Chapter 77: B3 — 19. Stomach Sickness

AuthorSME

POV:  Rachel Sung Park

Recap:  Rachel is now getting ready to head home, and she's bringing Scarlet, but our Lunar Hare has met a foe that is most terrifying...

Rachel tried to sleep, but she couldn’t stop worrying about the meeting with her parents; the feeling was worse than all the drastic changes and events she’d gone through over the past few days, and ever since she’d entered the Boeing seven-forty-seven UPS cargo plane Tom had arranged, her stomach had been doing summersaults.

Her ears twitched, and she was doing her best to filter out as much sound as possible; the wind, creaking metal, and sound of the pilots dominated much of her senses, much like the helicopter ride.  It was clear that the passengers that rode previously in this colossal plane smoked, despite the bans on most flights.

She opened her eyes, staring down at her change of clothes; Scarlet and she had gone to one of the local thrift stores with someone from the military that was in charge of cataloging everything used to pick out a new outfit before showering.

Scarlet found a white slim-fit Racerback shirt with a black design on the front, showing a crown with a crescent moon at the top and a sleek hare’s head inside.  Written across the base were the words Hare Majesty; it seemed like a rather obscure local brand, but Scarlet couldn’t get enough of it.

Rachel was utterly opposed to the idea, but after some badgering, she gave in to the request, pairing it with slim-fit Racerback and black mid-rise yoga pants.  She cut a hole in the back for her tail, and in all, it wasn’t a terrible look.

Her hands pressed against her abdomen, and she sucked on her lower lip.  How is this even possible; do I have stomach acid?  I feel sick to my stomach, but I don’t even know if I can get sick anymore … it must be a mental thing.

At the same time, if I use Emotional Detachment, then it doesn’t solve the problem but just masks the effects, and it’ll just hit me like a train when I turn it off.  Maybe if I turn it on until I finish talking to mom and dad.  No … I want to be myself with them.  They need to know me, not some fake version.

Unbuckling her seatbelt, she got up, head shifting to get a full sweep of their little area.  She had no clue these massive flights could carry people, but there was a decent-sized space above the cargo that fit up to sixteen people.  The chairs weren’t the best but were better than most coach seats she’d sat in.

Most of the other passengers were military officers that had been called back to support Miami’s military branch and were asleep, but there were two that seemed to be content reading books.  All the windows had been taped up and sealed off for Scarlet’s sunburn issues, which had sparked a few conversations at the start of the flight, but things had long since settled down, and they were exhausted from the work that needed to be done in Billings.

Rachel scooted out of her seat, using the table in front of them as support before heading back to the restroom.  She closed the door behind her before taking in a deep breath, puffing out her cheeks as she let it out.

She yawned, stretching out a little, but the action quickly made her stomach more nauseous.  “Get a grip,” she muttered, closing her eyes while pressing her forehead against the mirror’s cool surface.  Her ears sliding back as she groaned, holding her abdomen.

What’s mom and dad going to think about how I look?  Will they even recognize me?  Probably not … I only partially look similar to my original self.  My hair’s pinkish-white and ultra-thick, I’m thinner … well, some parts of me, and let’s not forget the tail and ears.  I don’t even have human ears anymore.  My skin glows slightly when I have Lunar Energy, and I only have a few Asian characteristics, now.

She opened her glowing scarlet-colored irises, staring at the pink-hued petals surrounding her pink center pupil, framed by a maroon ring that was followed by a white halo.  My eyes are pretty bizarre … no wonder people get uncomfortable when I stare at them.  Alexa will no doubt make several unsavory comments about my appearance.

Taking a deep breath, she let it out again, trying to ease the tension in her chest, but no matter what she did, the feelings remained.  Maybe it’s good I feel this way; it means I’m still a bit normal … damn, I look cute with my ears pulled back, though … like a bunny pleading.

Rachel closed her eyes again, groaning softly while brushing back her bangs to rub her forehead.  “I’m more of a mess than when I was thrown through three buildings … at least I could punch Conner to feel better.”

She pulled down the toilet cover, sitting down while cupping her face with her hands.  C’mon … I went into an alien ship without backup, killed a legend, saved thousands if not billions of lives … yet, even the threat of the world ending isn’t as stressful as meeting my parents for the first time after I changed.  How does that make any sense?  It doesn’t!

A few low whimpers left her throat.  It’s not just me, I guess … this is also about Scarlet and my parents, Fiona and Maria, in extension.  A lot has changed … a lot.  I doubt I’ll be a lawyer anymore … I’ve lost all interest in it.  Dad will bring that up, and what should I tell him?  He’ll want an answer … what are my plans for the future?

Well … I can mention a few things like the modeling, contracting with the government, and I have some inside knowledge about some industries that will likely come about that I can prepare for.  Still, he’ll want something concrete that he can hold up to the family name with pride.  If worse comes to worst, then I can always call Grandpa.

She hung her head.  Grandpa’s so old-school, though.  Still, there’s not a chance he’d turn me away; family is one of the cornerstones of his philosophy, even if he’s got a lot of old traditions.  The Jindan…

Her lips pursed, remembering back to the summers when her Grandfather forced her to participate in his breathing exercises.  “The ding of the jing, qi, and shen,” she repeated softly.  “Who knows … maybe there’s something to gain out of that with this new system.  It’s right up Jinda’s alley.”

Leaning against the back of the toilet, she rested her head against the wall, feeling the vibrations ripple down her frame.  It’s been a year since I’ve seen Grandpa.  That might be nice, and it’s always an option, even if he can be a bit weird.  He did start the company with dad and built it up before retiring, and he’s got plenty of room in that massive house he had built.

Remembering back on a few of the breathing exercises, Rachel tried one of the entry-level techniques, and was a little surprised to find it working.  Her nerves eased a bit, and she smiled.  Breathing is a way to relieve stress, I suppose, and there’s bound to be better ways to do it than others.

Rachel returned to her seat and leaned back, trying to relax; she couldn’t fall asleep, but her body did better when she did the exercises.  Scarlet was still fast asleep, leaned up against the side of the window with a pillow.  The scary part was that she didn’t seem to breathe when sleeping.

The plane touched down at Miami International Airport, and they were met with some unpleasant news.  It was still daylight, which meant that Scarlet would need to get in a cargo container to be transported to a warehouse and wait until nightfall.

Scarlet rubbed her left arm, vampiric eyes filtering out the plane to look outside.  “Really, a shipping container?”  She asked, concerned features returning to the soldier that had informed them.

“I’m sorry, Ma’am, but it’s the best we can do.”  He shrugged apologetically.

“Hey, I’ll join you,” Rachel reassured.  “I’d rather not lose all the Lunar Energy I’ve built up anyways.”

“Thanks, Rachel,” Scarlet mumbled.  “I don’t want to sound like a baby, but it’s just … a shipping container.  Well … I guess it’s no different than a cargo plane … we were just shipped back to Miami, right?”  She chuckled nervously.

“Yeah, you could say that,” Rachel giggled.  “Umm, what about some phones that are waiting for us?”  She asked.

The man shook his head.  “I haven’t been told anything about that.  All I’ve been told is that there should be some things waiting for you when you get to the warehouse.

Rachel smiled at the man.  “Okay, thank you.  Will you bring one in for us?”

“Oh, no, we have one that has room inside; I don’t think you want to wait several hours while we get all the other stuff out, close the plane all up and put you back in.”

“Yeah, that will work,” Rachel hummed, “but Scarlet could just teleport us into a sealed-off car.  I don’t know if you have something like that, but it’s just an option.”

“Eh, yeah,” he muttered.  “Let me run that up the chain real fast.”

He flipped channels on his radio, moving off to the side of the cabin; the other military members had already left.

“You still want me to come with you?”  Scarlet hesitantly asked.

“Of course,” Rachel replied, nudging her shoulder.  “What, are you saying you don’t want to come with me?”

Scarlet’s eyes widened.  “No, no, that’s not it!  I just—I don’t want to cause problems.”

“You can’t keep thinking, that,” Rachel chided, putting her hands on her hips.  “Honestly, you’re a great person to be around, and if it’s a problem, then I’d have said it was.  Put some faith in me; I’ve set everything up, okay?”

Scarlet looked down at the floor.  “Yeah, okay,” she whispered.  “I get it.  Is there—I don’t know, anything I can do for you?”

Rachel forced a smile.  “Umm, yeah—try not to judge my family too harshly.  We may be a bit different than the normal American household, but I know my parents still care about me.  It’s just in a different way than most parents.”

“It’s not like I have anything good to compare your parents to,” Scarlet mumbled.  “Who knows where my mother is, and my dad…”

“Your mother … right,” Rachel whispered, puffing out a long breath.  “Yeah, I know there’s nothing I can say to make it better.”

I don’t know if I should say anything, but it doesn’t feel right.  Relica disappeared around the same time her mother escaped her cell, and then there’s the guys Scarlet mind broke … those are some loose ends that could come back to bite us.  They’re a big enough threat that the government is on the hunt for them.

Scarlet smiled softly, shaking her head.  “No, you’ve done more than I could ever thank you for.  To be honest—you almost seem like a good older sister to me.  I hope that’s not weird.  You’ve just been there for me when I felt like the whole world was trying to crush me.”

“That’s not weird at all,” Rachel smiled, feeling a warmth touch her chest.  “I can’t say I’ve ever really wanted a little sister, but if this is what having a sister is like, then I’d never throw that away.  I’ve grown closer to you, Maria, and Fiona … I don’t know if I can compare it to anything.”

“Thanks,” Scarlet whispered, blue irises appearing as she looked up at her.  “I feel like I’m building a new family with you guys, and … I know it’s not fair, but—I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you all.  It’s like you’re keeping me from drifting away.”

“I’m happy to be that rope around your waist,” Rachel laughed.

“Otherwise,” Scarlet’s eyes pulled in as if gazing deep within herself.  “I don’t know what I’d do … what Scarlet might do.”

“Well, you don’t need to worry about that!”

They both turned as the man returned with a half-smile.  “Well, umm—yeah, so they like that idea.  It cuts out some of the leg-work and should shave off some time with unloading.  It’s a win-win.  A car is being prepared right now; it shouldn’t take long.”

Rachel took a deep breath.  “That’s great, and could you ask about the phones again?  It’s just really important.”

“Eh—yeah, yeah, no problem,” the man replied.  “Give me a minute.”

Scarlet folded her arms with a frown, and she whispered, “A phone … who would I call?”

“Me,” Rachel quickly replied.  “You also have Maria and Fiona … we’ll need to figure out something for our little fairy friend, though,” she chuckled.  “It’s taller than she is.”

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Scarlet giggled.  “She’d be depressed about that … I’ve had so many thoughts running through my mind.”

“Oh, like?”  Rachel asked, knowing they were questions reflecting upon her horrible situation.

“Well … it’s a bit embarrassing,” Scarlet mumbled, “but they’re from popular songs I’d listen to … it doesn’t make them mean less to me, though.”

“No, I get it,” Rachel sat back on an arm of one of the seats.  “Shoot.”

“Well … would you know what love is if hate didn’t exist?”

“Probably not,” Rachel said with a smirk.  “We’d all be dominated, oppressed, and ultimately eaten by malevolent creatures for whom we felt love.  How I see it, there’s a biological and logical reason why hate exists.  Some expressions of hate serve to make the world a better place in my eyes; after all, it’s just an expression of revulsion or moral indignation.”

“That’s very logical of you,” Scarlet chuckled softly.  “Like how you don’t know about heartbreak if your heart was always fixed.  There’s evil in this world we can’t control … blood to be shared or mouths to be fed.”

Rachel brushed back her hair, leaning against the side of the chair while folding her ears to the side.  “If I remember right, that song says there’s no such thing as a new past, and we survive, or we don’t last.  What’s it good for with nothing to fight for?”

“You’re right,” Scarlet smiled, but it soon faded as she sat on the seat behind her, pulling her long black hair around.  “So let the punches roll, right … it’s just—sometimes I think I’m crazy, and other times it’s like nothing seems to faze me.  I’m afraid that I believe in nothing anymore … like this is all just a nightmare.

“Now that everything’s settling down, it’s all sinking in.  What am I fighting for?  Where am I supposed to put all these emotions inside … I’m sure you don’t want to always hear about my messed up mind.  How’d I get so far behind everyone else?  I mean, you seem fine, but me … I’m sick and tired of all this tension inside me, but I’m also afraid of letting it go.  It’s like a war inside my chest and mind, but everything I’ve done, it’s too late, I can’t take it back.”

Rachel closed her eyes, chuckling softly.

“What?”  Scarlet asked sheepishly.  “Too much?  Should I stop talking about it?”

“No, no,” Rachel sighed, opening her eyes to look up at the ceiling.  “There are times I scare myself, too … the fire burning inside me that pushes me toward danger.  Much of what happened in Miami was because of Lunar Pride … or that’s what I tell myself, but I can’t really say.  The fight with Conner changed something within me … it’s like I like to play with fire and let it burn me.  Don’t you think I’m crazy?”

“I guess we’re both insane inside,” Scarlet whispered.  “Maybe that’s why we connected so much.”

They both laughed, but Rachel’s mind pulled back to something that did concern her, the thing inside Scarlet.  Yet, at the same time, she wanted to understand it so she could experience the danger herself; the thought of facing The Reaper of Blood made her tail quiver.

I feel like an unstoppable mythical animal … danger gets me high, rolling the dice to see if I can come out on top and the struggle along the way.  Every day it gets worse … I think even Tom’s legal prediction would get my blood hot at this point.  How close can I ride the edge of insanity before I go too far?  The Reaper of Blood should be way beyond that line, but what do I really know about her?

The more I get to know Scarlet, the more it seems like an entity of its own, and that’s … exciting.  Was she created from The Oscillation or some ability born out of it … or did she have something to do with the event itself?

The man returned shortly after they finished.  “So, it looks like there will be some phones in the car; the latest models from the big Galaxy kings themselves,” he said with an impressed nod.

Rachel gave him a thumbs up.  “Thanks.  Please let us know when it arrives.”

He moved off to climb down the ladder to the level below.  “You got it.”

Scarlet and Rachel fell silent as they turned inward; her thoughts reflected on the song Scarlet had heard The Reaper sing, feeling an excited shiver run through her spine, transferring down to her tail.

Breaking down the song, it really paints a horrifying picture that gets my skin itching.  I have a tale that time has lost, sins of judgment born of blood.  If this is The Reaper of Blood telling a story about something no one remembers, is that in reference to us or someone else?  We can’t be the only humans in this massive network … it just doesn’t seem probable.

Sitting up, she pulled the armrest up before sitting down, pulling her hair around to her front, and leaning the chair back.

Sins of judgment born of blood … does that mean in this story, these people’s sins were passed on through their blood; inherited sin from their forefathers or the shedding of blood?  Well, the next part starts painting a picture of the sin, I suppose.

She took a name from the one profaned; the chosen—know the dark but let it rest.  The chosen know the dark thing that is profaned, but she … The Reaper?  Is this a story about The Reaper’s judgment, Scarlet’s, or her mother’s … who can tell?

The next part really puts a shiver in me.  Born of graves and left below, painted ashes, painted snow; when the dark awakens, fires of your last hopes are burning low.  Blood of gods and blood of men, meet in union to ascend; fate has chosen, and your fading light is at its end.

The profaned one … this dark thing awakens, born of graves, and left below.  Ashes and snow could be symbolic of the waste and devastation that comes with the dark’s arrival.  The next part paints both gods and men dying together; no one can escape the coming awakening.

That could be The Reaper of Blood herself, but it could also be this other being.  Maybe The Reaper ran away from this fate and is just singing some song carried from her world … wherever that might be.  Perhaps they found a way to manipulate the crystals themselves, and that caused a backlash in our planet?  It’s all theories, but with scary implications.

Then there’s, fear not the dark, the monsters within; brace for the feast of humanity’s end.  Is the dark the crystals and the monsters within them?  It’s obvious that these are new planets or dimensions in themselves … there are real creatures and resources inside.  Who really knows.  Maybe we can tell by constellations in the sky if we get enough data.

Life’s breath flickers with the candlelight, lost souls in the dead of night seems connected to the part of humanity’s end, but there could be dozens of other opinions.  The next part sounds extremely important, though.

It’s a long way down to the place I found, lurking silhouette waiting below—dark sun, hollowed by the fade; that debt you live to repay—you see the blackness stare, promising to spare, the chosen.

That’s spoken by The Reaper herself … what place did she find?  It must be the dark thing that the chosen let rest.  That makes me think that she did something forbidden by taking a name from the one profaned … one of many?  Could it be an object, or is a name something more important to whatever creature she is or culture she’s in?

Dark sun, hollowed by the fade; that debt you live to repay … is that directed to Scarlet, The Reaper, or spoken to a group of people as a whole?  The blackness stare, promising to spare, the chosen … well, the chosen let the dark rest, and the blackness could be related to the dark … it could also be something else entirely, combatting whatever the dark is.

Then we repeat the part about everything dying, but now we add your souls will char; flicker too and fro—afraid to linger and to go; trapped in blood until my scythe has come to take you home.

This seems entirely connected to The Reaper of Blood, which might be the name she stole from the profaned one.  People’s souls will char or blacken, willpower failing them as running is just as bad as staying … wait, is this about her previous world?  She killed everyone and awoke the dark; the people had to choose their fate, die by the dark, or by The Reaper of Blood.  That would be a nightmare … and then it repeats about gods and men both dying together.

A shiver ran down her body.  It’s so fascinating that it can even pull my mind off the upcoming meeting with my parents.  It all makes me wonder if The Reaper of Blood is a ticking time bomb … and I’d run right at it.  Will the dark follow us here if that’s the case?  I don’t know.  There are so many questions that arise out of that one dark lullaby, and I can’t wait for the inevitable answers that will make my blood run hot.

I really like Scarlet … she could be like a sister in time.  Right now, though … The Reaper of Blood just really makes my tail twitch, and I don’t know if it’s good or bad.

It took twenty more minutes before the car was ready, leaving Rachel’s mind to flip through all the possible threats that still surrounded them to distract herself from the upcoming family reunion.

Scarlet had fallen asleep again within that time, and Rachel nudged her as the soldier returned.  “Mhh … what’s up—is the car ready?”

“That’s right!”  The soldier smiled cheerily.

“How can you be so happy all the time?”  Scarlet complained with a yawn as she stretched.  “You’re in like … a war zone here.”

“No, no, no,” the man chuckled.  “A lot of order has returned, and in today’s Presidential National Address, there’s talk about the economy starting back up.  It’s not the end of the world like all the news is reporting,” he muttered, rolling his eyes.  “Although, yes, a lot of people lost their lives … there’s a lot of funerals being prepared.”

“Yeah … funerals,” Scarlet whispered, blue irises falling to the table in front of her.  “Those things…”

“Huh?”  The man’s eyebrows pulled together.  “What do you mean?  Are they—umm, different for Vampires?”

“No, just … it’s a personal thing,” Rachel replied, knowing Scarlet was thinking back to when, in her panic, her blood had killed basically everyone she’d grown up with.

Will she want to have a funeral for them?  It might help her get over it, and their family is bound to have a service, but … will they be okay with Scarlet attending?  It’s such a touchy and complicated situation.

“Well,” Scarlet said with a bright smile, vampiric eyes scanning the area outside.  “Shall we get out of this tin can?”

“To enter another tin can,” Rachel chuckled with a sad sigh.  “I can’t wait until nighttime.”

Rachel scooted over to the window seat as Scarlet took her spot, and they both waved at the soldier.  “Thanks, again,” Scarlet said as shadows surrounded them.

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