Post by Bianca Sabbato on Nov 30, 2020 19:23:13 GMT -5
Some people like to get all poetic when describing death. As if time suddenly stopped for a second, or as if they could feel a soul leaving the body, or an unnatural sense of solemnity when the deed was done.
These people were full of shit and likely had never seen a person die before their eyes. I had. And I could attest it was as witnessing any other thing. A person dying was no different as a bird flying towards its nest, a construction full of workers going at their daily obligations, or a piece of candy accidentally falling to the ground as you unwrapped it.
It was just one moment sandwiched in between a myriad of other, equally unimportant moments that constituted the minutes of the day. The death of Holly Hock was much like any of those moments.
A part of me always knew this would be a possibility once she started thrashing around with her pumpkin. If not by the hand of the woman with the loudspeaker, then by a police firing squad, another haven student. Or even by her own volition.
Huntresses were fated to live short lives, after all. And I had internalized that eventually, I have to watch my comrades, my friends, even, die in front of me. And that one day I would do so in kind. And life would carry on with its cycle.
I would like to say my body was paralyzed by witnessing that. That the sight of a friend being executed in front of my very eyes had left me in tatters, body shaking, crying. And falling dramatically to the ground as my legs gave up under me...
None of this did happen. So I was just left there. Staring. Trying to get a clear image of the destruction before ultimately averting my eyes once it was clear I wouldn’t be able to see a thing anyway.
My head started buzzing lightly, and I got a weird stinging behind the eyes, but I ignored it. That’s what you do, after all. You save the feeling for when you are alone and safe. No use to them when the world was falling apart around me.
Least of all, when it had been my fault.
I was responsible for breaking the pipe, after all. If it weren’t for that, Holly wouldn’t have needed to use her pumpkin. If it weren’t for that, she wouldn’t have needed to involve herself with this, and she wouldn’t have regressed to whatever mental plane she was trapped in.
People dying because of me... No breaking news there.
With a heavy sigh and tears that refused to come out, I at least hoped she was happy now. Wherever she may be... I had tried to help her, but it was clear that what little I had done was not enough. Maybe if I had cared more for her, spent more time with her... Maybe things wouldn’t have turned out like this, or maybe they would. But at least I wouldn’t have any regrets.
She was... A troubled girl... But not a bad one, she had helped people in Rochdale to the best of her capabilities... She didn’t deserve this, to be betrayed by her own head and ultimately being killed for it... She didn’t deserve to be treated like a terrorist, it was like blaming a person having a seizure because they damage something during an episode...
I needed something to distract myself, something to take my mind away from all of it... I needed something to look forward to. That was how I always managed, how I always coped with the shitty things happening around me, having something to look forward to... In other words, needed a target to funnel all of my emotions into. And when my emotions ran rampant, I often turned towards destruction.
I gave a wide look around me. A lot of trainees working their most darn to subdue the threat, risking our lives on the line to try and protect as many people as we could... And the one who pulled the trigger, a safe distance away, with a healthy meat barrier of students between her and Holly...
That hadn’t been a submission. That amount of firepower used against a plant-based semblance meant that she had no need at all to go for the execution... I had read it in the inflections and small quips of her speak a moment ago, but this confirmed it.
The way she immediately went to work with trying (and failing) to organize medical treatment looked to me like an attempt to disguise her actions as those of effectiveness... But that was a tale I had heard and witnessed a million times before, and I had known enough psychos in my life to be really good at noticing their tendencies. And this girl was almost drowning in them.
Necessities of the situation aside, she made sure Holly was dead no matter what. She was simply looking for an excuse. And Holly provided in spades... I wasn’t against doing what you must when there was no option left. I was against doing it when it was clear you didn’t need to.
I had already provided a platform. Kishka was already moving in for the save... Just one, or two seconds more tops. It would be all she needed to control Holly... But sadly, that chance was denied.
And the fact that all of this happened in the middle of the street was frightening... Was that... Was that fire sticking to the pumpkin? Soap...? Napalm? This vigilante wannabe had used fucking napalm in a crowded street!? Panicking, I remember the water pipe broken under the pumpkin as I ran towards the now inert vegetable.
Grabbing what was left of Nereida, I started jamming that thing into the lower part of the pumpkin. Making small, but deep holes into it for the water inside the gourd to start filtering out if that thing exploded now... It wouldn’t be pretty... Luckily, it seemed like the situation was mildly controlled for now... But I still wondered where the fuck was law enforcement during all of this.
Fishing out my scroll, I called the emergency services one by one. Explaining the situation as quickly as I could, and hoping they got their heads out of their asses and actually decided to come and help with things for once.
Any lingering doubt I could have of this woman actually being a huntress, law enforcement, or even a mentally stable individual was snuffed out. She was just another psychotic person trying to show off to the world. And woefully powerful, to make things worse.
I took out my scroll. 2% aura left, those were bad news, No chances of me going in and making the preemptive arrest for using weapons of war in a crowded area. I would only end getting myself killed.
Still, I got to zoom in with my scroll and managed to get a nice picture of her, as she was standing in a pretty open position without a lot of obstacles around her. That would be a face worth remembering. Such a strong superpower could, and most likely would do a lot of damage to this city eventually.
The hunt was on.
And that began with one very simple action, but one that may have been the most daunting of them all. To ignore my feelings and keep moving forward. To do nothing for the moment...
There were still people in danger... And being confrontative would grant me no advantage at all, It would only put her on guard the next time we met... And as things were shaping up to be in this city, I had a feeling we would cross paths again sometime soon.
I kept using my scroll to call for help. Especially calling Haven and asking for immediate medical assistance, although hospitals and clinics were also dialed at least a dozen times as I assessed the situation. Most of them promised help. I wasn’t sure how many would provide. Things seemed to be all turning our wrong lately...
As I walked, I saw a couple people with minor wounds, nothing to write home about, things that would heal eventually. I had heard the white-haired woman speak about someone being hurt on the other side of the street. But I figured I could leave that for last, a lot of people probably had congregated there already, so there was no use in me moving there yet.
What I noticed, was a certain jumbo-sized huntress in training. Drifting apart over a cow and making a fool of herself... Under normal circumstances, I would have found that endearing, even funny... But right now, I was not in the mood for that.
-Berwyn... Berwyn. You are in the way. Stop- I called out to her with a tired voice. Closing the distance as the cow turned to look in my direction. The remains of Nereida dragging morosely through the floor.
She looked at me, I looked at her... But instead of headbutting me, the animal simply walked towards me, and kindly nudged her head against my body.
I almost break. I felt my expression fall for a second, I reached with my hand towards the animal, petting it lightly and getting my hand licked in return.
-...Thank you...- I muttered as I turned towards my roommate. Patting her in the leg to get her attention.
-Berwyn, stop with that... Go rest on the sidelines or something. I’ll pick you up once the emergency services arrive... Kay?- I said, my hand lingering on her for about ten seconds in which I didn’t dare lose the contact... Without thinking, I gave her a quick hug before going back to try and help as many people as I could.
1638/9915 Words
Attempting problem : Drunk Berwyn needs to be put to bed ;-; (Social 6)
Using: E Semblance(Social)
Roll: 4+1 = 5 (Failure)