Chapter 17: Ruins of a Failed Hero

Laura woke up in her bed, her head pounding. It felt as though someone had hammered a nail into her frontal lobe. She let out a miserable groan as she rolled off the bed and hit the ground. She groaned even louder after impact. Cello rushed back into the room and was by her side.

“Laura!” Cello said. “Are you okay?”

“Mmmm…shut up!” Laura snapped, her voice somewhat muffled by the carpet. She lifted her head, her eyelids still half closed, and said, “You’re so loud.”

Cello helped Laura up, wrapping Laura’s arm around her shoulder. She looked at Laura and asked, “What happened last night? Did you eat something bad?”

Laura rubbed her temples and, with a groggy voice, said, “I don’t know. I took a night walk and don’t remember anything afterwards. But, I feel sick, and my head is pounding.”

The rest of the group waited in the lobby. Sanchez and Taylor were having some of the complimentary coffee that the inn provides. Berus was waiting at the end of the hallway for Laura to come out. Armin had his eyes glued to his tablet. Anthony was sitting on one of the chairs; he had a nervous expression and was rapidly bouncing his legs. Gordon came over and sat down next to Anthony.

He smacked Anthony’s shoulder and leaned in and said, “Hope the lass went easy on ya.” Gordon let out a quiet, wheezing laugh.

Anthony turned his head, his face now furious. “This is all your fault,” He hissed. “Wait, were you watching us last night?”

Gordon nodded. “Ay,” He said, “I caught a glimpse on my way back to the inn. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve guessed you were the woman, and she was the man.” He let out a louder laugh, smacking his thigh.

Anthony’s face burned a bright red, and he pulled Gordon closer. “Do not say anything,” He whispered. “Or I swear to God…”

“Pfffft, you couldn’t hurt me if I was half dead, lad. Don’t worry, I won’t go gossiping.”

Laura and Cello came walking out into the lobby. Laura covered her eyes; the sunlight coming into the area was too bright. The group all looked at the black-clad young woman.

“You look awful, kid,” Fischer commented.

“Yeah,” Taylor added. “Had a tough night or something, princess?”

Laura could only respond with a weary “Mmmmm.”

She turned her head and stared at Anthony and Gordon. Anthony’s heart immediately dropped; he was just waiting for her to mention last night. But to his surprise, it wasn’t exactly what he was expecting.

“Mr. Gordon,” She grumbled. “What happened last night?”

All of the heads in the lobby turned, staring in bewilderment at Gordon. The heavyset man got up with a groan and made his way toward the young woman.

He patted her shoulder and said, “You had one shot, and that was the end of it.”

“You let her drink!” Cello snapped.

Gordon shrugged. “I offered, she took it. How was I supposed to know she couldn’t handle one?” He went walking back to his seat and sat down. Gordon smacked Anthony’s back and continued, “You were a vomiting mess, and as they were about to toss you out like yesterday’s garbage, this lad here just so happened to stop by and take you back to your room.”

Laura glanced at Anthony, who had been sitting quietly with his head down the entire time, his face flushed with a light red of embarrassment. He moved his eyes up, Laura giving him a light smile.

“Thanks,” She said.

Anthony smiled back and said, “No problem.”

The lobby was quiet for a moment; it wasn’t until Armin stood up that he broke the silence. “Alright, team!” He said. “Let’s get a move on to our next stop!”

With that, Armin marched in strides out of the inn. The rest of the group followed after. Once they all reached the outskirts of the city, Hadgens walked faster to be beside Armin.

“What’s our next destination?” Hudgens asked.

Armin opened his tablet and showed Hudgens the footage from one of the drones that were sent out. The footage revealed some of the red beasts patrolling around a ruined city. There must’ve been ten or fifteen.

“This was taken a little over an hour ago,” Armin said. “These creatures are inhabiting the remnants of Central City.”

Berus raised an eyebrow and asked, “Central City?”

Armin turned around, nodding before saying, “Yes, Central City was a part of a series of five man-made island cities that were abandoned seventeen years ago.”

“What happened to them?” Cello asked, now carrying Laura on her back.

“That’s not important,” Armin quickly replied. “The real question is, why was the masked man on the island?”

The group contemplated the question while they got back into the helicopter. After Armin told the pilots their next destination, the aircraft took off, and they headed southwest.

“Luckily for us, Central City isn’t a long flight,” Armin said. “It’s right in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean. We’ll be there in about an hour and a half.”

During the flight, Laura had started to feel a little better. Her hangover hit like a truck, but subsided rather quickly. Laura and Anthony sat next to each other, with Cello sitting beside Laura. Laura glanced at Anthony, who was rummaging through his bag, checking its contents. She smiled, scooting a little closer to the young man. Their shoulders touched, and Anthony’s head immediately shot up. He turned to his right to see Laura happily staring back.

“Hey,” She softly said.

“Uh…hey.”

“Can I ask you something?” Laura asked, nudging his shoulder.

Anthony nodded.

Laura smiled and asked, “What were you doing up last night?”

Anthony scratched his head, thinking about how he should phrase his answer. “I heard Gordon leave,” he said. “I ignored it at first, but couldn’t really sleep after that. So, I got up and took a walk.”

“So what drew you to the bar?”

“I had a feeling he would be there,” Anthony explained. “That’s how I found you.”

Laura’s smile turned into a mischievous smirk. “Are you sure you also didn’t want a drink?”

Anthony chuckled and said, “No, no, I would never.” He crossed his arms and raised a brow at Laura. He continued, “What were you doing? Someone of your status shouldn’t indulge in indecencies like that.”

Laura giggled and raised her mouth to his ear. She placed a hand to cover her mouth and whispered, “Maybe I wanted to be naughty.” She cooed into his ear.

Anthony’s earlobes flushed a dark red as he curled his fingers. Flashes of last night's incident passed through the young man’s mind, only adding to his flustered state.

Laura started laughing, playfully smacking his shoulder. “I’m only joking,” She said. “I was only curious. But if the after effects are as bad as they were this morning, then I’ll pass from now on.”

Anthony let out a long sigh as he slumped on the bench. He tried desperately to control his heartbeat, which was pounding rapidly in his chest.

The helicopter was finally over the middle of the Southern Atlantic Ocean, and five black dots were below them. Armin quickly explained to Anthony and the experiment trio the origins of the islands, purposely leaving out the information on why they were abandoned. When asked, he would brush it off, telling them it wasn’t of importance. They landed in the city’s center, and a cloud of dust blew up with the helicopter blades. The door lowered, and as the group walked out, they stared at the desolate ruins.

The area is void of life. There were no trees, animals, or people. It had been as if all life in this city had vanished, leaving a gray, depressing mess. Even the air was dry. The group was on high alert; they knew those red beasts were around this island. Armin was more than positive that their presence was already known. Sure enough, a series of distant inhuman screams could be heard, slowly getting closer to the group.

Laura, Cello, and Berus didn’t waste a second and rushed to the front of the group. Laura brandished her longsword while Cello and Berus got into fighting stances. The screams got closer, and the sound of stomping started to be heard. Hudgens and the rest of the soldiers raised their rifles, pointing in the distance. The pack of red beasts charged toward the group, and the experiment trio courageously rushed at the small horde. The soldiers remained in place, keeping both the helicopter and the other humans safe.

One of the beasts lunged at Laura, but she was fast and, in one swift stroke, cut the beast in half. Berus rammed his arm through another one of the beast's chest, the creature howling in pain. Cello dug her claws through their flesh, purple blood pouring from the wounds as they fell to the ground. One by one, the trio cut down the beasts. Their attacks were mindless and very easy to avoid. Laura thrust her sword through one of the beast’s stomachs. In a final act, the beast went to slash at her back, but Laura let go of her sword and jumped out of the way. She pulled the large knife from behind her belt and drove it through the beast’s heart. It fell lifeless on the ground. She twirled and slipped the knife back into its sheath before pulling out her sword from the creature’s body.

All the while, in a small experiment village, the masked man was feasting on the corpse of an experiment. He felt a sudden jolt of pain, and the masked man's pupils shrank. He whipped his head to the north, gritting his teeth, he let out a horrific cry from under his mask. He threw the severed limb he’d been eating and aimed his sights to the north. Wings sprouted from the masked man’s back and burst into the air, heading straight.

Berus finished off the last remaining beast, and the trio was covered in purple stains. Cello and Beru’s claws dripped with blood, as did Laura’s sword, which she promptly wiped clean with a handkerchief before sheathing it. The soldiers lowered their rifles, looking on in astonishment. To think, these children could have taken them all down by themselves. Then again, none of them should be surprised. They were experiments, after all. As the trio made their way back to the group, Armin stepped forward with his arms behind his back.

“Great work, kiddos!” Armin said, nodding in approval of their victory.

They smiled, and Berus said, “Thanks, Uncle Armin.”

“Now what?” Cello asked.

“Now,” Armin stared, “We’re going to split up and search around this part of the city.” He took out the Geiger counter from his bag and turned it on. After it finished warming up, the machine began to let out rapid clicks again.

Armin continued, “Yeah, I had a feeling. This place is infested with radiation. It’s not nearly as bad as Kinshasa, so we can stay here for a lot longer.”

He turned to face the entire group and continued, “Okay, we’ll split up into groups of two. Pair up however you wish. Hudgens, you’re with me.”

Hudgens nodded and walked over to the doctor. Cello snorted, ready to wrap her arm around Laura, knowing full well they were obviously a pair. She reached over, but to her surprise, Laura was gone. Cello darted her head to the left, then forward, and saw her friend had run over to join Anthony. Cello furrowed her brows, huffing as she crossed her arms.

Berus was laughing as he walked beside Cello. “Guess it’s you and me,” He said, smiling.

She glanced at the young prince and rolled her eyes. “I suppose,” She scoffed.

Laura and Anthony chatted, making jokes as they wandered through the abandoned city.

“You know what’s weird?” Laura said.

Anthony looked at her and asked, “What?”

“I swear I’ve seen this place before. Once…but it looked different.”

“Different?” Anthony asked. “How so?”

Laura shrugged as she scanned the area. “I don’t know. There was just more…life.” She kept looking around, feeling an odd sense of familiarity with this city. She continued, “But that’s impossible. I’ve lived in Amber Village all my life.”

“Maybe you had a dream of a city like this,” Anthony suggested.

Laura didn’t respond, nor did she really believe that as an explanation. The two continued wandering, Laura stopping in her tracks when they came across an abandoned apartment building. It was at least five stories, the majority of the windows were shattered, and there seemed to be these long, shriveled roots that went up the building and into several of the rooms. Curious, Laura walked inside, Anthony following suit. The two stood side by side, looking around the empty first floor. Anthony walked over to see if the elevator would work, and unsurprisingly, it did not. So, the two made their way up the stairs, following one of the dried-out roots until they reached the fifth floor.

They walked into the hall, and the more Laura wandered this place, the more it felt so familiar. She had definitely been here once before. But when? Why? The young princess looked inside one of the rooms. The door was completely destroyed. There was a gaping hole in the back wall. Those dead roots had made their way into the room, so she followed them inside. The whole inside was a mess; everything was destroyed. The roots also stopped, spread out over two random individual spots on the floor. Anthony joined her inside, and the two looked around the apartment. Laura walked over to the kitchen and started rummaging through the drawers. In one of them, she pulled out what seemed to be a necklace. The string was black with several silver-coated panther claws attached. Laura tilted her head, admiring the beautiful necklace, and decided to slip it into her robes.

Anthony, who was standing beside an empty crib, gave Laura a disapproving glare. “Laura!” He said, a little upset.

“What?” She asked, defending herself. “It’s not like there’s no one around to claim it.”

She started walking out of the kitchen, then heard the sound of glass breaking. Laura looked down to see she had stepped on a picture frame. She moved her boot and picked up the frame, shaking off some of the shattered glass. The photo inside was covered in dust. Laura blew on it to reveal the picture. Her eyes widened, the color draining from her face as she took a step back.

“Laura?” Anthony said, walking over to the distressed young woman.

Laura looked down at the photo again, to assure that her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her. She examined it: there were six people, two adults, a man and a woman, and four kids. Two boys and two girls. They all had happy smiles on their faces. One of the girls, who seemed to be no older than fifteen or sixteen, held up a peace sign. The boy next to her, who looked the same age, had his arm resting against the young girl’s shoulder. To the side of the young boy was another girl, around the age of eighteen or nineteen. Her skin was much more tan than the rest; had her arms crossed and gave a small smile.

To the side of the younger girl was a young man who seemed the happiest. He held his left arm up, his hand clenched into a fist. His amber eyes shone brilliantly in the photo. Though they all looked like regular humans, there was no mistaking their faces.

Anthony walked over and looked down at the photo, then back up at Laura’s ashen face. “What’s wrong?” He asked.

Laura pointed at the young man whose arm was raised. “That’s…my papa…” She said, her voice in utter disbelief. Laura pointed at the young woman with the crossed arms. She continued, “And that’s…Ms. Leona.”

Anthony’s eyes widened when he heard that one of the people in this photo was her father. He asked, “You’re father?”

Laura gave a grim nod, looking back down at the photo. “Papa never told me about these people,” She said. “Other than Ms. Leona. Who…who are the other four?”

Anthony exclaimed at the photo, furrowing his brow as he looked at the older woman who stood behind the young Ferral. He darted his eyes up and down, comparing the woman’s face to Laura’s.

“You kind of look like this lady,” He said, pointing at the woman.

Laura gazed at the older woman’s face. Her bright smile and a beautiful face. She did look oddly similar to Laura. She moved her gaze to the older man standing beside the woman. His light blue eyes matched how Laura’s eyes once looked. Seeing the similarities to the two adults only made Laura’s face pale even more. Who were these people? Why did they look like her?! Why did her father never tell her about them?

So many questions spiraled through Laura’s head that she felt like she wanted to faint. Anthony held her steady, but Laura removed his hand.

“I’m fine,” She said, “I’m fine.”

Laura took one more look at the photo and decided to take it out of the frame, fold it, and put it into her robes.

“What’re you doing?” Anthony asked.

“I’m going to hold on to it and ask my mother about the photo.”

The two decided to leave the apartment, but as they began to head out, Laura’s ears twitched as she heard the sound of flapping wings. Even Anthony stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the loud whoosh of the flaps. They slowly turned around, their eyes widening even more as they stood frozen. Outside the massive hole, the masked man hovered silently, staring into the apartment. His lips curled into a wide, crazed grin as he locked eyes with Laura and Antony. He opened his mouth slightly and let out a small, gleeful chuckle.