Chapter 84: Her
The rest of the days leading up to the trial were spent in near solitude — nothing but isolated training.
The only times he came out of his room were to eat and drink, or occasionally meet with his strike force to discuss strategy and receive reports on how the horde was divided, specifically how many monsters stood between them and the graveyard, and what kinds.
He’d almost given up on the haphazard plan of touching everyone to identify them.
His newest antics had led to the acquisition of a few more horrid nicknames besides Pinball, but he let it slide.
In return for those names, he’d progressed another 0.42%! That was over three days… but still! Progress was progress, however slow!
But for this final full day, he was instead going to spend it simply… enjoying himself.
These might be the last moments allowed to him before his life descended into hell.
After all, he’d begun mentally preparing to take out Cynthia.
Not only was recruiting her entirely off the table, Maks having run into once and tried only for her to start screaming her head off…
But killing her and receiving a Memory Fragment was the only method he possessed to even have a hope of finding clues about what to do next. After all, the vision he had showed the ruined town of Adsagsona. A future he wished to prevent.
The only issue was how difficult she was to track down.
After that first encounter, Amaya and Maks had been scouring the town looking for her, yet neither had found her — or at least neither had reported finding her.
As for the Claire issue…
That remained largely unresolved. Lucas had given the now nearly forty-member guild, already nearing its fifty-member cap, the secondary task of looking for her.
Naturally, it was impossible to find her…
Zayn had brutally murdered her.
Her disappearance could only be chalked up to her mental state for so long. Eventually, Lucas would get suspicious. Maybe not of Zayn, but at least that something had happened to Claire.
And with Zayn being the last to see her, he would be the one placed under Lucas’s scrutiny, even if he wasn’t directly accused of anything.
In any case…
At the bright crack of dawn, Zayn found himself sitting across the table from Jade.
To him, she was a threat that needed to be taken care of. She was a threat to his unholy resolve.
Still…
His heart wouldn’t allow such a direct destruction of her hope.
Worse, it wouldn’t allow him to destroy his own…
Zayn, the one who’d sat at the table after her, awkwardly signed:
«Long time no see.»
Jade’s bright eyes sparkled a bit before she signed back:
«Yeah. I… M…»
‘M?’
Then she cast her gaze off to the side.
There was a plethora of things she could have been about to sign, but only one word came to Zayn’s mind…
‘Missed…’
Zayn bit his lip.
«What have you been up to?»
Jade let an awkward sound slip from her throat before she answered:
“Uh…” «Julia taught me how to use a bow. I’ve been hanging out with Ruby.»
Zayn waited a moment, then replied:
«Had fun?»
Her smile soured a bit.
«Yeah… What about you?»
«Not really. A lot to worry about.»
Pouting, Jade looked away. Strands of her dark green hair, slightly frizzled, clung to her cheeks as she signed:
«You could have said no.»
Zayn’s eyes widened a little.
‘Ah… is she mad at me for that?’
«I’m strong. I should use my strength to help.»
‘Before I use it to take…’
Jade let out a solid “hmph!” before frantically signing:
«This is why—»
But she stopped halfway through, shook her head, then signed:
«Just because you can, does not mean you have to.»
Zayn gave her a wry smile.
«Yeah… I know.»
After a long pause, Jade slowly signed:
«I just wish you would care a little more… about yourself.»
Awkwardly, Zayn replied:
«What gives you the impression I do not?»
At his message, Jade shivered and looked away. It was obvious she immediately regretted unleashing such a tender worry upon him — making assumptions about another person was a fast track to pissing them off… especially when the assumption was correct.
Still, undeterred, Jade replied, signing one letter at a time:
«Everything.»
Zayn didn’t know exactly what she meant.
Then again…
Time and time again in the Goblin Trial, he had been assigned to the most dangerous position available, standing in front of everyone else. Showing them his back, shielding their eyes from the bloody carnage at his feet. If one merely looked at his actions and not at him as a person or what he’d done behind closed doors, a selfless hero might have been the abominable misconception they’d swallow whole.
Slowly, after a long pause of his own, Zayn replied:
«Whatever I do, I do for myself.»
Wasting no time, Jade replied:
«Who learns sign language for themselves?»
At that, Zayn flinched.
He hadn’t expected such an uppercut to his psyche from this angle — a matter nearly entirely unrelated to the trials or their time together during them.
His gaze fell to the table.
Relentlessly, Jade pushed her hands into his line of sight and continued:
«I had to because of my condition. You chose to. Do not lie.»
Then she raised her hand and brought it to Zayn’s forehead before promptly giving him a nice flick dead center.
All Zayn could do was sign:
«Caught me.» “It’s just… if someone has to put themselves in harm’s way for the greater good… let it be me. I’ve already lost almost everything. The least I can do is make it so others don’t have to go through that same suffering.”
Jade’s face scrunched up as she straightened her back.
«How rude of you. What did you say?!»
After scratching his cheek with an awkward smile, Zayn signed:
«I wonder.»
Jade huffed and pouted like a little kid who’d been told there was ‘no ice cream.’
«Seriously?! Now I’m mad! Seriously mad! I am telling Ruby you bullied me!»
‘Yap meister and not Julia…?’
That was something Zayn wished to avoid at all costs.
A few claps drew his attention to the far side of the room, where a small girl sat with a delicate smile on her face.
‘It’s her…’
The Alina lookalike.
The freckled girl approached them and whispered:
“Zayn, you two love birds are veeery interesting to watch…”
The girl laughed.
“Relax! Don’t look at me like that! A friend of Unnie is a friend of mine!”
Finally, she turned and walked off.
‘Unnie? Who’s that?’
And…
‘Zayn.’
It wasn’t like his name was a secret. In fact, it was well known. But the way she said it irked him.
It irked him to high hell.