Guernica

Thirty minutes later, I still hadn’t taken a step.

Everything clicked. Why Lilly felt like a completely different person, how she had started killing so quickly, the skill with knives she had never shown a bit of talent in before.

“But how the hell did we get so separated?” That jet of boiling water felt even more suspicious now. People here could create tidal waves and turn droplets into bullets. It wasn’t a stretch to say someone could have set it to start all this.

“Go to hell,” I muttered. Without their interference none of this would have happened! I just needed to know who.

“Soldier!”

“General Blackwell!” I stood at attention as he walked over. His armor was glorified scrap metal and the typically pristine uniform he wore looked like the tattered shirts seen in the slums.

Yet despite that he looked absolutely radiant. “I wanted to give my thanks, soldier. You took on an opponent not many in Unit E could stand face to face with.”

“You give me too much credit, General Blackwell,” I sighed, turning to the place Lilly had collapsed. “I’m no hero, we just had some familiar hist–”

“Rin!” Aila tackled me from behind. “What the hell were you doing!? Are you okay? What happened to–”

“I’m fine,” I said, letting a smile grow on my face. “Though after that tackle, I may not be.”

She spun me around with five times the strength of someone her size. Her ears were perked up, and face filled with relief. “Don’t you dare do something like that again, Rin!”

“She would have never hurt me,” Aila’s lips tightened as I spoke.

“You don’t know that! From the little I saw it sure did look like she was trying to!”

“Not Lilly.” She may have changed, but the parts that made Lilly who she was hadn't changed, not deep down. The daggers she threw at my head? Easy to dodge. She never tried to hit me head on, either, just Thien.

I gently pushed Aila off and got back to my feet. “What’s next for Lilly?”

“Next? Why, her execution.” He said it was nothing.

“E-execution?” My eyes widened. “What do you mean execution!? She hasn’t had a trial yet!”

“The nobles made the call,” he said. “The evidence is more than clear, plus she admitted to the killings. This world will be better without an evil like her populating it.”

“Shut up!” Where had the Thien I knew gone? This man felt more like the rumored general Aila had spoken about, bloodthirsty and with no regard to life. “Lilly’s not a monster.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But justice has to be served.” He placed a gentle hand on my shoulder as I trembled. “I know she is an old friend of yours, Rin. I can pull some strings, let the two of you visit her tonight.”

“S-seriously?” My voice shook, and tears welled up in my eyes. Lilly… After all this time we could talk again.

“I feel I’ve not considered your feelings enough here, it's the least I can do.”

“But there's nothing you can do to delay her execution?” Aila but in, putting herself between us.

“That part is not up to me. If you are willing to convince the nobles, be my guest.” Thien said.

“But–”

“It’s fine, Aila.” Inside, I was burning with rage, but Thien wasn't my target. Apathetic as he was, this wasn’t up to him. “We’ll get our answers tonight, no matter what.”

֎ ֎ ֎

As the second sun set Aila and I found ourselves near the dungeons entrance.

Water dripped from cracks in the concrete while dull green vines tried to choke out the dungeon’s life. Two banners hung from the torches on either side of the entrance, though the suns caused them to fade long ago.

Thien stood between the two guards dressed in red. They held simple spears with backpacks full of water, their faces neutral as we approached.

“How are you feeling, Rin?” he asked as we approached. The torchlight only served to make his scars more visible.

“Fine enough,” to be honest, my legs were shaking and I could barely stand up straight, but for Lilly’s sake those were both minor inconveniences. “You said Lilly’s down here?”

“At the very bottom. Be warned, that's where Gallai puts the worst of the worst. There's no river water allowed.”

“No problem,” Aila said. “We’re prepared.”

We’d spent the day filling our reserves. Not that I needed the motivation, after that fight I was desperate to get any bit of water down my throat that I could.

Thien nodded toward the guards. “Let's go down.”

As we followed, I gave one last look toward the sky. Unlike the day, here there was just one solitary moon in the sky, barely different than back on Earth. I’d always liked how familiar it felt.

The stairs leading down made me feel like I was descending into an abyss. A maze of poorly lit halls lined with cells greeted us with every corner we turned. Sometimes the shuffling of prisoners broke the eerie silence, yet down here that was the loudest it got.

I turned to Aila. Her tail was tucked between her legs, and ears pressed against her face. “You good?”

“Yeah… I just don't do well with tight spaces.”

She wasn’t the only one. Every second we spent down here gave me the creeps.

“How much longer?” I asked Thien.

“Not long now.”

It took forty minutes until we reached the end. We must have been at least a mile underground, with old, decaying torches serving as our only light. Several bits of the stone wall had long ago decayed away. Bits of dirt fell from the ceiling along with the dripping water, bits of what used to be copper pipes littered the floor, and the cells felt more decayed than upstairs.

“Beyond here is the highest security spot in the entire kingdom.” Thien grabbed a torch from the wall and knocked on the steel door at the end of the room.

Two knocks followed, and Thien answered with three in turn. The door silently creaked open.

I took a step inside. Weirdly, there wasn’t anyone on the other side of the door. Though I only had a second to think before a blast of cool air hit me in the face.

The dark, gritty atmosphere from outside was gone. Instead, generic electric lights buzzed on the ceiling. Metal walls covered up the dirt while well-lit prison cells lined the leftmost corridor.

Two people, one man and one woman, stood to the right with blue uniforms straight out of modern-day earth. “I thought you said there was no river water allowed?”

“There isn’t,” Thien grinned. “A few years back a rescorge was able to build us a few generators. It’s top secret of course."

And just a few cells later. I saw her.

Lilly wore a simple orange jumpsuit as she laid down in her bed, eyes closed, though she clearly was wide awake.

“Lilly!” I burst through the cell door as she began to stir. It didn’t feel real. All this time and now nothing stood between us. No fights, no political conflicts, no dead kings, nothing.

“Rin…” Her voice was groggy as she rubbed her eyes. “I thought I stopped having these dreams.”

“This isn’t a dream,” I took her hand, feeling its warmth.

“Rin!” Her eyes shot open as she leaped back. “What the hell…”

“I should be asking you that question,” I chuckled, gesturing for Aila to join me. “Thien was able to pull a few strings.”

“Thien…” Lilly’s eyes narrowed as she looked towards the man. Before I could blink, she’d shoved me and Aila to the back. “Leave them alone, Thien, they’re not involved in this.”

“Whatever could you mean?” Thien’s voice gave me pause. He sounded elated, like Lilly had solved a puzzle of his. “I only wish to tie up loose ends.”

“Loose ends? Do we fit that definition to you?” Lilly’s voice was cold as ice. “I know you, Blackwell. Rin and I are loose ends, summoned by gods you or your master aren’t able to figure out. But you can't kill Rin, not out in the open.”

“Well, it appears I’ve been found out,” He laughed, a cold, machine-like cackle that sounded alien from his lips.

“Move!”

BOOM

Lilly shoved us aside as a raging torrent of water burst from the walls. Shards of concrete shot through the air like bullets, yet Lilly dodged them all like it was nothing.

Somehow, when the ruckus died down a bit the three of us found ourselves on Lilly’s floating prison bed. Blood flowed from Aila’s cheek, and I could feel the dull pain where several rocks had slammed into my thighs, but other than that we were all right.

It was Aila who spoke first, tears flowing from her eyes. “W-why, Thien. We didn’t–”

Thien stood tall as the prison fell to pieces around us. “I am truly sorry you had to get caught up in this, Aila—however. For the sake of East, these two must die.”