Epilogue #2: Part 2 (False)
Same TWs as the other part of this epilogue, way less though.
Note: any mention of "love" means the platonic type. I see the hermits as one big family, and so they do "love" each other, but I don't ship any of them, and this isn't the romantic kind of love.
-------
False sped off away from her city. She didn't know where she was going. She ended up over the shopping district.
False swooped above Grian's barge. She didn't notice one of the spires until it was too late. She crashed into it, fast and hard. At the last minute, she twisted so that it rammed into her leg instead of her head. She winced at the sharp pain that ran through it. False tumbled down the roof, the hard glass bruising her as she fell. She landed in the water below and dragged herself to the shore.
Her leg was broken, she could tell that much. Nothing else seemed to be hurt too badly, although she was bruised and covered incutes. False sat on the bank with her legs in the water.
Soon, Cleo and Stress arrived. Stress looked worried and surprised, and Cleo looked slightly mad.
Stress sat next to False and wordlessly began cleaning up her cuts before moving on to set her broken leg. Meanwhile, Cleo began talking.
"False, what were you thinking, flying off like that? I don't want you to get hurt! Only I get to hurt my friends, not anyone else, and especially not themselves! False..." Cleo's voice softened. "False, you're one of my best friends, and I know you deserve us, even if you don't think so."
False broke down into tears. "I'm a monster, Cleo. I- I can't-"
Cleo put her arm around False. "No, you were just doing what anyone would have done. You were mad, you just happen to be skilled enough to hurt people. I'm sure that others would have done the same in your position."
"No one would have tortured Grian," False said. "He's a chaotic, war-starting gremlin, but he's also sweet, caring, and kind, and-"
"And so are you, False," Cleo finished for her.
"I want to be..." False whispered.
"You can be, False," Cleo had heard False's whisper and was trying her best to comfort False.
"I- I want to apologize. But I'm scared everyone will hate me, Cleo," False admitted.
"No one will hate you," Cleo reassured her. "You know what? Let's go find Cub and Scar. You can try apologizing to them, although I'm sure they won't hate you. I don't think they even blame you."
"Well... I can't really..." False trailed off, looking at her broken leg and bruised arms.
Cleo narrowed her eyes. "Looks like I have a job to do. I'll be back with Cub and Scar." Cleo flew off.
Stress finished setting False's broken leg and looked up. "False, luv... No one 'ates ya."
"I'd hate me," False said.
"Well, no one does. Like Cleo said, you were just doing what anyone woulda done," Stress tidied up her medicine kit as she talked.
False didn't reply. Stress sat with False until Cleo came back, the ConVex trailing behind.
"Hey False," Scar said, glancing nervously at Cleo.
False raised an eyebrow and cracked a smile for the first time since the Games had ended. "Cleo?"
"Oh, don't worry about it, their kneecap privileges won't be revoked.. yet," Cleo looked meaningfully at the boys.
Cub gulped and turned to False.
"I'm sorry," False said. "Sorry for killing you," she added.
"What? Oh, we didn't even think about that... We were literally trying to kill you, it was practically self-defense," Cub said.
"You- you don't blame me?" False asked.
"No, no one does. I know Impulse and Tango don't, they were blowing people up, which is a much worse death. Hypno didn't care, he didn't want to be in the Games in the first place and he didn't blame you for killing him. Um... who else..." Scar went through his mental list of who False had killed.
"The Architechs, Wels, and Bdubs," finished False reluctantly.
"Well, I don't know about them. But don't feel bad about us or Hypno or the other two," Scar said. "Um.. Cleo, are we allowed to go?"
Cleo rolled her eyes. "Yes, fine. You may go." Cub and Scar were out of sight before you could say "Jellie."
False smiled. "What did you tell them?" she asked Cleo.
"I only threatened their kneecap privileges, nothing bad." Cleo said.
False laughed, but quickly grew serious again. "I guess I feel a bit better knowing they don't blame me..."
"See, False? They don't hate you," Cleo said.
"I still feel like I don't deserve you, or them, because of what I did- yesterday? Was that really yesterday? It feels like it was years ago," False tried to stand up, but could only stand shakily on one leg, and couldn't move around, so she just sat back down.
Cleo had nothing to say. Instead, she flew off and came back ten minutes later with Joe in tow.
"Howdy, False," Joe smiled.
"Joe," False said nervously. "Really, Cleo?"
"I'm not a therapist and Joe would've killed me if I did anything else without him here," Cleo said.
Joe walked over to False. "Cleo tells me you need therapy. I'm sure I know why she thinks that. Tell me your thoughts on the situation."
"I feel like a monster and I don't deserve friends because I tortured Grian, stabbed his friends when they were trying to protect him, and killed Wels after he tried to stop me," False summarized.
Joe nodded. "Tell me, why did you do what you did?"
"I-I was mad. I acted out of instinct. I stopped thinking of them as my friends and saw them as... something else," False said.
"Well, I think you'd feel better if one of them told you how they felt. Cleo, go get Bdubs, Wels, Iskall, Mumbo, or Xisuma."
Cleo flew off. Joe sat with False, talking, while Stress watched quietly.
Cleo came back with all five hermits in tow.
"Cleo, you're magical," Joe said.
"Thanks, Joe. I have ways of getting people to do what I want," Cleo replied with a smirk.
Bdubs stepped up first. "False, I know you blame yourself, but in the end it was my choice to side with you. You may have threatened me, but I chose to hurt Grian. I chose to go along with you. You didn't force me to."
"I still-" False tried to say.
"False, please don't blame yourself, and know that we all love you," Bdubs finished, before glancing at Cleo. Cleo gave him a small nod, and he was out of there. False watched in surprise.
Iskall and Mumbo were next.
"I-" False broke down in tears again, stopping when she felt Iskall hug her.
"False, you're our friend, and we don't hate you," they said simply.
False looked at them, glanced at Mumbo, and back again. "I killed you and tortured your best friend. Why and how do you not hate me?"
"Because we were all scared, angry, and trapped against our wills in the arena. You may have killed us, but I would have done the same in your position," Iskall said.
"I-" False had no reply. Iskall glanced at Mumbo, who chuckled nervously before saying, "Um... I'm not a great speaker or anything, but I don't hate you because you're our friend and I know that whatever happened in there was influenced by emotions and you were just in a bad spot. But you're still our friend."
"Wow, who knew you had that in you?" Iskall teased him. Mumbo playfully swatted at them. Iskall jumped up and away, and the two descended into an argument about cereal as they wandered off.
Cleo shook her head. Wels sat down next to False. "False, I know I went against you, but I just wanted to say that if someone betrayed me, I'd kill them too, especially in that situation,"
False nodded. "Mostly it's torturing Grian that's making me feel like this, I think, because I know that anything I did to any of you is nowhere near as bad. I guess I am feeling better knowing you don't hate me," she admitted.
Wels smiled. He looked at Cleo, who nodded, and he headed off.
Xisuma was the last to step up. "Hey False," he said.
False looked up at him. He sat down next to her and began speaking.
"I'm not great at motivational speeches or emotional speeches or things like that, but everyone on the server is your friend, and every one of them forgives you, if they were ever mad at you at all. You deserve this, and please know that we love you."
False said nothing. Xisuma stood up and flew off, leaving just False, Cleo, Joe, and Stress sitting outside the barge.
False looked up at them. "Thank you. I guess I'm not a monster, although I don't know if Grian will ever forgive me."
All three of them smiled. Cleo sat and wrapped False in a hug. "Finally, you get it!"
False smiled and hugged Cleo back. Joe and Stress both told False that she was welcome at their bases any time before flying off and leaving the two girls alone.
"I can't exactly move from here now," False said.
Cleo grinned.
"Wait, whatever you're thinking, no," False said. Cleo didn't listen. She picked False up and flew her back to the zoo. False let Cleo look after her. She stayed with Cleo for a few days, and was happy.
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top