The Choice Of Fate || The Promised Neverland

Chapter 23: Your Promised Neverland

Sistine's POV:

Two months have passed. Norman should be in his destination by now. Actually, no. Perhaps he's already arrived far earlier than that.

Emma and Ray have been acting like hell. Not that I'm to talk, really. I could barely stand these days. I've been staying with Emma in the infirmary almost all the time.

Ray's decided to quit the escape; it just seems so unlike him. He's been working for almost all his life for this! Emma's been under loads of emotional pain; I can't even bring myself to talk to her.

Emma had been asked by Mama to quit and strive to become a Mama. As I expected from someone who knows a part of Norman's plan, Emma refused. It's difficult for her to think, especially because Norman's gone. But...

... I know she'll overcome that struggle.

Honestly, I can't even say that I feel the same pain as her. I know that he's alive, but I can't tell her that. I don't know what I can do, to be honest...

"Nothing."

"What?" I asked, taken aback by Norman's last instruction.

"I want you to do nothing," he tells me. He glances at the notebook. "This is... you've done quite enough, don't you think? Why are you still asking me for instructions?"

"Because...! Emma and Ray know nothing about this! About the notebook, about what you saw, heck, even about us meeting up with each other! They aren't going to find out about any of this; they're gonna assume that you're actually going to die!"

Norman keeps his feet at the ends of the cliff, uttering, "... Sistine, you told me that I can't do anything. That means you can't, either. Until Emma and Ray find it out for themselves, we can't do anything about it. besides...

"... You seem to be sick already. I don't want you having a hard time balancing out two opposing sides."

I fall silent for a while, letting the whistles of the breeze briefly take over. "... Well, I didn't plan on coming with them, so it's the least I could do to-!"

"Wait, you aren't coming!?" The boy reacts, his platinum blonde hair whirling with his head as it turns to look at me. "Why!?"

"Um... well..." My eyes focus on the fiddling of my fingers. His shock is evident, even from my peripheral vision. "I, uh... I kind of already planned on dying here. I knew I was going to die here years ago, so I had tons of time to accept it. It doesn't really scare me that much anymore."

"... You're not afraid of them?"

"The entities?" I ask, turning to him. "No. I actually grew to love them. Ray doesn't know this, but I've been friends with a few of them for quite some time now..."

"And that's how you know the truth about this place," he realizes, staring at the notebook as if the pieces are starting to fit together there.

I shrug. "More or less."

"... Well, if you're desperate, then... I want you to keep an eye on the escape. Make sure that it succeeds at all costs. You don't have to do anything else. Just take care of yourself and keep watch."

"... Fine. I'll do it. Just don't get mad at me if we meet again and you see me with a black eye."

Norman laughs in amusement. "Deal."

"... You actually haven't given up, have you, Emma?"

I freeze upon hearing those words, turning to the door. I walk over to take a closer look. Ray and Emma are... talking. After two months, those two are finally talking to each other! Wait...

... what does he mean...?

"That's right," Emma says, smiling after such a long time. "I haven't given up. And you haven't either, have you?"

"That's right," Ray says, surprised. "In the end, we were thinking the same thing."

"Pretend to have given up, while proceeding with the escape," the two say in unison.

"... Let's run away, Ray," Emma says, determination running in her system once again. "That's what I came here to talk to you about."

Ray replies, as if those two months were just nothing, or something that just disappeared in thin air, "Good timing. I also have something I want to talk about."

... They're proceeding with the plan.

Norman, is my job done? Am I good to go or-!

... No.

Ray's planning on burning himself, along with the rest of this plantation. Norman's plan was to avoid that, and Emma knows it. That means his replacement...!

I have to check the others!

Without a sound, I rush upstairs and enter Don and Gilda's room. "Are you guys okay?" I ask them, going to them. "Do you need help with anything?"

"We're all set!" Don responds with a big thumbs-up. "We just need the signal and, well... The last piece of Ray's replacement."

"What is it?" I ask.

"You see..." Gilda turns to Anna, who is readily sitting down on a chair. "... Anna volunteered to supply the hair stench, but we, uh..."

"... have no scissors?"

"Or at least scissors that are sharp enough..."

I look at Anna and give her a warm smile, bringing out the sharp scissors from my pocket. I stand behind Anna and hold the scissors to her hair. "Hold still, okay?" I request. "How short are we gonna cut it?"

"Just cut the braids, please," Anna replies in an unusually calm manner. Although I'm internally hesitant, I cut the braids off, letting them fall to the floor. Lani and Thoma collect it, rushing out of the room immediately with a bunch of other stuff.

Looks like they're sending it to Emma now.

"Thank you," I hear Anna say, making me turn to her. She gives me a warm, loving smile, which I shyly return.

As I am about to leave the room, I hand the scissors to Don, saying, "Take care of that. Bring it with you guys. You might need it."

Before I could exit the door, Don grabs my shoulder. "You're... You're not..." He could barely finish his statement, and all I could do was turn to give him a reassuring smile...

... and leave the rest to them.

I only have a few minutes, I have to say goodbye.

I go to the babies' room, hearing the echoes Emma's scream through there.

They've started, Norman.

The sound may have disturbed Carol, making me pick her up. The baby wails, making me sling her over my shoulder to calm her down. "Shhh, it's okay," I softly whisper to the crying infant. "It's okay. You're going to be safe... I'm here. Sistine is here."

I wait for a while until she starts giggling again before I put her back down on her crib. Carol takes my left hand and plays around with it. With only one hand, I take a sheet of paper from my pocket and start writing down my thoughts for one last time.

... By the time I'm done, I carefully pin it to Carol's clothes. The baby protects the piece of paper in her arms, hugging the sheet as well as herself. The innocent sight makes my lips twitch to a smile.

"I'm gonna miss you."

Norman... They're going to come see you. I can promise you that. I made the choice to spare you. To help them. To give all of you a chance to live. I made that choice to help you change this world.

Run... and run... and survive... until the very end. Until you reach the future you've been wishing for. Until you change this world into the world you have been dreaming of!

I made that choice, the Choice of Fate, to help you reach your Promised Neverland.

... Please don't ever let that choice go to waste.

I feel a hard pull on my shoulders, and everything goes dark.