Vol.5 Ch.105 - Heaven

“Marina!” I yelled out as I lifted her up from the ground, if only by a little.“Fuck!” Ed yelled out as well.T-The AFP… It shot Marina. N-Never mind that, I don’t have much time! Weneed to treat her, ASAP!“Lune,” Marina uttered, “Calm down for a sec…”“Save your breaths!” I urged, “I’ll patch you up, just like you did to me backin Sibirus! C’mon Ed, get off your lazy ass and help me out here!”Ed was just standing around like a fucking idiot while Marina kept bleedingon the ground helplessly. See where using that godforsaken firestarter getsyou?! Ugh, there’s blood everywhere, but I can’t find the bullet hole…!“R-Right!” Ed finally started being useful and ran to get some medicalequipment from our bag, “Grim, you need to find out where she got shot. Herchances of making it out of this depend on where her injury lies.”Obviously, jackass! But due to the fact that we were all practically rolling onthe ground to get our hands on the gun, I have absolutely no clue where it isthat she could’ve even gotten shot! Thinking about it logically, as long as ithit her extremity, she should be able to recover with enough time.“Okay!” I started following the stream of blood until I got to its point oforigin, “Please, please be an extremity! Whatever it is, just don’t be…!”Her stomach. Or rather, just above her belly button is where she got shot. Thehole was barely visible due to the size of the bullet, but the wound genuinelylooked like a second belly button. But wait, if she got shot in the stomach,then that means the baby…“Oh God!” I screamed out, “Licht… Fuck!”Ed was confused by my sudden shout, but Marina was oddly calm about thesituation. Looks like she too couldn’t quite pinpoint the exact location despitebeing the one who got shot, so with a somewhat frail voice she spoke up.“S-So, how’s it look like? From your yelling and weeping it sounds prettybad, heh.”“Dear…” I tried to talk through my tears, “L-Licht… the bullet went throughyour stomach, I-!”Marina’s face turned from a struggling grimace to a hopeless smile. It wascalm, just like it is whenever she wants to console me. She knows full wellwhat I’m trying to tell her, yet she’s still trying to hold in her sorrow for mysake. Her face previously showed she was trying her hardest to hold onto herdear life, but the moment I told her about the kid, she immediately stoppedstruggling. It was that kind of face.“I see. Guess you’re back down to one child again, h-heh.”At these painfully spoken words, Ed was horrified to hear the shockingrevelation be handed out to him in such a terrible manner. He was appalledto hear just what it is that he had done to his best friend, much less his bestfriend’s lover.“C-Child? Wait, you don’t mean…!”“Surpriseee…! Cough, cough, h-heh…” Marina tried to sound jovial in herwounded state, “Well, we wanted to tell you in one way or another, but wekinda couldn’t find the right moment to mention it. Looking back, I guess wecould’ve avoided this whole situation if either one of us was just a tad bitbraver about telling you I was pregnant.”“O-Oh no,” Ed fell to his knees, “What have I done?!”While he was regretting his actions, I grabbed him by the shoulder with aniron grip. This of course was a silent action, as I couldn’t find the correctwords to say to him, be they words of comfort or those of disdain. Hewinced when I did that, suggesting he was scared to death of what I’m gonnado to him. I’m gonna…! I wanted to lash out, but when I saw Marina’ssaddened expression, I backed out. I’m… not gonna do anything to him.That being said, I squatted down to his level and gave him a hug.“Don’t worry. I… I’m not gonna hurt you.” I tried to explain while Icollected myself, “Something similar happened to me too, y’know. I… don’twant you to turn out like me, y’hear?”“Grim…! You don’t understand! Marina’s condition, it’s…!”At these words, Marina interjected to explain the situation to me from a moreeducated standpoint. Well, both she and Ed are well-versed in the medicalfield, so they both probably knew the diagnosis before even checking thewound.“Lune, what Ed’s t-trying to say is...” She gasped for air desperately, “Thewound is simply too much to be treated with the equipment we have at ourdisposal on the island.”“I’m sure we can find some equipment that was left behind in the prison!” Irefuted, “C’mon, don’t do this to me! Just hold on a bit while we stabilizeyour condition!”“Lune, there is no way to stabilize my condition. There’s no other wayaround it, I’m gonna die.” She said as tears dripped from her eyes, “Not justme, but the kid too. This is where our final chapter lies.”At these words, the image of the Book of Fortune popped up in my head, andthe idea that I’d see her end this way made me cry my eyes out. Meanwhile,Ed couldn’t help but feel ashamed at himself for allowing the gun to be firedoff. In that moment, a morbid sense of clarity hit him. If only, he thought, ifonly I shot myself as repentance for the sin I committed, then maybe Lunewill forgive me!Putting the gun up against the inner walls of his mouth, he shakily put hisfinger on the shoddy pistol’s trigger while I was still giving him a hug. Thisway I wouldn’t be able to stop him or talk him out of it, is probably what hethought. The clicky and fidgety sounds of the gun were enough to draw myattention though.“Oi!” I knocked the gun out of his mouth right as he was about to pull thetrigger, “What the fuck are you doing? Get me some stitches, I can’t treatMarina alone now, can I?”“Stitches won’t help though!” Ed cried out, “I killed your wife, I can’t bearto face you! The only way to atone is to inflict the same wound I did to her tomyself!”Honestly! This guy is so scared of facing me that he’d rather just off himselfinstead? The fucking nerve! I’ll rip him limb from fucking limb if he eversuggests such a stupid idea ever again! I don’t care that Marina’s condition isimpossible to treat, when I give you orders to hand me the stitches, you handme those fucking stitches! Otherwise you’ll just put a bullet through yourbrain like the suicidal moron that you are!“You’re not thinking straight, Ed.” I said with a calm yet shaky voice, ”I toldyou, I’m not mad. You’re my best buddy, right? You just did a… a little goof,that’s all. People make mistakes, but if you leave me here and shoot yourself,then I’ll be left all alone again.”As I wiped away his tears, I noticed a looming presence show itself withinthe deepest parts of his brown irises. It was faint, but I noticed it right awaybecause I’ve seen it in the mirror hundreds of times now. This familiar shadeof amethyst purple that’s starting to well up in his eyes. No doubt about it, hewants to convert to a Purple Iro!“Snap out of it!” I slapped him, “You wanna fucking die?! You wanna killyourself ‘cause you feel bad?! Listen here, asshole, I care about you! Annacares about you, and everyone else back home! If you really wanna atone forwhat you’ve done, then by all means, live! Live, and be happy! Live with thisregret in your heart until your hair turns gray! That’s the worst punishment Ican imagine, ‘cause the way I see it, you’re just looking for an excuse to runaway like you always do!”“L-Lune…?” Marina called out in her confusion.“If you fucking convert, I swear to the Four Gods I’ll fucking do the samething you did to Marina to Anna! Don’t you fucking dare give up now,y’hear?!”Ed wailed and wailed over my harsh words, but I only kept pestering himharder until the purple in his eyes completely vanished. He may have donesomething irreversible, but he’s still my friend. I wouldn’t wish the idea ofconverting to a Purple Iro on my worst enemy, so seeing him like this reallymade me lose control.“Lune…” He called me by my real name for the first time, ”I’m sorry. Argh,I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so fucking sorry!”“…Tell it to her.” I answered back coldly as I pointed to Marina, “I’m notthe one who’s gonna die here due to your actions.”Ed’s my friend, but Marina is my wife, and she was meant to be the mother ofmy child. Ed shot her, and now she’s just sitting there, unable to do a thing,awaiting for the God’s to send her to Heaven. Her face is peaceful, and stillfull of life. If it wasn’t for all the blood spewing out of her belly, you’d thinkshe’s just as fine as ever. I can forgive him for his actions, but I don’t think Ihave the ability to face him for a while.“Heh, at least make up while I’m still conscious, guys…” She chuckled, “Ed,like Lune said, it’s alright…”In that moment, her voice went quiet, and her eyelids closed ever slowly.Wait, did she just…!?“Ugh, cough cough!” She suddenly woke back up, “Ah, w-what time is it? OOh, I guess the Gods sent me back here for a moment longer, heh…”“Marina…” Ed kneeled down beside her, “You’re gonna die soon. There’snothing we can do to help you… I’m sorry.”After this, Marina turned to face me as she weakly gestured for me to getclose to her, since she could only muster up the strength to whisper.“Lune… you were always so kind to every one of your loved ones… Thanksfor not getting mad at Ed for me, but this isn’t my only wish.”“Hm?”“Lune… Don’t bury me, I’m scared of tight spaces. Heaven exists, I’ve seenit with my own eyes just now. It’s a wonderful place…” She testified, “Lookforward to seeing us again someday, but for now please go back home toyour real family.”Upon hearing that my wife and child are going to Heaven, add to that the factthat Heaven is a real place, I noticed the purple tint slowly wipe itself awayfrom my field of vision. Soon after, I felt a huge weight be lifted off of myshoulders, and I appear to have converted back into a Blue Iro.Heaven? Does that mean she really died a moment ago and temporarily cameback to life? The Gods are an incredible bunch, I’m thankful to them. And bythe way she phrased it, it looks to me that by ‘Look forward to seeing usagain’ she meant her and the kid. Looks like they both made it up there… Butnever mind that!“M-Marina…! You are my real family!” I cried out, “Both you, and Nelly,and Cecily… and Ed! You’re all my family! I don’t want you to leave!”Ed raised his eyebrows up high when he heard me mention his name, whichonly added to the guilt he felt. If only we were more honest with each other,then none of this would’ve happened! Ed would have surely accepted thesituation and explained it further to the others back home, Marina and Iwould’ve enjoyed our Honeymoon on this island, the kid would be born andthe two of us would be debating on its name… And then we’d face Cecily’swrath, but upon seeing Nelly look at her little brother or sister with a feelingof pride for being the older sibling, Cecily would also mellow out, andeverything would be like a dream.“Dear…” Marina uttered her final words, “Go back to them, and live afulfilling life. For the four of us…”And just like that, not a moment later, she heaved a few more heavy breathsbefore succumbing to her wounds and finally closing her eyelids one lasttime. We waited and waited for her to get sent back our way by the Gods, butthat moment never happened. It was now without a doubt true, Marina Dolahad died in the winter of 1033AD.***“So, what are your plans now?” I asked Ed while we were carrying her bodyto the tent, “God knows you ruined mine.”“…” Ed chose to stay quiet.“Me personally? I still have a lot of loose ends to tie up. Lune Grimheart hasbeen dormant for a while, but Sol Pandora still has a lot of clients he needsto address. I also need to find a way to explain to everyone how my wifedied. Man, you really gave me a lot of work, y’know that?”“…Sorry.” He said as he carefully placed her down on the bedding, “I-I’ll begetting out of your hair soon. Come tomorrow, I’ll already have departed forTrivis Numerica to tell everyone what I’ve done. Oh, but then I’d have to tellCecily about Marina, so I guess you wouldn’t like that?”Would I like that? If I think about it, Marina’s gone now. I’m no longermarried, so I could get away with lying and then I wouldn’t have to worryabout Cecily being mad at me. Even still…“You’re free to tell Cecily.” I said with a melancholic tone, “I’m a lying,cheating bastard. Having me get out of this situation scot-free is certainlyundeserved.”“You sure?” Ed looked back at me, “You’ll have a way easier time if I justcover for you.”“Then…” I stifled my tears as I spoke up, “Then we’d effectively be denyingMarina’s existence altogether. I don’t want to do that to her, the person whosaved me. My Guardian Angel.”“…So when can we expect you to come back home?”“Not for a while. I got a job as an architect and got invited to attend thisyear’s Mobius Awards held in Abyssus Solis. I’m supposed to be working onThe Kingdom of Carmen’s Great Canal that’s meant to separate Entropa fromthe desert.”“That’s… quite impressive.” He noted.“That being the case, tell Cecily the truth. Everything that you know, in brutaldetail, about what I’ve been up to in Cardina. After that, tell her to come visitme. I’ll be in Havana, help her out with finding it on the map, although itshouldn’t be too difficult to find.”With this, Ed once again tried to console me, but I backed out and just toldhim to fuck off back from where he came from. I’m not a saint, I can’t forgivea person for killing my wife this fast, not even if it’s him. Who knows whenI’ll get to see him again, but I hope this anger I’m feeling will have witheredoff by then.“So you’ve changed your ways?” He asked, “No longer trying to run away,no longer trying to wash your hands of the guilt or responsibilities?”“That was Sol, a man whose wife was killed by a rat bastard.” I looked atmy right hand’s ring finger, “I don’t know that man, he’s dead to me. I’m LuneGrimheart.”