Final Hour Pt. 2

For a while longer, I rested on the mattress, staring at the ceiling with nothing on my mind. I'm not too sure how long I've been here. I could've just checked my phone, but I chose not to. I don't even have a reason—I just... don't feel like it.

I think I'm overstimulated or something. Too much has happened recently. I just need to calm down, but that's definitely easier said than done.

Suddenly, the door slowly creaked open. At first, no one was there, but then a familiar face poked in with the curiosity of a child.

"Oh! Hey, buddy!" Minerva grinned when she saw me.

"Um... H-hi?"

Following right behind her, was that other woman, the one with the sick-looking sword.

"Why didn't you tell me you were awake, sweetie?" Loki scoffed.

"Well... I'm not exactly in the best position to move around."

"Oh. It do be like that, huh?"

Minerva popped down on the stool next to me. I have to admit, her wide smile is cute and makes her seem super friendly. But... Why is she staring at me like that? It'd be rude of me to look away, so I maintained eye contact.

That only made it worse, because now, I absolutely can't look away. Meanwhile, that same smile was peering deep into me, as if to suck out my soul. At some point, I began comparing it to a creepy ghost of a child without even realizing it.

"Uh... Nice to meet you?" I said unsurely.

"Hi! Nice to meet you too!" she exclaimed. "I'm Minerva, engineer slash weapons specialist of Calypso. Any new ideas for a weapon? Come find me, and I'll make it pronto! Doesn't have to be a weapon, though. Anything goes. Like that one thing I made for Loki the other day."

"Huh? You made me something?" asked Loki.

"Yeah! Uh... What was it again? Oh! The dil—"

She was immediately silenced when Loki slammed her hand against her mouth. Loki lifted her head with an extremely menacing glare.

"We'll talk about this later, but you're gonna pay for sneaking that shit into my room."

Minerva's eyes widened with fear as her head shook left and right. "Mmm! Mmm!"

Minerva of Calypso. The only thing I remember about her is that she face-planted onto the camera during the hijack. Looking at her now, she seems like the type of person to do that.

And the other woman...

"Loki, right?" I said.

"Ah, glad to see you recognize me," she smiled. "How are you holding up, sweetie?"

"Well..."

I didn't mean to think about it again, but the fact that Nelia was truly dead came back to haunt me. The possibility was there, and I always knew that. I prepared myself as much as I could, but of course, I wasn't able to handle the news.

"I heard bits and pieces of the conversation, but I wasn't really paying attention," Loki said. "Franky... She lied to you, huh? That Nemmy was still alive?"

"...Yeah."

"Huh. That bitch. I knew she was messed up in the head, but that's just fucked up."

This whole time, I thought I could trust Alexandria. After all, she was one of Nelia's friends, and she would often come over for dinner—maybe just as much as Judan did.

It's still hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that she would lie to me about Nelia. This isn't just a simple prank made by friends. Nelia's dead... and I had to find out in the worst possible way.

"Hey... Can you two tell me something?" I asked.

"What is it?" Minerva said.

"I kept thinking about it, and something was missing. I caused Nelia's death... but how?"

The both of them exchanged surprised glances.

"That's a tough question," she chuckled. "There's a lot to tell, so let's start with what you want to know."

"Well... I guess to start off... Regulus."

At the sound of that name, there was a visible reaction from the two of them, almost like they didn't expect to hear it from me.

"Solas..." Minerva mumbled. "How much do you know that name?"

"Nothing at all," I replied. "I heard about it recently, and Frankenstein also mentioned that word. Each time, it causes a mental reaction within me, so I'm surprised that I'm perfectly fine right now."

"A mental reaction...?" Loki asked.

"Yeah. Ever since Nelia disappeared, I've been having these episodes, visions that make no sense. I thought it would go away after a while, but it's only gotten worse, especially as of late."

Minerva pinched her chin with a hum. "Do you recall any of these visions?"

"Not really. They're always vague, but all have something in common."

"And what is that?" Loki said.

"...Fire. A lot of fire. And most recently... Nelia. I was holding a sword... that was piercing through her body. It was so vivid yet so strange... but I don't recall it at all. Was that... how I killed Nelia?"

With a sigh, Loki unfolded her arms and pulled over a chair from the desk. She sat right next to me, reluctant and uncertain, as if she was debating her next words.

"Seven years ago, there was an Athenian who could rival the Arbiters of that time: Regulus," she said. "He was a secret experiment of the High Order, a super soldier wielding a first-grade code, Solar Eclipse, and it gave him the power to ignite flames at will. Unfortunately, he was Calypso's greatest obstacle. In fact... It was him who had severely injured Captain Nemesis prior to her death."

At first, I had so many questions, like who he was or how he mattered in this context, but the pieces of the puzzle began to slowly make sense.

"Then... Regulus is...?"

Loki let out a chuckle. "You guessed it. Codename: Regulus, that extremely powerful secret weapon, was you, Solas."

What am I hearing? How is any of this supposed to make any more sense than before? Why can't I remember anything? But... It doesn't sound that crazy, because if I really was a weapon meant to serve the High Order... then I very well could've been responsible for Nelia's death.

Suddenly, just like before, my head was plagued by a sharp burst of pain. "Agh!"

"S-Solas?!" Minerva exclaimed.

"I'm fine!" I shouted.

But I wasn't fine at all. Just like before, my vision went dark, before it was replaced by another scene. Piercing through the clouds in front of me was the Tower of Babel, the pillar that rests at the very center of the Spire district. In my hand was the same sword I used to stab Nelia, an uncontrollable blaze coating the edges.

'Kill them all.'

Those words repeated themselves in my head. I remember this and the emotions I felt that day: sorrow, guilt, regret, but most of all... anger. It was a day... in which the sun burned brightest.

"Regulus! W-what are you—Agh!" a soldier screamed as I cut him down.

At the same time, the image of a face I couldn't remember kept appearing in my head. It was blurry, but I knew immediately who it was.

"Nelia..."

"Solas!" Minerva called out.

Finally, I snapped out of it. The Tower of Babel disappeared, and so too did the area around me. It was then replaced by the infirmary room, where Loki and Minerva were leaning over me with worried faces.

"Are you okay?!" Minerva asked urgently.

"Y-yeah... I think so," I replied.

They both fell on their seats, letting out heavy sighs.

"Gosh... Don't make us worry like that," Loki said.

"I'm sorry..."

"Well, let's keep it at that," Minerva said with a soft smile. "Any more might trigger another episode."

"Agreed," Loki scoffed. "Seems like your mind is being forced to forget, Solas. We'll tell you more when we can, but until then, just relax. We'll keep you safe."

"...Yeah," I mumbled.

"Hey, I got it!" Minerva exclaimed. "How about we set up for teatime Tuesday sometime soon? I'll put it on my calendar."

"Sorry, what day?" Loki asked as she blinked twice in rapid succession.

"Tuesday?"

"Chewsday?"

"Yeah, chew—"

She immediately stopped herself before she could say that word again.

"S-shut up, Loki! Quit making fun of me!"

"Ahaha-HA~! Sorry, sorry."

For the first time in a long time, I let out a genuine laugh. It wasn't even that good of a joke, but it still caught me off guard.

"You guys are weird," I said. "But thanks. I feel a bit better now."

"Pft, come on. Weird is an understatement," Loki grinned as she threw her arm around Minerva's neck. "I'm kind of a loose screw, ya see. 'Crazy' might be the right word. Ain't that right, Minny?"

"Yup!" Minerva grinned. "Well, honestly, the same thing could be said about any of us."

"Huh... That's true. What else can I call myself, then? Something unique."

"Hm... Something unique..."

They both threw fingers under their chins and began thinking to themselves. I can imagine their brain cells melding together.

Suddenly, the door opened, and this time, Judan walked in. However, her reaction to seeing Loki and Minerva in here was less than satisfactory, to say the least.

"Solas is supposed to be resting. So... what are you two doing in here...?" she growled.

They both nervously twisted their heads at the same time.

"U-um... Nothing..." Loki gulped.

"I'm just gonna say it!" Minerva shouted. "It was Loki's idea!"

"The fuck?! You threw me under the bus so fast, you dipshit!"

"Better than getting scolded by the Cap'n! Her punishments are worse than Cap'n Nemesis's!"

Judan rested her hand on her forehead as she let out a sigh.

"Enough. Solas. Feeling better?"

"A little yeah," I replied.

"Can you walk?"

"I think so."

"Good. Whenever you're ready, come see us outside. We need to talk."

"Got it."

Judan shot the other two a murderous glance, to which they quickly scurried out. With that, they left. I pushed my finger down on the area next to the bullet wound. Whatever Zephyr did to ease the pain, it's really working. Shouldn't be too hard to get up.