Chapter 7 – Leap of faith
"Say that again?"
Emrys was so surprised that he almost stuttered, looking at Océane with wide, hopeful eyes.
"I know the location of a portal," she repeated. "And it’s not far away from where — huh — you lovely helped ?"
She said it with a shy, sheepish smile, as if she was not sure how to address that event.
Emrys would have scoffed at "helped " in any normal situation. But this was not one.
"How do you know?" Emrys knitted his eyebrows, eyes filled with suspicion. "If you knew the location of a portal, why didn’t you enter it directly?"
At that question, Océane imdiately fell silent. Her face beca strained, her mouth opening and closing in a soundless attempt to say sothing.
She fixed her golden eyes on Emrys’s black ones, seeing in them a cold seriousness.
Océane instinctively knew then that this was the mont to take a step forward.
The world was ending, literally, and she needed the help of soone to achieve what she needed to do.
’I have failed one. But this one...’ she thought, eyes still on Emrys. ’...this one wouldn’t do that to , right? He helped after all.’
Coming to a decision just before Emrys’s patience ran out, Océane sighed, then parted her dry lips.
"Well," she began, clearly embarrassed and afraid; mostly afraid. "For you to understand, maybe it’s better if I start at the beginning."
"Make it short," Emrys said, looking at the tir. "I don’t think the last thing I want to hear before dying is your voice."
Océane’s right eye twitched. "Surly boy," she spat.
"My na is Emrys."
"Lovely na. But still, Surly Emrys."
Emrys clicked his tongue.
Océane began her story.
"As you can see by my clothes," she pointed at them, "I had gone to work today..."
Océane explained how she was at work before the event actually happened.
Once there, she found herself with her coworkers, like always.
Her coworkers and she never had any problems, even when the system — {Mother}, it called itself — talked about the portals and the Tower.
After they barely survived the collapse of the fast-food restaurant, they made their way out in order to head toward Océane’s ho.
The two had promised to help her retrieve her little brother, after all. She was so thankful at that mont that she shed hot tears.
Having been cooks, her two coworkers — Max and Emmie — were quite adept with knife skills, making the path rather free of overwhelming hurdles.
Océane didn’t do much. And along the way, she felt even worse for depending too much on her two coworkers.
But on their way toward her ho, beside a shattered chemical lab, they found a portal.
"The portal was guarded by the Bulky Red Spawn we killed," Océane murmured, looking down at her feet, playing with her fingers anxiously. "I didn’t want to go in. Not imdiately. I first needed to find and retrieve my brother."
"But seeing a way to escape this hell on earth, Max and Emmie chose to enter the portal."
Emrys frowned, already knowing where this would end.
"But the Bulky Red Spawn was strong, and none of them wanted to fight it."
She smiled sadly. "That’s when I ca in."
Océane raised her head just enough to look at Emrys.
"As you can see, I am fast." Her voice held little pride. "I train every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday to be a runner and hopefully enter big competitions. It’s sothing they knew. And it’s sothing they shalessly used to lure the monster away."
Emrys listened without interruption, his black eyes like pools of shadow transfixed on her. At that instant, Océane knew for certain that she had all of Emrys’s attention.
She beca montarily dazed, for no one had ever been this present in a conversation with her.
People either listened to answer — not to understand — or simply to not be rude.
She shook her head swiftly, dispelling these thoughts, and continued.
"So they fooled , telling they would finally help retrieve my brother. However, instead, they lured the monster toward before disappearing completely by running to the other side."
"Having found a target still frozen in fear, the monster focused on ."
She paused, then slowly...
"That’s how I found you. I ran with my life on the line until I t you and..."
She smiled. A forced smile.
"...here I am with you after killing the big bad guy!" Océane said a bit too strongly. "Let’s look at the bright side!"
Emrys answered with silence, thinking about her story.
She had been betrayed by her coworkers, used as bait while they safely entered a portal.
And she was also looking for her brother.
That last information made him think back to his stepmother again, and Emrys bit the inside of his lip.
He had no ti to go to their house. They were hours away from the graveyard even if he used a car. And he barely had a day to find a portal — less than a day, even.
He could not.
And he could not try to save her if he wasn’t even sure he could save himself.
’Am... am I selfish?’ he wondered, clenching his fist to stop the guilt gnawing at his heart.
He forced himself not to think about what his father would say to him.
It was impossible, but fortunately...
"...please help ." Océane said, bowing her head, her voice fragnted. "Please help retrieve my brother. I am not obliging you. And even if you don’t want to, I will still tell you the location of the portal. You have helped enough."
"But please..." she swallowed a sob, "...if you want, if you can, help take back my little brother. He is all I have left in this world."
Emrys answered, once again, with silence.
His mind was working overti, looking at the tir at the edge of his eye ticking like a ti bomb.
[Remaining Ti: 20h 38min 13s]
Barely a day.
He clenched his jaw, looking at the still-bowing Océane.
"Where... where is it?" he asked.
"In our house!" Océane almost yelled, lifting her head in hope, tears straining her eyes. "My brother cannot walk because of a defect in his proprioception. So he is certainly there."
Her voice cracked at the end, but she gathered herself swiftly.
"And it’s not far from the portal!"
At those words, Emrys’s heart trumpeted. He tried not to let any of his thoughts paint his face.
He breathed in and out, gathering himself, then slowly...
"Okay." He accepted, closing his eyes wearily.
"I will help you retrieve your brother."
—End of Chapter 7—
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