Day: 26

Days Left: 5454

Lives Saved: 0

Corinna stood over the body of the woman. The shovel slipped through her fingers and dropped to the ground near the blood-stained grass.

The Eternal Abyss was silent and still, as if everything had stopped whilst Corinna stared down at the body, her eyes incapable of breaking free.

Her mask of indifference finally shattering, Corinna collapsed onto her knees, her hands clutching at the dead and brittle grass. She did not know how long she remained like this, unmoving, staring at the middle-aged woman's body. Inside her mind, her thoughts were non-existent, or at least they were soundless, unable to turn anything into words. All that she saw was the body, sprawled across the bloodied grass, a red mark on the back on the woman's head.

Eventually, Corinna's mind returned but locked away her emotions inside an inescapable prison, allowing only logic to dominate.

You should get the food now, Corinna instructed herself. That was the whole reason why you did this, wasn't it?

She nodded, her eyes settling on the messenger bag around the spectacled woman's shoulder. Due to the way she had carried it, her body had fallen on top of the bag. Corinna would have to lift her up to retrieve the food.

The glasses woman wasn't really dead, Corinna knew that. No one could die in the Eternal Abyss, yet she couldn't bring herself to touch the body as if it were a corpse. Her brain in full emotion lock-down quickly arrested this thought. Corinna gently lifted up the small and slight body then twisted the messenger bag around so that she had access to it. Inside were the food packets, which Corinna picked out individually.

Afterwards, with all of the packets lying out on the grass beside her, Corinna then told herself, you should also get your spear back, to protect yourself.

The spear was lodged into the spectacled woman's thigh. Standing up, Corinna held two hands on the spear and heaved the blade out, toppling back and collapsing onto the ground. There, she stayed, sitting down on the grass, the spear in her hand.

She could wake up at any moment. You have to be prepared.

But she never did. The body lay there, still and unmoving just like Corinna.

The young woman waited beside the body until the sky grew dark.

Harmony should be here soon.

No.

She should be here now.

Corinna looked to where the rock spire was.

Perhaps she has escaped.

Perhaps she has left you.

Perhaps she's gone.

*

The green wisp swirled around in its lantern, gravitating towards the chimaera that held it up, lighting the way in an emerald glow.

"You think Corinna will be happy with this?" Harmony asked herself, though she directed it at the wisp. She turned the helmet around in her other hand. The chimaera had spent so long trying to find a new helmet for Corinna that it had already grown dark with no time left to visit the rock spire. Harmony had managed to find several helmets that could have fitted the young woman then narrowed it down to the final one. As appearances seemed important to the young woman, and she showed her dislike of the visor numerous times, Harmony settled on a red bicycle helmet with flames along the side. Whilst it did not provide as much protection as the motorcycle helmet, it offered a wider field of vision. Also, perhaps the flames will make her walk faster with those short legs of hers.

Harmony headed back to the house. When she eventually reached the slope and trudged up it, she found Corinna sitting beside an unconscious body at the top.

"Corinna?" The chimaera offered her hand and helped the young woman to stand up. She looked down at the body then back to Corinna. "Are you hurt?"

Corinna shook her head.

"That's great!" Harmony pulled the young woman into a tight embrace. "You know, I was worried you wouldn't be able to handle yourself against the other prisoners alone. But it seems I don't have to worry-" Harmony stopped. The young woman felt like a lifeless doll in her arms. She placed a hand on Corinna's shoulder and peered down into her brown eyes that were locked onto the body lying on the grass.

"What will happen to her?" Corinna asked.

The chimaera examined the spectacled woman's body. The blood on the back of her head had dried. Even with Harmony's limited medical knowledge, she knew that a blow to the skull of this force would have killed her or at the very least caused considerable brain damage. "How long ago did you-"

"Almost two hours ago," replied Corinna.

If this wasn't in the Eternal Abyss, the woman would have been dead.

"What will happen to her?" Corinna asked once again.

"She will heal, everyone does here. A couple weeks or so and she'll wake up."

"What about her memories?"

Harmony hesitated, hearing a faint croak in the young woman's voice. "They're likely... all gone." The chimaera smoothed down the hair on Corinna's head. "But you did the right thing, Corinna. If you hadn't hit her, then she would have done the same to you. You were only defending yourself. There's nothing wrong with that."

Corinna was silent for a moment, then said, "she was trying to steal our food."

"And you stopped her."

Harmony told the young woman that she would deal with the body and moved it far from the house.

*

After collecting up all of the food packets, Corinna took them back inside the house. Closing the door behind her, she slid down to the floor, resting against the front door.

Why didn't you just tell the woman that the monster wasn't keeping you prisoner?

What difference would that have made?

She would have left with the food regardless.

We need that food.

But did we need all of it?

I could have spared her a few packets.

I could have told her to go to Ivette's and trade for some.

But what if she attacked Ivette instead?

She would have taken the food in any situation.

You did what you had to survive.

"You made the right choice," said Queen Corinna from her throne. "You had to stop her."

"But did I have to take away her memories?" asked Corinna Warren.

"That woman has been convicted of several murders, Miss Warren. We doubt any memories of hers will be of any value." The queen leaned forward on her throne. "Your memories, however, We imagine you value considerably."

It was then that Corinna realised...

"If I forget my family, about our deal, I will forget that if I were to escape my family will be executed."

*

Corinna awoke, finding that she had fallen asleep whilst sat in front of the door. She stood up and refilled the cupboards with the food packets aside from two which she would cook for dinner.

Harmony returned, opening and closing the door behind her. "She won't remember this place. She won't come back."

Corinna did not respond.

The chimaera placed her satchel down on one of the armchairs, and set the lantern on the kitchen unit, freeing the wisp inside. She then retrieved the helmet and presented it to Corinna. "I found you a new helmet." Harmony handed it to her. "It's got flames on it."

The young woman held it in her hands. In her current state, all the appreciation she could muster was a muffled, "thank you." She stared down at the helmet, the floor seeming to swirl and spin around it. Once her mind settled down, she looked back up at the chimaera. "Please, teach me how to fight!"