Chapter 59: Final Spark
Our picnic was cut short.
And that day was coming closer and closer—the day when this momentary six-month period of peace would come crashing down into pieces.
So, before then-
"My name is Senuela, little ladies. I recognise the Lady Esme of Light, however, I am sorry to say that I do not know you three girls' names." She smiled apologetically as she led us to St. Neuvae's Clinic.
"I'm Alora, Esme's sister. This is Hilda, my Sword Maid, and the older girl is Lily, Esme's maid." I kept our introductions short but made sure to reveal my connection to Esme; selfishly, I want her to see the intimate connection between us.
"Mhm, it's nice to meet you, sweet Alora of Light." Senuela warmly smiled at me with a crinkle in the corner of her lips.
Her age was starting to show.
It's the fatigue.
It's the struggle.
...I know what it feels like, I'm lucky to be still young.
Had I been her age, I'd look like a grandpa already-
Grandma.
I'd look like a grandma.
"Say, little dummy-" Hilda leaned down and whispered into my ear, "-are you sure it's safe to follow her? We don't know her."
Esme's ears perked up from behind; she had heard Hilda's whispers.
I shrugged in response, "No one can hurt us in the Domain of Light, that much I can assure you of."
They would never let Esme and I be injured, or worse, killed.
The personification of madness and mother would never allow that.
Anyways.
Soon enough, we arrived at St. Neuvae's Clinic.
Ms. Senuela led us through corridors and stairwells containing other parents and some stumbling victims.
The atmosphere, put simply, was grim; laden with despair, with the agony of the dying.
The building's architecture was pristine and well-maintained, but it couldn't prevent the odour of death permeating its halls from digging into the visitors.
Unlike our previous visit, we were led straight into the pits of the Clinic's abyss.
Cries.
I could hear distant cries.
Not of victims, but of the parents, of the family members, of friends and family grieving in the hallways.
Death and despair.
This was the reality of Flamm's, a disease targeting children.
Hilda clung to me, visions of Yulei seemingly flashing through her eyes. Lily hovered over Esme, blocking her eyes from landing on the grieving people.
Senuela looked back at us apologetically, yet her selfishness kept her going to her son's room. She understood that this wasn't something she should be putting innocent children through, but for the sake of her son, as a mother-
She'd do anything for him.
Just as I'd do for Esme.
But I forgive her for putting Esme through this ordeal, because she'd provided me with a crucial clue to the origin of Flamm's and the meaning of the white haze.
Senuela is, in a way, helping keep Esme, my lovely sister, safe.
Still.
I do kinda fit into this environment, with the whole crutches situation and everything.
Anyways, snug comments aside, we eventually arrived at a door.
Beside it hung a plate with the name:
[Leon]
Leon, right, that was the name of her son.
I vaguely recalled his brown hair and mute personality; mute, he couldn't talk-
Suddenly, it made sense now.
We looked at Ms. Senuela, and she looked back at us. Holding the door handle, she gave us the best smile she could muster amidst the exhaustion and-
Creak.
-the door was pushed open.
A simple, neatly decorated room with a hospital bed lying beside a window. On a chair beside the bed was another brown-haired boy holding a book, and lying on the bed, staring at us with curiosity...
"Leon, mommy brought some guests."
It was Leon.
The dying boy.
He seemed even younger than me, yet he was dying nonetheless.
"Were you reading with him again, Philip?" Ms. Senuela walked up to the boy at Leon's bedside, Philip, and patted his head.
"Yep! Reading! Me and Leon!" His vocabulary was lacking, but the passion more than made up for it.
But now both were staring at us with curiosity; and Leon, that boy, he's staring at me, and only me.
Seemingly recognising me, his cheeks oddly flushed and he hung his head down, cutting eye contact.
...Why do I feel like I recognise what that emotion is?
"..."
I definitely do.
But nope.
Let's ignore it.
I was way too uncomfortable with the notion of a boy, or man, being attracted to me. The fact that he's younger than me helps, it doesn't feel too weird, but if at some point a grown man were to look at me that way-
Ugh.
A shiver of disgust shot down my spine.
That would be way too awkward.
Anyways.
Seeing that look on his face, and seeing Ms. Senuela alternate her gaze between her son and I, it became clear why she asked me to come along.
She wanted him to feel something one last time before his end.
Fine.
I'll play along.
Hilda, Esme and Lily, recognising that Ms. Senuela wants me and not them, took a step back.
Sighing, I hopped over to Leon's bedside on the crutches.
"Pretty girl!" The boy with the book, Philip, shouted in my ear, almost spooking me into dropping the crutches.
You can't even see my face, how could you say that?
Nevermind.
"Leon, this is Alora, the girl you met before." Sitting on Leon's bed, Ms. Senuela rubbed his head.
"Do you want to say hi to her?"
So she said, but Leon immediately lifted the covers and blocked his face. At least, mostly blocked his face; his eyes were still in view, sneakily shooting glances in my direction, then turning away with bright red, steaming ears.
"Looks like he's a bit shy~" Chuckling, Ms. Senuela gave his head a tiny bop.
Snuggling the boy, she looked towards me.
And her eyes.
They...
So pretty.
As pretty as mother's.
Undoubtedly, with no falsity in my thoughts, I could state that Ms. Senuela's eyes were the third prettiest pair I'd ever laid witness to.
Those were the eyes of a loving mother.
She was grateful, grateful that I could let her see another aspect of her son in her final moments.
...Grateful that he may go out in peace, in the heavenly embrace of his mother's arms.
I had come here for my agenda.
I had come with what most would call evil thoughts.
In return, I received the gift of being one of the last to watch this loving mother's spark of life, and one of the last to meet this dying boy.
Death was before me.
As close as it has always been.
The reality of it all slammed me like a truck.
This was a dying boy, a dying son; that was a grieving mother, a wonderful mother.
Before me were the final moments before this picturesque scene would shatter—left irrevocably broken.
Beholding this scene, I stared at the shy boy; at his flushed cheeks and slim smile that had risen onto his lips at some point.
His brown hair.
His dark eyes.
His thin body, his weak body...
That could have been me.
That could be Esme.
Philip tapped my arm, "Go!" He nudged me along.
Ms. Senuela spread her arms, inviting me to the bed.
And I followed.
I rested the crutches on the side of the bed and pushed myself onto it, leaning into Ms. Senuela's embrace.
Leon flinched and dug his head into the covers.
But my eyes were not trained on him.
They were stuck above his head, gazing emptily at what I had feared most.
Yet.
I did not stop.
If this were Esme, if this were someone I cared for...
BeHuman.
BeHumanforonceinyourlife.
Thiscreaturemustatone.
Pomf~
I lay my fingers on his head, feeling the steaming warmth emanating from his scalp.
There were no words to say, but if this child could only receive consolation from this broken stranger, then so be it.
Consider it a favour repaid.
His head rapidly burned up, he tried to squirm out of his mother's embrace, to escape my touch-
"Hold still."
-but she didn't let him.
"This is a present, Leon, my dear son. From me to you. A final present." Ms. Senuela held him close, allowing me to connect with the boy.
My fingers didn't stop running through his scalp.
And.
At some point.
I was no longer chasing his hair...
My nerves subconsciously tightened, sending copious volumes of adrenaline pumping through my veins and almost bursting my already damaged heart from the inside out. The amalgamation of pain and adrenaline attempted to throw me into a high-
"..."
-but I did not allow it.
For.
At that moment.
I was not chasing his hair, but the white haze.
The white fog oozing from his scalp, escaping his life.
This white haze...
It's life.
The gardens.
The hills.
The greenery.
The city.
This white haze is everywhere.
It's leaking from everywhere.
Life is leaking from the Domain of Light.
Unprecedented fear tightened the noose around my neck, dangling the guillotine above my head precariously.
Flashes of the being of madness crackled through my vision.
I could almost see it.
The personification of madness.
That thing.
This is its doing.
Not mother's, not the Mistress', but the madness of this damned Doman of Light.
The tension drowned me with a feeling of suffocation;
Just what are you planning?
What is this Domain of Light?
What is the purpose of this white fog?
...And why can I absorb it?
Why am I absorbing it?
And why?
Why, even now?
After knowing the truth?
...Do I still want to absorb it?