Chương 131: 44 - THE FOURTH REDEEMER PT. 6

The valley of the beast was dark. The sky above its domain shimmered, creating a visible veil across the sky. On the other side was a glassy nightmarescape that Tyene could hardly see. Tyene and the stranger rode on the back of a colossal raven. A summon loot of his that was more like a black cloud, shaped like a bird. It flew them through the normal clouds at blistering speed, all the while the stranger wore a smarmy look. Tyene searched the area with a determined gait.

All of her clothes were soaked like the man had said, leaving her with only Vienna's oversized military jacket to cover herself. But she clutched onto that jacket as if her life depended on it. She was going to give it back. She determined to give it back. But as she looked down at the ground, the air was too thick for her to see. Once they entered the veil, a storm brewed around them. Literally. She could see dark clouds erupting with strange black lightning all around the mountain they were above.

They were clouds they couldn't see from the outside. The pressure in the air made her hunch over, and she felt like she had completely lost her sense of smell. It was like nothing she'd ever felt before.

"What are those things?" She pointed into the distance at what looked like several glowing gold dots floating low to the ground. It was like looking at a swarm of fireflies from far away. They were gathered down at the base of the mountain.

"Those are the Seraphs, and I don't currently have the loot to deal with them," the stranger answered.

"Currently?"

"We're landing. Don't need them seeing us just yet." As he said, the raven descended quickly beneath a plain of fog. When it landed, its body disappeared, dropping them both suddenly to the ground. Tyene scanned around them.

"Where could she be?"

"So what's it about this friend of yours that makes you so confident she's even here?" the stranger asked, arms crossed.

"She doesn't know any better." Tyene had to raise her voice through the thick air.

"I've never been able to get rid of her before. She won't abandon me now."

"Right. Well, sorry to burst your pretty little bubble, but the Redeemer ain't dead. That means your friend probably is if she's as loyal as you say."

"How would you even tell from here?"

"Because usually the place starts to sound like—" There was a strange sound. Like a choir screeching in unison. A collective cry, so high-pitched, Tyene thought her ears were gonna burst.

"What is that?"

"Well, I'll be a son of bitch," was all the man said. It wasn't long after that those strange clouds started to dissipate and the congregation of glowing lights suddenly dispersed in all directions. One of them blew right past them, leaving Tyene with just a glimpse of one of the giant winged angels. The stranger just stared straight ahead.

"What'd you say her name was?"

"Vienna… Vienna Misling."

"Right. Here she comes." A shadow emerged through the fog. Tyene recognized her by the silhouette. It was her. She was still alive. Tyene let out a sigh of relief, "See, I told you." But when the silhouette became visible, she retracted it. Vienna was half beaten to death. Half of her body was burned to a crisp, and one of her arms turned to ash as she walked. The burns had even disfigured half of her face. Yet she walked with the same trained poise that always did, fiercely gripping something in her hand.

"I did what you said," she told the stranger who Tyene hadn't even realized had stepped in front of her.

"I killed it. This will save Tyene, right?" She presented him with the loot coin. It was different than other loot coins. The markings on it glowed a bright purple, and the coin seemed to pulsate like a beating heart. The strange then looked at her fondly, like one would a long-lost sibling.

"I've got some news for ya."

"Vienna?" Tyene called her name, standing next to her. She hadn't realized she was there, right next to her, perfectly fine. She was standing on the side that was burned. Vienna didn't see her and didn't even hear her voice. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Give it to her, please…" Vienna told the stranger. But before she could pass it off, she collapsed to the ground. Tyene was the one who caught her, resting her on her lap as any light in Vienna's dark eyes began to fade.

"Why?" She couldn't understand.

"When I hated you so much. When all I wanted to do was get rid of you, why would you try to get yourself killed for me?" Vienna turned her head, finally seeing her.

"Because you deserve a second chance," she said weakly.

"I was there. I watched everything you went through. I saw how sad you were. How lonely you were. I felt like I wanted to be there for you, because you were how I learned that I was alone too. I hated that I couldn't help you with that, but I can help you with this." With a shaky hand, she presented her with the Redeemer loot.

"No, I'm not taking that. Don't treat me like I'm something special. Save yourself, damn it. You're the one that's dying, idiot."

"Please…"

"No. I won't." Tyene reached for her wrist to push the loot away, but with one last jolt of strength, Vienna reached around and cupped the back of Tyene's neck. Then she felt that momentary discomfort of something squeezing into her skin.

"Why did you do that!?" she was yelling.

"I told you I didn't want it! What do you think you're saving me?"

"No… this decision is one that I'm making for me. It's selfish. But I want you to live. It's the only thing that I've ever wanted. So please."

"How come every time I try to make my own decision, someone has to rip it away from me?" There were tears in her eyes, but before the sentence was done, Vienna had stopped breathing. She held her there in her arms. And it felt like the entire world was beginning to break down around her, like reality was shifting. But she was focused on the woman's face.

"You were lonely too. I guess I knew that. But I chose not to care. I'm sorry. I wish I could go back and change things, but… I'm sorry." That was when the stranger walked up to them again. Somehow he had her ID in his hand. Then he flicked it off to the side, like it was garbage.

"Well, that's pretty lame," he said, "giving her the prize when she didn't even get the kill. Ah well…" he knelt next to her.

"Tyene, right?" He smiled at her, in a way that made her feel like a child. She nodded.

"They call me Monan Ryker… you wanna see something cool?"

"What are you—" She was interrupted by a mind-numbing pain in her eye. Monan had pulled a knife from his waist and shoved it right in her head. She woke up screaming in her bedroom. Her maid, Maimy, burst into the room.

"Tyene, dear, are you okay!?" Tyene paused, checking her body, feeling her surroundings. It was real. Her bed. Her face. Everything. She remembered believing for a while that Zero Day was all just a bad dream. Not quite a dream. Something in between dream and reality. Like a revelation of something she should've always known.

"Uhh.. yeah I'm fine. Maimy, can you… send Vienna in here, please?"

"Who… oh, isn't that the name of your guard lady? Did you see a burglar?"

"No… just tell her to come here." Obediently, the maid left, and a few moments later, Vienna appeared at her door. Her eyes were wide open, and by the look of her, her adrenaline was spiked. This had never happened before. And Tyene breaking down and crying to her had never happened before either. But when she saw her face, she was overcome with guilt.

"I'm so sorry. I should never have treated you like I did. It was never your fault. But you were always there for me, and I was too stupid to consider it. But this whole time you were even lonelier than I was. I promise… I promise that you'll never feel alone again." T'balt sat up straight in Tyene's kitchen as she finished off her third glass of wine.

"That's pretty much the long and short of how I became a Redeemer," she said. He had his most thoughtful face on. Vienna was standing in between them. He looked up at her.

"So you never actually fought the Prime Redeemer."

"Never even laid eyes on it. It was all Vienna. She's the reason I'm still living," Tyene answered.

"But as for what she actually saw in there, only the Vienna of that time would know." He sat quietly for a while.

"Don't look so disappointed."

"I'm not," he waved his hands in innocence.

"I was just curious."

"You really don't remember your time with the Redeemer." He shook his head.

"Not that I care to. Not like I have any desire to see it again. So let's forget it. There is something that I really do want to know though."

"Shoot."

"Do you really believe Corlander set up your mother to be killed?"

"You saw who that man was. He's willing to kill a whole city of people for a single piece of loot. What do you think?"

"I think you didn't go see him to try to protect Graceland."

"It was a good excuse. In all my lives, I never got to get him back. Even though I've tried. But I wasn't strong enough. Never was. So I lost myself, tried to use Vienna, and ended up getting her killed. I can't break my promise to her like that. I can't let her die alone. Sorry if that set you back a bit." T'balt considered.

"Well, maybe we might be strong enough together to take him down." She raised an eyebrow.

"I told Uriel that I was going to protect Graceland from Corlander. Since he's too preoccupied to care about his own people. That means, at some point or another, I need to deal with Corlander… the enemy of my enemy, right?"

"So you wanna work together to kill my stepfather?"

"I just need to stop him."

"How noble of you?"

"It isn't noble. Truthfully, my goal is to get all the Redeemers on the same page. If we work together, then maybe we can actually do some good with this power of ours. If not, then at the very least, we can protect each other. Then maybe we can all actually grow old instead of resetting all the time." he stood up from the table.

"So Tyene. Would you mind working with me, towards that goal?" He stuck his hand out to shake. It didn't take her long to think about it. Though she knew Vienna would be skeptical, she could always convince her to buy in eventually. She shook his hand.

"As long as we get to kill him, that doesn't sound too bad."