I've descended and climbed back up a dozen mountains, she's not here, she'll never be here and I'll never find her. But it's worth a shot. Sometimes I think I'm not worth it, but I always end up moving forward nonetheless. I pick myself up everytime, ready to take on the day. This is a true challenge, Raven can still kill me anytime and I have no weapon or means of communications. With one eye down, I'm as much useful as a messed up animal on the sidewalk. But I still think I can land something. I'm being monitored twenty-four seven, no more no less. Though I can see it, a cave. Finally some privacy. That's all I do, I sleep. Might not wake up, but she'll understand. Can't keep going forever. Short-term, I need a break.
"Let me tell you about a dream I had, Ismael. It was a friday night and I was drinking, stuck in the past, thinking I had no future. I thought I had peaked in happiness already. I left myself go soft and thought of every single time I could have made a difference during and after the war. I thought I could have a drink with Genova one day. I wanted a reunion too, but we all changed so much, we couldn't have made it happen anyway."
"We'll be reunited one way or another, Raven. The thought of being left alone here with no one of the group to talk to does not sit right with me. Rave, there's an old man in this desert. He's selling old weapons from the midwest war. I think I can take one or two, seems one of them is some sort of rifle."
"Well, that's to be expected in this region. Are you going to be buying one of them? Really?"
"It's not an icbm, just a few colts and an old rifle, will do the trick for me and the old man will have his money. There, sir. There's two hundred and fourty shèn to you. Is that enough for the whole set?"
"This' more than enough, young man", he replied, leaving while counting every bill."
"Well that's a happy man. Heard you chuckle, Rave."
"I've found it kind of cute how you suddenly switch from murder mode to customer. Also ironic to have you buy weapon material."
"I adapt, that's my modus operandi. Tell me about your dream."
"I was...filling the gaps in my memory with fake scenes to cope, imagining a future with the gang without any weapons in sight."
"So you see it too? A world where weapons stay concealed?"
"I guess? I do recognize its' absurdity, worry not. I outgrew this dream of chasing a violence-free world. I've made it so far because I thought giving up was not in my vocabulary, but soon it dawned on me that I wasn't even playing the game to begin with. Can't give up when you haven't started."
"Started what?"
"Living. I've spent so long worrying about some assets I should use, some strategies I thought were interesting, but in the end I had no enemies. Killed them all."
"I tried to...Raven, satellite images, trace my location, someone's there, and if I'm not dreaming, it's a woman holding an anti-tank rifle."
"For some reason it's all glitching! What's the color of her hair?"
"Blue."
Raven began shaking in her boots, left fingers bitten in between her teeth. "That's her, that's her", she was repeating herself. Ismael took a position to stand his ground against a foe, laying down, left eye on the scope, breathing slowly.
"Breathe slowly, take it slow, like we used to."
"So??"
"Raven you pierced my eye with a knife, I'm doing my best right now."
"You said you could adapt. Adapt."
"Roger that."
Ismael looks through the scope, his eye meets the gaze of the young woman standing on one of the tops of the desert.
"She's staring at me, not even in combat form. That's kinda scary. There are sunrays blocking out the view, I have to readjust."
"Do what you gotta do."
He changes his position and looks back at his target, nothing.
"She moved out. I'm compromised, I have to leave."
Ismael moves an inch, metal touches his head, he can feel how heavy it is.
"Drop your weapon and count to five, Ismael."
In silence and slowly, he executes the order. No sound. Just an immense pressure on his back.
"A life can end in a second. Obey the leader."
"Fine. Don't shoot."
"You've been seeking me."
"I guess the mission is accomplished."
"You and Raven give up now."
"I think I understand what you are. Creatures from the other side. They show up when you think of travelling too far. I've thought about you long enough for you to also show up."
"I am not them. You'll find what I've become is far worse."
"Raven really wants to meet you, honestly I thought we'd take two more years to find you. Tell us your whereabouts."
"Not saying anything. I want you to come after me so you can understand. I'll leave crumbs for you to keep track. I'll lead you to the bottom of Naraka and leave you there."
"From your original placement, I'd say you ran about ninety meters, no, a hundred and fifty, in about five seconds. Just like Basil, you've changed physically?"
"Ismael. Questions are for those holding the firearm."
"Then ask."
"Why are you trying to kill us?"
"I don't want to anymore."
"So you almost slimed off three of your friends and then you would have had a change of heart? Huh. That's funny. But nobody's laughing. Raven took out the entirety of Cressenie. Raven, you can try and come kill me if you want. I'll let you die in my arms."
Ismael turns around out of anger, no one's here. He sits and breathes normally.
"That was a lot to process. I'll take it you couldn't see her face, right."
"The rifle sure is old. I really do enjoy those ancient models. You know if you don't look right through the scope but at the scope, it acts as a mirror?"
"Ismael, you're a savage!"
"I had a glimpse of her face, it was brief and uncertain, but it's Genova. I'd say she's still pretty but I'll never be able to sleep again."
"Why?"
"We focused on her abilities, but she's barely human, she still exudes an anthropomorphic stature, but something about her face felt off. Unstable. Like looking at a black hole with teeth. Or a lion with infinite endurance and appetite. We awakened a monster."
"You're awfully good with smells, what did you catch?"
"A strong scent of powder and steel. Even with all of the abnormal things, creatures, Basil and the rest, I reckon we are facing the apex predator. And that's not all. Couldn't get a right look at her face when she was all the way out there, but I did recognize the pose. As if she was under the rain, with her arms slightly up, having a staring contest with the sun."
"Well, she's back. That checks out. Ismael. I'm disabling the ability for the necklace to explode. You can throw the volatile part away, I'll trust you from now on."