Chapter 181: Death and those left behind (2)
It’s morning but the city refuses to lighten up at all.
The rain pours down as a chill wind brushes against her skin.
She let out a long sigh, accompanied by a puff of smoke.
“…I thought you said you quit?”
She turned around at the sound of a voice.
His graying hair was drenched as if he didn’t care that it was raining.
“Edward…”
Priscilla took a long drag from her cigarette without looking at him.
“…”
Running a hand through his damp hair, Edward stood beside Priscilla.
A silence falls between them, and the sound of rain fills the air.
“How was it?”
Priscilla ducks her head at Edward’s question, a shadow falling over her face.
“…It was terrible.”
“…”
“I mean, there’s not much left of him. His muscles were all torn to shreds, his mana circuitry was completely out of whack, and…”
Priscilla trailed off.
She was an expert in holy power and medicine so she could tell the pain Zetto must have endured and his desperate will to fight, even to the point of extinguishing the flame of life, even though he was at his limit.
Even in the past, when there had been wars, she had never seen a body rolled so badly.
“…I’m sorry for leaving you to do this.”
“It’s okay, it was something I had to do.”
Priscilla felt guilty that she hadn’t been strong enough to stop Zetto when she knew he was overdoing it.
It was the same for Edward.
But they were both aware that nothing they could have done would have stopped him.
“…What happened to your hand?”
Priscilla asked, noticing the severe burns on Edward’s hands.
Edward waved his hand away.
“It’s fine.”
Then he looked at his own horribly burned hand.
“It’s my scar to bear.”
Priscilla nodded faintly at Edward’s answer.
“Where is Miss Aizel?”
“…At his side, with Yuri.”
“I see.”
Aizel and Yuri’s world stopped for a moment but it was enough for now. They had to let go, so they could move forward.
Priscilla and Edward, well aware of this, tried not to interrupt them.
“…I thought I was used to it.”
“I don’t think there’s any good in getting used to it.”
“That’s true, but…”
“…”
“At least…”
A single tear rolls down Priscilla’s cheek.
“At least I thought you wouldn’t be sad.”
It wasn’t just Aizel and Yuri who needed to see him go.
Zetto was kind and gentle to everyone.
He was an unusually good-natured person, which made the aftermath of his death all the more devastating.
Edward patted Priscilla’s shivering back.
“It’s been raining a lot today.”
***
Meanwhile, in the morgue where Zetto’s body lay, Aizel and Yuri were there.
It’s a building that doesn’t really fit in with the Academy, an educational institution, but the morgue was built during the war against the demons in the past.
In fact, some cadets were unaware of the existence of the morgue, but it was not well known because it was a place where no good could come of it.
Aizel was squatting against the wall of the morgue while Yuri looked over at Zetto, whose eyes were closed.
Wrapped in a clean white cloth, only his face was exposed, and for the first time, without the bandages that had always covered his eyes, Yuri could see his bare face.
His eyes were closed and he appeared to be sleeping soundly as if he would wake up any minute.
‘I slept well.’
They felt like he was going to say.
Yuri and Aizel had watched him sleep once before.
That made it all the more unbearable.
After wiping away her tears in silence, Yuri spoke up.
“You know what, Aizel?”
“…”
“Do you have any idea what color Zetto’s eyes were… Do you know what color they were?”
“…”
Aizel had seen Zetto’s eyes before.
Not this time, but the last time.
His eyes wouldn’t suddenly change so the color would be the same as she knew.
“The same color as the blue sea… Priscilla said.”
“The blue sea…”
Yuri looked at Zetto, who had his eyes closed, and imagined.
They would have looked so good together.
They must have been really pretty eyes.
She thought to herself.
“Earlier… I’m sorry.”
Yuri said, plopping down next to Aizel.
“It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong. I almost tainted Zetto’s death.”
Almost tainted Zetto’s death.
Maybe it would be easier for her to die like this, staring at the rage-filled Yuri.
Aizel thought about it.
She hadn’t realized the implications of Zetto’s death last time, but now she did.
She can’t die.
She can’t go back.
No more seeing Zetto.
Aizel’s eyes were empty.
The hellish regression had come to an end and what was left was an emptiness far worse than hell.
For a moment, Aizel recalled Zetto.
Suddenly, Yuri’s voice echoed in her ears as he squatted down, her head bowed deeply in her lap.
“Zetto’s last…How was it…?”
“…”
Aizel paused before answering.
What was it like for him as he drew his last breath?
It was the worst moment of her life, but she had to tell her.
She deserved to hear it.
“…He laughed.”
“He laughed…?”
“Yes, he smiled. He gave me a kind smile, like everything was going to be okay.”
“…That’s so Zetto.”
Yuri smiled faintly.
It was like Zetto… It was just a forced smile, hoping it would make her feel better.
“I liked Zetto.”
“…”
At Yuri’s sudden confession Aizel was silent.
“I liked Zetto, but… I couldn’t tell him I liked him. I was ashamed. I really didn’t know. I thought I had time. I thought he could wait for me.”
Yuri sobbed but Aizel couldn’t offer her any words of comfort.
She wasn’t given the chance to see his last moments with her eyes,
the chance to confess their love and confirm their feelings for each other.
Aizel took it all for herself and she wasn’t happy about it.
To like a person, in and of itself, was never a sin.
It didn’t make her feel jealous or anything.
After all, Zetto was no more.
I can’t be anyone’s lover.
I can’t listen to anyone’s confessions.
So Aizel, who had only confirmed her love for Zetto at the end, could not be happy.
It was only more painful.
Time passed and after hours of silence the eyes of the two women at Zetto’s side had gone completely blank.
Yuri and Aizel sat still, staring at Zetto’s body but the sight in their eyes was different.
They saw memories of Zetto that only they knew.
They were reliving them trying to remember as much of him as they could.
-Bam!
Soon, urgent footsteps could be heard from the other side of the entrance. It was morning, and the others had arrived.
It was the cadets of Class A, Zetto’s classmates, who had been close to him.
The first to enter the morgue was surprisingly…Amon Caligus.
Amon pushes himself off the ground and lays his eyes on Zetto’s body in the center of the room.
“…Ugh.”
Even without lifting the old cloth, he could see clearly that Zetto’s left arm was missing.
“Damn it…”
Amon was just plain angry.
He was sad, but his first emotion was anger.
Why did this fool have to carry this burden alone? Now that he thought about it, everyone was leaning on him.
Amon was no different.
He’d been saved by him just a few days ago.
He was angry at that fact and at his own weakness.
If he had been stronger, he could have been the one to hold Zetto up.
If he had been stronger, he could have had Zetto’s back.
Amon’s fists tightened at the thought.
“”……””
Crank and Orphele came in after Amon.
They look at Zetto’s face and fall silent.
“…Mr. Zetto?”
Lucia, who arrived late due to her slow legs, catches Zetto’s eye.
“Why is Mr. Zetto…?”
“”…….””
Everyone in the morgue fell silent at Lucia’s question.
There’s a world of difference between being told and seeing, especially when it was death.
When it’s so sudden, tears are hard to come by but the emotions were like an inflated balloon…
“Hmph… Hmph…”
Lucia blinked back tears.
Soon, her childlike cries echo through the morgue.
“Hhhhhh… Ahhhhh….”
…The thinnest of needles quickly burst the balloon starting with Lucia.
Amon and Crank silently wipe away their tears while Yuri can’t bear to look at them, so she covers her face.
The only ones who don’t cry are Orphele of House Aisin, who is known for hiding her emotions, and Aizel, who has no more tears left to shed.
The morgue became a sea of tears and soon, all that remains is the sound of exhausted sobs.
“”……””
The atmosphere became even more somber as she wiped away her emotions with tears.
-Bang.
They hear someone walking toward them from the entrance.
That’s right.
She was still there.
Tsk.
She didn’t run, she just walked in silence and soon she was in the morgue.
Raindrops trickled down her soaked hair as she approached Zetto.
“…I see.”
Her voice was emotionless as she looked down at him.
“You’re dead, Zetto.”
With that, she turned and walked away.
She walked out of the building once more with a frightening nonchalance.
The tone of her voice, the way she speaks, the atmosphere and her demeanor are very different than usual.
Sensing something amiss, Amon grabs her shoulder to stop her.
“Hey, Kaen…?”
Immediately, Kaen turned her head and shook off Amon’s hand.
“Don’t stop me.”
“…”
Amon swallowed hard, goosebumps were rising all over his body.
Kaen quickly left the morgue and Amon rubbed his neck as his eyes followed her back.
He was surprised that his neck was still attached since just a moment ago, Amon had felt something touch his neck.
Now, with just that glimmer of life, scattered by Kaen, Amon had experienced death. There was no time for fear.
Kaen’s current state was not good, to say the least.
Contrary to Zetto’s expectations, Kaen was not in control of her emotions at all.
Right now, she was like a bomb that could explode at any moment and someone had to stop her.