My first instinct was to lunge myself at him., but he quickly reappeared at the other end of the car, where my chains would not allow me to reach. "Sad," he chuckled, "after all this spiritual learning and self discovery, your first reaction is violence."
"I'm thirsty!" I screamed, and I HATE YOU!"
"It's not good to self loathe, Neither." He was hanging for a bar playfully now. It was strange to see him out of the water; he even wore pants- bright blue fabric that was designed wide around the ankles.
"We are not the same."
"Nor are we different. Everything is connected, don't you feel it?" I did feel it. Those three words seemed to sum up all my thoughts since the drug kicked in.
"Imagine a train..." he snickered at his own joke, "the train is a billion cars long, and it carries every person on the planet. This is who we are. Every living thing, even me."
Could this really be Naceo? He was so calm, so sincere. I allowed myself to give in to his kindness. "Why are you here?"
"I missed you," he admitted. "I went back up to see my parents after we fought. I hadn't seen them in over a thousand years. I told them I was done tormenting your planet. They didn't believe me. I didn't believe me! I don't enjoy this game, Neither, But your planet needs to be taught a lesson."
I was listening quietly. The suffering and the madness overpowered my ability to respond, but I was comprehensive enough to contemplate.
"Despite my evils, my family welcomed me. It reminded me my soul isn't far from human. I began to regret certain choices I made..." He smiled at me and laughed, "No, not the zombies. That was most definitely called for. But perhaps I should have helped you more. You were my only friend."
My sympathy was lingering by a thin hair.
"If you really want to help me," I wheezed, "let me drink." I rolled off the seat and onto my knees. "The... dry... is... killing... me..."
"Yes," he looked me up and down, "you look quite unwell."
The lock on the door clicked undone and Naceo disappeared with a wink and a grin.
I screeched in agony, even though it was Eva who came to me.
"Jace!" she started towards me quickly, slowing as she realized the potential hazard.
"Leave me Eva," I was frightened by the dark growl in my own voice. She shook her head, and I released a lion-like snarl as I tightened my chains.
The shadows on her face circulated in all different directions. Her expression- still and calm like untouched waters- was focused on me.
We stared into each other's eyes for a lasting moment.
My brain was churning again. Eva was persistent, a persistent captive of my curse. I didn't want her to go. I wished I could stay and talk to her... make her feel better... feel loved. But I was so full of anger and the energy to destroy, I could only think to push her away.
Now you know exactly how I felt... Naceo's voice came from the inside of my ear.
Could it be? Eva was my Neither?
A mystical force had tied me to the sea one fateful day, the same way love had tied Eva to me. Naceo was a beast who had forgotten how to love, and he was turning me into one too. I understood why he'd tried to force me away. He wasn't capable of showing me kindness.
Her stare was still locked onto mine. She must have known what I was thinking; her face read a message of rock solid tenacity. How could I love and respect yet loathe and disgust her at the same time? No wonder Naceo had so badly wanted me to turn to one of his complacent dolls. The idea of something so much weaker than yourself asking you for strength was overwhelmingly parasitic to the ego.
My memories were wiped for the next few hours.
Next thing I saw was Ty approaching me with another paper. I was as close to the door as I could be, the weight of my body against the tension of my chains keeping me leaning upright towards the eit. "What happened?" I panicked under my breath, "I forgot everything after Ev-"
"She's alright," Ty smiled, offering he dose upon his palm. He was not going to force me this time.
I was still worried about my blackout, "What did I do?"
"Nothing. You did't make a sound or a move. You were calm, but unresponsive. So eventually she left."
I stared at him strangely, then stuck out my tongue to his hand to pick up the paper.
This time I had company. Ty, Augustus, a team D recruiter who's name I could not remember, and a middle aged couple whom I'd never seen before today were all sitting in the four seats that faced each other. Augustus was standing, lingering on the bar quite like Naceo had done. I watched him curiously.
They were talking about a storm. Apparently a vicious one had begun since I'd been brought here, and it had only worsened since. It seemed strange to me because the skies were cleared while Eva and I were driving.
"Citizens will not be able to leave their homes for days if this keeps up," said the woman, whose silver hair bled into a pale auburn towards the tips. The day was sunny, last I recalled.
“It is no ordinary storm either,” said the recruiter, “Augie and I checked outside the station and the rain is melting away the buildings. There’s crazy ditches in the ground that are being flooded with rainwater, and they’re flowing fast.”
Just as he finished his sentence, we heard a loud crack of thunder, and the bricks of the tunnel shook for a few seconds. Everyone- even I- looked up for a brief moment in fear, and then back to each other.
I had a feeling they were going to ask me if I knew anything about it, which was naturally the next question. I tried to croak an “I don’t know,” but my throat was like chalk, my mind like a cloud.
“Think my son,” Ty came over to me and help my wrists with his cool hands, easing the scratches on my skin caused by my leaning against the chains. My eyelids lowered and I tilted back my head as he spoke, “why would the God burn wide rivers all over the land?”
I pictured what outside must look like by now. Gray and blue skies… misshapen mirrors on the concrete. Trees flickering in the wind, all accompanied by a symphony of booms and the unstopping rhythm of rain.
Then the idea hit me. “He’s returning the sea!” I gasped.
“Good, good,” Ty massaged my hands harder, pressing his thumbs into the bridge of my wrist an palm. “What else?”
There was more. I imagined again… the zombies. They craned their frail necks back and tasted the rain. Bodies, floating on their bellies down the river. “He’s… removing all the zombies.” Their backs to the sky, they drained into the sea.
This statement had their attention. The woman rose to her feet abruptly. They were surrounding me. “Is that all, my son?!” Ty’s voice was madly excited.
The visions weren’t done. Now I saw a large stone wall, slowly being eroded to grains of sand. “He’s… destroying the walls of Ramecha.”
Ty was choking- no, crying… laughing! He dropped to his knees and clasped my hands, pressing them to his forehead. “Praised be the Gods! They have heard humanity’s cries for freedom! We are forgiven! We are forgiven!”
The couple burst into tears of joy. Augustus smiled at me with wide, eager eyes. I nodded understandingly, signaling him to follow the others in celebrating this news with the rest of ERA.
I aided the blind man- weakened with age and emotion- back to his feet. “How are you, my son…” he addressed me kindly, “are you in pain anymore?”
“Its bearable now.” I could somehow admit.
“I’m so proud of you. Here, let me unchain you.”
The earth over the tunnel crumbled slightly as we made our way back. At one point I even had to jerk the blind man backwards so he wouldn’t walk right into a deadly rock shower.
Eva’s first instinct was to run to me when she saw me, but we both stared at each other from across the tracks knowingly, and remained professional while everyone was still fretting about the earthquakes. The crowd was echoing with a jumble of “should we get out of here?”s and “is it safe?”s. When the tunnel shook violently again, I called everyone to follow me towards the station’s center, and they took shelter on the stairs under the roofing. I ascended, letting the rain wash my dry skin.
I was right. This was not usual rain- this was seawater. As soon as I was out of sight- a little beyond the top step of the station- Naceo appeared.
We did not exchange words. I wanted to know whether or not he would stop the storm, and his glowing blue eyes told me yes, he would allow humans to restart the world with freedom soon enough.
The water all around me was euphoric. I could feel no pain, no loss, no resistance. Naceo approached me, holding my fingers loosely as he gave me a tender kiss on the cheek. The sensation left sparkles on the inside of my skin. “Take care of her for me,” were his last words as he sunk upwards into the sky.
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