"Ukeh... Cough!"
The sound of her coughing lingered softly in the room as the Matriarch clutched her throat, struggling to catch her breath. As her face started to regain color, I stared at her with a smile, finding her current struggle to be somewhat amusing.
’This is the very same woman whom I used to think of as a mother. Seeing her like this... it really does pain my heart.’
But at the same time...
I knew that this woman wasn’t the same woman that I knew.
"Have you coughed enough?"
"U... kh!"
Lifting her head, she stared in my direction, her eyes trembled.
"Y-you..."
"I, what?"
Tilting my head, I raised my hand.
Immediately, she flinched, but I just brushed my hair back.
"I’m not going to touch you, don’t worry."
Well, maybe.
I didn’t really have plans at the moment.
But maybe soon.
"W-why are you... d-doing this to me? Why are you..."
"Ah, stop it."
I waved my hand at her.
Honestly, seeing her like this, I felt sick.
"I know what you’ve done. Stop pretending like you’re the innocent Matriarch that raised me. Do you think I’m not aware of what you’ve done to me?"
The Matriarch’s lips trembled.
Seeing her face, it almost felt as though she was unaware.
But I knew.
I knew that she was aware.
"I’m here to ask questions. Do answer me if you can. And well..." I paused, thinking about the numerous other methods I had in store to get her to speak before shaking my head, "There are other methods that I have to get you to speak, but I’d rather the two of us have a heart-to-heart conversation. After all, you did raise me."
Well, to some extent.
"....."
Silence settled over the room the moment I finished speaking, the Matriarch still staring at me, her face pale and her lips trembling.
Seeing her like this, I lowered my head and smiled.
"There’s no use calling for help. Nobody is going to come for you."
I flicked my hand up, and the sheets that covered her body flew up as a thin dark thread shot out from my finger.
The Matriarch let out a small yelp as she tried to pull the sheets down, but it was too late; the small device in her hand was already exposed.
Click! Click!
She pressed it a couple of times, but I just let her be.
Instead, I pointed at my temple.
"As I said, it’s no use. I’ve got my means to stop you from calling any help."
Mr. Jingles mainly.
Click! Click! Click!
Despite my words, she continued pressing the device. Each click echoed softly, accompanied by the rapid, frantic beeping of the cardiogram beside her.
She was restless.
"H-help! Help!"
And soon, she started to scream for help.
"Alright."
That was the moment when I decided to stand up again.
"——!"
The noise died down in that exact moment as her face paled considerably.
Staring at her, I observed her carefully.
"How long are you going to act like this for?"
She was playing her role perfectly, but she couldn’t deceive me. She acted terrified, yet her eyes betrayed her. There was no fear in them. I could tell.
And sure enough—
"You... should’ve been dead by now."
Her voice was no longer frantic. Instead, it had deepened, losing the panic it once carried and taking on a calm, almost unsettling weight.
"...The moment the transfer failed, you should’ve died. You shouldn’t even be here. How are you here?"
"Haha."
Seeing her face twist before my very eyes, I burst out laughing while leaning back against my chair.
’I expected it the moment I confronted her, but this is beyond my expectations. Maybe there was a part of me that hoped I was wrong. Turns out I’m not.’
"How are you still alive?!"
Her voice bellowed across the entire room as her face twisted menacingly.
"You...! Your head...! You should’ve—"
"Oh, don’t worry about my head."
I tapped my head a couple of times.
"It’s definitely not right. I can assure you that. However, I’m still alive, and that’s all that matters, right?"
I offered the Matriarch a smile.
No...
Not quite the Matriarch.
To someone else as I turned my head.
"What do you say? Like what you see?"
"Huh? What...?!"
Suddenly noticing the direction of my gaze, the Matriarch turned, and her face froze the moment she did. Her lips trembled as she began to stutter, "T-that... didn’t..."
"Well, he did die, but also not quite...?"
I scratched the side of my face while staring at Kyle. He stood in the corner of the room, his lips open as he stared at the Matriarch. To be honest, this was one of the reasons why I had decided to come here.
Rather than just telling Kyle about my situation, I wanted to show him.
I wanted him to see with his very eyes what I had gone through.
"K-kyle, that... I..."
"Enough with the nonsense. Kyle was probably going to be your next vessel, I know."
That orphanage...
I wasn’t the only one trained to become Dantalion’s next vessel. I was likely the most suitable, but the others were still viable candidates. With their recent failure, whatever remained of the cult would have tried again with Kyle, but he ended up ’dying.’
But I was curious about something.
"With Kyle gone, what exactly were you going to do? Did you have another child lined up?"
"Another child...?"
The Matriarch paused, then slowly turned her head.
Our eyes met in that moment, and as they did, her lips slowly curled into a smile. The wrinkles around her mouth stretched in an almost unnatural way, deepening as the expression settled on her face.
The sight of it made my own smile fade, as I started to feel a weird sense of unease.
"It... looks like you’re not aware."
Her voice deepened even further, while the wrinkles on her face grew more pronounced, tightening as her expression twisted into something more unsettling.
"Sir ■■■■■■■■■ is gone. You... took him from us. We have no other to serve."
"Then..."
"...But we aren’t the only ones who worship. There exist others. They are aware of our vessels, and want them from us."
All of a sudden, the air felt heavier.
"They are aware... of you. Of what you truly are."
Frowning, I remained seated, my fingers tightening around the armrest as a flood of disjointed thoughts clawed through my mind, each one more unsettling than the last.
Then, without warning, my thoughts were torn apart by the Matriarch’s scream.
"YOU NAIVE FOOL! YOU’VE ALREADY BEEN MARKED! THEY ARE AWARE OF YOUR PRESENCE AND ARE COMING FOR YOU!"
Her voice shrieked through every corner of the room, making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
"...THE END IS UPON US! THE LIGHT HAS BEEN SWALLOWED... THE WORLD IS ALREADY DYING... NOW ITS AL ABOUT CHOOSING WHO TO SERVE...!"
Standing up from my seat, I suddenly turned around.
Clank—
The door to the room opened, and the nurse from before entered.
She looked the same as before, but she was oddly calm as she smiled at me.
"Did I not say to agitate the patient?"
Her head tilted a little, her smile carrying through.
"...It’s not good to agitate her like that."