Ch 21: Be Wary Of The Liar

“I-I think this is the second time I’ve lived today.”

“Ha…Ha…Ha…Nice one.” Hiro said, with a deadpan stare.

Ace straightened his posture, looking him straight in his eyes.

“The cigarette you just gave me. It's from a pack in a hidden zip on your right side. Why? The pack in your usual pocket is empty. You called me here to warn me that the Syndicate is hiding something from us, and we’re marked for interrogation. Didn’t you?”

Dramatically, Hiro ducked his head down, clasping his hands together toward Ace.

“REST IN PEACE! It’s ok. I-I’ll make sure to be there at the f-funeral!”

“EUGGH?!” Ace flinched back.

IS THAT IT? AM I DOOMED?

Hiro’s tone was jokey as always, so why were his hands shaking?

“I-I mean, you tried your best and y-you survived the Forgotten Library. Erm, good job making it this far! You might not have found Cecilia b-but you did good right?”

“Hiro are you…okay? I’ve never seen you so…”

Like a rubber band, Hiro’s conscience was stretching, stretching, and stretching.

“I-I know!” He raised his trembling arm. “I heard that there’s a beautiful w-walk up to the peak of the volcano. If you wanted to while you're y-you know, still alive, we can go together!”

“So you think that’s it? That I’m just going to…”

The band snapped.

“I-I’m sorry I-I think this might be it for you.”

The words struck Ace like lightning. He was processing it as a possibility, but hearing it from Hiro’s mouth, he began to believe it.

Eyes filled with emotion Ace had never seen, sat before him wasn’t the egotistical daredevil he knew; it was a stranger. Maybe not even a stranger, but a small, shivering rabbit hiding from the wolves.

“I-I’m sorry Ace I-“

Ace could only watch as Hiro struggled to form even the simplest sentences. Like a broken record, he kept repeating the only phrases he could muster over and over.

“I’m s-so sorry I-” Hiro stammered, his hands fidgeting as if they had a mind of their own. “I’m sorry, I-I need some fresh air.”

Clank.

“Wait, you dropped your-“

As Ace looked upwards, not even Hiro’s shadow remained.

What even is this thing?

A case holding a weird crystal with a pulsing aura—the gadget he always had with him. He slid it into one of his pockets.

Walking outside, the breeze was gentle, soft, and warm against his skin. Hiro was nowhere to be seen. Ace was left with nothing but the abandoned trinket and the weight of his crushing thoughts.

Is this…it? Is this how it ends?

The truth was that more often than not, the end was simply…unremarkable.

But for Ace, it was the colour purple.

It was never a glorious, grand battle. It was the sick, rotting in the hospital bed. The sudden collapse on a Monday morning. It was the accident that happened down the street that took someone’s life. Someone who was young and had their whole life ahead of them.

It wasn’t exciting, it wasn’t epic, it wasn’t peaceful. It was unexpected.

It’s unremarkable in the sense that the world is indifferent. That the marching of time resumes without a falter in its step, and that everyone you ever knew will move on—without you.

Collapsing under the weight of something much greater than he had ever had to process, Ace searched for meaning. Meaning in the conversations he had, in the time he chose to spend, and in the strange emotions that seemed to linger.

Why me?

In a way, the end was whatever lens you watched it through. The way you processed it. And for Ace, it was his favourite colour; ever since he was a kid, it had always been and always would be the colour purple.

You're telling me.

I did all that struggling…for nothing?

Ever since I’ve come to this world, I feel like I’ve been constantly dragged through the dirt.

And now? Now this is how it ends?

Ace cast his eyes up to the sky. Not to anything in particular. It was to something abstract—without shape or reason.

On the horizon, the peak of Mount Ekna split the sunset into two perfect halves. It was beautiful, so much so that he couldn’t help but feel anger that there could be such beauty in the world, drifting with such pain and chaos.

As his knees hit the floor, the gadget slipped out of his pocket, scraping on the stone path.

For saving my life back in the Barrens, the least I can do is return it.

Reaching to pick it up, the aether festered. The cloudy aura convulsed, morphing between different colours.

Be Wary Of The Liar.

The phrase had no voice. Without sound, the words reached his mind.

Was it by accident or pure luck?

He drew in a deep breath. So deep, he felt like his lungs would burst. Exhaling back out, he muttered to himself.

“I can’t give in. Not yet.”

Be Wary Of The Liar.

Ace traced the past few days, scrounging for any lead or hint.

Later today, Mira and Hiro will bump into each other in the hallway, and Dr Hemlok will get away. By evening, they should reach the old clock tower. Hiro said he was getting fresh air, didn’t he? Would he still bump into Mira in the alleyway?

The Liar. Doesn’t really narrow things down, does it? Everyone’s hiding something. Hiro, Mira, Shell, Oden, Snow. Even myself.

Hiro mentioned that it was the doctors who died. Would Mira be affected, too? Why was it me and not her or Hiro?

Gripping his hair, Ace released a slow sigh.

There’s too much to consider…I’ll start with what seems obvious. Dr Hemlok will be in the markets. This time, I’m not going to let him get away.

Standing back on his feet, Ace brushed the dust from his cloak. It wasn’t over—not yet.

Sprinting towards the market, the scent of spices and herbs hung in the air, and the familiar stalls carried an intense wave of Deja Vu.

He slowed as he approached a corner with a narrow alleyway.

Here. If Hiro’s actions are the same as yesterday, he’ll bump into Mira here. I can’t risk bumping into her by myself. No way I’ll be able to block her strike like Hiro did. She’ll take my head off.

Ace perched down in the alleyway next door and on the opposite side. There, he had a clear view of the streetlamp where Dr Hemlok would show up. And so, he waited. Sitting motionless in the dark, like a hunter waiting for its prey, he sat and waited. It was comforting in a way, reminding him of the days he would spend hunting with his Father. He was a strict but hard-working man with stern but kind eyes. Thinking back, the glint in his eye was similar to the one Oden had now. Weathered, but caring.

Is this guy even going to show up? Did my alternate actions change the timeline?

Then, there he was. A tall, slender man. So thin, with his cheeks sunken into his skull, he looked sickly. Like a walking corpse. Black slicked-back hair and black formal clothing.

Ace clung to the shadows, following footstep after footstep, ensuring he didn’t escape his sight.

He's not getting away. Not this time.

The tall silhouette walked with steady strides, his arms hanging close to his body, as if in a military drill. Ace tailed him into the outskirts of the city. Here it was empty, the quiet side of town. Not a person in sight, even the buildings were abandoned.

Dr Hemlok stopped. For no apparent reason.

Ace blinked, and in that split-second, they were now looking eye to eye.

What the…

Shivers ran all over his body, the hairs standing on edge.

Ace whipped out his rifle, and like lego pieces, it collapsed in his hands.

Frantically, desperately, Ace reached for his pistol, but as he raised his arm, the barrel split in two.

The slender figure took one step forward, and with it, Ace stumbled to the ground.

Wha- BLOOD?

Drip. Drip. Drip.

A deep laceration of his right calf.

The flow was thick and warm to the touch, his vitality leaking with each passing second.

Ace pressed back onto his feet, grimacing through the pain.

With nothing left to defend himself with, he scurried as fast as his body would let him.

CRASH!

A plume of smoke erupted from the falling of bricks. As he ran, the buildings behind him collapsed. One after another, they fell. He couldn’t see it, but he could hear it. After all, he didn’t dare to turn and look death in the face. Running, he could feel the vibrations of the crumbling townhouses resounding through the ground.

Ace thought he had processed death. But in the face of it, his body fought for survival. His mind searched for any memory that would help him.

Hiro.

Ace pulled his phone out of his pocket. His bloody fingers tapped the slippery screen in a frenzy.

BZZZ.BZZZ. BZZZ.

But his cries for help were unheard.

The phone only had two contacts logged. Hiro and The Commissioner. While he never expected to use the second one, desperate times always called for desperate measures.

BZZZ.BZZZ.BZZZ.

“Who is it?” The voice was deep and resolute.

“YOU HAVE TO HELP ME PLEASE! YOU NEED ME ALIVE, DON’T YOU? I'M BEING FOLLOWED! HE’S GONNA KILL ME HE’S-“

“Head towards the old clocktower.”

Ace veered left, towards the shadow of the clock tower.
Strangely, the crumbling of buildings from behind him had ceased.

But as Ace turned the next corner, he felt sheer terror.

To a depth he didn’t know was possible.

The greatest terror he had ever known.

Because when he turned the corner, he saw a tall, slender man. So thin, with his cheeks sunken into his skull, he looked sickly. Like a walking corpse. Black slicked-back hair and black formal clothing.

But with a phone to his ear.