Faded

No more... please...

                It was unusually quiet in the rehabilitation center (2.0). Sure, there were only four left, but no one was being their usual selves. Samekichi sat upon Wadanohara’s bed; putting beads through what appeared to be a string for a necklace of some sort (a majority of it was hid under the covers as if he didn’t want anyone seeing it). Emalf had been outside lately, especially after Ver’s affair. He had been paying his respects by her grave ever since sunrise. Kcalb… the nurse hadn’t seen Kcalb since the night before, which in terms of time, was not too long ago, yet… to actually converse with him; ask him how he was doing… the last time they ever shared that sort of social intimacy was at the old rehab center. She wondered what had happened to that building ever since they left…

‘Relics’ of each patient who had already passed were gathering at Wadanohara’s dresser: Satanick’s horns, Memoca’s feather scarf, Adauchi’s spear, Idate’s lollipops, Cherryblod’s bloodied bat, and Ver’s claw weapons. Satanick’s horns were especially the eye catcher; seeing that they were shimmering in their LED light. For some odd reason, the roses that always seemed to be in bloom were… withering. They were losing their scarlet glow. Their color was slowly dying off, which immediately caught Wadanohara’s intention as she began watering their precious petals from that point forward. Whatever she tried, however, always ended in failure. If anything, they were growing worse… it was as if the liveliness of that devil was finally starting to fade away. Every effect he ever had on anyone was finally starting to lose its strength… it didn’t help that only three patients were still left alive out of the numerous (so it felt) like before.

Was this all Sal’s fault? He began that war that felt like millennia ago. Not a single trace was left of him, and no one has spoken word of him since, not even Samekichi. Sure, he explained a big fraction of his childhood concerning his heart murmur, but that didn’t count. No one knew of the albino’s whereabouts. Was he even still alive? Sal wasn’t affected by the charm, so he must have already been gone a long time ago… One could say her father was one to blame as well. Meikai provided them with this new rehabilitation center with no further explanation as to why. He made her a witch through Chlomaki, who the nurse wasn’t sure was still alive. Was this ‘charm’ even working its magic (no pun intended)? It said that (her and) her friends would live as long as Wadanohara did, and yet, everyone was fading before her eyes. She didn’t ask for this, not one bit. This was not part of the deal.

Even when Meikai spoke to her (so she thought) that one night, he seemed… different. The more she dwelled on it, the more Satanick’s roses seemed to droop. The more the witch convinced herself it was Meikai speaking to her, the more the roses seemed to appear dead. Luckily, that question wasn’t always wavering on her mind, whether that dream was her father speaking to her or not; she had bigger concerns such as her patients. There were three left; she could at least keep three alive.

Emalf came back inside drenched from head to toe. It was raining, and the demon was sniffling uncontrollably, as if he had caught cold in the storm. Wadanohara immediately came to his aide; assisting him to his room and making sure to bring him a warm cup of tea and blankets. Unlike before, he had a picture of Adauchi and Ver hugging each other in a frame by his bedside, circled around with balled up tissues and bottles of medicine pills… strange, the nurse never remembered giving these to him. Might as well bring it up; taking pills without a doctor’s permission was extremely dangerous; it was putting your life on the line, if anything else.

“Emalf, where did you get these pills? I never gave these to you.”

It was as if even his breathing ceased. The demon was silent; his shades covering his widened eyes of bewilderment. Was he seriously assuming that the nurse wouldn’t ask? His features went pale, and the demon brought his hand over to the side table to snatch the pill bottle away. Wadanohara kept her eyes fixed on him, and it was clearly obvious that he was beginning to sweat. He soon surrendered when the nurse held out her hand to take it from him; unfolding it from his scaly fingers into her small palm. Reading the label, the words were like no other language she had ever seen. Could Emalf understand this?

“Emalf? Do you know what this says? I’ve never seen this language before… it’s certainly… odd.”

The nurse queried, getting almost an immediate response from the demon who sat up straight and adjusted his shades before he began to speak.

“No, but the dude who gave it to me told me not to worry ‘bout it. He was… really weird; almost transparent, like I was seein’ a vision of ‘n angel or somethin’, but he didn’t have wings! He wore almost… all blue… and he had a weird lookin’ necklace on like immunity from that ‘Survivor’ show. It had pearls and… a big, big crescent mood charm that nearly blinded me it was so bright! It mighta been the sun but eff, man… he told me that if I took it, I’d be cured. … I’ve been taking it ever since.”

This entire story sounded like a fairy tale of an apparition. This was too farfetched to be real. A man wearing all blue and an unusually odd necklace? She didn’t even bother asking about this ‘Survivor’ show. How did he know about it? Maybe Adauchi told him about it… hmm. That wasn’t her concern right now; she needed to know more about this… strange man.

“How many did he tell you to take? Do you know any more about his appearance?”

The nurse continued, as if performing a full-on investigation.

“Uh… not much. He told me to take like… I think it was three? Kinda felt like a lot, but I don’t usually take medicine, so… can’t say anything, can I? Heheh… I think he had brown hair though? His eyes were more see through than anything else, but I think they were… b…blue?”

Brown hair, blue eyes, blue clothes, and a deranged necklace. All of those things fit under…

“Dad. You saw… my father. How…? He’s… he’s dead… Ivlis… killed him.”

Emalf turned away when Wadanohara began talking to herself out loud; taking another few sips of the tea he was offered not too long ago by the nurse.

“Maybe it wasn’t your dad, then. If he’s dead, he can’t show up like that.”

With a sigh, the nurse gave a slow nod, before walking for the door; the medicine bottle still in her hand. Emalf watched her with a sorrowful expression, before Wadanohara froze. She didn’t need to glance back for proof… something was burning. The stench of a fire burned her throat, and when she turned around; flames were eating up his torso like paper under a match.

“Wada… I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry I didn’t… tell you sooner. We could have… prevented this.”

With the decreasing mass of his body, his shades fell off of his face; exposing the amber eyes they hid underneath swelling with tears; some even daring to trace down his pale white cheek. He appeared to be in so much… pain. How was this happening?! As soon as she saw the burning take place crawling up his hips, she darted to him in the blink of an eye.

“Emalf!? Emalf!! What’s happening?! What are you doing?!”

Her voice only made the flames progress quicker; the louder and more distressed her voice was, the faster he faded away. It was as if the trigger to this process… was her. Wadanohara was the one who caused his death by asking him these questions. Is that why he always avoided her? No… none of them knew about the demon’s fate until just now. The demon held up a finger to her; poking her cheek accidentally with his nail.

“I’m… going to see Ada… I’m going to see… Ada…”

Wadanohara held his hand to her cheek with her trembling fingers; letting her tears evaporate on his scales.

“You are… you’re going to see Adauchi… you’re going to see him very soon…”

A smile barely managed to grow upon his lips until every part of his body was blown away by flames; its ashes blowing against the wall. As if emotionally exhausted, the nurse collapsed onto her knees and began to sob…

Identical to how Emalf would sob at Adauchi’s empty bedside.