novelraw Chapter 238: Blood debt
Chapter 238: Blood debt
"uh... what?"
"Me and the other two. What do you think of when you see us. Be as brutally honest as you want, just. Just tell us, we’re listening"
Zaria thought for a second, before answering
"You can’t be trusted"
"Oh,wow. I know i said brutally honest, but you just went with that right out the gate ,huh? Okay, point ta-"
"No! I meant..."
She suddenly took a deep breath and sighed
"By all common logic,I should not trust you, but I do... for some reason. I just can’t shake off the feeling that you’re harmless...to me. Even though you’re clearly not. In fact you’re the only person outside my family that knows about my power deficiency, and I didn’t even think about whether or not telling you was a good idea."
"Well... I’m flattered"
"Don’t be, honestly. I can’t shake the feeling that you look familiar but I can’t find out from where"
He chuckled
"I think I just have a common face. Since I wasn’t raised on earth. In fact, this is the longest I’ve been on the planet"
She groaned
"Forget it. Was that a suitable answer"
"Hmmm.... I was hoping for something different. It could be"
Zaria sighed and started thinking again about how to answer. She stared at him briefly before answering
"You’re complicated, but pretty easy to figure out... somehow. And as for the three parts of a whole thing,I honestly don’t see it as anything to worry about. It’s like you’re just a bit... quirky, three friends are better than one and all that jazz"
"Quirky?"
"Yep. Zaine is when you’re angry and grumpy, Zen is like the rational and logical side, while you’re more of his happy side. You might not realize but you all act relatively similar with the variations being in your base emotions. It’s like having a friend who has terrible mood swings"
"What?!"
Was that supposed to be a compliment?
She quickly held her hands for him to wait
"It means I’d rather treat you guys as... well you, but still different people. So, you’re the good on, Zaine’s the not so good one, and Zen’s the funny one "
Zyro wasn’t exactly sure if he’d call himself good, but he could see why she’d think that, Zaine proudly referred to himself as the evil one,so that checked out... but how in the hell was Zen the funny one?
"Is there a point to this?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Remember how you saved our life just now?"
Zaria seemed a bit confused but nodded
"Here"
He said, handing her the coin
"You’re... paying me?"
"No, well...yes"
Zaria just looked at it in confusion
"What am I supposed to do with this?"
"It’s a coin. As in old currency"
"I’m still confused "
She said, looking at it blankly
"Just take it"
She finally took the coin and the second her finger touched it’s surface, she felt a slight tingle. She examined it for a few seconds, suddenly flipping it around to see the arcade symbol on it
She gasped, immediately lowering it despite the fact that they were alone
"What is this?!"
She said, suddenly whispering for some reason
"A coin? I already told you"
He said, raising a brow
"What? Why?! And why does it have -"
"It means I owe you my life basically and a debt. Basically you can cash it in for a favor"
"A debt?"
She kept scrutinizing the coin ,it was rather large at around fourty five millimeters in diameter ,made of what looked like gold and a black metal as well as what looked like red threads or cracks spread all over it’s body and in the center .
"Can’t I just...ask you for a favor?"
"Well...yes, but this is different. It’s more like an obligation or rule. It only works one time, and I can only give it to someone I owe my life,so you qualify"
"So if I ask you to do something with this,you can’t say no"
Zyro nodded
"That sounds dangerous... and stupid. Wouldn’t it be best for you to hold on to it?"
She said, trying to give it back
Zyro shook his head
"Too risky. "
"Why"
"The organization has... rules,things i can’t ignore even if i don’t answer to them anymore, and trust me when i say in my hands,that coin is a liability, and i can’t get rid of it with the possibility of someone else picking it up"
Zaria visibly deflated, dropping the coin back into her own hands
"I don’t get why you’re still so afraid of them. They’re gone, aren’t they?"
"There are still some left"
"Yeah but those ones are your friends, right?"
Zyro froze, scratching his head awkwardly
"Well..."
Zaria sighed looking at the coin
"How do I use it?"
"Just say what it is you want me to do and flip it"
"Seems simple enough "
Zyro nodded
"Just, please don’t use it unless you really have to. When I say I can’t refuse I mean it. You could even ask me to kill someone for you "
"You already kill people "
She said, unimpressed
"Someone important, like Jade or Diane or any of the others"
Now she seemed surprised
"Really?!"
She looked at the coin again and dropped it into her pocket
"Better lock this up in my closet then
Zyro smiled but didn’t respond. He knew that wouldn’t be enough. He already knew that no matter how hard one tried the coins always came to light. It was just one of the more terrifying aspects of the arcade. Inevitability
However, anywhere was better than with him, and Zaria seemed like one of the better choices he could make anyway
"It’s getting late"
Zen looked up
They definitely weren’t going to get any sleep tonight
They needed to check on the others anyway
*********
Zaria sighed as she opened the door. She immediately saw Diane asleep on her bed, snoring loudly as usual
She smiled, shaking her head before heading straight to the bathroom.
Locking the door after she got in, she stood in front of the mirror, looking carefully at herself. She casually dropped the coin near the sink, taking a deep breath
She gently ran her hand through her hair, spreading it about before shaking her head almost like she wanted something to fall out.
Next she looked at her face, closely checking every minute detail
"It is different"
She muttered.
It probably wasn’t to most people but she could tell.
"Damnit!"
She sighed
"How long will I have to keep doing this?"
She muttered, before quietly leaving the bathroom. Peeking her head out first, she checked to make sure Diane was asleep before quietly creeping towards her bed. She’d almost reached it when she suddenly felt a strange chill.
Looking to her side, she suddenly noticed someone in the corner, looking at her. Someone who wasn’t familiar, but should have been.
"Celia?"
She said, uncertain
"Hey,Z. Don’t let the makeover fool you. It’s me"
She looked so... different. Combined with the fact that she hadn’t exactly stayed long before suddenly disappearing
"You’re... back"
Celia nodded, stepping closer
"Yeah. Miss me?"
"Uh-huh"
Zaria wasn’t sure how to feel. Zen had said that Celia was bad news but he never really said anything other than that. Plus they hadn’t interacted much before she’d disappeared,so she wasn’t sure how to respond to the casual tone
"I thought I’d never see this place again. That business trip almost lasted forever"
’Right, she went on a business trip for her father’
"I’m...glad you’re back"
"Oh,me too"
Celia said, suddenly moving in to hug her
Zaria was a bit caught off guard but didn’t pull away
"Looks like we’re finally going to get a chance to be roomies"
Before she could continue, Celia’s watch suddenly started ringing. She looked down at it, scowling
"Damnit. Sorry, gotta take this,be right back. Mwah!"
She left to take the call, blowing Zaria a kiss on the way out.
Zaria looked over to Celia’s bed. It was fully made and with multiple suitcases on it
"Looks like she is back. I wonder how Zen’s going to react"
She muttered before quickly going back to what she was doing before. She got to her bed and a quiet as possible pulled a small container from between her bed and mattress.
She quickly made her way back to the bathroom, making sure to lock it. In her panic she accidentally got her hand caught in the door.
She winced, almost dropping the container before quickly releasing her hand
"Damnit..."
She muttered, looking at her hand,a line of blood from her palm going straight down.
’Why is it happening faster than before. I shouldn’t be this vulnerable yet ’
She quickly made it to the mirror again, putting her hands on the sink, examining her face
She quickly opened the container and inside it was a clear slightly glimmering liquid.
She opened water into the tub at the highest temperature and let it fill up. It was steaming by the time she was done, almost bubbling.
She sighed and poured in a few drops of the liquid from the container into it and the moment the it landed in the water it turned into completely black and started steaming even more, filling the room with the it.
She reached into the tub to test it and quickly removed her hand.
It was freezing.
More than freezing,it was unbearably cold, enough to kill someone in minutes. How it hadn’t yet turned to ice was anyone’s guess
’Perfect’
She clutched the container firmly,a strong feeling of dissatisfaction welling up in her chest.
She quickly ignored it and stripped off her clothes before getting into the water one leg at a time before laying flat on her back, submerging herself completely under and closing her eyes.
A few minutes passed in silence,her expression under the water becoming more and more impatient and annoyed.
She suddenly opened her eyes and realized that the water was clear again.
She suddenly got up and out of the water and checked herself in the mirror but when she saw herself again she almost screamed.
Nothing changed
In anger she punched the wall as hard as she could, before suddenly grabbing her fist with her hand, groaning in pain.
It felt like she’d broken her wrist,or at least twisted it.
Fighting back tears at this point, she grabbed the container again, emptying half it’s contents into the tub before getting back in with red teary eyes.
She couldn’t understand it
What was the point of all this?
Why did she have to do this?
Why was she the only person in her family who had to do this?
Why had she been born incomplete?
Why had she been born deformed and practically crippled?
None of her other siblings or anyone else in her family for that matter had to do this.
She tried to let out a breath to calm herself but it came out shaky and ragged.
Her mind briefly replayed her first few days here. It was the first time she’d been able to actually show off a bit, because it didn’t matter what she did,her illness made it difficult, and her trauma didn’t make it any easier.
And the worst part,the worst part was the emptiness. Sometimes it felt like she was missing her soul,her other half. Something... important, but she could never get it.
Those first few weeks had actually been.... not terrible.
With a sniffle she finally submerged herself in the black water, closing her eyes as the surface froze over, encasing her in it.
Off to the side,the splatter of blood that had been left on the sink near the coin that was conveniently on the same sink flowed downwards towards it, and the moment the blood and coin touched,a sinister glow emerged from it as the rest of the blood was absorbed
This was definitely not normal