe, she was starting to feel dizzy, and the extreme situation was making it difficult to think clearly. It was then that she heard a whisper beside her.

A figure could be made out in the darkness outside; it was her companion Kyna Lydell in a white trench coat, discreetly calling to her through the only open window in the kitchenette.

With a gesture of her hand, she drew her to the window. It was small, but considering her short stature and thin build, it wouldn't be a problem for Mya to squeeze through.

"Where the hell are you…?! Wai----! Ugh!"

The man was left behind with a group of honest citizens who managed to break down the door.

For her part, Kyna managed to close the window in time to escape with Mya.

"Jeez, w-what took you so long? You made me come looking for you... Ah... Ah..."

"...”

"D-Don't do it again, okay? Ah... Maybe we won't have enough time..."

Inside the room, Lan was getting back to his feet while they interrogated the man on the floor and extracted him and his friends.

If there were more looters in the area, he had to confirm it, being the one most familiar with the altercation, so he headed to the second room off the kitchen where the smell of gas was even stronger.

…

"(Did I arrive too late?)" Nisha thought. He was still in the playground outside the gym. "Hm?”

He heard a faint argument coming from the gym, so he approached one of the doors to find out what was going on. However, the door was locked.

At first, he thought the prayer had already begun and he'd been left out. He'd have no choice but to go through the embarrassment of asking to be let in, approaching a window to do so.

—(I think I'll have to interrupt them...)

Meanwhile, when Lan reached for the handle of the door in front of him, he also had difficulty opening it. But it wasn't locked. It was more as if a bulky object was pressing against it from the other side. With a try using both hands, he finally managed to open it.

For an instant, the pressure was overwhelming.

For a split second, Lan could hear a crack followed by a deafening noise that rose rapidly, as his arms were engulfed in a blazing light.

An immense explosion.

His action was the final trigger of the explosion brewing inside that pressurized propane room.

Rooms, furniture, residents... The towering wave of fire didn't discern. Its pressure blew everything inside the gym to red and black pieces.

"Gh!"

Even Nisha, who was peering out the window outside, was also pushed several meters by the shockwave.

The magnitude of the explosion shook the ground for miles around, and the flames rose into the starry sky, igniting the night.

Dazed and bruised by the impact, Nisha slowly regained consciousness only to see hell unfold before his eyes. The screams of agony could be heard everywhere.

People ran for help from one place to another engulfed in flames.

Those who could still move soon discovered the exits blocked, and were later crushed by the gymnasium structures falling from the roofs.

And one question lingered.

Why?

The main exit of the gymnasium was blown open by none other than the fire itself.

From it, Nisha could see someone.

"(L-Lan...)"

Most of his body was severely burned; he couldn't move his arms, half of his face was in decay, but he could still walk.

His senses were completely atrophied.

He didn't realize Nisha was there until he was standing in the middle of the street, where a light enveloped him once again.

A car had burst through the barricades at full speed.

"Tsk!"

And the driver, dodging obstacles and a pair of prowling dogs, didn't care that he had crashed into the dying boy.

"Heh, FUCK! I almost hit that dog. Ah! Thank goodness!" exclaimed the man behind the wheel.

Stupefied, Nisha couldn't comprehend what his eyes were seeing. His best friend, Lan Franco, was lying on the ground, completely motionless. He barely managed to crawl toward him to witness it.

A person running through the streets stopped for a moment to look at him. It was Kyna Lydell, the young redheaded woman who was supposed to be waiting for him outside the gym.

"..."

She saw the desperate face of the young man, who was in a clear state of shock.

It wasn't until her companion, Mya, tugged on her arm that she finally responded, and the two got into the blood-colored car.

"Joan, Ris, and Coco... Where are they?" asked Dregan from behind the wheel. His mood completely reversed.

Mya just shook her head negatively.

"...Okay. Oookay."

Without another word, he shifted into gear and started the vehicle in a hurry.

Was it all over?

Silence.

It seemed to be drowning in silence.

Voices could be heard in the distance. Except for one of them.

Like an incoherent grunt.