Once we have reached the max altitude it can fly I let one of my puppets take control of the aircraft because I want to speak to Marie and Miriam. I can see Miriam looking out of the window, in awe. She kind of reminds me right now like a toddlers first time flying. I don't want to disturb her so I will just walk over to Marie. She is admiring the machinery around her, the views and everything in between. She is looking at this more from a scientific point of view.

Mason: Hi Marie.

Marie: Hello there Mason. I must say this thing is impressive. Can you tell me more about it?

She is really interested in this. I thought she would be more terrified I guess, but she doesn't seem like that type of person. More like a curious scientist.

Mason: Well, this thing is called a Focke-Wulf 200. It is a long range bomber. 

Marie: Aha, what is a bomber?

Mason: Well, you would have never heard of it but it is a vehicle that flies and carries a lot of explosive devices that it drops from altitude.

Marie: Interesting. I can see that it is made out of metal. How does it fly without flapping it's wing?  You said something about air.

Mason: Well I can't explain it in full detail but I'll explain it in short. It does have wings, and yes. They don't move but you see those 4 bulges, with blades spinning on, two on each side.

I point at the 4 engines. 

Marie: Yes.

Mason: Well those are things called engines. And you can think of them as the hearts of this machine. Without them, it can't fly. They provide the power to move this plane, and once it has achieved a certain amount of speed it is capable of taking off by the force of the wind going under it's wings and providing life. 

Marie: So if those things get taken out, this beast can not fly. Does it fall like a dead dragon when killed?

Mason: Not really, if there is sufficient speed it will glide, and you can land it successfully.

Marie: And what are these?

She points to the defensive machineguns. I don't really know how to explain it in a way that she won't ask any more questions.

Mason: Alright. Look at this beast like you would look at a fort. A fort needs to be protected and that is what those things are used for. Anyways I am going to go and check on Miriam.

I travers the plane to the cockpit where she made her way to. She is trying not to bother the puppets and looking out the window. 

Mason: You enjoying the view?

Miriam: I must be dreaming. This beast is awesome. The world is really beautiful. And from up here we can see everything. 

Mason: It is beautiful isn't it. I am really glad you agreed to come with me. I know it must have been a hard decision.

Miriam: Honestly. I mainly chose to come with you because I was getting bored with the live there. There wasn't much to do and it often got really boring. I am honestly glad that I came with you, even though it will take time to get used to the new you.

Mason: Trust me, it will take me to get used to the new me. But I hope I won't change on the inside. 

She replies to that with a hug. 

Miriam: I hope too. I can tell you are a nice person. Better at least than my last partner.

If only she knew what monster I was back then. Now that I think of it I haven't said anything to Marie about Sofie. I honestly don't know how to break it to her. They seemed like really good friends, and if anyone were to say that to me, I would break, or at least mourn for quite some time. I look back to where Marie is and I can see that she is in the tail end of the plane. I just can't bring myself to say it, but I know that I must. It is better for her to know.

Mason: Hey Miriam. I have to break something to Marie. But please watch her reaction. You might be better at giving emotional support than me.

Miriam: What do you mean by that?

I break away from the hug and head back towards Marie. Miriam is left there confused and even worried. I make my way towards Marie, thinking of all the ways I can break it to her. I grab her by the shoulder to have her attention. She is startled a little but calms down once she realizes that is me. She get's a worried look when looking at my face. I guess I can still show some emotion with it.

Marie: What is it Mason?

Mason: I have something to tell you. I want you to sit down.

We slowly make our way to the radio room where there is a seat on which she sits down. She has a worried look on her face. She never saw me so serious.

Marie: What is wrong Mason? Why are you so serious all of the sudden?

I take a deep breath, collecting my thoughts. It pains me to have to tell her the news but I have to.

Mason: You know Sofie?

Marie: Yeah. What happened to her? Did something happen to her?

Mason: I am sorry to say this. But she is dead.

Marie: What?! Tell me you are joking.

Mason: I wish I wasn't. Zarn killed her because of me. He wanted to take revenge on me. But I never expected him to go that far.

Marie starts to break down. She start to cry, I give her a hug but she pushes me away. I get up, my souls aches, it pains me to see her like this and even more that I am the reason she is dead. I turn to Miriam and pass by her and look at her. She nods, clearly worried and hugs Marie and starts to comfort her. I tell the puppet to get out of the pilots seat and sit down. I am angry and I need something to calm myself down. I can hear her cries and can't help but feel pure rage. I am going to get rid of as much filth as I possibly can. If she forgives me that is good, but I don't expect her to. I was not the one that killed Sofie, but if it wasn't for me, she would still be fine. 

Some times has passed when I feel a tap on my shoulder. It is Miriam.

Miriam: She fell asleep. Poor thing, she was defeated. I didn't expect that to be her sister.

What? Sister. Shit, shit, shit. I would have guessed that they were friends. But never sisters. Shit, that changes things. I can't really think how she feels now, loosing a family member and a close one at that. They looked like they really loved each other, they seem really happy when they saw each other. I start to squeeze the stick hard. If only I knew, I would have been more careful.

Miriam: Hey,  hey. I know you are mad. But she told me that she isn't mad at you, she just didn't know how to react. 

Mason: I am mad at myself. I should have reacted sooner and killed him before.

Miriam: You didn't know that he was a sick individual. And killing him wouldn't have made you any different than him.

Mason: But I did kill him, I burned him to the bones. I was a monster. I enjoyed his screaming, his agony, his pleadings for mercy and for me to spare him. 

Miriam: What?

Mason: I am a monster. This power, it isn't of a god but a demon. A dark deity. I heard a voice that was tempting me to punish him, to kill him and I did it. Do I regret it? Not single bit.

Miriam is silent for some time. She must have a different image of me now, a more real and twisted image. Truth hurts, but it must be brought to light. I will not be surprised that she fear me now, I sound like a psychopath, with little to no feelings. 

Miriam: Promise me one thing Mason.

Mason: What?

Miriam: That you won't kill anymore.

Mason: I can't promise you that, I really can't. I am not going to go on a killing spree and kill innocent. I want to help out this world and get rid of the filth. I know this isn't what you want to hear but I honestly feel like I need to do this.

Miriam: Then promise me that it you won't touch the innocents and that you won't change into a emotionless monster. 

Mason: I can promise you that. 

She seems happy with that answer. She lets out a yawn.

Mason: Go and get some sleep. I can see that you are tired.

She nods and goes to rest next to Marie and I am left flying this plane. Alone with my puppets. It would be awesome to be able to talk to them but I guess they aren't just meant for that. I can see in the distance the sun rising. It is truly a sight to see, on the left there are some large and high mountains. There is only the sound of the engines rumbling and the sounds of wind crashing against the frame of the plane. 

I spot a large city down bellow us. Quite a large one on what seems like cliffs. I would really like to visit it one day but I must postpone it for now. I spot something flying up to meet us. Once it gets close enough so that I can identify it I see that it is a smaller dragon being driven by a person. It climbs high enough that it is flying parallel to us. I am surprised that it is able to do that. I mean, this thing isn't that fast but still, surprised that it can keep up. I keep looking at it, seeing that it will do. 

Suddenly the person on top of the dragon fire a arc bolt at us but thankfully it misses. I am forced to take evasive maneuvers which does cause my passengers to scream out, but I don't have much of a choice. It fires another arc bolt this time hitting the engine number 3 causing a shake and it catching on fire. I order my crew to start shooting at it and soon all those who can start shooting.  The women keep on screaming, they are probably terrified. 

I see that a couple of shots do make target but not doing too much. But the dragon seems to be reacting to this, it is clearly startled and soo the rider calls off the attack and break off flying back to the city. Now I am stuck with a burning engine so I cut off all power to it in hopes that the fire calms down.

Marie: W-what happened?!

Mason: We were attacked by some dragon riding lunatic.

Marie: Did you say a dragon rider? Shit we are going above the Larion Empire. They are known for their dragon riders.

Mason: Well one of those assholes attacked us and took out one of our engines.

Marie: Is that a bad thing?

Mason: It is bad but we still have three left and all I can hope is that they keep us flying. Hey, you know some things. Do you know maybe a country that we can go to without being attacked?

Marie: Let me think.

She stays silent for a minute or two. I see Miriam holding on for dear life Marie. I must admit it, she looks cute. I can't help but chuckle a little bit.

Miriam: How can you laugh in this situation?! We nearly died.

Marie: Oh I know. Ehothage Empire. It is filled with all sorts of creatures and you would fit in perfectly. And if anyone were to ask we could say we are your slaves or something.

Mason: What do you mean I would fit in?

Marie: Well, that is an Empire made by all sorts of monsters, demons and everything in between.

Mason: So I really would fit in. Where is it?

She point to our left. I see in the distance a city with a ominous looking tower.

Mason: Is that it, the one with an ominous looking tower?  

Marie: Yes. They have been at thorn in the eye to the Larion Empire but have not shown any threatening or ill intentions. 

I turn the plate to head in that direction and slowly starts to loose altitude. The damn engine is still on fire so I guess that we must land as soon as possible. I point the plane down at a steeper angle which frightens Marie and Miriam but I need to loose altitude. After we have lost enough altitude I start to ease her up and try to find a suitable place to land. I spot a large patch of land and I head for it. Once low enough I cut the engine power off and start to lower the gears and start to lower her slowly. Once we do make touchdown, a little too hard, I apply the breaks and slowly slow her down until we are completely stood still. We pick up our stuff and exit the place. I disperse it so that there is no evidence of us left. We immediately head to the city we saw, it didn't seem to be too far away and I hope nobody saw us going down.