Chapter 16: Rotation

Chapter 16:
Rotation

 

FLUM GREW MORE AND MORE impatient with every explosion she heard off in the distance. However, it was her job to ensure the safety of Slowe and Y’lla. She was basically stuck.

“To be honest, I was surprised to hear that Origin is actually real. I mean, a legendary god? Aren’t those usually just tall tales made up by humans? And it wants to wipe out all of humanity, too?”

“If you think about it,” said Slowe, “pretty much all the gods of legends kill humans left and right.”

A layer of sweat formed between Flum’s palm and the Souleater as she grew even more nervous. Mute was able to use a second core to gain the power to transform and take over others. How would that same second core power up Luke’s Rotation?

“I think the bigger issue is the fact that you’re a member of the royal family, Slowe. What do you think about all this? If things stay on this course, you might be king.”

“Honestly, it doesn’t feel real, for starters. But it’d be great to finally be rich!”

Y’lla giggled. “That’s for sure. I heard the castle’s filled to the brim with precious metals and gems.”

“That would be interesting to see for sure. I could finally make sure my mother was treated right. Heh.”

Flum could tell that she’d grown stronger. Not just because of her equipment either, but in her ability to control her Cavalier Arts. While she felt that it still wasn’t quite enough, she also feared that the road to getting even stronger would lead her down the same path as the Children. Useful though her regenerative abilities may be, she couldn’t help but feel that she was losing a bit of her humanity every time she used them.

“Since you brought her up, where’s your mother now?”

“I took her home yesterday; she and a friend escaped the city. She’s probably worried about me, since she doesn’t know where I am right now.”

“Well, I guess it’s fine, since you’re the one with the royal blood.”

“Yeah, I’m just hoping that the church doesn’t find some sort of reason to attack her. I mean, I don’t want them to attack me either, really…”

Flum dreaded the idea that she might carve out the peaceful future she wanted at the cost of her ability to appreciate it.

“You’ve got nothing to worry about. Flum’ll keep you safe, even if it means sacrificing herself in the process.”

“I’m here, you know.”

She couldn’t sit by and watch anymore. Flum smiled and turned to face her wards.

“What’s with the dumb look, Flum?”

“Is the enemy coming?!”

“No, it’s not that. I was just hoping you could wait inside.”

Flum was growing concerned. For some incomprehensible reason, Y’lla and Slowe had chosen to sit down on the steps right in front of the entrance to the guild to chat.

“Aren’t you worried about what could happen if you’re outside while we’re still inside?” said Y’lla.

“Exactly. I mean, what if the enemy just shows up indoors all of a sudden?”

“That’s exactly why we have all the adventurers waiting inside the guild. So would you mind finding someplace safe to wait this out?”

Of course, she understood the fear of being attacked from within. But since Luke was fixated on killing Flum, she also knew that he would likely be attacking her head-on. Assuming she was correct, they would be much safer indoors.

“I don’t like it. If that Luke kid shows up inside the guild and the adventurers protect me…people will probably die, won’t they?”

“Well…yes.”

“I can’t stand the idea of people dying just for me. That’s why I would prefer to stay here with you, Flum. I feel safer that way.”

“I don’t see the problem, really. He’s in danger no matter where he is.”

“That’s true too, but…”

Flum cradled her head. They’d turned the tables on her.

“Besides, how would we even know that the battle was over if you win? I mean, you’re fighting to protect us, after all. We should know.”

“…I get what you’re saying. But listen, it’s going to get really dangerous, okay?”

The longer they spoke, the more Flum felt her tension ease—which was not a good thing at this point. From the sounds of it, Linus’s and Eterna’s battles were only getting fiercer.

The wind carried with it the awful stench of human—or at least something similar to human—remains.

Flum took several deep breaths to refocus herself and turned back to Y’lla and Slowe with her final decision.

“Both of you, inside. Now. I’m serious.”

Her voice was different, more forceful this time. They had little choice but to agree and hurry inside. It was only a matter of seconds before a young blond boy jumped off the roof of a building directly across from Flum. He shoved his hand in his pocket and approached calmly.

Once he got close enough, Luke casually waved his hand and greeted her.

“Did you read my letter challenging you to a duel?”

“Oh, is that what that was? The handwriting was so awful, I could hardly read it.”

“Hnph. That’s exactly what Fwiss said. But who can blame me? Unlike Mute, I’ve never written a letter before! In fact, you should probably be praising me for doing such a good job, considering it was my first time!”

“Why would I praise you? Besides, why bother sending a letter if you were going to show up this soon anyway?”

“I couldn’t just do that.” There was a tinge of sadness in Luke’s gaze now. “That was Mute’s way of leaving behind proof of her life, so I had to pick up where she left off.”

“She’s not dead, you know.”

“So I hear. Mute finally found a great place to die, and then Nekt had to come along and mess all that up. But anyway…what do you think, Flum? Do you think there really is a way to turn us back into humans?”

“As you are right now, yes. Why don’t you just stay like that, and we can wait for Nekt?”

“Hmm… Nah, not interested.”

Luke retrieved a black crystal from his pocket and showed it to Flum.

“There’s no going back for me. Nekt is just overly optimistic. Do you really think that we could just live on like normal? And then what? We’re nothing but killing machines that happen to look like humans. What would we even do with normal lives, huh?? A grand death is far more fitting for us Children!”

Fitting? The wording stank of bad faith. She had a hunch that they were doing what they were told. But just who would they have to talk to, and what would that person have to say to convince them to stop?

Assuming it was no longer possible to battle to the death, this whole conversation might just be Luke’s attempt to reconcile himself to what little remained of his attachment to the world. Maybe he was hoping that Flum would show him kindness? But why would she harbor any sort of kindness toward them after they killed so many in preparation for their eventual deaths? They were little more than monsters spawned by their Origin cores.

It made no sense. It was like talking to a wild animal.

Nekt, Mute, Fwiss, Luke—Gadhio, Eterna, and even Milkit probably all felt the same about them. They were each caught between the colder, more indifferent sides of their hearts, which felt compelled to kill the Children, and the more idealistic sides, which didn’t want them to die.

If they’re going to die, at least let them die with their humanity.

But Nekt would want them to live, so I should do whatever I can to keep them alive.

She was torn, unable to choose. There was probably no answer that would satisfy everyone. But even so, Flum still wanted to find an answer that at least she could be satisfied with.

“It’s time for me to get going, then! I hope you at least give me a good send off!”

“Wait.”

Luke visibly slumped at having his dramatic moment interrupted. “What’d ya do that for? I had a cool setup and everything!”

Which was exactly why she had to stop him before he got any further. There was still something that Flum had to say to him, even if her heart wasn’t entirely in it.

“I just want to let you know that we got Ink out of the capital.”

“I really don’t care about…”

“But you still worry about her, don’t you? You lived together for eight years.”

“She’s just a broken reject who can’t even hear Papa’s voice. She’s nothing like us.”

“That’s how you feel as a member of the Children project, but how do you feel as a person?”

“…You’re something else, ya know that? We’re about to try to kill each other.” He looked completely exasperated.

“I guess we are enemies, huh.” Flum had to laugh in spite of herself at the strange topic she’d brought up.

“Heh, well, I guess I’m relieved to hear that you got Ink out.”

Since he was going to die anyway, Luke didn’t need to keep up the act.

“Honestly, I was kinda worried that she might get caught up in this mess. I could imagine, once I really lost myself, that it’d be me who kills her. And you’re right, even with all her flaws, we did live together for eight whole years as siblings. I care about her! I don’t want to kill her! But since she’s not here, I have nothing to worry about! I can completely let myself go and smash up whatever I want!”

Luke seemed to brighten…right before he placed the Origin core against his chest. It traveled through his clothes before slowly sinking into his body.

“Origin Core Double Drive!”

It was pretty clear that he made up the name on the fly.

“O…ooough…nngh…gaaaah! Gu…gyaaaaaa!”

The two Origin cores began to resonate with each other, granting him with exponentially more power.

“Agaaaaaaaaaaaaaauh! Oooooooooaaaaaugh!!” Luke’s face contorted in agony and veins bulged in his neck as his face turned an unnatural shade of red.

His fingertips twisted and warped as his flesh began to peel away, exposing the raw muscle beneath.

Spirals traveled up his hands, elbows, shoulders, and then across his whole body as his transformation took him further and further away from being human.

“Gwaaaaaoooooooooor!”

It was like an infant letting out its first cry. And a terrifying one at that.

The energy resonating from Luke was so powerful that even the wind skirted around him. Finally, his head began to twist and contort as well, until the insides of his skull were also revealed for all to see. They didn’t look human in the least. Bright red muscle fibers twitched and bulged until they reformed into the shape of something like a head.

Luke had completely lost his humanity.

“Ooou…” A voice resonated from deep within the mouthless head. There was something about hearing the high-pitched, clear voice that shook Flum to her very core, as if it were steadily chipping away at her sanity.

“Ooooooooouuuuuu!!”

The monster that was Luke moments ago spoke up. “Coming…”

Flum stood her ground as she felt the power of the spirals build.

“Eaugh!!”

Suddenly she felt an intense pain in her right leg. No one had touched her, and Luke hadn’t attacked yet, but her leg twisted out from under her. She bounded off with her left leg just as her left arm began to corkscrew as well. The twisting grew faster and faster until her arm was torn into a bloody mess; chunks shot off in all directions.

She leaped again on her good leg. Once she was clear, the twisting finally let up. Moments later, she heard a loud tearing sound reverberating within her head.

“No…no way!”

The scene around her began to move, even though she held her head still. Luke wasn’t moving at all. It was the top half of Flum’s head that was turning, approaching its limit.