Chapter 27: Parting Paths

Rachel opened her eyes as they adjusted to the lights above. She was laying on a bed.

As she tried to move, she noticed her left arm was in great pain. She spoke, “Is someone here?”

Turning her head to the side, she saw Liz sitting at a table, carefully inspecting Rachel’s armor.

Liz looked up with a smile. “You’re finally awake. Now quickly, pull out my bag of parts and the Mecha Manticore’s tail so I can start working and finally become actually useful.”

Liz set Rachel’s gauntlet on top of her, and Rachel activated it. Liz’s bag and the Mecha Manticore’s tail crashed to the floor.

Liz grabbed the tail and dragged it around the corner, then came back for the bag. Rachel tried to get up but realized moving her arm was extremely painful. She groaned in pain.

Liz said firmly, “No, don’t move. You broke your arm, so don’t make it any worse.”

Rachel looked at her wrapped arm, then produced a healing spell in her hand. Twisted green and black magic formed in her palm, and she forced it into her arm.

The magic took effect, the sound of bones creaking and mending together filling the air. As always, the curse made the process excruciating, but Rachel gritted her teeth and pushed the pain away.

She then held out her hand, thinking, I don’t have much magic left. I need to start being more careful with myself. I only have enough for a few more healing spells or a few magic attacks. I need to reserve my mana from now on and start being more careful when fighting if that's even possible.

After the pain lifted and the magic finished its work, Rachel stood and carefully dressed before storing her gauntlet in a pouch at her side.

She walked around the corner and found Liz bent over the Mecha Manticore’s tail, dismantling it with intense focus.

Rachel glanced around the chamber—piles of parts from all manner of mecha were scattered everywhere. Among them, one of the Mecha Argus’s eyes lay dull and cracked on the ground. Liz didn’t look up until Rachel’s footsteps drew her attention.

“This is where we part ways, Rachel,” Liz said quietly, her eyes sharp with determination. “Just like I told you when we first met. I need to now focus solely on creating my own gear now, and to create something that will let me truly fight at your side. Your armor has inspired me to make something similar, but I can’t rush it. So I’ll be staying here for a while to build my weapon and gear. So… this is goodbye for now. Eldon should be somewhere in town—he’s been helping with the search and rescue, pulling survivors out from beneath the rubble and gathering everyone together. His experience as the elder of Fortress City is coming in handy now.”

Rachel approached Liz and placed her hand on her shoulder, “I never got to thank you for saving us from the harpies back at the ruins. If it wasn’t for you, we likely would’ve died there.”

Liz glanced at her, then rested her hand gently on Rachel’s. “I’m thankful too. I’ve finally made a friend in this world that I can truly rely on—someone I know will have my back. So thank you, my friend.”

A sweet smile spread across Rachel’s face. Through all the countless battles on her home world and throughout her entire life, she had never truly had a friend—only aunts and uncles who watched over her. But for the first time, she felt she had finally has a true friend.

With that, Liz turned back to her work in silence, and Rachel quietly left the workshop, heading out to find Eldon.

Rachel came upon a gathering of people, but Eldon was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a group of children ran up to her excitedly, showering her with praise.

“Look, look! It’s the hero who killed that big bad mecha!” the children cried. One little girl stepped forward shyly. “Miss Hero, what’s your name? My name is Lilly.”

Rachel knelt down to their eye level and smiled. “My name is Rachel. So you’re Lilly? Are you all helping out too?”

Lilly nodded proudly. “Yes! I’m the biggest one here, so I’m in charge of watching all the children while the adults search for the rest of the villagers.”

good the person im looking for doesnt seem to be around at the moment so do you children want to play while i wait for him?

“Really!” the children spoke happily.

“Sure,” Rachel said with a smile on her face, thinking this would be a good break from all the fighting—a chance to find a moment of inner peace, to relax, and not worry about what came next.

She and the children gathered and played games, chasing each other around as they taught her the ones they used to play on Earth, such as Duck Duck Goose and Red Light, Green Light. For Rachel, it was a rare and cherished moment of peace.

But then, to shatter her peace, the cursed whisper crawled back into her mind, trying to force its urges upon Rachel.

Look at all that fresh meat. Just wait for them to turn their backs and end them. They won’t even see it coming. Give me their blood.

Rachel’s arm shook, moving on its own as a child approached, looking worriedly at her unresponsiveness. Rachel looked down at the little girl just as her cursed blade flickered into her hand, twitching violently as she fought to resist the urge.

“Miss Rachel, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” the child asked. Then she spotted the sword and looked around in alarm. “Is there an evil mecha around here?” The little girl turned her back to Rachel, scanning the area anxiously.

Rachel began to raise her sword, but a steady hand landed on her shoulder, snapping her out of the cursed haze.

The blade vanished back into the mimic’s storage as Eldon’s voice sounded behind her.

“There you are, Rachel. You’re finally up. Looks like your arm is healed. I was worried for a moment that your magic couldn’t fix bones, but luckily that’s not the case.”

Eldon pointed toward a group of city folk. “Let’s go. They can tell us what truly happened here after the Giant Mecha Argus attacked the city.”

Rachel then followed Eldon to the group of battered and bruised city inhabitants, who were waiting to tell them what the so-called hero had done after luring the Giant Mecha Argus to the city.