"Thank you and... I"m sorry."~Nami"s Point Of View~
"Wh-What do you mean..."
I knew she"ll be more confused once she gets to know the truth. For sure, all this time Ela has been suffering from having the thoughts that she killed us. While was defending Akane"s attack, I told her everything that she"s not the one who should take responsibility for what happened.
"You heard me clear and loud. You"re not the one who killed them. You didn"t even kill me, I lost conscious when you tried to s.n.a.t.c.h the gun from me."
"But... But I saw it. I"m the one wh----"
"Ela, just snap out of it. What do you think is the reason of what"s happening now? Why would I go to you instead of Akane?"
She"s out of words. It"s really a big shock to her. I avert my sight at Akane who"s been smiling so creepy the whole time while looking at us. She pauses her attacks for the reason that she"s amuse by Ela"s reaction after I revealed the truth. Tsk. You b.i.t.c.h.
"Just look at her. What do you think she"s so desperate to kill you?"
Her attention goes to Akane"s direction after what I said.
"That"s because she wants to get re----"
"Well, you"re wrong again. Haa... You"re still soft towards her, Ela. Haven"t you realize that she"s been hating you since then?"
"But that"s because..."
Oh, come on Ela. Just when will you open your eyes and realize that Akane is never been a true friend to you. Not even on us, she never showed that we were important to her. She"s a plastic b.i.t.c.h. She even betrayed us by meeting with the enemies secretly. Before, it seems to me that Ash is her life, and that her entire world only run for him.
"Just wake up, ok? For some nonsense reason, she wants to kill you badly."
I"m getting annoyed at you, Ela. For once in your life, just think only about yourself and not the others. She only lives once so, I want her to cherish it. Just how can she be so selfless? Is this what Ash had been worrying about? That he had to gave us a mission like this?
Don"t worry, leader. I"ll accomplish this.
"Then, if it"s not me... Who? Who killed them!?"
Ah, finally you awake. I"m about to answer when our attention get diverted towards Akane because she starts laughing out loud. I glare at her.
"That person is just in front you, idiot." she said and then she laughs again.
She"s gone crazy.
~Zoey"s Point of View~
I can"t believe this. It"s not me...? I dropped the guns when I heard what Akane said in response to my question.
Since that incident, my life turned to ashes. It became meaningless. All this time, I keep remembering of what happened on that day so that I can put distance myself to anyone. I decided to prevent on making friends or getting along with anyone, because of this devil inside me... because I"ve accepted the fact that I"ll be fine just by myself.
Since that day I"ve lost Ash, I fell, felt despair once again, and suffered so much. Then, I stood up and continued on living while shutting myself in one corner without letting anyone enters. I decided to do that because of what happened, because of what I did, because it"s my fault... And then, now? I just get to know that it wasn"t me.
What the h.e.l.l...
It"s so hard to accept. How on earth can I accept that?!
After realizing everything, it feels like a boiling hot water being poured over me.
Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.webnovel.com for visiting.
It hurts.
A lot.
"What are you so angry about, huh Nami? Isn"t her who should be acting like that?!" Akane shouted while blocking Nami"s attack. When she admitted that it was her who did the sin that I had been blaming on myself, Nami attacked her.
I looked at Akane"s face. So... It was her. She"s the one who killed Seia, Kano, Layla, and Jinno.
But why...
"You never know and you will never know why! There"s no way that someone like you who killed them would never know what it feels like to be angry for a friend"s sake!" Nami shouted back at her as she pulls her revolver twins and keeps shooting her nonstop.
"Are you done? Who do you think was the root of all this, huh!?" Akane yelped as she keeps avoiding the bullets. "If she didn"t come to our life, you think that happened? It"s all because of her!" then she throws two daggers aiming her legs, but Nami avoids those somehow.
They"re fighting physically and verbally while I"m just standing somewhere near them and watching. What am I doing? I know I have to help Nami, but why the h.e.l.l my body is not moving?
I want to end this.
I want to finish this once but... At the same time, I don"t want to kill Akane. I"m really an idiot. I"ve had enough reason for me to kill her and yet there"s part of me that stopping myself on killing her. Is it because Ash is her brother? Ugh. Revenge is really never an easy thing on my part since it"s usually my fault.
I lower my head, just having all these kinds of thought makes me feel small.
"Ela! Watch out!"
I flinch as I hear Nami"s scream, but when I look up, I see a dagger going towards me. My reflexes automatically block it with the knife I"m holding. That was close.
Nami runs towards me, "Don"t s.p.a.ce out too long. We have to make it out live because there"s something important I have to tell you, Ela." she said giving me a serious look.
I"m about to say something when Akane suddenly talks that makes me shock, and it feels like the ground I"m standing right now would fall apart any moment to devour me.
What is she saying?
Stop... Akane, please say no more.
From that moment, I regret that I"m listening to her----no, even the fact of living. While hearing all the words coming from her mouth, I regret everything.
In the end... no matter what I do I still get regrets. Full of regrets, enough for me to die.
Why did I give up on you so easily, Ash...
~Akane"s Point of View~
Where...
Where am I? Why is it so dark here?
Ah, right...
How long has it been since I"m stuck in here? This place that has nothing but filled in darkness. I can"t see anything. There"s nothing here, only me sitting on the surface that even I can"t tell if it"s a floor or what. It just black and nothing else. There"s no wall or ceiling. Everything it endless with darkness.
I hug my legs and bury my face on it. I feel like deaf because of silence. I"m not blind but I feel like one, because aside seeing only myself there"s nothing else to see. I feel so lonely.
Why am I even in here? Just what is this place... I want to get out.
Ash...
I close my eyes in that position, and memories flashing back.
"I"m your sister?"
"Yes, that"s right. And from now on, no one will hurt you again."
It was that time when I first met Ash. I was a victim of a gang **** at the age of 8, and barely got saved when some married couple found me floating on the river. I was saved by his parents. They got on a car accident before they found me and only their youngest child died, around a month ago. That"s when they lost a daughter and adopted me as a replacement, because Ash lost memories of her and he wouldn"t accept it if he found out that she"s dead. That"s the start of me coming to their lives and be part of the family. I accepted them wholeheartedly. I was lucky enough to be found by them.
But, our parents died... Because of me.
Dad was a congressman while Mom was a n.o.ble that chose to live normal with Dad and helped him in the work. We were rich. We had shown a lot on medias and because of that those men who raped me remembered my face. They wanted to get rid of me, but they killed our parents instead, by protecting us. Since then, we only had each other. I live relying on him till we became bounty hunters and met our comrades. I only have him, and no matter what I can"t lose him too.
Until I"ve realized that I loved him, after the day that Ela came to us. I realized it because I saw how Ash cared so much for her. The way he worried about her, I"ve never seen him like that. He did everything for her, and that made me feel jealous. I loved him that I wanted him and his attention to be only mine. I didn"t notice that day by day I"ve became crazy about him.
But what can I do? Since born, I was treated like some trash. Only Ash gave me importance in this world. He"s the only person who I"ve been praying for so... Was it my fault? I just did everything to make sure I won"t lose him so, why is it seemed like I was the bad one here?
No. It"s all her fault. Ela"s fault. If only she didn"t come to our lives...
[ Getting used to this place? ]
I immediately stand up and look for that voice. I must find it.
"Show yourself! Who are you? Where is this place? Answer me!!" I shouted.
[ Ahahaha! You haven"t figure out who am I, Akane. Oh yeah, I forgot that you only borrowed that name... ]
"Shut up! What the h.e.l.l do you know?!"
[ Everything. I know everything, Carla. That"s your real name, right? Ahahahahaha! ]
What the... How did she know that? Akane is the name of Ash"s sister and since I replaced her ident.i.ty it has been my name. I have forgotten the name Carla because everything behind it is just a nightmare to me.
[ Hmm... Still clueless. Oh well, I tell you who am I. ]
"Just forget it and let me out of here! Show yourself!"
[ As you wish~ ]
But as soon as she reveals herself, I get gooseb.u.mps all over my body that made me fall and sit in fear.
What... What is this? Why am I seeing myself in front of me??
[ Shock? Hahaha! Well, you"re not dreaming. You"ve been wondering of who am I so, here! I show up. ]
I don"t understand. What"s going on? I thought I"m just hallucinating but it"s true. At first I heard its voice I thought it was me but I ignored it. On that day, in that old church when we were chasing of a murderer old Maiden. That was the beginning of all this. I remembered I was trying to kill Ela because of the thought that she might kill all of us, Seia was stopping me that time. And then when I saw Ela"s eyes turned to deep red, I lost conscious.
When I woke up, I was already here. And then, that voice talked me and ignored the fact that it"s similar to my voice. But now that I"m facing the replica of me standing in front, I get shocked. There"s this dark smoke coming out of her body so, I can tell the difference between us because of that thing, aside that we look alike. What"s going on here?
[ I see that you"re still confused. Well, that doesn"t matter since you"ll be gone sooner. Just look at yourself, you"re starting to lose some parts! Ahahaha! ]
I look at myself when she said that, then see my hands getting transparent.
"What the h.e.l.l did you do! Who exactly are you?!"
But to my surprise she comes closer to me. Her face is one inch to mine.
[ I am you. The Carla that you once buried is now back, and I am here to take revenge. I"ll kill every single f.u.c.kers in this world! You"re asking me what did I do to you? You should ask that to yourself. Oh right, here. I"ll show you to be more clear. ]
She giggles at my confused and scared reaction. She"s just right next to me and even hold me on my shoulder, just how can I stay calm on this situation. Given that she"s giving me a bad vibe.
After she talks, she shows something to me. I look forward when she tells me to, then I see something that forming into a big circle of dark smoke. There, I see myself facing Nami and... Ela.
I get angry as soon as I see her.
[ Ah~ that"s right. That"s the emotion I want to get. I knew you"d be like that once you saw her. The girl who took the only man you love. Ahahahaha! ]
"What are you trying to do?"
[ Nothing much. I just showed what"s happening outside. You may want to ask... You"re inside of your deepest mind. As you can see, I"ve controlled your mind that"s why it filled by my darkness. That"s why it is who is in there. ]
She said pointing the version of me on the black smoke screen.
"I don"t understand what you"re talking. I"m inside my mind?"
[ That"s right. Thanks to you, I got the chance to be free. Because of your strong negative emotions, I"ve awoken. The source of all that is... her. ]
She pointed her hand at Ela.
[ You are so jealous, envy, angry, and scared of her. Everytime you see her, you feel all of this core emotions... And I love it! Ahahaha! But you don"t have to worry much, my dearest impostor Akane. I"ll kill her for you. ]
"Let me out of here... Let me out!" I shouted and try to push her away but my hands can"t even touch her. It just pa.s.s through as if like it"s some smoke. She disappears in front me and then reappears from behind. I turn around and see her being amused on my reactions.
[ You can"t hurt me. I told you, I am YOU. ]
I don"t believe it. Just what exactly is that. There"s no way something like this is possible. Even though it"s already happening in front of my eyes, I refuse to accept it. I have to get out of here.
[ Hmm... Stubborn as always. Then, let me wake you up. Enjoy the show~ ]
She then disappears again, but this time she"s nowhere to be found.
I look at the big smoke above. It still there. If what it is showing to me is what really happening outside then, in that case, they"re both still alive.
Then, where are the others?
I thought Ela killed Nami, but seeing them together is the proof that nothing happened on that day. Is Ash got saved also?
[ Pfft----Ahahahaha! Clueless dumb people like you are really good on making me laugh! ]
I heard her saying but I can"t see her. What is she talking about?
As I watch on what"s happening, there"s something that I notice. It seems like we"re fighting each other----no... They"re fighting with me. But why? At the looks of them, they really seem to want me to be killed. Especially that I can see well how angry Nami is right now while Ela is... I can"t tell. Her head is lowering down.
"Since we"re here and only you two are still alive. Let me tell you something very amusing."
This voice... It"s my voice! And it"s them that I"m talking. But how is that possible when I am here? Does that mean everything what she said is true?
"You think we have time for that? How can you easily be like that after what you did, shame on you!" Nami shouted and she"s very angry at me.
There"s only one explanation for all of this. Since I am stuck in here, that girl who looks like me is controlling my body! So, that means she has been doing that ever since I got in here and she said I"ll be disappeared soon. If that happens she can own my body, even my heart----no! I can"t let that happen.
[ Finally come to your senses, eh. Well, you also listen very well to my marvelous speech. ]
She talked again, but it"s for me. I can tell because when she talks to me, the voice will echo on this place. But when she talks to them, the voice sounds like it"s from outside.
"As you know it well, Nami. I am the one who killed Seia and everyone."
I get stunned. W-What...?
"It"s their fault to begin with. They stopped me from killing you, El---Oh, wait... Isn"t this all your fault? Ahahaha!"
"You better get to your point Akane, as long as I can still wait of what will you say." Nami said, clenching her fist.
"So... Is it really you, Akane... All this time I blamed myself for that incident and then you just confirmed what Nami told me..."
"Ah yeah, since you look like you"re not believing on the only witness of my work."
"You----!"
"Hep! Stay there. I"m gonna say something, right? You"re going to die soon so, why not just listen to me first."
"Then, say it already so that we can finish this once!" Nami shouted.
I can"t believe this. She killed our comrades... I killed them?!!
I"m about to feel like losing the mood of watching to this because of what I heard. This can"t be true... But then, when she starts talking, my legs give up as I look up the smoke screen again with tears flowing down on my cheeks.
"It"s about Ash. After I killed Seia and the others, Ela gained conscious and ran away. I tried to stop her but Ash stopped me, that"s why I couldn"t finish your life Ela."
What is she even saying? So, then Ash still alive. They look like they also did not know about this because both of them are shock in disbelief.
"He held my hand tightly and his eyes were telling me not to kill you. I was also surprised that time. That old Maiden stabbed him yet he was still be able to stand up in that situation. He was losing a lot of blood and yet he stood up just to stop me from following you... He did that just for you, Ela!"
Ash... Even in that situation you still do whatever it takes just for her. You really love her...
"And so, I killed him."
Hearing that makes me stun. All the tears suddenly stop from flowing down. I feel like someone just stabs my heart. She said she killed Ash instead of saving him... No. It can"t be true, please...
"Akane!!!!" Nami screamed as she dashes an attack on me. While Ela is left in despair.
That"s right, it"s me. No matter how it looks. I was the one who put an end to his life. I killed him... I killed everyone... With my own hands.
And that is unchangeable.
"Ahahaha! Look at your face, Ela. Marvelous, right? In the end, Ash saved you once again to the very last breath. And it"s all your fault!"
"Shut up! Even your own brother... You killed everyone!"
"Oh, wait. Don"t get me wrong, Nami. I"m not his sister. We"re not related so, why can"t I kill him? Ahahaha!"
Nami stops from attacking me because of what this clone just said. She gets shocked, same as Ela. I can see her gritted her teeth, then in a very short moment she"s already behind me. She stabs me on my side. Somehow this clone using my body managely runs from them. But why don"t I feel relief that I didn"t feel that pain when she stabbed me.
"I"ll make you pay for this." Ela said glaring at me deadly. In terms of speed, she can surpa.s.s us. I know it well since I always watched her practicing fights with Ash.
"Oh, what? I thought you"ll just gonna sulk in there forever."
"You just gave her a reason to kill you, b.i.t.c.h!" Nami shouted as she starts again on attacking.
It"s better to be like this. I have no reason to live anymore. I clench my fist. I was so desperate of doing everything I could just not to lose Ash, but in the end I was the one who killed him.
I look above and shout to that clone, "You can"t kill them!"
[ Oh yeah? Then, let"s see. You haven"t even witness of what I can do. And to do it properly, let me increase the time of your departure. ]
And as she said that, I notice some black smoke on my legs and when its gone, my legs also disappeared. It"s completely gone. I don"t know what she"s planning but whatever happens to me it doesn"t matter. I can"t let her kill them. That at least is what I have to do for all the sins I did.
I flinch and immediately look at the smoke screen when I hear Nami screams in pain. Then, I notice a purplish black on her left hand. She gets poisoned, but by the looks of it it"s different from my poison. I"m not sure if they can see it but, her hand is being surrounded by black smoke.
"Ahahaha! That"s right. Anytime, once the poison reaches your heart you"ll be dead for good!"
Nami grits her teeth then she s.n.a.t.c.hes one of Ela"s knives that she"s holding, and cuts off her poisoned hand.
"I better lose my hand than be killed in your hands." she said. No one can really beat Nami"s determination and fearless personality.
"I told you, you can"t." I said to the clone.
[ Shut up! ]
But I smirk when Ela starts running towards her. I have to end this! This clone tries to move and runs away but I give all my best to stop her.
[ What are you doing! Stop! ]
"No! Since I"ll be disappearing anytime so, it"s better to kill this body!!"
[ Nooo!! ]
The smoke screen slowly disappearing and before it happens I see Ela getting near. This is good. I have to hold it more.
[ I said stop! ]
Never. This is the only thing I can do. I know this isn"t enough for what I"ve done, but at least I do something before I leave this world.
Mom, Dad, Ash, Ela, and everyone... I"m sorry for all what I did.
And thank you...
~Third Person"s Point of View~
"No! Don"t come near!" Akane shouted, but Zoey didn"t listen to her.
For some reason, she saw a black smoke surrounding her but it was just for a split seconds. Even though she didn"t understand why she was not moving, Zoey was determined to kill her. No matter what.
On the other hand, after she covered her bleeding hand with a cloth, Nami ran fast as she could to follow Zoey. She was going to attack Akane again. After all what she said, there"s no way Nami would forgive her.
As the devil controlling Akane"s body, she was desperate to get away from the two coming towards her. But she couldn"t move at all because of the real owner, Akane, who was stopping her to do so.
"I said get away!" the devil said glaring at them when they were getting near.
"No! Kill me already!" the real Akane shouted back, and because of her strong will to end this, her voice reached out.
And at that moment, Nami and Zoey sped up and they both stabbed her chest that made her cough in blood and as they pushed their knives deeper, someone shot her head.
Nami and Zoey released their knives as Akane"s body fell down on the ground.
"Thank you and... I"m sorry."
Akane"s last words as tears flowed down on her cheeks. They immediately looked at her when they heard it, and what they saw was her peaceful face.
There was a lot of blood on her mouth but they still noticed that it smiled with a hint of tears on her eyes.
To be continued...