blueteamnovel 711. How Much Have We Diverged, O’ Dearest Sister?
711. How Much Have We Diverged, O’ Dearest Sister?
711. How Much Have We Diverged, O’ Dearest Sister?
Raoul’s gaze lingered on Cer like he couldn’t decide whether to allow her to follow them, or to tell her to leave.
Instead, he left Cer to her own devices as they passed through the more lavish part of the city controlled by the White Midnight Syndicate.
Broken gravel paths were replaced with white bricks. Eyes followed them through tinted windows of grandeur buildings that flanked long roads. The buildings in this part of the city were built like fortresses.
A total of eight buildings were present, and they alone made up for 10% of the entire city.
Members of the White Midnight Syndicate populated these buildings. Among the eyes were those that belonged to slaves and prisoners; people no doubt kept for experimental purposes.
Was Raoul trying to help her with her mission? The Syndicate members, who were decorated with the same pale artefacts of the people she murdered earlier, turned a blind eye to Raoul.
Cer believed it was because they knew of his identity as the founder of the Solemn Paw. Ara figured that they knew of Cer’s identity rather than Raoul’s. In the end, only Raoul knew the answer as they approached a cylindrical-shaped building made of white alabaster.
It lacked windows or ventilation. The massive structure was closer to a prison. When Cer asked where they were heading, Raoul answered with:
“Where you’ll learn a thing or two about me.” He spoke. “Isn’t it tiring for you to still be flailing as the Jester of the Nexus?”
“Is that how you still remember me?” Cer laughed, but Raoul did not find this as humorous as her. “It’s different now. Things have a changed a lot since the last time you’ve been to the Nexus. Do you know what they call me now? Try to guess. Heh.”
“What is it?”
“The Electric Fang, one of the Three Heads of Security. There’s no Moon bigger than us in the Nexus. Stars don’t even get the same say as we do.”
“Interesting. Whoever gave you that title?”
“Frost, the Amalgam! Who else? Raoul... you can’t tell me that you don’t even know who that is.” Cer tried to get a read on him, but Raoul kept his gaze fixed on the pale building ahead.
Occasionally, he’d look over at Ara with a mournful expression. The bass of an oboe played from somewhere deep underground before trumpets joined it within the walls of flanking buildings.
It was like they were being greeted by the Syndicate.
“A dirge?” Ara recognized the tone.
“That was the girl that first arrived in the Nexus. I remember her face. Nothing like Iscario’s sister, despite what the bastard tried to pull over my eyes.”
“He tricked you too, huh.” Cer said.
Raoul didn’t answer until they reached the footsteps of the enormous, cylindrical building. He paused abruptly and clasped a small item within his right pocket. It faintly shone with a blue light, reminiscent of a CognitO Filter.
Cer winced as a high-pitched interference meddled with her CognitO Transmitter and Receiver. She tried to cognitively message Frost but all she received was static.
A CognitO Scrambler?
“You’ve always been that way, creating tales for the sake of turning my head towards your direction. Haven’t you noticed it by now? That it’s only been you who has been looking my way. How I despised you, my sister, for trying to reach these heights.”
Raoul finally turned to face Cer.
“You don’t deserve to be a Moon. Lowly muts like us can only howl in infinite lament under its light. Cer... you chased the wrong wolf, and you became a Cer I no longer recognize. All because of me.”
“You’re wrong, Raoul... I made this choice myself! I’m a Moon because I made this choice! But you... you... distanced yourself from us because we just wanted to get closer to you...?” Cer couldn’t understand his logic. “This is how you felt for 30 years? RAOUL!? You thought of us like that...?”
“I only wished that you would’ve stopped chasing me like the rest of your sisters. You are no Moon, Cer. No Three Head of Security. No Electric Fang... seeing you still latch onto the idea of being a Moon despite still chasing it is the reason why I wished that you could go back to the way you were!”
Raoul finally roared as black sparks formed along his body. His shadow grew into the shape of a giant wolf. It materialized and guarded the front gates of the building, snarling at Cer and promising to defend it at all costs.
“That way, none of you would have ever needed to be hurt in the first place!”
Similar sparks illustrated Cer’s clenched teeth.
“You... don’t know anything about me if you think that I want to go back to the way things were! Raoul... just how much did we diverge to reach this point? You’re working with them, aren’t you...? Why? Why?”
Raoul, after hopping into the pit and gifting the Bee-Insectid Maestro, spoke loud enough for his voice to echo multiple times beyond the walls of the auditorium.
“Bzzt. Spectacular. Bzzt –” Beethoven was immediately interrupted by Raoul’s commanding voice.
“I work alone for my own sake. Cer. I’ve made too many mistakes. I want to make amends. Mother. The twins. Fallen friends. The sisters I nearly lost. It all begins with one wish!”
The shadow beast roared, preparing to keep Cer at bay no matter what.
The sorrow in Cer’s heart was replaced with hatred as she tried to understand him.
But how could she understand someone who didn’t even understand her in the first place?
“Broken thorns and petals can recreate the shape of a rose. Stop me if you can. This will only end in one way! Be burdened by the weight of my shadow and know the lament that eats at us both for the precious time we’ve lost!”
At the dawn of their bloody reunion, Frost’s faint, scrambling voice screamed through the CognitO Transmitter in Cer’s breast pocket.
“CER! DO NOT TRUST RAOUL! I REPEAT AND I SAY AGAIN – DO NOT TRUST RAOUL!”
The warning came too little too late.
It was time to make up for their lost time.