A Debt Repaid

I found myself waking up to a loud voice barking commands as the cold, wet, stone floor served as my bed. My hair seemed to be stuck at the back, where the blood from the blow had coagulated.

“Leave him to me!” Faelar barked from beyond the shadows, his voice echoing. My eyes struggled to adjust to the dim light provided by the shadows beyond the bars in front of me.

In a few moments, Faelar came walking in, his armor clinking as he stood outside my cell.

Without thinking, I rushed to the gates, my arm desperately trying to reach for him through the gaps of the bars.

“Stop it, Aizawa,” he barked, his voice sharp.

“Or what, you’ll kill me too?” I retorted, my fingers mere inches away from his face.

He stood there in silence, his eyes somehow softer than I had ever seen them before.

I fell to my knees as I clasped the cold iron bars with my hands, the memory of Amber arguing about coming to the capital flashing through my mind. I felt tears start to fall, dripping onto the stone floor beneath me.

“I… tried,” my voice croaked as the tears started dripping faster and faster down my face. “I tried doing what was right.”

“And this is what I get in return?” I looked up at Faelar, his gaze unmoving. “This is my thanks?”

Faelar knelt on one knee and brought his face closer to mine as he glanced quickly to both sides.

“Aizawa, they’re alive,” he whispered urgently. “Just wait here a little longer.”

“W-what?” I wiped away the tears falling from my face.

“At exactly midnight,” he took one last glance behind him before he spoke again in a lowered voice. “I’ll take you with me.”

Before I could utter a single word, Faelar stood up, his demeanor snapping back to the hardened Commander.

“IF YOU DARE SPEAK ABOUT OUR KING LIKE THAT AGAIN, I SHALL HAVE YOUR TONGUE CUT OFF, YOU HERETIC!” he barked loudly, stomping off into the shadows once again, the sound of his armor and heavy boots ringing down the corridor.

I sat there on my knees, wiping away my tears, utterly bewildered by the sudden shift in the situation. I crawled into a corner and leaned against the cold, damp wall as my head began to pound with pain once again, the rough stone digging into my back.

The throbbing behind my eyes grew sharper with each heartbeat, a painful drumbeat echoing inside my skull. I pressed the heel of my palm against my forehead, teeth clenched, breath coming in ragged bursts.

Amber's face flickered behind my eyes—her smile, her tears, the look she gave me the night before we set out. Then Fredreich's cold, mocking laughter cut through it all like a blade.

I failed them.

My vision swam. The world tilted. My fingers felt numb.

"I just... need to rest," I muttered to no one, my voice hoarse and cracked.

I let my head loll back against the damp wall, closed my eyes, and exhaled slowly. The pain began to dull to a low hum, then faded completely. My eyelids grew heavy. The cold stone beneath me vanished.

When I opened my eyes, I was no longer in the dungeon.

The air was warm, scented faintly of coffee and city rain. I blinked, disoriented, and realized I was seated at a small wooden table. Outside the window, neon signs flickered and cars rumbled past. Tokyo streets, alive and bustling.

For a moment, I almost believed I was home.

Across from me sat a familiar figure. Black blazer, hair tied neatly back, glasses perched on her nose. She stirred a cup of tea with unhurried grace, the clink of the spoon echoing softly.

"Miss Tanaka?" My voice cracked on her name.

“So, the case is making you anxious?” she spoke, a faint, knowing smile gracing her face as she looked at me.

My throat tightened. "This case... it isn't right. That bastard, what he did to her..." My words trembled and tangled together. "I don't understand how someone like that can sit there, smug, pretending to be innocent. If I could, I'd—”

"Kill him?" Her tone was even, a ripple on still water.

I froze, breath shallow, fists clenching on the table. "Yes. I'd kill him and feel no guilt."

“And then?” she took a sip of coffee. “What will happen next?”

“Then at least some other girl might not have to worry about another predator roaming loose!” my voice rose up, getting the glances of a few other people in the cafe, making me sink back in my seat.

The café lights flickered violently. The neon outside sputtered and went dark.

As my vision adjusted, I realized that Tanaka no longer sat before me. Rather, in the same clothes as her—the white-skinned, red-eyed All-Mother—sat stirring a cup of coffee in her hands.

I drew in a sharp breath. “You…”

“You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?” she said, the spoon clinking softly against the china as her gaze remained fixed on the coffee below. “I’m sorry for having you do so much.”

She tilted her head, resting her chin on one hand. "I've been inside your memories, Aizawa. Watching, listening, learning what drives you."

Her crimson gaze glimmered. "And there are moments where I feel like you could have done more."

She handed me the spoon she used to stir her coffee, only for it to transform instantly into a dagger.

“Don’t you think it’s time you did more? You did what you really wanted?”

“You’re asking me to kill him?” I said, staring at the dagger and then back up at the All-Mother, who took a sip of her coffee.

“No,” she replied. “But I am asking you to not just be an observer. There are times when a pen may outweigh the sword, but then there are also times in which the ink dries out.”

The dagger’s iron hilt felt cold to the touch as I tightened my grip around it. Then suddenly, the light flickered once more, and I found the piercing pain in my head returning.

I felt the familiar cold stone press against my back as I woke up to the sound of someone familiar calling out my name.

“Wake up for God’s sake, Aizawa,” the whispers grew louder and more frantic.

I opened my eyes to a cloaked figure standing before me, holding a lantern. The clinking armor underneath the cloak gave away the fact that it was Faelar even before I could fully adjust my eyes.

I stood up groggily, the pain still emanating from within my head as if it were pierced by a rusted nail.

“Aizawa, come with me, but not a sound,” he whispered fiercely, reaching out with his hand from beyond the now open cell gates.