Chapter 1554: Crazy, Sick and Loved
It was just before the Impossible Task.
Replicus mistook Kintar’s hesitation for anxiety.
She was yet to enter the space that had been prepared for her – a space where she would challenge the Impossible Task. She almost seemed content sitting on the floor, looking at her feet as though lost in thought.
This was unbecoming of her, Replicus thought. Kintar was always so lively, if a bit... strange. He had pegged her for a psychopath once, not that he could judge her for it. He had been a first-class psychopath too. Perhaps that was why she didn’t bother him as much as she did the others. They never could relate to her. Well, a few could.
"What’s wrong?" asked Replicus. "Are you getting cold feet? I wouldn’t blame you, you know? Even I would hesitate to enter a ring with multiple yous."
Kintar turned and looked at him with a bizarre expression that bordered on frustration. She rarely wore such a look. Or was that right? Now that Replicus thought about it, she had been donning that expression more and more since...
"How do you think Allora would have fared? Would she have beaten 1,000 other Alloras and earned your respect?" said Kintar. Her expression devolved to a forlorn one.
Replicus’ mirth vanished.
"My respect?" he said and he sat down beside Kintar. "All of you have my respect and my love. Admittedly, it took me a while to know what it feels like to love someone, but I know now. I know that I love you all – even without this Task and its results – and that... I loved Allora too."
Replicus sighed. "That’s why it hurt so much when she died in my arms. The way she expressed her contentment still... lingers in me. It still doesn’t make sense that she was happy to die like that."